Rika watched in slight horror as Link ate the lollipop in the most inhuman way imaginable, namely by biting the head clean off. She was 99% sure that was not how you were supposed to do that, and more importantly, fairly sure that teeth shouldn't snip through the stick material like that either. What in the world of light did that boy normally eat?

Bizarre eating habits aside, Link had more than just words to try and convince the princess. He had images of pretty landscapes that Rika had never seen to back up his pitch. Sakura, who had come with her, also had something to say, pouring out her endless well of enthusiasm in support of the notion that life was still worth living despite the horror that had been their former existence.

Nothing any of them said helped however.

Maybe they just made things worse.

New Southern launched into a tirade of bitterness in response to their good natured attempt of cheer. Much of the specifics of her grievances went over Rika’s head but the barbs directed at her specifically, that spiteful sympathy hailing down from on high, hit hard enough that the ship-girl had to take a step back. Her jaw worked, but she found no retort to come out with, even as Sakrua had to be held back from just punching the princess.

In the end her friend’s guiding away ended up being more of a drag away, Rika finding it difficult to just walk away from this battle of words. She might not be able to think of a retort now, but it was safe to say that this was going to stick with her till she did, a stubbornness in her mind refusing to be beaten and unable to simply dismiss New Southern’s words like Sakura. Despite her friend's efforts, the poison was already inside her mind.

Sakura’s words or reassurance were a comfort, and Rika returned them in kind, but in the end she needed another, more grumpy, fool to help start to set thing’s straight.

---

”That… makes sense I suppose…” Kamek was a touch embarrassed to have the nature of spirit’s exposited to him by peach, but then he snapped his fingers when he thought he had a counterpoint ”ah, but, you see, I did get magic from that Cia woman when I used it on my head” he flicked a hand and summoned a shadow clone of bowser from a portal ”see? How do you explain that?”

”I mean I guess it just modified the clone spell you already had to be better? It’s not like you can bring back the dead… properly… on your own so there was nothing to latch onto and give you more, ah, knowledge about how to do it better?” Jr suggested, from where he, having finished stretching, was taking a moment to fiddle with his gear, namly filling up his clown car’s splatter shot’s empty ink tank with goop from his magic paintbrush.

”I. Well. Perhaps? But then should this one have not also… well I suppose it was just down to luck of the draw, same as the items,” Kamek sighed, defeated and before complaining more generally ”It would be nice if Galeem didn't have such a human bias however. Where are all the other universes worth of Koopas? That’s what I want to know.”

”Well dad got his first set of cannons from a big turtle zombie, right? So that’s one. Maybe just keep an eye out for more?” Jr suggested as he slapped shut the splatter shot, which was now filled and ready for mess making once more.

”I suppose I must, I suppose I must” Kamek replied with another sigh.

---

Of course, it was one thing to find a creature who mostly fit your desired form, it was quite another to go about acquiring that spirit in a justifiable manner. Case and point the short, cute, scaled and robed Tonberries they found after everyone packed up and headed out would have been a fine counter to Kamek’s humanization. Unfortunately for him, attacking them and taking their spirits was somewhat out of the question, what with them being found among the vast congregation they found stretched out along the path towards the boss.

While they might have been passive now, most of everyone saw it best to leave them well alone for both safety and ethics reasons. Kamek might be a villain, but he was no Sephiroth, that was for sure, and so murdering the non-aggressive creatures wouldn’t have been on the table anyway, even if Galeem’s influence didn’t all but guarantee them getting absolutely mobbed by the others if they did do anything to provoke them. In theory anyway. Perhaps whatever enthrallment led them to bow down would make them obvious to each other's plight, but it wasn't like anyone was in a rush to test that hypothesis.

While Jr and Kamek hovered cautiously over the masses, Rika stuck very, very close to Bowser, as if getting separated even slightly from the troop would result in her bowing down like the other abyssals. It was a blessing that there were none of her specific kind among them. She wasn't sure what she would have done if she’d seen copies of herself among them.

The only one who wasn’t freaked out by all this was Bowser, who took one look at it all, said ”Huh. Weird.” and then promptly got over the strange sight and asked his mage ”Hey. Kamek. So do you know all about these plants now then?”

”uhhhh”

”Can I eat any of them? Because I could do with a snack after my nap.” Bowser clarified.

”I, ah, suppose the red looking ones” Kamek pointed at the bloopy fruits ”are probably edible” he suggested, an assessment mainly based on the fact that the worshipers’ mouths were sometimes smeared with the same cyan juice that several of the group, including Bowser, where trekking along the floor as they trampled the odd fruit on their way through. That and the fact that they looked like fruits, didn’t give off any “don't eat me” warnings as far as he could see and, after being prompted to take a sniff, didn't seem to have mind altering properties or poisonous stench ”hmm, yes. Fairly sure they aren't to blame for these one’s condition. So you could eat them if you feel like you must.”

”Great!” Bowser declared, before picking up the pace a bit to get to the head of the pack so he could get some untrampled ones, causing Rika to shout-whisper “Hey wait up!” and hurry after him.

”Hmm? Oh, sorry” Bowser apologized as he stood back up with a cluster of fruits held in one claw, before offering one to her as she rejoined his side, an offer to which she shook her head. She was pretty sure she’d be sick if she tried to eat anything right now.

”Suit yourself, more for me” He replied to her dismissal, before plopping the fruit into his mouth chewing it a few times and then swallowing and reporting that it was ”Pretty good. You sure you don't want one”

“No no I’m fine” Rika insisted

”You sure? I gotta say, you don't look fine” he asked, to which Rika responded by generally gesturing to everything they were passing by, but Bowser saw past that and pointed out that ”I mean even before that you looked a little upset.”

Rika sighed and, then after a moment, explained about New Southern’s whole deal.

”Huh. Yeah that sounds like some hyperfocusing right there. Real bad way of doing things, focusing on being a bad guy 24/7. I mean I am a bad guy 24/7, but you gotta take breaks and stuff. Even villains gotta go out shopping you know? or go karting. Go karting is great. Remind me to take you some time.” Bowser said, which got him a little nod but mostly confusion from Rika ”Look. That whole, made to be destroyed thing? I get that. Coz when it comes down to it, the good guys always win in the end. But you can't let that get to you, you know. You gotta keep on kicking no matter how many of your castles they blow up, because when you give up, that’s when you actually lose for real. Long as you keep fighting you still got a chance to come out on top. You feel me?”

“I. uh. Maybe? I guess I get not wanting to lose?” Rika replied hesitantly.

”And if you let that mopey crab get to you, that’s losing. So don’t. Live and be happy out of spite if you have to. Spite her and spite that princess you fought too, for having bad working conditions. I’d tell you to go kick her butt for putting you all through that, but hey, you already did!”

“Yeah, I guess did … but all these people are still being controlled by something, even if it’s just making them bow down and eat fruit all day. Shouldn't they be free now?” she asked.

”I mean the fruit ain't bad” Bowser told her, the king having already helped himself to seconds at this point. Him pausing his speech to eat while doing so had kind of put a damper on things. Or maybe it was just all part of an attempt at disarming charm. ”But anyway, pretty sure we know why this is happening. Big boss is that way, so this is all it’s fault and now we’re gonna deal with it”

”And then when we do you’ll be like, Rika: Liberator of the Abyss or something. And won't that be cool?” Jr chipped in.

“Huh. I. yeah that could work.” Rika said, getting a bit onboard with this. The title was a bit pretentious, but they had beaten the leader of the Abyssal fleet, something she had not been expecting to do at all, so maybe there was a future for all of them she hadn't even considered till now “I just hope they won't all be grumpy like New Southern” she added, mostly as an attempt at a joke.

”You might even say she was crabby, yeah! Yeah? Never mind. Look that's like, ⅓ of ya who were all gloomy and stuff… Or ok ⅔ but Bella came round, right? So uh, those are decent odds that they’ll be fine. Probably” Bowser said unconvincingly before looking up and asking his advisor ”Hey Kamek, those are good odds right”

Rather than answer, Kamek pointed out that ”Ah, sire, I think we’re here?”

”We are? Wait no we aren't, that's just a dirt wall you idiot” Bowser retorted, before glancing to and fro and seeing they were at a dead end. ”Hey, what’s the big idea huh?”

”Well this was the way they all are looking, and where the hand pointed. So. uh... I guess we get digging?” Jr suggested, before deploying a large drill from his clown car to do just that

”Maybe don't do that. I’d rather not disturb the, ah,” Kamek vaguely gestured to the enthralled worshipers ”let me do our part. Or. well. Let these ones do it” he said as he summoned a pair of shadow Bowsers, who quickly got to work with zero concern about getting unnecessarily dirty or tired, big clawed hands scratching through the dirt like mole paws.

Soon enough they broke through, out and into the strange otherworldly beach that had no right to be where it was, so far below where they knew sea level was.

”Eh it’s probably portals, or weird geometry or other dumb magic junk. Who cares. Where’s the Boss” Bowser said dismissively as he dumped the shrunken airship, which he had been carrying lashed to his back via tentacles, to one side of the entrance and prepared for a tussle.

As if stirred by their arrival, the Boss showed itself, via being expelled from the carcass of some great eldritch beast. Most of the metaphor/literal occurrence was lost on the Troop, none of whom had been born or even really knew what that meant. So instead it was just kinda gross.

That kinda applied to everything going on here, showing that ignorance really was the best shield against eldritch unearthly horror.

At least until it started trying to murder you.

Case and point, while the rest of the troop fanned out to one side, heading towards the water, and using the sobbing as an opportunity to prepare and position themselves Bowser matched right down the beach towards the thing (which he was somewhat insulted was considered to be on the same tier as him and the ender dragon) to go tap it on the shoulder and ask ”HEY, ARE WE DOING THIS OR WHAT?” if no-one stopped him and suggested an even slightly more intelligent idea of how to go about this.

It was time, Geralt saw, as the other Seekers from Blue Team began gathering. Giving his swords and crossbow one final check, he stood, towering over the others. It was still a bit strange, especially after the thankfully-short lived change he'd experienced aboard the Maw, to tower over others so. He was getting more used to it, but it was still extremely strange. Some of his agility had suffered, though he hoped that as he grew acclimated to the new form, he'd be able to compensate for the differences. He assumed that his skin was thicker, and his new claws made it so that if he was disarmed, he was still a threat.

Shelving that line of thinking for when he had the time to properly get used to being a 10-foot tall unicorn Witcher who could summon a giant cannon platform from the sea, Geralt joined the rest of the Seekers and began the descent into the heart of this godsforsaken place.

Carefully watching Nadia as she prepared to dispatch the first of the slug creatures that they came across, he frowned when she paused, but as he caught up to see what was wrong, did the same for a moment.

The cavern that opened up before them was massive, and absolutely teeming with flora that was, in all honesty, quite beautiful to behold. He allowed himself a moment of appreciation, before a few words spilled from his lips. "Such a beautiful bounty, hidden behind a repulsive antechamber. It seems somebody didn't want to be disturbed." Turning his gaze to the worshippers, Geralt hummed. "Best not disturb them. If they're willing to let us go by, might as well do the same. Might avoid a fight that way, as well. All things considered, I'd rather not deal with all that."

As the group carried on, Geralt kept an eye on the assorted creatures prostrated in reverence. Despite what he'd said, he still half-expected an ambush to spring any moment. Their goal had been confirmed to be at the end of the cave, the same direction these things were all pointed in prayer. It made his hair stand on end, and his blood chill just a bit. Whatever was awaiting them, it was able to do this to all manner of creatures. Either through fear, respect, or outright worship. It reminded him of the village in Skellige that worshipped a Leshen and used it as part of their rite of passage. It would seem that Galeem had chosen wisely for his Guardian.

Oddly enough, though, he noticed Bowser break off from the group for a moment to grab a few of the fruits from the cave and start eating. Blinking a few times before admitting to himself that he could use something to eat, and fast, Geralt joined him in gathering some, his oversized claws making it slightly awkward, but still manageable. Putting a few into his mouth, he bit down and sighed in relief at the taste. "Not terrible..." He grabbed a few more and chowed down, sating himself somewhat.

Passing through, Geralt did not relax, only breaking from his watch by the sight of the terminus of the cave- and the impossible vista that replaced it. Nadia was right, this made no sense. Abhorrent creatures were one thing. Even the strange, controlled storm had some basis in reality as he knew it- but unless they'd passed through some kind of invisible portal that perfectly transported them with no side effects, they'd gone down into a cave only to find themselves at a beach with a sky above them. Impossible, indeed.

The corpses covering the beach triggered an instinct in Geralt. Just by seeing such a concentration of corpses, his body was preparing to fight in anticipation of Necrophages of all sorts. That was enough to break him from the wondering of how this place existed as it did, and his hand went over his shoulder to draw Silver. Whatever form the Guardian took, they had to kill it. There would be no peace in this place.

