---

Mirage was actually having a little fun now, target practicing with his sling and traversing through the path carved out by large furniture. Thinner items had stabbed through the junk piles like spears, leaving him with some weird decisions to make about traversing. He wasn't exactly good at walking on tightropes (Not that he ever tried, he's an eternal clutz at heart) but with some well-placed platforms, surely this wouldn't be too bad, right? He was about to start on his fun traversal journey, but quickly got interrupted by noticing some folks soaring along, trying to cut over all the heavy footwork. "Flying is cheating." He muttered to himself, hiding his jealously of the amazing idea.

Which quickly subsided as some sort of light seemed to detect their presence in the air, followed by something trying to snatch them. He held back a yelp, crouching down and watching the horrific situation take place. Geralt and Blazermate were somewhat safe, but his main concern was with Nadia landing in a sudden and very high place; Eyes watching the scan light as he kept still enough that he almost felt as if his heart was going to stop from a lack of breath. It seemed content that Nadia was gone, and as the light shifted back towards the bookshelf, Mirage made sure to keep himself down and away from that light. That was another worry, though, if that light was coming to find them, then they might need help-- But if he shot a dart now, it'd probably alert the creature. He needed a solution-- Or a distraction!

The sudden noise took him by surprise, the impact of the hand shaking the whole room, it felt like. But it was a perfect distraction, further proven by Geralt's signaling from the bookshelf. Scanning the area, he picked up on the message thanks to his motions, raising his dart gun to try and provide some assistance before it was too late. As the monster threw a tantrum of sorts, Mirage focused his aim. He popped two darts, the projectiles flying over to Geralt and Blazermate's location and landing the darts along the 'wall', one high enough from the other to provide a good upward boost. He figured if they worked together they'd get up just fine.

At that point, Mirage was in a bit of a pickle. With how the gun worked, if he fired more than one dart, than Geralt and Blazermate's platforms would disappear. Breathing heavily from the shock of the monster finishing it's junk-smashing tantrum to resume it's search, he had one safety net and that was it. "I guess someone as good as me needs a handicap," He said to himself as a bit of motivation, as he began to slowly progress towards all the thin, definitely very welcoming platforms.

'Make too much noise, I die. Step in the junk, I die. This is great.' He found himself a little cynical and irritated; Perhaps a way to cope with fear since the humor wasn't doing enough. Regardless, he'd have to make it across the thin path before him, which was a bit nerve wracking, but alright. Here goes nothing.

A quick scan to make sure the light wasn't near him and he was off: Gritting his teeth as he nervously began to step along 'staircase' of flags and lamps, with notable gaps between them. With the dart gun, he'd be able to just fill the gaps, but now? He was traveling quick to keep momentum and tried to not stay on one piece of terrain for long. Until, suddenly, an end to his path appeared, causing him to almost fall straight off into the junk depths below. Shaking and ready to yell in panic, he quickly fired the dart gun and made himself enough footing that would allow him to just stand for a moment, panting from the heart attack he was on the verge of at this point. "Dang... That's gone." He said solemnly, noting he used his only dart. He couldn't get a clear sight of Geralt, so he had no way of knowing if their climb had worked out. Chest moving with his breaths, he scanned for a way forward, noticing something dangerous but possibly his only option.

Tucking his dart gun away, he pulled out his sling. Putting the two ends together, he gripped the handles and torn ends of the elastic exercise band he cut earlier, giving them a pull to make sure they were solid. His eyes peered at a flag pole that was pointed more downwards, but still in his desired direction. And at the end, a thin cabinet poking out of the junk he could plant his feet on. In a very nervous manner, he lowered himself in a very slow and careful manner, bringing his feet down onto the upside-down base of a lamp directly below the flag pole, which was a huge standing relief for him. He brought the bands around the top of the pole before gripping them again, staring at his destination with fear in his eyes. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if he didn't get over there, then at best he'd live out his days here. Alone. Because he refused to accept anyone else not making it out, so he had to, damn it!

Getting a running start, Mirage let out multiple fearful swears as he traversed down the pole, keeping atop thanks to his sling. The material of the band made things awkward but the force he started with helped him propel the full length of the pole, hands tightening as he reached the end, feet kicking the junk pile but not making it budge at all, as he dangled trying to position himself for a landing. "I think I just shaved a few years off my life." He commented to himself, now having to go up again.

Feet meeting bars, the tiny bamboozler pulled himself up with a heavy gasp, his body having exerted itself to get across without his darts. He plopped down onto the flat surface of a tv-stand, groaning as he weakly looked up, seeing Nadia's parachute. He wasn't sure what condition she was in, but maybe the parachute was in good enough shape to float her down here. He didn't see anything soft to break a landing in his immediate vicinity, so he instead just stayed down for the moment, catching his breath as he laid on his back, keeping an eye on Nadia. He would've asked if she was okay, but she was still a bit of a ways up from his perspective, and that monster didn't react well to much noise before. He'd simply hope his breaths weren't too much, and that it was more distracted elsewhere so he'd not have to move for a few more minutes...

Geralt cursed as a massive red light appeared from the center of the domed room's roof. While the gargantuan hand that came down to capture them failed to do so, Geralt's heart was pounding as he and Blazermate got their bearings on the bookshelf. As the light shone over Nadia, Geralt turned towards the darts slapping against the wall of the bookshelf and quickly began hauling himself up. It wasn't particularly difficult, even for a child of his size- and wasn't that weird to think about?- and in a few scant moments, Geralt was on top of the small bookshelf.

Frantically looking around, the once and future Witcher spotted a nearby end table with what appeared to be a massively oversized shirt on it. Shrugging, he took a running leap, landing softly on the bunched-up fabric, and quickly pulled it over himself, forcing his breathing to still as he hoped and prayed that whatever the hell that thing was didn't see him. He couldn't see much through the fabric, and it stank, but he'd endure whatever kept him from being grabbed by that giant hand and presumably crushed.

That presumption was proven shortly after, when a loud ringing noise rang out for a few moments before a crunching noise took its place as, hidden from its sight, the creature destroyed the alarm clock Peach had thrown as a distraction. Geralt had no idea what to do now. He could only tell that the light probably wasn't directly over him, but he didn't know if it was nearby, or if it even accurately represented what this thing could see. All he knew is that was probably safe here.

Probably. And when did that ever not work out for Geralt of Rivia?

He should probably have written a will before leaving...

Blazermate's plan for assistance worked alright. It got Geralt, the one of the group who wasn't all that gifted as it seemed he got all of his powers later in life, up on a nice high perch compared to everyone else. Although this would soon turn out to be a bad thing as a single eye and two large hands came out of the shadows of the roof, the eye searching for something and when it found movement, it sweeped one of hits hands down to grab it. Considering one of these hands was big enough to hold Blazermate like a doll, she didn't want to chance it even though her scanner told her that the eye looking at them was a weak point. As the eye made its way towards Geralt and Blazermate, Geralt leaped off the bookshelf to a nightstand, barely able to make it himself.

Blazermate meanwhile used the distraction Peach made herself. She grabbed a book from the shelf and made her way back to the only hiding spot she could use, the ruined blanket of the bed they had been on, and use that to hide until the light passed on. As she flew her way over there, she threw the book into the junk to get that junk monster to move. Maybe that'd cause a distraction, or do nothing. Blazermate didn't really know, and she'd prefer to just fight this thing, but with hands that big that moved that fast and none of her new things nor any strong medabots to support, she decided she'd do what everyone else was doing unless something bad happened.

She made her way to the bed and hid under a sheet and stood still, watching what that light and the hands were going to do.

”Gottcha!” Jr assured Rika as he grabbed her gauntleted arm and then pulled her up onto the upper ledge of the toy dump and prevented her from falling back down the tower of blocks they’d ascended either back onto Bowser or, worse, into the ball-pit sea in which the unidentified danger that they’d been warned about surely lurked.

“Thanks” the ship-girl gasped, before sinking to her knees under the weight of her gauntlets “are we nearly there?”

”Perhaps about half way” Kamek suggested from where he was sitting with jr’s pet pig and ghost, all of whom had already been tossed up, which got a sorrowful frustrated sound of Rika as she slumped to the ground. There had been two many close calls which made feeling like a burden twice as bad for her.

”Chin up and lets keep moving” Bowser, who had jumped/scrambled up the side of the block stack in relatively short order. Told her ”The sooner we get out of here, the sooner you can get back to wrecking everything with those guns of yours” which was meant to be motivating but had the exact opposite effect judging from the miserable sounds coming from the ship girl.

”Ah, uh”

”Maybe jr can take a look for something to fix your gauntlets now? We’re making great time compared to everyone else” Kamek suggested, which got an agreeing nod from Jr. Indeed, Peach's suggestion that they split up had left them all over the place. The troop were well ahead thanks to the two royal’s unnatural strength while the boy who had been a frog (among others) hadn’t even set off yet.

Just behind the troop were people who had somewhat taken Kamek’s balloon idea and implemented actually feasible versions of it, namly Geralt using Blazermate like a hover pack and Nadia’s fan+sheet parachute was letting them leap across the junk room in great strides. A brief moment of being frustrated about having not been listened to in favor of being tossed about vanished from the former mage’s mind when the flyers attracted unwanted attention. A great hand descended from the darkness above to try and snatch them out of the air, this one blue skinned bear and veiny rather than gloved like the master and crazy hands that had been the first brief assumption of the troop. Nadia was practically swatted from the sky, and only her parachute landing atop her managed to hide her from a follow attack, though she was also left hanging perilously from the top of a tv.

Blazermate and Geralt meanwhile were left completely out in the open, but a moment of quick thinking from Peach bailed them out, throwing an alarm clock into the junk sea, which the hand and its guiding focused upon and then destroyed with untempered fury.

”Oh dear. That is a big one” Kamek said, from where he and the rest of the troop were looking out from behind a series of alphabet blocks, when they got their brief look at the titan hanging above the room.

”Shoudlda let me roast it” Bowser complained at being pulled behind the blocks to take cover rather than being allowed to lob fireballs at the hand, though he was saying that mostly out of bravado. Even he could recognize that trying to pick a fight with the titan would likely end poorly.

”Maybe we can make a trap or something for the hands?” Jr suggested ”lure it down and then...” what exactly they’d be able to do to it even if they caught it was the real issue with that plan. That and the other hand it had that likely wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.

”We can keep that in mind, but it might be best to not be spotted at all. If the lady of the hours, or the ship rather, thinks she’s gotten rid of us by dumping us down here, then let's keep it that way, yes?” Kamek suggested

”Pretty classic mistake if she has” Bowser noted. ”Let keep moving so we can teach her a lesson in how you properly dispose of your enamies”

“Ah, sorry, but what about the power thing? So I can be helpful again?” Rika interjected, reminding them of the plan they’d been hatching before the titan rudely interrupted them, prompting them to re- initiate the plan to try and power up Rika’s gauntlets so they could help her rather than hindering her like they were now.

The area they’d come to, the toy dump, proved to be a bit more traversable than the more bedroom-y section of the chamber. The long platforms, pipes and occasional bridges meant that there was a lot less tossing involved in the traversal, leaving the group time to hunt around the myriad of giant toys scattered around, which provided both opportunity for salvage and good hiding spots in which to cower away from the room’s supervisor cyclopean gaze. Of course, it being conveniently full of bits, bobs and hiding spots meant that it was one of the preferable places to be for people other than them too. The troops eyes were on the one and the sky and looking out for something to help Rika, so even by the time Jr had spotted an old upturned rc car they still hadn’t spotted their triangular headed observers.

”Ah ha! That looks perfect!” jr cheered upon spotting an upturned RC car, racing across a giant ruler acting as a bridge with Mimi and Kamek (who was not having a good time) on his shoulders, followed closely by tyrant and more carefully by Bowser who was carrying Rika

”What? Seriously” Jr was complaining when they caught up, prompting Rika to ask “oh, is it no good?” only to be waved round to see that the toy car was stylized after a certain plumber.

“I don’t understand. Is it because he looks a bit like that L person?” Rika asked, having never seen the man sculpted in plastic before her.

”Huh? Doesn't look anything like Mr L what are you talking about? No, it's Mario, dad’s arch nemesis!” Jr replied, a touch affronted that she did not know this thing she had no way of knowing.

”Didn’t know they guy did mech though. Weird. But hey, that just means we get to hack him up while we get the parts right Jr” the king said, slapping his son on the shoulder, which Kamek had vacated the moment they’d stopped moving.

Hack apart they did, with the help of claw, dexterous spooky arms and a little fire when the eye was for from them the car was rapidly dismantled, its guts spilling out and revealing a treasure trove of wires and, most importantly, a set of still partially charged batteries, with which meant jr could get to work on helping Rika out.

While they did Kamek picked his way through the stacks of blocks and toys, aiming to spy on how the others were doing, Tyrant trotting along at his heels, the baby behemoth having grown rapidly bored of the tinkering of his trainer. The swine ran too and fro, sniffing at this and nuzzling this and that while the tiny turtle trundled along towards the edge of the tower in the toy dump they were on and took a peek through a set of blocks roughly piled up into the shape of a makeshift castle.

A quick peek showed things not going so well for the others, the eye still roaming the area they were stuck in back in the trash filled bedroom section of the room. He really hoped the fact that he couldn't immediately spot anyone who’d been under attack just meant they were doing a good job at hiding. The once and future wizard was wondering if they had any way to distract the ting without getting stuck in the exact same situation when a small clunking sound, as if some had accidentally kicked a block, sounded near them.

”Hmm? Are you done already? Or was that you Tyrant?” Kamek asked, turning but finding the royals and the ship girl still busying away, while Tyrant was standing stock still, their ears up and alert. That. Was not a good sign.

”Peach? Frog? Mr L? Is that any of you?” He asked instead.

No response. Then, now that he was listening closely, Kamek thought he heard a brief shuffle of footsteps worryingly nearby, that was silenced almost as soon as it began.

”Hello? Is someone there?” again, nothing

”I’m friendly. But if you aren't, I warn you I'm a mage of high renown… also I have a pig with veeeery sharp horns” the former mage said, while carefully backing out of the little block fort they’d been using as a combination of viewing and hiding spot, before racing across the top o the block tower as fast as he could, which wasn't fast, with Tyrant dashing ahead of him back to the safety of his trainer.

As he approached the rest of the troop, it looked like they were just finishing up. Wires, strips of plastic and rubber from the cars wheel had all been ripped from the toy by claw and tooth and forged together with fire-breath to form a backpack holding a pair of batteries about as large as the ship-girl’s torso, which seemed like it was the opposite of a solution to her problem till you took into account the wires leading from them into where each of the gauntlets connected to her back. Hasty soldering and insulation jobs prevented the threat of death by electrocution for the most part and now, it seemed, was the moment of proof.

“Ok, here goes!” Rika announced as she flicked a pair of switches on her gauntlets and then, with some hesitation, stood up with only a little difficulty.

“Ah. yes. yes yes yes, it worked!” She cheered with forced quiet, before stumbling slightly due to the weight on her back now, before stabilizing herself by using the fully powered up gauntlets (that had been lead weights before) to support herself in the air, leaning her weight on them as they floated . “Wow. ok. Still a bit unsteady buuut I think I can do this!”

”That’s good, because I don't think we’re alone up here” Kamek announced as he rejoined them, which got a mostly confident nod from Rika and the question of ”Did some of the others catch… or, right, you mean more monsters”

”Quite possibly”

“Then let's go!” Rika announced, setting off a touch unsteadily but rapidly getting the hang of balancing on her gauntlets again, leaving the troop to follow in her wake.

@Dark Cloud

---

Link let himself down from the top of the cupboard, climbing down the shelves while keeping his feet as close to the interior wall as possible. Every individual creak from the old wood made his heart skip a beat as he watched the eye scan around for more intruders to crush. He landed softly on the edge of a suitcase, keeping in mind the enemy that lurked below along with the on lurking above.

He made a series of short hops along the solid furniture lining the path to the bed, going from an end table to a white bust of a stern looking old man, then across an ironing board to the pile of cushions beside the bed. Link had decided to stay up where he was an act as a makeshift lookout as the others had started making their journeys across the room, evaluating each strategy as he watched. Of everything he had seen Sakura's idea, though the slowest, seemed to be the safest and least attention grabbing way of making their way across the room. Now though, with that big monster on the search, it left her woefully isolated.

