Sakura listened to Bella's encouragement and concerns. Sakura had misremembered a few things, and hadn't even come close to considering the full ramifications of eating. "I...I don't know." Was all she could say.

Sakura easily brushed off their assurances about her move being bad. But she didn't want to bring it up. Talking about how stupid Sakura was or wasn't would only waste everyone's breath. Furrowing her brow, Sakura coughed a few more times, too. Rika and Bella and Sakura. All tied up.

There was a disturbance downstairs. That must be their friends, right? Coming to save them? They had to be all right. They just had to be. Rika was talking to Mimi, who while a comforting presence, couldn't help them escape. Meanwhile, Bella's increased growth was another problem. Too small to save herself, too big to stay hanging. The worst of both worlds. Sakura tried to pull herself up, to curl her body into a ball and bring her legs around the bar that hung over her head. But she was exhausted, and the nature of her bondage made it incredibly difficult.

"Well...well...I don't know. I don't know what to do." Sakura mumbled. She listened to Larry shout down to the others, and then mutter bitterly to himself. "Maybe I could talk to him." She said quietly. "Get him to go for that promotion, huh? It can get pretty tiring being on the grind all day and going underappreciated." Sakura said.

"...That's probably the stupidest idea yet." She concluded. "Just don't move, Bella. Maybe ask Larry to adjust your ropes, he probably doesn't want you to fall in before you're ready. Right? Or just don't, I don't know. I'm all messed up in the head." She couldn't trust her own mind to come up with rational ideas anymore.



(Cool, it worked.) Jesse thought, as the spirit interlocked with hers. Uncle Sven would 'live' to fight another day. She would have to study this more later either way.

The entire arena was in ruins. Everything was falling apart. They had to get out of here, fast. Shadow and Ciella had been tearing each other and every one else apart. To be honest, Jesse had lost the plot about who was on whose team. Ciella had certainly been annoying, but Midna attacked her. And they were still trying to fight Nastasia.

Jesse felt Mona do some Persona magic. Her Health was restored, including the cut on her hand. That was certainly a welcomed boost, although Jesse wondered if it was useful now that the fight was very nearly over. Ciella had done some crazy stupid shit that had heavily damaged herself, Shadow, and Nastasia. Apparently, Nastasia the meanie was still clinging to life.

Midna had collected up the bodies of Mordecai and Reindhardt, along with some others, which was appreciated. Jesse had gone out of her way to not finish the job on most of her opponents, with the exception being the obviously evil Orendi. Jesse blew Orendi's head clean off. No regrets there.

Jesse watched closely as she did a Friend Heart to Mordecai, ideally recruiting the sniper to their cause. Or at least have him coming to his senses.

"Hey. No hard feelings?" Jesse nodded at the sniper.

Now Mao was sprinting to attack Shadow, who was about to finish off Ciella. Even though Ciella was very annoying and probably a bad person, killing her would only lead to more problems. Or, so Jesse guessed, based on her limited understanding of the political situation she had found herself in.

(So. First things first.) Jesse aimed her Service Weapon and plugged a round right into Nastasia's big blue dome, to kill her while she was unconscious. Victory condition reached. Now it was about damage control.

While Mao ran over, Jesse switched her focus onto Shadow. Her Grip form bucked in her hand as she fired all of her shots at the Hedgehog. Lay on the damage and wrap this up quickly. The Director advanced, much slower than Shadow, as she did so. If Shadow succumbed to her and Mao's attack before dying, the Director would stop firing. If he died, tough. If he did neither of those things, than she would definitely keep firing.

---

Oh yeah, that riled up those chefs. Mirage let out a small snicker as he ran to catch up with Link and Geralt, not being a terribly difficult task as despite the chaos, they still had to move with a little caution. Though scampering across was easy enough for the bite-sized Legend, taking pride in the chaos he caused as he slinked towards the other side of the room. Footsteps drowned out by loud voices, hopefully sending a sign above to the girls that they were coming.

Reaching their sausage chain, Mirage halted and held an open palm up to the others. "Hold on a sec," He whispered, glance meeting them long enough to offer raised eyebrows before glancing back up at the fat and bald butcher. After he had his laugh, he seemed to go off back to his own work to ignore the commotion. Which, while everyone else was cleaning and frustrated, seemed like about the best chance they had to climb up. Since climbing the sausages was his idea, he figured he'd go fist to make sure it'd actually work.

Firing a dart, Mirage used it as a stepping stone to hop up and grab onto one of the kitchen's hooks with one hand, before using the other to wrap around those nasty sausages. He brought his legs forward, wrapping them around the gross chain as well, before releasing the hook and holding himself long enough to get his other arm around the climbable meat. It wasn't going to be an easy climb, but if he kept a pace, it wouldn't take terribly long. He tried to not squeeze the sausages too much with his fingers, as to not dig into the disgusting substance, figuring it'd only be more slick if he did.

He started his gross ascent, pulling himself up with one arm at a time, holding himself in position mainly with his legs, though the arm that wasn't reaching up brought a little more stability to the climb. He missed the automatic ziplines from the Apex Games, all they needed was for him to grab hold and they'd pull him across distances or upwards... But this? Old-fashioned bodywork, and in child-form no less. Probably coulda' been a lot more of a ladies' man in school if I did stuff like this back then. He mused, an internal laugh sparking a little joy as he noted that Pfft, yeah right. I was always a ladies' man! They just didn't realize it back then! Showed you, Macy! Famous Apex Competitor, hah!

Stroking his own ego while continuing his climb, he had a simple plan once he got up. Which was to find cover, and identify where their friends were. With all the commotion downstairs, they'd probably have Larry alone for awhile. That gave them a bit of time to perhaps structure a plan on how to take care of him, then bust the girls out of... Whatever predicament they were in.

He only hoped they hadn't taken initiative and done something drastic right after blocking off the door. It's something the climb gave him time to be anxious about... If they'd already gotten chopped.

No. He didn't have time for negative thoughts right now, had to keep that heroic attitude! Mentally prepare a one-liner or two, maybe a few boasts for when the rescue was successful. Get back into being Mirage! Failure wasn't a word in his vocabulary!

To say that the plan worked would be quite the understatement. The plan managed to distract the entire floor after Antoine's outburst caught the staff's attention. "Alright, let's get moving!" Geralt whispered, taking the lead. It was mostly out of necessity, as the legend had stayed back a moment to make his shot, and Link had some food in him. If things got hairy, Geralt couldn't afford to hold anybody back by being both behind and slower. Every second might count with the girls being held captive who knows where.

Mirage quickly managed to catch up, however, not that Geralt was particularly annoyed at that. He paused, holding out a hand to ask them to wait while he checked to see if this plan was even viable or not. The rotund chef had taken a moment to yell down and insult the other chefs, inadvertently delaying the rescue squad. It wasn't a long delay by any means, but it was frustrating to have to pause for even a moment.

Mirage then set up a platform using his dart gun, then grabbed one of the kitchen hooks and hoisted himself onto the sausage links. They seemed to be holding the boy legend, so Geralt shrugged and followed after him. It was...certainly an experience, climbing an oversized rope made of sausage links. Geralt's luck at finding himself in strange, impossible-to-explain scenarios seemed to be holding, not that it was a pattern he was glad to have continued. Rather be playing Gwent right now, he thought miserably.

Looking back on it, he'd spent a lot of time playing Gwent, didn't he? He'd won a few tournaments, even. Might have been wise to focus a bit harder on the whole 'stop the end of all worlds' thing, but it worked out.

Returning his focus to the here and now, though, Geralt frowned at the unpleasant feeling of climbing a sausage link. It was greasy, enough so that his grip was tenuous at best, his arms were already hurting from the strain and lack of energy, and he honestly didn't actually know what the hell he was supposed to do when they got up there. If that guy was just waiting up there with a cleaver for them, he could probably get a few throws of the nail out without collapsing, but any more than that was beyond him at this point. Even adrenaline had its limits, and Geralt was very nearly at his.

"You didn't think you were going on a solo meowssion, did ya?"

Glad to see that she hadn't gotten into trouble in her haste, the Cadet readily returned the gesture. It was a nice little bump of optimism, in spite of everything. With the others not having followed just yet, it seemed it would just be the two of them again - and there was no time to lose. Nadia gave her findings, and the Cadet nodded.

"It'll be hard getting around them, if it's even possible." That left going above or below, and as the feral pointed out going up top seemed the more dangerous route. With their eyes glazed over and their mouths constantly swallowing anything that could fit inside, it was easy to imagine either one of the children being grabbed up and eaten by the guests. But the slovenly slurping and chewing all around them was an inescapable reminder of the predicament their friends found themselves in, so which ever route they had to brave they had to do it quickly. Nadia led the way towards the dark underside of the tables, but not before she mentioned she was glad she stopped before the food curse changed her to be one of those gluttonous guests. Ace Cadet paused for a moment with a grimace on his face before he followed her.

Though it had been a good idea, unfortunately it looked like the low road wouldn't be traversable. There were almost as many guests on the floor as there were at the table, crawling around to pick up scraps. Cadet regarded them with a growing pity, but it still didn't stop him from letting out an audible "bleh" when seeing the gluttony up close. It wasn't only the food delivered to them nonstop, they didn't have any qualms about gulping down dirtied and pre-chewed morsels either. "Well, up we go."

Although the tables were littered with food, dotted with fork-like waiters, and lined with ravenous people that weren't picky at all with what they put in their mouths - it offered a relatively straight shot in getting closer to their goal. A simple, if dangerous, path. Nadia pointed out the stairwell and he gave her a nod of understanding. The two set off, hopping over plates and piles of all kinds of cuisine. Though food practically surrounded them, they kept their mouths firmly shut, neither of the children wanting to stop when their friends were still in danger, let alone risk turning into one of the diners they saw around them. They moved with steady pace, hurrying while being careful not to get too close to a hungry mouth. If they tried to run through any faster they risked slipping - something they'd discovered firsthand when Nadia shifted a little too close for comfort toward one of the guests. It reached out to her and in her panic Nadia nearly went right off the table. The Cadet snatched her by the arm, hauling her back up toward him with wide eyes. She thanked him and he whispered back, "Don't mention it."

Yes, running along the table was dangerous, but they still needed to make tracks. It wasn't long before Nadia really did go off the table - the this time with intent. She hopped from diner to diner, making the trip much shorter for herself without warning. The Cadet almost panicked, thinking the worst, but he soon realized what her strategy was.

He couldn't blame her. The longer it took to reach Sakura and the Abyssals, the more likely it was that harm had come to them. Not to mention they had no idea how the boys, Mirage, Link and Geralt were faring. They could have saved the girls by now - or they could be stuck in a predicament of their own. Speed was crucial; the Cadet only wished Nadia wouldn't go where he couldn't follow. He took a deep breath and prepared to meet her at the goal.

Ace Cadet scooped up as much food as his arms could carry: bundles of grapes, slices of cheese, pieces of sushi. Then he booked it as fast as he could go across the table tops. The movement drew the eyes of some of the guests, and they stretched their hands toward him. When they got too close comfort the Cadet tossed one of the pieces of food he had in his hand. The guests' eyes - and mouths - would follow the food's arc until it landed, where they would either grab it up or lament that it was too far out of reach. It wasn't a perfect strategy, but it was working so far. Run, dodge, toss, run, and repeat. He was getting close to the exit where the stairs led down a level. The Cadet swerved around a Volbonan, tossed a few fruits ahead of him to draw away the roaming hands of the diners, and then his path was clear! Just barely suppressing a relieved laugh he pressed on - and then leapt from the end of the table.

He did not expect there to be a couple of guests on the ground, vacuuming up spilled sushi into their maws. There was just enough time for him to think Oh, crap. before he fell right onto the back of one of the men. What remained of the food he'd collected went flying, adding to what already littered the floor. The Cadet bounced off of the guest's round body, landing on the wooden floor. He scrambled up, eyes on the stairwell. As soon as he made to moved the Cadet found himself on the ground again, falling over when something tightened around his ankle and pulled.

He already knew what he would find when he turned back, and sure enough one of the slobbering diners had their fingers curled around his leg and was pulling the boy closer. The guest clacked his teeth together in anticipation, and though his pull was weak his grip did not let up, no matter how vigorously the Cadet shook his leg.

"Let go! Let go you Kecha-wacko!" He said, looking around for anything he could use to get himself out of this. A weapon would be great, but no such thing presented itself. He threw every piece of food within reach into the guest's waiting mouth, and though he happily ate it up he did not release the little monster hunter. As the fate of being eaten alive drew closer and closer, the Cadet raised his arms, ready to fend it off by whatever means necessary. He would have beat at the guest's face or poked his eyes out, but it didn't come to that. When the red head shoved his arms out to push the guest away, the pores he'd seen open up before started manifesting again. The sea foam reappeared, and then a torrent of water sprang forth from his palms. The force separated the Cadet and his captor violently, washing both of the fallen guests and the poor waiter away and pushing the Cadet in the opposite direction. The stream of water disappeared and the Cadet tumbled backward down the stairs, landing on his back. The pores on his arms were already closing up, but the moisture and smell of salt remained.

Alright, so he was definitely for sure cursed - it wasn't just a hallucination. He could make this work though, until they escaped or he succumbed then he could keep the diners off of them as a living hose. He'd be able to stop the chefs that held the girls captive too, as long as they made it there in time.

The Cadet had been blinking up at Nadia from his spot on the ground, but he sprang up onto his feet with a renewed resolve. He wasn't sure how much of that Ms. Fortune saw, if any, but it didn't change the mission they had to complete. They just had to watch out for any other symptoms. He sure hoped they'd get through this before he tried eating his own friends.

"Let's go!"

Thanks to Midna and Mona both Seekers and former Resistance members were regrouped and restored, allowing the bolstered forces of the heroes to rally while the ranks of the bad guys shrunk even further. Sectonia was still in bad shape, the Twilight Princess herself could be better off, and everyone but the newly healed and hearted sported a couple wounds, but the knowledge that the core group was more or less okay set Joker’s mind at rest.

It also allowed him to refocus on the troublesome trio on the other side of the battlefield. With Nastasia and Ciella both down for the count, only one elusive, egotistic edgelord remained--a problem that Mao planned to correct. Leaving the freed Resistance members to their confusion, he led the charge across the arena to engage Shadow head-on, in more ways than one. Joker and Fox took off after him, one to either side, while the little overlord’s new buddy Gunnar joined the charge with an inspirational holler. As they ran a handful of well-placed shots rang out from Jesse’s service weapon behind them, narrowly missing her allies on their way to silence Nastasia for good. Joker could offer no objections on that count; though he got the sense that the short secretary’s story was a sad one, she had so much blood on her hands at this point that the World of Light was better off without her.

Together the runners leaped over a rift in the arena’s floor to land on the other side, close enough to Shadow to get his attention. The hedgehog smirked as he adjusted his aim, having held his Chaos Spear for so long that Joker felt sure he’d never meant to execute Ciella with it in the first place. “You fell for it!” he announced, but as hurled his attack forward another bullet from Jesse struck him, throwing off his aim. “Gyah!” The round, aimed for his big head, had only hit his spikes, but it meant that his Chaos Spear missed the incoming Mao by a country mile.

He locked onto Jesse with an indignant, furious glare. “You shot m-!”

She shot him again. This time he put his super speed to work dipping out of the way, avoiding the attack on instinct while barely actually moving, and the FBC director’s subsequent shots prompted the same reaction. Nevertheless, Jesse kept him busy long enough for her allies to close to melee range, at which point common sense demanded that she hold off to prevent more friendly fire. The rest was up to the Phantom Thieves, the Dragonborn, and Mao.

The demon was the first up to bat. He leaped up to come down with a meteoric punch right to Shadow’s dome, and what happened next told Mao a lot about his prospective opponent. By all accounts he could have zipped out of the way just as he did with Jesse’s gunshots, but he did not. Instead he wound up and threw a punch of his own, clashing with Mao’s fist in an impromptu power battle. The arena shook from the shockwave of the terrific impact that left both at a standstill. For a brief moment the two pitted their strength against one another, each seeking to blow their opponent away. This was the first time Mao got this close to the opposition’s number-one powerhouse, and from here could see that Shadow was breathing heavily. He was sweating, and he looked unwell. Shadow wasn’t just tired; he was exhausted. It made sense, too. For the entire battle he’d been showing off as much as he’d been fighting, constantly throwing out teleports, time stops, and chaos projectiles even before he committed to using his destructive Chaos Bursts. Pumping out so much power without any replenishment, or even a break, had clearly taken its toll. And that didn’t even account for the punishment dealt to him by Ciella a few moments ago. Against all odds, the hedgehog was on his last legs.

“Jinx!”

“Goemon!”

On either side of the power battle a Phantom Thief appeared. Energy swirled around Shadow as he prepared to unleash another Chaos Burst as an emergency countermeasure, but his opponents were one step ahead of him. Joker’s new Persona plugged him with a bolt of paralyzing electricity from her stun gun, while Fox’s other self flash-froze him in ice. Somehow Shadow held firm against Mao, pitting his incredible resilience against the double status effects, but the Seekers had one more ace up their sleeves. Gunnar arrived on a sheet of his own ice, and as he slid beneath Mao he summoned the power within. “Fuuuuuus...RO DAH!”

A wave of unrelenting force blasted Shadow at point-blank range, finally breaking his incredible poise. Electricity arced and ice spread across him as he reeled back, giving Mao just the chance he needed. With a final mighty effort the little overlord struck true, his star-powered punch beaning Shadow right on the noggin. The next second he smashed into the floor, then flew sky-high in the mother of all ground bounces, flipping end over end until he finally came back down. He bounced once more, then came to a stop on his side, stunned. The fight was over.