But the corpse that was still moving gave him pause, blade in hand. As it's stomach revolted and bulged, Geralt watched with caution. After a moment, when the pile of viscera burst from it, Geralt sighed in realization. They were witnessing the birth of a monster.

As the Orphan of Kos stood, Geralt's face steeled and he drew back his sword, looking at the others. Nadia had paused, eyes glistening as she listened to the Guardian weeping. Sakura let out a few words in what he thought might be sympathy for the thing. He didn't disagree with them, and were the circumstances different, Geralt knew in his heart that he would be more sympathetic to its plight. The tears in his eyes, which he himself barely noticed, felt more like the seasonal allergies than tears of sadness. How...odd.

But, the circumstances being what they were, demanded that Geralt make the Sign of Quen as he turned back to the Guardian before them, pausing as he saw Bowser had taken the opportunity to start casually approaching the thing. "Boss?" He called out, carefully approaching. "What are you doing?"

Looking between Bowser and the Guardian, he sighed. "We should at least try and take advantage of the situation. Take up tactical positions. Were you just going to walk up and punch it?" Geralt asked, completely missing Bowser's actual plan.

For Hat Kid, mortal time trials were nothing particularly new; even failing, dying, and retrying them was strangely familiar, in the sense and to the extent that it could reasonably be. In this case, however, she bore the weight of permanent failure and its promised consequence on her mind, knowing not only that she wouldn’t be entirely at fault should they fail, but how many she stood to be at fault for—that she wasn’t solely responsible for herself this time—as the final seconds of the outgoing challenge ticked away to zero. Their miraculous buzzer beater finish, it seemed, was enough to constitute not just a successful challenge completion, but a “new record” for completion time. It must have sucked to be the last guys who tried. After such a close-cut, stressful ordeal, a called for moment of rest was very much in order.

Even with the tendency to occasionally idle, she wasn’t typically one for mid-mission breaks, or more specifically catnaps. Minutes before a major boss fight seemed as good a time and excuse as any to make an exception. Tucking her arms and leaning back against a kelp-lined incline with her hat pulled down over her eyes, she managed to get as comfortable as she could expect to, given her surroundings, just enough to blissfully tune out for a minute or two. Nadia sprawled out on the kelp bed next to her some moments later, having come back looking prettier and more elegant than before. The child put together how when she peeled an eye open to check after being roused from semi-consciousness by the feral contentedly stirring in her sleep. She couldn’t resist her childish urge to pet Fortune on the back of the head and gently scratch behind her ears, or help but softly cat-smile as she purred and curled up in response. For perhaps the first time since they set sail, she, too, felt momentarily content.

In that moment of contentment when she ceased petting Nadia to resume her own rest, she opened her other eye to gaze curiously at a single unclaimed Spirit she noticed where there once lay a pile, the round of claims and calls having mostly concluded by then. She popped up from sitting and strolled over to inspect it, taking it in hand after a cursory inspection for a closer look, wondering what about this Spirit in particular caused her typically eager cohorts to skip over it. Nothing about the figure represented within struck her as inherently unappealing by appearances. Was there any chance they simply forgot about it against those they wanted? Maybe they just had their fill with change left over? Or did they assume by their hat that Hat Kid, specifically, would be interested in it and left it over as a gift, despite previously foregoing Spirits for the most part? Either way, it was hers now; no takesies backsies! The question now was, what to do with it?

Her instinct thus far was to simply itemize Spirits she got a hold of, but those mostly came from enemy mobs. This, as far as she knew, could have been a more notable (thus powerful/useful) figure, and to simply destroy them—or to attempt fashioning a hat or outfit from them—may prove little more than wasteful. Spirits, as far as she could tell, weren’t renewable resources, after all. The prospect of fusion she still found to be similarly unappealing, from a standpoint of practicality and vanity alike, for she wasn’t within her knowledge or means to control, stabilize, or otherwise revert the process or its results—not independently, anyway. She couldn’t quite stomach the possibility of her appearance altering in ways she didn’t approve of without her say so, or changes to her personality regardless. Even less did she care to rely on anyone to fix that for her, provided their cooperation or agreement from an affecting Spirit. Lastly, the Spirit (and its departed owner) were wholly unfamiliar to her, in character and capability. It wouldn’t make sense to blindly, boldly overcommit to that.

That left only one other option…

Recalling the little Spirit seminar the Master of Masters conducted for them (who, come to think of it, was curiously more educated on the matter than any who shared his predicament), she made her first attempt at… “binding” it to herself, which she remembered involved entreating them somehow.

“...”

She whispered to the Spirit of the Black Mage, offering them a chance to make themselves useful by showing what they can do. They would still be more or less themselves, albeit manifest in a limited capacity, she assured. Rather than absorbing or rendering them into a tool, the proposal was, as said, “really the best I can do.” For that, she apologized, not being a fan of compromise herself. Regardless, her offer to the Spirit was made.

---

For all the tension, anxiety and dread the Seekers were meant to feel (and no doubt still did) on their passage through, Hat Kid actually found the last biome leading into the boss lair to be the most aesthetically and atmospherically pleasant, save for its inhabitants. Considering everything that led up to it, and where it led to, that wasn’t saying much. Even without being subjected to direct hostile engagement (though ever-presently threatened with it), they were surrounded the whole way through the caverns with living (and perhaps half-living) reminders that they were still not welcomed there. Still, there was something about the Stygian, but colorful subterranean biome that registered to the child as comfortably familiar, reminding her distinctly of Subcon Forest. Were it only so easy to forget the problems around and ahead of you, and reminisce more fondly on older problems that you no longer have…

After helping (as she best knew how) to clear away the soil blockage with an explosive vial, the path terminated at yet another putrid shore much like the one they arrived at initially, only calmer. Possessing an open sky despite being underground (maybe undersea), as was loudly observed, this non-Euclidean space featured a single celestial body prominent amidst the gloomy, foreboding overcast. Her best guess as to what it could be: the faintest indicator/reminder of the Galeem’s presence and agency in this domain; a lingering beacon for the Guardian over which it presided, tasked for life with its unwitting protection. If anything was made certain with what followed, it was that the Lord of Light was most certainly not watching over it in kind.

All eyes went to the deathly white alien carcass that lay at the center of everything as it started to writhe before spilling out its still warm (but hardly fresh) inner remains. These dead leavings turned out to contain the singular living being native to the area from the beach to the horizon. Those who knew the signs or were at least conceptually familiar with the process could tell: this wasn’t one creature living within another, but having just begun its life. Tragically, the first thing this wretched infant would ever learn in its life was just how alone it was, and how little its life seemed to matter.

Hat Kid placed a hand to her mouth, equal parts emotionally shocked and physically disgusted, fighting back the urge to get sick. She was far too young to know or care either way, but this was no way for one to learn of the miracle of new life, if one could still call it a “miracle” afterwards. It made for just another among many sights seen throughout their voyage across the Bottomless Sea appallingly ill-suited for such young eyes—or any mind capable of comprehending it for that matter. Neither her relative ignorance of the biological fact of birth nor lacking grasp of the existential implications of being birthed from a long-dead mother to a grim, rotten, uncaring world of nothing availed her not to allay the intense, overwhelming horror inspired in her from having been among the handful unfortunate enough to witness this horrid genesis. This, if anything, served as a crash course on the subject matter, one replete with lessons she already wished she could unlearn.



Gazing as if to plead to the obscured, nigh-vacant heavens, the ghoulish newborn did as perhaps anyone would in its circumstance, and had begun morbidly weeping. That, she understood. She could only pity the sorry creature, for it was not evil, but sick; a victim. Like them, it was a slave to the whims of an indifferent god, and it boar the additional misfortune of drawing the ‘Guardian card’. it didn’t deserve to die; it had to. That much would have been true even without its station. To be slain would be the greatest (and only) kindness it could ever know.

Hat Kid’s eyes welled with sympathy that she typically reserved, expressed or even felt for almost none before quickly drying them with mustered resolve. She knew what they had to do, and for this thing, it would come as a favor. Tightening her grip on her Umbrella, she brandished it forth in one hand, and pinched the brim of her Hat with the other, ready to swap them on a second’s notice. She would not, however, be making the first move, as per her standard practice. Instead, she would start by prioritizing defense and evasion, patiently waiting for the Ophan’s first move, then finding an opening…

Blazermate looked over her new look and clothing, she felt so fancy! Although she felt a bit heavier, which she figured out quickly reduced how fast she could fly a bit. What else this gave her... she didn't know right now. But did she get the rezzer? Well... time would tell as well. Still, this knee high kimono did give Blazermate an air of menace if she hovered, which was sort of hilarious all things considered... Was she too heavy to ride Bowser now though? While thinking about these things, she noticed bella and the other abyssals having a bit of an argument over... really stupid things. With the New Southern one being quite... rude about it.

Hearing where the conversation was going and all that, Blazermate floated over and interjected. "So your sad your mass produced for combat? Go be a Medabot for a week then come back to me and make that same argument that its 'bad'. At least you aren't put into fights with your friends, with the winner taking the literal body parts of the loser, one of which could be their very soul." Blazermate thought a bit to herself over what she just said before continuing. "Actually... we're all medabots here. But without any kind of 'master' or 'medafighter' or anything like that. Free to make our own choices, with the underlying medafighting system of parts being a thing for those who end up not wanting to be friendly. Still, if your so worried about being mass produced, at least your not a mass produced toy on top of that." She finished. Blazermate wasn't the best with words overall, but maybe she got her point across?

--------------------------------------------

The group moved forward through a wonderful looking lit cavern with various creatures all worshiping... something. Blazermate wasn't much one for the whole 'worship' thing, being a medabot and all, so she didn't really get what was going on nor why a few of the others were having issues with this place. Of course they didn't stay in this area for too long, as when they found what everything was looking at, the boss of the area, it was... a bit weird all things considered. A... child? Infant? Something was off about this thing, like really off. And it wasn't too pretty either, but considering that to beat this thing someone had to absorb its spirit... well... This wasn't going to be pretty.

While Sakura wasn't going to take much of an initiative, Blazermate began to overheal everyone and scanned the thing. And as she scanned it, the ability of the Sun Princess came to reveal itself, placing a holographic marker on the weak spot that Scan had found for everyone to see, meaning Blazermate no longer had to call it out. "OK thats cool." Blazermate said to herself.

---

---

Their attempts to pull the abyssal out of the hole was in only served to get dirt thrown in their face. She rebuked Link, Rika, and the freshly alive Sakura with a wall of bitterness so bad that it inspired even the stubborn savior Sakura to violence. Link would have let her, too. The things he implied about Rika and Bella were deplorable slander. The gall of this woman to talk about people becoming bitter balls of pure hatred, losing parts of themselves as they died and came back, died came back, again and aging and again, after having only experienced it a single time. Proof stood in front of her, living proof offered her the world in the form of a lollipop, that this was not the case. The only way she couldn't see it is if she was choosing to ignore it. Like the alternative was too painful.

It was only this that moved him to stay the Street Fighters hand. Good for New Southern, because Sakura seemed to understand and put it in simple terms for Rika as she dragged her away. She felt awful, so she was being awful. He stood there are they the pair left, ducking on the lollypop head until they were out of earshot. He felt as though he should say something, but what right did he have. As someone whose existence had always, explicitly, had a point what could he say to someone who until a few minutes ago hadn't been much more than a Silver Bokoblin harrying merchants on the side of the road? What would he say to one of them if they stopped in the middle of the fight, broke down, and asked what the purpose of it all was?

"I think I do see. You and your sisters didn't get to choose your role in this, it was thrust on you. And it's not fair. It's not ever fair." He gazed empathetically up at her atop her crab, his eyes tired and sad. "I'm jealous. You can just start over. Make any choice you like. I just think it would be a waste if, after being freed from your role, you still chose to be just one more dead monster."

With that he gave the Princess a slight bow and started back toward where his companions were resting. In the end her course was hers to set, no matter what any of them said. She was free, and he still had a role to play.

---

Link kept his shield up and blade at the ready as they passed through the haunting horde of monsters that had gathered together to in this beautiful undersea hall. Despite the residents it was perhaps the most beautiful thing he had laid eyes upon today, though it wasn't as though the competition we steep in the department. As they passed the halfway point, though, he felt the tension leaving his body despite himself. It wasn't as though he thought they was safe, despite the fact that Bowser was treating this like an impromptu stroll through an apple orchard. It was just that if this entire hoard turned to face them at once and charged he wasn't sure even they would be able to find a way to prevail. There was just something about knowing that no matter what precautions you took you were still doomed that set the mind paradoxically at ease.

So he eventually put the sword away and took the opportunity to do a little photography. He swept the room with the reticle of the Sheikah Slate, searching out every new variant of fishman and sea squirt and ocean plant to snap a quick picture of. He was especially grateful for the squadron of Abyssal's that bowed in any way their deformed bodies allowed them to. He had been to concerned with the battle at sea to take many pictures of them during it, and felt that now more than ever they should be catalogued. After all, if they felt anything like the Princess he had left back in the parasite farm there may not be too many of them left after the darkness rolled over this group and set them free from Galeem's influence. He kept snapping photos, only lowering his slate finally when the others collectively dug through the barricade blocking the way hand and hat had indicated their objective could be found.

