Everything was actually coming together! Mirage rescued Nadia, and Bowser did some crazy hammer stunt that sent Moreau reeling. People were being ferried across by Blazermate, or just jumping across the gap. As athletic as her body would become in just even five years, as a normal four year old she was not a good enough jumper to make the leap.

Sakura fired her darts across the way and narrowed the jump significantly, making it more a big step. She fired them at each other, connecting them to form a beam. Moreau began to fire a volley of acid, which caused Sakura to shriek.

"Look out!" She exclaimed, heading across the bridge first. "ITAI!" She shouted loudly, angrily, as the acid burned into her skin in a few places. Fortunately she didn't get it too bad, but several large holes were put into her dress.

To be honest, her injuries would probably be debilitating soon enough, but with Blazermate there she knew she would be all right once they had a chance to breath. Fortunately the mental strength to keep pushing herself while in pain hadn't faded, so Sakura didn't collapse nor panic. Well, she did panic a little bit as she saw several of her teammates get hit by the acid.

Stumbling into the elevator, she held the dart gun high over her head. Secretly, she wondered if Blazermate's healing beam would fix her clothing, too. Normally she wouldn't really care about that kind of thing. Girly girl stuff like that wasn't really her thing very often, and she usually only wore workout gear, with a school uniform or something else ontop of it. But this dress was kind of like a gift from her mother, so she realised she had already developed a sentimental attachment to it. But that was a stupid thing to worry about when Mirage was getting his legs eaten off by acid.

"Did everyone make it?!" She exclaimed, ready for someone to press that stupid elevator button and get the heck out. Sakura lacked the strength and agility to do anything except try not to be a liability, and use Mirage's Dart Gun.



Mordecai was too fast. She should have used her bullets. Clearly she had gotten used to the humanoid enemies back at the Bureau. In her world, only fellow telekinetics, ones who could fly, were capable of dodging her attacks once locked on.

For her trouble her face was almost gouged out by a bird. The sniper bullet pinged off her head, causing it to jerk backwards, Jesse stumbling back a step. "Aagh!" Jesse complained, blinking away stars.

Fortunately, she managed to take out the bird. That was good. Jesse switched her Tool Gun into her off hand, and produced the Service Weapon from thin air. Sniper rifles weren't exactly known for their nimbleness. All she needed was one second to get out of his crosshairs. Thus, Jesse sprinted briefly to the side, in a lunging dodge, dropping to a crouch. Lining up her iron sights on the solitary target, she simply gunned him down. The gun and the pieces that made it up rocked back with each shot. rising to her feet Jesse glared, stalking towards the sniper with each shot.

She let up once he stopped moving. Standing over him, blue crystals filled her Health back up somewhat. Not a full bar, but good enough for now.

Jesse observed Ciella's special move in the distance. A large attack that only hit the ground. That ice wall was quite far away. Could she make it? Not with her current mobility. At least, not without risk of being interrupted. And she would have to leave these two and a half downed fighters behind to do it. Ultimately, their mission was to take people in alive. In order to succeed, the FBC Director put her trusty Tool Gun to good use once again.

Disapparating her Service Weapon into the Astral Plane, she switched the Tool Gun into balloon mode. Black balloons would be attached to Orendi, Bloodwing, and Mordecai. Orendi and Mordecai would probably wake up with kinks in their neck and arms, as she didn't exactly have enough time to allocate her ballon onto their limbs and head.

Still longing for the days in which she possessed the power of flight, the Director pointed the gun at her left hand, the one she didn't use for shooting. The balloon pulled her off the ground. She fired one at her center of mass for a little extra kick. Now she was floating above the battlefield. Awkwardly holstering her Tool Gun, she produced the Service Weapon and tried picking out some valid targets. Any baddie that looked like they might be running for cover would be shot at by the Director. Hopefully this big attack didn't last very long, because Jesse was extremely vulnerable in her ballooned up state. Maybe she could reposition herself by pulling and launching the balloons around, which she would try to do if someone lined up a big attack on her. But other than that, not much she could do if the floor stayed damaging for long.

In a way it was fortunate that all the other combatants were engaged, so that Primrose could devote her full attention to keeping Earthquake at bay without worrying about anyone else attacking while her focus was occupied. At this distance, the chain sickle Earthquake threw was easy enough to see coming, even with it's speed. She could see how he was moving his arm, and the path of the chain, so before the sharp end reached her she would evade, knowing it was possible. A step to the left, to the right, back. Ducking when he swung high, jumping when he went low. Deliberate movement of her feet and concentration painted on her face. A sharp eye might notice that the dancer was slowly setting up, doing what she did best, but Earthquake was more interested in flinging his weapon around, thinking he had Primrose pinned down and that it was only a matter of time before he sliced her.

"Heh heh, that's it! C'mon, dance!" The massive man cackled, swinging his arm in a wide horizontal arc and watching the chain he held fly along the path, dragging the sickle behind it. With one final step Primrose moved out of the way of it's path and completed her Panther Dance, feeling the benefit spread through her limbs. That weapon was fast, but now she was even faster - more than enough to deal with her oversized opponent.

"If that's what you want then watch closely," she said, and with a twirling flourish she had another spell swirling in her hand, "I'll give you a show."

With newfound speed she hurled the coiled dark magic at Earthquake, who realized a moment too late that he should probably be the one evading now. The Moonlight Waltz struck him head on and he reeled backwards - but with a stubborn stomp of his foot he righted himself, grimacing.

"You—" he was swiftly interrupted by another blast of magic. Roaring with indignation Earthquake swung his sickle back and forth, but the dancer shimmied out of the way much more easily than she had been moments before. The lilt of Primrose's laughter as she danced around the blade and cast her spells irritated the man more and more, until he was wildly swinging both ends of the chain.

"Rrrraaaghh!" The clattering of metal resounded through the cavern, adding to the chaotic cacophony already going on. The sickle carved gouges in the stone floor, followed by the weight on the chain's other end smashing pieces out of it. With double the reckless movements Primrose kept an eye on her footwork, the pace of her casting slowed to compensate - and though she was beginning to tire she was doing well, not a wound to show.

Until suddenly her left arm was wrenched down hard. She felt her shoulder pull painfully and the spell dissipated in her palm. She looked down to see the chain looped around her wrist, with the weight resting on the ground below it. Here eyes followed along the length of the chain until she met Earthquake's own eyes. He seemed just as surprised as Primrose was to see she'd been caught. A menacing smile began spreading on Earthquake's face soon enough though.

"Gotcha now, geheheh! C'mere!" He kept a tight hold on the chain and with both hands yanked it violently, dragging Primrose towards him. With his strength it was all to easy to haul the dancer, and she found herself flying towards him too quickly for her to think up a plan. The closer she got the wider Earthquake's smile grew. He opened his arms to welcome her with a bone crushing hold, and in a mild panic Primrose reached instinctively to the thing she'd always relied on.

The dagger glinted briefly, just long enough for Earthquake to recognize that there was a weapon in the dancer's hand before the momentum of being pulled in sank the short blade into the bandit's gut. He yowled in pain, pawing at Primrose but she was already free, standing a few paces back she slashed at his arms until he retreated. The two were standing only a few feet from each other, glaring. Unfortunately for Primrose it seemed that despite the punishment Earthquake had taken so far, he still had more to give.

"Yer just full of tricks ain't ya?" he growled out, to which Primrose couldn't help but smirk and reply, "A lady must have her secrets..."

"Well I got a few secrets of my own!"

Earthquake inhaled so deeply that he threw his head back before slinging it forward again, a shower of flame spewing from his mouth. If it weren't for her speed boost, Primrose would not have countered in time. She summoned her pyromancy, and fighting fire with fire she used the Flame Fan to blow his attack away. Afterwards she was left singed and completely caught off guard when Earthquake himself appeared in front of her, rushing through the last of the flames. His own speed was far greater than the dancer expected from a man his size, and he crashed into her belly first despite the open wound. She went flying, landing on her back against the stone. The rattle of a chain warned her that pain was soon to follow, and though she scrambled to stand the weighted end of Earthquake's weapon came in to knock her back down. Her dagger flew from her hand as she was thrown to the ground again. With a laugh the bandit raised his arm and brought the weight down again and again, battering Primrose until she was still and bruised, but breathing.

He sauntered over to where her weapon had fallen, picking the dagger up and turning it over in his hand. "Nice piece of work here, might fetch a pretty penny. 'R maybe I keep it as a souvenir, eh?"

He laughed, taunting Primrose, but when he looked over to where he left her she was gone. "What?!" He stomped over to the area, but there was nothing but a bit of the dancer's blood on the stone. Gripping his chain sickle tightly Earthquake whipped his head from side to side, trying to spot the dancer in red but not finding her among the other battles going on. Sweating, he called out, "ran off to hide, did ya?!"

"Hey, eyes up here."

Earthquake's gaze shot up toward the ceiling, where Primrose floated thanks to the magic of her scarf. The fabric glowed while in use, but it was hardly noticeable when compared to the great fireball the dancer held above her head. Her whole body pulsed with light as she expended a battle point, making the Fire Orb swell with even more power. Wisely, Earthquake judged that taking the full brunt of this spell would not be a smart idea. He backpedaled, intending to retreat, but Primrose threw the orb down at him. The impact torched his body and exploded, and Earthquake fell to the ground with a great crash.

Still he wasn't quite done. Terribly injured the ninja stubbornly pushed himself onto his elbows, blinking rapidly to clear the bleariness from his eyes. Directly above him, Primrose stopped her flight and fell right onto his stomach, knocking the air out of Earthquake with a sound much like a deflating balloon. He glared at her, opening his mouth to spout some nonsense no doubt. Instead he was silenced when Primrose brought her leg up and stamped her foot down hard on his face, effectively knocking his lights out.

"Hope you enjoyed the show," she sighed through gritted teeth, and hopped down off of the man's stomach. She wobbled slightly before taking a moment to compose herself, and was quick to pluck her family's heirloom from Earthquake's hand. A sweep with her eyes over the battlefield gave her a brief, if incomplete look into how the others were faring. She also saw some new combatants that definitely hadn't been present beforehand. Finally, she looked back to where Poppi and Tora had been fighting, and found only those two there. She made her way over, noting the softly glowing spirits of the Resistance members.

"Are you both alright?" she asked quietly, unsure if she should be treading on their moment of down time. "If needed, I think I can use my dance to spread Warmth healing to everyone, but it may take the last of my magic."

She'd used quite a lot in dealing with Earthquake, while having to sit back, focus on supporting dances and recharge was something she wouldn't necessarily be opposed to, the chaotic and unpredictable nature of the battle at hand made her wary to take any of her cards off the table. But if the duo would be alright for now then the three of them could jump back in where they were needed and assess from there.

”SLAM DUNK!” Bowser yelled as he smashed his hammer head into the base of the Nail embedded in Moreau’s flesh, driving the metal spike deep deep inside the monster's body. Yet still the beast would not yield. As Nadia soared up and away towards Mirage’s magnetic personality Bowser (after taking a moment to be annoyed about how the magnet had never been that strong when he was using it) gave their foe a few more smacks with the hammer head, but it really wasn't doing much more than give him a few black eyes, of which the mutant had many to spare.

Struggle, flight and impatient button hammering came to a sudden end mere moments later as the elevator arrived at last, announcing itself with a delightful dissonant ping. It was time to go, that much was clear to everyone, including Moreau who had been holding back a festering finale for just this moment. Or had just remembered he had a trump card up his sleeve. In a desperate bid to prevent the children (and one robot)’s escape he rolled onto his back, tipping Bowser off in the process, and wretched up a vile torrent of acidic bile which flew up and then began to rain down upon them.

”Ewww, gross!” Jr complained out as he hopped into the elevator, ducking out of the acidic rain right before it started tearing down out of the sky. He was joined a moment later by Rika who hopped across the southern gap to get herself out of the rain. Both of them promptly deposited their burdens: one tank of nano machines, and one porcelain doll which wound up sat on top of it. Their shared rush to get to safety had unfortunately resulted in far more important burdens being left behind.

”Young master? A little help would appreciated!” Came a shout from Kamek from across the small gap separating him, and the two baby behemoths (who were running amok in a panic as the first of the acid started splashing down and singeing their soft pink bodies), from safety. Small for the two gravity defying youngsters at least, not so much for the magic-less mage and the two horned piglets.

Help came in the form of a hand on the back of Kamek’s shell. “Tuck thyself in, Kamek.” said Glenn as he stepped past the two toothed pigs, the bundle of wires coiling around him offering him some light protection from the oncoming rain and still possessing a full tank of boyish stamina. “I shall toss thee across to safety.”

The mage did not need to be asked twice, indeed he was already in the process of retreating inside his shell on instinct as a result of the surprise of being grabbed from behind.

”Hold this” Jr told Rika urgently, tossing her the other key which she caught after accidentally whacking it back into the air with her gauntlets twice, and then moved forwards back to the front of the elevator.

”To me!” he instructed/added to Glenn’s plan, taking up position with arms outstretched to catch the shell, because if he didn't the koopa might simply hit the deck, slide across the floor, bounce off the wall and then sail out of the elevator again, as koopa shells where want to do.

Glenn nodded. Taking the cooped up koopa in both hands, he did a quick spin and tossed him much like he had his own shield earlier. Like the most high stakes game of frisbee, Jr’s grandfather came sailing right at him.

The boy, having been expecting more of a lob than a hammer throw, peddled back a step before catching Kamek in both arms with an ”Oof!” when the shell bonked against his shell.

”Please, don't throw the horry boys that hard” Jr requested as he set his grandpappy down, and informing him ”Your safe, now give me some space”

As the mini koopa picked himself and hurried out of the soon to be pig receiving zone as quickly as possible, Jr stepped back up the plate to receive the next delivery.

Glenn glanced down at the little behemoths, the same drops as acid he was struggling to ignore boiling on their exposed skin as they huddled near him for the slight protection he provided, and was careful to pick one up from behind. Immediately the panicked thing began to wriggle in his grasp, jabbing backwards with its horns in it’s panic as Glenn leaned away. It wouldn't be possible to throw this one as hard if he had tried, but he still took a brief running start before lobbing the little monster to Jr.

The boy put skills learned from Olympic rugby matches to good use, backing up a bit intentionally this time to catch the passed pig while avoiding being stabbed by its ridiculously oversized horns. ”Gotcha. You're in the clear so stop panicking!” he demanded before depositing the baby behemoth, which ran off to cower in a corner, and moved to receive the final hopeless burden from Glen.

The last one only seemed to become more agitated from the disappearance of its counterpart, and Glenn was only just able to keep it from running off by literally grabbing the behemoth by the horns. He pulled it up into his arms, keeping its head over his shoulder so he didn't get jabbed, and gave it one last throw across the gap. Backwards this time.