Joker let out a long, heavy breath as he straightened up, barely noticing as his new Persona vanished with a wink and a wave. Mona’s healing had closed his wounds, but the fatigue of such a chaotic, drawn-out battle wouldn’t be so easily wiped away. It was even worse for Fox, who possessed less stamina thanks to his stick-thin physique and cooped-up lifestyle. Unfortunately, they weren’t out of the woods just yet.

That last impact had set the floor of the colosseum rocking, and it had yet to stop. The whole thing teetered wildly, rocking like a boat on the high seas. With the columns and walls all damaged or destroyed by the battle, the task of holding the floor up was split between the architecture that remained, and as continuous jerks and rending sounds suggested more supports were giving way every second.

Necronomicon said what everyone was thinking, although she mixed in a little support. “We did it, everyone! I know it sucked, but it was well done. No losses on our side. We’ll have to celebrate later though, ‘cause this place is coming down any second! It’s tough to get an accurate read on everything, but by my calculations we’ve got just a minute or two until the bottom falls out!”

“Then we oughta haul ass outta here!” Gunnar suggested emphatically. Not knowing where to go, however, he looked around wildly until his gaze happened to land on Ciella. “Wait, what should we do about her?”

Joker had already been thinking about it. With her mask broken, her orange-brown eyes were visible even in her human form, and though half-conscious she kept a prideful silence rather than beg for her life. That extra annoyance made his decision even harder, but he made it anyway. “We can’t kill her,” he advised. “Even though she attacked us. If we do, any chance we have of reasoning with Validar dies with her.”

“But she believes we’re all her enemies,” Fox pointed out. “Bringing her back may only make things worse.”

“I got it!” Necronomicon announced. “We’ll just tell her that the people who attacked her were brainwashed! I mean, she’s obviously nuts. As long as everyone plays along and toes the line about despair and whatnot it’ll probably work!”

Gunnar cut in, his shout a little panicked. “Alright already, we’ll let the long-eared bitch live, but how are we going to get out of here?!”

With the group gathered together, plus the uneasy former Resistance members, Mona got everyone’s attention by poofing into car form. “No sweat! You can make me and Necronomicon bigger, Jesse. Then all you’ve gotta do is balloon me and we’re good to go. Hurry, everyone!”

Scratching his head nervously, Fuse spoke for the nervous former Resistance members. “Hey uh, hate to make demands after we just, uh, tried killin’ you and all, but any chance you can save us, too?”

Joker waved them over from the Mona-car’s driver’s seat. “Yeah, we hearted you, didn’t we? Get in!”

The Thieves quickly piled in, and whether from past, present, or future everyone else had little choice but to do the same. Everyone’s survival came down to Jesse, who luckily had a quick trigger finger and a decent feel for the Tool Gun. Though still hurt Midna and Sectonia could fly themselves, so Jesse, Joker, Fox, Mao, Braum, Fuse, the Dragonborn, Mordecai, and Reinhardt all either stowed aboard the Mona-car or climbed on top of the enlarged flying saucer. Necronomicon held Ciella and Shadow tight in her tentacles, but spared one to drag the otherwise directionless Mona-car behind her through the air. All around them the supports started chain-reacting, the weight of the arena floor tearing through vast swathes at a time, until finally the whole thing parted ways and plummeted down into the dark void below.

With a sigh of relief Joker withdrew from the window and plopped down in his seat. Nobody seemed to have fallen. “Well, we’ve done it again folks,” he deadpanned, removing his mask to wipe the sweat off his brow. “Let’s get out of here.”

---

Once back on solid ground Jesse could undo all her emergency modifications. A couple uneasy and cramped elevator rides later, the whole gang was back in the basement of Rocket Inc. By then Ciella could walk on her own, albeit with a lump and in sullen silence, too weak for now to object to the hypnosis-based explanation fed to her. Since Shadow would definitely teleport away if restored, the group kept him unconscious, and once Braum tied him up in ropes produced from the Dragonborn’s inventory and tossed him over his back, everyone was good to go. The tile puzzle that gave the Seekers some trouble on the way down now served to hasten their exit, unpleasant spinning aside, and before too long the weary procession trudged up the final set of stairs and into the ruin that was the office building’s first floor. As destroyed as it was, it was nice to be out of tight spaces for the first time since their sudden flight from the arena, and they found a surprise waiting for them there, too.

As they threw open the door to the stairwell the frontrunners just about clobbered Tora, who’d been reaching for the knob right that instant. “Mehmeh?!” he exclaimed, falling backward in surprise. Poppi reached down both to help him up and pull him out of the way of the door, and those behind her followed suit to give the others room. It was the other half of Yellow team, brought here by the unknown swordswoman only Mao recognized as Es following the conclusion of their own raid to help out those who had yet to finish. Everyone spread out over the wreckage, sitting, stretching, and exchanging greetings. Acolytes waiting in the wings rushed in to make sure that Ciella was okay and to bandage her wounds. Yellow Team was reunited.

Tora was thrilled to see a full headcount from the other team, plus a number of freed Resistance members to boot. “Hello, friends and new friends!” he sang. “Just as Tora thought, everyone okay! Even when half and half, nobody can stop this team, meh!”

If she possessed the means to do so, Necronomicon might have sprawled out tiredly over the carpet. “Hey, it was pretty close, man! We had to fight the boss! She could hypnotize people! And Shadow the Hedgehog with all his crazy powers!”

“Yeah, some of our guys had some bullcrap, too,” Skull told her. He and Panther were sitting together on one of the few intact desks. After a moment the Persona’s report sank in, and his eyes went wide. “Wait, you fought Shadow the freakin’ Hedgehog?! For real?”

Joker nodded, jabbing a thumb at where their most bothersome enemy had been plopped down. “Yeah. It sucked.”

“Dude! That’s awesome!”

Fox narrowed his eyes. “It was not in the slightest!”

As the other Thieves conversed Es gave Mao a status update on who among the Resistance members survived the raid on the Temple of Khamoon, Mona checked in with Tora. “Hey, buddy. I assume they’re okay since you’re all cheerful, but where’s Big Band and Fox? The other Fox I mean, not ours,” he clarified, indicating his companions.

Tora nodded as best he could without a neck. “Yes, yes, meh. They head to palace, keep eye on prisoners and other Grimmypons along with new, very big friend.”

“We shouldn’t keep them waiting for long,” Poppi gently suggested to the group at large. Through the broken glass of the office’s front windows reached the yellow tinges and long shadows of early evening. “Once everyone catch breath, we should go there too.”

Joker glanced over at Ciella, wondering just what was running through the Agito’s mind right now. Her expression betrayed little, but he felt as though she must be suffering from the inner turmoil of a prideful individual not used to possibly being in the wrong. Given her philosophy, the idea of being deceived by the enemy into attacking allies surely distressed her. Once she realized that others were waiting on her response she gave a stiff nod. If her longbow had not been broken by Reinhardt she might have leaned on it like a staff, but for now she relied on a couple of (much shorter) acolytes to help her along, fighting to scrape together whatever dignity she could.



Rather than foolishly forge onward, Nadia waited by the stairs for her friend, but as the seconds passed her worries mounted. Had he not followed her? Maybe she hadn’t been thinking straight, but she’d assumed that when she started springboarding off the Guests, Ace would simply follow suit. Yet when she’d looked behind her, she found only the slavering feasters who’d tumbled down the stairs after her like live wrecking balls. In the still moments that followed her heart beat palpably, a chill creeping down her spine. “There’s no way,” she hissed to herself, ears flattened against her head. No way in hell that he’d gotten eaten. He would have cried out for her, and even if escape was in her grasp she would have turned to help.

...Right?

Her fearful conjectures came to an end when she heard a commotion from above. A panicked shout from a familiar voice made her heart leap into her throat, telling her that her worst fears had become reality. He needs help! In that moment, Nadia didn’t think about survival or heroism; her body moved on its own. Like a tiny bullet she zoomed past one of the fallen Guests, so fast that his gribby mitt closed on nothing to eat but her dust, then leaped onto a stair. At her size she needed to take them one at a time, but she made quick work of them, her bare feet pounding against the wooden steps. The whole time she kept her eyes fixed on the second floor, which meant that when the sound of water reached her ears and Ace hurtled down into the curved stairwell, Nadia was right in the splash zone. She saw nothing of his friend’s strange new power, only catching a brief glimpse of his red hair and surprised expression as he tumbled straight into her. “Oof!” Together the ball of flailing limbs rolled straight to the bottom, landing in a heap on the first floor. Luckily for them, it looked like the guests had already moved off, crawling and flopping like beached seals in search of their next meals.

Nadia got to her feet first and quickly regretted it. She was dizzy and sore from the fall, and a little red from landing right on top of her friend. She steadied herself against the banister, watching as Ace picked himself up. Naturally, he was good to go. “R-right!” she agreed, a little breathless. Just one more dining hall, and they were back in the kitchen.

She felt a little tug on her raggedy garment, and looked over to see the Runaway Kid. “Oh!” In all the hubbub she’d forgotten all about him, which wasn’t ideal, but apparently he’d done just fine. Nadia found herself wondering where Bowser, Junior, and Blazermate had gotten to; with any luck, they’d found a better route. More than likely they just smashed through a dividing wall somewhere. Well, they could reconvene later. For now she had a mess room to cross, and unlike the cramped dining apartments of the Japanese-themed restaurant above, this room featured actual aisles beneath the tables. Of course, the floor space was replete with windfall and Guests doing what they could to clear it away, but so long as they picked the right path it would be a much faster and less heart-pounding trip than the first leg of their journey. As Ace set off in the lead, Nadia followed, with the stealthy Runaway bringing up the rear.

This time the little feral did not separate from her friends, although there wasn’t much need. Ace’s new strategy of collecting food for emergency offerings was a clever one, much less risky and much more sustainable than her Guest-based acrobatics. Even after collecting a few scraps to offload into any gullet that wandered too close, Nadia was glad that nothing excited her hunger. If this gruesome feeding frenzy robbed her of her appetite for the time being, so much the better. With a plan in mind and the wind at their heels the three runners crossed the restaurant, dodging Guest after Guest, until they drew near the entrance.

A couple Guests lurched from a nearby table to come after them, but tackling an overburdened Volbonian scattered such a heap of food between the would-be predators and their prey that it would be a while before they got through it all. Ace and Nadia raced through the entrance to find themselves in a four-way junction. To the left a straight hall extended for a long way, traveling beneath the bridge that the kids crossed earlier while on the second floor. Based on the decor, Nadia couldn’t help but wonder if it led to the parlour she and all the others ended up in when first entering the Maw. It was easy to picture a slouched line of Guests trundling down this corridor toward the restaurant, watched from the second floor by that damnable Lady or her ghoulish chefs. That didn’t matter though, since the dumbwaiter that was their ticket into the kitchen lay just ahead. Nadia couldn’t stop herself looking to the right, though, and what she saw took her by surprise.

It was a huge, open space, spanning at least five floors, probably more. By her best guess the one this junction connected to was the third. Though unexpected she would have continued if she didn’t happen to follow the pointed finger of the Runaway Kid, aimed at a plaque on the wall. Grand Atrium, it said, and below that, Helm. “Hang on, paws just a sec,” she punned, eyes wide. “Helm as in, the place that controls the ship?! We might be able to get off this thing after all!” The Runaway nodded, and took off into the Grand Atrium

For now though, she needed to worry about the dumbwaiter. A few Volbonians had queued to wait for the next food delivery, but she and Ace jumped right to the front. They jumped and climbed into the dumbwaiter. She slid the front door closed, and like clockwork the second opened to reveal the stretch-faced chef, his arms laden with piping-hot stew. Nadia flashed him a fang-toothed grin. “Soup’s on!” Her leg shot out, kicking the tureen like she would a football, and its contents splashed across the chef’s face and chest. A little extra help from Ace and the loathsome creature staggered backward, wailing in distress.

His departure gave the new arrivals a good view of the kitchen’s first floor. In addition to stretch-face, Ace and Nadia could see the mustached Antoine, angry-looking coffee cups, a couple of strange sorcerers with tempura for heads, and a weirdly normal sushi chef. No little boys or girls to be seen, which could be either good or bad. Their attention fell on Antoine as his hair-trigger temper flared in absolute outrage at the new disturbance. “WHAT NOW!?”

“Uh, special delivery! We’ve got somethin’ for ya!” Nadia squeaked, flipping him off with both hands. She didn’t have a plan going in, but since she and Ace got detected immediately, she figured there was a way they could help. And that meant getting these guys mad. “I mean, we’re the health inspectors! Heard there were rats in the kitchen, but we didn’t expect them to be balding! Wha-hey!”

Antoine sputtered like a grease frying, unable to articulate his anger. Instead he issued a roar of anger, seized two cleavers from the chopping block, and scuttled forward like a cracked-out cicada. Nadia span around fast enough to whip her tail against the side of the dumbwaiter. “Ow, okay, time to go!” She slammed shut the kitchen-side door, and as Antoine’s footsteps thundered closer the other door slid open. Before the kids could slip through the door behind them exploded, the King of Cuisine having lodged himself into the dumbwaiter head-first. Luckily the impact launched Ace and Nadia clear of his knives as he flailed around, with one cleaver taking an inch off the tip of Nadia’s ear. “Yowch!” She and Ace landed in a pile of splinters and looked up to see Antoine pushing himself through the dumbwaiter. “Uh, knife to meat you!” she told him, a hand on her bleeding ear. “Sea ya later!”



She scampered in the direction the Runaway had gone, crossing into the Grand Atrium and running up to the railing that overlooked the place. The third floor seemed to be a dining area that ringed the lower central area, which itself looked like yet another cooking station, manned by yet another bizarre chef. This one seemed to be a big pink bird, which left Nadia wondering how she actually managed to cook anything. Either way, an enormous vent occupied the vertical space above her, an array of pipes spanning the whole space to connect multiple floors and areas. “Even better than I thought!” She turned to Ace, noting as she did Antoine already halfway through the dumbwaiter down the hall. “We’ll take the heat off the others, right? Just like with fish sticks. This place is perfect to run ‘em around. Think we can do it?”

Antoine hitting the floor behind them meant that it was time for action rather than words. Taking a deep breath, Nadia gave Ace her fan (even someone from a past age could figure out ‘press the button for wind’) and prepared to run, her half of the magnet still in hand. In a way it was funny, being on distraction duty again, but it was fine. If she couldn’t solve the problem, either through positioning or brainpower, she could open the way for the people who could. Besides, she thought. I’ve been on the run my whole life. This is what I do best. The killer chef got to his feet, murder in his eyes, and like the wind Nadia ran.

---

It was more than a little frustrating that even with Larry distracted with elation at the misfortune of his colleagues, the three girls could do nothing to improve their situation. To Sakura’s credit, however, even though beset by both the pain of hanging from her arms and intense hunger, she continued to offer idea after idea. Unfortunately none of them could really think straight in this awful situation, the small street fighter least of all, and Bella had to reluctantly agree with her friend’s self-assessment. “I don’t think we can reach him through talking. He doesn’t see us as people. All we are to him is fresh meat.” She squeezed her stinging eyes shut, causing them to tear up.

A moment later they blinked open. “Wait. Zat’s right. Fresh meat. Both he and the other human chef mentioned it. That’s why we’re still alive.” Suddenly inspired, Bella glanced at the others. “What if I played dead? Zen I’d start going bad, so to speak. I’m also ze biggest. He might take me down to chop me up.” She gave a sharklike, fanged grin, and the teeth of her leviathan tail gnashed. “Zen I can bite him. Or shoot him right in zat ugly mug.” The most important part of the plan, however, wasn’t hers. “But I need you two, oui? After I go limp, I need you both to start bawling. Really cry your eyes out, and scream at him. Say I died of heatstroke or smoke breathing or something.” Something else occurred to her. “Even if it doesn’t work, ze others will hear us and know where we are, at least. Can you do zat, mon cherie?”

When Mirage and Geralt poked their heads up by the railing a few moments later, having used sausage links as an arduous but extremely unanticipated mode of travel from the first floor, a distraction to keep Larry’s attention off his surroundings became all the more necessary. Ready to play her part, Bella went limp, allowing her head to loll to a funny angle. Hopefully the new arrivals would see the ploy for what it was and not go ballistic when Sakura and Rika started wailing.



Just as Albedo hoped, conferring with Linkle allowed the two to consider any potential plan of action from both a pragmatic and emotional standpoint. Though he figured from the beginning that hunting a local animal would draw the witch out, he did not consider the potential extent of her anger. As someone who couldn’t imagine the pain of seeing one’s own child hurt or killed, he believed Linkle wholeheartedly when she cautioned that the witch might be too furious for conversation and skip straight to deathmatch. “I see,” he murmured, more grateful than ever for another perspective. Trying to imagine what animal he’d become lay beyond his abilities, but he did not like the prospect of not being able to use his hands one bit.

Still, that meant that the two needed to come up with a different strategy to find the witch of the woods before evening’s shadows started creeping across the scarlet valley. Linkle recalled something Albedo told her earlier, although he didn’t remember saying what she mentioned he did. “Oh, did I say that?” Absently the alchemist scratched his neck just below the ear, his expression mildly bemused. “<My choice of words likely gave you the wrong impression. Although Elemental Sight is indeed a power that exists in my world, I do not possess it. I merely meant that my long-term handling of and exposure to raw elements has given me a feel for them. Since arriving I have been studying this ‘light’ element, being both powerful and without an analog in Teyvat. Because it is anomalous and quite new to me, even after all this time, I could feel it when we were close. Unfortunately, this ‘feeling’ of mine extends only a very short range. Rather like temperature. Or perhaps an odor.” He blinked, frowning. “I do not mean to imply you are odorous, of course. And even if you were, the Hydro-dispensers in the hotel we stayed at almost certainly took care of it.” After a brief pause, he looked at her sideways. “I...assume you used them?”