Link didn't notice the impossibility of the Beach they had stepped out on until Ms. Fortune pointed it out. Despite how they should be underwater they could still breath, still gaze up at the sky. Above them loomed...a Moon? An eye? It wasn't Galeem, whatever it was, and before he knew what he was doing he had raised up the slate and taken a picture of that as well. It's light illuminated a vast quantity of corpse, all splattered with a black substance save one, something fleshy and immaculately white that occupied a central position on the Beach.

Then, from within it, crawled what could only be their opponent. It was funny how just seeing something through a lens can help separate you from it. He watched as the creature, the woman, on the Beach bulged. How the thing within pulled some of her out as it climbed between some of the flaps and tentacles that made up her flesh. It wasn't anything like the Enderdragon. The dragon had been an enormous and powerful instrument of pure wrath, scales so black it almost vanished into the darkness of the void in which it soared. This creature was bipedal, skinny, and in place of a terrifying roar it gazed up at that light in the sky and began weeping. It began high like a baby's, and steadily deepened until it was the low quiet sobs of a grown man. Something had happened hear, some nameless tragedy had brought this creature into existence. He could feel true despair in those sobs.

He took one last picture and lowered the slate, only to find himself weeping along with it. He hurriedly wiped his eyes as Sakura spoke up, putting words to the thought that perhaps kept most of them rooted in their place. That this creature was just a baby. Galeem, however, wouldn't have chosen just any baby to be its guardian. If they hesitated because of that it could get them killed. He was prepared to allow that.

Bowser started forward first, but Geralt quickly caught up to him and held him back. They needed some kind of plan Link advanced to join them. "Let me start it." He said, stepping past them to take point, raising his sword and shield, so that the first thing the Guardian would see was him. "I can block or dodge most anything. Let if come to me." He felt his body tense up, arm and leg coiled like springs to react to whatever the guardian might do.

Watching fusions happen was always interesting. It didn't seem like either Kamek or Blazermate had suddenly gained the ability to revive the dead unfortunately, but hopefully whatever they had gained was to their benefit. They were starting to look as mishmashed as the Koopa King though, but the Cadet tactfully did not comment on it. As for Nadia, now with just the one spirit fused to her she looked a lot more normal in comparison. The scars' color change made them look like fashion marks (though he hadn't minded them in the first place), and the swirl patterns on her skin really suited her - as did the longer hair.

He didn't tell her that she looked good like that because it wasn't the time or place, not really, but the dopey smile on his face he looked at her probably said as much.

The question about being paid he couldn't bear to answer though, given so far he'd yet to receive any money that wasn't donated by Princess Peach herself. He was happy to hear the answer though, grateful the princess would continue to fund their adventure.

With most of the spirits dealt with the Cadet made good on his offer and squeezed the crab monster spirits in his hands. The items formed against his waiting palms, the first what looked like a regular little carapaceon claw with the meat still inside it. Among the rot, decay, slugs, stench, damp, and general unpleasantness of the Carcass Isle, this little piece of food seemed like a miracle. Was he selfish if just ate it and didn't offer to share? Maybe, but his stomach was telling him not to worry about that right now and so he didn't. It was delicious.

The other item was no edible, but it was familiar and the Cadet couldn't help but grin at the sight of it. He was either really lucky, or he had some kind of secret super power that manifested equipment from his home world. It was comforting to see, the same way that hyrdo mimic Gobul had been, strangely. The Cadet regarded the helm,

He tipped his head back and forth in thought for a few moments before he swapped it for the one he currently wore, trading Health Boost for Defense, and an offensive skill for a defensive one. If they were facing down a guardian it would be tough, and the Felynes were tied to him - so it was fortunate that he could get just a little but tougher to make sure he stuck around to save someone else without having to take a ride on the Palico express himself.

With Hatty dealing with the last humanoid the crew moved on, deeper in, into tunnels that grew even danker and darker than the ones they'd already traveled through. Then, light - luminescent plants and animals in the other pitch black underground cavern. Illuminated by the colorful neon glow were dozens, if not hundreds or more creatures prostrating on the ground, all facing the same direction. Some were familiar enemies, and others the kind Ace Cadet had never seen before, but they all were posed much the same.

"...ominous," the monster hunter muttered, eyeing the creatures suspiciously. None turned or so much as acknowledged the Seekers. He might have thought they were dead, save for the subtle rise and fall of their bodies as they breathed. The Cadet didn't say much more, getting a weird feeling as they continued on and content enough to listen to the weird pep talk Bowser was giving Rika up at the front of the group.

Eventually they all arrived at a dead end, but undeterred they pushed through the earth wall and arrived on yet another corpse strewn beach. By all accounts emerging onto a beach after going down a well into the island's underground shouldn't have been possible, as Nadia pointed out - but so many things over the last couple of days should have been impossible too. "Just chalk it up as another crazy, weird thing we gotta deal with," he said, shrugging one shoulder. It was his own way of trying to ease the tension, though it failed in this case. He was uneasy, as pretty much all of them were, and the tension only grew when one of the corpses started to move.

At first, the Cadet assumed that the huge pale beast was just feigning death, and was now getting ready to leap at them. His hand moved to the Nightsky Ripper, but the monster didn't get up. It's abdomen was moving, as if something was inside and pushing it's way out. At this point he was thoroughly confused. Was this not the guardian? Was it hiding in the deathly water just off shore waiting for it's moment, or... was it really this humanoid thing that had just crawled it's way out of the corpse?

He sucked in a breath, only releasing it after several of the others seemed to come to the conclusion that this thing was indeed Galeem's champion. It was weird, right? That Galeem would pick something unborn as a guardian? The thought that the thing (not a baby, the Cadet thought, mentally disagreeing with Sakura's words even if it had technically just been born) was as powerful as a black dragon seemed insane. But they were about to find out if it was true.

Cautiously the men started moving, the ladies staying put for now. A humanoid monster was not what the Cadet had expected, but he'd just have to adapt. He was good at that. Start with a supporting role, swap weapons and move in when he could, rinse and repeat. He drew the greatbow from his back, nocking a special arrow and then aiming up at the sky.

"Let's get this show on the road," he breathed, taking the chance to spread the Haste Rain over his allies while they were all still grouped together. It granted them speed, to get to those tactical positions Geralt mentioned, to give Link an easier time if the Hylian intended to go in now, and to all of them in general when that thing inevitably turned around and attacked. After that he nocked a few more arrows, taking aim at the orphan and waiting for his cue.

With much to do in order to get the lift in a state where it could convey the Seekers to lofty new heights, the team split up into smaller groups to get the various tasks done. At least, most of them did. Raz practically threw himself at the task of getting the great chain unstuck, and after some reluctance Therion followed suit, with Midna not so far off that she couldn’t fly off her mount and launch an emergency rescue if needed. Meanwhile Tora, ever mechanically-minded, took Poppi on a hunt for any sort of control mechanism with which the great claw might be hoisted. With the aid of his magnifying glass Big Band identified smooth-worn tracks in the floor that denoted the movement of a very large, heavy object, and bent to the task of following them to the source with the Scout by his side. Primrose, meanwhile, stood ready to assist whoever might have the dubious honor of being the first to run up against whatever foes called this inhospitable place home. After only a moment she found her vigil joined by the Phantom Thieves, starting with her new friend Panther. “We’ll keep an eye out,” she declared, her own flame just a Persona call or Lamia breath away. “The second anything pokes its head out, it’s toast!”

That did, however, leave a handful of heroes still indisposed. Neither Yoshitsune nor Sora treated the monster-infested catacombs with the seriousness they warranted, and despite their fighting prowess came away with enough wounds that neither felt compelled to lend a hand with the lift situation. Sectonia abstained from assisting as well, perhaps convinced that this room held nothing but busy work with which it wouldn’t do for royalty like her to dirty her hands. Tacit as ever, Fox assumed a directorial role, no doubt watching and waiting to put his effort to the best possible use. Lastly, Laharl busied himself with the spirits he looted from the catacombs, pressing what few he could into his service and itemizing those he could not.



As Raz and Therion quickly found, the thermally conductive metal of the oversized chain they relied upon to ascend through the grand cavern’s enormity held within it an incredible, nigh-unbearable cold. With nothing but those colossal, freezing links for company in the dead air over a deadly fall, their climb was a miserable and taxing one. Worse still, with the ice-crusted shipwreck frozen almost vertically in the cave wall, they could not just wrench open their deadened fingers and drop to its from any height. They would need to swing, jump, float, or otherwise make their own way across empty space over a deadly fall, only for their hearts to skip a beat when the long-abandoned husk gave a terrifying jerk on contact. Luckily, its frigid bonds held, and so long as the brave explorers found a way to counteract the vicious chill that numbed their extremities they could peruse the vessel before they accomplished their duty.

It took only a little digging around to uncover clues about the ship’s past. Though time and the elements had long since reduced any standards, documents, and diaries to rubbish, the plenitude of archaic, deteriorated weapons, from cannons to sabers to flintlocks, suggested a piratical history. Skeletons in tattered remnants of clothing littered the upper and lower decks, their skulls encased or studded with precious metals, wrapped in bands of leather, and carved with arcane sigils as they stared ruefully at the intruders with sockets filled by solid gold or spectral mist. Not all of the crewmen contented themselves with eternal rest, either; if disturbed, the most haunted of the skeletons would rise up in protest, and endeavor to wrap bony arms around the foolish robbers before heedlessly casting themselves overboard. Once they finished plundering, or perhaps instead of starting, the boarders could turn their attention to their goal: the chain. Bound in ice, it would take some serious physical force to break free, but after its release the only problem left to Raz, Therion, and Midna would be the question of how to get down.

Down below, despite the occasional skeleton exploding into bone dust against the ground, everything was coming up Tora. The Scout’s Flare Gun bathed the whole area in plentiful light, which made searching easy. On the far right side of the area he and Poppi went up a little wooden path along the cavern wall to find themselves atop a wooden platform, where a conspicuously large contraption of wooden gears and iron teeth promised results. Tora got wings-on immediately, trying to figure out how it worked, and when he found it jammed he produced his wrench straightaway to dislodge the blockage. “Mmmmmeh!” he grunted, planting both feet against the device as he tugged on the wrench with all his strength. A skeptical Poppi looked on with arms crossed until Tora’s persistence finally kicked the machine into action. With an angry whir it spun forward, fast and strong enough to drag the Nopon straight into the gears if Poppi didn’t snatch him first. “Meh!?” he yelped, watching as the giant pincers soared away into the cavern’s upper reaches, its pincer smashing through the mast of the shipwreck. At the same time a pair of giant counterweights descended, smashing through the ice a few dozen feet to the frozen ship’s right on a collision course for the cavern floor. “Look out!” the Nopon and artificial blade cried together, warning others away from the impact site. A moment later the counterweights smashed into ground, destroying all the scaffolding and such in their path, and with a deafening BOOM sent out a bone-rattling tremor.

When the dust settled, and Tora came to terms with the fact that he hadn’t been killed, he poked his head over the control platform’s railing. “Sorry, sorry, that one on Tora!” he called. “Everybody alright, yes?”

“Everyone accounted for,” Necronomicon reported. “Nobody was in that area.”

Tora let out what might have been the heaviest, most relieved sigh of his life. “Well, at least we know how to control lift, meh. Only problem, weight much heavier than claws. Need attach to something.”

Eyeing the control mechanism, Poppi added, “Also need use this to get claws back down. Poppi try, but even Poppi superstrength might not be enough.” Without delay she began her mode shift to her Alpha form to try her luck.

At about that time, the Scout ziplined back into the dark of the main cave through the tunnel he and Big Band departed through. “Oi, what’s all that racket!?” he groused.

“Nothing, meh! Just minor accident!” Tora shouted from the far side.

“Uh huh.” The dwarf looked unconvinced. “Well, we need some muscle down this way. Got a hell of a cart what needs pushin’.”

“My strength is yours!” Braum declared. Though his breath had frozen on his bristling mustache he seemed totally unbothered by the cold; in fact, his eyes shone as he flexed his bare, rippling muscles.

Skull stepped forward as well. “Me and Fox can lend a hand! We ain’t weight lifters or anythin’, but our Personas are the strongest around!” He held out a hand for his friend to high-five, but the artist was already on his way. Skull shrugged and jogged after him, following the Scout down the tunnel. It was a straight shot past the dwarf’s spent flares until they reached the end of the mineshaft, a cave full of half-mined minerals and loose rubble where Big Band awaited them. By his side rested a giant box sled that sat on wooden runners rather than wheels.

