Papyrus's bones chattered as he walked through the dark forest, the porcelain dolls hanging from trees making clacking a noise as they swayed back and forth blown by the breeze. A nervous knitting of his brow, or rather his nonexistent brow appearing quite taken off guard by the nature of the forests appearance.

If he had skin the skeleton would be shiveringly shaking, this wasn't his forest and where were the elaborate puzzles? Whoever decorated these woods clearly hadn't read into the art of setting clever japes, it might have seemed amateur had he not been so scared at the moment. "F-FRISK THIS ISN'T SNOWDIN FOREST?" the skeletal sentry asked as he walked closely to the human child "I-IS IT?" certainly if it was he would need to do some serious work on improving the look of the gloomy woods, firstly the dolls of course.

However the goofy looking skeleton wasn't given an answer when the trio found themselves in the courtyard of a grand mansion, it's gate squealing open as someone frantically ran from the grounds of the imposing structure.


After Treat hurriedly explained herself the skeletal sentry was the first to speak up "NYEH-HEH-HEH" he planted a hand on the waistband of his blue undergarments and offered the wolf girl a hand to stand up.

"NEVER FEAR FOR I THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL ASSIST YOU!" then looking back to Albedo and Frisk he added "WITH THE HELP OF HIS FRIENDS OF COURSE!!"

Level: 2
Experience: 1/20
Currently In: The Doll House
Word Count: 371 (+1 Exp)
Albedo @Lugubrious, Treat @Gentlemanvaultboy, Papyrus @Dark Cloud

At the sound of their companion catching up, Frisk slowed down enough to where they walked side by side with each other. The eerie nature of the doll-ridden pathway failed to phase the child, not when the possibility that their new friends could be dealing with something dangerous. No offence to Albedo, but they had a plan for a reason. Did it even matter at this point? They can do something about Treat's bullies later.

Through the irritance they tried to hide over the situation, they spared a remorseful frown to Papyrus. "I'll explain when I know everyone's safe, but for now..." That was all Frisk could say to him once they arrived back at the mansion. Their eyes shot open at the sight and sound of a panicked Treat. Oh crap, something did happen did it?! The child wouldn't have time to ask before the wolfgirl took a nasty tumble down.

"Eek?!" Swift as they could, Frisk caught her before she hit the ground. Treat flinched at the sight of Papyrus, to which they reassured her: "Easy, he's my friend!"

Then the poor girl told them about what happened. What they found, what Treat escaped from, what Linkle was holding off even now. Frisk's eyes refused to close at this point. Something like this was what they feared. Despite the child's hesitance, Treat attempted to reach the sled by herself, only to trip on a broken ankle. They looked between Treat and the sled, then ran to grab Linkle's weapons, ditching their stick in fair trade.

Now wasn't the time to be afraid.

Frisk looked over to where the two arrived. If Papyrus followed them, they were certain Albedo was behind them. "You're hurt." They told Treat as she was helped up, though they hope the other two hear them out as well. "One of us has to get you to a medic, or...something similar. I'll go on ahead and help Linkle." With their words, they made their way towards the shed. In anticipation of battle, the child's soul finally made an appearance, hovering a few inches from their chest.

Regardless of who follows them, Frisk would wait a bit on them before decending into the darkness. Determined as always.

@Rockin Strings

---

---

Link eagerly moved to join in with the the other Seekers in piling on the stunned creature, he only regretted not having access to a stronger weapon to do it with. His stock was actually running dangerously low. He didn't have any notion of getting the bradistock back, that thing was going to fly off and explode somewhere the moment Stasis wore off. That left him with his sword, the wicked spear, the trident, the fall back weapons and...

Oh!

That would work.

As Sakura spun her foot into the monsters back and Ms. Fortune spun her heads into its front Link moved in, the weighty Ro Cestus covering his fist. It was a perfect fit now, his new muscles capable of effectively wielding the ungainly thing without two handing it. He drew back his fist and, weaving between Gearlt ands Ace's strikes, plowed the creature right in the face with it as many times as he was able. He only stopped when the creature began to regain its balance, backflipping away over its blade as it spun it around again in an effort to get some breathing room. Then it was back to basics, the fight once again becoming about getting in, doing your bit, and getting out before you were punished for it. To this end he switched back to his Steel Sword, hoping that it survived long enough to put the creature down.

After a few hectic moments, though, the creature lost interest in them and went after easier prey. It jumped clear of them, blowing past everyone trying to keep it pinned down, and descended upon Junior and Rika. Rika tried in vain to deter the thing with a volley of cannon fire, but it was Delsin that ended up saving the boy. Maybe it had been because he was reconsidering Link's advice about not coming here, but the newcomer had been holding back for the entire battle. Now, though, he stepped forward chain in hand to defend the children and was broken for it. How the man was even still alive Link didn't know. What he did know was that he was moving before the creature had even finished with Delsin, pursuing the creature with a desperate energy that was becoming dreadfully familiar to him.

The mans sacrifice had bought the pair enough time to set up their retreat, Junior cleverly spreading goop on the ground for Rika to skate across even as she fired away. As the two avoided the creature Link skidded to a stop beside Delsin and pounded on his chest hard enough that a few flakes of his armor fell off into the sand. His hand came away with a friend heart, one he slammed down into the stricken conduit before moving in to once again run interference with the creature. This time, though, he was also able to skate around thanks to Juniors goop trail.

He zoomed at the creature, slashing it as he moved past before turning on a dime and having another go. He didn't have time to get many of these passes in, though, on account of the Bowsers. Plural. The small horde charged forward as Link backed off, unwilling to get between that and their target. Instead he retreated to a safer distance, fingering the Cryonis Rune on the Sheikah slate. If the creature tried to dodge out of the way of the rush or use its weapon to try and counter it he was going to try and block it with a pillar of ice.

The Orphan was doing loads and loads of damage with its wild swings. The sentry gun was doing quite a bit to him though, and its massive amount of lead caused the Orphan to be unable to approach it with any amount of power behinds his strides. Although even with that and a light tap on the sentry gun, his tentacle smacked Dell and caused him to disappear as he was just finishing loading the esntry and was about to upgrade it to rank 3. So while the sentry wasn't destroyed, there was only about 24 seconds of ammo left inside it. This attack also clipped Blazermate, leading to some leg damage. Thankfully she didn't really use them, but damage as still damage and it'd have to be fixed up when she got the chance.