Still, she was at least moving. There were some that hadn't even started yet, though from apprehension or indecision about the best route he didn't know. In particular a green haired boy whose general hopelessness was pretty familiar by this point. "Glenn?" He urgently whispered as he approached. He was reasonably sure, considering his headcount. The only other person this could be was Geralt but, well, this boy was green. "We can't just hang around here, we've got to start moving. If you don't think you can make these jumps, follow Sakura." He said, digging in the cushions to find two big lumpy looking ones. He shoved a faded green one into the boys arms and carefully dropped the other over the side. "Watch the eye. If it starts looking your way, sandwich yourself between the cushions. Go!"

He didn't take his eye off the ceiling monster as he spoke, clutching a big throw billow in his arms. If that thing swept over to the bed he was going to push Glenn and anyone else nearby that was spacing out under the pillow before throwing himself over the side onto the one he had already tossed onto the floor. Hopefully he could disappear over the edge of the bed before he was spotted in the case.

One pillow at a time. Just put one foot right infront of the other. Sakura had trekked across mountains! Great distances that blended together, so very, very zen. Problem number one: This room was not zen. It was un-zen. Probably the least zen room she had ever been in, and she'd been in a room with Vega. Maybe it was the fact that she was stuck in the body of a dumb little kid! This was like asking a musician to play a concert...and making him a dumb little kid who didn't know how to play the piano! Metaphors aren't Sakura's things, all right?!

As she travelled, she realised how isolated she was getting. A bead of sweat dripped down her forehead. "No one else?" She shook her head and shot out a peace sign towards the others. Especially Bella, who looked nervous. "I got this."

Infact, Sakura quickly ended up being more worried about her teammates than herself. Blazermate, Geralt, and Nadia had cooked up some coco bananas scheme. Mirage and Link were jumping all over the place- the Koopa Troops were just a bunch of- it was loony toons. She felt a lot safer on the ground with her little trick.

That changed when the giant monster descended from the ceiling. "Shimatta." Creepy glowing eye, two floating hands, ready to squash. Survival instinct took over. There was nothing she could do except gawk at her friends. Eyes wide, breathing quickly and not very effectively, Sakura began to build her one girl path forward. Where? At some point, she had noticed an open washing machine.

Progress was painfully slow. She couldn't move too fast or she'd slip and die. Can't move too slow, though, or the thing might see her. And her arms were awful, chubby little short things that were of no use. Her head was too big. Her outfit was too cute. Her heart wasn't racing, it had tripped and was plummeting down a flight of stairs. Thump thumpthump thump, was it arrhytmic? She was going to die of a heart attack. Imagine that. Just- poof! She imagined herself vibrating and shaking and then exploding into a cloud of ash from nothing but stress.

There were two moments, exactly, that were worse than this. For slightly different reasons. At least then, though, she had the option to act courageously. Here she could only very, very slowly, methodically, repetitively, grind her way to safety.

Sakura had reached the sideways washing machine. The door was open, off its hinges. Inside was darkness, but it was a safe and welcoming darkness compared to the monstrosity stalking the Blue Team now. The little girl jumped up, wrapped her stubby fingers onto the edge, and pulled herself up. Thankfully she didn't weigh much, and she had the co-ordination a younger self might have lacked.

Gasping for air, the brunette tumbled into the washing machine and ran, hands outstretched, to the back of the steel metal box. Once she felt the cold metal at the back she pressed her back against it and slid down, hyperventilating. She clutched her knees against her chest and tried to catch her breath.

"Oh, man. Oh man oh man. I'm glad I'm hiding in a washing machine because I think I need a change of underwear." Sakura joked quietly to herself. She giggled nervously at the potty humor. If anyone asked- she could just blame it on being a four year old.

At a steady, methodical pace the shadow beast’s fell beacon roved across the miscellaneous landscape. With so much ground to cover it spent only a second or two on any particular item of furniture or clump of debris, lingering here or there for a moment at a time, and occasionally sweeping from one area to a farther one without focusing on anything between the two. As Peach’s distraction showed, it would lock onto any disturbance and retaliate with needless brutality, but as fearful and threatening as the monster was, it wasn’t unstoppable. Mirage’s tentative footsteps, taken well away from the phantom’s baleful gaze, proved that it couldn’t hear well enough to prohibit movement. Its glare passed over the extra-large shirt in which Geralt swaddled himself, but it did not penetrate the cloth to discover the boy hidden within.

Even after the danger moved on, Nadia stayed still for a good few seconds, fighting to get her breathing under control. After holding her breath she needed air but couldn’t risk hyperventilation, and regulating her breath with the added bonus of ribs bruised from the impact with the television turned out to be surprisingly hard. Nevertheless she managed, and once she’d craned her head around to make sure the pillar of red light was far away, she gingerly hauled herself on top of the TV. She pulled at the parachute that covered her, mindful of every swish, until her head poked out into the open air with ears twitching.

Immediately she spotted Mirage beneath her, seated on the stand her television rested on. Given the haphazard way everything in this place seemed to fall she was a little surprised to see the device and its platform still reunited, but maybe they were bolted together or something. Either way, that was the least of the concerns. She could see the crimson spotlight wandering around still, never so distant that she could afford to ignore it, and at the peak the sight of the shadow beast’s eye, suspended in the utter darkness up there, sent shivers down her spine.

As she watched, the phantom’s gaze swerved toward the bookshelf Geralt fled from once again, drawn by the sound of the Blazermate’s jet turbines. Following in Peach’s footsteps she flung a book as a distraction, but the imitation proved shortsighted. A book made for a lot less stimulation than an alarm clock, and a bit less than a noisy, flying Medabot, and it bought her only a second to make her escape. Then its gaze sped after the noise, following a short distance behind and forcing Blazermate to race to stay in the concealing darkness. An enormous hand hurtled from the darkness, silent as the grave, and slammed down only just behind her with a tremendous crash. Its twin followed, close enough that Blazermate could feel the wind of it rushing past. She zoomed over where Sakura climbed into and hid inside a washing machine, narrowly avoiding getting her ally found out. A few seconds later she reached the bed. Blazermate dove beneath the blanket and stopped cold, while the beacon in hot pursuit overshot her to the junk beyond and stopped, no noise or movement to guide it. For a tense moment its hands loomed to either side of the bed, but the shadow beast had lost sight of her. The hands lifted away into the pitch like marionettes, and the monster resumed its search.

Nadia groaned. She was afraid to go and terribly worried for everyone (with a VIP badge for Sakura in particular), but there was nothing she could do and staying put was even worse than going forward, so she couldn’t stick around any longer. “Psst!” she whispered down to Mirage. “You alright there? Jeez, can you believe this crap we gotta deal with?” With a beleaguered sigh she wiped her brow. “Well, whatever. Don’t want that thing givin’ us a peer review, so ‘eye’ guess we’ve gotta stealth mission on our hands.” She couldn’t help but feel annoyed that her plan had been scuppered already and her not-at-all-silent fan rendered useless. Even her parachute wouldn’t serve its intended use, since it probably wouldn’t unfold before she hit the ground even if she jumped from one of these junk-mountains. But it wasn’t worthless. She surveyed the terrain ahead briefly. “I see a painting leaning against the TV, a long dresser, and a rolled-up rug. C’mon, let’s go together. Stick a dart on the screen and climb up. Once we both grab onto the painting we can kick it and ride it to the other side.”

She and Mirage got underway using the feral’s strategy to get to the dresser with only a minor clatter, then ran across without falling into the holes left by missing drawers (more than once apiece, anyway).. When they got to the rug it took some effort to quietly extract and unroll it, but once they did it lay ready to offer a smooth ride down. “Wait, wait!” Nadia whispered urgently, her bright cat eyes staring through the dark at the junk mountain’s base. “There’s some kind of pit. It’ll be hard as hell to get out of.” She took another look at the pit, evaluating the stuff around it. “It...looks like there's a dishwasher beside the pit. If you can dart it, we can jump from the rug right before it gets to the pit and use it as a platform to get across. We’ll need to circle around a little for a straight shot.” With furrowed brow she looked at the party streamers strung between nearby gardening poles and fake plants. She took a running start and leaped for an artificial ficus, which her claws helped her climb until she could reach and cut through the streamer knotted at the top. Its end clenched in her teeth, she slid down, then offered the makeshift rope to Mirage. “Here. You’re a good shot, right? Think ya got what it takes to nail the washer while swingin’ around?”

While he got busy she crouched down under her sheet, on lookout for the monster’s beam getting too close. She caught a glimpse of the others making their way through the Belly, wary of Bongo Bongo’s gaze. The Peach had found herself a peculiar shoe and was using it to hop across the surface of the junk, but the tendency to hit something that made a clatter forced her to hide under her parasol a few times when she provoked the phantom’s ire. Way on the other side the Koopa Troop plus an enlightened Rika had managed to get out of the ball pit. Between them and the other side stood two distinct zones: an area littered with everything one could find in a garage plus the instruments of an entire garage band, and then an actual houseboat half-buried in the junk. Good luck with that. Link made his way with a deftness none of the other children could match, needing nobody's help to progress across the Belly; in fact, he went out of his way to give a trepidation Glenn a hand. Nadia was also glad to see Sakura, fresh from her stay in the washing machine and up to her old tricks again. Not far away she spotted Bella in a toy boat complete with oars, using the strength of her leviathan tail to row her one side at a time across the ground layer after Sakura, and relying on a bucket to shield her from the evil eye.

In short order Mirage managed to prove himself a hotshot gunslinger still, and with the dart in place there was nothing for the kids to do but crouch on top of the rug and edge slightly forward in anticipation until it finally overbalanced and started to slide down the mountain.

The end came quickly, a yawning void in the junk. Whether or not it had a bottom Nadia didn’t want to find out. “Now!” she cried through clenched teeth, as quietly as her overworked heart would let her. She sprang, her arms and legs flailing for balance as she soared over the drop, and the next second she landed on the dart. Its suction held, and she bounced right off and over the rest of the pit to land in what looked like a well-used dog bed on the other side. Fwop. Though it smelled of four-legged friend, Nadia didn’t seem to mind, and allowed her head to plop down as her thumping heart worked itself out.

Her rest came to an end when the shadow beast’s searchlight drew near, forcing an emergency hunker down below her sheet. When it passed, Nadia wasted no time in getting going. The next and biggest mountain seemed to have a lot of mechanical parts, and a mixture of tires, bike frames, and car doors took them to the top. There, however, their shared journey hit a snag. There seemed to be no furniture nor methods of conveyance available to get down the mountain and over the final stretch to the far wall, where they could now see Peach’s vent exactly where she said, sure as sugar. “Drat,” Nadia snarled. “I’m not seeing anything. And we’re so close…'' She kicked a tire in frustration only for it to roll halfway down the mountain and crash into a flower pot, which Bongo Bongo was only too happy to annihilate. When a trembling Nadia pulled her sheet off a few moments later she was wearing a sheepish look. “Sorry…”

---

Mirage blinked, eyeing Nadia up above. Oh, good. She seemed to land safe enough, so that was one less concern. She asked about his health, actually, and all he offered for the moment was a thumb in the air, still taking heavier breaths to try and recover from his dangerous venture. Slowly he sat up however, rubbing his eyes. "They keep making that thing lash out and we'll have an avaglance on our hands." He complained, but figured folks were doing their best. He hoped everyone was safe; And that Geralt had taken the darts and got himself and Blazermate out of their predicament. Because he needed the Dart Gun now, as there was still a trek for him to personally make.

Figuring traveling in a pair wasn't a terrible idea (unless Nadia decided to try and go airborne again) Mirage used his dart gun to plop some platforms onto the TV screen. It seemed no matter how close or far, whatever it hit wouldn't get damaged. He thought it would at least damage the screen a little, but nope. He ascended the TV, peeking behind him as he climbed with a small prayer he wasn't spotted. Scrambling on top, her plan seemed solid enough. They had to keep moving, as much as sitting still in a safe position felt good.

Their teamwork proved essential, from traversing the picture to extracting the rug. However, he raised an eyebrow at her warnings, before peering down at the pit she described. Swallowing hard, he chuckled. "I'm sure it's nothing but sugar and gumdrops. But let's not find out." He commented, perking up at the suggestion to make a platform for them to jump to. He felt a bit of concern as she climbed the streamers, but they seemed sturdy enough... As the makeshift rope was offered to him, Mirage remembered he had already established dominance as the King of Swing back at the Luma Pools. He knew a monkey, too. Add that all up with him being a good shot, and that meant this was going to work out! He raised a hand as he began to point out his skill: "Think? I don't think--" Index finger bending as he realized what he said, he shook his head. "I mean, I get paid for my shots, especially when they hit, so you know, I'm pretty good."

Realizing he didn't make it much better, he embraced his inner ape and took a running start before leaving solid ground for the swing. One hand clenched on the streamer as the other wielded the Dart Gun, the gogglehead making laps as he spun to land three consecutive shots to give them a bit of landing room. As he came back from the last lap, he jumped back onto the dresser, stumbling a bit and almost falling into an empty drawer space. The dizzy young man followed Nadia's way and got onto the rug, having a moment to thankfully recover before they were sent off to their potential sliding doom.

With clenched teeth, he took the leap before they ended up diving into the pit. Behind Nadia, he bounced off the little platforms and hopelessly flapped his arms in hope he had a Spirit that helped him fly, but instead crashed into a bed full of dog hair. As he lifted himself up, he seemed to momentarily get his facial hair back in dog-hair form, before he coughed and it flew away, scattering back onto the bed. "Man, I hope hair is all that's in this thing." He spoke in a soft, but concerned tone as he tried to recover from both the near-death leap they took and the dog hair.

However, he didn't seem to mind as much when he noticed things getting brighter. Not having a hiding mechanism, Mirage instead scrambled over the side of the dog bed and hid behind it, hands over his face trying not to cough or sneeze. As the light passed, he climbed back in, rejoining Nadia as he watched the searchlight go into the distance, and back towards the others. Thankfully, they could continue their climb up a rather interesting mountain: One of mechanical parts, which made Mirage smile. Although he couldn't put a lot together without tools, so his options were pretty crippled. As they made it to the top, Mirage was distraught with the sight before them. Damn, no furniture. No easy routes down... He felt a sense of dread chill his spine, up until Nadia kicked a tire in frustration, breaking something and alerting the monster. Mirage jumped behind a junior booster seat to hide, peeking out after a few moments to find Nadia's enthusiasm also draining quickly.

"It's okay, I'm tired of this too." He said, small emphasis to try and make a joke that'd amuse her as he began to think. His mind raced, though only a few things came to mind, and a lot of them were... Not cooperative efforts, in a sense. His eyes met with the area the beast had smashed after Nadia kicked that tire. The pot smashing was what alerted it, not the tire itself, so maybe it was quiet enough. He scanned the terrain, the scrap of the mountain as everything beyond it was lava zone. He noticed, part way down the mountain, there was a car door. It sorta stuck out in such a way it resembled a ramp. His view shifted to a tire up next to them, then to the ramp. Then back at the tire.

"I have an idea," He spoke up, scuttling over to a tire. It seemed big enough for her to fit into, yeah. He gave it a few pats, the dirty tire darkening the bright skin of his palm. "There's a door down there, kinda looks like a ramp. If I send you down there in a tire, you could fly off of it and soar across the rest of the junk to get to the vent." His suggestion had a very major problems, some he'd overlook, but one he'd address: "And yeah, it'll be loud, but I have a lot of glass up here. I can launch some of it back into the area we came from and it'll distract him from you rolling across."

The big issue was that... If he rolled Nadia across, who would roll him? Well, it was something Nadia might've thought of more than he did, as he wasn't quite sure if trying to aim himself would yield good results. He'd have to think a bit more, find something else. But he wanted to make sure one of them made it, at least. To distract from the idea of him being left behind, he offered a slight joke as he urged her to make a decision:

"We should be wheely quick about this, before we have to hide from another patrol."