As Skull looked around for a minecart, confused, Braum got to the heart of the matter. He went straight for the enormous object and pushed against it to get an idea of its weight. It barely budged. “Oho, this will be a worthy challenge!”

It took Skull another second to realize that there weren’t actually any minecarts around, and that he was looking at the load that needed shifting. “Wait, for real? We gotta move that thing!?”
The detective looked just as incredulous. “This is all the muscle we got?” He coughed, which sent a ripple of sound through his brass. “I mean, I’m glad to have ya, Mister Braum in particular, but look at the damn thing, will ya? No wheels is gonna make this a pain in the brass.” He removed his hat to run a mechanical hand across his scalp, then replaced it with a shiver when he felt the cold on his skin. “Where’s that telekinetic redhead when you need her.”

Fox stroked his chin despite his lack of whiskers. “I believe that Miss Jesse stayed at that medieval retirement home,” he pronounced.

“Hang on, here’s the problem!” He turned to see Skull pointing down into the sled, having clambered up on top. “It’s full of rocks and dust and stuff! Couldn’t we just, I dunno, get it out?”

The Scout, determined to show Fox how a contemplative pose really looked, tugged at his bushy red beard. “I thought of that. Would be easy too, ‘cause Deep Rock tech pickaxes delete whatever basic stone we mine with ‘em. Trouble is, without stuff in there to bolster the wood, we couldn’t just hit this thing to move it, or it’d break. We’d ‘ave to push the bastard.”

“Which is a whole lotta trouble, ‘cause while we got hittin’ power, we ain’t got pushin’ power outside o’ me an’ Braum here,” Band observed. He looked over to see Fox crouched on the tracks. “Got any ideas, son?”

After a moment of thinking the teenager gave a slow nod. “If I call upon Goemon to freeze these tracks, we’ll have less friction to deal with, will we not?”

“Good thinkin’!” Skull clapped him on the shoulder. “While you’re doin’ that, I’m gonna go grab Mona. Movin’ this thing’ll be a whole lot easier with a whole-ass car on our side!”

Band smiled, his faith renewed. “We might have a shot at this, after all.” The scout nodded in agreement and mantled up onto the giant sled where he could start lightening the load. Skull and Fox busied themselves with their own tasks, while the mighty duo of Band and Braum prepared for some heavy-duty pushing.

Back in the main cavern, however, trouble was afoot. Practically the moment Mona rolled his eyes and ran off after Skull, Necronomicon sent out an alert. “We’ve got monsters incoming!” she announced. “Probably because of the noise. They’re coming…that way!” She pinged a section of wall at the back of the cave, amidst the thickest scaffolding. There, a boarded-over passageway led deeper into the mountain, but only darkness lay beyond the slats. With plenty of heroes on hand, nobody was really worried about whatever lay on the other side–until the Scout’s flares chanced to run it, plunging the depths of the cavern into darkness. And naturally, it was then that hideous screeches issued forth, and the boards exploded outward. From the tunnel emerged an incandescent golem, a brutish colony of extremophile microorganisms as big as Big band himself. It roared and stomped forward, aglow with anger.

At first glance it looked as though that was all, but in the scattered rays that managed to filter down from the cavern’s vaulted ceiling, Poppi’s keep optics cause the briefest of glimpses of something…else. Something that made her pause with her hands on the mechanism, with the enormous weights suspended in the air. Something that darted through the shadows and debris, gaunt and horribly stretched, its purposeful movements a blur, and so very, very fast.

“More adds detected!” Necronomicon warned. “There! No wait, there. I mean there!” She placed ping after ping, unable to keep up with her target. “There’s…two of them! Make that three!”

“We need light!” Joker yelled, summoning Lamia. “Set fire to everything you can!”

In an instant Poppi let go of the mechanism, transforming into QT Pi mode as the weights crashed back down. With her Fire core still installed, she took hold of her Variable Saber and unleashed a swath of flame into the dark. In its glow she beheld a nightmarish face soaring through the air straight toward her, feet away from her own. Then her sword arm clattered to the ground, severed at the elbow by an unseen claw. As she staggered the monster landed on the wall behind her, turned, and sprang at Tora. With clenched teeth the Nopon intercepted the attempted throat rip with his bare left wing, then with all the fury he could muster swung Beast’s hammer at the wretched, half-glimpsed head. His weapon smashed the floor instead, and when he looked up the monster was gone.

By that time Poppi had already seized her Variable Saber with her other hand, as well as embraced the old adage about desperate times. She turned her thrusters to full blast and spun in a flaming whirlwind, warding the creature off with the glow of her dancing blade. Tora thought about setting the platform on fire, but if the mechanism was damaged, there would be no way out. “Poppi, switch to Light core!” he choked out, trying to staunch his bleeding, and at the end of her maneuver his companion obliged. Her brilliant beam, thrust forward, created a beacon of illumination in the rightmost part of the cavern, but their assailant would not be so easily deterred.



One the initial shock wore off, Nadia wiped her tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand, still somewhat dumbfounded by the now-undeniable fact that she cried in the first place. Did this ghoul have some sort of mental power? She didn’t feel the least bit sad, as a quick reexamination of the gruesome scene quickly confirmed. ‘Appalled’, ‘disgusted’, and ‘horrified’ were all much better words for how she felt about the detestable thing that spewed out in a pile of its mother’s entrails, wobbled on shaky knees like a circus clown on stilts, and wept in an ultimately decrepit voice that better suited a death-stricken nonagenarian than a newborn. This monster was a living abomination born of a deceased progenitor–like a stillbirth, but in reverse. A stillmother, maybe? Whatever it was, it was awful, plain and simple, and although she felt a degree of pity for the thing, Nadia couldn’t bring herself to extend it any sympathy. After all there existed no shared feeling or understanding between them, and how could there be? This thing wasn’t human, it was alien, it was…

A baby? she repeated, taken aback. By now, after the group’s misspent time in the Maw, she should have known what to expect from Sakura and her somewhat overdeveloped sense of empathy, but the Street Fighter’s inner conflict still took her by surprise. The poor girl was just too easily affected by pathos. Such naivete was endearing, enviable even, and Nadia didn’t want to see that precious heart of hers numbed by pain or disillusion. Not in the way hers had been, certainly. At the moment however, this was neither an opportunity for denial nor debate. Her mission -everyone’s mission- was clear, and it aligned with the primal urge that stirred in instinctive hatred deep inside Nadia Fortune: this thing needed to be put out of its misery. All that stood before them was a stepping stone between the Seekers of Light and the Lord of Light, whose destruction would undo this untenable confluence of worlds and restore everything to how it should be. Hell, maybe it’d even give this thing a happy ending in whatever world it was from. Nadia didn’t know or particularly care. Maybe if Galeem appointed an actual, literal baby as his guardian, they could spend time on doubt and deliberation. But this was not that time.

Those not paralyzed by sentimentality prepared themselves. Remembering how things went back in the village with everyone too close together, the Koopa Troop spread out over a section of shoreline. Geralt already held his monster-slaying silver sword in hand, and being a pragmatic fellow he did not squander the opportunity to conjure a magic shield for himself. Hatty quelled her misgivings, reined in that fresh stress that had begun to gnaw at her mind, and raised her parasol like a rapier. Blazermate, looking snazzy in her new kimono, got busy topping everyone up. She even marked the monster’s weak spot for everyone, projecting an actual two-dimensional target on their enemy in the form of a bright white dot. It lay on the back of the Orphan’s neck, which struck Nadia as a pretty pedestrian weak spot, but hopeful nonetheless. The sooner the group could deal with this, the more mentally sound everyone would be.

Bowser certainly seemed to think so. Brazen as ever, the Koopa King swaggered down the black-sand beach while his crew set up shop, planning to petition the monster for a fight the way someone might ask for directions. The casual approach earned him a couple curious stares, especially from Bella, who ended up wondering if this was how the heroes really went about things. Geralt even risked a raised voice to ascertain the big lizard’s intentions. Nadia, meanwhile, came to a different realization. “Oh, oh, oh,” she murmured, “He’s gonna get its attention so we can get the drop on it. Gotta get ready.” So far the feral hadn’t figured Bowser to be the strategic type, but in this case she was happy to be proven wrong. Well before he reached his destination, however, Link went to relieve him of pole position. These hero types, man. Crazy as it seemed to Nadia, the Hero of the Wild wanted to be the first to sample whatever their enemy had in store for them. As she circled around toward the opposite side from the Troop, she watched with bated breath, waiting for the tension bubbling up inside her to burst.



The Orphan of Kos craned its head around, and Nadia’s breath caught in her throat. Though a newborn, its skin was wrinkled, both across its forehead and the cheeks pulled back to expose a lipless -no, leshless- jaw, fixed in a permanent rictus grin beneath sunken, glassy eyes. Those pearlescent eyes settled on Link, just as he planned, and the Orphan tilted its head atop a neck that was much too long. As it turned its mouth lolled open, stretching far wider than any mouth had a right to. So emaciated was its body across its bones that the hero could seen its lungs slowly inflate beneath its tight-stretched skin, only a few inches over the gash in its stomach where the remnants of a fleshy umbilical cord still dangled, but the sight still didn’t prepare him for the scream that blasted forth from the thing’s interment being. It was a horrid, primeval howl, an expression of purest, truest rage, and before the Orphan finished screaming it began to move.

It ran the first dozen paces on its three-toed feet, hunched over with intent, before it launched itself forward, leaving the opening barrage from the heroes’ gunners in its dust. The pulsating, reddish mass that it lifted overhead had a bladed edge, it gleamed in the odious pallor of that mushy green moon just before the Orphan brought it down on the spot where Link had been determined to make his stand. Thanks to both his readiness and Ace’s Haste Rain, Link had been able to get out of the way, and it was a good thing, too. The Orphan’s blow rent the earth, scattering a blast of pebbles, sand, and blackened shells in the upheaval, and no sooner did the monster touch down than it started attacking again. It wielded its weapon like a man possessed, swinging from side to side and pounding again and again, involving not just Link but those behind him as well. It was quick enough to make everyone appreciate the resident Monster Hunter’s widespread support, and worse still, just about every single slash hit like a truck, strong enough to cleave an ordinary man in half or mash him into meatloaf with a direct hit. A method to its madness proved itself, however, when it veered around to the side with a horizontal sweep, trying to put its attackers between itself and their long-range allies.

While that melee got underway, Nadia hunkered down, feeling a little vindicated. Now that she knew for sure just how execrable this thing was, she could get down to business: strike fast, strike hard. While the big shots commanded the monster’s attention she could attack from the air, deal a chunk of damage, and escape to safety. That said, the fight was furious, especially once the monster got a couple arrows and bullets in it. Bella had joined the brawl and gotten one of her mega-gauntlets (as well as the hand inside) destroyed the instant she tried to block the Orphan’s slam, but rather than gloat over its achievement the monster just kept swinging. Ignoring its hair-raising shrieks as best she could, Nadia took her tail-axe in hand and began to briefly charge up her water pressure. The power built readily thanks to her new spirit, and after a brief delay she rocketed skyward with a great blast of water. Very much like the Orphan had just moments ago, Nadia hurtled through the briny air in a low arc, charging an airdash until the monster gave her the opening she needed. Then she blasted herself straight at it, spinning as she did, and the next second her mightiest chop landed on the monster like a flying guillotine. "Heads...UP!"

It carved a gash through its mottled bone-white flesh, but her tailblade hung for no more than a split second before it exited in a spray of wine-red blood and stuck into the sand. Her efforts amounted to little more than blip on the monster’s radar, but as she relaxed her tail for quick retrieval Nadia found that the Orphan wanted a piece of her, anyway. She avoided its diagonal slash purely by separating her left arm before it could, allowing the blade of its placenta to pass through her vital fluid harmlessly, then barely bent backward in time to limbo beneath a horizontal slash that missed her chest by centimeters. “Gahh!” The melee fighters came forward to help, but the Orphan wasn’t done. It released its hold on its weapon, revealing it to be attached to its wrist by a dubious cord, and swept the whole thing around in a circle like a giant, fleshy flail. Nadia landed on her rear and scrambled backward as the Orphan carved a furrow in the ground in front of her, then with a face of pure panic twisted around to dash off before the second revolution could rip her apart.

Nadia landed with a roll and turned back, her fear replaced by anger despite the outrageously near miss. She watched the Orphan finish its revolution, then pull a hunk of living meat from its weapon that it plunged into the sand. Though its move probably earned it a couple hits, the bloody geyser that exploded up from the ground the next moment paid any assailants back with interest. It didn’t look like this thing took hits normally, which meant no combos, at least until the team’s efforts broke its posture. Or so Nadia hoped. Hit and run it is. She took a deep breath and charged back in just as the Orphan pulled off an uppercut swing so strong it arced over its head and smashed the ground behind it, hurling one melee fighter away with a grievous injury. Nadia winced. Even with Blazermate around, this was going to suck for everyone.