The rest of her team was getting hammered even through her heals, however all this damage not only recharged her projectile shield, but also fully charged her Ubercharge. An Ubercharge she'd use and bounce around her team-mates when the Orphan would do its next amount of strikes at her allies, an ubercharge she'd pair with a projectile shield that she'd keep on top of the orphan during her invincibility, causing some massive damage of her own.

"If only I could keep up with this level of damage..." Blazermate said, getting a little worried as allies got lower and lower. Kamek helped when he could, but his heals combined with Blazermates still weren't enough to deal with this monster's damage output.

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



Sectonia's time dilation field was doing quite the number on the agile Wendigo and the already slow ice monster. While Sectonia's sword slashes weren't doing too much to its icy exterior, she kept it occupied as her allies came at it from behind, dealing considerable damage to the monster. And thanks to how slow it was, its attacks weren't doing much in the way of damage. Double on top of its slow movements Sectonia's aura that reduced magic damage taken by a considerable amount for her and her allies and her mild regen aura, and things were going fairly well.

Seeing its high defense though, Sectonia changed tacts. Putting away her swords, she pulled out her staffs and began to toss void globules at the beast, retreating a bit while she did so. High defense meant nothing to this magic, and with how slow this creature was especially under the effects of time dilation it wouldn't be dodging these anytime soon. Meanwhile her allies used the slow she applied on the remaining Wendigo to pile on it, doing their best to destroy the creature. Those that had made their way to the burning boat above were also on their way down to help the rest of the group. Speaking of that ship, Sectonia would have to blink out of the way of it soon once it started to come down in earnest and she kept an eye on that waiting for that moment.

Midna fled like the wind as the wreckage of the ship rained down around them. Most of it was burning wood but, as if to seek vengeance for its demise, the detonating ship also hurled one of its cannons her way. The princess just barely saw it coming, tugging her mount’s tufty fur, getting it to skid to a halt just the nick of time. The hunk of rusted metal smashing down right in-front them and showering them both with fine fragments of ice, forcing both to shield themselves from the frozen hail as best they could.

”That was clo-” she began to say, right before an agonizing crack barked out, the ice she was standing on splintered in a reaction both to the blow and under the weight of the rusty weapon now resting on it.

”Ah fu-” was all she got out before the entire sheet of ice her mount was standing on collapsed and she and her wolf-dran were unceremoniously dropped into a short carves filled with vicious blades of ice. Instinctively, she sent her wolf-dran (along with its horde of bones it hadn't dropped) home and slowed her own fall with levitation, the princess coming to a stop in the air just above a particularly nasty looking set of frozen spikes.

She breathed a sigh of relief, gave one of the spikes a kick, and then said ”I really don't need your attitude today karam, ok? So chill out. It was just a boat. And almost dropping two people to their deaths but that was their fault for being there”

She ascended out of her little debacle pit muttering about how even climbing up had been foolish, and then took in what was going on in the cavern. Yoshitsune was in trouble, but her friend only had one monster on him, said monster was being swarmed by allies and, by Midna's analysis (which was ignorant of its only weakness being fire) it wasn't even a tough looking one, so she was fairly sure he’d be fine.

On the other hand, there was Big Band and Therion who were basically on their own (separated from a number of others via some large and maybe magical icewall) vs a big and very scary looking ice monster that seemed to be taking quite a beating and even then going down.

The question of where to go to help out was pretty obvious as a result. The princess found herself a shadow, and there were plenty thanks to all of the burning bits of wood she’d scattered around, and from there hopped her way from patch of darkness to patch of darkness, heading towards the two ice golem dueling gentlemen.

She popped up right as Therion was jumping back and away from the ice golem, announcing herself with ”Room for one more?” as she slid out from the shadow of the wall and got herself behind the golem, so that she and Band were on opposite sides of it.

”How’s about you and me double team this ice cube into powdered snow?” she shouted to him, before winding up a shadow hand into a fist and slamming into the golem as many times as she could, trying to sync up her strikes so that they’d alternate with the one man band’s own. In that way, she’d ensure that the golem was always in the process of recovering from one blow right before the next one came in from the other side, co-op comboing it over and over till it broke out of the pummeling, or simply broke entirely.

It felt good to finally put some damage on the Orphan with her friends. What did not feel good was her escape attempt failing. As she rolled away she popped to her feet, and before she could jump, the Orphan slashed deeply into her back. There was a spark of yellow, but this time a spray of blood accompanied her defensive life energy. "Aah!" Sakura gasped and flew forward onto her face. She turned and rolled before she could grind her facial features against the sand. While her clothes had been healed along with her skin, once again the back of her off-shoulder top was split horizontally. And her poor skirt was ripped as well, making it look more like some kind of weird battle skirt. Fortunately, battle damaged clothes tended to look kinda cool.

Sakura lay on the floor for one moment, pondering the pain in her back and the blood that had been drawn. A single second, really, of staring up at the grey clouds above. "Ottotto." She nodded to herself and then kip-upped flawlessly to her feet, running back into the fray. During that time, the monster had leapt high into the air and came down on their ranged fighters. "That's so scary." Sakura mumbled, shaking her head in acceptance.

Delsin got hit pretty hard, which earned a grimace from Sakura. It was hard to protect others at the cost of your own health, so he really did have the heart of a hero. But she knew that if he got taken out real hard, he would be safely carted away. So she wasn't too worried about anyone yet.

Sakura followed behind Link, joining him in his attacks. She kicked the creature in the leg once before dodging away. Junior's goo allowed Sakura to skate quickly around, which felt great. For the first time in the fight, she pumped her forearms and prepared to unload on the creature with her cannons. A horde of Bowsers came charging in, which illicited a surprised and impressed laugh from Sakura.

As Link stood on standby, Sakura moved to the side of the Orphan, behind it. So that way when she fired at the creature, she wouldn't have a chance of hitting power. "Don don don!" She shouted, mimicking the sound of her guns in her native language. The heavy machine gun like cannons mounted on her harness hammered and burrowed into the creature's heavy, blood-soaked pelt.