”Gotcha Tyrant!” Jr cheered as he caught his own pet without having to worry about being speared by its horns this time (though the last near miss had given him ideas for later). The squealing minion was also set down and allowed to run off to hide behind Rika’s leg while jr stepped forward one last time with a hand outstretched to the helpful and rather scorched Glen ”Now you, come on!”

Without a single moment to lose the boy ran up and launched himself over the gap, catching Jr’s hand and letting himself be pulled inside by the young prince. He stumbled a few steps before collapsing against the back wall in a tangled heap, breathing heavily.

As the northern and southern arrivals piled into the elevator, there were still people coming in from the east who were still having to leg it while being hailed by the acid rain. Bowser was the closest, but he was also having to contend with the fact that he was right next to the source of the acid, having just been dunked down into the drink from which Jr had previously had to escape. Unlike his son, however, Bowser knew exactly where his exit was, and that was a staircase he’d seen right next to the elevator.

Pulling himself up out of the water he’d been dunked into, he took one look at the projectile vomiting fish freak, wretched and then started moving. He scooped his hammer under on arm, stomped towards the closest pile of junk, grabbed a wall panel out of it and then started moving, first thumping through the water and then, when the acid rains started to raise both the ph and the water level, of the fluid filling the ground floor he moved to jump from junk to junk, acid sizzling of his metal umbrella and unfortunately exposed scaled fingers.

With a thump Bowser landed at the base of stairs out of the pit and then with rapid steps clambered his way to the top. He moved towards the elevator across the catwalk and upon his arrival peeked in to find his family safely inside along with several of the others, only to have to dart his head back out when the Nail he’d hammered into the fish freak came sailing out of the beast and into Geralt’s hand, almost braining the Koopa King in the process.

”Wow cool!” jr said with amazement at the nail, who’s power was worthy of legend, before spotting his dad and shouting ”Papa! Get in quick!”

”One sec. Here” Bowser called back, before tossing his hammer head to his son and then taking a glance in the opposite direction to check if anyone was still trying to catch up. If they where, and especially if they were, say, Peach, he’d hop out and lend them an escort with the cover of his metal plate (and he’d switch the hand holding it to reduce burns it got even as his body was exposed to the rain) if not, or when his escortee was safe, he’d ditch the panel and then hop right on in with the others into the rapidly becoming packed elevator.

Inside it Jr had picked up Kamek again, and the former and future mage was in the process of reading/handling the internal control panel of the elevator, to both set them off and up as soon as they were in and, if he could/needed to, making sure the doors don't close till everyone was inside.

---

Midna’s rescue attempts both worked out, much to her elation. Reinhardt was shoved clear as intended, while Sven seemed to notice what was up anyway, not distracted like the siren had been, and so her bug summoning only added some extra encouragement to his dodge.

Unfortunately, the princesses actions were misinterpreted by the perpetrator of the pair’s foiled execution, Ciella simply looking down her nose at the princess and judging her as having incompetently ruined her attempt at a twin deathblow, rather than listening to her threat regarding not killing people. Instead she dropped a diss/threat of her own with all the usual pseudo philosophical draping and then decided to up and leave this particular part of the battle.

”What does that even mean!” Midna yelled after Ciella, tired of the woman’s egotistical beliefs and nonsensical turns of phrase. Midna was quite sure she’d been relatively clear what she wanted on multiple occasions, but Ciella rather than disagreeing or refusing she wasn't even reacting to Midna’s instruction that they were to take people alive. Was she stupid? Willfully ignorant? Not deigning her worth listening too?

Midna was quite done caring.

Whatever the case, Ciella was leaving her behind with the two large gentlemen nearby, but rather than go and assail them Midna followed the harpy. She couldn’t let the woman go unsupervised and instead danced after her, pumping her power up even more in the tiny moment of space she had, and while she did so took in the rest of the battlefield.

On the plus side, she didn't see any spirits that would have spoken of death, just knockouts, even from the people she’d been worried about like Jesse and the Thieves. Even better was the fact that Mao had actually freed his opponent and recruited him to their cause by the looks of it.

However, not all was well. Midna’s heart stuck in her throat when she saw the worst of the complications that occured while she was getting her butt kicked, and that was that Braum performing his iconic leap to the rescue for Nastasia, blocking Fox from ending her life and controle in one fell swoop. She prayed that the friend heart’s de-mindcontrolling effect would still work even on those free of Galeem, because if it didn't she might have doomed the brave and handsome man when she freed him before the fight.

Above the central fight was where Ciella went, and the princess quick stepped after her. The harpy rose high above the battlefield and then addressed those assembled with words that sounded profound but which Midna found entirely empty. Well, no, there was meaning in there. She was aware of what once was, and that they, like her, knew about the worlds that had come before this world, but the wording was needlessly profuse, and worse, there was no empathy to be found for those who were as she had been.

Midna wondered if she didn't know, or if she just didn't care, that they too could be free. It didn't really matter. As the ice crashed down, threatening to crush friend and foe alike yet fortuitously finding neither, and then the waves rose to wash them all away, Midna looked up and saw something horrifyingly familiar had replaced the red that had glowed in Ciella’s eyes. Or perhaps it had always been there, merely hidden by the light of Galeem. Something she’d seen before in the eyes of the false twilight king.

Madness.

As Jesse sent her take-downs and then herself to the sky with balloons Midna could see where this would lead for the rest of them. A knife-fight in the only cover from the wave they had no guarantee of winning and that would definitely get ugly fast, and death/damage by wipe-out for everyone who didn't get into/stay inside the resulting brawl.

It was reckless, bound to harm allies and would have indiscriminately ended several lives had Jesse not intervened.

Enough was enough.

Midna's dragon claws spiked the ground for a second, only for her to push off of them like starting blocks as she raced for the central iceberg. But not to use it as cover.

She dashed past all the others, weaving between them and dodging attempts to strike her, her only offensive action flicking a Sand Tomb at Nastasia, instinct telling her that the localized swirling sandstorm would prevent escape from battle, even via teleportation. Something that it might be necessary to prevent given her next move.

”I know exactly what I am, and that's someone who’s sick of your self assured bullbo shit!” she shouted up at the madwoman as additional dragon claws spiked into the frozen monolith like ice climbing boots as she sprinted up it at maximum dragon fueled speed. Then, at the very peak, she launched herself cealingwards with might and magic, rising up while forming a massive shadow hand and using it to try and slam Ciella into the roof or the arena in an attempt to knock the daylights out of her and, should the goddesses be kind, end the arena filling spell before it could end anyone’s life.

@Yankee@Lugubrious

---

---

So Link had been wrong. The monster did have a ranged attack, one that could fly to the very roof of the depths. The fact that he had been saving it until now, right when they were on the verge of escape, probably meant he couldn't do it that often. That was cold comfort, as the rain began to fall and wash away the exhilaration of Mirage ripping Ms. Fortune from the jaws of death. Those magnets were really something, but they did nothing against the acid now scorching Mirage's back as he shielded the cat girl with his own body.

Luckily for the both of them their Guardian was on hand to pull them out of the fire. Blazermate scooped the pair of them up in he arms and carried them across the gap to the elevator before they could be entirely eaten. Geralt hadn't even waited that long, clearing the gap as soon as the downpour began. Glenn and Jr were hard at work literally throwing their less athletic allies into the open door, and Sakura sprinted forward to build a bridge that would take the rest of them to safty.

For his part Link was thankful that he had taken the time to put on his stupid looking helmet, because at least none of the drops of bile that were burning into his arms and shoulder were landing on his head. He probably could have kept himself high and dry with his makeshift shield, but as he had begun to run instinct had kicked in again. He held it outward, trying to cover Peach, Bella, and the Cadet as they moved. It would be cramped, but it was better than being totally exposed.

He saw Bowser jump into view as they approached, apparently having the same idea as he did but with a far sturdier umbrella, and with him that seemed to be everyone. Link would usher the others across the bridge before he piled in himself.

Yoshitsune sighed in relief at the backup. As the man began firing his weapon, the samurai used the last of his Kurama herbs, healing him considerably, though not completely. Once the blond man's attack stopped, Yoshitsune rushed forward, his swords slashing through the air, aiming at the staff and dagger the Witch Doctor held, attempting to disarm her, before aiming a kick to bounce her head off the wall.

Thinking she was out of the fight, he turned back to the gunner. "Surrender," he advised, trying to hide the physical strain he'd been going through for the last couple minutes.

With the ranks of her loathsome summons thinned, the Witch Doctor anticipated an attack, but the speed and anger of the vengeful samurai surprised even her. Once in melee range, however, Yoshitsune aimed not for her vitals but the weapons in her hand. The dagger flew from her fingers almost effortlessly, the impact of the blades having jarred her grip. When she felt her all-important staff being wrenched away, the Witch Doctor committed to keeping hold of it to such an extent that the force pulled her impact wide open, and the next moment a kick threw her back. Still, basically untouched until now, the summoner could still fight without much issue. With a vehement swear the Witch Doctor unleashed the spell Horrify to conjure a nightmarish image above her and force Yoshitsune to dash away.

Goldlewis didn't like the distance between the two sides. Until his Security Level rose again, he couldn't challenge the ladies at range, and even then his slow weaponry would be hard-pressed to turn the tide. He took note as the Witch Doctor summoned a trio of undead mongrels to fight by her side, but Daisy was a more immediate concern. She finished reloading her rifle and opened fire, which prompted Goldlewis in turn to bring up his coffin like a shield and deploy a glowing energy barrier. With it in front of him he advanced toward the enemy. "Keep the dogs offa me!" he called to Yoshitsune. "I'll push 'em back 'til we've got 'em cornered!"

Yoshitsune leapt back, getting a bit of space between himself and the summoned dogs. "There's nothing your beasts can do to me, witch," he smirked before activating Kamui again. As he'd hoped, all 3 dogs attacked together. The samurai countered with a spin, slicing through each of their heads. "I've defeated gods," he continued, walking closer. "Surrender or perish."

As he heard the samurai's boasting, Goldlewis shook his head. "Hey, don't get cocky, kid!" The undead mongrels called forth by the Witch Doctor ran as a pack around the side of the Secretary of Defense's barrier, and after making sure of his positioning the samurai met them head on. When the hounds lunged for him, the rotting flesh of their faces flapping over slimy, gnarly teeth, Yoshitsune's fiery blades met little resistance. Since they moved by necromancy the wounds weren't fatal in the conventional sense, but in essence they were all but dealt with, and despite his burns and spider bites the samurai was clearly feeling himself.

Rather than respond to Yoshitsune's bragging verbally, or be unnerved by the approaching shield wall the Witch Doctor kept her focus. She reached a hand toward the mongrels fallen at the samurai's feet and clenched her fist to cast Sacrifice. Though weak and easily felled, the Mongrels served a much grander purpose in death: to detonate in a withering explosion of dark magic, the highest burst damage that any Witch Doctor could put out with a single skill. The beast detonated with enough force to put a small crater in the dungeon floor and stagger the nearby Goldlewis despite his formidable build. "Gyah!" he grunted, his coffin knocked askew and his barrier fallen. "That's just what I meant! Anyone who's anyone's got some crap up their sleeves!" He quickly took stock of the Witch Doctor and Daisy, noting the distance between them. "Well, we're in it now!" He rapped on the coffin, and from it the alien's arm extended to release a spiky, pineapple-sized grenade with a propeller on top. It floated toward the Witch Doctor as she cast Gargantuan to summon a large zombie. Daisy, meanwhile, had kitted herself with a Vox Burstgun before turning the head back up. Goldlewis, however, was already in motion. With the coffin held before him he thundered forward, running like his life depended on it.

As the zombie swung for him he leaped into the air and rammed the coffin into its head, end-first. The mighty blow counterhit the wretch and knocked it backward, and as it fell Goldlewis tensed himself mid-air. A golden disc appeared behind Secretary of Defense, and with a heave he pushed off it to perform an airdash right over his fallen foe, putting its bulk between himself and the Witch Doctor. Yoshitsune, he figured, was close enough to keep them occupied. He, meanwhile, needed to deal with Daisy, or even trying to fight fair would end in getting shot. He inverted himself as he fell to deliver a heavy drop attack that forced Daisy back into the cover of the prison cell. No doubt she planned to sprint out of reach and plug him full of holes the moment he stepped through the doorway and made himself an easy target.

Instead, Goldlewis reached over and slammed the cell door shut. A quick turn and yank of the key trapped Daisy inside. As she realized her error a string a vehement curses assailed him, and bullets flew through the bars, but for now Goldlewis could ignore her. He and Yoshitsune had the Witch Doctor and her hulking friend surrounded.

"It's not cockiness if it's fact," Yoshitsune replied to his ally's statement. He was blown back by the hound exploding but was able to flip in the air to land on his feet. Seeing the undead human, the samurai rushed passed it, aiming to decapitate it as he did. This time, as he swung at the Witch Doctor, his aim was to disarm her in a literal sense, assuming for her biceps.

If Yoshitsune expected to carve through the Gargantuan like butter and kill him with a single slice, he would be disappointed. At the very least his blade didn't stick in the aberration's throat, allowing him to pull his weapon free in order to duck out of the way of a wild counterattack and target the Witch Doctor directly. Put on the back foot, the shaman hurled a jar of spiders that shattered against his cuirass as he approached, releasing its leggy contents to squirm wildly as they flew through the air, but Yoshitsune was undeterred. The Witch Doctor held tight to her last jar in an effort to smash it against her enemy's helmet, both stunning him with its blunt force and giving her minions a chance to bite his face, but a quick slice buried Yoshitsune's katana in her upper arm. She screamed as the blade's flame cauterized the wound, and the spider jar fell to smash at her feet. Another attack could end this.

At that moment, however, the Gargantuan made Yoshitsune regret underestimating it. From behind the huge zombie seized the samurai by the arm and the head, squeezing his in its crushing grip. If he didn't think fast he would be mashed to a pulp inside his own armor.

With the gargantuan coming from behind and the Witch Doctor injured, Yoshitsune had thought of a plan. Being a bit too slow, however, got him grabbed. When he swung his blades, he aimed to dismember the giant zombie's hand, hoping to at least loosen its grip.

Instead of aiming for the other wrist, though, he aimed for his armor straps. Freeing his arm, he was able to get a better chance at destroying the other wrist. With a leap, he kicked at the Witch Doctor's stomach. Standing over her, he waited for the monster.

In a stroke of genius Yoshitsune managed to escape the Gargantuan's clutches without debilitating injury to his arm, but his priorities still lay elsewhere. The Witch Doctor, forced to keep one hand on her wounded bicep, held onto her staff with the last of her strength, and it certainly wasn't enough to stop a heavy boot to her midsection. She crumpled, wheezing, but victory did not belong to Yoshitsune just yet. Wrists intact or not, the Gargantuan behind him swung its massive limbs and walloped Yoshitsune end over end--this wasn't an enemy that he could afford to ignore.