As Frisk stood in the central hub of the Warrens, peering about at its people, it became steadily more clear that this would be no easy task. Even to broach the subject with someone would be a challenge, for the question on the child’s mind was one that inherently cast doubt upon the character of anyone they posed it to. Besides, it wasn’t as if the people who mistreated Treat could be identified on sight; Frisk could see no antagonistic badges or signage on display, no nasty slogans, no wolfsbane flowers, no peddlers of anti-wolf spray, no hunters prowling the place with silver bullets, and definitely no burning effigies. Nothing at all, in fact, seemed amiss in this picturesque springtime neighborhood. Those who loathed or feared Treat weren’t outrageous caricatures, but ordinary people. There wasn’t anything for Frisk to do but suck it up and, as politely as possible, ask.

First, the kid approached a couple of rabbit-folk that stood apart from the rest, their attention drawn by barked commands. Only one burrow in the whole Warrens featured a couple training dummies alongside the garden patch on its hilltop, and it was there that the furriest of this district’s denizens seemed to be busy training. The quietly confident woman was obviously in charge, her no-nonsense voice put to work with a string of near-constant instructions and corrections for her protege, who in contrast looked like a total nervous wreck. Judging by their features they seemed to be related, and a scant difference in years suggested a brother-sister relationship. When Frisk got close, however, a single notable word cast doubt on that reasonable conclusion.

“Can’t we slow down a little, mom!?” Yarne panted, bent over with his hands on his knees after an extended bout of flailing his limbs against the dummy. “Maybe this is easy for you, but it sure doesn’t come naturally to me!”

Panne crossed her arms. “If you keep taking it easy, you’re not going to improve. You must practice hard, so that when the time comes, you’ll fight hard.”

With a groan Yarne plopped down on a barrel, where he sat as he wiped his brow. “When the time comes, I’ll just run away, like I always do! I can’t afford to go extinct…not when our species depends on me!”

His mother gave a slight sigh and prepared to respond, but as her ears twitched, she fell silent. Even before Yarne’s gaze locked onto Frisk as the child marched up the stepping-stone path to his family’s hilltop, the ever-alert Panne turned around to receive her guest. The attention meant that Frisk didn’t need to worry about tapping the woman on the shoulder, which would have been quite the feat given their height difference, anyway. A spark of recognition hit her, and Panne gave Frisk a nod. “Hello, man-spawn,” she greeted, while her cowardly sun looked on with brows furrowed.

When confronted with the kid’s question, however, it was Yarne that answered first. “Treat?” he repeated, running his nails through his shaggy hair. “That, that uh, sounds familiar. Um…should I?”

Panne shifted her weight from one leg to the other, an even expression on her face. “That would be the young Wolfskin who’s afraid of her own shadow.”

In an instant Yarne’s brows shot up, his eyes wide, and his posture went rigid. “Wait, her!? What about her!? She’s not here, is she!?”

Another sigh escaped Panne as she walked up to put a calming hand on her nervous son’s shoulder. “No, Yarne, she’s not. And take it easy, will you? She hasn’t done anything.”

“But she’s a wolfskin!” Yarne clutched at his ears in near panic, pulling them down on either side of his head. “When she shapeshifts, we’re on the menu!”

Panne shot an apologetic look at Frisk before turning her attention back to Yarne. “You’ve been listenin’ to too many rumors, kid. Have you ever even seen her with a Beaststone?”

“N-no…” Thinking, Yarne relaxed his grip on his ears slightly. “But doesn’t that mean she can’t control her transformation? If she loses control, it’s over for me, I just know it!”

“Calm. Down. If that happens, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We Taguel can handle ourselves in a fight. But until then, give it a rest, would you? You’re makin’ us look bad.”

About that time, Papyrus appeared in bombastic fashion. He blindsided Frisk with a giant hug, chattering on about dogs or something. Although his presence did little to improve Yarne’s mental state, it gave the Taguels an excuse to get back to their business. “Not to be rude or anything, but if you’re done here, mind lettin’ us be?” Panne asked. “Yarne here’s got more drills to run.” Her son seemed ready to protest, but a sharp look made him hang his head, resigned to his fate.

Level: 1
Experience: 9/10
Currently In: The Warrens, Snowdin
Word Count: 540 (+1 Exp)
Panne, Yarne @Lugubrious, Papyrus @Dark Cloud

So the two were mother and son, soldiers even. At first glance, they did seem related, but Frisk didn't know how until they overheard Yarne's desperation for a break. Now, they didn't know much about military-like things, but...geez. Can't you let up on the poor guy a bit? He's your dang son! The child wanted to say something about it, but found themselves trying to find the right words to not make Panne angry.

On the plus side, she didn't shoo them away after they asked them a question, so the polite option worked well! They had tensed up a split second when the two heard them approaching. Did not expect that. And frankly, they got used to being called many version of "Human" a long time ago, didn't bother them at this point. While the mother was unphased at the mention of Treat, the sort of bravery Frisk can't help admire, her son eventually responded in fear.

Apparently the wolf girl was a Wolfskin. Some sort of shapeshifter. And she had to use something called a Beaststone to transform? Apparently not?? The quiet child thought to themselves, a theory brewing in their head. How stable was Treat's two forms? Did she revert to a more animalistic sense of mind when she shapeshifted? If she lost her sense of self whilst transformed, would she remember when she reverted? They'd have to go find Albedo, ask him about it-

Frisk would snap out of their thoughts when a sudden weight pushed their snowcap over their eyes. They moved it out of the way once the weight hopped off to see a familiar white dog. Fluffy, white, and charming if not for the hijinks it pulls. The child's brows rose, atleast the pesky pup persisted in their predicament. Though why was it in a rush?

A familiar, jovial laughter would draw their attention next. Could it be??? Frisk spun around, their eyes widened to face one of their friends, alive and well, and just as happy to see them as they were him. The dog aside, the child returned Papyrus' hug with a chuckle. "I'm glad you're okay."

It was a good sign too! If Papyrus was here, then that sure as heck ment Sans was out there somewhere as well! Man, they must be worried about each other. Frisk made note to keep a look out for the lazybones. They looked back to Panne, who asked if they could let them continue with their drills. They were going to answer when they saw Yarne's reaction. Poor guy.

"Right. Just, please don't overwork him. Even if he is a soldier, he's still your kid, isn't he?" Frisk asked of Panne, trying to look out for the other taguel. "C'mon, Paps!" With the newfound information, they began to make their way back to Albedo and Linkle, making sure they didn't walk too far ahead of the skeletal sentry. Hopefully they weren't gone long.

"Hey. Dunno where you ended up first, but did you manage to find anyone else? Sans? Undyne? Or did you just ended up in New Snowdin?" Frisk asked Papyrus. They were tempted to ask him about Flowey, but thought that the stupid flower wouldn't do them any good unless convinced.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" laughing his jovial laugh Papyrus relinquished the human Frisk from his grasp, it simply wouldn't do to hug them for too long, it was proper hug etiquette of course "I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM BETTER THAN OKAY! I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" the skeletal sentry chuckled, Frisk of all people should know he was nothing if not sure of himself.

After they spoke to the pair of rabbit-folk Frisk beckoned their skeletal companion to follow them to which he happily obliged, on their way to wherever the human was leading him Frisk asked where Papyrus ended up and if he had seen either Sans or Undyne "IN SNOWDIN FOREST OR SOMETHING LIKE IT, WHERE I CHECKED IF SANS WAS AT HIS POST..." suddenly Papyrus slowed his pace, the lines in his skull knitted together giving the skeleton a look of worry upon his skull "OH WHEN I FIND THAT SKELETAL SCALLYWAG!" shaking his head Papyrus huffed.

At nearly every turn, Raz was proven right for his insistence in wearing all his protective gear wherever he went. It wasn't weird, see! Though while his gloves helped protect his hands from scratches, rope burns, and the occasional weird slimy meat, and were stopping his skin from peeling off on the cold metal, they weren't very warm. The higher he got the more he shivered until he was practically shaking the whole chain. It still wasn't any trouble for him to leap off, bounce in mid-air, and land on the ship's mast, though that probably left Therion wobbling down below.

"Juh-juh-jeez, I really wish I could make some fire up here," Raz said, rubbing his arms for warmth. "Or even Lili. Sh-she was always good at that."

As if granting his wish (in spirit) the whole ship jolted downwards. Raz yelled, losing his balance and slipping right off the mast! His reflexes saved him from the fall, though, as he tucked his arms between his legs and grabbed hold of the mast. He swung for a moment as he caught his breath. "Oookay, I'll take having my blood rush through me. That works." The scare gave Raz the time to notice his followers, too. "Oh, here, lemme help you with that!" Once he pulled himself back onto the mast, Raz put two fingers to his temple and brought forth his telekinetic hand, big and glowing a faint orange, placing it roughly halfway between the chain and the mast. "Just use that as a springboard," he shouted to Therion.

After making sure his climbing partner was safe and steady, Raz turned his attention to the frozen chain. "I'll get started on knocking this loose. You can go see if there's anything inside the ship." He crouched low, grabbing the mast with one hand and holding the other near the side of his head. He focused on the ice that had frozen over the chain, and let loose a psychic blast right at it, tearing a chunk of the ice clean off. A pause of a few seconds long to let the psychic energy build back up then another shot, repeated like that a few times over to chip away at the block. Raz hesitated, though, when he noticed skeletons inside the ship beginning to throw themselves overboard, whether disturbed by one of the others or by the ship's sudden shift.

"Ok that's... weird," he said, watching a particularly glowy one plummet down. He turned to whoever was out there with him and said, "I'm going to go check on them, I think. You got the ice, right?"

Why Raz would think it was a good idea to go into the ship full of haunted skeletons was anyone's guess. Whatever justification, Raz sidled down the mast towards the bridge, and clambered inside the ship's hull. Inside the skeletons seemed less agitated, or maybe less alive, so Raz took the opportunity to poke around the ruins, looking for anything useful. Some furs? Ships carried furs in them, right? One of those old-fashioned tinderboxes to light. Anything of interest, really.

In his poking and prodding, Raz found a handful of mysterious skulls scattered about the "bottom" of the hull. He picked one up, turning it over in his hands... only for its headless owner to jerk out of the crevice beside him! "Yaaugh!" Raz shouted, stumbling backwards, tripping over more skulls and riling up more undead pirates.

"H-hang on, wait, I wasn't trying to disturb your rest or anything," Raz said, holding up his hands - one still holding onto a skull - as a sign of peace. "I was barely plundering, honest! I wouldn't dream of taking your hard-earned... uh... whatever it is you guys have in here."

Judging by the ghostly rattling and the fact they kept coming at him, it seemed like the pirates weren't in the mood to talk. Duck under their grasping arms and rushing between their legs, Raz booked it back out of the hull and onto the ship's mast. Once a good distance down (up? away?), he looked back to see the skeletons all trying to get after him, only to fall straight down. "Uhh, sorry! Hope there's an after-afterlife!" As he turned to head back to the others, Raz realized that he was still holding one of their skulls. "Oh. Huh." He glanced downwards. "Naaah, probably a bit too mean to toss you overboard too." He stashed it into his satchel as he made his way along the mast once more. "I'm not sure if it'll mean much but I'll see if I can find a nice, warm beach to put you in."

When he reached Therion and Midna, he said, "Those skeletons weren't very fun. Did you guys get the--"

Raz's question was both left unfinished and answered when the unstuck chain rushed upwards and pulled its pincers with it, cracking the mast they were standing on in two. Raz screamed - who wouldn't? - as he plummeted down to the same floor all those skeletons dusted themselves on.

"Hang on, I got this!" Tumbling in the air, Raz grabbed the back of Therion's scarf. He wasn't sure if he had a way of stopping his fall, but it was better safe than sorry when you're free-falling to a hard icy grave. It didn't seem like he 'got this' though as the two were still falling, closer and closer to their demise. Only for at the last moment, roughly ten feet to the bottom, a bubble formed above Raz with the sound of a popping cork, stopping their fall and turning it into a gentle descent. The whiplash might not've been great for Therion but it was better than splatting.

Luckily too, the bubble gave off enough light to surround them, protecting them from the monsters that preferred their darkness. Once Therion's feet touched the floor Raz yanked his bubble downwards and balanced on it, keeping it manifested and glowing.

"Wait, what's going on down here?" Raz asked out loud, looking around at all the fire and light and action-ready combatants. "Some sorta monster attack?"

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The creature must have sensed Link's presence as he slowly approached. It twisted around to look at him, staring the hero down and tilting his head. In that moment Link had to wonder what, if anything, was going through its mind. What was the second thing, after despair, that it felt? Confusion? Apprehension? Surprise that there existed creatures other than itself? Or could it not see anything with those milky eyes, freshly born yet already so old?

Whatever it felt then, that feeling was swallowed up in the creature third emotion. Whether it mistook these beings that stood before it for the monsters that had slain its mother, or like New Southern was simply lashing out in an effort to assuage its own grief, the sight of the seekers filled the creature with a vitalizing ocean of pure rage. It let it out, howling at the sky and charging at the closest of them.