Clearing his throat, Albedo continued. “Back on topic. One other factor is that this element of ‘nature’ you describe, which is analogous to Dendro in my world, is endemic to all plantlife. Even those with Dendro visions tend to register less than actual plants. As such, if this witch possessed more Dendro than a vision user it would still be akin to seeking a single seashell on a beach at best. At worst, a single grain of sand.”

The alchemist had no problems with his new friend’s other suggestions, though. “Even though we may not be able to see much under the canopy, it would be a good idea to get up high. Trying to go up and down the flagline would be too frenetic for a good look. Let us find an especially big tree to climb before we use my flowers, or your...ah, way to jump high.”

With that in mind the two waved farewell to Tuley and started their trip off with some reconnaissance. An initial solar isotoma from Albedo allowed Linkle to peer above the local canopy for a few moments and identify a suitably large tree that the pair could use as a lookout point. Once she descended back to the forest floor, the two began in that direction. As they strode down a highway of vibrant wildflowers, the fresh breeze that teased their hair the only reminder of the wintry wastes and frigid mountainsides far above, they could take in the beauty of nature in peaceful reflection. After finding a good stride Albedo found the walk almost meditative, in fact. Could this place really be a sanctuary, free of the vagrants, monsters, and other enemies that lurked behind every corner and under every stone in this perilous World of Light? Though he stayed alert for any sign of danger, Albedo found nothing to suggest otherwise. Wherever he looked he saw only pretty plants and agreeable animals. Whether papercraft or ponderous, or perfectly normal, they went about their business without the fear that came with the ambient danger of disaster or predation. More than once Albedo suppressed the urge to stop cold and scribble down a quick sketch, knowing that Linkle could capture the scenery far quicker than he. Whether or not she found the walk as nice as he did, however, depended on how viciously the voices in her head tried to fill the autumnal silence.



Intermittent checks using Albedo’s flowers kept the two on track, and it wasn’t long before they reached their destination. This time a solar isotoma would be only the first step of the climb, with Linkle’s jumping ability on call for the rest. Ancient and gnarled white like bone, with clumps of hanging burgundy moss, this tree was a fine specimen but not ultimately that large. A trip to the top would be no trouble for his spring-heeled companion, the alchemist predicted. From its boughs Linkle could see much of the Wildwood Glades, across miles of rolling red canopy and meadows of pristine flowers among the copses. Going south the forest got thicker, but on the north side, right before the valley came to an end against the icy cliffs, lay a lake as scarlet as the leaves. A tree-covered island lay in its middle among the mists, and one one side rose a colossal face carved from stone, its expression as serene as the blood-red water’s surface. Though the view’s incredible splendor defied description, the camera-wielding onlooker need not rely on words, but could take a magnificent photo to show the waiting Albedo down below.

Once presented with the snapshot, he considered it for a moment, thinking. “Curious. It almost looks like architecture from Sumeru. Not what I would expect. Of course, I can hardly speak to the cultures of other worlds, but given the gardener’s account I would be more inclined to search the thicker forest.”

A woman’s voice called out from among the trees. “And what, might I ask, are you searching for?”

Albedo turned to see a red-haired lady standing among the foliage at a respectful distance. He wondered how long she’d been there, or if she’d been following them. She wore simple hide and fur garments, with a few adornments here and there like her pendant and hair clasps. Simple geometric tattoos ran down her arms, but nothing about her stood out in particular. Able to conclude little, Albedo could only conjecture based on what little knowledge he did have of the valley’s only confirmed human residents. Given his idea of the witch being someone who didn’t want to be found, giving away his and Linkle’s objective willy-nilly might scare her off. Then again, the two had been put on the spot here. He needed to appear trustworthy.

“Good day,” he told her after a moment. “We came to see the sights, since we have never been here before, but after arriving we met a little gardener. He mentioned a kind lady who lived around here and we thought to pay her a visit.”

Wearing an amused expression, the woman crossed her arms. “Did he, now? Tuley’s a little too trusting, bless him. As for you…” Her gentle eyes scanned the two, especially Linkle, on whose own eyes she lingered. “Well, I must admit I’ve been following you for a little while. Out of worry, really. You seem like nice kids, but there’s something off-putting about you, miss. I’m sure you know what I mean?” She looked genuinely concerned. “I might be able to lend you a hand, but only once I know you’re not a threat to the forest. Life and death don’t mix. Would you mind telling me a little about yourself?”

Albedo slid his hands into his pockets. And looked to his companion. If this was the witch, it was a lucky break, but one that made total sense. Naturally she’d both be able to sense the malfeasance of the Skull Heart and be wary of a potential threat to her domain. No doubt Linkle would be enthusiastic about honest cooperation; he just hoped she fully understood the stakes of this interaction. Either way, the ball was in her court now.

---

The bullet that found itself ending Nastasia's life was sudden, and surprising. A slight glance back made it easy to detect the cause, Jesse putting the mind-controlling Resistance leader to rest. Not that Mao particularly cared, he'd been waiting on it to somehow occur in one way or another. Instead of complaining over a little spilled blood, he stuck to his plan. However, Mao's eyes shot open wide behind his glasses as Shadow turned on him and the approaching group seeming to have been baiting their approach.

The light from his attack was almost blinding at this distance, but where Mao thought he'd get a spear in his chest, it instead when flying off course after another shot rang out. Jesse again, the overlord gaining an appreciation for her gun at this point from how much help she'd been throughout this struggle. Her bullets provided an ample distraction for him to finish closing the gap, allowing him to make his leap upwards to try and smash the hedgehog into his new doormat.

Rather than turn Shadow's skull into a bowl, something unexpected happened. He struck back, fist colliding with Mao's own and causing the overlord's coat to fly upward from the impact. It would've fallen off, had it not been chained to his person. But that was the least of his concerns. Despite all that Shadow had output during this battle, he managed to match fists after that heal. This creature was a legitimate monster in terms of ability, and for a moment, he wasn't sure if he'd make it against the fur-covered edgelord's force. "You aren't slipping away! How's it feel to be the one stuck in place?!" Taking his standstill in a more vengeful light, Shadow being forced to focus on him lead to pressure from those that followed: Joker, Fox, and to Mao's surprise, that fantastic warrior Gunnar.

With their combined efforts, Shadow's defenses faltered. And Mao had a familiar feeling in that moment. Memories of an Annoying Delinquent that taught him that sometimes, working with others could achieve much more than his own forward solo crusades. Part of him recalled, now, that she was possibly gone. His Netherworld, those subjects that insisted on being called 'friends'. There was one chance of getting them back he knew of, and to reach that, he'd be fighting more than a few battles. And he certainly couldn't lose this one.

With Shadow compromised, Mao pushed forward with everything he had. His fist pressed down, smashing into Shadow's skull, which could've potentially been audible in it's own right if Mao's own shouting wasn't overtaking it. As Shadow bounced off the ground, Mao remained on the ground, not skipping a beat in turning away and crossing his arms as the hedgehog fell against the cold metal floor, the draft from his fall drifting Mao's coat back to it's rightful position.

Mao trying to be cool was interrupted by the shaking foundation of their arena, causing him to quickly grow irritated despite the victory. "Of course, it'd be an attack like mine to knock this place down." Half-complaint, half-gloat, Mao's eyes fell on a particular object as everyone began an escape plan. Through the distractions, Nastasia's spirit rolled with the shaking terrain and found itself at the tip of the overlord's shoes. He stared at it momentarily, not sure if he should crush it here and now, or savor the moment later. The building panic caused him to simply pick up the spirit for the moment, tucking it away under his coat to figure out later.

While Mao could mostly care less about the politics of the situation, killing Ciella was bad regarding his own agenda. Thankfully, despite the lack of disagreement on her being a pain in the ass, they were sparing her. The idea of not healing either of these powerhouses also sounded like a firm plan, as while things ended well enough, Mao was... Uncertain about fighting Shadow at full competence. It'd be messier than he'd like, so avoiding it was for the best.

Despite the whole surprise about Mona becoming a giant bus, Mao did what he could to help shuffle the injured onto the... Living vehicle? So they could fly away with Jesse's tool gun. He took a seat and let out a sigh of relief, only momentarily looking out to see the place collapse. Rather than focus on how close the situation was just now, he reveled in the group surviving, and glanced down at his coat in consideration about Nastasia's spirit. Still something to worry about a little later, after he made sure there weren't any ambushes left on the way back up.

Things were, thankfully, uneventful. Mao took the front in case there was a surprise waiting up above, but as he practically barged through the basement entrance door he let out a startled "Gah! The hamster!" As a response to Tora's reaction, watching the creature topple over. As Poppi got him out of the way, Mao simply stretched, getting out of the way himself to let everyone pile in and figure themselves out. Es' information on who survived the other piece of this raid wasn't much concern, especially the lives lost, but despite his physical wounds being healed, mentally Mao was still tired. Too tired to be rude, instead exchanging similar information about the initial raid that pulled him into this mess, though he simply left the current group for them to figure out, not thinking it wise to reveal the former boss' spirit to anyone else she'd taken control of. Lest they just kick it around themselves.

After exchanging that small amount of information with Es, Mao had business to attend with since they were soon to be heading back to the palace. Mao had a somewhat determined expression, knowing it wouldn't be long until he'd be able to try and help Baz and Klee. He wasn't stupid enough to assume they'd walk easy after what had happened, but he hoped to at least open Baz's eyes to put him in a better position to look after their small, bombastic mutual acquaintance. There was also a concern for himself, as despite his lent aid (Which wasn't a choice to begin with, exactly) He'd probably be put in an odd spot as well.

There weren't exactly a lot of people Mao trusted. Jesse had saved him quite a few times, but Midna was the one he started this mess with, so she seemed like the correct one to speak to about things. Especially when it came to mercy, given... Jesse tried but had a pretty gruesome (But respectable!) track record.

Noting Midna was still injured, he couldn't offer much aside from one of his remaining candies. Made a decent ice-breaker anyways. "Take it," He'd insist. "Should at least help out until you can get better healing." Regardless of her taking it, that was quite obviously not what Mao wanted to talk about. "Don't like asking others, but you're in a better position with the Palace than I am." He added, trailing into the main topic he wanted to discuss. "Back when you took out my group, there were two knuckleheads that were pretty much harmless. That kid, Klee. The one that could make the bombs? She'd never hurt a fly. Even with the control, she had to be fed lies about what was going on." Lies he helped tell her. He'd been in charge of ensuring she planted those explosives, thinking it was all a game. There was some guilt in that. "--And the big beefy blonde guy, with the whip. Name is Baz. While I was busy carrying out Number Two's orders, he was actually looking after her. He's more suited to being a babysitter than a fighter." He realized he was starting to sound sentimental, which annoyed him. So he tried to push ahead quickly, as to not look worse than he already did.

"I don't care, they're just--" He tried to think of a word that'd make them sound worse than 'associate'. "--Minions." Mao decided on, nodding. His minions. "But they're kind of like family-- To each other. So, I want to knock that curse out of Baz, and... Try and get the two of them out and away from this whole situation."

Shrugging, he leaned against the wall. "Don't know how it will go, and I don't entirely expect good results. But I'm asking for your help on trying to get them out." If he was going to get anywhere with these Seekers, he'd have to put some faith in them. Out of the circus of freaks around, Midna just so happened to be one he was trusting. All that could be hoped was that his attempt to follow her example down below was enough to possibly get some help.

While the battle came to final destructive end, Midna finished her retrieval operation, finding and slapping awake Fuse (”rise and shine and get moving before you get swept into a pit”), and also retrieving Mordecai’s (currently comically bloated thanks to Jessie) bird Bloodwing. While she was at it, she indulged her dragon hoarding tendencies and plucked up the spirits of the vandal warriors, who no one had considered worth saving apparently, and the fallen firearms of Mordecai and Fuse.

Once everyone who was still alive and things of worth that still remained were all collected and spared from being ditched into the pit there remained only two issues. That issue of them all being dumped into the pit along with the arena and the issue of Ciella, who sat listless and broken at their mercy, her fate debated over by the thieves and one of the resistance members who had managed/been allowed to stay up after being freed and who had helped end the battle.

”I tried explaining that people where mind-controlled when I freed her, but she didn’t even seem to register what I was saying either time, even after I stopped her from killing one of them” Minda interjected into this while administering friend hearts to Reinhardt (said person she had saved) and Bloodwing, finally explaining why she had acted how she had, but ended up agreeing that ”But yes, we don't have time to argue about this” because everything was at risk of crashing down and tipping them into the void, which would have been a rotten way for the hard fought battle to end, so all she requested was ”Just keep her away from me and the ones who were controlled.” before swiftly correcting that too ”The others who were controlled”

It turned out she didn't have to worry. After she’d helped transfer everyone inside the van and assisted Necronomicon in hauling it back to solid ground Ciella had been convinced to buy the mind control argument, possibly only because she was too injured to actually act on her insane convictions.

While her vengeful spirit wanted her dead dead dead, as a practical solution/situation lying to the murderer’s face worked fine for Midna who was running on empty as much as the mad march hare woman. So instead of trying to pick a fight or end her life she returned Reinhardt’s hammer to him as a way of introduction and then quickly talked the futuristic knight round into carrying her royal form up and out of the rocket HQ so she could recover from her wounds. It let her rest without any magic whatsoever, not even the concentration needed to stay in a shadow and gave her a convenient excuse to hang back with the former resistance members and fill them in on the situation.

She also covertly gave the rest of them their weapons back, just in case things got hairy with the Grimleal up top. Fortunately, the main force that welcomed them out wasn't the acolytes (who Midna now 100% understood why they had not tried to fight at Ciella’s side) or another of their leaders, but the cheerful figure of Tora at the head of most of the rest of Yellow team. She had to wince at the ‘everyone okay’ comment because of the fallen resistance members who were missing from the group, blood of which was on the hands of basically every member (or group in the thieves case) bar two.

The only other person to have not killed sought her out not long after they emerged into the sweltering sunlight. While the Theives’ gushed/complained about Shadow (in a way that matched Sectonia’s description of how Necronomicon had talked about him as if he was some kind of legendary figure, though there where twinges of weirdness about the language used she couldn't put her finger on) the Demon Lord and Twilight Princess spoke of mercy.

She received the healing candy gratefully and once its effect began to take hold, and after thanking Reinhardt for his chivalrous aid, floated down to stand on her own to feet as her wounds slowly stitched together.

”Goddesses, I needed that. Thank you Mao” she told him, stretching a little before focusing on what he had to say. His concern for two of the resistance members was touching, though his sharp turn to insisting they were merely minions and then shifting back to almost calling them family had her confused for a moment, before she thought it over and believed she managed to get a good read on his motives. Royals had masks they put on to make it seem they were something greater than what they were, so that people would have confidence in them, this she knew and this too she assumed Mao was doing. Or at least something similar.

”An admirable concern for the people,” she said first, putting on light diplomatic airs in an attempt to assure him that she (thought) got what his deal was, before speaking more informally for the rest of the conversation ”And don't worry, I’ll do everything I can to find a way to get them out of this mess.” before glancing back at the surviving resistance ”All of them if I can. There’s been too many deaths already as a result of this.”

There was a snag with her help however, and that was that ”My fight with Ceilla trying to stop her from shredding everyone might have shot my reputation with the Grimleal though. Or maybe not. The other leaders didn't seem to like her very much. Either way, the lie she’s been told about me is truth for your ‘minions’ and we have a way to prove it” With that she turned, motioning for him to follow, and then moved towards where Braum was still holding Shadow captive.

”Hey Braum” she said conversationally to the titan of muscle as she got close before asking ”How are you holding up after the resistance’s number two hijacked your mind in the middle of the fight?”

The Seekers pulled through. Shadow was overwhelmed by their combined offensive. Mao got the last hit in, putting the powerful Hedgehog on the mat. Jesse 'holstered' her Service Weapon, the pistol vanishing into mid-air, and straightened up her posture. For a moment she surveyed the ruined room and it's many fallen spirits, holes, and unconscious fighters, contemplative. Her eyes landed on Orendi and Nastasia's spirit. But it was back to business. They weren't out of the woods yet.

The Ciella situation would be resolved with a rather simple deception. In all of this mind control chicanery, it wasn't unimaginable that someone might lose track of who is on who's side. Jesse said nothing, implying her assent to the plan. It was obvious the Director was deep in thought now that the battle was over, only half involved in the situation around her.

Jesse and her Tool Gun were put to work, and she did it quickly. Expanding Mona and Necronomican and then attatching balloons and rockets as necessary. Silent, she did her part to guide the Seekers to safety. Then, she un-inflated Mordecai's hawk, and unshrunk the big guy Reinhardt.

Once outside Rocket Inc, Jesse breathed in the fresh desert air. Yellow Team was shortly reunited. There were a lot of people from all sorts of placed Jesse would have to get acquainted with. Especially the big feathery creature and his anime robot.

But, the situation with the Grimleal wasn't over yet. There were more mind-controlled individuals that could still be rescued. Especially some friends of Mao's. As much as the kid didn't want to admit they were friends, he was a terrible liar. Jesse...knew the feeling.