Before the monster could stomp on the downed samurai, Goldlewis appeared. He went low and thrust out a leg to sweep the zombie's own, and as it fell his coffin came down in a meteoric Behemoth Typhoon. It slammed into and caved in the Gargantuan's chest cavity, but the thing still wasn't dead. Never one for half-measures, Goldlewis planted the coffin and slid it open. A half-dozen long, cosmic arms extended from within to grab the zombie's head, and together they began to pull. Already loosened by Yoshitsune's slash, and poorly anchored in necrotic flesh, the vile head began to slide free. A good hack from a sharp blade would be all it took to part ways with its grisly neck.

Yoshitsune smirked as he stood over the Witch Doctor, listening to the thudding footsteps of the Gargantuan behind him. At the last second, he leapt. Not quite fast enough, though, as his wheels were hit, causing the man to spin in the air before crashing down by the Wood doctor. He grabbed her, hiding her above him and between him and the Gargantuan. "You can control it, call it off."

As the samurai saw the blond man taking it down, he tossed her to the side. Since it seemed it was almost a headless Gargantuan, he rushed as fast as he could, slicing through the monster's neck.

Blazing steel slid through rotting ligaments and separated bone, cleanly finishing the job Yoshitsune started earlier. The alien hands relinquished their grip to disappear back where they came from, and as the Gargantuan decomposed Goldlewis loosened his collar with a heavy exhale. Now that the troublesome Witch Doctor had been dealt with at last and Daisy confined, his part in the battle seemed to be over. Still, Yoshitsune could use some healing and antivenom, and Goldlewis himself needed a break. Still, a few enemies remained, and both combatants readied themselves for any further surprises.

Instead of relaxing, though, the samurai approached the wounded woman. He sheathed one blade but rested the other by the Witch Doctor's neck as he grabbed the staff from her. "I told you to surrender." If she refused to let go or fought to get her staff back, he'd try to finish removing the arm he injured.

In the midst of a favorable exchange between the two veteran Smashers, just as the familiar feeling of impending victory against a worn-down opponent started to creep up, the decisive moment was postponed with the sudden appearance and intervention by another. Robin disengaged in a staggered backstep to create just enough space between himself and Fox for the new entrant, and Fox’s advancing inside butterfly kick stopped overhead against the metal shaft of an unorthodox weapon held casually aloft in defense. Fox’s eyes adjusted to the subject within the fading light that now stood between him and their much needed victory against the one opponent there that truly mattered at the moment, sizing up the tactician’s summoned backup in the scant seconds he was afforded before Galeem’s influence kicked in to override them.

His new opponent: apparently a teenage boy in casual attire with little in the way of immediately remarkable features besides the hairstyle, disproportionately, almost comically overlarge footwear, and of course, his weapon--an oversized key wielded as if like a sword. When the boy broke the contact deadlock they had maintained for that brief instance to force Fox away and back to neutral, he got the unmistakable impression right away that he wasn’t to be underestimated. Fox sailed backwards with a flip from the breakaway, touching back down feet first with readied, open hands snappily brought up to re-assume fighting stance.

Fox internally cursed his luck as he continued attempting to size the boy up, wondering just how many more surprise reinforcements Robin’s force may have in reserve. Keeping in mind just how critical to their success freeing Robin was in particular, and how easily anything could go wrong with that at this point, he considered that perhaps the last thing he could really afford was a distraction such as he was faced with. He knew better, however, than to think he would have it that easy, especially if Robin and his partner decided to team up on him rather than leave them to duel it out. At any rate, the newcomer was just someone else in their way, who deserved the same chance as any of them to be brought back to their senses, and Fox remained every bit steadfastly intent on doing just that… even if he had to do it alone.

Sectonia's plan of dealing with their ringleader sort of worked? Well, she got her attention at least while a few of her minions made a surprise attack from behind. What didn't feel good though was Shadow following her teleporting and slamming her to the ground. Now, while Shadow did grab her by the neck in an attempt to wind her, the hedgehog didn't know that wouldn't work the way he thought it would. It did hurt, and Sectonia was quite anooyed and angered at not being able to speak for a bit while her throat recovered a bit, but it didn't wind her all that badly. When she recovered from the slight stun of being chokeslammed though, she didn't have time to retaliate as another one of her 'allies' (this one not being a minion yet.) started to cast their own spell that covered most of the arena in ice that crept towards the downed Queen and the rebellion. So using this little distraction, she blinked away much to Shadow's annoyance.

Once free and away from the effect that Ciella was using to finish the rebellion in one fell swoop it seemed, Sectonia coughed and readied herself for the fighters that would stand after such an attack. Shadow would most certanly be coming their way, and Sectonia had a triple dose of lightning ready for that hedgehog should he come in recklessly like he so liked. However as she got ready she noticed that Mao brought a friend, the dragonborn who blew her away that one time with his voice, the glow free from his eyes. Well, this gave her an idea, although considering how difficult it was to land any damage on her quarry in the first place, said friend heart would probably be more detrimental than helpful.



This fat ugly fish man really didn't do himself any favors. While Blazermate was able to save NAdia and Mirage from being nommed and brought them to the elevator, Mordeau had one more trick up his sleeve. He didn't appriciate having a massive nail driven into his back by Bowser and began to bloat up quite a bit, he released a deluge of acid spraying it up and raining it everywhere with a few of her friends getting hit by the acidic deluge. Blazermate could shield those she saved though on the elevator, and a few of the others from most of the acid, as while it looked really painful against organic material, metal didn't seem to be affected as much by it leaving Blazermate with a bit of a tingling feeling as the acid drops landed on her metal body. Sure it'd ruin her paint job, but she could fix that later.

While she could only heal one at a time, Blazermate kept juggling her healing on those who needed it. And much to Sakura's dismay, her healing beam couldn't fix clothing. That medi gun she got that could turn people invincible could, but her stock medabot one could not.

Taking Necronomicon’s advice to heart, Joker and Fox made a beeline for the side of Ciella’s iceberg on the far side from the purple arrows, and their allies moved just as quickly. Some could simply float over the impending flood, either by their own natural abilities or through the clever use of a tool, gun everyone else had to be fast. Mao and the Dragonborn raced to take refuge with the Phantom Thieves, and though they lacked any prior hints the Resistance members still standing could see well enough where their foes ran to group up. As the two sides converged on the safe side of the iceberg, their battle began anew, and with a lot less real estate.

Fuse showed up practically the moment Joker and Fox got into position, with a couple of opportunistic Vandals in tow. Realizing the situation immediately, the grenadier didn’t slow down, but put all his momentum into a wild swing of his robotic arm at Fox. With both the haymaker and the arc projectiles of the Vandals’ shock rifles incoming, the young man veered backward in an all-out dodge. “Whoa.”

It took a moment for him to regain his footing in preparation to strike back, but by that time Fuse had already deployed a tube from his robotic arm. “Hot potato!” he said with a grin, and a frag grenade shot out to bounce once off the ground and bury itself in the sand right at the edge of the safe zone. With no other option he dove out into the open toward Mao and the Dragonborn as they ran over, while Joker, a little closer, sprang up. He performed an acrobatic flip as he vaulted over Fuse, firing three times into the Vandals’ exposed heads, before landing on his opponent’s opposite side. As he charged his new revolver, Arsene appeared to put the kibosh on the grenadier’s lunge with a quick kick to the stomach, leaving him wide open for a Curse-infused shot. But Fuse, by no means a stupid man, reached out without hesitation to grab hold of a Vandal and pull it in front of him as a living shield. Not an instant too soon the hapless Fallen took the bullet, and the explosion of the frag grenade nearby, forcing both to shield themselves, put an end to further fighting.

The next second the tsunami crashed against the cryogenic meteor, washing around either side. Thanks to the well-placed grenade, neither Fox nor Mao nor Gunnar made it to safety. When Joker cast a panicked look their way, however, he spotted all three hunkered behind the shattered remains of a second, smaller iceberg of Goemon’s creation. Though destroyed by the first wave, it offered a chance for the others to get out of the way of the second. The Thieves shared a thumbs-up, but as usual Fuse ruined the moment. More arrows flashed across the floor as he took off for the new safe side, kicking Joker’s leg out from under him on the way. With Mao, Gunnar, and Fox already on that side, however, Fuse knew he’d have to fight for it. Having lost or expended his gun at some point, he fired off another grenade at the trio, but they had plenty of time to scatter and come at him in a three-pronged beatdown.

While that went down and Joker made his way over, bruised by the fall but otherwise no worse for wear, he quickly took a look around the colosseum to assess the first wave’s damage. At the bottom of the arena Reinhardt had blocked the wave with his shield, but it shattered under the tsunami’s tremendous force, and would protect neither him nor Sven from the second that would roll out from the wall nearest them any second. As much as Joker would have liked to see Nastasia put out of commission by the tidal wave, she’d had a similar idea to Reinhardt. She’d commanded Braum to face and protect her from the water, and his shield didn’t crack. Jesse, Mordecai, Sectonia, Shadow, and Midna stayed high and dry, although the little space-pest had woken up and started shooting magic lasers at Jesse’s balloons in an attempt to knock her down, gibbering inhospitably all the while. He couldn’t see Shayne anywhere. Whoops. And above it all, terrifying in her angelic splendor, the Agito beat her snow-white wings in satisfaction. Joker hurried to safety as the second wave swept forth.

Not all was well, however, for Ciella. As she watched the chaos unfold, a familiar face sped up to meet her, sparking with draconic power. Ciella surmised the intentions of the Twilight Princess in an instant, and her lips curled in disgusted anger. “Treachery! The enemy is right there, and you dare lay a hand on me?!” Sure enough, Midna hurled herself upward from the iceberg, her hair extended in a gigantic fist. As she grew closer she could begin to get a grasp for just how big Ciella was in this form; even at her full height, augmented by several spirits, Midna wouldn’t have even reached her knee. Still, it was too late for what-ifs and second guesses. She rocketed forward, her mighty mitt aimed right for Ciella’s belly, until a sudden impact stopped her shadow hand cold.

Of course, Midna herself kept flying, which led to a painful wrench of her hair. When the stars in her vision died down, she could see an even bigger hand of ensorceled water, punctuating an arm that extended from behind Ciella’s back, that had tried to catch her punch. With her boosted attack she’d blown through it, but the impact slowed her enough that a second and third hand could grab hold. As Midna watched, one of the three water-wings on Ciella’s other side changed into an arm in a spiral motion, reeling back for a punch of its own. The Agito leered, her face twisted by the anger of the betrayed. “You’ve succumbed to vile delusions,” she declared. “But I will set you free!”

Without the weight of solid matter, the giant magic arm cannoned into Midna with brutal speed. Held by her hair, she could not fly back from the fearsome blow, and Ciella followed up by hurling Midna downwards toward the iceberg. If unable to save herself Midna would smash into it just a few moments after the second wave passed, freeing what remained of the two sides to resume fighting. Once unoccupied the Ciella’s conjured arms turned back to wings, and with narrowed eyes she searched for her next target until the voice of Necronomicon reached her. “Ciella, stop! What are you doing, she’s with us!”

“She attacked me!” the Agito spat at the flying saucer. “And what of the rest of you? Do you intend to oppose me also, and drown alongside these hypocrites!?” She raised her clawed hands, singularities of icy power swirling above their palms.

“Hold on, don’t be hasty!” Necronomicon said, and not just to Ciella. “Maybe the enemy boss is controlling her mind!”

Whatever the truth was, Joker saw his chance. “That’s right,” he addressed Ciella through the line he had to Necronomicon. “She already got Braum. If we can cut off the head of the snake, they’ll come to their senses! Plus, that Validar guy in charge won’t be happy if you carelessly wipe out his new hires, right?”

Conflicted, Ciella snarled, “I am not that man’s puppet! I will let you live for now, but if any of you oppose me again, you too will know despair!”

Hovering in a dark corner of the arena, Shadow nodded. His time had come. He’d already taken note of Sectonia, annoyed by his constant badgering and ready to fry him the moment he showed his face again. “Perfect.” Now he invoked his power to blink in front of her, giving her just enough time to reflexively begin her attack before he stopped time. “Chaos Control!” he called, freezing Sectonia mid-spell, and Shadow flew over to grab hold of her for the third time. With the bug in tow he warped directly in front of Ciella. He chuckled to himself. “Time to roast some chicken.” He retreated, and with a snap of his fingers, time resumed its flow.

Lightning surged forth and blasted Ciella squarely in the chest. The Agito gave a shriek of rage, witnessed Sectonia in front of her, and went berserk. “Graaah! So be it!” She spread her arms wide and unleashed twin frigid beams, freezing the floor they hit and anyone unfortunate enough to be in their way. Almost immediately one happened to hit Mordecai, icing him up as it flung him into the Feral Shroud that surrounded the colosseum.

Joker gave an aggravated sigh and rolled out of a beam’s path. He dismissed his empty firearm and brought out his knife, wishing he’d been able to get his grappling hook fixed today. “That hedgehog’s a serious pain.”

“Yet we need not risk getting his attention.” Fox approached, katana at the ready. “While he remains focused on Sectonia, we can target his boss.” He pointed his blade at Nastasia as she wiped water from her clothes. Braum still stood at her side, and after escaping the second tsunami with a timely Elastic Ooze, Sven and Reinhardt were backing her up, too. “Though that may be easier said than done.”

“She hasn’t called in more reinforcements, though!” Necronomicon observed. “Now might be our best shot. If we can stop her brainwashing we can end the team battle and focus on Ciella! We just need to keep Ciella busy while everyone else mobs the boss! Here, I’ll help everyone out!” She engaged Active Support, restoring some health and mana to the whole party. “Go, go, go!”

Just then, a loud noise rang out from the far end of the arena. A familiar vehicle crashed to the colosseum floor, and in a puff of smoke transformed into a certain catlike Phantom Thief. “Alright, I’m here!” Morgana announced, paws on his hips. The next moment he noticed Ciella, and his eyes went wide. “Whoa, mama! What’d I miss?!”

His radio line practically exploded. “This is the endgame! Heal Midna, avoid the bird, and don’t get brainwashed by the short office lady!” Joker told him. “Hurry!”

“Sheesh, I’m going, I’m going!” Morgana replied, summoning Zorro as he scurried forth. As he made his way toward the middle most of the party headed the opposite way, ready to sandwich the last four members of the Resistance between them, if Ciella didn’t get them first.



The sounds of battle still raged on from the other side of the dungeon, assailing the senses with a cacophony of spell noises, heavy impacts, gunfire, and yells of effort or injury, but Tora and Poppi made as much use of their moment as they could. With one another to lean on for support they could let go of the shared fury that ignited them in their battle against Beast and Dante; the Nopons anger subsided, and the artificial blades’ ether regulators, thrown out of whack by the stress and sustained damage of the fight, could bring her processes back under normal operating parameters.