“You know. I think I could just make this one myself?” Rika said, looking at the gap between them and the last block pillar they’d be able to use to move towards the vent. “Because I think I’ve gotten the hang of walking like this, with the battery pack and everything”

”You sure?” Bowser asked

“Mmm” Rika replied with a nod

”Go for it then” Bowser told her, receiving another nod from the girl, who was now sporting a knee length skirt she’d looted off of a doll along with her battery backpack, before she started psyching herself up for the leap

”Sire, Rika, I'm not sure if this is wise” Kamek interjected

”What’s the worst that could happen?” Bowser asked as they watched Rika take a practice run up, failing to stop said practice quickly enough and only avoiding tipping over the edge into the ball-pit far below because of Jr running up and pulling her to safety. Despite this brush with death the girl eagerly backed up for another go at it.

”Do you really want me to list all the ways this can go poorly?” Kamek was saying, but it was too late. Rika thundered across the ground just ahead of the gap and then leapt high into the air. Holding herself up with her gauntlets, her arms straining as they supported her whole body weight on the floating battery powered machines, she soared through the air, new skirt fluttering beneath her, and then landed on the final block tower. She stumbled upon landing, leaving the rest of the troop’s hearts in their throats as she teetered close to the edge again, but she caught her balance and stepped forwards to safe solid ground before then pumped her arms up in triumph.

A few moments later and the rest of the troop had jumped or been tossed across the gap as well, Rika was congratulated on her success, and then together they all walked over to the other edge of the towers of blocks and looked out across the final two obstacles in their course.

”You know, we’ve been pretty good at not making a bunch of noise so far but uh” the prince looked directly at the various musical instruments that they would probably be forced to use at least some of, along with, among other things, a few broken workbenches, toolboxes that would have been handy if their tools weren't twice as big as him, a pair of bikes, a skateboard and an entire car that was missing its wheels and doors, all massively oversized. ”that might not be to easy with all this”

”And with this pass the parcel leapfrogging method we’ve been using, it would be really bad to get spotted on something with no cover, because we cant run away fast.”

“Ok but I can just be myself now. So we should be faster right? Oh, and maybe you can just carry Tyrant and Kamek (and Mimi) and just jump with me? No more tossing would be way faster right?” Rika suggested enthusiastically, a bit of self reliance and outfit personalization having done wonders at restoring her self-confidence.

”I’m not sure. Maybe it would be best to try and mimic what Peach is doing?” the princess’s hiding under an umbrella strategy when her kubo shoo kicked something was working very well so far ”We could perhaps grab something to take with us to hide under?”

”Urgh. but that’s more stuff to haul! Plus if we land on an instrument and it makes noise and we’re on it and the big guy wrecks it behind us” Jr pointed out ”We can go fast with Rika doing her own jumps. So why not just rely on that?”

”Speed isn't everything young ma- hey wait not again!” Kamek retorted, only to be interrupted when Bowser picked him up and slung his shell under his arm

”Too much talking, not enough moving. Let’s roll!” Bowser declared, prompting Jr to collect his horned hog while Mimi hopped down onto Tyrant’s noggin and wrapped her arms around his horns for stability.

”Yeah, let's go!” “Yeah!” “Mimi!” went three cheers of agreement

”Oh dear”

---

Despite Kamek’s trepidation, the Troop initially made Excellent time, leaping from workbench to skateboard to toolbox with their powerful or anti-gravity assisted leaps and bounds, the three jumpers and their cargoes reaching the bonnet of the broken car in record time, before swinging around the windshield and using the driver’s seat to cousin the fall down into it. The inside of the car was as trashy as the rest of the room, tough some of this was general junk spillage, the floor of the vehicle was low enough that the ambient junk sea flowed in to smother it lightly, while the rest was filled with varicose rubbish that might have belonged to the car’s previous messy owner. Plastic wrappers, bottles and bottle caps, chirps packets, polystyrene containers and all sorts of other junk food packaging was strewn around on all the other seats, adding to the already wretched smell of the car.

A quick jump from the gearbox got the troop into the back seat, a fair bit of shimmying through a hole got them from there into the boot and then some finagling with the internals of the boot’s lock and some timing to avoid the watcher in the ceiling got the boot open, revealing that the only way forwards from here to the normal sized houseboat beyond was ”oh you have got to be kidding” an almost pristine drum kit, surrounded by much of the other instrumentation, such as a guitar and a saxophone.

”I’m sure it’ll be fine. Here watch!” Bower announced, and before anyone could stop him he leaped across the gap onto the closest drum and landed with a loud bong.

”Uh oh” Bowser said, realizing his mistake as the eye started drifting rapidly towards them.

”oh no no no no go back go back” Kamek, who’d been brought along for the ride, whisper-yelled at him, prompting the king to leap back into the boot of the car moments before Bongo Bongo banged the drum into the dust, causing an almighty racket as he did while the troop hid in the boot.

”Urgh. So that's what they’ve been dealing with out there. That was. Uh... not so bad. Yeah. Not scared at all” Jr said once they were quite sure the hand had left

”That was. Too close.” Kamek said, not bothering to hide their own fear like the royals were doing.

”Yeah. My bad. Guess we just got lucky till now.” Bowser said, peaking out to see where the eye’s gaze had wandered off too.

“So. Now what?” Rika asked. Now what indeed. There was still a way forward, a much trickier jump to another drum, but that had the same flaw as Bowser’s first attempt. The idea of just running it was dismissed. They’d be spotted for sure due to much of the path being drums, and the dreadful drummer might, might, be smart enough to follow the pattern across the rest of the drums even if it didn't catch up to their path while they were running it.

Camping out in the back of the car, the troop mulled things over till Jr had an idea. Climbing back into the car, the prince found a set of bottle caps and brought them back to the boot. There he hefted a cap, he took aim and then one by one hurled them at an acoustic guitar lying nearby, which was out of jump reach but in range of a good discuss toss. The metal caps weren't perfect frisbees, but the quick barrage struck the cords of the guitar a few times, summoning the gaze and floating hand which punched the guitar and, when that proved insufficient to destroy the hefty wooden instrument, grabbed it by the neck and proceeded to smash it into the ground over and over like a guitarist at the end of a kick ass concert.

The cacophony caused by the instrument's repeated impacts with the wall was deafening, and gave the troop just enough time to bong their way across the drums without being detected by Bongo Bongo’s thanks to its own awful music making. The Trio of carriers hurried into the ship to make sure that they weren't caught up in a subsequent sweep, and then emerged onto the half sunken ship’s deck when the coast was clear. The first thing they did was take a look at how far along everyone else was compared to them, which turned out to be a question with a very mixed answer. Some were way back, some real close.

Notably, Mirage and Miss Fortune were perhaps second closest to them, but their rout looked like it wound up being a dead end just a few stones throws away from where the troop were, which was right next to the exit.

”Maybe we should help them out?” Kamek suggested

”By we you mean me right? Urgh. So tired of hauling people around. How’d we even do it?” Bowser asked

”Well...” Kamek began, and a quick bit of scrounging later they had drenched the life-raft on the side of the ship out of the trash and pulled a dust rag off a piece of normal sized furniture that was sitting on the deck. This was draped over the King to obscure him from view as he used the little ship’s pair of oars to row out and try and help the stranglers catch up, ferrywoman Bella style.

As the King rowed out into the junk, Rika and Kamek went inside the ship to see if they could find anything handy and them sized within, while Jr stayed on deck, prepping a life ring and some other junk to throw at music instruments as a distraction, which left him the only one on deck if and when Missfortune’s wheel came rolling in a few moments after Bowser set off. The King would be forced to row like hell out of the way, while Jr would do what he could to either stop the wheel if he could (either just stopping it by bracing, or tackling the side to tip it over depending on the amount of momentum the thing still had) and then rush to a hiding spot like the ship’s bridge with Miss Fortune to avoid Bongo Bongo’s inevitably incoming wrath.

At first, the mini-Cadet didn't even notice that he'd been left in the dust by pretty much everyone else. He had spent a while going back and forth in his own brain, processing all of the new information and trying to decide the best way to cross the Belly. It was an uncharacteristically long while, one might add. Before, full sized and fully equipped, he would have trudged ahead confidently with the same "can-do" attitude he tackled most things with. Now, itty bitty and squishier than ever he knew that wasn't the brightest of ideas. In particular, Nadia's quip about being able to die now without her Life Gem had the Cadet going awkwardly quiet just before withdrawing into the maze-like idea factory of his mind. He didn't want her, or anyone, to die. Now that they were pint-sized it would be hard to protect themselves, let alone each other.

So, the young hunter had a hand fisted under his chin as he thought and thought, putting every little piece of information into his head like a peculiar puzzle: there were useful items buried in the junk around here somewhere, Mirage's dart gun the proof of that. There was apparently an extra person in their group now - oh, no, wait that was... Frog? His speech patterns matched even if his voice was different. Their best bet at escape the garbage collection was a vent that Princess Peach had spotted, but the Cadet couldn't see it from where he was no matter how hard he squinted. After they made it out their next course of action was finding a way to take down those hypno-monsters so they could get back to their present day bodies, a plan the Cadet wholeheartedly approved. Speaking of monsters, there were apparently a couple lurking around the area they were in as well, one above and one below. Like the vent, Ace Cadet could not see either at the moment. So then, what was the best route to get across? Try and go carefully, leaping from surface to surface...? Maybe try and make some kind of rope line...? Or just dash across really fast and hope nothing caught him?

As the Cadet stood with smoke practically billowing from his ears due to how hard the gears in his head were working, BB walked around him in a lazy circle. The size difference between master and minion was comical now. The behemoth piglet reached about halfway up the Cadet's torso now, instead of barely to his knee as before. As time passed the little monster began growing restless, it's ears flicking. It nudged the Cadet rather hard, causing the red haired boy to stumble in place and effectively knocking him out of his thought process.

"Hey! Rude." He tutted at the minion, then looked up and around him. The group had really thinned out. He hadn't been that long, had it? Either way, the Cadet was one of a few who were left behind. He didn't plan to let it stay that way, though.

"I'm going ahead," he said, nodding at Link and Frog - or, Glenn was it? "Frog" didn't exactly seem to apply at the moment. He gave the two boys a loose salute and then bounced across a few large pieces of floating junk, away from the starting point.

He didn't make it very far at all when a great crash resounded throughout the Maw's belly. The Cadet halted mid-step, peeking out around the hill of trashed knickknacks and household items he currently found himself behind. Monster number one, he thought, looking up at the massive, dark blue body dangling from the dark ceiling. It had a single particularly nasty looking eyeball right where it's head should be, and it's hands were severed at the wrists. It was these hands that had made the sound, smashing something up then retreating back to the main body.

That thing... was scary. The Cadet could feel his knees knocking together the longer he stared at it. When it's spotlight drew close the boy pulled his head back behind the junk pile and reached down to hold onto his own legs, as if the tiny noise would somehow carry to the creature. The red light glowed to either side of the trash heap and then moved on. The Cadet let out the breathe he hadn't realized he was holding.

"Stop shaking!" he whispered harshly to himself, glaring at where his hands still gripped his knees. "You've fought way bigger and badder things than this... solo!"

Of course, he'd had a bowgun nearly larger than he was at the time, but that detail wasn't needed in the little pep talk he was giving himself. He forced his body to still with sheer willpower, then peeked out again. The monster's gaze was focused elsewhere for now. Ahead, he tried to see if he could spot any of the others. With everyone spread out and taking cover themselves, he couldn't tell where exactly anyone was. The only thing he could do was focus on moving forward. A little ways away he spotted a scuffed up desk with piles of torn up paper and books in loose stacks sitting on top and against it. The space underneath would be a nice for the next hiding spot after he shoved some of garbage out.

He sent BB on ahead, with some trouble. At first the little behemoth dug it's hoof-paws into the mound, refusing to leave the shadow of safety cast by the junk pile. With much coaxing and promises of come on, it will be fine! the minion took off and made it underneath the desk in seconds. It started kicking away some of the clutter, but the Cadet did not immediately follow. He was rummaging through the heap, looking for anything remotely useful. He pulled out a decent size dartboard, and though it had a literal bullseye printed on it would make for a decent shield... he hoped. Not wanting to spend too much time there, he tucked the board and a few other items under his arm and dashed to the desk, sliding in beside BB.

"This giggisux," he whispered to the minion, "staying up there looking for us... if only that thing would come down here, I'd really show it a thing or two."

BB just snorted in reply. Together they searched for the next safe haven they could make their way too while the Cadet fiddled with his makeshift shield. His eyes went from the project to the Belly to the ceiling, sweeping the area. In his hands were the handle ripped from a suitcase and some nails he'd managed to loosen from the desk they were under. When he was finished the dartboard had a rudimentary grip, but it was good enough. Even in his adult state he was no smith, so this was about as much as he could accomplish as a kid.

"Okay, all done." The boy showed off his work to his companion who was less than impressed. "Where's the next spot?"

Their next goal, the Cadet decided, was a huge area of various big items. Machinery pieces that were totally foreign to him, and stuffed between them more familiar things like the canvas of tents, poles, and what might have been a chunk from a tin chimney. The piles strewn about were big enough to hide behind, but there were also hollow space and tarps strewn about that might make a decent cover. There was a dip in the landscape just before the target area, but it shouldn't prove too much of a problem.

"Same plan, you go first BB."

This time the baby behemoth didn't hesitate. It drew one leg back a few times in preparation to charge, then it ran out and down the slope, easily making it up the other side where it skidded to a stop tucked into the shadow of a large piece of metal. The Cadet gave it a thumbs up and began crawling out from under the desk when another big smash came from the other side of the room. He paused, worried for the others, but he didn't hear anything else. If someone'd been grabbed or crushed someone would cry out... at the very least, the victim would. He reasoned that since he heard no such thing, everyone was still safe - and, since the sound was a distance away it was the best time to cross to his next hiding spot. The Cadet scrambled to his feet and ran down the slope.

When he got to the bottom his feet sank into the ground layer of garbage a little. He blinked, confused, but continued on. It was a little slow going, but the other side was right there——

Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaalll!!

The future monster hunter's head snapped up, his locking onto BB. He expected to find the minion stuck or hurt, but it was jumping in place and focused on a spot somewhere off to the Cadet's side. He followed it's gaze and saw something traveling under the junk, random items flying from the piles as it moved right towards him.

Monster number two?!

How could he forget! With as much strength as his little legs could muster he sprinted through there rest of the way, dragging himself up the other slope. He continued pushing himself until he dove under the cover where BB was waiting, knowing that the red spotlight would be making it's way over to him if it wasn't there already. As soon as he cleared the the overhang the evil gaze swept over it, finding nothing. Another noise drew it's attention from somewhere (somewhere closer by, the Cadet noted) and it moved on.

"What in the wulg," he breathed, flopping onto his back beneath the metal canopy. Yeah, this giggisucked big time.

The boy closed his eyes and sighed, deep and drawn out. After a few moments he caught his breathe and got to his feet, rattled but not despairing yet. He would feel so much better with a weapon to along with his shield though. Sharp or blunt, anything would be fine. Cautiously the Cadet left the safety of the overhang and made his way around one of the mounds of stuff. He threw a glance back at where he'd last seen "monster number two," but there was no trace of it now.

After a short investigation the Cadet determined that he was on an "island" of sorts. It was a big pile up of metals, cogs, fabrics, and random other things - and all around it was the bottom layer of junk where the mystery monster was lurking. Gargwawesome, he thought to himself sarcastically. How was he going to get off? Maybe he could do something like Sakura had been doing, when he'd caught a brief glimpse of her after first setting off. Man, he really wish he could spot any of the others now. Maybe he should climb up and get a better view? He looked up. I can definitely climb that. The only problem was not getting seen by that bruise-colored jerk.

The Cadet collected a bundle of tarps, planning to hide himself under it if the red eyed gaze came his way. He also yanked a thin pole out from the pile. The pole was longer than he was tall, thin and lightweight - in fact it seemed hollow. There were even thinner branches sticking out of it near the top, some snapped off, with little swirls at the end. From one of the branches a broken bird feeder hung (and was promptly discarded). This thing was a bit unwieldy, but it had a sharp point. If his tarp plan failed the Cadet's brilliant back up plan was to just start stabbing. He looked ridiculous with his dartboard "shield" and garden accessory "lance," but just having a crude facsimile of a weapon made him all the more confident.

BB waited in safety while the Cadet strung up his tarp on the pole and climbed his way up the metal pile. When he got to the top and stopped moving, he resembled a strange, skinny, grease stained tipi. He wasn't very high up, but he could see a few of the others! His heart instantly felt lighter just seeing them in one piece, even if they were all still technically in danger. Of particular interest was the sight of a boat rowing through the junk on the ground layer. The person manning it was draped in a cloth so he couldn't tell exactly who it was, but it was going the wrong way. Or... maybe on purpose?