It might surprise her fellow Seekers that those among the first people she'd ever killed. Perhaps she had expected more fanfare. Only now, in the aftermath, did she wonder if she should have hesitated, doubted herself, or even considered the fact for a moment. But she hadn't. Jesse had been surrounded by death ever since she became Director. Whether it be the countless FBC employees she's since replaced, the ones that died while she was the acting Director, and the few that have perished under her orders since it began. Sure, she had killed many people controlled by the Hiss, but they were already long gone. And her brother...the old Director...well, she still wasn't sure. But she had acted then. And she had acted now.

The Director didn't regret her permanent violence. Orendi and Nastasia were both dangerous threats. They had to be taken out of the picture before they had a chance to recuperate or inflict more harm. Jesse had spared where she could, and acted with executive decision where she couldn't. The time for her doubting her own intentions and actions had long past. Jesse knew who she was. The time for self-reflection, however, was never over. Jesse had been on the back foot in terms of information and situational awareness ever since she first got put into this place by Galeem. If she had more control, Jesse knew less people would be dead. If anyone at all.

First of all, Ciella made her attack on Rocket Incorporated while woefully outmatched. She was still defeated by Shadow and Nastasia, even with all of the Seekers' help. Midna may have worsened the situation temporarily, but Ciella still owed Midna her life in the first place after Midna saved her by giving her a Friend Heart. The Seekers were lured into a trap Ciella and her Grimleal had already fallen into. This entire fight shouldn't have happened until the Grimleal had the sound advantage. When doing a raid on a house, SWAT teams moved in with the overwhelming advantage. They didn't just send in one maverick cop with nothing to lose like in the movies. Which was a bit rich coming from Jesse 'One Woman Army' Faden, but that was only because she was the person on Earth best equipped to deal with AWEs. Believe her, if she could equip her Rangers with telekinetic powers, she would. Not that they weren't extremely competent already. But. Y'know. Spooky stuff couldn't always be solved with LMG's, manpower, and years of training. A surprising amount of it could, though. Human ingenuity, planning, and ingenuity was a remarkable thing. Well. It could be.

These wer the thoughts that ran through Jesse's had as she had left Rocket Inc and while the others had their brief conversations. Blinking out of her internal world, Jesse looked at the captured Shadow.

"Walk and talk." Jesse clarified before speaking.

"What are we going to do about Shadow the Hedgehog? Give him a Friend Heart and wish him on his merry way? I'm not sure if there's a prison that can hold him, and I'd rather have him aware of the Galeem situation than not. Alternatively, we could execute him. Which is a bad call. But if we do nothing, he'll wake up and escape one day, still under Galeem's influence." Jesse said.

"Besides." Jesse glanced over at the Phantom Thieves, who also recognized him from media back on Earth. "He's just edgy Sonic who uses a machine gun, right?" Jesse had been fourteen when Shadow the Hedgehog came out. At the time she didn't exactly have the time to play a lot of video games, but cultural osmosis tended to find its way towards introverted teenagers who sulked all day long.

"Like... pretty sure his game was rated E10+. Not even T for Teen. He can't be that bad. He was under two layers of violence-inducing mind control." Jesse said.

"Oh." She looked at everyone. "I hope to get a chance to fully debrief, and get debriefed, on this entire situation once we have a moment to rest. But, in summary, on the world I'm from, lots of people in this world are instead fictional media properties. I hope there's Wikipedia somewhere in the World of Light, because that could be an extremely useful resource." Jesse said. Then she sighed, gathering her breath.

"Wikipedia is an online resource, people can use computers to access and edit it. On the world I'm from." She explained, already exasperated.

"Okay." Jesse started thinking aloud, clapping her hands together. "We need spreadsheets. Folders. Pamphlets. Cute little name tags. Galeem is keeping people in the dark and we need to combat that by spreading information. Or at the very least, having a more effective way of catching everyone we recruit up to speed on how the mechanics of this world work. I could do it if I had a library card and a modern day library, or if we went back to my base. Which, by the way, the situation my base is in is an entire other thing we need to dicuss later. The whole reason I left was to gather information and allies." She ran a hand over her forehead and into her red hair. The Director followed the Seekers on their way to reunite with further more allies. Walk and talk, walk and talk.

"We can go into more detail about that later. It's not pressing. I'm fine with letting Shadow be everyone else's problem. We already have enough on our plate as it is. The sooner we can focus on taking down Galeem, the better." She said. Joining the Seekers on what was essentially a side mission hadn't made Jesse any less eager to strike out and start solving this massive AWE known as Galeem.

(God, I wish Emily was here.) Jesse longed to return to the Oldest House just to give her and everybody there the news and data she had acquired. Let alone her desire to save all of her employees and friends. While the situation there was stable, it had been so long since she had been there, it could have changed since she left. If freed, it could act as another safe base of operations to strike out at Galeem with. So many options, so many variables to consider. Jesse wished she could just step up and take control, but with all of these egos running around, she doubted it would be possible. Everyone here was probably entirely unused to being ordered around. Especially by someone they didn't even know. Be it the Phantom Thieves and their own independant code, or being a princess, or just being an adventurer, warrior, hero, etc that did what they wanted and didn't take shit. On their worlds, it was probably was made them forces for good.

In this world, it was grounds for an awkward team building excercise. The only cohesion was their shared desire to destroy Galeem.

Sectonia was glad the fight was over, a few resistance members dead but that was to be expected, none of her minions dead but a few badly hurt, including herself. Thankfully her little magic trinket gave her a good amount of regeneration, so her wounds wouldn't last as she passively healed as the team made their way back to the surface, their job complete. Seeing as they did manage to knock out Shadow, Sectonia did think about taking him out and gain a very strong minion, but that'd require grabbing him out of Necro's tentacles and that was a bit unsavory. Sectonia ignored Ceilla entirely, not really a fan of Midna's plan with 'playing dumb', nor having any interest in the hot headed girl. Heck, if it wasn't for her minions wanting her alive, Sectonia would finish her off for her impertinence.

As they made their way back, they ran into Tora's group, who was making their way down. With everyone on edge, another fight almost started before people calmed down. "Ah, Tora. What was your group doing?" Sectonia said, with a tone asking for an update more than anything. Seeing Midna was hurt the most, Mao gave her some kind of healing candy, something the kid had a small amount of. Well, he did say he was a 'demon lord' or something silly like that, perhaps he was interested in dating the demon imp Midna? Ah, well, if he wanted to date one of her minions, he'd need to be Sectonia's minion as well.

Much like Necro, the other phantom thieves seemed to know Shadow, speaking in casual tones as if he was someone famous in their world or something. "So, you all know this "Shadow'? Why don't you tell everyone what you know about him. With his strength, if I hadn't dealt with him, well, I'd prefer not to lose minions."

Bowser’s headbutting of one of the koopas turned into a very very short lived dust up, or rather sud up, as the inevitable Galeem thing happened to the troopas in response to one of your friends being attacked by some random kids, who they didn't find nearly as scary as the chefs, even if they talked big game. This turned out to be a poor assessment, as they were no match for the royals, who quickly beat some sense into their minions and reminded them of their duty.

“Oh shoot. Prince Junior! Sorry we didn't recognize you!” the first troopa to be free said as he got his senses back, before standing up with pride and saluting “Chef Bros, ready for duty” prompting the other three troopas to do the same, before they all looked back and forth a little confused and the first asked “but, uh, why are there two of you?”

”Coz I’m Bowser, thats why” the king informed them, jabbing a thumb towards himself before explaining ”The freaky witch lady who runs this place put a curse on me and my new troop, making us all young. Not that that managed to keep us down”

”Yeah! But we gotta hurry now. Remember?” Jr insisted, thinking they had wasted quite enough time on these minions already and wanting to get moving.

”The young master is right. Time is of the essence” Kamek agreed, despite them freeing these koopas being his idea. There was of course logic to it, which he displayed now by asking, ”So tell me, do you know another way into the Kitchen that is just round the corner?”

“Oh that one? Um. well. That’d be...” The Koopa glanced towards the door Nadia had disappeared through quite a while ago “quite a long way round. Past all the, urgh, ‘guests’" The koopa shuddered at the memory of them "and then down through the kitchen, past all the chefs…” despite being free and in the presence of their boss, the troopas still weren't exactly thrilled about the idea of going up against the soup-makers “It’d be this whole thing”

”That’ll take too long. How about the door? Got anything that can go through it. Like a fire axe? Or a bomb or something!” Jr asked quickly

”They don't exactly keep explosives in kitchens I'm afraid, young master” Kamek corrected the prince, ”thinking of all the open flames! It would be a nightmare! There’s a reason you never see any bob’omb chefs”

“Uh, well, there’s no intentional bombs about, but every good chef has to know how not to blow up their kitchen and uh, well if we work backwards from that there might be something...” The Chef bro explained before, hesitantly, explaining what he meant.

---

“Oh oh, that’s smaaart!” Rika said, agreeing with Bella’s plan, before whisper-shouting down to Mimi to “hey, you’ll help her when she bites her right? Pull a sneaky on him or something?” which got her a salute from the mon, who then hurried away from the edge of the fireplace, where she’d probably besotted if Bella’s plan worked, and went to find a nice ambushed spot from which she could assail the chef.

“Cool ok now. Uh. How do I cry?” the girl, who had been a nameless faceless mook all of a day ago, asked, only to find Bella already slumped over and playing dead already. “Bella? Bella? Oh. Oh dear”

“I uh, oh no um um um” Rika said, starting to panic “Wah. Wah. Wah. That's what crying is isn’t it? Or no, that sounds really fake. I don't know if. How am I supposed to? um. I’m sorry. You’ve been really smart and i don't know how to. I. im sorry I'm just. I'm so hungry. And tired. And stupid and ” she sniffed and kept rambling “and i don't want you to die. I don't want to die. But I. I don't know how. How to” she sniffed again, harder, her nose getting runny “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorrrrrrry.” She wailed the last and then had all the stress, fear and exhaustion of the day catch up with her as she broke down into genuine tears, loudly sobbing and crying as tears streamed down her cheeks for the first time in her life.

---

While the others used stealth speed and trickery to navigate the maw and try and make their escape, the Koopa troop was resorting to what they did best. Brute force.

”Faster people, faster! Get those sacks emptied out” Bowser shouted as he hauled another one into the kitchen from the pantry they’d passed by.

”Sire please! This is incredibly reckless. We are in a pressurized submersible, badness knows how deep beneath the ocean! This could kill us all!” the mage shouted up to his king from the door to the washroom, incredibly concerned by what was unfolding.

”Ah quit being such a baby! We’re gonna show those schmucks what happens when you try to keep us out! Really shake things up around here!” Bower shouted back as Jr ran past him shaking his own sack all over, filling the air in the room with flour dust, who added ”yeah, those big jerk chefs won’t know what hit em!”

“Uh, Boss! Bosses! That’s gonna be enough. I think” the now de facto leader of the chef bros squad said as he and his troops finished emptying their own sack.

”Alright alright! Then let's blow this popsicle stand!” the king announced, tossing his sack aside and then hustling out the room along with the others as they all headed back into the washroom where the fork people were currently cowering in the corner, wanting nothing to do with these crazed brutes but equally fearful of leaving their workplace

”Oh dear oh dear oh dear. At least scrub yourselves off before this goes down! We're covered in flour!” the mage instructed, resigned to the incoming carnage and hastily using the soapy suds to get himself clean, before finding something, anything, to hide behind.

In this, at least, his advice was heeded and the troop rapidly cleansed themselves (and any children who they’d found cowering in the kitchen and had herded out of it) of potential explosives before taking cover. Rather than join them, Bowser went and found an angle that let him see into the room and towards the flour cloud swimming around, which was mainly being kept there by the humidity in the washroom on one end and the fact that they’d blocked the way they’d come in on the other.

Once everyone was ready and taking cover, the king took a deep breath and hucked a fireball across the room towards the door, its slow speed for once a blessing as its lazy flight gave him time to leg it to cover as well.

”So if flour explodes, why couldn't we have just pile it up next to the door?” Jr asked now that they weren't running around filling the air with the stuff.

“Oh, no, so see” one of the chef bros began explaining “it’s because flour has a lot of energy in it. So it burns quite well. But normally just the outside of a load of flour burns because it’s the only bit touching the air. But in there, all of the flour’s touching the air at once as it floats around in it, meaning it can all burn at once, meaning that when it ignites-”

And then the world went white.

"Play...dead..?" Sakura raised her eyebrows. "I guess that could work. It'd get you down. Just be careful, okay? Don't do anything-" The girl coughed. "-stupid." She said. Bella went limp, putting on the act. Reducing her breath intake, Sakura tried to gather her acting skills. The thought of Bella actually being dead was too terrible to consider, so Sakura would try to channel her emotion in a vague way. To be honest, she really did want to just yell and scream, like Bella wanted. But that was merely one facet of her desire to be big again and destroy every single one of these loathesome cannibals.

Rika, however, started to panic. Her terrible fake crying made Sakura chuckle, despite their grim circumstances. "Wah wah wah, yeah, it's like-" Sakura began. "Except- hey. Oi, Rika-chan." But Rika was really starting to freak out and cry, which made Sakura's heart hurt. At least it was convincing..? Oh, poor Rika! She wanted comfort her friend, but that would be counter productive.

Thinking hard, Sakura started to concentrate. She coughed, to clear her lungs and mouth as best as she could. "Huhhh...uuhhhhHEY. H-HEEEYYY! YOU! Look what you did to my friend! It's all your fault!" Sakura shouted. "She's not moving anymore!" She continued. That wasn't a lie. It came out as loudly and as earnestly as she could manage. All she needed was Larry's attention for the plan to work. Tears were still streaming down Sakura's face, so, that would lend credence to her peformance. But now, all Sakura could think about was the plan. Her heart rate escalated with anxiety and excitement. She couldn't be sad or angry on command! Even if she was sad or angry! Why did she have to be raised in such an honest and open household?! She had no practice at all!

As soon as that was done, she peered at Rika. "It's okay, Rika-chan, it's okay." Sakura comforted. "You're v-very brave." Sakura bit her lower lip to stop herself from going further. She couldn't say anything about how it was going to be okay, or how they were going to get out of here. Lest she accidentally tip Larry off, or put him on alert to their friends actions. Hopefully Mimi could hide in time.

When Sakura heard a very large noise and disturbance coming from somewhere, she wondered if their plan was even going to be relevant compared to whatever genius escape plan her friends had cooked up. Pun not intended.

---

Through hardship, Mirage was satisfied with being off the sausage chain and instead onto solid ground. Taking a peek to see the situation, the butcher seemed busy enough for him to scamper up. He was smart for going for such an odd choice, he thought. Nobody expected the worst routes to be the ones traveled, especially when at a larger size, they seemed physically impossible. He'd have to be called the Sau-sage based on that move.

Pausing for the briefest of moments, he scratched that off the board. Thank goodness he didn't say it out loud, or that'd be embarrassing. This moment of relief was quickly broken, as all hell seemed to break loose in quick succession. First thing was first, Mirage scrambled for the nearest space he could crawl under to avoid Larry's detection. The smell was putrid, but he was at least somewhat prepared from the nasty sausages. What he wasn't prepared for, was hearing Sakura and Rika. Eyes widening, he caught view of the girls dangling above a flame, smoke brushing up to them which would cause obvious health concerns. But, why they were crying was what got Mirage more worried. Bella, compared to the other two, was completely unmoving. "Over there." He pointed for Geralt, quickly trying to disarm the anger he knew the guy was going to start busting out from how he was acting earlier. 'Whoresons this' and 'Whoresons that'.

"The smoke inhalation probably has her unconscious," He noted to at least keep him from thinking Bella was dead. "remember how that jackass taunted us when he took the girls? He said he'd take time with fresh meat, right?" He eyed Larry, before adding: "With the others throwing a fit, he might panic that his 'game' is deceased. Might let her go and bring her to his work station."

Slowly, he began to navigate around the area, keeping opposite of the girls while routing towards Larry's own position. "If he does... When he sets her down, we have to make a move." Mirage insisted. "You take that nail, stab it into one of his ankles. I'll..." He didn't have any weapons. So, uh... "Guess I'll bite the other. I've been bitten by a kid before-- Stuff hurts. Especially from pearly whites like mine!" They couldn't spring up into that fire to free Bella, but if she was brought to the table, they could definitely buy her time with violence.

As he planned to lash out against Larry, things got loud downstairs. More yelling, not the arguing chefs kind. And... An explosion, too close sounding for comfort. Worse than any grenade he'd ever heard, Christ. What the hell were the others up to right now? He had to think of an alternative, if Larry ended up running downstairs. They couldn't just leave the girls up there until he came back. He eyed the area, wondering if there was a sink up here. If they hurried, they could probably grab a container laying around and start trying to put out the fire with water if the butcher went to investigate. Some teamwork along with darts for easier climbing shouldn't of made that too overly difficult.

"Sh-Sheesh-- Plan B, if he rushes off." Mirage spoke quick, trying to keep their options open. "If he rushes off to investigate that explosion, we find a water source up here and transfer some over to put that fire out. We'd have to put it out to get the girls anyhow, even if he takes one of them down."

That climb was exhausting. By the end of it, Geralt's breath was coming heavily, though he did his damndest to regulate his breathing so that it was smooth and quiet rather than ragged and loud like many others'. It wasn't a perfect effort by any means, owing to the aforementioned exhaustion, but Geralt was used to exerting himself. Even if his stamina was lower, the techniques still worked.