After what seemed like no time at all, Primrose approached, asking if all was well. She went as far as to offer them the last reserves of her magic in order to restore them, but after taking a deep breath Tora declined. “No thanks, meh. Poppi siphon ether from atmosphere to self-repair, and Tora heal fast out of combat. So we okay, Rose-rose!” Even as he said it, however, his face bore a look of unhappiness, and the Nopon felt no need to bottle up that feeling. “It just...that very much frustrating battle, meh.” He fixed his dark eyes on the spirit of Dante. “Tora fight bullies before, and bad-bad villains. All try and hurt Tora and Poppi. But none make Tora as mad as him!”

Poppi tried to console him by patting his head, which made her Masterpon smile. In any other circumstance he might have reveled in being surrounded by two lovely ladies, but for now Tora was serious. “He constantly make fun of us, treating whole thing like game, only to turn around and attack us more vicious than wild Gogol. Meh, meh, meh! Tora not understand why someone so nasty and cruel.” Shaking his head, he glanced back at Primrose with a mournful look. “Even so, Tora try to use Friend Heart and free him. That heroic thing to do, right? But it not work. That man not get hurt like normal. If Tora and Poppi kept holding back, one of us die! But instead, he die.” He sniffed. “Tora never kill actual person before, even in crazy World of Light. But...but now Tora has, Tora can’t be hero anymore!”

With a sigh Poppi picked her Masterpon up, holding him like a teddy bear against her body. He wriggled indignantly. “Hey, put Tora down!”

“It no use moping,” Poppi told him. “It not our fault he push things so hard. Tora still hero. Especially to Poppi.”

Hearing such a thing from his ordinarily critical blade seemed to calm the Nopon right down. “R-really?!” He couldn’t suppress a smile. “Well, thank you, Poppi. Guess Tora think more on this later.” A little bashful, he rubbed his head and glanced over at the fallen Earthquake. “Meh-meh?! Rose-Rose take down bald fattypon all on own? Rose-Rose is awesome! Poppi too. Actually, Poppi little scary for minute there. Tora hope is good enough driver for Poppi.”

His companion tilted her head, smiling faintly. “Masterpon is Poppi’s only driver. Even if not perfect...not at all...losing Masterpon much scarier thing to Poppi.”

“R-right,” Tora said, his emotions mixed. Once Poppi set him down, he headed off back toward the front of the dungeon immediately, going around the right side.

He didn’t get far before gunfire blazed out from the darkness of a prison cell in front of him. “Meh!” Tora yelped in surprise. “Need Poppi Alpha shield!” His companion quickly transformed, manifesting the Drill Shield in Tora’s hand fast enough to let only a few bullets through. Primrose could hunker down behind the Nopon’s defense and Poppi’s armor as Daisy kept shooting with her Vox Burstgun.

When the revolutionary realized her attack’s ineffectiveness, she resorted to yelling instead. “Stay back, ya scumbags! I’ll blow ya full of holes if ya take jus’ one step closer!”

“You one shooting at us!” Tora yelled back, knowing that she must be under Galeem’s influence. “Poppi, let’s seal her in! Switch to earth core!”

The artificial blade nodded and activated Poppiswap. “Roger, roger.” Once properly equipped she flew forward, taking the Drill Shield as she did. Though a handful of submachine gun bullets hit her she stayed the course and dove into the ground in front of the cell. The ether-infused impact kicked up a wall of stone brick and dirt that slammed against the bars of the cell, blocking Daisy inside. A few holes would prevent her from suffocating, but for now she wouldn’t be riddling anyone else. The Seekers reconvened as they rounded the central pillar to see what had become of the fighting in front.

Closest by were Yoshitsune, the half-conscious Witch Doctor, and an unfamiliar titan of a man in a brown leather suit. Tora and Poppi tensed, weapons at the ready, but Goldlewis held up a placating hand. “Whoa, whoa! I think we’re on the same side, hoss. This feller here was just bringin’ me up to speed on everyone.” He jabbed a finger at the samurai, and Tora nodded, satisfied. Although a good two feet shorter and sixty pounds lighter than Earthquake, this guy looked a lot sharper and more put-together than the titanic bandit did, and a spiked coffin on a chain commanded a little more menace than a sickle. If Tora didn’t have to mess with him, he wouldn’t. As such, he moved on to the next nearest combatants.

Doing so allowed them to catch the tail end of the scrap between Ezio, Big Band, and Azwel. Though pinning down any assassin worth his salt was like trying to catch smoke with one’s bare hands, this assassin could neither retreat nor surrender, and against the arsenals of both Band and Azwel Ezio could only hold out so long. His resources dwindled as his wounds piled up, until finally the slipper man got sandwiched between a crystal shield and a brass knuckle. Bruised and bleeding from a dozen wounds, he went down with a bitter groan, unable to fight any longer.

In the middle of the dungeon’s front, however, victory had yet to be decided. Sora’s sudden arrival turned the tables against Fox as the young man unleashed a terrific onslaught of punishment. As if commanding a whole host of different elemental magics wasn’t enough, Sora fought like none other with his keyblade in hand. Wielding the strange weapon like an axe or club, he moved in a weightless, dreamlike manner, floating off the ground to deliver a barrage of spinning and lunging strikes that sometimes made it look as if the keyblade was swinging him around. Only the energetic intervention of Panther and Skull turned the tide, preventing Sora, Robin, and Tharja from overwhelming Fox in a crescendo of bladework and sorcery.

As the lightshow went on, however, spectators closed in. Tora, Poppi, Primrose, Yoshitsune, Goldlewis, Big Band, Azwel, and Kan-Ra surrounded the brawl. At Azwel’s urging they paused to give the three-on-three a chance to resolve itself fairly, and in that moment the biggest and mightiest men among them took a moment to exchange a greeting. As he took note of Band’s size, Goldlewis extended a hand to introduce himself. “Howdy there, partner. Goldlewis Dickinson. Saw a couple moves of yours back there, an’ I gotta say I like your style, Armstrong.”

Big Band cracked a smile at the referential wordplay. “Sho ‘nuff! Well Lewis, the name’s Ben Birdland, but these days most everybody calls me Big Band.” He deployed a mechanical arm to clasp the Secretary of Defense’s hand, and bring the two together in an arm-wrestle handshake. Despite Band’s augmentations Goldlewis held firm, wearing a mild grin of his own. “Somethin’ tells me we’re gonna get along jus’ fine.”

Their attention turned back to the fight in the middle as the situation changed. Sora had downed Panther with Blizzara, capitalizing on her ice weakness after the sight of Carmen convinced him that her element must be fire. Robin, meanwhile, made good on his earlier experiments to down Skull as well using Elwind. Fox took the brief moment that the tactician was occupied to try and strike down his support, descending on Tharja with an explosive dash, but it was all according to plan. “Barrier!” she cried, spiking her own resistance with magic. When the blast went off, she took the damage as best she could, and thanks to Barrier remained close enough that she could snare Fox before he recovered with the dark magic Nosferatu. Sora rushed in as Robin charged his thunder magic, building up a Thoron that could rip through the whole host of heroes. Band shook his head, clicking his tongue. “Ain’t happenin’. Let’s do this.”

Goldlewis hefted his coffin. “Right behind ya!”

Turning forward, Band lifted himself up, and with a shout of “Join the big band!” came down with a massive stomp. A row of trumpets burst up from the ground in a rolling wave, knocking all three enemies up and back until the last row sent them back toward the center. A chorus of trumpet blasts rang out, pelting the trio with trumpet mutes in a grand bombardment. Skull and Panther, back on their feet, saw their chance. “Let’s hit ‘em with an all-out attack!” the boy called, and as the pair leaped into the action both Fox and Primrose, who’d participated in such a move once before, could join them. The backdrop faded to red, and shadowy blurs struck Robin, Tharja, and Sora again and again.

Suddenly the scarlet and black of the all-out attack parted in a ray of yellow, returning the dungeon to normal, and the keyblade wielder burst free. “Light, give me strength!” Sora disappeared in a whirlwind of dash slashes that flung away everyone involved, then descended in a pillar of light that destroyed the trumpets. Fox hurtled to the ground but was caught by Big Band in the nick of time. The next second Sora burst forth from the devastation, his keyblade primed with radiant light to skewer through pilot and detective alike.

Tora dashed in front of him, sliding to a stop with the Drill Shield raised. “MEHMEH...meh!?” Out of nowhere a much bigger shape slid in front of him in turn, kicking up a lot more dust as he did.

Time seemed to slow. Goldlewis reached back for his coffin as Sora’s keyblade lunged forward, but rather than be impaled the Secretary of Defense unleashed his power with the aid of a little startup invincibility. His hair and clothes flapped in a sudden wind and his mouth opened wide as he bellowed, “DOWN THEEEEEEE…” Muscled bulged and forehead veins popped as his arm hurtled forward, the sheer force causing his glasses to shatter into pieces.

“SYSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!”

The spiked end of his coffin slammed into Sora like a freight train, and the boy went flying into the ceiling hard enough to smash a crater into it, shaking the whole dungeon in the process. Goldlewis maintained his position for a moment, breathing heavily, before he allowed himself to relax. As the others got up he wiped his brow, then adjusted his tie. Sora fell a moment later, slow enough that anyone could snatch the unconscious teenager before he hit the ground. Goldlewis glanced at him to make sure he wasn’t dead. “...You’ve got strong bones.” The fight, it seemed, was over.

Gritting his teeth, Robin took stock of the situation from where he lay on the ground. Charnok, Beast, and Dante were dead. Daisy had been trapped. Es, Earthquake, Ezio, the Witch Doctor, and even their last resort Sora had been beaten. The Seekers and Grimleal sustained a lot of damage, but all appeared to be alive. Only he and Tharja, spared from the finale of the all-out attack by Sora’s efforts, remained. How?! After all his tactics, and with all of the Resistance’s strength, how could it come to this? Anger flared within him.

“I will not...be brought before Validar...and made into his puppet once more!” he growled. The dungeon seemed to darken as an unknown power built around him. A dazzling rainbow light began to dance around his body, and as a pressure held his enemies down his eyes glowed an immaculate gold. “I will purge your evil,” he proclaimed, rising to his knees. “Even if it’s the last thing I…!”

“Robin, no!” Tharja threw herself around his arm, clinging to it in desperation. “Please, please don’t use it!”

With a most atypical snarl the tactician tried to shake her off. “Release me. For once in your damned life, let me go!”

“I cannot!” the dark mage wept. “I know I am not Lissa. I know it was wrong of me to take her spirit after she died. I am so sorry to have put you through that.” Tears flowed down her face as she buried it in Robin’s shoulder. “I know I have no right to hold you, but still…! Her feelings have only strengthened my own. I cannot bear to lose you. I cannot live without you! So please, if there must be a sacrifice, let it be me!”

Her eyes snapped open, and they shared Robin’s golden luster. The same power swelled around Tharja. “I do not deserve you. I hardly deserve to live. But you must. You can take back the spirit I stole and find someone who can bring her back for real. If I can die knowing that my death might give you a chance at happiness, that’s good enough for me.”

Robin held still, his mouth slightly ajar, his brows furrowed. He stared out at the Seekers and Grimleal in front of him, then back to Tharja’s face, and sighed. As he closed his eyes the power around him faded away. “Enough foolishness,” he declared, to his companion’s confusion. “I would never ask an ally to die in my stead. And seeing you now, I cannot bring myself to be so cruel as to die and leave you behind. Besides, I cannot give up now. As long as we are still alive, we can change the future. We’ll find...another way.” He sagged down, defeated, to the floor, and with her strength fading as well Tharja collapsed beside him. Whatever power they’d tried to invoke had drained the last of their energy. And though she lapsed into unconsciousness, the dark mage wore a smile on her face.

Tora rose to his feet, shaking himself off. He and Poppi shared a clueless look. “Tora have many questions.”

Shrugging, Poppi stood beside him with the aid of her claymore. “However strange it might be, it look like we win.”

“What a touching display. I daresay I shall never tire of the human race.” When Tora looked over, he saw Azwel standing with Ezio on his knees in front of him, scimitars against his neck. “You speak the truth, machine. As they say, it’s curtains.” In a single fluid motion the researcher decapitated the assassin, allowing the head to roll until it disintegrated. He watched it turn to ash coolly, telling it, “Consider that repayment for stabbing me in the throat.” Turning his attention back forward, he waved at the Seekers. “Well, what are you waiting for? These people are killers, and if you’d allowed them they’d have killed you as well. Even if we take them alive, they’ll hang sooner or later. Might as well reward yourselves with their spirits now.”

Band’s face was one of tranquil fury. “This ain’t my town, but I’ll be damned if I make myself judge, jury, and executioner. What you just did was manslaughter.”

“Yeah, this is a God-damned usurpation of justice!” Goldlewis declared. “Whatever fate they’ve got in store, they’ve got a right to a fair trial in a court of law!”

Tora jumped up and down, flapping his wings angrily. “It wrong! Very wrong! Tora almost throw up! You are very bad man!”

Waving his fingers dismissively, Azwel deflected their concerns. “Would you really shoot the messenger? I am merely acting according to my mandate as peace-keeper. Considering what they’ve done in pursuit of revolution, a quick death is a mercy, really. Opposing me would accomplish nothing. If you take issue with our laws, I suggest you bring it up to Validar when next you meet.”

Kan-Ra tented his fingers, grinning as always. “Forgive my compatriot, he isn’t fully aware of our options. Although he speaks sense, you also have the choice of using those hearts you displayed earlier, if you so choose. Having forfeited their lives, they are in your hands. As long as they never again disrupt the lives of our fair city’s citizens, justice is, I would think, served.” He glared at Azwel, who gave an indifferent shrug and bent to collect Ezio’s spirit. The fates of Daisy, Earthquake, Es, Robin, Sora, Tharja, and the Witch Doctor were the Seekers’ to decide.



In the midst of a caustic downpour, the kids made a mad scramble for the one safe haven that promised to bear them away from this wretched place: the providential elevator. Using everything at their disposal they booked it through the deluge of agony and hurled themselves -or one another- inside. And for all the horror the flooded factory had to offer, from perilous heights and Stygian depths to the eerie Mockingbirds to the malformed shrieker and pitiable leviathan, everyone made it inside. Human, medabot, koopa, Pokemon, Abyssal, and even behemoth all crammed into the refuge, battered and burned but still alive. As the doors slid together, shutting out the last hurrah of the acid rain and the sight of their loathsome foe, the children could hear one last cry. “I’m sorry, lady...I tried my best...I’ll do better, next time…” A moment later, the lift began to rise, and the nightmare of the Depths was left behind.

Though half-eaten by acid herself, Blazermate filled the elevator’s confines with liberal usage of her healing beam. The flesh corroded by vicious bile began to heal, its stinging pain steadily falling for each patient until comparable with the gruesome hunger that lanced their insides, and the incredible fatigue that occupied their strained muscles. However, Nadia noted with more than a little revulsion that the acid burns didn’t heal quite right. The skin closed over the damaged area as best it could, but failed to recapture the original appearance in totality. She couldn’t help but recall the grisly photographs of Canopy Kingdom soldiers warped by chemical damage during the wars, both with other kingdoms and his own wife, Queen Nancy, after she became the Skullgirl. She gently ran her fingers across her upper arm and winced as she felt the irregularity. Scars were hardly new to her, but not in this form. All the more reason to get back to normal soon.