The first swipe of the Orphan's weapon after it got it's bearings back, following a heavy spray of blood, had the Cadet dropping low with his shield pulled up in front of him. The shield took a heavy blow, but it successfully blocked the damage the monster would have done. It did not prevent getting doused with it's stinking ichor, but alas. The hunter came back up with a high thrust, and from then it was a quick and intense flurry of blows. The Orphan didn't flinch at all as it lashed out in every direction, slamming it's placenta into anyone unfortunate enough to be in range while the Seekers continued to pile on as much damage as they could.

The Orphan's retaliation was brutal. Even with the teeth of the lance stabbing and cutting into it, it's power and the size of it's weapon meant that it could catch people even accidentally. Such was the case now when it's horizontal slice caught on the edge of the Cadet's shield, but the length of the blade wrapped around to bite into the hunter's side. He pushed the weapon off and moved right into another attack, and then into a counter stance when he saw another wild swing heading his way. The blade might have taken his head off it not for the sturdier helmet. He took a hard hit, grit his teeth and then jabbed his own weapon into the Orphan's pallid flesh.

Then, in the midst of the give and take assault it's tantrum had it disengage entirely, leaping out of the circle of heroes and to the members of their group on the fringe of the battlefield. Some of the Seekers ran after it, but the Ace Cadet was not one of them. Even if he charged he probably wouldn't make it in time to help directly, but there was still something he could do to help indirectly.

He sheathed the lance, which basically just amounted to throwing it across his back. From where he was he could see the Orphan go after Junior and Rika, and take out Delsin in one swipe when the Conduit stepped in to protect them. So his first action was to take out a Lifepowder and throw it into the air where it could spread over the beach. It couldn't compare to the dedicated healers, but it would give the fighters a chunk of their health back and keep them out of the danger zone, for now.

Second, the weapons expert brought Gough's Greatbow back out. Fishing another item from his pouch, he fitted the Paralysis coating into the makeshift attachment on the weapon's limb and nocked an arrow. It would take time and multiple hits for the paralytic to take effect, assuming it would even be effective on the Orphan, but it wouldn't hurt to start the process just in case. Adjusting his arm to account for Link and Sakura closing in, he let one arrow fly before there was a sudden roar and increase to their ranks, clones of Bowser forming and charging right for the Orphan. A reposition and re-aim later and the Cadet could fit another arrow through the throng of them before they converged on the monster.

Silver carved through abominable flesh, Geralt's precisely-delivered cuts taking full advantage of the opportunity bought for the Seekers by Bowser and Link's combination. Why Bowser kept recklessly charging in, taking heavy blow after heavy blow and forcing those among them capable of healing to focus their attention on him he didn't know, but in this moment, what he did bought them a true moment of respite from the Guardian's wild attacks.

Which, of course, they used to deliver their own series of blows. Sakura and Nadia unleashed a brutal-looking pair of combination attacks, their blows flowing into the next with practiced ease. Ace drove his lance into the monster, drawing blood with each stab. Link donned a strange, Abyssal-themed gauntlet-like weapon and punched the Orphan in the face over and over.

And after what felt like only a moment, their opportunity died. The Orphan rallied, swinging its placental blade about its head in semi-circular motions. Geralt quickly back-stepped, the disgusting, visceral weapon missing him by a few inches. His cautious fighting style had thankfully bought his safety through this exchange.

As the weapon Link used to halt their enemy was launched into the sea, it slammed its placenta into the ground, kicking up the sand around it before launching itself at the Seekers who had remained at range, moving towards Junior only for the newest addition to their group, Delsin, to throw himself in front of the attack and suffer a grievous wound for it.

Geralt's vision tunneled for a moment on the creature before an intake of breath forced his mind back into focus, feet already moving to follow the thing. Once more, his body thrummed with energy, albeit lessened this time by the wounds he'd already taken. Even Swallow was imperfect, and the blow he'd taken through Fizz was quite substantial.

While he was moving, he felt the effects of Ace's lifepowder return just a bit of his vitality, and smirked. That world he came from had some useful gear.

He descended upon the Orphan alongside the others, still taking care to avoid harm, but moving just a bit quicker this go around, his blows doing just a bit more damage.

He'd noticed Link taking the time to force a Friend Heart onto Delsin, and silently thanked the boy hero for that. Really, he'd have expected that out of Sakura first, but if there was anything he'd learned about Links during his time in Lumbridge, it was that they were heroes first and foremost. Slaying the monster was secondary to protecting the people. It was a sentiment that had cost him quite a bit of gold whenever his conscience got the better of him.

After the Seekers got their next round of licks in, Geralt felt as much as heard Bowser's advance with his clones. He backpedaled rapidly, keeping his sword up as he made distance for the Koopa King, newly healed and multiplied, to execute another insane plan.

Apparently, as long as he didn't just outright get killed and Kamek was around, that was enough for him to keep going and going. As foolish as it was, Geralt couldn't help but appreciate his willingness to get his hands dirty and fight, even if it meant he was in for a world of hurt.

"Hey, it wasn't going to fail," Raz began, trying to save face from the frankly rude reception to being saved Therion had, if only burning wreckage from above and monsters below hadn't gotten in the way first. There was time to vindicate himself later when nobody was in danger of being eaten or crushed. The bright side, pun not intended, was that the double-wrecked ship illuminated the cave enough to fight whatever ghouls lurked in the dark. And it made the air a lot warmer! Oh, not to mention that it provided the perfect ammunition for someone lacking their usual fire-starting capabilities.

Seeing as how his two climbing companions focused their attention on the icy golem and saving Fox, Raz took a more supportive role, hanging behind the upfront fighters and pelting Kelvin with chunks of burning debris using his TK. He wasn't hurling recklessly, of course, aiming for the moments when he had clear shots and no one was too close to it. It was just like the knife-throwing act back home. It even had the same potentially disastrous results if he missed!

Any further help he could've given was cut short when Kelvin pulled off its last ditch effort, freezing most of the fighters as it went to split them all up. In his mad dash to pelt it with more makeshift fireballs Raz had ended up on the side of the ice wall opposite Kelvin, Therion, and Big Band. "Aw man," Raz sighed. There was some sort of irony there - the Wendigo engulfed in fire and Kelvin blocked off by his ice - but it was mostly lost on the boy who would've preferred to get a few licks in himself. But everyone else was holding up fine, at least. Maybe he didn't need to be the one giving the helping hand all the time.