The smell of the 'meats' admittedly distracted him for a moment as he wrinkled his nose and tried not to gag at the odor. What that meant was that Geralt could not see Bella go from animated and talkative one moment, to faux-unconscious the next, and when he followed Mirage's prompting, his blood ran cold. All he saw was an unmoving Bella, though something about Sakura's wailing was...off. It could be smoke inhalation causing delirium, but something in Geralt's gut told him that this was different.

Unfortunately, he didn't get time to ruminate on that gut instinct as Mirage theorized that the girls' captor wouldn't sand to let his meat go bad, and would take Bella off the rope to cut into her right away. Nodding, Geralt agreed. "Smoke can damage meats, especially inhaled or overexposed on the flesh. If he only sees them as food, he wouldn't want to risk spoiling it." The plan he came up with wasn't a bad one, either. "Hmm, that should work. A bad hit to a fleshy spot will take down even the largest of Fiends." Biting could work as well. It might depend on how sturdy the chef's garments were, but he doubted a profession based on standing near fire had overly heavy workwear, simply as a matter of efficiency. It wouldn't do to get heat stroke while preparing a meal, after all.

Their planning was interrupted by yet another commotion downstairs. This one related to both Antoine shouting, and some kind of explosion. Mirage hurriedly gave a plan B in case Larry went off to investigate, and Geralt nodded in agreement. "Can't risk them falling into open flames, yes."

That would be pretty bad if they came this far only to botch it and immolate their friends, wouldn't it?

Blazermate didn't have much luck with Bowser on breaking down the door and when the koopa troop moved on, Blazermate followed them. In the next room the floor was very sudsy and slippery with Bowser finding some of his minions and stopping to convince them to join his party. Blazermate decided not to stay with Bowser as he tried to recruit his own minions, instead flying over soapy floor and reaching the next room, trusting Bowser to handle the situation with his own koopa troop members. This door was closed as well, but unlike the kids Blazermate could easily reach and turn the doorknob, opening the door, she found herself out on the main floor of the restaraunt. Now, being a medabot, even if she was one of the taller models, she was still shorter than many of the gusts here, the fat... repulsive... eating their own scraps... guests... ugh this place was awful. But unlike the kids she couldn't be gobbled up in one bite. That and she was made out of metal, not flesh, so Blazermate doubted she tasted good or anything.

She trailed behind Nadia and Ace, quite a bit in fact, to the point where she couldn't help the two out of their predicaments until she herself made her way down the dumbweighter the kids had gone down. Her journey through the restaurant wasn't nearly as dangerous as the two kids though, with the guests either outright ignoring her for the food in front of them, or in the rare case a guest got curious and tried to nibble on one of Blazermate's legs or pony tails, the guest giving up very quickly upon biting into her metal frame followed by a clonk by her new fishy weapon. "Why would you even try to bite a robot?" Blazermate said to herself after the first attempt, with the other two attempts at eating her and failing just annoying the medabot. Still, with her new fish weapon, she found that these guests were easy to deal with all things considered, even if their fat made them super hard to knock out, the pain of chomping on metal and a smack from a super hard fish deterred them. Finally, no giant fish monsters or giant claw monsters that she couldn't deal with, these were just obese humans. This emboldened the Medabot medic.

While she arrived later than Nadia and Ace due to trying to break down the door with the koopa troop, Blazermate did see them go down an elevator like thing. Due to her size, mostly her twin tails, Blazermate had to think a bit of how she was going to get down there. Eventually she came up with the only idea she could, climb down the shaft. But before she could figure out a way to do that, the pair of kids came back up and were being chased by a chef that ran on by, Blazermate not standing near the doors while she was thinking. Seeing this chef chasing her kids, she gave chase herself, fish up in the air ready to beat the everliving crap out of this hostile chef for trying to attack her kids. This was so much nicer than having to deal with those giant monsters for sure.

---

---

@Potemking@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

---

They were lucky to have Mirage, who not only caused this big kitchen pile up but stopped them from being seen when the fat man just looked over the edge and got them up to the sausage links with that dart gun of his. He was the last to start climbing, figuring if anyone was going to be caught by an errant eyeball it should be the one most prepared to do some stabbing, but was up and on his way as soon as there was room for him.

The meat was greasy, but it was also squishy enough to get a grip and Link had never fallen off something provided he could still grip it. It was more tiring than normal pulling himself up link by link, hand over hand, but what he saw when he crested the top and pulled himself up onto the second floor rekindle the roaring fire in his belly.

There were the girls, strung up over a open flame. Bella was hanging limp, Rika was crying, Sakura looked like she was trying to hold everything together, and it took every ounce of willpower he had left to keep from running up and stabbing that towering Hinox of a man right this instant.

Link slunk backwards to where Mirage and Geralt had taken up position, never taking his eyes off the butcher. Mirage was right, he wouldn't want Bella to die. If you died there wasn't any meat left, just ash and a spirit. They still had to be smart. It would be an awful thing to get this close and then fail at the last moment.

"Not his ankle." He whispered to Geralt. "I'll get his ankle. Go for the throat, the back of his neck, anything that would make it harder for him to call for help." He brandished the knife, gripped it with both hands, and made ready to sprint out there and cut. Somewhere out there something was exploding. Something had caused a fresh bout of chaos down in the lower kitchen. Maybe it was the others putting their own plans into action, so that even if they failed not all hope was lost. That was heartening, but not important in the moment. Right now the only things that existed were them, the girls, and the fat man.

---

---

---

---

Albedo's answer confirmed two things for Linkle. First of all, he would definitely be a dog if he had picked her out via smell when they first met. Second, that she had definitely misinterpreted most of what the boy had told her yesterday and now he probably knew that. Maybe she should just keep her mouth shut and do what she was told, how many people must think the hero of Hyrule was a fool from listening to her stupid id-

Linkle nixed the thought as soon as she figured out it wasn't one of hers, sending the whisper that had risen to prominence shrinking back into the mire of white noise pooling in the back of her skull. Something in their tenor had changed when they got down here. They were on edge, like a bunch of wasps buzzing around in anticipation of an attack. Maybe it was how peaceful and full of life the glade was? If that was the case, maybe the first part of her idea had some merit. A nice little animal murder shattering the tranquility would be the perfect comfort to the Skull Heart.

Right?

She could imagine she heard a tinge of irritation in the whispers now, but focused on Albedo's last question instead.

"Hydro-whatsit?" she said, scratching her head. This one, though, she put together from context clues. "Oh yeah, that thing. Those are great, I've been in two since I got to this world. I'm bringing those back to Hyrule if I can."

---

So Albedo couldn't see how much Dendro people had, and it wouldn't have mattered even if he could with all these trees around, but he didn't think the rest of what she had suggested was bad. She had made at least enough sense to convince him that the animal hunting plan was a no go, but that left them with no plan but to find a high place and have a look around. Considering where they were she could consider that entirely a bad thing. The splendor of the glade was broken only by the insistent buzzing only she could hear, which only seemed to intercify as they walked deeper and deeper into the glade. That and her occasional bewilderment at the bizarre animals.

On their way to the tree they had spotted there were deer, and foxes, and rabbits, and the ordinary stuff you would expect to find in a forest like this. Then there were ones Linkle had a hart time believing were even real. Fancifully colored animals that looked hand crafted foraged in the bush, and a band of rounded creatures bounced along past them like chu jelly as though they weren't frightened at all by the two intruders. More than once she saw the alchemist start to slow, his eye wandering to a piece of natural beauty before marching on. Linkle dutifully took a photo of whatever it was she thought his eyes had landed on and handed them off to him as they walked to put in his notebook.

One photo, taken from the top of the tree that had been their initial destination, was of particular interest. "I don't know what makes water red like that." She said as the pair of them looked over the photo of the mysterious island. "I don't think it's a lake of blood. If this were the Dead Zone maybe, but I can't imagine a blood lake here."

Albedo postulated that the architecture on the island was similar to something in his world, and she was about to ask about what sort of people they were when they were interrupted by the voice of a woman. She looked up to see an ordinary looking woman, albeit one that looked more suited to living off the land than any in her old village. She was about to answer when Albedo beat her to it, giving her a not quite lie that confused her for a moment. The woman seemed to accept it, though, before turning her suspicious on Linkle. Not without good reason, Linkle totally got that. She had, after all, just used the fact that she had skulls for eyes as an intimidation point. Still, when the woman had looked into her eyes she couldn't bring herself to hold the gaze and glanced down under the weight of it.

"I'm Linkle." She started, looking back up sheepishly. "I know I don't look like it right now, but I'm actually part of a line of legendary heroes back in my world. I've been traveling around with a bunch of friends since I got to this one, fighting evil and righting wrongs and hero stuff, but when we went to a place called the Dead Zone I got tricked into making a wish on a talking skull and got super cursed and now it lives in my chest. But ever since it ate my heart the only thing its been able to do is taunt me and show up as a weird shadow one time that only I could see. That's it. It can't do anything unless it convinces me to do something and I don't do what it tells me. I'll do the opposite just to make it mad." She was doing so right now as a matter of fact, the buzzing in her head intensifying the longer she spoke to this woman. The skull heart really didn't seem to like her.

Linkle shrugged her shoulder where the rifle was hanging, trying to fend off the headache that had started building. "Do you want to hold my stuff? You can carry my crossbows and this gun if you don't trust me. I can do ice magic too, but the bows and the gun both shoot fire so I think it would even out? Please, we really do have to meet this lady."

Without the time to quibble about acting skills or babble apologies, Rika and Sakura did their best they could to play their part in the Seaplane Tender’s scheme. They were by no means perfect, or even particularly talented in the art of deception, but the girls had an ace up their sleeve. Over the span of a few moments, what began as obvious and totally unconvincing fraudulence quickly turned to real sadness and anguish, spurred on by the physical and psychological pain of the journey thus far. Everyone bottled up their suffering for the sake of getting through this, but now they could get through this by letting loose. As such, the sobs that wracked their bodies were genuine, and even cathartic. A good cry could do a world of good.

It wasn’t long before the commotion reached the point where Larry, intent on cleaning and gutting his fish, couldn’t ignore it any longer. Grumbling, he wedged his knife in the bloody surface of his wooden cutting board and waddled over. “Shut up, shut up! What is it with you? I’m only gonna make you food!” he chuckled, positioning his enormous frame in front of the cookfire. Barely batting an eye, he slapped Sakura and Rika with the back of his hand, one after another. When he got to Bella, however, he did a double take at the way her head limply lolled around. It was then that the little girls’ words really sank in with him, and Larry Chiang cracked a broad smile that showed off his missing teeth. “Ooh, hehe. Clocked out a little early, eh? Well, I’m not gonna waste fresh meat!” A wiser man might have checked her pulse, but this brute cared only for his butchery. After poking her a couple times in her slightly protruding belly and receiving no reaction, Larry nodded, reached up, and unhooked her. With a leering expression he held her by her bonds, swinging her back and forth as he plodded back to his table, and carelessly he laid her out among the piles of fish gunk. The impact must have hurt, but still the little Abyssal maintained her composure, giving no outward signs of life. She even stayed still as Larry sharpened his knife’s edge on a honing rod, filling the upper floor with the disagreeable sound of sliding steel. Such was Larry’s fixation that he took no note whatsoever of Mirage, Geralt, and Link, all having hidden themselves close by and readied themselves for a surprise attack.

Just a few moments later, the first potential chance came. From downstairs issued the terrible ruckus of metal tureens crashing against the floor, mingled with the blurted scream of the stretch-faced chef and followed by Antoine’s vitriolic outburst. Standing over Bella and poised to start carving, Larry glanced with a sadistic curiosity toward the railing, but only for a moment. Chances were it was just another kitchen disaster on the part of that blowhard Antoine and the walking sacks of suet he tolerated as underlings. Making fun of them could wait; for now, Larry had something much more enjoyable to attend to. With a grin he aligned his cleaver over Bella’s neck, then drew the instrument back to make the first chop. Now or never. Bella’s eyes flashed open, and for a brief moment the butcher paused, taken by surprise.

Then the door exploded. A sudden, deafening blast of white flour and roiling orange flame blew through the remnants that Bowser, Junior, and Blazermate had battered and pounded against the cupboard that barricaded it. The top-heavy object obligingly fell over to hit the ground with an immensely loud slam, creating for a two-for-one cacophony of chaos. Larry couldn’t help but look, and in that moment of distraction Bella struck. The little Seaplane Tender rolled over as fast as she could, allowing her leviathan tail to lunge at Larry like a killer crocodile at a watering hole. Its jaws clamped shut around Larry’s neck, provoking a strangled cry of alarm and pain, but those uncannily human teeth couldn’t seal the deal.

Larry struggled for his life, hacking the tail again and again with his cleaver while his other hand sought to pry the Abyssal maw from his bloodied throat. Bella’s eyes widened, sure that she’d be able to kill him immediately. In her dismay Larry might have even dislodged her, swatted her tail away, and finished what he started if not for Mirage, Link, Geralt, and Mimi. Since Bella went for the head, the others converged on his ankles. Larry wore simple white rubber boots over his green pants, and though they prevented the little legend inflicting a bite of his own, it was a different story for Geralt’s nail. With a Witcher’s deftness he pierced straight through the rubber and into the crucial tendons. At the same time Link drove Larry’s own stolen knife into the butcher’s other ankle, sawing viciously through. The well-targeted critical damage proved to be more than Larry could bear, and he fell over backwards, gurgling blood. His weight dragged Bella off the table after him, revealing to the boys that the somewhat bigger Abyssal was still very much alive.

As the butcher thrashed and the boys moved to help, Bella gathered her strength for a final effort. Filled with anger at the bloodthirsty lunatic for daring to hurt her, and even worse, daring to hurt Sakura, she issued the command without restraint or remorse. The maw of her tail loosened its vice grip for a brief moment, but only so that it could fire its miniature railgun shot straight into Larry’s blood-soaked chins and through his throat.

Yet the man did not die. A superhuman psychopath capable of surviving even shotgun blasts and chainsaw slashes, he endured the magnetically-propelled payload, but lay powerless to do anything but weakly flail his arms as the boys closed in. The smell of blood was in the air.

Something about that smell awakened something in Mirage, and especially Bella. All of a sudden, Mirage’s early plan of biting into Larry seemed much more appealing, and though he might resist, the rage and hunger of the Water Princess felt compelled to chow down once more. As Link and Geralt went to deliver the finishing blow she allowed her leviathan tail to lash out once more, digging into the meat of Larry’s chest, and as she did the lights in the kitchen flickered dangerously.



Though she wore a gentle expression, the unknown woman took in every detail about the two blondes in front of her, including every facet of how Linkle acted and reacted. She could discern the conflict and even the shame that festered within the young archer, and treated the Skullgirl’s retelling of past events with utmost seriousness, no matter how audacious her claims. Bending no truths and omitting no details, Linkle dispensed the dark secrets of her current state, giving the stranger everything she needed to know in more ways than one. Albedo found himself ever-so-slightly envious of his new friend’s genuine, forthcoming manner. If he were in a similar situation, he imagined that he wouldn’t be able to prevent himself steering the narrative in a way that this potential Witch of the Woods might want to hear. He’d done it already in fact, feeding her no real falsehoods but totally hiding his and Linkle’s true intentions in coming here. Marvelled as ever, the alchemist kept quiet while the Skullgirl laid everything bare.

At the end of Linkle’s account, the woman gave her a warm, sympathetic smile. It was an almost motherly expression, the caring look a woman might give her son after he trudged in from playtime outside, having scraped his knee on the road or tripped over a root. Just that one expression held a certain kind of power, not the strength that helped one to push others down, but the gentle and loving sort that allowed one to pick them up. “I’m glad you were honest, hiding none of the things you might have thought would scare me off,” she told Linkle. “I have no need for your crossbow, nor your…’gun’. Your sincerity is enough for me.” For a moment she looked at Albedo, her expression more curious than warm. “Isn’t it a wonderful thing?”

The rhetorical question put Albedo on guard, making him wonder if this woman knew he was keeping information from her, but she turned away a moment later to focus on Linkle. She approached slowly, one step at a time. “After hearing your story, and seeing its truth in your eyes, I don’t believe I have anything to fear from you. All manner of mud may cling to us as we travel, but the person beneath is the same. And beneath the stain of death I see a wonderful little soul, more brilliant than even the wildflowers.” When she reached Linkle she drew the rabbit-eared girl into a heartfelt embrace. Her warmth chased away Linkle’s cold, and her compassion filled the Skullgirl’s emptiness. A moment passed of beautiful serenity; how long it lasted, neither they nor Albedo could really say. When it came to a close, the woman backed away, her hands on Linkle’s shoulders. “As for this Witch of the Woods, I know just where she may be found. If you want to see her, let’s take a leisurely stroll to her house together. What do you say?”

To that, the alchemist figured, there could be only one answer.

A few moments later, the three were on their way, headed away from the autumn-red lake toward the deeper part of the glade’s forest. The creatures of the forest seemed to come alive at the woman’s passing, appearing at the edge of the wildflower path to watch her as she led her guests along. She did not regard this as anything unusual, but engaged Albedo and Linkle (mostly Linkle) in conversation. “I’d love to hear more about you from before your troubles in the place you called the Dead Zone,” she said. “About your world, I mean. What made you into the fine young lady you are today, able to stay so true to yourself even through the machinations of a heart-eating parasite.” Albedo wondered what her intentions were, but he’d be lying if he told himself he didn’t want to hear more about Linkle, too.