He made his way back down, letting out a low whistle to summon BB to him. The baby behemoth ran over to him and slipped beneath the tarps, looking a little spooked. The Cadet looked suspiciously at their hiding spot, but there was nothing there save for a stationary little triangle hat. They moved carefully to edge of their "island," and the hunter waved a hand at the ferryman to get their attention. "Permission to board?" the boy asked, peeking his face out from his disguise.

Jesse was on the back foot when the Phantom Thieves managed to come to her aid. She was fast and some well-timed projectiles kept it away, but it wasn’t hurting it at all. She figured it had some kind of weakness, but it was hard to think or puzzle solve with a giant monster bearing down on her. Primrose was doing some magic that made Jesse a little more confident that this thing wouldn’t just splatter her with one hit.

When even their impressive maneuver bounced off, Jesse knew the name of the game was slowing it down until her allies could find the weakness. That divination ability would come in clutch. While they did their coordinated attack, Jesse drew forth the Tool Gun.

“I’ll buy time.” Jesse announced.

There were a few things she could try, but a lot of them were probably out done by its sheer brute strength and odd anatomy. Nonetheless, she switched it to Deflate and fired off a few beams at its lower appendages, focusing on the same ankles and knees the brave Mona was pelting. It’s left leg would become Jesse’s target.

In the moment she adjusted her settings the Shambler nearly got her, but in desperation Mona called upon Zorro to whip up an even stronger whirlwind than usual. “Magaru!” His Persona’s rapier cut a gleaming rune into the air, then sent forth his magic with a flourish. A horizontal cyclone that raked across the gallery blew the Shambler up and away, but not nearly as far as it should have, and when the creature fell it descended slower than gravity would typically allow. “Grr!” Mona grit his teeth. “This thing isn’t reacting normally!” He watched Jesse zap its leg, but the monster brushed off the bolt of electricity just as it did the fire before, and its effect didn’t take.

“Yup.” Jesse dead panned. (Time to come up with Plan C.)

While Jesse and Mona dealt the thing and the remaining thieves scattered, Primrose considered her options. Since she didn't wield any wind or ice, she wasn't confident that her magic would be useful at holding the creature back. For her, directly confronting the monster was obviously a no-go. She would leave that to the pair already engaged.

So, Primrose did what she did best in battle: support her teammates. She focused on Mona this time, performing the Peacock Strut to boost his elemental attack. With a stronger wind, hopefully they'd have an easier time pushing the shambler into a corner while the others searched for the weapon that was apparently it's weakness. Midway through the steps she seamlessly reached into her clothes and drew something out, not her fan but her own dagger. The blade in her hand flashed as she danced, reflecting the flames around them.

Once her empowering twirl was completed she took a steadying breath. Mentally Primrose called the Makami out, could feel it's giddiness at being deployed so soon, and she wasted no time giving it it's first mission. She showed it the dagger in her hand, and with a finger she quickly drew a spiral down the length of it. "A bone dagger in a helix shape," she repeated to the wolf spirit, "fly up and help them find it."

The dancer was aware this wasn't the usual kind of job one might give a hunting wolf, but the spirit accepted it nonetheless and floated upwards towards the gallery's ceiling, trying to catch any hint of the mentioned weapon.

While the Thieves pored over the displays in the less damaged half of the gallery, Primrose’s Makami pointed its snout in the direction of the struggle with the Shambler. Like a kite caught in Mona’s wind it fluttered into the heat of battle, skirting just out of the horror’s range to come to a stop over the remains of a shattered display case, one that Jesse had thrown. It turned back to its new master as its body dangled downward and gave her a hollow howl to signal its find. Then it disappeared, its time spent for the moment. Primrose's eyes flickered over at the noise. So the Makami had succeeded in finding something - she could only hope it was the dagger. "There - try there," she said, calling attention to the wolf's fading form.

A voice reached the Phantom Thieves through their masks, that of the flying saucer Necronomicon. “Hey, are you guys alright? I’m getting some strange readings from in there.”

“We’re fighting this weird monster that doesn’t get hit like it should, and it’s not a normal immunity!” Mona yowled. “Need you to scan it, fast!”

“Oh! O-okay!” Necronomicon stammered, suddenly energized. “Well, uh, it’s...it’s pretty darn weird. Almost like a liquid? Whatever it’s made of can’t be from this world, and it doesn’t follow our laws. It’s immune to energy, but I bet it reacts to matter. Like...the opposite of a non-Newtonian fluid. So slower stuff with more surface area will have more effect.”

Though his stamina was beginning to run dry, Mona sent forth another twister to keep the monster at bay. He kept it slow and watched it carry the Shambler with it rather than move it as it passed through. “No wonder it touches the floor and furniture just fine.” He snuck a glance at Jesse. “Maybe you can pin it down with something?”

Jesse’s reserves of Energy were recharging, and she was managing it as best she could. It always came back, but if she ran empty at a crucial time, it would be bad news. Mona posed an idea. “Maybe.” She responded.

“I need something that won’t break.” Jesse scanned the room. Just keep throwing things at the wall, see what sticks. She ripped the concrete base of one of the statues right out of the floor and hovered it infront of her. She hipfired her Tool Gun, firing several Thrusters at it. She Launched the concrete object at the Shambler, the Thrusters still facing her. Then she activated the Thrusters on the concrete base, looking to push the monster backwards.

Though hackneyed and rushed given the circumstances, Jesse’s scheme paid dividends. Her well-placed thrusters sent the stone slab sliding forward across the ground without tipping forward and smacking into the ground. The Shambler lashed out with its cruel talons when the barrier drew near, but to no avail, and like the plow of a bulldozer the wall swept the monster before it. In only a moment the jet-propelled wall pinned the scrabbling horror against the door. “Nice going!” Mona cheered, but the Shambler’s claws sought purchase around the edges of the slab to make its escape, so he did not sit on his laurels. As he called forth another burst of wind to keep the slab tamped down, his big eyes locked on where the Makami vanished. “Did it find something? We need to act fast!”

“Then leave it to me!” Skull declared with a grin, crouching down into a runner’s stance. Energy welled around him, charging up, and after a brief moment he burst into a headlong sprint across the gallery. He zoomed to where Primrose’s striker signaled its find and slid to a stop amid splinters and shattered glass. Without fear he scooped up the helix dagger from the debris, then barreled back the way he came.

As if sensing something, the Shambler locked its claws around the edges of the slab. It pulled itself free and leaped, grabbing hold of the ceiling. Like a spider it crawled at terrifying speed in pursuit of Skull, who for all his training was only human.

"No you don't," Primrose hissed. Pulling her arm in to conjure her dark magic, she then flung it outward towards the Shambler. Using her BP to empower the spell, she willed it to knock the demonic thing off course, if only for a moment to allow Skull the chance to get the dagger to where it needed to go and end this. Primrose was already in the midst of preparing another spell to back up the first, face determined.

“What’s the dagger for?” Jesse asked, noticing the Shambler’s reaction. The Shambler didn’t have time to destroy the slab completely, so Jesse was free to grab it and throw it at the monster as it was hit by Primrose’s magic.

"With luck, killing it," the dancer replied, getting as close as she dared.
“No shit.” Jesse said wryly. “Skull, what are you doing with that thing?” Jesse shouted across the room to him, jogging forward and chucking another piece of concrete at the Shambler.

Skull screeched to a halt, suddenly second-guessing where his adrenaline and instincts were taking him. “What? I was- that thing’s- they’ve gotta be…?” He’d been headed back toward the painting where Joker’s Third Eye revealed the knife to him, assuming that he needed to bring it back there. But Jesse’s commanding yell made it seem an awful lot like it should be expressly delivered to the Shambler itself instead. Both made sense, paralyzing him with choice, and if not for Primrose and Jesse’s efforts the Shambler would already be upon him. Even as he idled, however, a shimmering darkness spread out from the FBC director’s wounds. Skull looked around with frantic, panicked eyes, his fingers raking through his dyed hair. “J-Joker?! What do I do!?”

The leader of the Phantom Thieves stood by the horrific painting, brows furrowed, the difficulty of the situation plain to him. He couldn’t say what the answer to this puzzle was. He could only trust in his comrade. “Ryuji,” he called, using his best friend’s real name. “It’s up to you. Whatever you feel is the right move, do it now.”

Skull exhaled sharply. “Ri-hi-hight. Well…I’ll…” He clenched his teeth as he looked around, the dagger clutched in his vice grip. Maybe this weird looking knife was the only thing that could hurt it. But maybe the fact that Joker’s Third Eye got the hint from the painting meant something. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Skull tensed his muscles and sprang forward, gunning it for the back of the gallery. Behind him the Shambler shrieked and sprang forward. It twisted unnaturally, as if it had no bones, to avoid incoming projectiles. Mona’s eyes went wide as the monster closed the distance. “Zorro!” he yelled, but his Persona did not appear. He was out of stamina. A vile mitt swatted the cat like a fly, sending him smashing into the broken remnants of a statue, out like a light. It swung at Jesse as it flew by her in pursuit of its fleeing quarry.

Mona was down. Jesse swore and dove out of the way as best she could. The Shambler wasn’t exactly obscuring its intentions on where it meant to go. If the Shambler wanted the dagger so bad, chances were it needed to be kept away from it. The dagger needed to go somewhere else. “Don’t let it grab the dagger!” She shouted.

Jesse extended a hand out, past the Shambler, and ripped a chunk of concrete right out of the wall. She pulled it toward herself, and thus, into the beast. It toppled over, rolled one, and regained its footing to continue its mas dash. Once every five seconds she could smack into the creature. Not exactly the most effective but it was the best she could manage at the moment.

Primrose's spells were much too slow to hit the monster now that it was contorting itself in desperation to avoid anything that would stop it's movement. She let the magic die in her hand. The Shambler was fast, so they needed to be faster. Primrose backed up a step and then spun in place, throwing herself into a dance. She went through the movements as fast as her body would let her, nearly stumbling despite her years of practice. It was fortunate that the Panther Dance ended with a low sweep, as after the speed boosting magic took effect on Skull, Primrose let herself lie for a moment to catch her breath.

The much-needed speed boost snatched Skull from the jaws of defeat as the Shambler leaped for him. Like the wind the thief closed the distance between himself and the painting, but his abominable pursuer would not relent. With Jesse’s power and Primrose both recuperating, Joker and Panther breathed deep and stepped in to buy their friend the moment he needed. “Arsene!” Joker cried, his desperation more clear in his voice than he would have liked, and the apparition appeared. His Persona kicked through the legs of a display table with a roundhouse, then on the backstroke delivered a side kick that sent the furniture flying at the Shambler. Panther used her whip to grab hold of the wing of a draconic, squid-faced statue, and after Carmen appeared to crack the stone with a stomp, the carving flew like an axe blade to strike the horror as it smashed through Joker’s case. And still it kept going. With one blow apiece it struck aside Joker, then Panther, then turned to sink its teeth into the last thief standing.

But Skull had already reached the painting. “Get…” The dagger held in both hands and pointed downward, he leaped into the air. “WRECKED!” he half-bellowed and half-screamed as he plunged its bizarre blade into the painting. To his surprise the weapon carved through a material much thicker than paper, one that quivered like jelly -or flesh- as dark magic eked from the wound. Behind him he heard the Shambler howl, and the monster turned as if to flee, yet it could gain no distance. As the wind seemed to rise, something pulled it toward the painting. It clawed at the ground, scrabbling for purchase but as though someone was dragging it by its legs it slid down the floor. Finally it could hold on no longer and flew, with bone-chilling shrieks, into the painting. Its body disappeared into the semisolid surface, but before its head could sink in its claws latched onto the picture-frame. For a brief moment it fought back, pulling itself out.

(That works.) Jesse reached for the Tool Gun, and adjusted it to No Collide. “Go on. Get.” She lined up a shot and fired it at the picture frame. It’s brute strength shouldn’t be able to save it, now. Sure enough, the frame lost its ability to be touched, and with a final shriek the Shambler was gone.

With it faded the green haze that permeated the shadow gallery, restoring its ordinary light and atmosphere. So did the wounds the nightmare inflicted, allowing the injured interlopers to pick themselves up. Skull’s shoulders sagged in relief as he let out his breath. “Ho-ly crap...” The lead pipe he’d had at the ready to whack the Shambler into the next dimension if not for Jesse’s quick shot descended, and he after wiping his brow Skull moved to the center of the devastated gallery to meet up with everyone. Though bruised and exhausted Mona seemed to be okay, and Panther and Joker fared well, all things considered. Still, Panther did not hesitate to summon Carmen to help patch everyone up.

“Good job, everyone,” Mona told the group. “All things considered, we did about as well as we could have.”

With a groan, Panther rubbed her shoulder. “Agh. Sure hope we don’t run into any more where that came from.

“Yeah, all these changes are total bull,” Skull grouched.

Primrose let out a deep sigh of relief. She stood on somewhat shaky legs and picked her way through the ruined gallery to where the thieves and Jesse gathered. "Damnable thing," she muttered after glancing at the painting the Shambler had disappeared into. Sure that it wouldn't be worming it's way out anytime soon, she looked over the others. Glad that they'd taken no major injuries she offered them the only thing she could while Panther healed them - an encouraging smile.

Uninjured, she leaned against one of the few displays still standing and finally cast her gaze towards the door the monster had been guarding when they first arrived. "How many floors do you think we have left to go?" she wondered.

“It’s hard to say, unfortunately,” Joker told her. “Our objective today is different from last time, and we don’t have a lot of hints. This place’s bigger on the inside, too.” Despite the ordeal the team just went through, and the uncertain road ahead, there was no frustration to be seen on Joker’s face or heard in his voice. He nodded his head at Skull. “Good job back there. You made the right call.”

His friend rubbed the back of his head, smiling. “Aw, it was nothin’. I mean, it was pretty crazy back there, but I thought the picture and that monster had to be connected. That said, I thought that, uh, cuttin’ the painting would cut the real thing, or somethin’. Wasn’t expectin’ the whole whoosh-reeee deal.”

“Yeah. Well done. We straight up banished that thing.” Jesse said, kicking the loose stones of a statue she had shattered. “I think you guys could work on your callouts. If I knew that was your plan I could have moved the painting towards you, or you could have tossed the knife over to me and I could have launched it at the painting. But, hey, we survived, and it was pretty fun.” The Director commented off-handedly. Jesse glanced over at the door, vanishing the Service Weapon. She got out her tool gun and prepared to No-Collide. “We can catch our breath for a bit, if you want. Before we move on to find that friend of yours.”

“Fun?” Panther seemed incredulous. “I mean, normal fights are pretty fun. That, though…?” She let the thought trail off. Primrose echoed the girl's thoughts, raising a single brow behind her mask at the Director.

Joker nodded to Jesse. “You’re right about the callouts. We’re not used to working with others I’m afraid. Normally we would take a moment to talk, but it was a little hectic in there.” The casual manner with which Jesse treated the whole thing made her seem a lot more experienced than he thought. “Let’s take another minute to rest, but our Persona magic doesn’t replenish itself, so there’s no use sticking around any longer than that.”

“Fox’s gotta be here somewhere,” Skull murmured. “If only we had a clue.”

Though her mask obscured them, Panther’s eyebrows went up. “Wait, what about our navigator? Maybe she can tell us!”

“Oh, good idea! I’ll call her.” Skull put two fingers to his temple, although he didn’t actually know if that did anything or not. Joker watched, but he didn’t exactly look hopeful. “Uh, Necro? Can you scan the place for Fox? Necronomnom? You there?”

“It’s Necronomicon, you moron!” Panther hissed.

“Yes!” The modulated voice responded. “I’ve already run a scan. Unfortunately the place is really big, and there are too many lifesigns to narrow it down. I’ve been going one by one trying to recognize him, but no luck so far. But he’s not in the treasure chamber, and there doesn’t appear to be a basement.”

Mona considered what he remembered of the palace. “So, where would captive artists be held…? Although there are a bunch of places with security lasers, I don’t remember any holding area.”