He turned to the others with him and pointed to the burning wreckage. "We, uh, got the chain free, by the way."

---

Sampling a Wendigo’s cunning savagery firsthand, and nearly being butchered in the process, made Tora and Poppi keenly aware of just how much their allied needed their help, but before they could have any hope of helping the others they needed to attend to their own wounds first. If not for Tora’s incredible constitution, with his proverbial boatloads of health, the monster that dragged him below would have eviscerated him in the darkness, and the experience shook him. Even as his out-of-combat healing kicked in, closing the deep gashes opened in his flesh by cruel claws, he couldn’t stop himself shaking from fear as much as the cold. All his spilled blood quickly cooled, coagulating and then freezing despite his best attempts to wipe it off. Even once restored to full, the end result was a thoroughly miserable Nopon. His attempts to form words dissolved into incoherent mumbling as he shivered, his wide eyes reflecting the other heroes’ distant firelight.

Poppi, able to hold her severed arm to the stump and reforge the connection with only a modest expenditure of ether, fared a lot better. Once her internal diagnostics turned up no major problems, she turned to her Masterpon to offer him what comfort she could. As nice as it would have been to wash off all the blood in a spray of water, she knew that Tora would catch his death of cold a minute later, so she switched to her Fire Core instead. “Hold tight, Masterpon. Poppi set you right.” Glowing like a space heater, Poppi picked her Masterpon up in her arms and held him close so that her heat might flow into him. With their friends still fighting for their lives this wasn’t a tender moment by any stretch of the imagination, but at the Inner-Mountain’s absolute cold relinquished its grip on Tora, both driver and artificial blade felt a lot better.

“Meeh,” the Nopon breathed after a few moments. “Okay, Tora feel roasty-toasty enough for now. Thank you, Poppi. Now, let’s hurry and help friends!” He wriggled out of Poppi’s grasp, landed on the wooden platform with a wince, and grabbed the shield that had slipped out of his numbed grasp. The two took off at a run, clattering across the boards to vault over the rail, but a sudden noise from behind made them turn on a dime. As they whipped around, their hearts filled with dread to see the very Wendigo that they thought they dispatched moments ago with Laharl’s help. Even with a caved-in skull, a hole in its chest Tora could see clear through to the other side, and a head that dangled sickeningly on a nearly-severed neck, it was still moving. Still coming. An awful croaking noise issued from its devastated throat, and it prepared to pounce.

Despite everything, Tora’s reaction was immediate. “MEEEEEH!” he bellowed as he brought up his shield and slammed the trigger, launching a Boom Biter from its center that pounded the Wendigo like a cannonball. The explosion slammed it into the cavern wall behind it, where it hung for a moment, its nigh-impenetrable skin ablaze. “Poppi!” he commanded, passing his companion the shield. “Burn it, burn it, burn it now!”

The moment the weapon hit Poppi’s hand its drill bit extended, revving up as she filled it to the brim with fiery ether. “Gladly!” She braced herself, and the next instant a cyclone of flame ripped forward. “Noponic STOOOORM!” It smashed into the Wendigo like a massive punch, and though it tried to fight through the firestorm, it could not hold out for long. As its body was incinerated, a howling ghost burst up from the chaos, not the kind of spirit that Tora and Poppi knew but a nightmarish specter of the monster’s face. It shrieked through the air and back down into the tunnel from whence the horror first came.

As the scorching whirlwind faded, Tora accepted the shield, breathing heavily. Without a word he took off, and Poppi ran behind.

Luckily, the pair reached their allies as the fight was winding down in their favor. The return of those who’d split off down the tunnel only sealed the deal. Once the Phantom Thieves corralled the last Wendigo, Primrose unleashed her pyromancy to turn it to ash. As it died everyone else got a front-row seat for the release of its spirit, terrifying not just for its sudden and startling appearance but also the implications of its continued existence. A jump scare like that, however, wouldn’t leave heroes like these quaking in their boots. As Panther healed up Laharl and Mona brought Yoshitsune back from the brink, the Dancer’s Warmth soothed the wounds of whoever else needed it, including Sora and Fox.

That left just one fight, even if it too was in its final act. After getting frozen by Kelvin’s Sublimate, Sectonia backed off to chunk the golem with Void Globules from afar. As she fell back, however, Midna closed in. Therion’s empowered plunge staggered the creature, paving the way for not just Big Band, but the Twilight Princess to get in and do some damage as well. Midna called out for a duet performance, but with oodles of tension and victory close at hand, the detective had a mind to steal the spotlight. “This thing’s in for a sound beatin’!” As Midna started punching, Band charged in with Brass Knuckles, socking Kelvin in the face. His dance partner dutifully pushed his foe back toward him, and up popped his shiny brass trumpet. When he put his lips to the mouthpiece, something strange happened. Time itself ground to a stop, and in that stolen moment, the big man played Kelvin a special song.

Time resumed, and the monster didn’t so much as get a chance to register what happened before a brass knuckle beatdown befell him at mach speed. “TUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBA-!” Band yelled, each giant punch reducing his already-broken victim to smaller and smaller pieces, until with a final mighty “TUBAAA!” he scattered the golem’s remnants in an explosion of ashes. The battle was over.



In typical fashion, the team got together in the aftermath of the fight to mend leftover wounds and take stock of the situation. Not everyone sustained injury in the course of the brief but brutal struggle, but those who did suffered quite a bit. The wounds left by the Wendigo didn’t heal quite right, and though Tora insisted that he could continue and Joker hadn’t gotten it too bad to begin with, Yoshitsune’s debilition could not be ignored. Add to that the fatigue and exposure incurred by the fight, and the ground the Seekers stood on seemed a little shakier. “I don’t care how much of a big shot ya are,” Band told the samurai. “You ain’t on your game today. Turn your behind back around, or I’ll turn it ‘round for ya.”