What speed! It's anger gave it wings, bring it upon Link far faster than its malformed body had any right to move. It jumped clear of the opening volley from their side in a stroke of what Link mistook for luck, raising its inborn weapon above its head as it flew at him. Link prepped his shield to try and block the attack, but before he knew it he found himself side hopping to avoid it. It was an unconscious thing, a pure muscle reaction that confused him for the split second until the creature slammed into the spot he had just been standing and carved a furrow in the Beach from the sheer power of it. Link body had understood how strong that attack would be before his brain did, and it was only thanks to the haste granted by Ace that it had reacted fast enough to avoid it.

He couldn't avoid the next one though. He was still in the air when the creature continued its assault, throwing out its arm in a wild swing toward him. Link braced himself, holding the shield with both hands, but the impact was still withering. The shield exploded into a scattering of blue shards. It dissipated much of the attacks force, but the blow still reverberating up his arms and through Link entire body as he was batted away. He whipped out his sail cloth for a moment, using it to halt his momentum before he was thrown too far, and landed back on the sand. By that time, though, the creature had already moved past him and was laying into the others. He stood for a moment, his arms throbbing. Then, steading himself enough to Grip his sword, he charged back into the fray.

It was terrible, but in a way it was magnificent the way it fought all of them. Not prepared to take a direct hit from a creature that had all the strength of a hinox built into that comparatively tiny frame he circled it like a wolf, waiting for it to turn its attention to someone else before jumping in with a quick couple of hits to draw its attention back to himself and give Geralt or Bowser an opportunity to strike at it. Even like this, though, none of them were safe. The creature could snap it's disgusting weapon in any direction at a moments notice, cleaving into anyone that pushed to hard. It's movements were erratic, but they weren't the wild flailing of a beast. That was made more apparent by how it tried to keep them between it and their ranged support. It's style was unrefined, but it fought like a man and it only had room to grow.

Bella demonstrated first hand what would happened if you gave the creature time to wind up and hit you, it's heavy blow landing and smashing apart the abyssal's entire hand. Seeing this Link charged in, blasting the creatures back with his ship gun before lunging forward and stabbing it under the ribs with all his power. His sword was pushed out by an eruption of blood that coated the front of his body before quickly fading to a trickle. Those geysers were their own problem, keeping his attacks from pushing in, but at least he'd given Bella time to back off. The fact that the creature now turned its attention on him, at a range where he could never hope to dodge it, was immaterial.

Ms. Fortune was the one who saved him, coming screaming out of the sky to land a solid blow of her own and arresting the monsters attention enough for him to retreat to a safe distance. As he did it came for the flexible cat girl, but she had many ways she could dodge attacks than the others and could take lost limbs better than any of them. As Link started forward after catching his breath to try and give Ms. Fortune a chance to do the same the creature employed a new tactic. It dropped its weapon, attached to its wrist by something not unlike one of Ms. Fortunes own tendons, and swung it in a wide circle to both fend them off and attempt to kill the cat girl. It barely missed her as she scrambled away, and as it whirled the blade around for a second pass Link again opened up with his ship cannons. Uncaring if they broke on him that moment he pumped round after round into the creature. His opportunity to pound it with cannon fire was extended as it ripped something off its own weapon and buried it in the dirt, an explosion erupting all around it moments later. Ms. Fortune moved in to take his place in melee range.

The next exchange of blows ended with him screaming and charging back in, his mind quivering as someone he could have protected arced through the air overhead. He couldn't do anything about that now. He would have to leave it to Blazermate and just take their place in keeping the creature from going after the backline fighters.

”What? No, I was just going to… do something way smarter than that. Obviously!” Bowser insisted when Geralt interrupted his attempt to initiate the fight via shoulder tap. The blustering from the king that the Witcher caused gave the heroes/professional monster hunters of the group time enough to put themselves in front of the Koopa King so they could put their expertise to work in handling the grotesque creature.

As Ace gave them some weather based support, Link cautiously edged into the boss’s line of view. The battle began with a howl of rage from the orphan, who charged forwards with monstrous speed as soon as he saw Link and in doing so leaping clear of the volley of fire from the ranged shooters, resulting in the team getting no kind of alpha strike on the boss.

”OH COME ON!” came a frustrated shout from jr, who, along with Rika and Kamek, were loosely spread out on and around the rocks on the far right of the beach. It was a deliberate attempt to try and get more angles of fire on the monster, the Troop to the side while others where more directly behind it, but despite their efforts the Orphan quickly thrust itself into the cover of the melee fighters, preventing much of any shooting from going on, at least from their current position, at least from the volume over accuracy strategy that the troop employed.

While them being in close proximity to the orphan stopped their allies from shooting, it was probably better this way, because if they had all been shooters the unflinching horror would have been on them and tearing them apart in moments. As it was, it first had to tear apart the brawlers, which, to be fair, it seemed to be more than capable of doing.

Its first blow with its horrid bioweapon rent the earth where Link had been standing, and though the hero dodged that first swing he was swiftly grabbed and hurled aside by its free hand with inconceivable strength. That was only the beginning. The monster began swinging its blade like a man possessed at Geralt and Bowser, both of them big obvious targets for its ire.

The King stepped a half step back, Ace’s rain giving the bit more speed that he needed to avoid the first wide sweep. Slow on the uptake and still arrogant as ever however, he used the motion to wind up a punch and then drove the strike forwards, only to get cleaved in the side by the Orphan’s back swing as his blow connected.

The flash of the Malow sticker boosting his punch's power was little consolation as the king’s eyes went wide as an almighty cracking resounded through the cove. As the King was physically hauled to the side by the remainder of the force behind the orphan’s swing there came a collective gasp from his family who could see that one quarter of the king’s shell was a labyrinth of fractures, the Koopa’s royal armor ruptured from that one blow alone, its guns and tendrils utterly crippled. A second segment joined its ruptured state a moment later as the Orphan swung a third time, cleaving the reeling King’s other side this time, and then came in for a third that might have been the end, only for magic to suddenly pulse through the king.

To the side, Kamek’s white mage doppelgangers had raised their wands and pulsed a burst of healing magic into the king. His shell stitched together just in time to be broken again, but this pulse gave the king just enough time to stumble back and for someone else to get the focus of the Orphan. The healing magics also had one more effect, which was that Bowser’s long ago acquired Spore Shroom Charm ate a little of the excess magical energy and pulsed out a burst of fungal spores in response, the resulting foe eating cloud acted a smoke bomb to cover the king’s retreat.

He stumbled back, clutching his side, as Bella came in and learned that the blows of the beast could not even be blocked, her hand being shattered for her efforts. Their only real consolation was that the Orphan wasn’t using its horrific speed to try and dodge, relying instead on its repulsive durability and sprays of blood gushing from its wounds acting like reactive armor and forcing away strikers and preventing them from comboing it or even sinking their hits in deep.

”Urgh, Ok, I take it back, this thing is worthy of being a boss” the king groaned between coughs as Kamek directed his white mages, who he was decking out all of his clones as after seeing just how bad things were going to be, to restore both the King and then any who Blazermate could not reach during the first few moments of the battle.

”All the power of that dragon packed into a small frame. Quite a dastardly foe this one” Kamek agreed, the mage much more calm than she had any right to be.

”Mmm.” Bowser agreed through clenched teeth, before getting a worried look and asking ”Wait, where are the others?” only to get a finger pointing up in reply

The Orphan’s strategy of carefully keeping the melee fighters between it and the shooters was a clever one, that was for sure, but despite being born of the sea it had failed to take in the vertical element in its scheme. So, as it swung its weapon around like a flail and forced the fighter’s to clear space around it, the young prince, his own little horror, and the mass produced mook gave it a lesson about looking up.

Look out below! Jr shouted as he hovered high above, well out of what he hoped was its jump height, alongside a Toadie carried Rika, before the fliers let rip. A quick burst of stinging, slowing goop from Jr’s freshly fueled spattershot hailed down alongside an electro ball from Mimi and a torrent of cannon and poison inflicting rifle fire from Rika. The shots showered down amidst the sweeping swing, and then again as it blasted people clear with the bloody sandy eruption, ensuring that even when it cleared itself some space, it was never truly safe from harm.

Down on the ground, Bowser was back in fighting shape, but at the urging of his advisor tried to play things a bit smarter, taking another moment to unfurl his shell back mounted turrets and raising them towards the moon, drinking in the eerie light of the cove so he could burn it all into the Orphan once he was good and ready.

The decision was made for her, which was something of a relief. At least when he...it? Started attacking them, it became a matter of survival. Which, of course, it already was. But stabbing something, anything, in the back, never sat right with her. Either way this poor little thing had to die. Goosebumps ran up and down her arm.

"No, this is it! Get ready!" She shouted trying to keep her voice the shrieking. Mainly to psyche herself up. She'd just have to get used to fighting in situations she was uncomfortable with, it seemed.

"Don't let it focus one of us down!" Briefly dropping into a runners pose she shot off her ankles down the beach, taking long strides to meet the Orphan of Kos in combat as soon as possible. To put as much distance between it and the support members of the party as possible. Link, Nadia, and Bowser of course were in the fray before her, but a second wave was always good.

Needless to say, the thing was a man possessed with fury. Unlike Link, Sakura couldn't make out anything but aggression and coincidental advantageous positioning. Being a relatively short ranged melee fighter, Sakura hopped away from its circular swinging slash, the weapon swishing under her feet. Instinctively, Sakura opened up her palm and fired a blue one handed fireball in its direction. It burst against its body but the creature didn't even flinch. Still, the hit drew a little blood, so it was something. Sakura was just happy she got that technique again.

"Bella-san." Sakura said involuntarily, spotting her friends gauntlet be shattered. Even Link's shield couldn't hold up to the barrage. Even with her ki being able to withstand mighty attacks, Sakura doubted her bare forearms could withstand more than one slash before she was guard broken.

Speaking of technique, Nadia's powerful slash also didn't make the thing flinch. It was like beating up Zangief on one of his best days- nothing fazed the Orphan. "He's got superarmor!" Sakura shouted. While she'd love to get in and start grabbing its jointings and pulling at limbs, the thing was inexorable.

Still. A well placed grab could unfoot even the hardiest of Street Fighters. (Though unfortunately, said hardiest street fighters also had the best grabs.) Sakura would have to apply her knowledge and techniques. She did have her own air-to-ground throw technique after all. If she could land on the Orphan's shoulders feet first, she could probably interrupt the big guys attack and send him backwards. He was so skinny with a big head, and that large weapon, he was probably top heavy, right?

The boss stuck its weapon into the ground and fired off a huge red blast that Sakura blocked. It sent her sliding backwards. While it had its weapon into the ground, she figured now would be a good time to jump in.

"Here I go!" Propelling herself off the sand, Sakura's limbs pinwheeled elegantly as she came in for her jumping throw. Instead, the weapon erupted from the earth. So much so that it buried into the beach over its shoulder and behind it. With tremendous force it collided into her lower body. There was a sound like shattering glass, and Sakura exploded with electric light.

The air was knocked out of her lungs and she failed to suck it back in with an audible, strained, high pitched gasp. "Gah- haaa~!" Head over heel she was hurled into the sky. Grimacing, she flailed her limps and had enough time to re-oriented herself in the air. Air rushed pashed her ears, hair and clothes. First everything was pushed down, then everything was pushed up. It wasn't the heaviest hit she'd ever taken (that honor went to Karin) but still, ow. It certainly gave her some air time.

Sakura landed feet first on the ground and rolled with the impact, kicking up dead sand behind her. One one knee, she shook her head back and forth and composed herself. "That won't work." She admitted aloud, clearly impressed by the power of the Orphan of Kos.

Getting in wouldn't be that easy. She'd have to find a weakness in its movement patterns if she wanted to try that again. Sakura pushed forward, guard up, and tried to hover outside its effective range. Hesitant to plunge back into the fray immediately she gathered blue energy in between her hands for a second. "Hadoken!" She unleashed a fully charged fireball at the Orphan's back while it was attacking somebody else.

A satisfied Laharl hefted his newly acquired weapon by the haft with one hand tightly gripping it's hand carved wooden handle, the half-demon's knuckles going white with the effort of lifting over his shoulder to rest between the crook of his little neck. It was a good solid weapon, it wasn't very extravagant as it was just a mundane axe however it would simply have to do for the time being.

Soon the satisfaction washed away from his expression and a look of annoyance soon replaced it, frowning at Midna with furrowed brow 'Oh great, she's here.' were one of Laharl's initial thought until the Twilight Princess simply handed him a bunch of spirits including a strong one, all of which he greedily accepted deciding to bind himself with the stronger spirit instead of another weaker undead warrior still though the half-demon decided to save one of the weaker spirits to bind later.