---

Mirage was both glad and concerned when Larry plucked Bella from her place above the flames. They had to move, and now. Unfortunately as they got closer to the butcher, Mirage realized his lack of weaponry meant piercing the boots the man wore would be impossible. But, between the chaos around them, another factor added in: Larry seemed to be surprised by something. Looking up, a familiar tail was visible and a clear indication for their attack to start now rather than later, as Bella seemed awake! Was it all a trick on her end? The girls wept to get him to take her down? They were crazy, but it worked so he couldn't argue too much with it.

He winced at the blows Link and Geralt delivered, watching Larry tumble helplessly. Rushing forward as Bella was dragged off the table above, the pathetic sight of Larry now that the tables had turned wasn't going to get much in the way of mercy from him. Stabs, choking, and being shot were all fair game. He'd approach with the others, try to finish things so they could get the others down. Though, a certain piece of brutality he wasn't expecting came up that changed his plans.

Bella's tail digging into Larry spouted blood as the lights flickered, Mirage finding his face covered in splatter. Considering he experienced more than his fair share of close-combat situations, this wasn't anything new. But there was an odd feeling lurking in his mind, and causing a tremble straight from his gut. His hand slowly raised up to wipe a finger across his own face, observing the blood with wide and dilated eyes. His tongue slightly slipped out from between his lips, swiping to the left and catching a hint of Larry's blood into his mouth. It wasn't the same copper taste of blood, it was oddly more enjoyable. Tempting, even. Though Larry, despite his durability, seemed nothing more than human.

His eyes darted between Bella and the blood on his finger. The taste ran through his mind, as the temptation to follow after her rang out in his thoughts. But, the humanity in Mirage, as well as the horror he felt in regards to the knowledge he'd come across already, brought him to panic instead of act on these urges. He shook, as if a newfound addiction was being forced away, but tried to stand strong as the only person who could stop it was himself. And if he felt this way, something had to have changed. The food, perhaps? Regret filled his mind, he should've just trusted the others about not eating.

The only one who had the opportunity to stop Mirage at this point was himself.

Gripping the dart gun, he braced himself as he swung the pistol at his own head with full force, pain rattling through his skull upon contact. "Hell no!" His shouts became less cohesive upon each swing despite being weaker than the initial one, the boy literally beating himself backwards until he was against one of the legs of the table Larry used for his butchering duties. He slid down to a sitting position, feeling dazed from his own strikes, trying to center his thoughts. He wasn't going to go that far: Something like that was beyond human, and a line he'd try and kill himself over before partaking in. He had to organize, focus on something else. Anything else. He couldn't even bring himself to look back towards Larry to see how the others reacted, or explain. Maybe it was selfish, but he didn't feel like he had a choice. He had to pull away before he made a horrible mistake.

Slowly, he shifted away. Pushing himself up, he was stumbling but conscious. He looked up towards Sakura, and Rika. That was it, the distraction he needed to stay away from the ordeal. To keep that new developed urge from going further. It wasn't a good view of Mirage for the girls, considering he made no real attempt to wipe the blood from his face due to the previous shock. But he had a focus now, at least. Away from the human being he was quickly beginning to identify as just 'meat'.

But how the hell was he going to get them down? Scouting revealed no sinks on this floor, and he couldn't get liquid from the lower floor all the way up here. Shaking his aching head, he needed to find something and fast. "Don't worry--" Yeah, with the stuff going on with the fat guy, like that'd do a lot of good? "I-I'll find a way to get that fire put out!"

Keeping faced away from the gruesome display, Mirage darted off towards the explosion's source. Whoever caused it, he figured it had to be one of them, right? The door was the locked one, and apparently it was also barricaded if the site of the explosion was any indication. Any chance to avoid that terrifying hunger was ideal, and considering some of the others had partaken in food... Maybe setting another objective was a good idea, until after Larry was a Spirit. The horrific scene going on behind Mirage as his bloody-faced self ran up to try and make progress on their rescue wasn't pleasant, but he seemed more relieved to be away from the scene than bothered by the mess he currently was. "Oh man! Do you guys have perfect timing." He sighed, unsure who's idea it was for the explosive, but considering Kamek's usual caution he was ruled out pretty fast. Speaking of fast, Mirage decided to throw down a quick explanation of what exactly the hell was going on.

"Everyone's alive, but there's a fire beneath the girls. We'll need to put that out before we can get them down, the chef up here is..." Mirage didn't look back, but his expression did display some discomfort. "Being taken care of. So no worries, there."

To get back on track, he'd have to ask: "You guys see a sink or anything on your end? If we can douse that fire the rescue is done at least, the only water source on this side is downstairs." Hopefully they didn't end up in a dead-end scenario from lack of water, which would be absurdly painful considering they were both on a boat, and just got done dealing with a flooded area prior. "Which currently sounds like a warzone. I'm guessing the others decided to make some noise down there."

When things were less of a panic, perhaps telling Kamek about the assumed side-effects of the food would be a good idea. But knowing Bowser and Junior had chowed down, getting them on the water effort seemed safer than them maybe falling into the interests of the Maw's live meat.

It took a while for the world to come back, mainly because of the ringing in the ears of the troop

”GAH! WHY WAS THAT SO LOUD!” Bowser complained thunderously as he peaked his head over the washbasin they’d used for cover.

”WHAT?” Kamek shouted back with the indignation of an old man he still was at heart.

”I SAID, WHY WAS THAT SO LOUD!” Bowser yelled again, to no avail

Jr wasted no such time, and quickly moved himself out from their hiding spot and headed for the door, wordlessly waving for the others to follow. They arrived just in time to see the butcher being swarmed by two small children, two noticeably bigger children and Mimi. As Jr advanced and picked his way through the burning remains of the door, the man fell to a railgun blast, yet, for some reason, the monstrous man refused to die. His grievous wounds did however cause a certain, mouthwatering scent to start wafting through the air. It ensnared Bella, who began tearing at the man with bloody yet non lethal intent. She was joined in this by Mimi, though the specter lacked the brutal jaws, or any jaws really, to actually chomp at him and instead went vampirically for his leaking crimson vitality.

Mirage however had the will, or perhaps the simple humanity that the other two lacked, to resist. Also a gun to smack himself in the head with. This put him in a perfect position to intercept the Troop as they stormed in, and to prevent the royals from having their carnivorous sensibilities tempted by the Maw’s bloodthirsty curse. He was helped in this by the fact that he and they met in the still smoking ruins of the door, where everything smelled of burnt flour and wood, which smothered the bloody scent a great deal.

”Aw come on you beat us to the rescue!” Was Jr’s selfish first comment as he stopped at the entrance.

”He means: good job on the rescue” Kamek called from behind as he approached, lagging behind even the chef bros. Said bros already had the water Mirage was requesting, though unfortunately it was only a little in the pans they’d armed themselves with and it was used to dose the burning doorway for kitchen safety reasons. Upon having the girls pointed out, (at which point they got a cry of “hey! You came!” from a runny nosed Rika) the Troop wasted no time in doing their part.

”We got this! Kitchen Koopas, about turn!” the King commanded, ordering his troops to reverse direction and return to the washroom to acquire more water. He, jr and the chef bros quickly hurried off back past Kamek as he finally arrived at the door. The old mage took one look at Mirage’s concerned face and had to ask ”Are you alright, Mr Mirage?”

"Huh?" Mirage took a moment to think on Kamek's question, looking past the previously-elder koopa to make sure the others were well on their way. He'd kept up a pretty good positive image so far, but after what he'd just experienced, he wasn't sure if he could keep that going. "Honestly? No, not at all." He admitted, tone somewhat bleak.

”Did something happen or?” the mage took a glance around, doing a quick headcount and not seeing anyone missing other than those who had gone Naddia’s way. He did however see Bella bloodily tearing into the chef and looked a little queasy at the sight of it.

Mirage nodded, understanding the shift of expression without having to turn. "I think I figured out the food's curse. Or, at least, a part of it." Realizing this called him out on eating after he left, his expression shifted to be a bit more wry. "Once Bella started attacking, I got this urge to bite the guy. But not in a... Damaging, sort of way. Like a hungry kinda way."

The mage’s queasy look got a whole lot worse.

Quickly he waved his hands defensively. "I-I didn't do it, though! I swear."

”That... is most disturbing news, and it means- oh no” Kamek replied once he had control over his stomach, before his eyes went wide as he realized who else was affected by said curse.

At that very moment the few moments they had to talk before the rest of the troop came back ended as the six other koopas arrived, holding a large pasta pot among them like they were a gang of pikmin hauling a large and tasty pellet.

”One two one two, water crew coming through!” Bowser shouted/chanted at the discussing pair, forcing them to move aside or be run over by the water-bearers. They teetered into the kitchen, crossing their self made minefield of splinters with only minor injuries and then approached the cook-fire where Rika’s emotional roller-coaster was ending with relife

“Oh thankyouthankyouthankyou” she said rapidly, only for her words to be interrupted by coughing as the water was dumped onto the fire, causing a gush of steam to rise up and smother the pair for a few moments. “Cough Cough, urgh”

”You alright? You look like steamed ham up there” Bowser joked, causing Rika to grimace at the unintended reminded that she had about to have been cooked and then eaten. ”Oh, uh. Hey let's get you down from there… somehow”

Now that the fire was dealt with, getting the girls down wasn't exactly an insurmountable problem, but it was still one that needed handling.

”How about this? We toss this down and make a pyramid to get up” Jr suggested, and in quick order that was what they did, popping down the pasta pot and a few other containers into the doused fireplace. One it was all in place Jr using all that, and a few leg ups from minions and his papa, and a few darts from Mirrage, to clamber up and up in order to try and claw at the bindings keeping them tied up

“I’ve got a half scissor if that’ll help?” Rika suggested to the prince, and indeed it did. With the plane blade he hacked away at the ropes (the boy did not know his knots well enough to simply undo them) and in doing so, freed the ladies at last.

The first floor of Rocket Incorporated lay in near-total disarray, littered with the pulverized, soaked, and gunshot remains of cubicles and office furniture. It made for a pretty meager rest stop, but at this point the tired heroes of Yellow Team couldn’t afford to be picky. Having not just completed but unilaterally survived their divisions’ separate raids, everyone knew the destination that lay ahead of them: the Palace in central Al Mamoon, sitting oh-so-pretty at the end of the grand thoroughfare, and within the city’s ruler, Validar. Even a few moments to rest prior to that momentous meeting did a lot of good for those run ragged by an arduous battle or extended sprint across the city.

Though united until today by the common cause of the Resistance, however forced that had been, Es and Mao ultimately shared little connection beyond their circumstances. Unlike Baz and Klee, whose personalities shone through even under Nastasia’s hypnosis, Es offered nothing in that regard. She had been the perfect soldier, never questioning, never caring. Any Overlord worth his salt had armies of such minions. Even now, a fugitive with an uncertain fate in store at the palace, she betrayed no will of her own. Yet even though it had been an unnecessary act, she’d gone ahead and reported on the others to Mao. Why, she couldn’t say. Based on her own observational data, Mao probably cared as much as she did. Maybe the people of the Resistance, with whom she’d spent the last month, were all she had. Regardless, Mao went on to explain a few things to Midna, the one soul among the Seekers he’d found himself allied with that he chose to confide in. In doing so he offered the briefest glimpse beneath his thorny outer shell, hinting that the black-hearted, demonic propagator of evil cared a little for his former allies after all. Or maybe Midna just imagined it.

Mao accepted Midna's resolve, nodding along with her accepting an attempt to get everyone out of this. Despite his own goals being narrow, he figured there were probably better uses for the less-evil of the Resistance members than sitting behind bars. More strength for fighting this false god in the sky meant everything in this situation. It'd definitely be in their best interest to add some of the stronger individuals from the Resistance to their own ranks, if at all possible.

"Don't get why she went for a widespread attack to begin with," Mao spoke in regards to Midna's doubts about having any reputation left with the Grimleal. "I'm sure they won't be happy knowing she tried to wipe us all out either, or at least the ones they hired as mercenaries." Unless they wanted to kill two birds with one stone, though Mao wasn't entirely sure about that. He had a bit of a bias for doubt and dislike in this situation, and his judgement was quite easily affected by that sort of thing. It was good to keep in mind that she'd risked killing them first, regardless.

”She’s a dozen candles short of a chandelier,” The princess shuddered, remembering the look of madness in the harpy’s eyes ”I’m not sure if it ever crossed her mind not to indiscriminate slaughter inorder to get the results she wants.”

In short order the gathered Phantom Thieves caught one another up, with Braum joining them as the odd man out. Though only with the group since yesterday, the big man had grown fond of the youngsters, and could not apologize enough for turning against them under Nastasia’s control. Naturally the Thieves insisted it wasn’t his fault, and Braum, too selfless to carry on with self-pity, accepted their forgiveness. He even swept up Panther and Skull in a giant hug, one under each arm, to let them know how happy he was that they escaped their own ordeal unscathed. “Next time, I’ll protect you all!” he pledged.

Tora, meanwhile, found himself approached by Sectonia midway through a post-fight diagnostic of Poppi’s systems. Under no circumstances could sand be allowed to accumulate in her joints, but for now he couldn’t afford to perform a full clean-up, so he consented to relaying his own raid’s events both to her and any curious listeners from Mao’s side. “Hihi, Sectonia,” he greeted her. Perhaps due to his ongoing dislike of her overbearing manner, he neglected to use for her a repetitious nickname in the way he did for his closer companions. “Tora and friends go down into underground temple, meh. Got ambushed by hideypons and split up. Not know what happen with everyone else, but Tora and Poppi fight at side of crusty mummypon against jerkface and witch who spawn all sorts of nasty-wasty creepy crawlies.” He shuddered involuntarily. “Meh-meh-meh! Yuckies. Well, after that everyone meet, get past puzzle, and go down into dungeon for big fight. Really tough fight against strong beardypon Tora’s size and jerkface from before. Poppi had go all-out, and they not survive.” At that point he couldn’t help but look a little remorseful, but mostly about Beast. It was very hard to bring himself to pine for Dante. The Nopon held up his new hammer, thinking it might impress Sectonia. “Tora got new smashy stick though, and Poppi get new Mech Arms, so that cool.”

”Ah. We dealt with quite a few troubles of our own. Most notably their leader with the ability to mind control those even under Galeem’s light and that one.”” Sectonia said, pointing a thumb at Shadow. ”Not all of our targets survived either, but that is how battle goes. At least I got a couple new minions out of it.” She looked at Tora’s new hammer, which made her think about the spirits they had yet to deal with, before saying. ”Good weapon. Just remember I can make you get better items if you can hold onto your spirits. I’m sure you had a reason to crush them in the moment, but don’t forget about my little magic trinket here.” Sectonia said, making her Symbol of Avarice appear for a second before making it disappear.

Idle chit-chat couldn’t last forever, of course, and with duty calling both Ciella and Jesse were ready to start the trip. Everyone knew that Validar and his Grimleal waited at the end of the line, and it was hard not to feel at least a little trepidatious. It was a little like getting called into the principal’s office, or brought down to a police station, or summoned to court. Someone with power and authority awaited Seekers and Resistance alike, with over twenty lives hanging in the balance. Nastasia’s victims, remembering, stood ready to defend themselves in the face of devastating accusation. Tora certainly hoped it wouldn’t come to a physical confrontation; in a way, dialog and debate could be tougher than fighting. Still, there wasn’t any getting out of it. This mess needed to be put to right. The Nopon hopped to his feet, and everyone got underway.

Jesse assumed control of the conversation. Her first point was an important one, especially since Shadow had already woken up, kept in check only by his injuries and the iron grip of Braum, to whom he’d been transferred. “Execute me?!” he spat. “Don’t make me laugh. You only beat me in the first place because I wasn’t really trying. And you won’t like it if I do…” He huffed at the mention of Sonic, taking issue at the idea that he’d flee. “Quit comparing me to Sonic! All he ever does is run. Cowards run. I win.” Turning up his nose, he added, “Just bring me to whoever’s in charge and I’ll set things straight.”

“...Right.” Jesse replied. “Well, that’s good to hear. The last thing I want to see, Shadow, is you trying harder than you already are.”

Other than Shadow himself, only the Phantom Thieves, out of everyone here, could really follow everything the FBC director was saying about him and his game series. When she opened up about the bigger picture, however, even going as far as to mention that they were dealing with a bunch of game characters, the teens clumped together for a brief, hushed exchange.

“Hold up, she’s from the real world too?” Skull whispered, eyebrows raised.

“I mean, it sort of makes sense, given how normal she looks. She’s probably American,” Panther remarked.

Fox narrowed his eyes. “How do you explain her powers, though? She’s not a Persona user. And...if she’s American, how do we understand one another?”

“We’ve already encountered a number of ways to gain new powers in this world,” Joker explained. “Or there could be some other force at work. Just don’t worry about the language thing. Either way, we can back her up on this. What do you say?”

Mona, perched on Skull’s broad shoulder, nodded his big head as he whispered, “Yeah, let’s go for it. Just don’t tell the rest they’re not real!”

When Jesse paused to gather her thoughts, Joker spoke up. “It might sound crazy, but she speaks the truth,” he corroborated. “We’re from the same ‘world’, albeit different countries.” Glancing at Jesse, he told her. “Our phones don’t have a signal in this one, so there might not be the internet, but yeah. If we can access it, that’ll be huge.”

“That stuff about Wikipedia not being a valid source is bee ess, by the way…” Skull muttered.

“Isn’t it?” Jesse said to Skull. “When I was in school, I just got around it by using the resources that the people who edit wikipedia did.” Jesse doubted that she and the phantom thieves were from the same world. People like them would have been on the FBC’s radar, no matter how sneaky.