Yoshitsune tried to protest, but in his anger he overreached himself and nearly stumbled. Sora moved in to keep him from falling over. “Take it easy, big guy,” the boy said, patting him on the shoulder. “Everyone has bad days sometimes. Just like everyone has a little darkness inside them. But don’t worry, ‘cause everyone has light in them, too! You’ll get your day soon, I know it!” He turned to the others, offering a smile. “I’ll help him back to that temple thing with all the old guys. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon.”

As Band nodded his assent, Poppi spoke up. “Not to interrupt, but we may be on timer. The scary ones did not die as usual, but turn into ghosts and fly away. We should fix lift as soon as possible.” She put a hand on her chest. “Poppi superstrength enough to work controls. That way claws come down and grab platform.”

Braum’s eyes went wide in admiration as he looked at the two massive, pendulous counterweights that promised to drag the lift upward, even with all the Seekers atop it. “Can you truly raise those up by yourself, leetle girl!?”

“That right, heh heh!” Tora grinned proudly, his stubby little arms on his hips. “Poppi power almost as flabbergasty as Tora smartiness, meh! Of course, Poppi have Tora to help!”

“Bloimey.” the Scout shook his head, rubbing his bald spot with one hand. “Well, we got the cart. Clear o’ rocks, too. Just gotta slide it over.”

“Right then, let’s get it done, double-time.” Band led his portion of the team back down the tunnel as the team dispersed. Those who didn’t head over to help push the cart or assist Tora and Poppi with the lift controls could either keep a look out or help to clear the way as Fox and Goemon continued to ice over the stone path. This time the Scout stayed behind to make sure new flares went up whenever the old ones died out, though his stores began to run low quickly. With every eye and ear at attention for any sign of more monsters, nobody could afford to exchange words until the cart finally slid into view. It moved slowly but steadily across the cavern floor until it lay directly beneath the giant pincers that the operators helped to lower. From there, a little guidance and coordination lowered the claws into position, and with a final loud CLACK the mechanism locked into position. From this point on the weight of the big box -and everyone in it- would only serve to make the pincer grip tighter, so as long as the wood and metal didn’t give, everything would be dandy.

“Good to go,” Mona confirmed from on top of Necronomicon. The Persona hovered over the cart, scanning the whole cave every few seconds for any sign of trouble. “All aboard!” From up high he watched Joker, Skull, Panther, Fox, Fox, Primrose, Therion, Raz, Laharl, Braum, and the Scout climb in. Tora and Poppi remained at the control mechanism, ready to fly up under their own power once the lift got underway, and neither Midna nor Sectonia needed any help to ascend either. The abstinence of Big Band, however, left Mona confused. “Aren’t you getting in, Mister Band?”

The detective chuckled. “If ya gonna call me ‘mister’ an’ make me feel old, might as well call me ‘Mister Birdland.” Otherwise Band is jus’ fine.” He then shook his head. “And no. For this Armstrong, even the sky ain’t the limit.”

He jumped into the air, and in a frenzy of activity his lower chassis reconfigured into a genuine rocket, its main thruster and seven afterburners ablaze with flame. He hovered there long enough to send off all the wide eyes pointed his way with a cheeky salute. “I must go now. My planet needs me.” Then he blasted off, soaring up into the cavern’s frosty upper reaches.

After receiving confirmation that everyone was on, Poppi began the countdown. “Okay, everyone brace selves! Three! Two! One!” She released the controls, and the counterweights began to work their magic. The lift groaned and creaked, but against all odds it lifted off the ground. It rocked and span a little, but it continued to rise, neither too fast nor too slow. The ground fell away beneath them, and before too long the Seekers left the scaffolding and stone behind, on their way up through the vast emptiness of the icebound upper cavern. After a few moments Poppi appeared alongside the lift in her QT Pi form for easy flying, Tora held tight in her arms. “Everything look good so far. How friends holding up?”

“Tora have nightmares for weeks, meh,” her Masterpon supplied.



Brief as it was, just about everyone got a chance to get a few good hits in while the creature reeled, confounded by the magic-bound obstacle in its path. Even an opportunist like Nadia didn’t want to push her luck, however, and rather than risk a repeat of the blow that decked her earlier, she got out while the going was good. When the going gets tough, and all that, she reasoned, and after another moment she was grateful she did. Sakura getting hurt made Nadia wince, but the way the feral saw it, there was no way a stray hit like that kept her fellow fighter down. For now she had bigger concerns, for the belligerent Orphan didn’t take kindly to all the punishment the heroes lavished upon it, and it wanted to make very sure they knew.

It unleashed a flurry of widespread attacks, its assault even more unhinged than before, if that was possible. Rather than abandon her allies and flee to a safe distance, Nadia made her best effort to stay in, ducking, dodging, and detaching past the meaty placental blade that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Since Sakura was getting her bearings, Bowser had grudgingly stepped back for some healing from Kamek, and Geralt kept his distance for now, it was up to her, Ace, and Link to weather the storm as best they could. Like the cat burglar, Link relied upon his agility in order to keep himself alive as he added a few more of the thousand cuts that would be the Orphan’s death, but Ace took a different tact. In a feat of dogged perseverance and incredible moxie, he stuck to the Orphan however it lurched around, landing thrust after steadfast thrust. With a quick sigh Nadia tabled her praise for later and focused on the much less appealing Orphan. Just when she thought she’d finally navigated the gauntlet of attacks and could land a full-force ankle slice with her tail axe, however, an attack not even meant for her swooped around and scored a headshot just as she darted in.

Though a glancing blow, it left Nadia’s head literally spinning, whirling around so fast that as she staggered backward she had to reach up and physically stop it. It was as she clapped her hands against her head that the bottom of her right palm felt something wet, and when she pulled it away she found her hand soaked in bright blue blood. Her cheek had been sliced open, enough so that she accidentally put her tongue through the opening when she tried to assess the damage, which made her shudder in horror. “Eugh! That’s gonna leave a mark.” Hoping that her Life Gem would close that up as soon as possible, she turned her attention back toward the Orphan, only to see it fly out of the melee and toward another part of the beach entirely–a part where only a scant few heroes stood, unprepared for such a dire threat. “Uh oh.” Galvanized into action by the urgency of the situation, Nadia took off on all fours, kicking up sand as she sprinted toward the brief but bloody struggle that was Delsin’s heroic stand. As she ran she got a good dose of Ace’s lifepowder, smiling as her fresh wound into just another storied scar. “Heal yeah!”