“Maybe the distorted Escher area,” Joker suggested. “It’s basically made to prevent escape. If we’re about halfway up, past the area with the walk-through paintings, it must be nearby.” The Thieves nodded their collective agreement, and a few moments more were ready to follow Jesse as she no-collided the Shadow Gallery door.

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.” Jesse said. Deeper and deeper, into a labyrinthine complex that defied spatial sense, and was full of horrible monsters? All in search of a missing person? (Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.) The Director No-Collided the door, and this time she was the one who stuck her red-haired head through.

Oh, this was terrible. Geralt felt more than saw that hanging (or was it floating?) monster's gaze pass over his extremely makeshift hiding place, passing over him without more than a moment's notice. He let out a slow breath and, after waiting a few moments, extricated himself from the oversized clothing he was using as concealment. On the bright side, he wasn't dead.

On the less bright side, he still had a ways to go to get to that vent, so away he went. He saw the light chase after Blazermate, who was unfortunately a bit too large and too noisy to fully escape notice. After quickly hiding himself once more as it followed after the robot, he got back up and tried to forge a path towards what he hoped would be their salvation. Large piles of junk and assorted furniture being the two main kinds of 'safe zones' from whatever it was that lurked below, and whatever they could get their hands on protected them from the monster above. This would be tricky.

Geralt wasn't terrible at moving silently, but he was certainly no Cat or Viper school Witcher, trained extensively in the arts of stealth and acrobatics. Still, with everything going on, the other noises that others were making and how much area that thing had to surveil, made it relatively simple for Geralt to find his way to another piece of furniture, oversized shirt folded and thrown over his shoulder like an extremely-oversized towel.

He saw Bella a ways away, using her oversized tail and a makeshift boat to brute force her way through the refuse covering the floor of this place. It seemed to be working, albeit painfully slowly.

Careful to avoid making too much noise, Geralt grabbed a pair of scissors that he'd noticed and nodded, content that he at least had a last resort weapon should he be caught. It probably wouldn't work, but the idea of having nothing on hand in the worst case scenario was something he just couldn't tolerate.

Continuing, he made his way from safe zone to safe zone, using random pieces of debris (such as an oversized book in one case to get him enough room to make a running leap to a low table) to help him cross the room. It was slow work, especially when he had to quickly pull the shirt from his shoulder and fall prone beneath it to hide himself, but in due time Geralt found himself near the mountain of trash he'd seen Nadia and Mirage climb not long ago.

Pulling himself up the mountain carefully, he reached the summit just in time to hear the words "We should be wheely quick about this, before we have to hide from another patrol."

Oh no, not these jokers. Hiding a sigh at the living embodiments of the lowest form of comedy, Geralt cleared his throat gently. "I have a solution for that." He said, patting the shirt on his shoulder. "I don't have a solution for getting up there, though..."

---

Lift, place, hop.

Lift, place, hop.

Lift, place, hop.

Noise, crash, hide.

Listen, for, screams.

...

... ...

... ... ...

No screams.

Start, breathing, again.

Lift, place, hop.

Link had gotten what he had started referring to as The Sakura method down to an exact rhythm. He was making good time with it, owing mostly in a sense of self-assured confidence in his own athleticism. He had traversed the most difficult possible terrain Hyrule could throw at a person, up and downhill, through rain, snow, and fire. On Death Mountain the floor really was lava. If he could handle that he could handle jumping between some pillows where, at the very least, he had a few seconds to clamber back onto the pillow if he missed before the floor monster devoured him whole.

Still, where was he making his way toward. He'd been following Sakura, but she had clambered up into some kind of machine to avoid the gaze of their ceiling lurking friend. He figured, eventually, they were going to have to climb one of these junk mountains to get at the vent Peach had seen. He kept an eye at each of the spires he passed along the way, looking for rope or a dart gun like Mirage had found. Something to make that climb easier when the time came. Occasionally he'd spot movement upon them, angular white shapes ducking out of sight as he approached.

It was while he was studying one of these nearby trash islands that he laid eyes upon something interesting. He diverted course for a moment, angling the pillows to bring him to a modestly sized island composed of interlacing surfboards. A forest of beach umbrellas stuck out from between them, far too big to carry with him even if their covers hadn't been torn to shreds ages ago leaving only the skeletal branches of them sticking out. Those hadn't been what had drawn his attention, however. He carefully stepped onto one of the boards, testing his weight to make sure climbing up wouldn't lead to a sudden shift that would noisily alert the ceiling lurker to where he was, and picked his was past what looked like dead deflated version of that ringed creature they had spotted back at the lagoon until he came upon what looked like a glider.

At least, he thought it was a glider. It was big enough to be one, between his small size and the fact that everything was big around here, but as he picked it up he noticed a few things. One as that it was very light, far lighter than his regular paragliders despite its size. The part that was usually cloth was glossy and was colored in a wavy light blue, and as he picked it up a handle connected to it by a string come unwedged from the bones and tumbled down toward the island. It took only one heart racing second for Link's hand to flash and and snatch the handle out of the air before it clattered to the floor and spelled his doom.

More importantly, something had been hiding under it.

A small creature, slightly smaller than Link, looked up at him with big bulging eyes. It's body was entirely white, and simplistic like clay that had been shaped into a vaguely humanoid form. It's head was pointed, triangular almost, with a long snout like a horse and what looked like hair was actually, upon closer inspection, quills. It blinked up at him for a moment, then its eye shifted to the ceiling dweller. Link realized that it must have been taking shelter under the glider until the beast stopped hunting. "Sorry." He mouthed, and went to put the glider back. He stopped, however, when the thing pulled out a bomb.

It wasn't like any bomb Link had ever seen but the general shape and the way the creature menaced him with it by miming a toss made it easily recognizable. Link held very still as the thing walked its way around him and, to his horror, started making its way toward the pillows Link had used to get over here without taking its eyes off him. He started after the thing, compelling it to shake the bomb at him harder, but Link just shook his head. He pointed at the bomb, pointed at the monster of the ceiling, then mimed the thing slamming its hands together. The message was clear: throw that and we both get crushed.

The thing considered this for a moment, then held up the bomb even more vigorously and pointed to one of the larger nearby junk piles.

"You want to move to a better hiding place?" Link asked, and the little monster nodded. “Well, I will take you there.”

The thing didn’t put down the bomb, but it stopped being quite so threatening with it. It hopped down onto the pillow and patted the other with its free hand insistently. Link followed after it, kite now strapped to his back and working diligently toward the base of one of the taller mountains near where Peach had indicated.

The washing machine was safe, fortunately. All empty. Sakura peeked her head out, and saw Link a short distance away. The others were all making their way through this horrible place in their own different crazy methods. Lots of parkour, which was something Sakura used to be really good at. Now? Not so much.

The big eyed no wristed floaty hands freak-o thing moved on. There was a particularly close call with Blazermate, but other than her plan worked. The only thing to do was to keep moving. Meet up with the others. Try not to explode. Sakura saw Bella, who was not far behind, using a bucket to keep herself shielded from the eye.

"Oh! So it's dumb. That's good!" She said. Sakura scrounged up a dirty old towel and wrapped it around her self. Not if Bongo Bongo got too close, she would just cower beneath it. Or, just crouch down and hold her spare pillow above her head.

Forward!

One pillow infront of the other. Slow and steady wins the race? Sakura began to get into a rhythm. Methodical movement, occasional cowering. Her spirits began to lift. She wasn't shaking with fear. The rules were becoming more apparent. Sure, the only thing keeping her from being drowned in literal garbage was this crappy pillow. But she wasn't gonna lose her balance! All she had to do was be careful.

Some people were rowing boats around, and Sakura didn't have the strength to do that. Good for them, though, it was certainly something. Very impressive child strength.

Sakura followed Geralt until he met up with Nadia and Mirage. They were up an incline which she didn't feel like navigating. But she was pretty close to them, so she felt like she could safely communicate. sakura tossed up some reassuring air high fives. "Good job, everyone! High five, high five!" She looked across the way to their goal, the vent. The brunette held her big pillow in her hands.

"All right. I'm gonna keep going. If you guys fall in you can run and hop onto my pillow. And then we'll just starve to death, I guess, because we won't be able to do anything after that. But hey, better than nothing."

She set the pillow down infront of her, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck and knuckles. "I'm gonna get in that vent. I got my towel, I got my two pillows, and I got a dream. Come on, Blue Team! We got this." Sakura exhaled a shaky breath, shook some energy out of her arms, and began going once again. One pillow infront of the other. "Ugh, man. My palms are so sweaty." She complained quietly, wiping her hands on her pretty pink dress.

When Bongo Bongo finally decided that the flower pot couldn’t possibly get any more smashed, its gaze moved on once again, but this time Nadia noticed what looked like a change in the monster’s behavior. Already the repeated provocations were wearing on the shadow beast’s nerves, perhaps knowing that it wasn’t striking at the root cause of the various disturbances. Leaving behind its methodical, reactionary strategy from before, the scarlet searchlight started to move faster and more erratically, making its gaze much harder to predict and hide from. Even Nadia, whose middle name might as well be ‘Levity’, had a tough time taking the situation lightly. She made a mental note to praise Mirage for his pun later as her brain raced to come up with a solution to the predicament before her.

Her traveling companion beat her to the punch. Nadia looked on as he extracted a nearby tire from the rubble, and when he began to outline his plan she absorbed every detail, her tail swishing around as the gears turned in her head. Someone possessed of an excess of sanity or perhaps a particularly well-developed intellect might have found fault with his plan, but given the feral’s attempt to jury-rig a paraglider mere minutes ago, it was perhaps unsurprising that Mirage’s idea sounded like the bees’ knees to her. In New Meridian and even the Little Innsmouth itself it wasn’t too strange a sight to see a few pint-sized street rats playing with whatever refuse came their way, tires included. The classic combination of tire and hill could keep a kid riding high for the whole day. “Okay,” she whispered, more excited than scared by the prospect. “Let’s do this!”

Together the two got a tire into position, and after bunching up the remains of her bedsheet parachute and stuffing it inside, Nadia climbed in herself. With her fan clutched between her chest and her knees as extra support she fit snugly inside. At that point movement to her right alerted her, but luckily it turned out to be Geralt, nigh-unrecognizable as he was in his current state. “Hiya,” she whispered, keeping things casual despite the ambient threat of the monster turning them to paste. “Mirage can use his darts to make a kind of ladder up the wall. Then we can climb up into the vent. We were just about to get down.” From inside the tire she pointed a clawed finger in the approximate direction of the junk mountain’s foot. “We can use tires to roll down fast. Our target…”

She cleared her throat as she realized, again a little sheepish, that she hadn’t thought about an actual destination. Carefully she got out of the tire, glanced to make sure the phantom’s searchlight wasn’t about to roll over her, and then peered down through the darkness toward the vent that would be her salvation. “There,” she whispered. “Can you see it? Look for the little metal shine. There’s a couch with red cushions pretty much right below it, about halfway between us and that boat.” She pointed to the houseboat currently commandeered by the Koopa Troop. No doubt they’d be reaching the exit at about the same time, which was great news. “Let’s aim there.”

At that point she heard a voice from down somewhere. She skittered to the edge of the metal platform to look and found Sakura down at the base of the mountain, sending up encouragement and high fives. Too pure and innocent for this world Nadia recalled as she clenched her teeth, looking to see if the little street fighter had alerted Bongo Bongo. Luckily the phantom seemed otherwise occupied at the moment at the other side of the Belly, venting some of its frustrations. Nadia waved down at Sakura with both hands, making the universal keep it down gesture. They might be near the end, but it was way too early to celebrate.

Still, she resolved to give Sakura some high-fives when they got through this. First, though she needed to get through this. With a deep breath she re-entered her tire, while Mirage re-adjusted his aim. “Well, if I get mulched, remember me fondly. Adult me, preferably.” She got as comfy as she could and braced herself for adventure. “Okay, I’m ready. Send me!”

Her friend complied, and the next second she was rolling. Her heart instantly leaped into her throat as the tire hit the junk and started to pick up speed, but pretty soon the dizziness set in and flushed everything else from her mind. The poor kitten could do nothing but hold on for dear life as her tire bounced, rolled, and bounced again down the slope of junk, each impact sending items clattering down the mountain. Normally the phantom might have passed the noise up as nothing more than the typical shifting of junk, but with its dander up Bongo Bongo wasn’t going to let a chance slip through its fingers. Its gaze flew across the Belly to the slope of the junk mountain, but by the time its hit the spot the noise came from Nadia’s tire had moved on. As the disturbances continued it tried to keep up, but for whatever reason it didn’t sense the pattern of her movement and attempt to intercept her, and only grew more frustrated.

Maddened by its continued tantalization, Bongo Bongo started smashing. From the shadows its mottled mitts dropped again and again, flying over one another in a line in a horrific game of leap-frog, destroying the junk in Nadia’s wake in an immense racket. If the monster even heard the sound of Mirage’s thrown glass over the hubbub, it flat-out ignored it. It picked up speed, and only a moment after the kitten’s tire ramped off the car door a hand reduced it to broken glass and scrap metal, hurting itself in the process. A strangled, guttural OOGH came from up above, where the searchlight originated, and both hands ceased their raging as the damaged one flashed blue.

Nadia’s tire, meanwhile, sailed through the air and landed on the bottom layer. It rolled a short distance, hit the edge of a buried nightstand, and toppled over. Only after a moment did Nadia’s tousled head poke up from within, looking incredibly dizzy. For the moment Bongo Bongo seemed to be recovering, but there was no mistaking the trail of tossed objects that heralded the arrival of the thing that lurked below. Even if she couldn’t see straight, Nadia could hear the noise that terror etched in her soul from earlier, and she struggled to pull herself from the tire. The sofa was close, painfully close, but still too far. It’s going to get me. It’s going to get me!

Then a pair of scaled hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her free. She mewed in fear, but rather than up into the darkness or down into the junk she got hauled onto the deck of the mostly-buried houseboat, and once her head stopped spinning she realized that a Koopa had come to her aid. “Junior! Oh man, you really saved my skin” she breathed, still too dazed to stand up straight. Her bright eyes turned just in time to see her tire get pulled beneath the junk, along with the blanket she’d left behind. At least she hadn’t let go of the fan.

A crescendo of clashing noise turned her attention back the way she came. Bongo Bongo’s wanton destruction of the mountainside had destabilized the terrain, and now the mountain was coming down. The piled-high items came sliding, tumbling, and clattering down in a landslide, taking the car hood that Geralt and Mirage stood on with it. Balancing for their very lives the two rode the hood down the mountain, eventually coming to a stop past where Nadia’s car door ramp had been. No other way across lay before them, but thanks to the landslide a box containing a set of welcome streamers among other things had been exposed, offering a perceptive dart-shooter the very sort of rope he’d been looking for.

At the same time the others took advantage of the noise to close the gap. Nadia spotted Sakura and Link pillow-stepping their way across the miscellaneous expanse, the latter having gained a strange companion that was not at all the green-haired lad the kitten had been expecting. Peach kept hopping along in her shoe, slow enough to not cause a scene. Though Bella looked exhausted she kept on trucking, rowing her toy boat toward the red-cushioned finish line. Bowser’s own little vessel picked up a passenger in Ace Cadet, who Nadia was overjoyed to see alive and well after he fell behind at the start. With the cover of the landslide Blazermate would have no trouble blazing her own trail over the junk to where the others were coalescing. Behind her, Rika and Kamek emerged from the houseboat’s interior wielding the split halves of a magnet, and the boat’s prow was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from a couple picnic tables and lawn chairs that led right to the sofa. Nadia’s heart surged with hope; somehow, despite the helplessness and terror, they were actually about to make it!



Of course, that notion smacked of confidence before the fall, and in anticipation of a problem Nadia turned her cat vision of the exit. Sure enough, there she spotted a problem with the vent beyond its height off the ground: there was a fan inside it. It spun at a good clip, remarkably quiet, but its edges looked sharp, and it promised to make escape difficult. At the hub there appeared to be a softly pulsing red core of some kind that looked important.

Her observation got interrupted by another noise from the shadow beast. As she watched its red eye began to descend, until its hanging form floated only a couple dozen feet above the final stretch of junk, hands at the ready. In anger and desperation at the intruders’ imminent escape it started to beat the ground layer, twice with its left hand and then once, stronger, with its right. Each impact sent a shockwave through the terrain, making it harder to balance and move, and all the while its eye continued to rove around. The final stretch had become a crazed game of red light, green light for those not already at the finish line, and Bongo Bongo wasn’t playing fair.