The boy’s eyebrows shot up. “That’s genius!” he exclaimed.

Tora scratched his head with his wing. “Does Poppi understand what friends are saying?”

His companion shook her head. “Not...really.”

Jesse went on to propose a new campaign: one of information warfare. She had a lot of ideas for how to pierce the fog of war, and a few hints about other pressing affairs elsewhere, but for now her suggestions just supported one underlying fact: that the World of Light was an overwhelming amalgamation, so chock-full of stuff that it kept just about everyone in a perpetual state of flying by the seat of her pants. Trying to make sense of and catalog it would be a mammoth undertaking, and one nobody was prepared for just yet. That left them back where they started: getting ready to meet with Validar.

The idea of building an information resource was appealing to Mao, perhaps not for the same reasons as Jesse, however. The idea of having access to so many test subjects from realms he'd never seen before was just so appealing! Turning into a spirit upon death was an unfortunate side effect in this regard, as dissecting pieces would be a bit more stressful if they could just disappear. He didn't have the proper equipment to keep subjects alive, either. So his studies would be... Majorly hampered. But, sometimes sacrifices had to be made in the scientific field. "It'd be an intriguing pursuit, to document the physiology of the creatures of this world." Mao mused, glasses fogging up from notably heavier breathing. Though mostly humanoid subjects were boring, there were notable exceptions, even in this very room.

Taking off his glasses momentarily, he used his coat to hastily clean them. "--Though, we have a more current situation to handle." He added, returning his glasses to their rightful place. "Anyone happen to pick up any of those spirits before we escaped? Might be a good idea to use them now, we might not get the chance later."

”I did, but aren't you concerned by… you know what, sure, it can wait till this ‘debrief’ I suppose. But I'm going to have a lot of questions,” Midna said. Most of Jesse’s words had gone over head, primarily because half of it was terminology she had no frame of reference for as a result of being from a medieval fantasy realm. But the idea that people here were ‘fiction; hadn’t. But it looked like that would be put on the backburner till after they reported back to the local boss.

”Here” she brought out her shadowhand and used its palm as a portable table, before waving a hand over it and bringing the spirits of the fallen she had collected back from the Twilight Realm. A small pile of Vandals, along with the spirit of Orendi and the 2 in 1 of Shayne & Aurox.

“Oh!” Necronomicon interjected. “I zooped these up during that annoying elevator ride. Here!” From her insides the flying saucers withdrew three Craw spirits, a big-bodied Clubba spirit, two X-Nauts, and three Wizzerds. “There were more, but this was all I got,” she explained. “The yellow ones could use magic, so I prioritized them. They’re all kind of dinky though.”

Fox took note of the available offerings. “If we find ourselves with a spare of those four-armed infantryman, I could use a more potent assault rifle,” he requested. Remembering the last time the crew divvied up spirits, his kitsune-masked gaze turned to Sectonia. “You still have that rather ghastly headpiece that refines our treasures, yes? It would be wise to make the most of it.”

”Of course, even if it is ugly, it is too useful to get rid of.” Sectonia said, conjuring the symbol of avarice again. ”But I would recommend we wait until everyone is relatively healthy before using it, due to the damage it deals to the wearer.” Sectonia did have an idea of what the thieves were talking about, sort of. From the sound of things they came from a world that could see into other worlds, but couldn’t interact with any of them until Galeem melded all worlds. Not unlike what she was doing at her palace. They didn’t know everything though, seeing as they didn’t know who Sectonia was, nor Midna.

"Eh, don't worry about human mumblings." Mao brushed off Midna's concern, given the typical earth-dwellers from his own world barely understood anything to begin with, calling even demons like himself 'fictional' was nothing new. He crouched down, looking over the loot with a look of intrigue. His gaze fell on Shayne & Aurox as he considered his options, remembering the pincer attack they'd attempted back underground. He thought about the possibilities between what was laid out before them, before slowly sliding Nastasia's spirit out from under his coat.

Mao was stingy, but hell. Looking at Number Two's spirit was enough to make him pretty sick, so he wouldn't mind just getting rid of her. "I'll put this down, and take this?" Mao didn't seem to have shame in using these spirits, instead looking at them like prize-filled trading cards. In this case, Nastasia for Shayne & Aurox.

Making that exchange, he went to look at what his mind labeled as "Lesser Spirits", consisting of mooks from the ambushes in the elevator. Specifically remembering not killing anyone in that encounter, he eyed the general group and silently wondered who did. Figuring in the end it didn't matter, he grabbed a few that looked useful enough: The spirit of a Craw, and one of the Wizzerds pointed out by Necronomicon. "The cat healed me right before the fight ended," Mao commented to Sectionia, figuring he could take whatever pain the horror-themed hat dealt. "I'm sure I can use it long enough to get what's needed." If it did cause quite a lot of pain, though, that meant it could definitely have some alternate uses aside from looting. He'd keep it in mind as a tool for when someone was a little too reluctant to give information.

”And your sweet fixed me right up. Or enough to bear whatever this hat can throw at me” Midna added for her part, before suggesting ”It’d be interesting to see just how adaptable it is, so unless there’s any objections, I suggest we divy the duplicate spirits up as much as possible”

If there weren't she’d take one of the Vandals herself and toss one to Fox who had also requested one and there were, in her opinion, plenty to spare. Plus it would be interesting to see if his desire turned out exactly as intended. She also took an X-Naut before pointing to the spirit of Orendi asking ”what, exactly, did this one do?”

Jesse nodded her chin towards Orendi’s spirit. “Magic user. Like, a witch or something. Lots of purple laser beams and bolts. She tried to slow me down with magical barbs on the ground. Stuff like that. Seemed to be on the slower end though, in that most of my attacks were faster than hers. At least, that’s how I beat her.”

”Hmmm. Something else to test then” Minda said, as she picked up the spirit and examined the hatted four armed person within ”see if I can steal all the book learning needed to pick up new magic and skip right to the useful part”

“She was also super crazy.” Jesse added.

”If I can overrule a traitor’s mind I can do the same for a mad one too” Midna said with simple arrogance as she lifted the spirit up and pressed it to her head



"Fascinating!" He hadn't thought much on it prior, but seeing Midna's use of Orendi's spirit was a bit of an inspiration. Not only could he enslave these spirits as his own minions, but absorb them for their potential as well! This was somewhat similar to an empowering process from his own world, though all he could obtain from those were raw power increases.

Looking down at Shayne & Aurox's spirit, he felt a little disgruntled about the idea of inviting a human into his being. But, it was a sacrifice to reach at what really caught Mao's interest, which was her strange monster companion. Plus, a human that was willing to take advantage and fight dirty couldn't be the most pathetic excuse of their species. "Usually mixing and matching monster parts requires a lot of medical work. It can really be done instantly...?" With how Shadow had proven to be quite strong in his own right, it only seemed correct in Mao's mind to seek more power to be able to match such threats, at whatever it'd cost.

So the experiment commenced, without much hesitation. No better live test subject than yourself, right? He thought so anyways, as he took the spirit and forced it directly into his center mass, intently staring to see the result firsthand to the best of his ability.



Joker gave a tacit nod of approval concerning the new changes. From the outside perspective neither looked negatively affected, with Midna’s aesthetic in particular arguably improved by the overall reversion to an orange and black color scheme. Of course, the raid didn’t give anyone much insight into the personalities on hand, so any issues on that end would make themselves known sooner or later. “That just leaves their boss,” he said.

“Maybe we not do anything with that one,” Poppi thought aloud. “That way friends have proof for big meeting.”

“Ooh, good thinking, Poppi!” Panther told her, holding up a hand for a high five that the artificial blade tentatively returned.

Still concentrating on the leftover spirits to the point where he nearly tripped while walking, Fox remarked, “If there are no further objections, let us proceed to the itemization.”

Skull had no claim on any of the spirits involved, but like Mao he was interested in seeing what came up. “Ya know, now that I think about it, ain’t this pretty much just a gacha?”

“Totally! Futaba would be all over this stuff!” Panther chimed in, which garnered no visible reaction from Necronomicon.



“A protector?” Joker observed as he took off the painful Symbol of Avarice and handed it to Fox. “I was expecting a knife, but this works. Our enemies will just keep hitting harder.” He put it on and glanced at his friend, noting his brand-new weapon. “That looks heavy.”

Fox nodded, already feeling the strain. “It is. I don’t know if I’ll be able to fire it while running. Nevertheless, I shall take it.” He summoned his own default assault rifle from nowhere, tossed it in a passing trash can, and banished his new firearm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, can somebody explain what all this is?" Sora asked loudly, motioning towards the spirits. "Are these dead people?" He seemed honestly upset. Looking through the remaining spirits, the keybearer let a tear drop. He was slightly relieved when he didn't see Kairi's spirit, or any of his other friends, but had trouble holding himself together at the thought that he might have just joined the bad guys.

Yoshitsune came up behind the teenager with a sigh. "Tell us about your world, Sora. We might be able to explain it to you better."

"I come from an island but it was swallowed up by the darkness," Sora began, "but it came back after I beat Ansem. I'd been searching for Riku and Kairi through many worlds."

Yoshitsune turned to look at the others with a silent plea for help.

“Meh, meh, meh! Spikypon need keep it together!” Tora said, waving his wings to try and calm Sora down. From the brief time he’d known this kid so far, he seemed like the straightforward and earnest sort who wore his heart on his sleeve, kind of like Rex. “These not people. They just monsters that attack us.” He waited as one of the spirit holders gave Sora a closer look at the four-eyed, four-armed, gun-wielding Vandal within.

After considering the scant details shared by Sora so far, Poppi added, “If there force of darkness in your world, surely there monsters like this in your world, too?”

"Then they're not all that different from Heartless or Nobodies?" he asked, seeming a bit more hopeful. "But why are y'all crushing them and absorbing them?"

“Muhh...yeah!” Tora assured him, although less than sure himself. Something about the way that Sora said ‘Nobodies’ was familiar, but he couldn’t remember where he heard it before. “In this world, smashing spirits gives handy-dandy items! And stuff in chest or head to get powers! But if do that, looks and brain also change, meh.”

"If not for the two spirits I already absorbed, I'd still have normal feet," Yoshitsune interjected. "These wheels have their advantages but they also have disadvantages." With that, he grabbed the vandal. "Having four arms could be useful, especially after I get my father's swords back from the smithy tomorrow."

Sora nodded, looking at the remaining spirits. "Will these changes stay after we go back home?" he asked, looking around at the others.

"I don't think any of us truly know," the samurai answered, "though I'd prefer not." That being said, he still held the spirit to his chest to absorb it.



Taken a little by surprise by both Yoshitsune’s willingness to take in more enemy spirits and Sora’s question, Poppi admitted, “Yes, friends not know anything for sure. As saying goes, we cross bridge when we come to it.”

“At very least, when we see Peach-Peach again, she can undo changes,” Tora pointed out.

While that went down, the others continued their looting. ”Hm... ” Sectonia said, muttering over the remaining spirits. The Wizzerds and Nastasia gave her the best idea of power. Nastasia could be very useful, although Sectonia didn’t want any part of looking like the secretary. But then, she wouldn’t need to if all she needed was that mind control power…

”You know, as long as we have proof of the defeat of the rebels, that is all we need. We, or rather I, could make good use of someone with her powers, and I’m sure we can all agree that we can make far better use of these spirits than anyone here.” Sectonia said, grabbing the Nastasia spirit. To reassure Poppi and Panther, Sectonia said. ”If I make her a Striker, I can just summon her for a ‘court appearance’..”

Now, being Sectonia’s first Striker, she wasn’t entirely sure how the process worked. It was something about ‘forming a connection’ with the spirit? Now how she was going to do that, she wasn’t sure. However, it wasn’t as difficult as Sectonia thought, as just merely offering Nastasia a place as her minion seemed to be enough, Nastasia seemingly resonating with the count spirit Sectonia had absorbed earlier.



Besides Nastasia, Sectonia wanted to claim one of the Wizzerds as an item, however knowing how her Symbol of Avarice worked, she would rather have one of her minions break the spirit for her to get a better item. The downside being, no one here really used magic primarily like she did. ”As for the rest of the spirits. Do any of you use longswords or magic by chance?”

Mao held out his longsword, making a statement regarding Sectionia's question without even speaking. Soon after he returned it to it’s sheath, wielding his new spear in his newly freed hand. His height difference was a bit strange, though without a mirror he wouldn't be able to tell the full extent of the effects the fusion had on him. Within the same hand as the spear, a white glow became very apparent. Though he had no intent to release a blast, it was a bright enough engulf of his hand to display magical prowess. "Been using both pretty much since I got here. What, you looking for someone to use that hat-thing to get some gear?" The new seedlings of personality planted in Mao's mind made him wonder if he could get away with skimming anything off the top from this new looting possibility. But given his own three spirits produced a singular item each, it might've been too easily noticed to snatch anything. Shame...

”Precisely. I can’t wear it after all.” Sectonia said.

Mao still had enough health that he didn’t feel endangered by partaking in this task, so he nodded along with her response. ”Guess I can throw it back on for a minute. What’re we smashing?” He questioned, eyeing the stockpile.



"These 'magical' spirits?" Mao seemed amused, if not a little scorned by the fact he hadn't gotten what he thought of when his mind went to 'magical'. Flapping the rubbery glove around in one hand, he decided to state as much. "Don't know what kind of 'magic' was being sensed from these things, but all I got out of one was this oversized glove."

Sectonia looked at the glove, and after a few moments said. ”If I had that when I was fighting Shadow, I wouldn’t have to worry about any of you minions getting hurt from our fight.” Sectonia said offhandedly.

Mao slightly slumped forward, the information being just unspecific enough to be annoying. "Very specific." He responded, slight sarcasm in his voice. Until he realized, "Waitaminute-- You can actually tell what it does?"

”Yes, more or less. Would you like to know?” Sectonia said. With a reluctant nod from Mao, Sectonia stated. ”It can be used to start a ‘duel’ with someone which they have to accept, but once that's done, neither side can hurt anyone but their duel target. Plus it seems to enhance magic that enrages or causes things to focus you. Although I don’t know how you’d wear that, it's not made to be worn on your hands even if it looks like it’d go there...”

"Huh. That demon I turned into my servant has a power to enrage foes, I guess this hat really does improve what you'll get." The science behind it? Hell if he knew, maybe the lifeforce drain was a sacrifice to some other entity that blessed them with good treasure. He wasn't going to pass on it, even if wearing it was perhaps an emergency measure.

”Yes. Even though it's hideous, I have to admit it's too useful to throw away. ” Sectonia said.

”I swear it made that just to mock me” Midna interjected, having a distinct urge to flip the avarice hat the bird, which was something she now could not do now! Because the damn spirit she had absorbed had stolen one of her fingers. And made her shorter again! Yes, it was nice to get her old hair color back, but that was the only good thing she’d gotten out of it as far as she could tell at the moment. The last change became obvious as she pulled off the fused shadow to use the absurd hat on the spirits, revealing the eye beneath, which was glazed over with a dormant power she didn’t know how to access. Yet.

”Well you better not do it again” she told the hat, giving it a rap with her three knuckles as if this would convince it to behave, before getting to crushing the spirits she’d taken, (a vandal and an x naut) and adding one of the remaining Craws to the mix.



”Huh, interesting, interesting, ah fuck!” Midna swore as the massive wrought iron spiked club materialised in her hand and promptly dragged her to the ground along with it. After a few more expletives, Midna picked herself up, dusted herself off and removed the hat. Before re-donning her own however she gave the Bandana a once over before asking ”So, miss free magic appraiser, what’s this one do? If anything?”

”Increases your endurance to let you fight longer.” Sectonia said after looking at the bandana.

”Tch, and to think i wasted gold on appraisals” Midna muttered to herself as she donned the bandana and then slipped the fused shadow down on top of it. It was uncomfortably warm, but then again the entire climate was uncomfortably warm, so what was a touch more unpleasantness. It at least caught the sweat on her brow.

The final two items could be figured out with a little poking.

The ammo synthesizer was very intuitive, a few taps of buttons made it pop up with a request to scan a weapon for which to generate ammo, something Midna asked ”Hey, Jesse, do you want to have more rockets for your big explosion gun?”

“Um,” The redhead considered the heavy weapon on her back. “Sure? But would you mind holding onto it for now? With your magic powers? It’s kinda cumbersome. Not really my speed, anyway. I was thinking we could pawn it off for something more useful if we got the chance.”

”I’ll save the ammo box for now then,” no point in getting a ton of rockets if they weren’t going to use the beefy thing. She took the weapon without question and sent it, and the ammo box, on their merry way. ”There’s lots of interesting stuff on sale in this town, so that’s a good call. If I come into any more gold I might tag along when you go. It could be a whole bonding experience”

Jesse shrugged. “All right, thanks. Yeah, we’ll do some team building. That’ll be...fun. Yay, shopping.”

That got a short snort of a laugh from Midna before she got back to investigating her spoils.

Finally there was the little picture of an x-naut which, when applied, gave the princess a perfect facsimile of the creature’s outfit. A bith of thought later would allow Midna to recognise its possibilities as a disguise if anyone needed to go incognito. Her first thoughts where ”Goddesses, it's hotter than a Bullbo’s butt in this thing”

Finished organizing his belongings for the most part, Mao could share Midna's sudden and crude opinion of the costume with his own flashy new scarf. "Turns out the hat doesn't give a damn about the weather, go figure it has another downside." Or this was just an inconvenient roll, perhaps the good RNG of the hat only went so far before it bit you in the ass. His scarf was quite nice though.