Thanks to his intercession, and a little cleverness from the Koopa prince, Junior and Rika managed to escape the Orphan’s deadly clutches while scoring a few hits in the process. Immersed in electrified slime, it tensed itself for a massive leap that would see it hurl its placenta down at the duo from on high before landing on them, but it was then -with no allies in the monster’s immediate vicinity- that Peach made her move. “Get away from them!” the princess yelled as she leaped from the rocks nearby. As she fell her axe kick slammed down on the Orphan’s weapon arm, sticking its visceral armament in Junior’s goop, and without delay Peach jammed her scatterboom into the monster’s chest. A conical inferno erupted from its barrel, filling such a wide area that the princess’s lack of participation so far suddenly made sense. The shrieking Orphan teetered backward as if falling over, but before it could pass the point of return its head locked onto Peach. It planted its other foot and surged back toward her, its weapon pulled free, coated in the same shocking gunk that the princess floated atop, and careening toward her in a ruthless diagonal. Peach, however, was already in motion. She span around with Chao Ho’s fan extended, and in a jaw-dropped display managed to turn the Orphan’s strike, sending it past her while she carried on. “Seen through that!” she growled, and with a torpedo deployed on the bottom of her shoe she came around with a high crescent kick to the Orphan’s jaw.

Supremely angry, the Orphan let go of its heavy weapon to continue on its course, and brought its right hand back around in a bone-cracking backhand to Peach’s head. The unprecedented blow lifted her off the ground, stunned and spinning like a top, to fly a few feet and hit a rock, where she crumpled to the ground barely conscious. The whole exchange took only a handful of seconds, and it was only after a second more that the other Seekers arrived. Link, Sakura, Geralt, Bella, and Nadia closed in, paused long enough to not run straight into a giant horizontal as the Orphan retracted its weapon, then went about their business. Before attending the Orphan, however, Link slid to a stop by Delsin like a batter at home base. No stranger to thinking on his feet, the hero resuscitated the Conduit with a Friend Heart, then joined the others in their assault.

Junior’s goop bolstered several Seekers’ mobility, allowing them to get in and out of the danger zone. Tired of mending injuries in the backlines, Blazermate followed suit with an Ubercharge, shielding her allies as they went at it in quick succession. Meanwhile, Ace punctured it with greatarrows from afar, though the Orphan seemed weirdly resistant to paralysis. It was a hit-and-run strategy that nullified the risk out of the hit, and even if Nadia couldn’t get a word in edgewise -foiled by bad terrain and a keen desire to not get in the way- it was a solid strategy. Until the allure of massive damage pulled Blazermate into melee range in hopes of frying the Orphan with her shield. Instantly recognizing the source of the agony that now tormented it, the monster leaped through the barrier and straight into Blazermate herself. Thanks to her Ubercharge the medabot couldn’t be damaged, but she could be struck and carried backward by the thing’s momentum, and the together the two sailed a short distance before the Orphan came down on top of Blazermate hard enough to half-bury her invincible chassis in the wet sand. It whacked her once before a shout from behind it drew its attention.

The Orphan turned to see six Bowsers barreling toward it, four shadowy, one shadowy and small, and one vanilla. Screeching its acceptance, it released its placenta for a massive disjointed swing that swept across all of them, then came around again for another, and though those strikes must have hurt, not one Bowser broke formation. Before the Orphan could attack again Bowser jumped and came down in a belly-flop, which his doppelgangers were only too happy to pile onto. Nadia and the others approached at a respectable difference, relieved and even amused as the big lug got his time to shine. Beneath all that weight even the barbaric strength of the Orphan could only amount to so much, and though it struggled and struggled, it couldn’t force the Koopa King Troop off.

Not, at least, until it exploded.

The entire beach shook as the pile of Bowsers evaporated in a massive eruption of cherry-pink fluid. Kamek’s shadow-clones turned into a dark deluge as they rained all over, with Mimi’s mimicry doing no better. Even the real Bowser went flying, his giant body so limp that Nadia’s heart just about stopped. Had he really been defeated, just like that!? “No way…” she breathed, not even daring to wonder how Junior and Kamek must be feeling. It was only when a familiar quartet of Felynes hurtled out of the mouth of the cave to catch Bowser in their cart that the Feral realized that he’d be okay, but that in itself invited a far worse realization. The team’s safety net was gone. Whatever came next, those who remained would have to face it not just without Bowser, but with the knowledge that the next fall would be fatal. And as the pink mist cleared, they got a good look at exactly what came next.

For a moment, the Orphan stood at its full height, which seemed a few feet taller than before, as if its first growth spurt had arrived way ahead of schedule. Otherwise it looked the same, except for a few minor details. First, its placental blade was enormous, a fleshy curved maul with a grip that reached the nightmare’s waist while its head still dragged along the ground. Second was the birthing sac that before clung to its shoulders, nothing more than a rudimentary mantle. Now it extended outward in two great lengths, pale, gossamer, and billowing behind it as though in underwater currents. Like the wings of an angel–an angel of death.

Nadia swallowed, her muscles tense. The Orphan just stood there, its sunken eyes glinting in the moonlight. Then, it tiled its head back, and to the heavens raised a bloodcurdling howl. The very air around its head undulated, warped by its plaintive cry. In reply, a pillar of lightning dropped from the storm onto the body of its mother Kos, and across the black beach rolled waves of electricity like the crashing tide.

“Watt the hell!?” Nadia called out in alarm, her pun reflexive. The suddenness of the magic, as well as the blinding brilliance of the lightning, was shocking enough even from afar. But while smaller lightning strikes arced down to hit the crest of the wave at intervals, the cat burglar could see a path through. “Gotta time it right…” she breathed, then ran forward as the lightning rolled in. She just had to hope that the others could handle this on her own, and especially that someone could help out Peach, because Nadia sure couldn’t. With catlike agility she hopped up and over the wave, flipping between the pillars, to land on her feet on the other side. Of course, that put her closest to the Orphan, and the monster accepted the invitation. It dug its hand into the meat of its placenta and leaped high into the air. Well before it could come down on top of her and split her in half, Nadia sprinted the opposite way–only to run headlong into the wave of lightning as it rebounded off the rock face and rolled back towards Kos. The second it touched her, Nadia’s permanent Hydro status reacted to leave her Electro-charged, turning her into a living lightning rod as she fell to the ground burning and paralyzed. “O-o-ohm…my-y-y…go-o-od!” she rattled out amidst her spasms.