Those in the middle would have a hard time getting to the sofa, so it fell to those with a clear path around the sides to clear the way as much as possible. That meant Mirage, Geralt, and possibly Blazermate coming in from the left, and the remaining Koopas plus Rika on the houseboat route to the right. And, of course, Nadia. She grabbed Junior’s shoulder and tilted her head to the others, pointing the way with her ears since her other arm held her fan. “We’ve gotta go. Let’s get into position on the couch, so we can climb up. If you’ve got any ideas for dealing with the big fan, now’s the time!” Leading by example she scurried across the deck of the houseboat and hopped across the outdoor stepping stones to the couch, where she prepared to stage her getaway. She watched out for any signal from the others, any chance to put her own fan to use.

Blazermate did not like this creature above with its giant hands. Sure her flight wasn't the quietest out of all medabots, but this creature sure had an ear on him! Although he seemed to be a bit on the dumb side all things considered. Still, two near misses on his grabs before Blazermate hid, which actually worked much to her surprise let her observe what was going on with the others, even if she was the furthest away from the vent. At least, what she could see that wasn't blocked by objects or the big junk pile.

Bowser and his group were making the best progress it seemed with their group jump strategy. A few others were using other bits of junk to make some makeshift walkways or boats across said junk, ad yet even others were just making their own way around everything as bongo bongo attacked whatever objects they threw or noise they made. At least until he got mad and started to just go ballistic, causing a ton of noise in his frustration. Noise that was much louder than Blazermate's high whine jets. Seeing her opportunity she got out from under her hiding spot and glided along the side of the walls, giving herself a push off point with her legs if she needed to make a quick dodge.

Although due to his rage, soon this wouldn't be necessary as bongo bongo both hurt himself in his rampage, making an audible sound and his hand turning blue when he did so, as well as him causing the junk pile to start to slide and collapse, causing an insane amount of noise and putting Mirage and Geralt in danger, as they were the closest to the pile. With how erratic bongo bongo was being right now, there wasn't much for it and Blazermate made her way over to the two in order to help throw them onto the couch that the others were at, the vent above said couch they were going to use to escape.

Now while Blazermate couldn't fly with either of them, let alone two of them, she could still yeet them to the relative softness of the couch and if they got hurt, she could heal them up afterwords. Considering getting crushed by junk would be a much worse fate, she flew over and helped Mirage first, offering using her strength and an aerial flip for momentum to throw Mirage to the couch. This forced her to descend a bunch, but she could leap off a piece of junk to steady herself back into the air before she did the same thing for Geralt. Not wanting to even see if her little stunt was grabbing bongo bongo's attention, the monster having made a loud thud as it landed to handle the escapees, Blazermate made her way to the vent. Inside the vent was a quiet spinning metal fan with a glowing weakpoint in the center. Not being able to stop herself since she was making a mad flight to the vent, she decided to just try to dropkick the fan's weakpoint, using the fact that she was metal to aid this fact. Although she wasn't expecting to get out of this unscathed.

---

Mirage was ready to push Nadia down on her one-way trip to freedom, but as she was, became distracted as voices began to distract them, peeking down to see Geralt in his small form, he offered a quick OK hand signal. "One ladder, comin' up!" Soon after these words left his mouth, there came numerous pops from the Dart Gun as Mirage shot the tiny non-witcher his own personal climbing platforms to get on top. He figured if the guy had a plan, they could pull it off while Nadia was on her way to the other side. This was perfect, actually, meaning there was no call for self-sacrifice afterall! He really hadn't wanted to rot up here, so that was a huge weight off his mind.

While trying to ready the tire again, a second voice caught his ear. Peeking down again, he noticed Sakura way down below. He would have offered her a ladder up, but she made it clear she preferred her two pillows. Which he respected, honestly, offering a thumbs' up in response to her long-distance high fives. "Be safe! We'll be at that vent in no time!" He declared confidently, figuring there were plans galore to solve this now. Finally, Mirage and Nadia were able to continue their plan. She loaded in with her equipment, and after discussing the target, he gave her a nod of confirmation before taking aim.

Shoving the tire down the hill, he watched anxiously for a moment to ensure she was rolling the right way, before turning to continue his plan. Swapping to his sling, he pulled a perfume bottle out of his pocket and loaded it. Quickly, he went between launching bottles, the shatters ringing out in the area behind them... With a lack of results, as things started getting real loud real fast. Anxiety hitting him like a truck, he panicked and ran past Geralt to look out at Nadia, noticing how she was rolling. "Come on, come on, come on...!" His fingernails were scratching against his scalp as the tire fell in a dangerzone. His first instinct out of guilt was to try and rush there, but he was quick to realize he had no quick way down. His heart calmed somewhat as he noticed a figure pulling Nadia out and onto a safe platform; That little turtle dude! A sigh of relief came from the boy as he wiped his brow, looking back at Geralt with a shifty smile "Ahah, she made it farther, she's okay!" He called, excited, a slight desperation hitting him as he hit the boy with a question: "So how are we gettin' over there? You had a plan, righ--"

Things began to shake really bad. With Bongo Bongo beginning his rampage, the gogglehead panicked as their mountain became unstable, and things began to slide downwards, including the door they both were standing on. Arms spreading with quick thinking, he grabbed hold of the manual window opening handle and Geralt, trying to keep them steady as they slid downwards, finally coming to an abrupt stop that snapped Mirage forward, hands losing their grip as he tumbled down, finding this fall to be broken by a box of sorts. Looking down, he realized something was spilling out of it: Streamers! Kind of like the stuff he and Nadia used earlier. Oh, yeah! That's the rope he needed! "Dunno who the heck Leon is, but I owe him big time." He commented, gathering up as much of the makeshift rope as he could by looping it around one of his shoulders, before regrouping with Geralt to overlook the situation.

Bongo Bongo was angry, and slamming his hands down hard. Those shockwaves began to shake their platform, and luckily everything didn't fall at that moment. But his thoughts went to those at the ground level: And how much trouble they'd be in. Nuts, there had to be a way for him to help, right? Though, the last time he tried, he nearly got Nadia swallowed into the floor. This doubt was distracted by Blazermate's appearance, and a sudden offer to throw both him and Geralt. He wasn't sure what the Witcher would do, but he suddenly saw an opportunity as he looked back at the exit the beast was defending. His darts couldn't stop the shockwaves themselves, but maybe if he could hit the source and distract him a bit, people could get to safety...

He put his goggles over his eyes, swapping his sling for the Dart Gun as he nodded at the Medabot. "I'll go first." He stated, and was surprised how willing and eager Blazermate was to just grip him, lift, and toss. Flying through the air, Mirage couldn't help but grin, the feeling of being in the air reminding him of skydives into the Apex Arenas. Gripping his Dart Gun, he did his best to aim towards Bongo Bongo, who became an easier the farther Mirage soared, an assortment of pops ringing out as he sent all three platforms towards the monster, hoping for one to hit and maybe disrupt him long enough for the others to get onto safer grounds.

Speaking of safe, Mirage was still falling, and as he began to dip and lose altitude, he looked down praying he wasn't about to dive face-first into a table and splatter himself like a housefly.

”Ya got 4 gold coins to pay the ferryman?“ Bowser quipped as he pulled the tarp up and ushered Ace onboard his lifeboat ”Nah I’m kidding, but grab an oar and get rowing to pull your and your piggy’s weight or we’ll be here all day.“

The mini king scooted to one side of the small ship, leaving the other oar open for the Cadet to grasp. They’d both need to put their backs into it if they wanted to make it past what came next.

Back on the big boat Jr pulled the tiny miss fortune onto the ship just before her tyre transport was devoured by the thing in the junk.

”I don't know,” Jr said, as they watched the junk swimmer finishing its work on choking down the catgirl’s improvised transport ”if that was a really cool or really stupid plan”

The prince didn’t get much time to deliberate on which it was as Kamek and Rika emerged front he ship, the little koopa carrying a split in half of Magnet and muttering about the impossibility of it (the pair had figured out the basics of how they worked fairly quickly after finding them by messing around using some of the trash inside the ship) while Rika (who had the had the other half slung under her arm) immediately noticed their new party member.

“Hi Miss kitty. When did you get here?”

”Oh she just rolled in a few seconds ago” Jr supplied.

It was around that time that Bongo Bongo decided it had had enough of being a passive sentry duty and decided to start actively interfering with them. Presumably having worked out where they were going based on the movement of their disruptions across the room (and the presence of the only exit being on the side they were headed for over on this side) and so the big jerk brought its body down into view of them in full and then started banging the junk like a drum, its mighty disembodied hands sending shockwaves through the area around it.

Out on the junk sea, Bowser and Ace, along with Bella, would have to contend with this like a little wave machine. If they could, Bowser would suggest they try to link up with the exhausted looking ship girl so they could all get in one ship and combine their efforts to fight against the pounding roiling scrap sea.

The Troop, plus the temporary addition of Nadia, meanwhile had a shorter shot towards the exit, which conveniently went around the big bad bongo drummer. They were also close enough to see there was going to be an issue getting through the vent, because, as vents do, it had a fan inside it to help circulation. That would be a problem that needed to be dealt with, and with their sudo-jailer getting more and more irate, the sooner it was gone the better..

At Nadia’s prompting, they set off towards the couch, Tyrant and Mimi following along this slightly easier path on foot rather than being thrown, while Jr carried Kamek again and Rika hauled both the magnets. With all the noise being made by Bongo himself, Blazer had managed to abandon stealth and put her fully developed frame to use, yeeting some of their allies towards the exit before jetting to the front of the pack from her previously lackluster position on the progress chart, meaning she got to the fan before them.

Her plan to deal with the fan was, apparently, to drop kick the thing’s glowing center like it was a weak spot. Which it probably was, to be fair. If that didn’t work, once they got close Kamek would use the red magnet half on it, hoping it would give him some way to manipulate it. Unscrew it? Pull it out? Whatever worked if anything.

That left the others trying to think of something to do to help the others out.

“I mean I have these” Rika said, hefting her gauntlet “but don't know if the guns work yet, and if they do well...” unlike Mirage’s pop gun the mini navel cannons would be incredibly loud if they fired off, almost certainly giving away her position.

”If someones gonna get totally wrecked, run out a bit, shoot 'em, and then run back? But till then I think I have an idea that’s sneakier. Hey. Mimi? You still able to do that cool move where you hit them with your shadow?” Jr asked his only pokemon.

The specter rolled her eyes at this question, as if to sarcastically say “Did she know shadow sneak? Only babies fresh out the egg didn't know shadow sneak!” before realizing this was not being communicated thanks to her completely featureless and, in her opinion, cleverly hidden eyes, so instead she nodded her decoy’s head enthusiastically in acknowledgement that yes, she could do the thing.

”Then go spook him!” Jr commanded with a dramatic point. Mimi pumped her arms to hype herself up, and then pushed the two dark tendrils down into her shadow, which grew and grew and grew, the longer and longer shadow still as thin as her tiny body as it impossibly stretched out towards Bongo Bongo. It stopped growing below him, out of his vision, and there a little shadow clone of Mimi popped up, bore its own long arms and then did a one two scratch attack at one of the hands when it came down to pound the ground.

As Mimi pulled a sneaky on him, Rika circled back to the ship quick as could be and, after finding a hiding spot, lined up her maybe functioning guns, ready to try and shoot at Bongo Bongo if someone's cover was well and truly blown and it was shoot or they die time.

Jr meanwhile suggested that maybe Nadia could use her fan to help them launch ripped up fabric or fluff from the couch to knock something over or just distract the big eyed brute for a moment with the fluff itself.

”Or like, make a little parachute for a red piece of metal junk and then we blow/magnet repel that away so it goes way off to where he’s looking and that means he gets distracted swatting at it like he did to you when he showed up?” was his final idea that he’d lend his claws too, though it would involve fishing for some red metal junk in the sea as the blue magnet, that would have made that retrieval mission easy as pie, was (probably) currently being used to try and mess with the fan's red spot.

Waving to the two on the mountain as he ascended, Geralt mentally thanked Mirage for offering his assistance in the form of platforms to ease his climb. The sooner they all got through this mess, the sooner they could go about solving it. Not that he had much of an idea of how they'd do that yet. His vast repertoire of knowledge was only useful if he had time to think about what the hell they were dealing with.

Still, now that he was able to see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, Geralt's spirits had been boosted just a bit, even if he was dealing with pun-slinging miscreants for allies. Mirage and Nadia's brilliant plan was to launch her towards their goal in what appeared to be some kind of wheel made of a material he vaguely recognized but didn't really fully understand yet.

Their plan underway, Mirage turned to Geralt to confirm that he had his own plan for what the two of them would do, but he was interrupted by their tormentor deciding that it had had enough reacting. That boded poorly for their continued survival, but at least Mirage had the decency to grab hold of him and make sure he didn't go flying.

Grunting, Geralt stood and quickly checked to make sure the thing hadn't caught on to their presence, satisfied that they were safe for now. "That was too damned close." Getting his bearings now that he wasn't worried about their imminent demise, Geralt nodded and reached for the box, only pausing when Blazermate arrived to help. "Welcome back." The child Witcher sarcastically commented without much venom.

He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to risk being thrown, a method of transport even less controllable than jumping, but Mirage was already making the choice and firing on Bongo Bongo to distract it. Whether that was a good idea or a suicidal one remained to be seen, but Geralt wasn't one for letting opportunity pass him by. Besides, he still had those scissors if things really got hairy.

Nodding to Blazermate, he held tight to his scissors and one hand and kept his concealment 'blanket' secure against him with the other as he soared through the air, praying that he didn't die an ignoble death to the sea of junk he was soaring over.

Oh, who was he kidding, at least he probably wouldn't get stabbed by a pitchfork this time if he did end up dying. That would have to be enough.

What should have been a trip straight to the palace got sidelined by the myriad smells drifting from kitchens, restaurants, and food carts. Wonderful and enticing aromas of all kinds wafted to Tora on the slight breeze that filtered through Al Mamoon’s streets, and it wasn’t long before they provoked a longing cry from the Nopon’s stomach. “Meeeeh,” he groaned as his stomach rumbled. “All fighting in cistern make Tora very late for lunch! So very empty inside…” He made a piteous expression, holding his belly with both wings. “If poor Tora die of starvation, send body back to Torigoth.”

“Masterpon worry friends needlessly with dramatic exaggeration,” Poppi sighed. “After we get reward from palace, everyone have good meal together.” That said, even she could not keep her optics from wandering over to the nearby stalls and lingering on the luscious arrangements of meat, sauce, vegetable, and pastry. With the city’s lunch hour well in progress her olfactory sensors had to work overtime taking everything in, and what she smelled kept her from chiding her creator too harshly. If she possessed the ability to eat and enjoy food, Poppi imagined that she would be hard-pressed to keep food off her mind, too. “Let’s go double-time,” she suggested. “Faster we get there, faster we go to lunch.”

“Very true, meh meh!” Tora agreed, suddenly wondering why he was limiting himself to a brisk walk. Without a moment’s delay he sped off, moving with an alacrity Poppi didn’t know he had, and with a smile his companion took off behind him. Her hair and scarf fluttered wildly as she ran, giving Red and Laharl a good frame of reference even if they fell behind. With the highly motivated Nopon somehow maintaining the lead, the team of successful exterminators cut a roughly diagonal path from Al Mamoon's waterworks to the palace, ignoring the momentary glances of various citizens. Under the watchful gaze of the Ruin Sentinels Tora charged up the steps and through the palace doors, then down the grand hallway. Sparing not a glance for the slumbering queen in her titanic bed he made for the royal court, where he imagined the the Vizier's skeletal secretary waiting to dole out a chest of hard-earned gold for all his valiant efforts. He burst through the doors with Poppi right behind, singing, "Job done, job done, where's the gold that Tora won~?"

The Nopon slid to a stop as Midna, Sectonia, and Braum turned his way with curious looks, but Eva's glare stopped him cold. Her complete and utter lack of amusement chilled him to the bone, and in a tone just one degree of annoyance away from anger she snarked, "Get in line, pal!"