When the elevator reached its destination and discharged its occupants, a miserable bunch of children spilled forth. Now that Moreau was out of the picture and their frantic hearts could ease up, any adrenaline still sustaining them faded fast, leaving them hollow, deprived, and tired. In front of them stretched a short and narrow hall, its floor of wooden planks, with an empty wall to the right, a tall door at the end, and a long barred window on the left. Moaning, Nadia sprawled out on the ground, clutching her belly as it grumbled incessantly. Even those who hadn’t exerted anywhere near as much as she had were scarcely better off; everyone ached terribly, and the end felt dangerously near.



Faced with such dire circumstances, Nadia couldn’t help but squeeze out a delirious laugh. “Hah...hah. Isn’t it...funny? After all that, we’re just gonna waste away…” Though the kind of girl who tangled with death and flirted with disaster with some regularity, Nadia never imagined she’d meet her end by starving to death. For a fighter such as herself, scrappy and adaptable, ready to take on whatever life threw at her with a fang-toothed grin on her face, it was the ultimate irony that she should die in such a manner--not with a bang, but with a whimper. It was an awful, ignoble way to go, and the thought of never seeing her friends, her home, or even the sunlight again filled her with irrepressible melancholy. Tears welled up and a full-body sob wracked her as Nadia tried and failed to keep herself under control. “This blows,” she sniffed.

Her eyes flew open, her anguish suddenly silent. Blinking, she sniffed again, then a third time. At that point there could be no mistaking it. The feral’s heightened senses detected a ray of hope that cut through the cloud of despair around her. Licking her dry lips, Nadia whispered, “Food.”

She planted her hands on the ground and pushed, rising shakily to her feet. Like a drunkard she tottered over to the barred window on the left, where she leaned against its sill. Her head reached just high enough that her glinting eyes could peer inside. “I smell food!”

Within she saw a much larger room, dark but for the soft glow of large, round lights like tiny moons on the opposite wall, and in their pale illumination she saw rows of tables, each with a bench on either side and a number of plates and bowls on top. Nadia’s little heart thumped in her chest. A cafeteria. And on those dishes...?

“No way.”

Almost every plate and bowl was laden with food, practically untouched. Breads, stews, meats and fishes, fruits and vegetables, everything. Nothing looked to be of particularly good quality, with a lot of it less colorful and aromatic than it should have been, but it was food nonetheless. If her group could just get in, it would all be theirs. Nadia’s mouth watered like crazy, and she wasted no time clambering up. But try as she might, even a scrawny kitten couldn’t squeeze between the bars. She could only reach out her arms in desperation, scrabbling for a roll just beyond her reach. An undignified noise of frustration escaped her as she flailed around wildly, scraping her claws against the table on the other side.

Suddenly the roll slid into her grasp. She blinked, confused, and for the first time noticed a small, dark figure sitting at the table. It was a child about her size, a boy, and he’d been staring at the new arrivals the whole time. Without a word, he’d pushed the food into her hand. Scattered throughout the cafeteria, in fact, were a number of silhouetted children, all deadly silent, all watching. Wearing her gratitude on her face, and deaf to any words of caution from behind her, Nadia shoveled the roll into her mouth. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wolfed it down. Though stale and without much flavor, the hunk of bread tasted like the best thing she’d ever eaten. Nadia didn’t waste a single crumb of it. So absorbed was she that she didn’t notice the lights flickering, nor what lurked in the inscrutable darkness of her peripheral vision.

Inside the cafeteria a veritable smorgasbord of food, barely picked at by the quiet children, awaited the starving arrivals. In addition to the table scraps, there even appeared to be a few vending machines, both conventional and more stylized, stocked with sodas, fruit juices, soups, syrups, coffees, and tonics ripe for the plundering.

The cafeteria sported one other feature. A rope crossed its entire length along the far wall, moving from the left to the right. At regular intervals hooks hung below it, and from most of those dangled parcels neatly wrapped in brown paper and cream-colored string. Their steady, rhythmic progress in front of the lights cast moving shadows across the cafeteria, through the barred window, and onto the hallway wall. There appeared to be no rope going the other way. The parcels disappeared through a high-up hole by a large door in the cafeteria’s right side, padlocked but with a slot at the bottom through which plates of food could be shoved. Both light and noise issued from the openings. Should anyone not overtaken by hunger try the one door in the current hallway and find it locked from the other side, they might realize that the Kitchen appeared to be the only way to progress onward.



Just when Albedo was finally getting used to the unusual floating devices and their odd behaviors, the final stretch of the mill changed things up once more. At this point, despite his climbing ability and the undeniable utility of his solar isotomas, the alchemist approached every new obstacle with caution. A fall from here, after all, would be beyond fatal, even if a wooden beam or metal gear interrupted his rendezvous with the windmill’s distant floor. And fittingly enough for such a high altitude, the challenges at this point seemed to revolve around two facets characteristic to the sky itself: wind and falling.

Albedo made sure to scrutinize everything in painstaking detail. Fans powered via gears by the main turbine or the wind outside span at high speed for a few moments at a time, threatening to blow away anyone who happened to be in front of them when they turned on. Pillars suspended from above like stalactites featured bronze cores with cylindrical sections that appeared, as per Albedo’s best guess, to be held on by friction alone. The flooring from here on out appeared to be mostly stone blocks, all topped with concentric hexagonal patterns. The darker ones he set foot on without issue, but the moment his foot fell on a blue one, it began to slide downward. He withdrew his foot in a hurry and watched as the block descended until it fell out from between his fellows and hurtled down into the windmill below.

His eyes went wide as a potential problem occurred to him. “Look out!” he called as a warning for Linkle, afraid that the falling mass might crush the poor girl, but a moment later he realized his worries were unfounded. The Hylian clambered up just a short way behind him and jogged over, reuniting the pair in their quest for stolen goods. Albedo nodded, managing to avoid looking embarrassingly relieved. “Good, you made it.” He inclined his head toward the obstacle course in front of them. “The blue-colored tiles will fall out beneath you. We should be wary of the fans, although I believe I have already spotted a section where using one may be necessary...”

In the middle of his explanation, he spotted a blur in the air ahead. Wordlessly he charged forward, reaching out for the distortion. The cat burglar yelped as it dodged out of the way and sprinted across the blue blocks, at the edge of which Albedo stopped short. With a stony look he observed the feline high-tail it across the blocks, then jump over a gap to the vines growing on one of the handing columns. In neither case did it appear to be heavy enough to make the contraptions fall. Once it reached the next floor, the burglar turned to stick its tongue out at its pursuers, and meowing laughter overhead caused Albedo to look upward. “Their hideout must be nearby,” he remarked. “Which means we are almost finished here. Still, this may be tough. My jumping ability is limited, and my isotomas cannot reach the next floor.” He turned to gauge a route ahead once more, open to ideas from Linkle.

---

As the doors closed, Mirage let the silence after Moreau's final cry linger for a moment. Against everything, they'd made it out. Equal in number, yet, still missing one. His gaze wandered in the crowded space, eyeing Sakura still in possession of the Dart Gun for a moment before deciding to look down at the floor as he thought about the events that transpired. He felt an odd confliction, knowing he saw himself-- Or a version of himself, given live in something else, get killed. It's words echoed in his mind as he pulled on his goggles, seeing a little engraved "E" on the strap, with an assortment of small smiley faces. He had to wonder if it was too far gone to realize their mission had failed, at least on it's end. That left him carrying the torch for them both now: Get out of here, find mom. Wherever she was.

In a way, the horrific experience steeled his resolve. He was starving, and just about ready to keel over from a stiff breeze, but he wasn't ready to just lay down in the elevator and die. Blazermate's healing helped with that, though he kinda wished that walking microwave came with a food-beam, too. His back felt a bit itchy, and by reaching back it was easy to find his shirt was damaged from the acid. That, and he had some sections of skin that felt a little off. As an adult, he'd gotten a bit of damage on his face, but the magazines said that gave him a 'rugged handsome rogue' appeal, so maybe a few back scars would do the same. He had time to question ladies on that after he got out alive, though. And after he got some food in his stomach.

He pulled himself up as the elevator audibly began to slow. The calm was bringing him down from his more panicked state, and he shuffled out of the elevator like a damned zombie. He eyed Nadia as she slumped over, having done enough of that in the elevator but he was only wasting whatever meager time he had left. Like it or not, hunger and thirst were killers. And as his body cried from the inside, an absolutely feral growl being what came from his stomach, he tried to keep in mind what he said to Geralt before. But that only made him think of what Geralt had said, too. Maybe being cursed was better than dead.

He fought the two methods in his mind, a fictionalized process of Mirage and Geralt in a boxing ring with Nadia as the ring girl, staring off blankly into space momentarily as he continued walking the line between going crazy and just being himself. This broadcast was put on hold as his thoughts were interrupted by Nadia's laughter, and words that shot a bit of fear into him from the sign of her giving up. Not that he could blame her, he couldn't run anymore. All that parkour crap was long gone, and the next time they had to run, he was probably going to die. If he didn't just fall over dead first, that is.

"As least we got to spite that creepy fish guy!" He would've wished for more revenge, but he'd take what they got. He lost, and that obviously stung more than any of the pain he'd taken. If anything, the small spiteful gogglehead was glad he'd starve instead! Doesn't give anyone the satisfaction of beating him! It just means he beat himself! Realizing his own desperation with this thought process, he deflated, arms weakly dangling in front of him as he slightly slumped forward, looking close to just toppling at some point.

Stupidity ending at a whispered word he couldn't quite hear, Mirage turned his head towards Nadia. "Eh?" He reacted with a tilted head, following after her as she declared more clearly that she caught the scent of some food. Mirage did, too, as they got closer. Though the sight was partially disheartening as it was practically taunting them behind bars. Nadia's attempt to squeeze through made it obvious he wouldn't, and he was still not feeling right about eating, so that also halted any attempt.

Raising his hands defensively at the sight of the child on the other side of the bars, he winced at their intent to offer Nadia some food, which instantly sent him into alert. "Wait--" It was already too late. She snacked it down faster than he could speak, and his mental state went back to the boxing match. In which Geralt was on the ground with cartoony X's over his eyes, Mirage trying to defend himself with his equally idiotic and thoughtful mind. "I-Isn't the food like, cursed?" He cautiously questioned, watching Nadia for any abnormalities.

She just became a guinea pig to see how real of a claim that was. And that was making Mirage feel really anxious. He backed away from the bars somewhat, unsure of what the result of this would be. But, maybe it'd be a sign things were alright? Mirage had his doubts, with the hellish situation so far. He started to note that possibly he wouldn't have a choice, but while he still had a little time he'd observe.

"Do you feel like, weird at all?"

---

Traversal to safety had gone mostly unopposed, but as with all dramatic fights, something had to happen at the last second. The closer he was, the easier it was to scan the situation at hand. There seemed to be some down and out, some missing, but their side seemed to be taking the victory. Braum was protecting Nastasia, but considering who she was, that meant enough sense to him. The big defensive wall got taken mentally, which was yet another problem on the checklist.

Another one of those being a grenade. Which Mao was not blown up by, but the explosion with the prior spectacle between Fuse and Joker was startling. That old bastard was trying to keep them out of the safe zone with bombs! Not as stupid as he thought some of them might've reacted, and he realized just how much he'd been played by the grenade when the water behind him got louder. He gritted his teeth as he tried to think of an evasive maneuver, but thankfully Fox had him and Gunnar covered. "Too close." He muttered, offering Fox a small nod as the waters died down.

Noting the new safe zone, he grinned knowing they were the defenders now. However, Fuse had full-intent to use that against them again. He intended to turn it into a blast zone with his grenade, but Mao was growing tired of getting attacked by the elderly: Though, HITTING the elderly, on the other hand, he'd happily continue doing. Seeing the explosive flung his way, Mao's mechanical limbs sprung to life as he made use of a secondary wave-evading plan he'd managed to cook up during that last mishap. The dangerous ends dug into the ice, allowing him to scale it at a fast pace with spider-like effectiveness and catch a glance of Midna's conflict with Ciella above. Not looking good, he could tell, but there was apparent help on the way and he could focus on his initial target for the moment.

Using his feet he kicked off the meteor, unsheathing his blade in a spinning motion as he descended from above. With a cry of "Time for a live dissection!" His main hand gripped on the handle along with his feet being planted on each side of the blade for stability, leaving a hand open to form another Friend-Heart if he succeeded in skewering Fuse through the chest and promptly pulling the sword out afterwards. Which would cut his area of denial hopefully out of their way, so they didn't have to worry about anymore grenades.

Sectonia managed to avoid the ice attack from Ciella who seemed to be having a bit of an issue with some of Sectonia's minions, most notably Midna. Although beyond the arguing Sectonia couldn't tell what it was about. Either way, Shadow somewhat took her bait, getting near Sectonia. Although he had a different idea, using his time stop power yet again to move Sectonia in the middile of her allies aiming her random lightning towards Ciella before resuming time on her, causing her triple lighting blast to scatter around and hit everyone nearby. However, much like her light rings and void blasts, this lightning did no damage to her allies. Ciella didn't know that though, and took the attack as it looked like, shooting out more ice at people.

At the mention of no reenforcements coming from the enemy side, Necronomicon used an ability to give everyone a burst of healing and magic power. While Sectonia didn't use mana, the burst of healing was quite nice and caused her Nukima's Opinion to fire off a couple of green ghostly skulls which homed in on the nearest foe dealing a fair bit of damage considering Sectonia's bulk. Then reenforcements of their own appeared in the form of that cat that turned into a vehicle crashing from the ceiling, causing a momentary pause in the fight. A pause which Sectonia used to formulate a plan to deal with her main opponent Shadow, someone that many of her minions were very hesitant to even think of fighting.

This Shadow was being quite the annoying opponent, an opponent that would make a wonderful minion one way or another. And it seemed like it'd have to be the other way, as he hated the idea of serving anyone... And that thought gave Sectonia an idea, a devious idea. Engaging Shadow again, "I'm surprised that a strong fighter such as yourself with such an independent spirit takes commands willingly from one weaker than himself." she said, gesturing to Nastiasha who had managed to mind control Shadow. "Or perhaps your strength comes from her and not yourself. After all, if you are controlled by another, how can you claim anything you've done as your own?" Sectonia's plan of psychological warfare here, she hoped, would cause the strongest member of the resistance to possibly turn on the rest of them, if he was as strong willed as he led himself on to be. Either way, she was ready to counterattack Shadow should her plan not work the way she intended.

Bowser discarded his protective plat and hopped across the gap into the elevator along with the last of the children, stumbling on tired legs in through the doors and then past the two turtle stack of Kamek and Jr who had appointed themselves keepers of the door.