Where she suffered, however, Delsin embraced the lightning. Buoyed by confidence that his allies could fully restore him at the drop of a hat, he ran forward into the electricity and proceeded to soak it up, adding the new power to her repertoire. From there he blinked forward, turning to electricity to arc through the air toward the Orphan as Nadia fled from it. He smashed it with his chains, once, twice, then as it wrenched out a bundle of flesh to plunge into the sand, dashed away to a safe distance. The move was not, however, quite as he remembered it. Instead of a small burst around the Orphan, the flesh exploded in a huge area in front of it, and with a cry Delsin flew into the air. He landed as the Orphan bore down on him, holding its placental cleaver with both hands to run on, and with reckless abandon the nightmare brought the guillotine up and down, again and again, until the Conduit was no more.



With their investigation already happily concluded, Frisk turned to lead the way out of the rabbitfolk’s little patch of eternal springtime, into Snowdin’s wintry thoroughfare, and toward the eerie ascent that stood between them and the inhospitable Beneviento manor. Albedo lagged behind a few paces though, and not just to don his new overcoat. Speaking to one or two people did not make an accurate picture of public opinion, and whenever one’s character got called into doubt, things got trickier still. Even omitting the possibility of outright falsehood, there ought to be a lot more to the story. More pieces to the puzzle that would gradually slide into place the deeper the team got into the culture of the Warrens.

But if the trail stopped here, then so be it. If he were to try to address Treat’s situation, Albedo preferred a different tact: the wolfgirl to embrace the good that most of Snowdin wanted to extend her rather than dwell on the enmity of the few. You couldn’t please everybody, no matter how hard you tried; to be loved and acceptance was an unrealistic, even impossible dream. Nor were those who didn’t like you problems to be fixed, their goodwill to be mined out of them like nuggets of gold from so much stone, their reasons extracted like confessions. Do not wallow in darkness, but seek out and hold fast to the light. At least, that was Albedo’s hypothesis. Maybe, for someone like Linkle with a natural heart for humanity, there was another way.

In the end, Albedo’s job on this venture was just to make sure that Frisk didn’t get into any scuffles. It occurred to him, ruminating on this task, that Treat and the rabbits’ continued existence meant that there had been no physical altercations between them, which was good. Unless of course, the rumor about Treat the Shapeshifter was true and she’d destroyed all comers, but if that was the case Albedo felt like there would be more than just passive animosity for the girl. Trying to move on, the alchemist proceeded through the tangled copse and up the snow-dusted steps toward Treat’s abode.

As soon as the trio arrived, however, they were greeted by trouble. Treat herself appeared in such a panic that she hurt herself, barely holding herself together long enough to blabber out the key points of her and Linkle’s foray into the haunted basement. Albedo knelt by the girl as she spoke, examining her ankle as he took in the details. While he meant to offer whatever relief he could, his Corgi did him one better. The little dog’s natural empathy led him right into Treat’s arms, where he could snuggle up against Treat’s head and chest to provide both warmth and comfort as he whined his sympathies. Albedo’s brows turned upward in pity. Realizing that she’d been watched in secret by a monstrous puppeteer for weeks on end -if not longer- probably chilled the poor girl a lot worse than the cold. But now they had a chance to turn her situation around, to free her not just of this lurking menace but of her misery in general. And unlike with the rabbits, the obstacle in her way was a tangible one, a villain that could be defeated.

Papyrus and Frisk shared his resolve, and prepared themselves to hasten to Linkle’s aid. Knowing firsthand at least a portion of the Skullgirl’s incredible power, Albedo doubted that she really needed the help. If she found herself facing an enemy that even her strength and bevy of elemental abilities couldn’t defeat, the alchemist doubted he, a child, and a skeleton would be of much use, unless these two boasted very hidden depths. Still, even if Linkle would be fine, Albedo didn’t want to leave her alone. At the very least, they could return her precious crossbows.

He stood. “Just a sprained ankle,” he told Treat, offering his best diagnosis. “Not mild, but not serious, either. So long as you rest up and don’t walk on it, the inflammation should go down relatively quickly.” Albedo stopped by Linkle’s sled to get her weapons before jogging after Frisk. “Just hold on to my dog, and we’ll be back before you know it.”

Despite Frisk’s determination, Albedo outpaced the shield-bearer in only a moment, on account of both longer strides and a lot more confidence in Linkle’s ability. He went as fast as the descent would allow, even jumping if given the chance, since he knew that falls of this scale would not damage him. The screams that issued from the depths of the manor, hollow and harrowing, did not phase him. Very soon, Albedo stood in the darkness of the basement, peering at the commotion that stirred in the gloom. He announced his presence by calling a Solar Isotoma into existence in a burst of golden light, saying, “Burst Forth!”

The momentary radiance revealed both his new friend and his new enemy. Although not even startled, let alone stricken by fear, Albedo realized that he’d underestimated just how big this dollmaster was. Even hunched over, he utterly towered over Linkle, suspended atop freakishly elongated arms and legs. For a brief instant the alchemist beheld bloodshot, maniacal eyes that bulged from a bulbous, froglike face. Albedo understood in that instant that there wasn’t a moment to lose. With limbs like that, this creature could close the distance in a heartbeat, and even if those wounds suggested an imminent victory for the Skullgirl, Albedo wanted to take zero risks. He manifested his sword, the Cinnabar Spindle, and readied himself for a fight.

A ragged gasp escaped Laharl's mouth as the nasty cut opened, stretching across his throat seeping concerning amounts of blood that soaked the scarf-like cape wrapped around his neck. His eyes widened then with a choked gurgling noise the fledgling prince fell backwards onto his back desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood from causing him to lose consciousness, pressing his cape tightly against the cut. Laharl couldn't die here, no he wouldn't die here! Not from some stupid cut, besides it wasn't his fault it was his incompetent minions fault. Determined to not let the wound he took to slow him down Laharl struggled to his feet, tightening the cape around his neck like that of a makeshift tourniquet but it was by sheer luck the boy could even get to his feet thankfully the constitution gained from his prior engagement boosted his resolve enough to survive his injuries.