'I'll have many minions soon enough.' Laharl cackled quietly, pleased with the thought of having lackeys at his disposal one's that didn't question such high authority for an Overlord such as himself or rather the soon-to-be ruler of his Netherworld once all this other nonsense was sorted out.



All was quiet other than the sound of Laharl's footfalls as he made his way through the cold dark catacombs following far behind the others, suddenly he lost his footing when the caverns were shook by an explosion. Picking himself up off the icy floor, Laharl frantically sprinted in the direction of where the explosion seemed to echo from, his pointy ears picked up the sound of fighting as he got close to the entrance of the dark cave.

"Crap," he uttered finally reaching the cavernous chamber, he could make out the shapes of enemies and allies in the darkness thanks to his better than average vision "I could leave them to die?" the thought was tempting however there would be no challenge in it for him and Primrose could get hurt, she was a valuable ally at least to him.

"Aw screw it!" Laharl sighed then slung the axe from his shoulder, and jumped into the fray landing by Tora and Poppi summoning the Scourge after rolling to his feet "NOW YOU STUPID ZOMBIE!" almost begrudgingly the mighty warrior unleashed his Voice upon the enemy pushing the oncoming force back, knocking some off balance.

"I see." Was all Geralt said in reply to Bowser, not for a moment believing the extremely half-assed excuse that the Koopa King gave. Not that it really bothered him, stopping the big, dumb, loveable idiot from going through with it in the first place was enough. With Link taking advantage of their quick conversation to put himself, the (relatively) tiny human, in between this thing and the Giant Turtle Monster Thing and the Giant Mutated Superhuman, Geralt had to suppress a chuckle. Typical hero behavior. Still, he'd seen Link take and deal some incredible damage, so it wasn't entirely crazy.

As the thing burst forward in a surge of speed that shocked even Geralt, the Witcher dodged to the side of the immense swing, even if he was a bit out of its range. The sheer speed with which the Guardian moved had prompted an instinctive abundance of caution, and Geralt cursed as he saw in his peripheral vision as Link was smacked away. Moving in to swing at the Orphan, Geralt was forced once more to dodge as it swung its placental weapon in a wide arc, unwilling to risk taking a blow like that head-on.

Transforming his momentum from the dodge into a pivot and slice, Geralt scored a shallow cut with the tip of his blade along the Orphan's side, which let out a small burst of blood, before he was forced to move once more. Each dodge was barely sufficient, with the wind force of the Guardian's blows pushing Geralt's hair out of the way. Without the Cadet's help, he likely would have been forced to take some of those blows with a parry or even block. While he was confident in his strength, especially with the boost from the Harbor Demon, that would be pushing it.

As he danced with the thing, however, his allies were less able to avoid its blows, being more willing to fight aggressively than he was. That resulted in the unfortunate effect of them being systematically and brutally being thrown from the fight with extreme violence. Bowser's shell got cracked, Nadia had to dismember herself to avoid it being done forcefully, and he was worried that Sakura had outright been killed for a split second before remembering that she had some sort of strange life force protecting her.

For a moment, his heart pounded in his chest as he moved to take the Guardian's attention off his allies, and his steps seemed to lighten as he moved. When he stepped in to attack, Geralt waited for the moment after one of the Orphan's more enthusiastic strikes landed before swinging his blade at the Guardian, carving a line through its torso before the placenta was suddenly spun around like a flail and coming directly for him.

Desperation brought his blade between them, catching the swinging weapon on the flat and forcing it to the side with a herculean effort as Geralt stepped past it. Momentum still bled through, though, and the sheer power behind the blow shattered Quen's shield. Ignoring the risk now present in taking another blow, Geralt quickly cast the Sign of Igni, unleashing a haphazard blast of fire at point-blank range into the Orphan.

Not risking the hesitation, Geralt's sword came down on the Orphan in a one-handed swing, rending another line through the Guardian and drawing blood. As the placenta was lifted in an overhead swing, Geralt quickly raised his blade again, both hands behind it, and forced the weapon off to the side again, though the force left a ringing in his bones and made his teeth clatter like mad.

By now, Link was returning to the fray, and Geralt was already feeling the effort of even parrying this thing's blows. Whatever power Galeem granted his Guardians, it was far beyond anything he'd ever seen in a man or an elf.

"Damn thing won't slow down!" He bit out, half-dodging a blow and being sent spinning into the sand for it. Forcing himself back up with fury in his eyes and an ache in his side, Geralt called upon Fizz to join Nadia in dealing quick, light blows to the enemy.

There was no reprieve for the Seekers of Light, and Geralt kept his other Strikers in mind, carefully conserving that resource for when the time was right.

Manual labor was underneath the queen as the rest of her minions went on attempting to repair an elevator. Sectonia standing guard and overseeing everyone more than anything. Entering a crypt soon after, something Sectonia didn't partake in as she didn't feel muh in the way of magic coming from anything that wasn't the skeletons. However thanks to all the grave robbing, when enemies came at them, much like Midna who had cleaned up her language, or attempted to at least after Sectonia chastised her, she smacked the skeletons and other frozen baddies that came at the party, her fire antilion causing lots of damage thanks to its power over fire and the Queen being difficult to approach thanks to that and her own swordplay. Although she didn't appreciate being knocked back by some of the skeletons shouting RUS at her. She decided to stay down below as Midna, Raz, and Therion decided to go and investigate a frozen ship a bit further up.

Eventually moving through the caverns they ended up having to deal with a few more bits of manual labor, one of them requiring pushing a stone filled cart that was frozen over with some of the party discussing how to handle that. Sectonia, being a bit tired of the cold even though she was being warmed by a fire antillion and the darkness of the cave. (At least the Scout could do something about that...) summoned another fire anitlion telling it to aid the minecart gang. That wasn't the only thing that was going on though, as the party was still basically constantly under attack with more baddies coming out of a side cavern. The good news is that since this whole place was fairly closed in, it was difficult for enemies to dodge Sectonia's spells, and knowing that she shot some large rings of Light at the wendigo, her allies being fine as the multiple rings illuminated the cavern as they moved down.



Yep, this was an area boss alright! It was vicious and hideous and throwing the melee fighters around like rag dolls, even Bowser! It was also a bit cunning and keeping itself away from the ranged fighters like herself, Kamek, and Jr by having their big bruisers block their view. Well, this part didn't matter all too much to Blazermate as she was fine being the support backline. And she needed to be that support backline in this fight as everyone was getting hit super hard and being thrown around like they were ragdolls, even Bowser! but Blazermate could somewhat capitalize on this too, as the red cracks appeared around the room she could use the momentum of someone being tossed towards one to awaken the ghost inside. Although how often she'd get that opportunity was left to be seen.

Either way, Blazermate did what she always did, summoned her striker in a bit of an advantageous position and allowed the engineer to get set up. Although the sentry fire would be blocked by the occasional ally passing in front of it, it would either be a good source of damage or a distraction. It didn't matter which, as Blazermate had to worry about healing everyone instead. The good news at least, is that due to everyone getting hit so hard, Blazermate was gaining her projectile shield and uber at its fastest rates, and it didn't take long for her to deploy her shield. While it wouldn't be super useful with the child doing large sweeping strikes that would just pass through the shield, if the orphan tried to attack through her shield, at least he'd take some damage. But she used her shield more for defense instead of offense in this fight, covering an ally she was going to heal by said shield.

Using the fact Link was tossed aside by one of the orphan's blows and flew near one of the cracks in the floor, Blazermate copied his increased momentum with her medibeam's ability and touched the crack as Link unleashed a bit of a ranged barrage before running back in, before going back to heal the frontliners. Of course the ghost, not being the smartest thing around, decided to attack the Orphan and blow up when Geralt was nearby hitting them with a bit of the ghost explosion too. Just another thing for Blazermate to heal... But at least Blazermate was soon to attach her beam and heal Geralt, her uber shield barely overlapping the witcher.

The Ace Cadet had three arrows held against the bowstring, intending to go right into a Triple Volley while he had the opportunity. He took a steadying breath as the frontliners approached the Orphan and as the guardian slowly turned to face them, casting it's eyes on Link. It was tall, gaunt, and it's front looked pretty much as one might expect after staring at it's back. As it moved the sickly moonlight caught on the sharp end of... whatever it had in it's hand, making it particularly dangerous looking as well. The Cadet took a steadying breath and pulled back on the drawstring, about to loose the arrows.

The volume and viciousness of the Orphan's scream surprised the monster hunter. He could only imagine how it must have felt to get a front row seat to it. The shock affected his aim, sending his shot a little off course and only one of the three arrows making contact. No time to mourn the waste however, 'cause the thing was already on the move - and quickly, too. It took a lot of concentration and effort to try and hit this thing as it bounced around swinging it's weapon. He especially had to take care not to hit his allies, when dealing with the relatively small target. Still he stuck with it though. Nock, aim, shoot.

An issue became immediately apparent to the Cadet, and he grit his teeth as he pulled another arrow back. The Orphan was shrugging off each of his hits, whenever he could actually land a shot, and they weren't even slowing it down! Instead Galeem's guardian simply ignored the arrows sticking out of it, as it's wild movement shook them out or broke them off. And these arrows were meant for monsters, each several feet long. It just went to show that the Orphan was just as much a monster as any they'd faced so far. Maybe even more so.

"Okay, new plan," the hunter said to himself, quickly weighing his options. He could stay in the back line doing what little fire support he could and try some arrow coatings on this thing, or he could swap to one of his swords and get in there. Having Blazermate's little target painted on the Orphan was nice and all, but if he couldn't hit it then it might as well not even be there. So which option would give him the best chance to actually deal some damage?

He watched his friends get tossed about, his heart leaping into his throat whenever one took a particularly nasty hit. Then he watched them get exploded with whatever the Orphan had just ripped off of it's weapon.

Alright screw it, I'm going in.

It worked out, sort of, as Bowser had left a gap in the front line that the Cadet could slot himself into. He tucked the bow away fast, fingers brushing against a piece of equipment he'd all but forgotten about after the time attack tussle.

It was big, it was goofy as all hell, but it was perfect.

The Cadet ran down the beach until he was in range of the Orphan of Kos, intending to utilize his Punishing Draw and rip the Sharq Attaq's teeth into the monster. Instead he forced to draw into a guard as the Orphan spotted the approach and lashed out wildly. It slammed it's weapon down once, twice, thrice before it set it's sights on the other melee fighters once more. Despite it's appearance, the shield was deceptively sturdy. It was made to withstand the claws and teeth of giant monsters after all. Even so there were deep gashes in it. But it held, and the fact that it did emboldened the Cadet. As soon as the Orphan turned it's blade away from him, the Cadet thrust the mouth of his own weapon up and out, catching the Orphan in the shoulder before sliding off and into it's fleshless jaw for all the good that did. He wondered if he could lock it down while playing defense, if even for a moment to give the others some breathing room. Guess we'll find out!

He made one backhop, putting precious little distance between himself and the Orphan. He thrust the lance out to nick it again. Then he opened his mouth. "Alright ugly, you've got some moves, but we're still going to kick your Lunasstr—"

Honestly he couldn't tell if the Orphan could even understand what he was saying, but the heavy, hardened placenta came down on him all the same. He could forget about trying to counter it, he barely had time to block before the Orphan rounded on him.

Amidst the chaos of the Orphan’s onslaught, the heroes fought to find their footing and exploit any openings. The monster kept up a near-constant assault, augmenting brutal strength with unconscionable speed and an undercurrent of almost human cunning, and as its attackers found out, that motion made it decently evasive, too. If there was one blessing to be had, however, it was that the newly-birthed abomination seemed to lack either defensive options, or the inclination to use them, instead relying on raw constitution and an unrelenting offense. Furthermore, it more or less obeyed the lays of physics; every major change in direction necessitated a momentary halt to its momentum, be it for movement or attack, and those brief windows made all the difference.

As the Orphan clashed with the melee fighters, its manic aggression put it squarely in control of both the battle’s pace and its location. Rather than stay planted in the arena’s center, it ran, jumped, and circled around its foes in a metal-flashing, flesh-bursting dance of death, and anyone unlucky enough to take its focus would find it in their best interest to prioritize survival over damage. Even that, however, was easier said than done. The disastrous results of Bella and Link’s attempted blocks served as ample warning to the others, but as Geralt found, glancing blows hurt too. A number of the heroes’ blades and blows struck home during the savage exchange, but its reaction proved that no stray hit, however well-aimed, would take this down. The heroes needed to pile on as much punishment as they could before the Orphan’s big hits battered them down.