”Go go go go! Book it!” Jr demanded from the bottom of the stack as soon as everyone was in. Kamek had at that point already jabbed the button that would take them to the only other floor on the elevator’s path, looked down at him and replied ”it’s an elevator i can’t make it go any faster than it already ” the only to get another demand of ”Go!” from Jr. The old man in a child’s body sighed and then proceeded to jab the button repeatedly.

Whether spurred by impatient jabbing or just getting there when it got there, the doors started to close shut, prompting one last gout of pitiful words from their foe before they left him behind for good.

”There won’t be a next time once I get my hands on that schmuck of a lady!” Bowser growled in response as they started to ascend, but as they adrenaline wore off and they rose higher it was his, and others, stomachs that did most of the growling. Bodies had been pushed to the limit to get them out of that room (though admittedly some more than others), where now demanding their due.

The pain the hunger caused wasn't suppressed by blazeramte’s healing beam for even a second and, worse, whatever mechanism it used seemed to be failing to properly stitch things back together. Those with acid burned flesh where left with warped skin, while those with scales (mostly bowser, the rest of the troop sans tyrant where basically unharmed thanks to being at the exit when the rain came) was left with an itchy swollen latticework of pain where the acid had leaked in between his resilient scales.

”That is odd. Either some ambient magic is interfering with the beam, or the machine simply accelerates the natural healing process, which is being hampered by our lack of energy to heal with. I’m not sure which is worse” Kamek noted academically, the tiny turtle the least affected among the group due to having been among the least active among them.

”Does it matter! Urrgh, this is the worst” Bowser complained, scratching at his scales and getting no relief. He got a muttered corus of agreement from Rika and Jr, both of whom were slumped against various walls of the elevator, with the porcelain doll and tyrnet in their respective laps, hoping in vain that rest might let them recover.

It didn't, and the time for rest was soon over as the elevator reached the top of its climb and the doors popped open to reveal the dimly lit room beyond. As much as staying seated appealed, none of the troop wanted to find out what happened if they rode back down again to the fish monster’s lair, and so with much reluctance they spilled out onto the next floor along with the others.

It didn't feel like they’d get much further than that, the long wooden corridor stretching out before them feeling almost insurmountable due to their hunger. Nadia’s black humor at the situation did not help that.

”Bolts to that” Bowser grunted, before declaring ”I am an engine of destruction, fueled by spite, and we are getting out of here” while gripping the two horns of the hammerhead and using it as a walking stick/zimmer frame to hobble forwards. He was followed by jr (still carrying a tired Mimi on his shoulder and with Tyrant trotting at his heels), Rika (who had moved the doll she had become irationaly attached too to her shoulders where it was riding her piggy back) and finally Kamek, slowly and steadily trundling on as koopas where wont to do.

They were just a bit behind Nadia when she realised what was available on the other side of the bars and its siren call struck the royals (and animals) among them hard. Bowser, his son and Tyrant all immediately diverted course to the bars, Kamek’s protests that ”Sire please! This must be a trap!” falling of deaf ears.

The King immediately jammed the horns of his hammerhead in between the bars to try and pry them apart with what little strength he had left, but it was jr who bypassed the cruel cage keeping them out (or possibly in) the best. Or rather it was Mimi, who jr held out on the palm of his hand and who used her long arms to nab food from inside. First she grabbed a fish, which she pulled under her disguise into her eldritch interior (from which was never seen again) before hauling out and distributing food to the ravenous Bowser, Jr, Tyrant and possibly anyone else foolish enough to take the bait.

The only one Kamek managed to stop from joining in was Rika, partially because of his connection to her as the person who’s heart had freed/created her personhood made her more likely to listen to him than the self assured royals, but mostly because he grabbed her leg to stop her moving forwards long enough for her to come to her senses and, along with him and Mirage, too take in the rest of the room and realise just how very suspicious it was. Most notably the silent still children who, and this was rather key, had barely touched the food they were in the room with.

“Uhhhhhhh. Hi there?” the ship girl said, waving a gun covered hand at the closest one awkwardly. “Is the food safe? Because I am really really really hungry.”

”Who are you? Were you trapped here as well? Is there a way out?” Kamek asked them in quick succession, before glancing around himself to see if he could see one and spotting the door with the lock.

”Do you know who has the keys we found?” he truend to ask Rika, who nodded in response.

“Oh? Me. And both of them. They’re in here,” Rika replied and then tried to retrieve them from her pocket only to find that the gauntlets made getting things out a lot harder than getting them in did. It took several moments of struggle to get them out but once she did she said “got them, here, look,” and then held both out for him, and anyone else, to see, or indeed take if they had the will/energy (and dexterity she lacked) to go try them out in the distant lock. Kamek himself was to busy doing as Mirage was doing, and watching the eaters for any incoming side effects (as well as awaiting answers to his questions, if any where forthcoming)

---

---

---

Link was the last to balance his way into the elevator, tilting back and plopping down on the floor almost as soon as he had crossed the threshold to safety. The doors rattled shut behind him, and as their dogged foe lamented their escape he couldn't help but grin. The big guy could wait and hope all he wanted, but Link agreed with Bowser; there wasn't going to be a next time for any of this.

Ironically as the elevator began to go up he started to come down, down, down. It was less of a steady descent and more of a terminal velocity crash as the hunger, pain, and exhaustion that he had been able to shake off when faced with certain death all came roaring back to make themselves known. He glanced over at his right arm, the sleeve and shoulder of his bright little uniform tunic frayed and gull of holes. Under it he could feel island of agony that flared to life whenever he moved it, and while Blazermate was able to sooth the pain his shoulder still felt stiff when he rolled it. His makeshift shield had gotten the worse of it though, the unique pattern on the front being burned off. He hoped it was still structurally sound, but he wasn't going to be surprised if the thing shattered under one attack. He held it up to the Cadet. "I'd return this, but I kind of ruined it." He said, half-joking.

He knew he should be doing something on the way up. Something to prepare for whatever horror this place had in store for them. He thought about trying to detangle that mess of cords Glenn had brought down, maybe tie them into functional ropes they could use in the next trial, but he found he really didn't have the energy for it. So he just sat, the hunger seemingly growing stronger and stronger as they ascended, until he heard the doors open behind.

Link struggled to pull himself up as the others started filing out around him, until he felt a helping hand reach under his armpit and help pull him to his feet. Glenn, still not as tired as any of them despite the pain he had put himself through, helped Link out of the elevator and into the hall beyond. There were, at least, no monsters waiting. It was just a short hallway, but from the way they felt it may as well have been the entire Gerudo Desert. It wasn't long before Ms. Fortune collapsed, lamenting that this was it. While it certainly felt like that was the case he was among the ones that wasn't going to accept that. There was no way he was letting anyone starve to death in a hallway. He shucked Glenn's arm of his shoulder and pointed down at the stricken cat girl. "Help her, she needs it more." He said, shuffling around to the other side of her to help Glenn drag her if they had to.

As it turned out, she didn't need it. As he leaned down to pull her up he heard her whisper a single word. "Food?" He repeated in a hoarse whisper, but he didn't get an answer. As though she had spotted an oasis Ms. Fortune's discovery had given her a burst of energy. She rose by herself, leading them to the barred window that lined the side of the room, and found a way to scramble up to bars and attempt to force her way between them. As he got closer he could see why, just over the rim of the window. Food was silhouetted in the dim light, piles and piles of it, stuck there behind the bars. In that moment, as his mouth watered incessantly and his stomach let out a gut wrenching rumble, Link had never hated anyone like he hated the Lady for putting this here. He wondered if it was really possible to live off spite, at least long enough to take vengeance on the person that had taunted them so.

He didn't even see that Ms. Fortunes efforts had been rewarded, at least now until he heard her chewing. He looked over at her, cheeks stuffed, with a look of shocked betrayal. That greedy little kitten, she hadn't even offered to share her...her...whatever it was that she had managed to palm! It took Mirage tp bring him back to his senses, reminding him that the food was absolutely not safe. Not that that stopped most of the Koopa Troop. Bowser started trying to pry the bars apart in desperation, buy Junior and his pet were the real solution. The Pikachu things long arms reached out and grabbed a bunch of dishes, bringing them dangerously close as it, Bowser, and Junior tucked in. He was sorely tempted to join in, but Kamek was right. This was...no.

"If the food was the trap," He started, looking into the room and mysterious children sitting within. "Why wouldn't she just have it out? In this room? Why separate us from it?" If it had just been sitting in front of them the moment the elevator opened there was no way he would have been able to resist it. Ms. Fortune and the royalty definitely wouldn't have. As it stood, it took a little ingenuity or the kindness of strangers to get the food. No, the bars were meant to keep them from the food and keep those silhouettes stuck in that room. The cafeteria door was locked. The door in their hallway wasn't. Kamek and Rika questioned them, briefly, before turning his attention to getting out the keys they had found. Link took one, an idea of their use percolating through his mind.

He stepped back to the bars, calling in a whisper to the one they had been talking too. "Hey, can you come closer into the light? I just want to make sure you're not another monster." Link held up the key to show it to the silhouette. "Because we're breaking out of this place, and if you want to work together this key might unlock that door keeping you in there. Any information you can give would be invaluable."

---

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---

---

"He hung back just to laugh at us." Linkle said, offended, as Albedo made his way back across the bridge. This area was obviously the trickiest one yet if she had caught up to Albedo here. The stuff here was apparently outside of his considerable wheelhouse. She took a around look at every element of this last gasp of the obstacle course, trying to figure a way through it. Those fans would be a problem, but maybe she could do something about those. There was that one legend where the hero counteracted strong winds and fans like this by wearing heavy boot that stuck him flush to the ground, and while the boots she had it her bag might not be that heavy exactly they might still...be able too...

"Wait." She said slowly. She stepped out onto the bridge, being mindful to stop before treading on the blue blocks like Albedo had instructed, and took another thorough look at all the obstacles. Blocks that were safe, and blue blocks the dropped you into the abyss. Spinning fans, designed to knock you off ledges with strong wind. Pillars, hanging from the ceilings that...

She shouldered her rifle and aimed at one of the pillars that was further away, letting off a few bullets that plowed into the bottom of it. Like she had been expecting the bottom piece, the size and shape of a millstone appropriately enough, slowly slid down and dropped off the bottom. She followed it as dropped and smashed into the floor below, the crash exemplifying her realization. She turned back to boy, unreasonably excited. "I think I know where we are." She said, running back to him. "All this stuff was what the hero faced in the sky city in the legend of the Twilight Princess! This is part of a dungeon. Look, look!" She said, pointing up at one of the bronze plates attached to the pillars. "See, that's got to be for a hookshot. It's this cannon that shoots a claw with a chain on the end, and it pulls you to stuff. I had one once, its super fun. He used it to traverse this dungeon and slay a giant dragon!"

Which meant that without a hookshot they were at a significant disadvantage in trying to get through here. More than that, though, it meant that this was Hyrule. They were standing in Hyrule right now. Those thieving cats were making their hideout in Hyrule.

Her brow furrowed. "I'm not playing by cat rules on my home turf." She said, dropping to a crouch and pressing her palms to the ground. "Hold on to me. If their hideout is right up there lets surprise them." Her hair flashed blue as ice began to spread out from her palms, forming a square much like the ones they were standing on. If Albedo had no objections she was going keep growing the ice under her, creating an ice elevator that carried them rights to the next floor and leaving this section unmolested and mostly intact.

In only a few short moments the bread roll had disappeared so thoroughly that no trace of its former existence remained, and though Nadia could scarcely describe the relief that just a solitary bit of food brought her aching insides, she reached out a hand clawing for more before she even finished chewing. The pale waif on the other side of the bars shrank back from her sharp-nailed swipes, fearful and wary, and as Nadia tried to correct the misunderstanding she almost inhaled a fragment of bread. Instantly she broke down coughing, which prompted the shadowy child on the other side to draw further away from the sudden noise. It took only a moment for her to get the morsel out and then to deal with it properly, but by that time her small savior’s trepidation had borne him far beyond her reach.

At least for the moment it looked like Nadia would be stuck hungry, and the realization that she’d probably squandered her chance at a full meal in her greed made her heart sink. When Mirage questioned her from behind she looked back over her shoulder at him, curious. Did she feel any different? Not really. Right now, it was hard to think about anything but getting something to eat, but that definitely preceded her first bite. “Hm? Whaddya mean?” Faintly she remembered a few off-handed words of caution, bandied about on the boat rides earlier that day, but nothing concrete came to mind. If there had been some seminar about not snacking on the Maw, she’d missed it. With a longing glance at the laden cafeteria tables Nadia patted herself down, hunting for any irregularity. “I think I’m okay?” she answered after a couple seconds. “I mean, I’m still really sore and tired and hungry, but I’m not teeterin’ on the edge or anything.”

The conversation came to an end as the ravenous Koopa Troop got to work. Despite his weakened state Bowser actually managed to bend the bars, convincing Nadia with a flash of hope that everyone could conceivably get in with a little teamwork. Once they realized that Mimi could actually just reach through and grab food, however, they quickly abandoned that strategy in favor of stuffing their faces. Inside the cafeteria, the captive children fled in apparent terror from both the pokemon’s long, shadowy arms and the inhuman creatures in front of them, vanishing into the darkness under the tables and along the far wall. The questions of Rika and Kamek would receive no answer.

Nadia wanted to run right over there with the Bowsers and join in, but climbing up to the windowsill had taken just about everything she had left. She groaned, certain that no other peace offerings would be forthcoming from the kids inside, and peered around. There had to be a way in. One snack would buy her a little time, but she still felt close to starvation, and those held in place so far by their restraint were even worse off. Baring her teeth, Nadia tried reaching through the bars once again.

In her futile struggle she could hear Link’s musing as he tried to parse the situation. She considered the matter a little herself. “Maybe it’s not meant for us?” she thought aloud. “Or maybe we’re not meant to be here. Normal kids wouldna made it outta the junk room, let alone the flooded place.” Even her bright, slitted eyes had trouble identifying many details about the unknown children in the shadows, and despite Link’s request none seemed forthcoming. They hung their heads and stared at the floor in apparent resignation, wanting nothing to do with the noisy intruders. “They’re like prisoners,” she noticed, the connection having struck her like lightning. “Locked doors, bars, all depressed-lookin’’. They must be hungry, but they’re not eatin’ much. Just nibbles here and there.”

Running a hand up one of the bars and getting a feel for its sturdiness, Bella added, “Maybe there is something wrong with the food.” Though famished herself, she looked at the Koopas warily, then back into the room. “Something that leads them to eat only the bare minimum to survive.”

“Kids, food, traps...” Nadia’s stomach growled, longing for more, and she pulled her ears in frustration. “Nyagh! I just can’t concentrate!” She shot the others a pleading expression. “Look, even if it is cursed or something, it’s not like we’ve got a lotta options. We’re all tired and starvin’. We don’t know how much farther we gotta go, and if we don’t have the strength to keep movin’ we’re never gonna get out. It’s not like I wanna stuff myself either! A little fuel in the tank’s all I’m askin’ for.”