”Even with your aid, these spirits didn’t really grant me much of anything useful. Maybe this hat and sword will sell well… The cherries here though are interesting, I will have to save them for later.” Sectonia said, lamenting at the poor items she got from Mao crushing spirits for her. Seems like while the items were ‘useful’ Mao was all over the place in what he could do and use, making him a large grab bag of possibility.

If anything, his fusion at least made the sun a bit more tolerable. Maybe it wasn't the best feeling to have the sun directly beating down on your skin, though he wasn't as pale as he had been prior. His only real annoyance now was trying to figure out where to put his spear while traveling, when he already had a sword and it's sheath taking up space. "Gah," A noise of complaint came from the annoyed and now taller overlord. "About ready to toss this on the ground, it's in the way. Anyone else want it?"

”Here, let me try it. I can at least put it away in the twilight realm till we need it” Midna said, after doing the same to the x-naut disguise and massive oversized mace ”Same goes for anyone else who doesn't want to carry spare gear around… Just don't go around treating me like some pack mule, alright!”

With that laid out, Midna took the proffered blade and initially tried to use it one handed but to no avail ”eeh, going to need both hands for this big boy” which made the shield a very awkward to use at the same time. Still. A quick tap sent that back and gave the princess a chance to try out holding it at the ready in, with rather excellent form considering she’d never used one before.

”yeah, this’ll work for now,” she decided, before unceremoniously tossing it into a twilight portal ”screw carrying it around everywhere though.” She’d bring it out when she needed it.

Sora grabbed the last spirit and closed his eyes, trying to see who or what it was inside. Closing his eyes didn’t help him see what was right in front of him, but when he opened them again, he could take in the details of the birdlike Craw smugly housed within. "How would you like to help save the worlds?" the keybearer asked, smiling. And through sheer luck, it worked.



As the spirit exchange slowly came to a close and the group prepared for their march back to the Cowlipha's palace, Primrose emerged from the Rocket HQ with a certain Overlord in tow. The dancer had quietly excused herself after finding Jesse and the Phantom Thieves' words to be hard to follow, and now she reappeared having collected one of their allies. Laharl was muttering a number of excuses as to why he'd just been waiting topside while the others in "Team Mao" had gone below to battle, but they were falling on deaf ears. Primrose gestured for his silence and Laharl gave it to her, though not without pouting about it.

"Remember when I told you about that safe place across the desert?" she questioned. Laharl squinted his eyes suspiciously, nodding.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I was thinking there might be a new job for you—" Laharl scoffed, turning his nose up at her and cutting her off. "Thanks, but I'm above petty assignments!"

Clearly the little half-demon was in a sour mood. Primrose had thought that even with his strength, the Alcamoth would be a safer area for him. She pursed her lips, thinking, until a plan came to mind.

"I wouldn't call it petty," she said, "It will be important, only for someone that would be able to handle it..." She glanced at Laharl, who had cracked an eye open to regard her. "..."

"Assuming things go well with the Grimleal and the remaining members of the Resistance... well, for those that wish to help our cause outside of Al Mamoon, they'd need someone to lead them to the Alcamoth."

"Lording over minions? Haaahahaha, now that would be worthy of the great Laharl!" The half-demon cracked a toothy smirk, already confident despite not even knowing where he'd be going. "I'll be sure to give you directions there," Primrose added quickly, though Laharl didn't seem to hear her. "Haaahahahaha!"

Poor Robin... Primrose could only assume that the tactician would be returning there considering his history with Fox, and more than likely the one actually leading the way back. Hopefully he could deal with a little egotist along for the ride. But of course, before that the Seekers would have to secure the safety of Robin and the rest of the Resistance. The first step was confronting the Grimleal back at their headquarters.

Thoroughly left in the dust by the general conversation, Tora had been conversing with Poppi at the head of the group for a while now, but even she couldn’t fill in the gaps completely. Having spent most of her time away from him in the marketplace, she also lacked some crucial details about the current situation. Once everyone finished up with the spirits and Primrose deftly got Laharl under control, he put his own little plan to action. In her QT Pi form his beloved companion could lift her creator up and over her head quite easily, holding him like an exercise ball facing backward. Looking down on his friends, acquaintances, and circumstantial allies for perhaps the first time gave him a momentary satisfaction, and though he wouldn’t have minded making the moment last both for his newfound height and momentary break from walking, Tora quickly got to business.

“So, even after checking with Poppi, Tora still little lost,” he told the group at large. “Tora spent while tinkering with big-big steel machine in train station, then take care of nasties underground, then start fighting bad guys, meh. Not even time for afternoon snack. Tora know we going see biggypon named Validar, but can any friends sum up current situation? What is plan?”

“You’ve all done as they asked by helping them with their ‘Resistance’ problem. Now you need to go see about that train, right?” Jesse asked.

"There's also the question of what the Grimleal will do with the Resistance members that were captured. Since they were all under another's control, it seems... cruel to let the worst come to some of them." Primrose chimed in.

"Don't think many of the Resistance members expected to come out in one piece after dealing with the Grimleal." Mao responded, recalling his own time with them. "How much of that is a bias from our brainwashing, and the impression left from what happened underground just now, I'm not sure. They'll need a face to paint as the bad guy at the end of all of this, won't they? This could be a messy situation we're walking into."

"We?" the dancer questioned under her breath, a teasing smile on her lips. She didn't know Mao's stake in all this, and she'd assumed that he would walk away sooner or later, but 'we,' was it? She guessed the Seekers made enough of an impression to count another Overlord among their ranks going forward.

”They’re a bunch of sketchy cultists. Even I’m not certain you’d come out in one piece if they had their way. Probably try and feed you to their weird dragon god or something” Midna added grimly/jovially, before being more productive, ”But we know the number two was controlling people, Braum can even testify to it happening to him. So we have that as the solid basis for a case for letting everyone go” and then asking the other half of the team ”Speaking of number two, did you catch the number one who the little miss mind control was doing this all for? What was the whole scheme they had going on?”

"You and the Bee over there can testify as well?" Mao interjected, tone of annoyance over a hint of irritable sarcasm being either from him trying to save the lie they pieced together, the fact they let it supposedly happen, or just Mao being himself, depending on the perspective of the listener. ”Being individuals already against the rebels, all three claims will probably hold a bit of weight.”

Midna conceded this point with a shrug. Over at the fringe of the group, Ciella’s frown almost imperceptibly deepened. If the statuesque rabbit archer knew something, she wasn’t about to share it.

”I do have Ms. number 2 now as a striker. I’m not sure if she can testify about her boss, but we know that the chancellor's son was in the rebellion, so the number 1 could be him.” Sectonia said, saying her piece.

“We also have Necronomicon’s scans,” Mona piped up. “Being able to tell when we’re under status effects is one of her specialties, right Necro?”

The flying saucer, back to her much smaller and more convenient tire size thanks to Jesse’s tool gun, moved up and down in her best impression of a nod. “That’s right. I don’t have a record or anything, but I can demonstrate if needed.”

“We may need to explain how Strikers work in the first place, and maybe even have Sectonia use hers to prove that the brainwashing is real.” He glanced at the insect queen. “As for ‘why’...I can’t help but feel it’s a little too easy, but if you call her out, can you ask her? Name, boss, goal, that kind of stuff?”

”that is an idea, but who would we use it on?” Sectonia said, feigning worry. She really didn’t care who she used her new striker on, but she was worried it’d make her look like the rebellion #1 and the Grimleal people weren’t the smartest bunch.

Poppi snapped her fingers, remembering something. “In other hideout, little fairy mention something important. But if friends mention that, things go sour for sure...” she trailed off.

“Meeh,” Tora murmured, running through all the new information in his head. “So we meet grimmypon Validar, explain about blocky lady making people’s brains mushy-mushy, and say it all her fault!”

Joker gave a long exhale through his nose, shaking his head. “I doubt it’ll be that simple. The law doesn’t care who’s at fault or what’s really going on when they need someone to blame.”

“No kidding,” Mona agreed. “With our luck, it’ll probably turn out that the Resistance was set up by the crown or something.”

The thought made Tora grimace. “...Meeheheeh. If that case, this not turn out well at all.” His eyes settled on the palace ahead of them, visible over the many buildings of Al Mamoon. “Tora hope gun train worth all this trouble, meh.” The remark led Poppi to heave an artificial sigh of her own.

”I would be impressed if that was the case. It’d show a level of cunning and smarts they have as of yet shown.” Sectonia said.

All the speculation was getting tiring for Mao, figuring this was another fight one way or another. Either they fought to free the other Resistance members, or he'd have to fight for his own freedom, as well as Baz and Klee's, if they tried to give them up to the Grimleal. "I'm not taking the fall for that blockhead's mess." He remarked, glare focused on the palace. "They kept my peons captive after we got beat down, too. So I have to get them back." Speaking of that fight made Mao realize he’d probably be seeing Big Band again at the palace, and they’d assumedly be on the same side now. Thinking about how much the overlord was hurting last time, he’d consider this a good thing.

”If the law doesn't have a clause for mind control, or even just leniency for coerced action, then it's a terrible system of laws… and the cult will definitely have a terrible system of laws.” Midna sighed ”Well I guess we’ll keep our guard up and try and talk it out, maybe convince them to do something like ‘exile’ the resistance if they insist on punishment, and if that doesn't work... maybe we’ll just have to be the real deal.”

“Starting a fight would be a bad idea.” Jesse said, deliberately not looking over at Ciella.

“That’s right.” Joker ran his gloved hand through his hair, giving Midna a pointed look. “We can’t just leap to conclusions or reckless violence. We’re also not in a good position to challenge his authority over the city, even if it's more corrupt than usual. We should just focus on the Resistance members. Once we expose the mass hypnosis there’s a decent chance we’ll be able to get them off easier. At least a few of them must have been upstanding members of society before being hypnotized, too.”

Mao looked away while biting his lip, realizing he was not one of these ‘upstanding’ society members.

“Oh yeah, good point,” Panther remarked. “Plus, that Robin guy said Validar’s, like, his dad. He couldn’t sentence his own son, could he?”

Hands in his pockets, Skull shrugged his shoulders. “He also said his old man wanted to feed him to a dragon or somethin’. He and that Drippy guy sure made him sound pretty damn rotten.”

Joker narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Given her memory, Poppi stepped up to offer an explanation. “Right before big fight, Robin introduce little fairy with lantern nose. He say that big queen Cowlipha the way she is because of curse, which let Validar take power. Even after being freed and learning that Resistance goal was sham, Robin still want revolution in Al Mamoon.”

Mona shook his head, sighing. “Great, another can of worms. Well, if we decide to confront him about any of that, it sure won’t help our case.” He hopped up onto Joker’s shoulder, pausing as he wondered how long it’d been since he last rode in a bag there. He kept his voice down to avoid Ciella listening in as he whispered, “We’re not actually gonna try to ‘liberate’ this whole city, are we? Even if things secretly suck here, it might be waaay over our heads. We just need to save as many Resistance members as we can, grab that train, and roll on to Split Mountain, right?”

Mao adjusted his glasses. "As long as I'm out of here, I don't care how it's done. Especially since there's bigger fish to fry anyways." The biggest fish of all, perhaps, being Galeem. "So if that's through ditching this city for good, I'll take it." He huffed out a sigh, looking towards the ground. "Getting sick of sand, anyway. It's coarse and it gets everywhere.”

”We can always come back, preferably with Alcamoth’s backing?” Midna suggested, catching the general mood and offering up a way to disengage without abandoning the city to its fate.

That sounded good to Poppi. “Then let’s make sure we send detailed report back when meeting finished.”

"That does seem the honorable thing to do," Yoshitsune nodded, thinking things through, "and, if everyone else is ready to leave early, I could easily catch up along the tracks."

"Alcamoth?" Mao questioned, arms crossing his fashionably-bandaged chest. "That some sort of other place you guys are associated with?"

”It’s a city south of the desert, and fancier one too. Most of the heroes who aren't part of the east and westward vanguards are working out of there. Not an army, mind, but still we have quite a lot of people to draw from. Several times over the size of the group we have here, and they aren't slouches either” Midna explained in brief, before explaining that ”we could use them to hold this city, if we could get them across the desert.”

The samurai soon became lost in thought, looking between his party members. He had ideas. He just needed to think logically.

Mao let out a sound expressing interest, but simply nodded with only a few words to spare. [color=979CB2”Interesting, sounds like a safer haven than this place.”[/color] He’d not comment on holding this city, as it wasn’t in his personal list of objectives. Plus, probably not the greatest thing to be associated with when trying to potentially bargain with the city’s rulers, cult or not.

”Will defeating the boss up on the mountain change how this town runs like before?” Sectonia said, throwing that little bit of knowledge out there. After all, once the area was liberated there wasn’t too much reason to be here short of making it a part of her own kingdom, which would be tricky without more minions or self power.

Crossing her arms after letting Tora down, Poppi frowned. “If so, dark wave would have to be much, much bigger than one from last boss.” She looked over the city walls at the enormous, snow-capped eminence, still so far away.

Meanwhile, Sora leaned against the wall, watching, even more confused at what was happening. Grimleal? Validar? Alcamoth? Sora heard some strange names but nothing quite like that. He just had to match the names to what they went to. That couldn't be hard, right?

By now the large group, having parted the eventide flow of citizens on their way home from their workday occupations or out into the city for food or fun, was nearing the palatial seat of Al Mamoon’s ruler. A number of them found themselves retracing steps they’d taken in the morning, when they strode the grand thoroughfare for the first time, witnessed the magnificence of the Cowlipha’s alcazar, and felt the buzz of the city’s vitality. Now that the first traces of the desert sunset gleamed off its metal, however, they saw the place in an entirely new light. It had been quite a day, and Tora wanted nothing more than to find a nice-smelling restaurant to hole up and gobble his troubles away, but there was one chapter left before the Seekers of Light could close the book on Al Mamoon.

When the big mean butcher approached, Sakura wasn't sure what he was going to do. She couldn't defend herself at all as she was slapped by his big hand. "Ah-h!" Sakura yelped, and then gasped in pain. That hurt. But Sakura had bigger things on her mind.

She bit her lower lip, nervous, as Larry picked her up and tossed her around the place. Tension racketed her body. Thoughts of Bella getting chopped to pieces right infront of her filled her mind. Wouldn't she just turn to dust, anyway? What was this hellish place? Sweat covered her entire face and built up in her eyes, and she couldn't wipe any of it away. It was from both her anxiety, and the immense heat boiling beneath her.

So great was her anticipation that, like a properly timed jumpscare in a horror movie, the explosive arrival of her teammates had Sakura shrieking in surprise. When she opened her eyes and saw it was her friends come to save her, she started kicking the air with excitement and fear. Relief, too, that not only had her friends come to save her, but that they actually had a genius plan! A flour bomb?! Sakura would never have thought of that!

Sakura grimaced as Larry was descended upon with great violence, but her sympathy for people like him was rapidly draining to nothing. He'd been very cruel to her, her friends, and many innocent children, for no good reason. Still, it was...very violent. If there were another way, she would have taken it. But without her strength, and her life on the line, desperation overrode her conscious. She just looked away as Bella fired a railgun right into his throat and the men of the group descended upon him with makeshift weaponry. Even still, this was her fault. If she hadn't been so stupid, they could have escaped. Then Sakura could have came back and beat the hell out of Larry fair and square. Given him a friend heart, see if he changed his mind, and then beat him up again if he hadn't. Or just because he deserved a good beatdown. But at this point, people weren't going to always get what they deserved, they were just getting what they got.

"Hey..." Sakura sputtered, watching Mirage do something very strange. [color=f49ac2]"Mirage-san! You're- you're hitting the wrong face! [i]The wrong face!" [/color][/i] She warned, very baffled. Sakura winced one eye shut as he cracked his own skull with his little arm and pistol over and over again. The lights started flickering, and Bella dove into Larry's body wit killing intent. Was it just killing intent? Or something more? It didn't look good. "Bella-san!" Sakura called out weakly.

"Heeey!" She shouted, relief obvious in her voice at Bowser. Jr and his goofy villain dad. Now that she saw them again, she realised how consistently they lifted her spirits just by being themselves. Sakura smiled weakly when a crew of water-bearers arrived, and Sakura joined in with Rika's frantic stream of thankyou thankyou thankyous, only to be cut off at around the same time from the giant cloud of steam.

"Yeah, Mister King Bowser, it isn't good." Sakura said shakily. "Our gooses were almost cooked."

When Bowser Jr came up to free her and Rika, Sakura felt like she was going to die of relief. She just wanted to turn into a grateful puddle and never do anything again in her life. As her hands were released she awkwardly navigated/ tumbled her way down the makeshift pile and landed on the ground. She held her rope-burnt wrists, and she sobbed dryly for a few moments before she did her best to gather her composure.

"Th-thank you. I'm- I'm sorry for the trouble." She pushed herself to her feet and looked with concern over to the developing situation with Larry. She didn't want to get too close, because the big guy could easily capture her again if the attack was let up. But the gruesome gore made Sakura avert her eyes. "Oh, no! Don't eat him, Bella-san!" She pleaded from behind her hands that now covered her face.

The words came out of her mouth before she could really stop them. They were just a reflex. Of all the things this world needed more of, people eating other people was the last on the list. Bella seemed bloodlusted in a very scary way. Sakura just wanted to be out of here...more than that, she wanted to be big again. She would never be happy again unless she had her old body back.