A lot happened in only a little time, with the whole chronology of events only really visible to the ranged onlookers as they sought to sneak in some spells and gunfire. As a result of deadly underestimation, Bowser ended up ducking out first for some healing from Kamek’s finest. It was in her attempt to cover for him that Bella took a serious injury of her own. Link then charged in with a vengeance, drawing blood with an artful stab that Nadia’s flying guillotine punctuated. In reply the Orphan launched its bloody revolutions, dragging its placental blade through the black sand in a whirlwind of destruction. Doing so blew its close-range attackers back but gave a window of opportunity to the airborne brigade flying in from above. As the horror’s bloody font burst upward, a storm of projectiles rained down, both from the Koopa Troop and Link’s own cannons. With their allies out of the way, everyone who could, including Link, took the precious couple of seconds to open fire. They plugged the Orphan with bullets, shells, spells, even the element, and amidst the downpour the creature’s head wrenched upward with a wrathful scream. Had they enough time they might have kept shooting until their weapons clicked empty and their barrels burned with such heat that another shot might have split them into ribbons, but the next second the Orphan was on the warpath once more.

As the melee fighters converged, its lashed out at the first person to come its way. With dizzying force the Orphan Crush Countered Sakura, and as the Street Fighter soared off, it rounded on the next contestants with a vengeance. Geralt stepped up first to keep it away from Sakura, managing to land slice after slice even as the chip damage from his deflections left him rattled. Link arrived a moment before a distended sweep from the Orphan -plus the crimson blast of Blazermate’s explosive specter- brought the titan of a Witcher down face-first in the sand, and as the Hero of the Wild launched his offensive, Nadia sprinted in behind him.

The feral aimed to get behind it, or at least get around the flank, and as she did she spotted Sakura doing the same on the opposite side. Seeing a bright blue hadoken smack the Orphan in the back did wonders to quell the fear that surged in Nadia’s heart at the sight of Sakura flying off like a home run, but to both girls’ chagrin the Orphan reacted badly. Despite Link’s arrival the monster fended him off with a wheeling slash that ended with it pointing straight at Sakura, its weapon raised as it tensed itself for a lunge, ready to cross dozens of feet in an instant to beat the Street Fighter down. Her prudent choice to stay out of its range, however, meant that when Ace swooped in, the Orphan went after him instead. It bashed its weapon against his shield both with gusto and from different angles, each grievous slam chipping splinters from the barrier upon which the monster hunter staked his life. Nadia took the chance to strike, joined by Geralt’s newest hired hand. As Fizz unleashed a barrage of thrusts at the monster’s legs, and Link lent his blade, Nadia jumped up and them both over to carve a shallow cross into the Orphan’s back with X_Scrape Claws. Her momentum carried through into a somersault, and with a vehement, “Here’s the KICKER!” she brought down a righteous double stomp right into the X-marked spot. Pent-up water pressure from her legs both punctuated the strike and sent her flying away in a graceful backflip–and not a moment to soon.

Just as Ace predicted, the Orphan tired of him, and went for the others. It lurched backward as it unleashed a huge sweep, striking both Fizz and, if he wasn’t careful, Link. The blow struck to the head of Geralt’s striker both banished him and dealt a painful head wound back to the Witcher himself as he recovered from his rendezvous with the ground, keeping him out of the fight for a while longer longer. The distance moved by the Orphan meant that though Ace managed to strike with the fanged end of his weapon, not much force went through. Ace stepped back to mitigate its counterattack, only to run into a problem. With Nadia and Sakura out of the thick of it, Link on the back foot, Geralt struck down, and Bowser one his way back over, nobody was actually fighting the Orphan. Nobody, that is, except Blazermate’s sentry and the airborne Koopa Troop, happy for the another clear shot to shoot the horror full of holes once more.

The Orphan didn’t like that. Not one bit. Screaming, it swerved a few steps in one direction, then crouched down and launched itself into the air. It flew as if fired from a cannon, and before Junior could put two and two together, the howling fiend’s hand latched onto the rim of his ride. The whole Clown Car jerked downward beneath the added weight, tilting dangerously. The Orphan leered, its horrific face much too close for comfort, as it hammered its weapon against the Clown Car like a pinata as its legs scrabbled against the vehicle for purchase. Of course, that also gave Junior and Mimi the chance to hit it in the face, and Rika to shoot it in the back. Not even three full seconds after grabbing on, the Orphan jumped off it and straight toward Rika. It dove right into her, and together the two hurtled back down to the beach.

They lended with the Orphan on top, its full weight behind the curved edge that it drove across Rika’s midsection. It lifted its weapon to slam down again and finish the job, only to receive a barrage of gunfire from the Seekers on their way over, with Bella ahead of the rest and Nadia not for behind. “Non, non, non!” she cried as plugged the Orphan with her remaining gauntlet before spinning around for a giant tail slam. The monster turned at run, took the blow without tripping, and kept on coming. Bella only barely managed to yank her tail out of the way of its overhead slam, and in the resulting plume of muck she lost sight of the thing, until it lunged forward with an upward slice. Her leviathan tail reacted before she did and put itself in the way, taking the blow in a burst of pale blood and blacksteel armor. As it fell to the side, however, Bella herself wheeled around. Teeth gritted from the pain, she socked the Orphan in the jaw with her gauntlet. From the opposite side, Nadia jumped up and grasped her own ankle to release a jet-propelled knee bash, unaccompanied for once by any puns.

Both strikes struck true, but they weren’t enough to break the Orphan’s posture. As more Seekers closed in, the abomination wrenched a clump of flesh from its placenta. Recognizing the move, Nadia turned in a panic, and without meaning to blasted out a Copycat. The Hydro mimic skidded back toward the Orphan to take the fall for her, while its expulsion from her launched Nadia to safety instead. The Copycat clawed at the Orphan without fear, delaying it just long enough for someone to potentially save Bella before the viscera explosion devastated the area around it. And naturally, before the blast even settled, the screaming infant was on the move once more, eager for those who’d shed its blood to reap what they had sown.

The whole time, Blazermate found herself faced with a growing problem. Her medibeam, operating on flat health per second rather than a percentage, could restore an ordinary man to full in a few seconds. Even an extraordinary man, however, could be rendered half-dead by even a single one of the Orphan’s heavy blows, and some on her side had even more health than that. Without dedicated attention to those who’d suffered heavy damage, things like Bella’s shattered hand or Geralt’s head wound would go with only minimum treatment. That in turn meant she couldn’t be on the front lines healing fresh wounds as they came in, and the injuries would continue to pile up. She couldn’t outpace the destruction–which meant the Seekers were on a timer. And things could only get worse from here.



The reunion between Papyrus and Frisk, as well as their less-than-elucidating discussion, came to an end soon after a certain alchemist appeared at the base of the hill they’d climbed upon. After sparing just a moment for a curious impromptu examination of the unfamiliar skeleton and determining that he meant the child no harm, Albedo waved up at the pair from where he stood. “I found you,” he told Frisk matter-of-factly. For a moment he wondered if it could possibly be of any use to inquire as to the kid’s investigation, given the short time they’d been apart, but for the sake of courtesy Albedo decided to go right ahead. “How is everything going? Find anything useful?” He took a good look at the amicable undead at Frisk’s side, figuring now would be as good a time as ever to break the ice. “And who’s your friend here? I don’t recall seeing him around Snowdin before, at least since I’ve been here.”

In and out, dodge and strike, hit and run. That was the name of the hero’s game. Chip away at the monster, one drop of blood at a time, and eventually, they surly prayed, it would bleed its last drop. It was a game that the badguy’s present knew all too well, but that didn't mean they were going to join in.

Unfortunately one of their favored strategies, just hit hard and rely on being tougher to tank anything they throw at you, hadn’t worked out too great. Another of their strategies, just stay out of reach and pelt them with stuff, was also about to be proven ineffective as well.

That moment came during a sudden lull in the fighting, when everyone coincidentally was doing the run part of the hit and run at once, leaving the Orphan without anyone tussling with it, which at first looked like a boon to the shooters.

”Mimi copy me!” jr commanded, before raising a hand up in the air and then shouting ”eat this!” and slamming his fist down on a big red button. A cannon deployed from the clown car’s mouth and shot a flaming clown head shaped balloon, which was quickly followed by a smaller pikachu styled one and a standard cannon round from Rika. All three hammered down onto the Orphan , kicking up a cloud of sand and smoke.

”You like that you creep!” Jr taunted down at the orphan as it burst from the smoke screaming. And then it was jr who was screaming ”It can fly!?” as the monster hurled itself into the air right up towards them (with a jump so good it made Mario look like a goomba in comparison) far faster than either could react.

With one grotesque hand it grabbed onto the car’s rim, and when jr leaned forwards to look down it found that wizened face leering up at him. Then it smashed its club into the side of the already sinking car, causing the whole thing to lurch in the air.

”Gah! Get off get off get off!” jr shouted as he hammered the controls to try and do something, anything, to remove the monster. Drill arms deployed front he side, only for one to be smashed off by the second blow. The other, however, rammed itself into the Orphan’s side, and then a moment later the mouth of the car opened up and extended a whirring saw blade that jammed itself right into the monster's ugly face, spraying viscera everywhere, which honestly just made the whole situation even more of a nightmare.

As Jr’s machine tried to slice the horror apart his friends tried to help him detach the monster, from atop the prince’s shoulder Mimi clawed away at its face with her long tendril like arms. Meanwhile Rika swooped closer, hammered it with a Brachydios slime splattering gauntlet punch before unloading all of her guns, and one glob of spit, right into the Orphan’s back, shells punching into and detonating inside its flesh, while the hail of rifle fire added more venom to its already poison laced veins. Despite their efforts the nonplussed horror simply sung its blade a third time, which caused a bang to bark from the clown car. Sparks burst off of its machine arms that turned limp a moment later as the whole vehicle started leaking smoke and sinking even more rapidly.

”No no no no!” jr panicked, desperately trying to find the necro smasher as they began to go down. With one flying pest dealt with, the Orphan launched itself off of the car and right into a horrified Rika, dragging her and the toadies carrying her, down with it.

As jr spiraled down out of the air to crash land somewhere off in the distance the monster and the abyssal slammed into the sand. Rika’s spine was only spared from snapping because the toadies who had been carrying her acted like airbags in their final moments, cushioning her fall and bursting into magical dust in the same time. That did nothing to get the Orphan off of her however, and neither did much of anything else she tried to do. Even with her hall blades flailing at it and it's back literally exploding when the Brachydios slime went off, it took a sock to the face from Bella to prevent it from simply cleaving her pinned form in half.

As the princess and the street cat held the Orphan’s focus Rika scrambled backwards through the sand in a panic, only to find a pair of arms wrapping under shoulders and pulling her up.

”Up you get, Rika. I’ve got you” came the reassuring voice of Kamek as she and a white mage clone helped pull the ship girl back onto her feet. The clone helping her directed its wand at the wound on her waist and sent a curing spell through it, while the other three pointed at Bella and caused a burst of magic to race through her, reassembling her shattered hand in a single pulse of sorcery.

“Thank you-” Rika breathed shakily, her nerves shook by the incredibly close call, before starting and asking simply and worriedly “what about jr?”

---

(a few moments earlier)

”Wow wow wow waaaaaaa!” came the cry from the sky as the koopa prince came spiraling down out of it, leaving a trail of smoke bleeding behind it.

”Hold on jr, papa’s coming!” Bowser called up to him as he pumped his legs as hard as they could go as he ran after the path of the descent, before leaping the last several meters between him and his son, snatching him out of the air with the skill of an expert receiver and turning so that he landed on his back, which skidded through the sand and then rapidly came to a stop close to the back of the cove.

”See, I gotcha” Bowser said, as his son gave him a hug out of sheer relief, before coughing at the smoke leaking out of the clown car.

”Oh, sorry, let me get that” jr said, before shutting down the machine, but unfortunately that did not improve much of anything, ”gah, stupid-” jr growled , but stopped himself from doing even mild cussing infront of his dad and instead ”Thanks for the save, dad. But can you put me down so I can fix this?”

The king nodded as he lightly laid the vehicle onto the beach beside where he was lying, before pushing himself to his feet. As the king picked himself up off of the floor jr hopped out of the car, and then grimaced upon seeing the extent of the damage. ”Urg that… rotten jerk really did a number on it huh…” he said, before doing a calculation in his mind and then saying to his number one minion ”Hey, Mimi! Go with dad and give that that stupid ugly old fart a couple dozen claws in the face for this, yeah?”

“Mimi!” the mon replied with a little salute, before hopping off his shoulder and up onto Bowser’s own via climbing the mess of spikes, domes and tentacles that was the king’s shell.

”So how do I…?” Bowser started to ask, not actually knowing that much about how to best use Mimi, but his son was already on the case

”Kamek knows, just hand her over.” Jr insisted, before reassuring his old man ”Now go. I’ll be fine”

The King nodded, knowing that, most of the time, this was true, and started jogging back into the fray, heading specifically for where Rika and Kamek were in the midst of glancing back at him and jr and being relieved the young prince was OK. Right before the sand exploded behind them, causing them both to start back and away from the still far from neutralized threat that had brought both fliers down.

This was far from over, and the Troop were going to need to work together and pull another villainous tactic out of the (evil) bag if they didn't want every clash to end in the broken mess the first two methods had resulted in.