Peach took Link’s logic a step further. “These bars are either meant to keep them in, us out, or both. At this point it’s hard to imagine that whoever designed this place is accounting for escapees. Whatever it’s for, it’s not supposed to kill whoever eats it.” Hands clasped over her stomach, she looked miserably at the laden tables. “I don’t know how much farther I can go without eating anything.”

“I can get us in.” Her attention fell on Bella as the Abyssal turned around. “I only just gained my own life, and I don’t want to die.” She aimed the maw of her leviathan tail at the base of one of the bars. “Neither me, nor any of you.” A moment later the moulding blasted apart in a spray of dust and splinters. Once it cleared the little princess reached her tail up to bite into the bar and work it free in a series of tugs. Evidently made for confining ordinary children, the obstacle soon gave way, and the newcomers could squeeze inside.

First through the breach was Nadia, who practically dragged herself through. She flopped down onto a table, jostling the plates and bowls. An open tin of sardines caught her attention, and without hesitation the kitten began pulling the saucy little fishes a few at a time to devour them whole. Bella and Peach followed her in, both princesses too ravenous for decorum. “I will gladly take one for the team,” the Abyssal announced, though whether out of selflessness or selfishness it was difficult to tell. “If there are side effects, I will discover them.” So saying she started chowing down, using both her real mouth and the maw of her tail.

While the feast began, Link realized that not every captive child kept their difference. A single brave soul, scrawny as he was dirty, with a mop of dark hair over his eyes and a broken fetter on his ankle that marked him as a Runaway Kid, approached. He began by holding a finger to his lips with some urgently, asking for quiet among the newcomers. With a sweeping gesture he indicated the food scattered through the cafeteria, then the little prisoners, before pointing toward the rope ceaselessly bringing cheesecloth-wrapped parcels toward the kitchen. From inside the cafeteria it was easier to get a grasp of their size as they tangled, being both wider and taller than any child present by a good margin. His finger traced the path of one unknown package as it made its way steadily toward the hole by the door, terminating on the padlock. After that, it took only an indication of Link’s key to make the connection. With another finger to his lips, the Runaway turned in the direction of the kitchen and made a beckoning motion.

Adrenaline fading, the tired little brown-haired girl breathed a sigh of heavy relief and walked out of the elevator. Thankfully, her wounds had been healed by Blazermate but regretfully, her dressed was poked full of holes and the wounds were scarred. Once said adrenaline had faded, Sakura dropped to her knees in a huff, a hand over her chest. Heart racing, hands shaking, she was so elated to be out of that horrible room she wasn't even worried about the trials that no doubt lay ahead. At the very least, there would be no more Mockingbirds. Mister Carl and Mister Duerage and their fates were by far the worst part about that entire experience. As terrible as being turned into a helpless child, being beat up, burned with acid, exhausting herself and being on the brink of starvation were...it was guilt that stabbed into her the most. That's why she was on this stupid boat in the first place. Because the pain of not doing anything at all would be worst. The fear of not having fought at all outweighed the fear of death, as great as both were in her heart.

Sakura supported herself on her heavy arms and, grinning it and bearing it, groaned as her stomach convulsed and spasmed within her torso. There was nothing she could do. This was the worst hunger she had ever experienced, but she had starved herself before to hone her body and mind. Only by pushing oneself to ones limits, can one surpass them. But...she had also thrown up earlier. Was this a magical hunger? Or was she really running on empty? Sakura had a pounding head-ache, tummy-ache, and everywhere else-ache.

"This does blow..." Sakura could only commiserate with their feline friend, her voice quiet and weak.

Sakura looked down at her soft, child arms. This body, that she had so long ago out growned, was one of a complete, loving childhood. She got excercise, ate healthy but was allowed her fair share of sweets, and even learned how to swim. Being well protected meant she had grown up into what Sakura considered, for the most part, to be a complete personality. But now it was a curse, a child with no parents to protect her. Her pink dress, now pock-marked with holes, was almost an insult. Clenching her fists, Sakura closed her eyes and drew upon her resolve. A slightly different mental resource than pure spite, but just as effective. Some part of her mind was surprised at just how deep she could dig.

"But we can...we can do this. Just..." Sakura trailed off as Nadia chowed down on some stale bread that some strange kid had offered. Sakura set her hand on the side of her head and blinked in surprise. Y- yamai! Nadia-san! The Master of Masters back in town told us the food was cursed!" Sakura looked around at Mirage, Kamek, and Link.

Straining, Sakura pushed herself to her feet. Her knees were like jelly. Squinting through the dim light, she spotted the quiet child on the other side. The one that had offered Nadia food. Sakura was suspicious of him at first, but relented and felt bad when her compatriots scared him off.

At all the talk about eating, and the true nature of hte food, Sakura shook her head. "I... I dunno. What you're saying makes sense, Bella. This is a terrible, terrible place, and I don't trust even one thing about it." She said. But at the same time, she felt like she said it so quietly no one could hear her. Had she even said it at all? God, her head hurt.

As her friends began to eat the definitely cursed food, she shook her head. Clearing her throat and taking a deep breath, her eyes widened. "I don't like this. Blazermate-san, you have to protect us, okay? Mister Mirage, you can't eat any food, either....everybody else! Almost all of our most capable members in their child forms just...just ate that stuff, and we don't know what it could do." Sakura explained, holding a hand over her belly.

Falling quiet, Sakura held her other hand over her mouth. Some runaway kid had gotten their attention, told them to use their key...somewhere. On the padlock to the door! That had to let them out. Sakura was glad to see they had an ally in this place.

"Thank you!" Sakura whispered. "Come on, Mister Link." She gestured for the Hero of Hyrule to follow her and the boy as she eagerly trotted behind him. "We're all busting out of here," She whispered to him. "You and your friends should come with us!" She said as she stood by the door, looking hungrily up at the unlocked padlock. Hungry in a different way, Sakura was desperate to escape, her eyes glazing over slightly.

---

The situation began to escalate in it's own way, with people agreeing and disagreeing with eating. The pain in Mirage's gut only grew worse with seeing the others begin to find ways to gain access to the food beyond the bars, but things were leaving him really skeptical. A fear of the unknown could be a damning thing, but the idea of knowing you were on the path of starving to death wasn't much better. Or possibly worse? This whole situation was stressing him out more than he thought it could have, deciding to provide some input instead of just staring at the food in question. "This whole place is set up as a deathtrap full of disappointing crap," He turned away, crossing his arms. "Who knows, coulda been set up to make it seem like a challenge, only to bite us afterwards."

Was that a stretch? God, he didn't know. Nadia didn't seem to be affected by anything, at least at face value. Neither did the others. Though, Bella talking about 'taking one for the team' kind of made him feel guilty. Like his own refusal was a part of helping her drive to that decision, and if something happened, well...

"If you guys are gonna eat, just be careful, yeah? Could hurt to overstuff, too." His comment was quiet, perhaps from him trying to distance himself from the situation as a whole, a distraction coming from Sakura as she seemed to be in the same boat as him and Kamek. Despite his distaste towards the idea of cursed food, he felt bad that she was going without. But, hey, hunger-pals! They could form their own little posse at this rate. "Yeah, not exactly on my to-do list." He responded, though how far could they get? They'd have to be careful, excessively quiet, if they wanted to get through this now. There wasn't a whole lot of room for action, who knows what little fuel left in the tank would do for them?

Turning to the runaway child by following Sakura's own gaze, he blinked for a moment as he processed what was happening. He wasn't quite sure what they were on about, though when Link spoke to the mystery children a few moments ago, he'd mentioned a key. Must've scavenged something while he wasn't looking, Mirage figured. But a locked door sounded like a good route to take, if they could get through. Probably not as many monsters, or at least he hoped.

"Hey, hey!" He let out an aggressive whisper, following after Sakura and Link. He couldn't just sit there and watch the others eat, so following after these two and the larger, mysterious kid seemed like a good enough plan. "Don't leave me here with the cursed guys, I'm comin' too." half a joke, half serious, he couldn't exactly pull many action hero stunts, but he could at least do something or other to help out, right?

Oh, right! The Dart Gun!

"Ya did good work with this, but think I'll keep ahold of it?" He slipped the Dart Gun from Sakura's grasp, giving it a few playful twirls as he leaned against the door. Though, their moment of quiet as they waited to get the door open gave Mirage a minute to doubt himself about food again. He nervously looked back towards the feasting group, before glancing at Sakura with a question in mind, from what she said earlier. "So, this 'Master' told you guys the food would be cursed?" He tried to keep himself from looking back again, instead focusing on his questioning to try and quell his doubts. "You sure we can trust her? Sorry if I seem skeptical, but I'm just goin' off secondhand information, y'know?" The heck was a 'Master of Masters', anyhow? What a pompous name!

He'd have to write it down once he got out of here, it'd actually make a great costume name for back in the Apex Games.

A rescue from and retaliation against Moreau dotted the children's escape from the area. Once everyone was free and clear from the mutant it was a mad dash to the elevator, and away from the last ditch effort Moreau was raining down on them. Like the others Ace Cadet ran as fast as his legs would carry him, smashing into the elevator and squeezing himself in among the many bodies trying to fit into the small space. There were some spikes to contend with, little monster horns and some metallic limbs. He hadn't even realized he still held those clippers in his hands too, hopefully they weren't poking into anyone. Despite the tight fit and how uncomfortable it was... it seemed like they all made it. Some worse for wear, though Blazermate was making quick work of their wounds. The Cadet didn't care at all that some of the areas where the acid has splashed him the most were pulling and forming into scars. He was just glad that they were out of there. Once their healer finished her work the Cadet let go, sagging. He dropped his tool and would have slid to the floor if he wasn't tucked between two people.

His energy level was just about zero. His eyelids were even drooping, though he perked up slightly when he noticed Link raising the dartboard up to get his attention. It was in a sorry state, but it was always meant to be a makeshift piece of equipment. The redhead mustered up a weary grin. "S'fine, 'bout time for an upgrade anyway."

The Cadet spent the rest of the ride up in silence, drifting in and out. He could feel the behemoths shifting around at their feet, and the thought came to him that he'd have to thank someone for looking after BB. He was kind of surprised no one had tried to eat the little piglets yet. Or maybe they had and they just got fought off, there was a lot going on at once down there.

When the elevator door opened with a soft dinging sound, everyone piled out. Some practically fell out, collapsing on the ground. The Cadet was among them, falling to his hands and knees and crawling off to the side to rest. All that running around in the junk room, the flooded room, cutting the chains with Nadia, getting thrown and splashed with acidic bile, and no stamina increase even after being healed twice... on top of that, the hunger so bad that he was sure his stomach was trying to eat it self... the mini monster hunter was running on less than fumes. He seated himself against a wall with his head tipped back and eyes closed. He shut out the pessimistic words, glad that others were refuting her, even though the statements that were more stubborn than optimistic. They were down, but not out. Nadia herself wasn't out either, she probably knew that somewhere deep down. Of course, the food probably helped—

Wait, food? Did they say food?

Cadet cracked his eyes open again, looking over. He'd heard right, right? Indeed, Ms. Fortune and two thirds of the Koopa were starting to eat, and beyond them was a banquet behind a wall of bars. At the same time, there were people crying out not to eat, reminding them all of the warning they were given before even setting out onto the ocean. Right, the food here was bad, cursed or something... he thought to the tune of his stomach growling painfully. He struggled to push himself up and onto his feet again, but somehow managed it. He also caught BB by the tail when he spotted the baby behemoth making it's way toward the food, but in his weakened state he couldn't even keep hold of a piglet. It whined and thrashed until it slipped from the Cadet's grasp, running over to join in on eating. Sighing, the Cadet trudged forward, standing beside the holdouts and wincing whenever his stomach grumbled.

"Hey hey, they're right - we weren't supposed to eat here, it was some kinda... kinda temptation thing, right? If you eat you'll end up cursed or... uh..." he didn't really remember what was said, just that they were warned not to eat. Fatigue was even getting into his brain. His eyes were practically spirals as he stood there wobbling. There were reasonable arguments on both sides, though the one that spoke to the Cadet the most was Bella's.

'The food is probably cursed, so just don't eat a lot of it.' Okay, that might be paraphrased, but that logic was sound wasn't it? The more you eat the bigger the curse, so if you only eat a little you only get a little cursed. Yeah, that made perfect sense! His resolve was quickly crumbling, and after seeing nothing immediately happen to those that were eating the Cadet's feet began to move on their own, shuffling forward through the opening that was made.

_{"It's probably okay... just a little bit, just enough to survive... I can take a little curse..."} he mumbled to himself. Saying that last part out loud though sent a shiver down his spine and he slowed, reconsidering again. Curses were bad news, what if it made the hunger even worse after a while, or... or something worse that he couldn't imagine right now. _{"No... no I can make it through without it, I..."}

The indecision was making things worse, and the Cadet collapsed beside the table. To be cursed or not to be cursed... he laid there bemoaning the predicament until BB came back to his side, carrying something that looked and smelled like a mini meat pie in it's mouth. It dropped the food item on the Cadet's chest and then went back to the table to fetch more. It's snout was grimy with the evidence that it had already made it's own dent in the banquet. All hesitation fled the Cadet and he stuffed the meat pie into his mouth, nearly swallowing it whole.

"Oh my gog," he sighed, overtaken with relief. He had betrayed the anti-eating team, and it felt so good. He pulled himself closer to the table and sat up, sitting cross-legged and reaching blindly up to find something else to eat while some of the others went to explore. BB was amassing a small pile of assorted meat and vegetables nearby.

As others piled into the elevator, Geralt moved into the corner, careful not to touch his raw, burned skin against the walls of the elevator. Even with Blazermate sweeping her healing beam over everybody, the phantom sensation and that gods-forsaken itching still buzzed around his head, taunting him as he looked himself over. He noticed the scarring that formed with a small frown. Against the unmarred flesh of this child form, they felt almost wrong. At the same time, he knew he wouldn't have given them much of a thought had he been in his regular body, as covered in scars as it was. They'd just be two more among dozens, hardly worth noting.

Just another thing about this that was wrong, he supposed.

Kamek's comments about the properties of Blazermate's healing were interesting, and if he weren't absolutely starving at the moment, he might have joined in on the theory-crafting, but all the Witcher could bring himself to do was nod along to the elderly koopa and hum thoughtfully.

He gave Blazermate an appreciative nod once she was finished with her rounds of healing, and rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes. The upward movement wasn't exactly comfortable, but it wasn't bothering him overly much, either.

As the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, Geralt remained in the corner, letting the others pour out and collapse onto themselves in pain, fatigue and frustration. Slowly following after them once the majority had exited, he looked at their new surroundings with a careful eye. The barred room off to their left was the obvious point of interest, but he ignored it in favor of the others' moans, groans and grumbles about their situation. Nadia seemed content to succumb right then and there, Mirage was putting his own little semi-optimistic twist on his own fatalistic thoughts, while the others were too taken aback by the cat's sudden springing into action at the sight of food to really add much on.