Looking mortified, Tora cleared his throat and queued up behind the others. "Erm. Ahem." He turned to Poppi as she tried not to smile, his eyes saying give me a break here, before he tried to strike up more subdued conversation. "Hello, friends. How'd jobs go?"

sion "Fine" Sectonia said, the bite marks of the mimics she was fighting still visible, although looking far better than they were wen she got them and healing slowly "I was quite miffed at how little the townspeople seemed to know about the bounties in the town though. So many complainers...." Sectonia continued, shaking her head. "And now this...." Sectonia could only shake her head at the wait that everyone had to do. Tora and the others could see the two mimic spirits in her hand if they looked hard enough.

"Turns out 'strange noises' " Midna did the full air-quotes as she floated next to Sectonia "meant the horrific singing and dancing of a bunch of goddess awful monsters. So i took care of that. Got some extra cursed gear out of the deal too, plus some machinery stuff that I was hoping yo might be able to tell me how they worked" she said, before summoning the two technological masks she'd gotten from the demon's spirits and showing them to the furry engineer, before adding "and don't need to worry about me taking up a slot in the queue, I've already got paid for my job, plus a 'doing the right thing' bonus. I'm just here to bless queeny here, and also yourselves now, with my lovely company while you wait to get paid for your jobs. Speaking of which, how did yours go?"

"I helped catch a scam artist but I had to split it with someone else who helped out," Yoshitsune spoke up. "We should probably take a chance to find somewhere to spend the night as I won't have my swords back until tomorrow." Looking around at the others, he took notice of a bit of their loot. "Who has the least amount of coin right now?"

Made both curious and unsettled by what Midna's description of what she encountered in the course of her assignment, Tora guess his wasn't the only job that turned out to be more complicated than it seemed. "That sound rough, meh. But even so, Mid-Mid return triumphant and receive much reward for trouble! And Tora glad for Mid-Mid lovely company, as always. Here, give Tora masks." He held out his wings to take the loot from her for a closer look. He turned each one over in his grasp, giving the mechanisms of each apparatus a close examination from both sides. After a few moments he returned them, confident in his assessment. "Hmmeh...both seem made for breathing. Spiky one have rebreather, make possible to brave hazardy environment if given air supply. White one have only filter to clean up incoming air, but also have rapid intake. Maybe for huffing chemicals, like big pig man have back in first area. Also, both pretty tough and offer decent protection. Shame neither built for Nopon face, meh."

Poppi recalled the visage of the masked mercenary all the way back in 1-1, who alongside his grenade-happy companion accompanied the heroes for a brief period. She was surprised that Tora remembered Roadhog in the first place, let alone his equipment, given the Nopon's propensity for just forgetting anyone who didn't interest him. Then again, both occupied the same sort of niche--defending others not through heavy armor or barriers but through sheer rotundity and constitution.

"As for job, it actually much different from killing rats in sewer," Tora reflected after handing back the masks. "First off, underground very nice, with clear water, flowers, lilypads, even giant statue. Second, infestation not rats at all. It awful smelly goopy-mold that barf out goopy monsters, and just when we think we burn it all away, it hide inside big goopy rock man!" In dramatic fashion Tora threw his wings wide to approximate the golem's sheer size. "Meh-meh-meh! Tora and friends have to bash and smash over and over again, nearly getting crushed whole time! First thing after Tora get paid, find place to stuff silly."

"Yeah that thing was huge actually. And I got to cut the damn things head clean off!" Red added that last part very triumphantly.

A moment later a few skeletal assistants arrived with the rest of the reward money for everyone, and Eva approved their payment. She directed her underlings to divvy it up, while she sat down to answer an incoming phone call. With relish Tora seized hold of his earnings, only for Poppi to remind him, "That not all for you. Red and Laharl also help. Four hundred split between four make one hundred each."

"Aww..." Tora shot a furtive glance at the petulant demon child. "All he do is one punch before get knocked out." When nudged by Poppi, however, the Nopon reluctantly split it. He did not begrudge Red any, given how much she helped, but capitulating to Laharl felt like an injustice.

"Ah. I had to deal with monster treasure chests. Sadly All I have to show for it are bite marks and their spirits. " Sectonia said, further explaining what she had to deal with after Midna handed the mechanical objects to Tora. "Considering they are spirits of chests, I'm curious to see what crushing them would give, but before that best get the gold first." Sectonia said, observing Tora overlook the rebreather devices. Sectonia didn't know who this 'pig man' was, but considering the words Tora used, even if the nopon was a bit verbally challenged, it didn't sound like he was a good looking person. Not many here were.

And considering what happened to him, it kind of made sense how he'd be reminded of a pig man wearing those masks as his story sounded dreadfully unpleasant. "Its good you brought beauty to an area by smiting such foul things." Sectonia said, giving a, not being as rare now, compliment. Absorbing Count Blech really helped her say her mind when someone did her proud, although the Nopon could probably use a bath after all of that. He did not, unfortunately, register her words as praise.

"As for my gold...." Sectonia said, grabbing the bag offered to her by a skeletal assistant. "I will need to shop around to see if anything is worth it."

"Ah so that's what the ports are for," Midna said appreciatively upon having the two explained "Not sure if huffing chemicals is a great idea, but i might use that one to deal with the sandstorms i can kick up. After some heavy modifications that is. Some of us appreciate that having good aesthetics can be a pretty big deal" and she wasn't the only one. Sectonia had already rejected the demon mask before this group arrived on the basis of it's unsightly appearance. That hadn't stopped her from helpfully testing it out, which had revealed the mask ability to triple someones magical firepower, at the cost of making said firepower an uncontrollable nightmare, with the shots whizzing this way and that with strange and unpredictable flight patterns. That had certainly been interesting. Nothing was simple or untainted with the gear she'd gotten from the temple, that was for sure.

After finishing up with counting the gold she had earned, Red also took a look at the masks that Midna had discovered. "You never know when chemicals could be useful with that sort of thing, there's plenty of things like that with a lot of potential use. Healing or buffing as an example." Not that she really expected Midna to really utilize that aspect but she didn't want her to dismiss the idea entirely just in case it'd help in a dire situation. It seemed like everyone had a productive time as well while they were cleaning out the sewers. "Maybe I need to go shopping too, I've still got a little gold burning a hole in my pocket too." She agreed with Sectonia's idea.

"I guess I/we could keep an eye out for any useful ones. it just doesn't sound like the healthiest thing to be doing is all" Minda replied, still a little skeptical but not as 100% against the Idea as she had been a few moments ago.

As the Seeker's heads filled with things to buy, be they equipment for the road ahead or dishes of local cuisine piled high, they prepared to hit the tracks. Before they could get underway, the drawling voice of the secretary hailed them from her desk. "Hey, hold ahn a sec. Just gotta cwall from the foahce. 'Parently the jahb ahffice down the road neahly got blown up by the Resistance, but ya pal in the trench coat saved the day." She didn't look too elated, but the event was nothing if not good timing. Aware of Validar's directive, she added, "Paints the so-called freedom fightas in a pretty bad light, don't it? Guess ya oaghta check in when ya get done spendin' all the city's gold."

Poppi raised her eyebrows, surprised but impressed. "If Big Band already learn enough about Resistance to foil sabotage, it good day for everyone."

"Meh, meh!" Tora agreed. "Guess being detective really pay off for solving crimes. Friends should definitely pay Band visit and hear what found out." He winked, grinning. "After trip back to market, of course! Money not spend itself!"

Midna made a disgusted sound and then complained "The more I learn about this place the more I feel it's a shiny facade rotting from the inside out" upon hearing about the resistance's target. During the brief encounter with her Midna had found she rather liked the person staffing that office, which added extra bitterness to her reaction to the information. Why, she thought, couldn't there just be a simple delineation between good and evil, rather than this murky pool they where wading through.

After another moments thought she asked Sectonia "Do you remember how much that wolf amulet Prim mentioned was going for?"

"Not that much. We have more gold with us than we had when 'trading' with the jeweler." Sectonia said, affirming Midna should have enough with her reward.

"Sadly nothing there was usable by me, so I will be touring the rest of the town." She said. "And yes, I agree, there is something off here. Although I am not sure who would be the one to deal with even with that amulet." Sectonia said, agreeing with Midna's frustration as to the town, although more just out of her own frustration of how silly it seemed both sides of the town's conflict were being. In that way her and Midna probably agreed that it is easier in their kingdoms where things are quite simple.

"I will take any minions who wish to go shopping with me." Sectonia said as they all headed out to go shopping before investigating the resistance stuff. Seeing as she had her gold and they didn't need the spirits themselves, Sectonia crushed both mimic spirits to see what they would yield.



"Shopping does sound like a good idea," Yoshitsune smiled softly as he watched Sectonia crush the mimic spirits. "I may be able to find a temporary weapon to borrow until tomorrow." As Sectonia began heading towards the shops, Yoshitsune followed behind, as much to act as a bodyguard, though the queen didn't need one, as to join her in shopping. Sectonia was happy to have someone follow her, although they were all her minions, most were quite willful. Still they were useful so it worked in the end.

"Okay!" Tora sang, too happy at the prospect of reckless spending to be annoyed at Sectonia called him a minion again. "Friends get going already! Poppi, lead way!"

---

With her Masterpon's infectious spirit putting a little pep in her step, Poppi retraced the steps she'd taken before midday to steer the group from the domain of the Grimleal back toward the marketplace in Al Mamoon's eastmost district. Tora practically bounced the whole way, spurred onward by the elation of one who seldom got the chance to throw some cash around. Having been in the train station while his allies visited the bazaar before, he was taken aback by the sheer visual overload of it all as he walked beneath the lavishly decorated archway and into the western court. Everywhere he looked were peoples of all shapes and sizes, not all of them human, and an even greater variety existed among the various stalls, carts, and stores. Each one offered an eye-catching array of products.

There was Dungeon Plunder, with its stat-changing potions, enchanted trinkets, and unique weapons. Its more successful competitor Rock Solid Deals offered a greater variety of useful equipment. Vera's Arsenal, meanwhile, specialized in conventional if high-quality armor. Tucked away in a corner Hee-Ho Mart offered a wide variety of consumer goods. Exotic foods like lizard meat and glazed worms were on display at Rhon Ron's Eatery, while appetizing aromas drifted from Raj's Curry Pot. And that was just the first of the grand bazaar's six courts, with the classiest of them all shaded within the temple of commerce, out of view. "Wow..." he breathed, giddy with excitement.

Poppi rubbed his head affectionately, trying to rein him in. "Don't get too carried away. Only have two hundred between us, so still need be mindful of purchases." Still, she understood him completely. Even if she'd been here before, being here as a customer rather than an entrepreneur cast it all in a whole new light. Her eyes fell on a fellow in a memorable hat, who she recognized from her earlier visit. "Although, friend Panther say earlier that we can use Gomi's Pawn Shop over there to sell things we don't need."

"Oh!" Tora pulled out the Seer Stone and the collapsed Jet Boots from his bag. "Tora not understand how this technology work, so stop caring. And not figure out what this rock does, either. Maybe get little gold for them. Come quick, so we find place to eat after" He and Poppi headed off, leaving the others to go about their business.

Sectonia and Yoshitsune were interested in the Dungeon Plunderer and the Rock Solid Deals, moving into said stores to see what they had for sale. She would buy when she had a full list of options, and seeing as there were 6 different bazaars to look at, she wouldn't pull the trigger on something unless it jumped out at her, unless she had a complete list. Either way, she had no use for this gun item, and seeing as no one else seemed to have much use for it, she sold it like Tora did his treasures, alongside that Capture Scarab she had collected for more gold to get better items. The fleshy weapon got her a respectable eighty-five gold, but since the unknown insect would warrant only the five gold junk fee, she held onto it. She kept the mimic head, as, although it was hideous, she could sense what magic was inside it and what boons it offered, and that would be far more useful in the long run. She'd just have to get one of her minions to use it instead of her when the time came to start using it. While curious about the items Sectonia was selling, Yoshisune elected not to ask as he had no use for them personally. His eyes never seemed to stop in one place for long.

Midna popped in to the pawnshop along with Sectonia to sell the Death Scissor Mask (for fifty gold) and the Daredevil Mask (also for fifty) both of which she, and she was fairly sure no one else, had any use for. The other two could stay. The filter mask could be useful modified, and the omen mask's magic tripling effect was frankly to interesting to let go off. Maybe Prim would like it, Midna thought or she herself would see if she could develop/relearn some magic that would synergize with it





In a very typical fashion Sectonia told the shopkeeper to reserve the potions for her while she explored other options, but the stocky man behind the counter did not seem to recognize her authority. He grunted that gold was gold, and whoever was actually willing to pay him for his goods would receive them. The affront helped speed the insect queen on her way, and Sectonia wasted little time conducting a search of the entire bazaar for any magic emporiums that might be open for business. Even with efficiency on her mind, however, the search took her a rather long time. There were simply too many eye-catching things to be distracted by. Yoshitsune was also not conducive to the search, getting easily sidetracked by the weapons he saw and a few people passing by too closely who looked like threats.

Meanwhile, Tora had set his sights on a less high-brow prize: Raj's Curry. As he waddled up to the cart, eyes sparkling at the prospect of sampling the source of that oh-so-tantalizing smell, Raj greeted him warmly. "Welcome, friend! What can I get you for?"

The Nopon jumped up an down in excitement. "Mehmehmeh! Tora very hungry and ready for lovely-lovely meal after big payday! But first Tora want ask, what is curry?"

"Oho, a neophyte! Do I ever envy you!" Raj joked with a winning smile before launching into explanation. "It's often said that one's first curry experience is a memory that can never be replaced. To answer the question, my curry is a dish made of sauce serviced over rice. The sauce is a concoction of exotic spices, finely ground and expertly mixed. Tumeric, cumin, coriander, ginger! Add to that meats and vegetables, like pork and onions, plus coconut milk, and you've got an unforgettable melting pot of flavor! Will you be having any this fine day?"

He scarcely needed to ask. "YesyesyesyesYESYESYES!" Tora sang, both hands full of gold. "Tora take whole pot!"

Raj laughed good-naturedly. "Ohohoho, I love the enthusiasm, believe you me, but if it's not to your taste I'd hate to see it wasted. And what of my other customers?" He put his hands on his hips. "How does two bowls sound? One for you, one for your lady friend."

"Actually, Poppi not need-" Tora cut himself off. "OH yes, sorry, two bowls just fine, meh! Here is enough for two, according to sign." He forked over twenty gold pieces, then watched as Raj folded together two hard paper bowls, spooned in some rice, then finally ladeled in some curry. The sauce-soaked meat and vegetables glistened in the sun, and the smell was simply phenomenal. He took his bowl as gingerly as his burgeoning enthusiasm would allow. A spoonful of the food disappeared into his gullet, and as he took in the taste he voiced his delight. "MmmmMMMMmmmm!"

Popi gave an apologetic bow in his behalf and steered her Masterpon away so that nobody else had to watch him eat. "Thank you, Mr. Raj!" she called, waving, and the vendor cheerfully waved her off.

Midna for her part briefly went along with the pair just long enough to get an overview of what was on sale and what they where buying, before heading out and hunting down the jewelry shop Primrose had sold their various jewelry at to see how much the evil detecting wolf charm was going for. Weapons and gear where all well and good, but when it came down to it, she could already fight. Sure, upgrades where nice, but for her, right now, gear that offered utility was taking priority for her. She could always go back once she knew how much of a budget she had left. Plus, while she wasn't sure if the bone charm counted as jewelry, she imagined the seller of enchanted accessories might still be able to figure out what it did, or know someone who would do that kind of work.

The Gerudo shopkeeper of Starlight Memories, Isha, withdrew the wolfs-head medallion from its cushion beneath the glass display case. "This the one?" she confirmed, figuring that her new customer had heard about it through a third party. "An excellent work of art, masterfully crafted in a magic forge. Its sturdiness, heft, and ferocious appearance make it a popular choice for men, but it suits anyone who seeks to not be trifled with. It will vibrate in the presence of sorcery and magical creatures, and mutually repels monsters, giving wearers a crucial warning. Six hundred gold is our asking price."