Geralt's eyes scrunched up when he saw her look over and start practically attacking the kid on the other side of the bars trying to get at the food he supposedly had. Trying to get a better look, he stepped forward a bit more, only to see Nadia pull her hand back and shoved something into her mouth before chewing like her life depended on it. Though, to be fair, it certainly felt like their lives depended on getting food soon. That might even actually be the case, but he was still keeping that cloaked figure's words in mind. Despite their adversary in Gneidxick, the others of their ilk had been helpful so far. Between stopping the aforementioned gambling degenerate (said the Witcher with a Gwent deck have the size of his swords) and giving some hints as well as a hand here and there, these mysterious 'Masters' had at least given the impression of being on their side.

Or against Galeem and thus only tangentially allied. Which, frankly, was not the same as being on the same side, as Geralt very well knew.

Sighing as the others tried to stop Nadia after she'd already wolfed down half of what she'd grabbed, Geralt palmed his face and wondered exactly which of the bandits or other ne'er-do-wells that he'd killed had given him the bad karma for this particular situation. "And now we have to worry about being cursed. I suppose it was inevitable that someone woul-"

Okay what the hell guys? In the moments that had passed, Bowser had practically thrown himself the bars with no regard for anything remotely approaching decorum, tact, or subtlety, as was his fashion, Junior and his minion tried to sneak through, with more success on the latter's end, and Bella just dispensed with all strategy and simply blew down the wall with her tailgun. Geralt was beyond too tired to even attempt to stop them at this point. The energy would just be wasted on talking as the others surged forth to get food.

He was going to have a damned aneurysm at this rate! Removing his hand from his face, Geralt followed the others as they went inside. He wouldn't lie and pretend that he didn't want to eat. If anything, he was as starved as the rest, if not more than a few based on how much he'd been moving around. But when he so much as thought of food, his mind conjured the image of Marlene's Wight form and that disgusting soup she'd made. The thought made him almost physically wretch, and he couldn't bear the thought of eating anything, even as his stomach protested its emptiness. Dammit, he thought, I'd almost been tempted to, as well...

Tossing that thought aside, Geralt paid closer attention to the room they were now in, and those strange mechanisms carrying packages up and out the room by the padlocked door. He'd overhead Bowser's loud rambling about a key at some point, and figured that this was a good a place to try one of them as any. Thankfully, it seemed Kamek was already on it.

Approaching the eldest Koopa, Geralt nodded in greeting, then repeated the motion to Rika and Link, who was also on board with the plan. Taking the key Link hadn't, he joined the little group that was forming and quietly made his way to the door. It all hinged on one of these keys working. With any luck, they would, but Geralt was not known for luck getting him through the day.

Little did he know, it would be Bowser's genre-savviness that saved them, not luck!

Midna rose up and up and u towards Ciella… fell short. Worse still, she’d been seen coming. Not that the princess had attempted to be stealthy which, she realized the moment before she got her due, might not have been a more wise course of action. Especially given how big Ciella had gotten. That really wasn't something she’d had a chance to focus on till now, in her quest to save their enemies from her, but in attempting to strike her she learned just how much bigger she was now. Better too, and, worst of all, more well armed.

Midna, partially blind to what was directly ahead of her as a result of the holding back she was doing with her open palm strike, felt herself impacted with something and then crashed through it. The magic of the helmet prevented the impact from simply snaking her spine or jellying ehr bones, but it did not halt her momentum, which caused her to careen past the base of the energy limb and then lurch around underneath it and whip head over heels, sending her head spinning.

It took only a few heartbeats to recover from that, but when she did she quickly became aware of her predicament. Her hair fist was caught by two giant water arms that could only be a skill she’d gained from the spirit and a third was winding up to strike her while Ciella barked something about betrayal at her.

”Fuck you!” was all Minda had time to spit back before she got slammed by the women’s own energy fist. Midna’s bracing with her shield did very little to dissuade the her sized fist as it hammered into her, knocking the daylights out of her and resulting in the princess being stunned as she was subsequently hurled towards the iceberg. That could have been the end if a certain sticker of a certain space monkey stuck to the inside of her shoulder-pad hadn’t triggered and slowed her launch speed, preventing the subsequent impact with the glacier from splintering every bone in her body.

Instead it only cracked a couple (more) of her ribs and left her even more concussed than her first two head traumas had combined.

After landing, the princess’s body rolled limply down the iceberg’s side and into its shadow, which she had just enough of her senses remaining to disappear into and then blink away to another shadow before Ciella came to finish the job.

The next few moments were a blur in the dark, as the formless princess waited for the ringing pain in her mind and her body to stop. Surprisingly it did, at least a little, thanks to Necronomicon‘s Active Support ability flaring through her even in the dark.

It wasn’t anywhere close to enough, but it was something.

Midna metaphorically shook her head to clear it and took in the situation as best she could. The team was moving in to finish off the remaining rebels, but it was going to be a race against Ciella, something she vaguely recalled the Necronomicon yelling about during her mindless pain.

Then she heard her name being said by Joker, who was yelling into some kind of communication device (probably too the cat van that had just slammed through the wall) at which point she realized where she was. Which was Fox’s shadow. She decided to not reflect on why her pain-addled mind,seeking safety, had leapt to the shadow of the nearest twinkish swordsman and instead got moving.

The first step jumping from there into Morgana’s shadow.

”I’ll live,” she told him from the safety of his shadow, ”Help the others, I’ll distract Ciella. Somehow”

She just needed to be smarter this time and not die. Fortunately, being smacked about a bit, or a lot, had had one benefit, and that was that it had beat the blind dragon energy enhanced fury out of her and allowed her to think of how to fight smarter rather than harder.

She took a few moments to plan, another to prepare while hiding behind a pillar, and then made her move.

”I’m not done with you yet YOU BITCH!” came a surging battle cry from right behind Ciella. From, specifically, her shadow, but the woman couldn’t know that, at least not straight away.

”Goddesses, you make me sick. I free you from your delusions and you repay me with bunk philosophy and a blind ear for the plight of others. You recklessly endanger my people with your aimless magic because your to stupid, callous or weak to hold back like I have been. But enough is enough. YOU ARE GOING DOWN!” She yelled dramatically.... But, yet again, no attack came.

And that was kind of the point. Midna was in no state to try and duke it out with the massive harpy, but she didn't really need or want too. She just had to keep her psyched out for a few moments. Keep her guarding her back while. Give the others, like Mao who had decided that just about to die was a perfectly fine margin to take someone down to before friend-hearting if the meteoric sword kick-heart combo was anything to go by, the time they needed to break all of the rebel’s mind control.

”or not. Can't actually take you down, seeing as the boss wants you in one piece. Or your body anyway, your will doesn't matter one bit. Gets in the way really. That said that's the only thing you have going for you, because you seem a bit bird-brained to me. Maybe if you had been paying attention I wouldn't have gotten so beat up and able to be converted but oh well. That’s fine, because YOU’LL PAY FOR IT NOW!” again, a battle cry but no battle was coming

Not that it would work forever of course. She kept talking, threatening, posturing,mocking and generally distracting the Agito for as long as she could, but if Ciella had been paying attention she would have seen that Minda had never just teleported behind someone and stabbed them in the back. Or kicked them in it like Shadow had done multiple times during the fight. Plus, her main threat, her hand, had a deployment and a wind up time and so even if she did try and come up behind her, the water-mage would likely presume she would have plenty of time to react.

So if the harpy decided to call her bluff, there wasn't going to be anything she could do. Other than giving them all something they’d all missed out on seeing earlier by waiting till Ciella was confident she wasn't going to be attacked, and then appearing right by one of her massive taloned feet while holding one of the spare spin tiles directly underneath it. She’d raise tile, who’s arrow was pointing directly away from the rebels, by the half cm distance it needed to lightly tap against Ciella’s foot and then try and hide in Ciella shadow again to enjoy the merry go round.

The moment for assessment and anticipation spent, both combatants took off in stride to advance on one another, closing the distance between them at a somewhat uneven pace. Fox kicked things off by taking a burst of potshots on the run to open the boy’s guard or coax out some kind of defensive response to get a cursory initial read for it. He was neither surprised nor disappointed to see him bat the laser volley away with little visible effort, or duck the rapid quintuple flying roundhouse he threw out at him once he made striking distance. He found immense difficulty in blocking and evading the chain of retaliatory ‘sword’ swipes the young key wielder answered back at him with, ending with an uppercut that connected with the bottom of his boot, but carried them both upward still. While airborne, Fox was put in a hard disadvantage state, robbed of the leverage to properly defend himself against an opponent who he swiftly found out could move and attack just as fluidly off his feet as he could on them.

Every stroke of Sora’s relentless onslaught connected unopposed to send Fox back to the floor where a well of dark magic waited to erupt beneath him, skipping backward just as the trap went off to narrowly manage a near miss. Sora chased him with an advancing horizontal ‘slash’ to meet Fox’s staggered guard, followed by Robin leaping over him to come down with an overhead vertical cleave. His Levin Sword struck Fox’s glove plates to send him flying back, doing little to mitigate the damage sustained as it broke his guard wide open. He bounced off his back to his feet, kicking up parallel trails of dust as he skid to a halt, and attempted to reorient himself while he had the space to again.

Difficult as it already was, it was only natural that Robin and co. would continue to insist on an unfair fight in their favor; to “tip the scales,” so he liked to say. Luckily, Panther and Skull showed up on each side to come to his aid, seemingly shifting said scales back to balance. Looking between them with an appreciative nod, he issued to them, “Open up their leader! If we can take him, we win.” He didn’t have time or feel the need to explain why, but he trusted the Thieves to understand his intent and go with him on it. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn’t get the chance to see if he was right.

The proceeding exchange was short-lived, as Fox’s backup harbored elemental weaknesses he wasn’t aware of, leaving him back to where he started, but now slightly worse for having a sum of his vitality magically sapped from him. He struggled as he had learned to in an attempt to free himself from the spell’s grasp, aided further by reserve reinforcement from the rest of Yellow Team. Skull and Panther took the opportunity to initiate their patented team finishing move to unleash fury on the opposing trio, which Fox joined in on with them, his sharp blue streaks of phantasmal speed rendered a shadowy, silhouetted black. Sora, however, then called upon radiant power as he saw fit to deny their reckless play at ending the fight, turning the tables back on them once more.

Fox couldn’t be sure if falling into the dense brass mass of Big Band was honestly any better than hitting the ground, but with most of the fight gone from him, he was at his mercy. Both become a singular prime target for the prodigal key slinger, who came rushing forth faster than either of them could do anything about, with the shining end of his weapon pointed squarely at their hearts. They were saved not by the trepidatious Tora, but a newcoming titan of a man of obvious strength and stature to rival Band to intercept the young man at the last second with a devastating, magnitudinal coffin blow to bring the conflict to a meteoric conclusion… so it would seem. Silence began to fall over the chambers. Fox urged in slackened movements that Band kindly unhand him, silently, stubbornly assuring the detective that he was good for it as he deposited him to the floor to take a knee where he fell.

Fox looked up weakly from where he knelt to behold the prelude to Robin's desperate final gambit as a prismatic aura of power--familiar only to the two of them (or so he thought)--swelled ominously, darkening the entire underchamber's atmosphere by sheer contrast. He could almost ‘hear’ it come into being. A ‘Final Smash’, they dubbed it; a special, powerful, seldom seen or utilized technique every fighter possessed, capable of decisively turning the tide of any battle in a single move. It was previously, however, reserved for exhibitional settings and purposes; never in real world combat situations. The question was, since when could one manifest such power on their own, on command no less, and how would it differ in both form and application? Fox was sure of only this: that they would pay to find out, and that they couldn’t afford to.

If he thought they could, he would have told his team to run, but that would entail knowing what from, and if they could outrun it. To make matters worse, in imploring Robin in dramatic fashion to abstain and begging to ‘take his place’ as it were (lending to it an even greater and more dire sense of foreboding), his partner, Tharja, readily amassed the very same power within herself, in utter defiance of any presuppositions of exclusivity to ‘Smashers’ and their ilk. Eyes wide and pupils constricted in alarm, Fox desperately lifted his sidearm, deliberating now on whether he had the time or energy left to Friend Heart them, or if he should simply take them out to save the rest of them, at the risk of failing his self-assigned mission, and began to feel his aim shakily waver from fatigue. He narrowed his eyes in focus to correct to the best of his ability as his Blaster’s lens (read: muzzle) welled aglow with charge. Still, his focus lay strictly ahead on two targets, unsure if he could hit both of them in his current state, lacking the presence of mind to check inward and feel for himself whether or not he was channelling the curative, de-Gleaming energy to save them, trigger finger ready to release either way…

Then, as luck and reason would have it, Robin conceded to his partner’s plea, both calling off their last resorts, collapsing to the floor in exhaustion, and thus forfeiting the fight… for now. Fox similarly allowed the charge built up in his Blaster to die down, dropped to three points, heaving a sigh of relief, and began catching his breath one respiration at a time in a moment of rest. The fight was over; they had won, but their mission remained far from complete.

Not even a minute passed in the aftermath of battle before more blood had been vindictively drawn. Though bearing witness, Fox needn’t have to know what had transpired. The self-satisfied excuses of the Grimleal blade sorcerer--a self-called justiciar--for hypocritical pleasure killing sufficed to paint an already hideous picture. He then had the gall to try to sell it to them as an offered favor, or a privilege he was so graciously sharing with them, as if he was in any place to call the shots. No amount of prompt forgiveness and intervention by Kan-Ra attempting to absolve his evidently bloodthirsty compatriot as a stand-in for reason that had just left the scene in a blade stroke could salvage his now indelibly worsened reputation with the Seekers.

Fox tightened his eyelids shut in cold anger, masked with quiet determination as he turned his naturally sharp gaze forward, hauling himself tiredly to his feet and marching over to Robin where he lay, calling what strength he had left to stop himself limping or dragging his feet with every step, applying effort to appear as if he wasn’t. Having been a major reason for his coming down there to begin with, Fox had already made up his mind about what he planned to do with the fallen among the Resistance that still breathed, and didn’t need, or care, to listen to the Validar’s impunitive officers offer their opinions as if they mattered at all to him at this point. He neither waited nor listened to what either of them had to say, for he had already started making his way while they talked “options” like there were any others worth considering. He wasn’t waiting for permission.

Fox proceeded intently, drawing out a Heart in his off hand, then knelt before the downed tactician and gingerly pat his shoulder to administer the apparent miracle cure for Galeem’s influence. Watching as it took effect, he waited for him to wake to see what he would say or do first before making any other moves, aware of the potential risk it posed to him being in lackluster condition to fight a freshly rejuvenated opponent, but moreso confident in him awaking to his proper senses to instead recognize him as an ally… or at the very least remember what came before, that lead them to where they were now.