Midna did her best to avoid cringing at the asking price and giving away that that was a fair way out of her raw cash price range at the moment (she briefly considered trying to see how much her new earnings and bracelets would get, but found she had an emotional attachment to them that wasn't worth breaking unless she really needed the money. Besides, aesthetics where important after all, and being a princess who had to pawn of all her jewellery was a bod look) and instead focused on the qualities of the amulet itself. In hind sight magic that could detect evil on a moral level sounding to good to be true had turned out to be exactly that, though only because of a misinterpretation by her of the earlier simplified explanation. As for what it did do... it seemed like it would end up giving a lot of false positives considering the company she kept. Especially considering she didn't know what it counted as a 'monster' for the purpose of the repelling and warning effect. A brief mental image of Red and the amulet reacting poorly to one another put the idea of trying to find a way to afford it in the grave.

"While it is nice looking it looks like I misinterpreted the functionality of it when I heard about it, sorry about that." she apologized for wasting the woman's time, "but while I still have your attention, do you know anyone in town who is able to appraise or identify the magic effects of items? A charm and a sword specifically."

Isha recognized the sort of reticence that came with a hastily reconsidered purchase at a glance, but she did not mind. "No need to worry. Perhaps we another of our wares will catch your eye." Reconsidering her potential customer's price range she prepared to recommend a different item, but Midna had something else in mind entirely. "Oh? Hmm..." she crossed her arms as she considered the question. "Down in the fourth court there's a place called the Melding Pot. The Elder Melder practices alchemy there. She's a wyverian scholar who's lived a very long life, and she's got an exceptional amount of experience with rare objects and strange properties. She may be your best bet." Even when asked about a different store, the keeper of Starlight Memories remained courteous.

The princess did indeed have a brief additional look around at the other wares, particularity a rather fetching pair of amber earrings that she made note of how much they went for for later, before thanking the woman for her time and heading round to the fourth court to find this 'Elder Melder' Isha had told her about.

When Midna arrived in the fourth court and took a cursory look around, there could be little doubt as to what exactly the jeweler meant by 'Melding Pot.' An entire corner of the marketplace was occupied by nothing less than an actual super-sized urn, decorated with what amounted to a monster bone necklace and surrounded by craters and lesser pots stuffed with various reagents. Above it all the Elder Melder resided, standing atop a few planks across the pot's rim that allowed her to stir the contents of what amounted to a gigantic cauldron. If the word 'wyverian' had prompted the Twilight Princess to picture a dragon, she would find her assumption mistaken. In fact the Elder Melder looked like a very old Hylian if anything, what with her long if droopy ears.

It certainly explained the elder part of her name, that was for sure. The princess took another little look around and then, seeing that she wasn't just going to be noticed, floated up in-front of the cauldron and announced her presence with a polite, "good morning. Are you the Elder Melder? I was told you'd be the person to see about discerning the powers of a few magical items?"

"I'll be upfront about the fact that they probably aren't the, ah, nicest ones, but I'd like to see if they might be useful, be the kind of thing you cover in warning labels and shove in a vault or alternatively are the kind lock away in a at the bottom of a dungeon to make sure no-one ever gets their hands on them." She added, wanting to be entirely honest and open about what she was asking right now rather than have things get complicated later.

The wyverian nodded her assent, just happy that a client had come to her rather than obliged her to climb down from atop her pot. "Oh, that's quite alright, dearie. Whatever gift you might have for me, Granny's happy to tell ya what it is." She let go of her stirring spoon, which given its size really was more of a stirring oar, and let it rest against the rim of the pot. She clasped her hands together. "Now, since this is your first time, there are a few things you should know. I do charge a fee per appraisal, but it's only ten gold. Just enough for poor Granny to warm herself with a bowl of curry when the night gets chilly. " She helped paint the picture by crossing and rubbing her arms for a moment, as if she were shivering. "That said, I don't mean to toot my own horn when I say you won't get a better appraisal in town. Whatever makes it tick, I can tell ya. And I can write it down for ya too, so if you want to sell it, you'll be sure to get the right price. As the Elder Melder my word is my bond, and it's as good as gold." She extended a wrinkled hand. "Now let's see what you've got, dearie."

First she took hold of the bone charm, getting a tentative feel for it before determining it was safe enough to handle. Then she felt it all over, taking in every detail, and when she finished her initial assessment she began pulling out tools from her belt, starting with a magic spyglass. In surprisingly short order the old wyverian came to a conclusion. "Well, this is quite the fascinating little doodad. Made of human bone. Possessed of a strange kind of magic, otherworldy, just on the edge of the darkness. This charm offers protection...protection, yes. Against swords, knives, axes, anything with a blade. Should one touch you the charm will enact vicious retribution and shatter the blade, but be warned...it comes at a price." A dramatic flair crept through her voice, the sort of theatricality she might use to entertain grandchildren. "Every time this happens, one of your teeth will rot and fall out. So think carefully, dearie. While one's life is more precious than one's teeth, it wouldn't do to rob such a pretty young thing of her smile." She cracked a grin, revealing a few missing teeth herself. "Eehee, see?"

Next she inspected the sword. From moment one it was clear to her just how dangerous this thing was, and she treated it with an appropriately painful seriousness. This appraisal took more than twice as long as the other, at the end of which the Elder Melder handed it back wrapped in a cloth. She shook her head vigorously. "This is a truly cursed object. I can scarcely believe it myself, but as far as I can tell, if you were to take a blow -any at all- while wearing this, you would be instantly killed." She shivered, intensely disturbed by the foul sorcery. "I must admit that it seems capable of dealing extraordinary amounts of damage, but never have I beheld a more self-destructive object. I would advise you to get rid of it, or..." With narrowed eyes, she glanced in the direction of the temple court. "Maybe the shopkeeper of Hero Needs would buy it."

A shiver visibly ran down the princess spine when she found out what was so wrong with the sword. She'd used that to fight the demons. She'd been but a scratch from dying that whole time. She had to take a moment to take a deep breath and compose herself after that.

"Goddesses. This was more than worth the asking price. Thank you Elder. Both for the appraisal and for the advice." it was very good advice too. "Even if my teeth weren't at risk,using something made of human bone is. urgh" an appalling proposition to say the least.That she was going to bury or burn or something to put the person to rest.

As for the sword "Defiantly a warning label one, that is for sure. As for selling it..." on the one hand people would know what they where getting into. On the other, in this town, she would not put it past either of the factions to arm some schmuck with it. Plus could she live with herself knowing some cocksure fool might be running around and getting themselves killed because of her? No. No she really wouldn't be able to. "That doesn't seem ethical. In the slightest" she decided, before carefully attaching the note the Elder Melder provided with the details on it to the blade and then tapped it with a finger.

"That can live in the twilight realm till i find somewhere secure to put it. Throwing it away for someone else to find would be just as bad. Worse maybe?" she explained/justified her decision to both the woman and herself as the sword was sent to live in her personal storage area in her home dimension, well away form everything else in there for good measure, which being a physical location meant she could carry it around without, well, carrying it.

"Thanks again. You're a life saver and, I imagine, someone who's services will come in handy for both me and my... allies in future." she said in closing.

"You're very welcome!" The Elder Melder replied, bowing her head. "I also perform melding, which is melting down materials into 'points' that can be used to craft other materials. So please do come again.

"I'm sure I will. Have a lovely day mam" she said, bidding the woman farewell and then being left to try and think of what she was going to do.

"Guess I could check out this 'the shopkeeper of Hero Needs' is selling?" she said to herself, before heading round there and finding several of the others had also sought out the famous merchant selling all sorts of wonderfulness wares.

The short trip reunited Midna with Sectonia just as the wasp queen's long search was coming to an end. She and Yoshitsune had eventually found just the sort of item purveyor the queen had sought inside the temple of commerce itself, at the largest and most popular store of them all: Hero Needs. Trinkets and baubles, arms and armor, clever contraptions and conveniences of all kinds, and in the center of it all the famous green-clad shopkeeper, perennially wearing his characteristic smile as he effortless accomplished deal after deal. It stocked a wide variety of mundane goods and equipment, so much that anyone without too much to spend could find good gear for under a hundred gold, but of special note were its unique artifacts.



As the pair stood before the store, the sound of a loud slurp happened to catch their attention. A glance over towards the inner court's central left revealed none other than Tora and Poppi seated at Cromdo's Fountain, the upscale bar run by the lovably churlish Cromdo Face. Judging by the ice-cold Nuka Cola clutched in Tora's wing he'd elected to wash down his lunch of curry with a sweet refreshment. When the two groups spotted one another the dynamic duo waved cheerfully. The Nopon's happy waving was earnest enough to nearly spill the drink of the woman in purple beside him, and with a huff the stylish lady moved farther away.

Midna waved back and, having had her fill of the fascinating and expensive items on display, and having made several mental notes about ones she'd like if she could afford them, which she could probably do if she sold the cursed items that she was most certainly not going to do, decided to float on over to them. "Hi you two. Hows the market been treating you?"

"Very good, meh!" Tora replied, not at all trying to hide his good spirits. "First have yummy spicy sauce called curry, now have super sweetydrink called cola. Tora knew coming here was right choice! How about Mid-Mid? Get anything good?"

As much as he preferred interaction with Midna the Nopon did glance over at Hero Needs. Yoshitsune had his eyes on the Follower Torch, while despite seeing a lot of interesting things on offer Sectonia was obliged to focus on the subset she could afford, namely the Moon Shard. After checking the torch out, though the swordsman's stance was rather odd and not suited for single sword use, he decided to purchase it with some of his home coins.

"Lots of interesting things, on sale here, that is for sure. Gonna head back and buy this ice shield in a bit. Maybe you should have a look, there's some stuff that'll make you tougher in the Hero's shop you might like Tora." She said, taking a little sit next to them and a break from floating around the market.

"In less good news, turns out this sword I found is supposed to be very deadly, but it also makes it so that anyone carrying it dies if they take a scratch. Also the charm I found is made of... well, not something talk about while you are eating. Also it makes your teeth fall out as a side-effect of destroying weapons that hit you. So both of those are gonna sit around in the twilight realm till i find a good way to get rid of them. But the Elder Melder who I got to identify them for me was very helpful. and cheap. Nice old lady that one." She explained, mostly as a result of wanting to vent the knowledge, but also as a way to inform the group about the very useful appraisal service of the Elder Melder.

Although he wanted to give Midna (and her woes about cursed treasure, but mostly Midna) all the attention they were due, Tora couldn't stop wondering what the princess meant when she suggested that he might find things to make him an even better tank in Hero Needs. With a minor sugar high already in progress thanks to the ridiculous saturation of the Nuka Cola, he couldn't stop imagining all sorts of shields, armors, and who knew what else. As such his wandering eyes spotted a certain insect the moment she appeared.

Sectonia looked at Tora as she came out of the shop having bought and used the moon shard, adding its beauty and power to her own. What she saw made her face twitch a bit before she composed herself. She did have an inkling that he was a glutton and she could appreciate him throwing a bit of decadence but it wasn't what she expected. Even so, that soda did look good... "How has your shopping been. I see Tora is acting like a noble."

"Good," Tora repeated, without any attempt to go into the same detail he did for Midna. Turning away from Sectonia he grabbed Poppi's shoulder, saying, "C'mon, meh! Let's go see what in store!" After a nod from Poppi he quaffed the last of his soda, set it down, and pushed off the stool. The two then went the way Sectonia came, passing a torch-bearing Yoshitsune, and got busy with the item shop's inspection. It didn't take long for the Nopon's eyes to land on the Centaur Heart in all its healthy glory.

"Ooh!" he fawned over the thing. "Twenty-five percent? Tora going to be strongest toughiepon in whole world!" His mental math determined that the purchase would cut the pair's current funds exactly in half, nice and clean. In fact, it would also spare the whole hundred that was technically Poppi's share. Although he'd been planning to spend the funds for the both of them, Tora realized that since he didn't need to, he could earn some points by leaving the rest for his Blade to use as she pleased. "Meheh! Perfect!" he declared, handing over his gold to the shopkeeper. "Tora have just the right amount!" Following the attached instructions, he smacked the Centaur Heart against his chest and absorbed its power, then looked at Poppi with a big smile. "Poppi want anything? Have whole hundred to spend!"

Poppi smiled at his enthusiasm, thinking. Although she didn't really care about shopping or material goods in general, it was also true she'd never really gotten the chance to try. As such she swept her optics across the store, noting both the mundane and extraordinary products on offer. Of course, any purchases were contingent on her means. "Well, everything else else that special in here too expensive. But if fine, Poppi not need weapons or armor anyway. Ether allow Poppi build everything Poppi need!"

Shaking his head, Tora wrapped his wing around her and squeezed. "That wrong line of thinking, Poppi! Even if have everything Poppi need, is there anything Poppi want? Anything that seem interesting or fun?"

"Want," Poppi repeated. Not something she often considered. Normally she just wanted to help people, to do a good job, and to be around Tora. She liked seeing new places and smelling food, as well. But none of those things could be bought from atop the stopkeeper's tables or inside his shelves. Her optics fell on the Myrmidon Bracer. "Are sure, Tora? With that, could be even tougher in battle."

The thought had occurred to Tora, but he shrugged. "Meeh, we not have enough money anyway."

"Could ask for some from Midna or Sectonia?"

In an instant the suggestion reduced Tora's willpower by approximately ninety percent. He glanced out at his royal allies with upturned brows, knowing it would be so easy, but somehow the Nopon managed to clear his throat. "Ahem!" Forcing himself to look away, he faced Poppi once more. "Tora want Poppi get something Poppi wants."

"Oh!" Knowing what she did of Nopon greed, Poppi counted herself mighty impressed that her Masterpon managed to pull such a stunt off. If he just wanted to virtue signal he could have accepted her generosity after offering his own, but it seemed he'd committed to gaining nothing, except perhaps seeing her smile. She searched the shop again, different mission parameters in mind. For a while she browsed in silence, but eventually she found something and brought it to the shopkeeper to buy. It cost a heavy eighty-five gold for an item that nominally didn't do anything, but when Poppi approached Tora with the Lunar Tear glowing softly in her hair, they shared a moment of joy that neither would soon forget.

Having been left with her cursed item woes by the duo Midna sighed, shrugged, and then, after taking a bit more of a break, scooting of back to Rock Solid Deals to make her purchase, the Arctic Shield, which turned out to have a blessed secondary effect of being wonderfully cool in the desert heat. That meant that rather than pop it away into the twilight realm till later she decide to start wearing it straight away, strapping it on her left arm while hugging it close with her right. This might have looked a little strange but felt oh so good. It did leave her with a grand total of 5 gold that she used for a light lunch consisting mostly of a salad. Was it the most exiting or filling meal? No, but it was what she could afford and she wasn't about to beg for food money when she'd just spent so much and refused to make more selling the two cursed items. Also if she needed it she could always dip into the rations her jewelry had helped pay for.

Her shopping done, she headed back to rejoin the group, interested to see what they had ended up buying.

The group ended up coming together back in the first court by the bazaar entrance, meaning Midna didn't have too far to float to reunite with them. The insect (with her own refreshing Nuka Cola and a jar of delicious glazed worms from Rhon Ron's Eatery), the swordsman, the Nopon, and the Blade had come from the temple of commerce together. With the Phantom Thieves as well as Primrose absent for the moment, and both Laharl and Red nowhere to be found, it was a rather small group. She saw Tora examining Yoshitsune's purchase, a war torch that seemed to be able to ignite just by equipping it, with both intrigue and confusion. In the end, though, it just made for another in a long line of things that didn't really make sense and could be chalked up to the all-encompassing 'magic'. It certainly wasn't enough to bring him down from where his fine meal left him. And with a lovely white flower in her lavender hair that somehow complimented the horn-like protrusions in her headband, Poppi looked to be in even better spirits than her Masterpon. "Everyone ready? We should not keep Mr. Band waiting any longer," she advised.

"What are we doing again?" Yoshitsune asked, being pulled from his thoughts about his swords.

Figuring that her torch-bearing ally might have gotten distracted by everything on offer in the bazaar, Poppi happily explained. "We go check in with Big Band, who by job office on Al Mamoon main street. He in proximity to Resistance bomb plot, so chances good he get intel for us so we can make decision on what do next."

Yoshitsune nodded, following her to where they were supposed to go. "Let's hope this job is more fun than catching a con artist."

"Don't know about it being fun, but that sounds like a plan. I've been there already, and the fastest way there should be through there I think," Midna said, pointing a way out of the market that would take them back to the job office by what she thought would be the quickest route.