Balling up his fists Laharl shook both from sheer terror and boiling rage, the beasts incredible aptitude for surviving the most brutal of wounds annoyed him to no end yet caused a shudder to run down his spine at imagining whatever hole the wretched creature had spawned from. Suddenly the air was filled with gunfire, bursts of fire flying through the air overhead like fiery comets as it seemed most of the team had converged to finish the Wendigo unlike he could by himself.

'So much for defeating it yourself, stupid zombie.' a pouting Laharl childishly exhaled haughtily, nostrils flaring 'At least the stupid thing is de-' a smirk was beginning to tug at the edges of his lips, the smoking carcass of the creature finally laid low and peppered with bullet holes but soon his smug looking face went white as a sheet as the things spirit floated out.

It may have sheerly been out of terror but in his brief moment of weakness Laharl clamoured backwards choking out a fearful croak 'Now that does it!' he thought angrily, a snarl forming upon Laharl's face 'Nobody scares me like that, especially not some stupid spirit!' thoroughly worn-out from the fight the little demon used what resolve he still had to stumble over to the disturbing spirit, smashing it between his fists, heaving a lofty sigh Laharl fell onto his ass. Everything else was a blur afterward, he felt considerably better but dazed and shaken from fighting the Wendigo, last he recalled someone told him to hang on so he did.

The other fighters wisely got out of the way when the koopa king and his crew of clones came to cause crippling carnage to the child of kos. It saw this and in response it raged (which was basically it's only reaction to anything at this point) and attacked, trying to break their formation. The shadowy turtle dragons weren't speedy slouches like Nadia’s water doppelgangers however, and so while the blows damaged the magic binding them together, they kept coming, heedless of harm.

Bowser, once again overconfident, also tanked the damage as he foolishly led the pack of clones, but this wouldn’t stop him either and so the king leapt full on into the danger and crashed down onto the Orphan with a ”THIS IS FOR PEACH YOU COLOSSAL CREEP”. He was followed a second later by his clones, who piled on, and soon enough the king and the copies where clawing, kicking, stomping and punching away at the orphan, who even with its monstrous strength, could not find the space or power to haul them all off of itself at once. Not until its fury and pain built to a climax at lest, because that was the point at which it exploded.

This was no mere pus ball planting detonation, it was something now and devastating. The clones were shattered, hurling a cloud of dark mist around the orphan. Out of this cloud Bower went tumbling, the heavyweight having been launched by the detonation. Flailing and trailing viscera from a myriad of cracks in shell and scales the king flew clear of the blast and then came crashing down atop some of the nearby rocks. Right on his noggin.

“Bowser!” ”Papa!” ”Sire!” went up a trio of heavily alarmed cries as the king slumped down onto the stone. The Troop raced towards his side, and got there only a moment before the rescue cats rushed in and began to ferry him to safety. The king's son tried to grab hold of his father, but the cats were good at their job and would brook no interference with their patient, even by his shocked relatives.

So the prince was forced to watch his papa depart, hand outstretched after him, before all three of them turned back to the monster that had just taken Bowser and their last life line from them.

The shadowy mist of the slain minions fell away, and there it stood, the orphan, transformed. The club of flesh had grown massively, forming into a grotesque scythe-like blade, while the pseudo-cape on its back had transformed into a pair of tattered wings. If that had been it, maybe the second phase could be handled the same as the first.

Then it called the storm. Lightning arched down, striking the carcass the orphan had emerged from, and from there a wave of lightning rolled forth across the beach.

”Quick, run both of you!” Kamek commanded the pair while she floated up and out of the way of the lightning.

“Moving!” Rika called back up, already moving away from the storm wave along with jr who realized ”That's gonna hit my stuff!”

“It’s going to hit Peach!” Rika pointed out rather more urgently.

”yeah that too” jr replied, before looking past her to the cliffs behind the rocks that their retreat from the lightning was going to cause them to run right into, ”I’ve got an idea!”

He spelled it out as they moved, and then when they got close they put it into motion. Jr reached the rocks right by Peach first, then turned and crouched, threading his fingers together and holding them low. As planned, Rika put her foot into this offered boost and was then chucked up the honestly not particularly imposing cliffs, her anti gravity gauntlets letting her get some more air.

Then Jr turned, grabbed the princess and hauled her limp body over his shoulder with well practiced ease, and then followed after Rika, platforming his way up the cliffs.

Kamek, hovering above them, was relieved to see both had gotten clear. Then she panicked for a moment when something latched onto her broom and caused it to lurch down. She steadied herself and then swept her wand down to blast his attacker, only to find the sentient meathook installed in jr’s clown car had decided it did not want to be fried by the storm, and had latched itself onto the convenient hook shot point that was Kamek’s broom, before hauling its base (and the rest of the clown car), up over the lightning.

The mage was about to blow a fuse at this shock, but then got an idea of how to help instead. As she drifted back and dumped the car on the top cliff top she re-summoned her toadies, who floated down to the cliff base to give boosts, lifts or act as stepping stones for anyone who might not be as practiced in the art of jumping good as a denizen of the troop’s world.

Nadia was someone who certainly didn't need their help, the athletic feline flipping right over the top of the thunder wave, and in doing so, ran first right into the Orphan and then, when dodging him, right into the wave of lighting as it bounced off of the rocks (an almost optimal situation for those who had went past those rocks, not so much for those still down on the beach) and went back towards the sea.

As the aqua infused feline shook and convulsed from the lightning, Delsin actively threw himself into it, absorbing the power and once again going toe to toe with the Orphan on his own. And once again it ended badly for him. With Jr and Rika much too far back to intercede this time, the beating the conduit took did not end with him needing to be healed, but with his death at the orphan’s hands, it’s blade coming down again and again until the newcomer’s body failed him and all that remained of the man was his spirit.

And his ash.

Rather than be sad or enraged by this death, for Kamek it was a eureka moment. The missing piece of the puzzle of how the sun princess had done what she had done drifting down and settling in the sand. It wasn't just the spirit that was needed, it was also the body. The ash. Two parts of a whole unmade that needed to be brought back together again.

”I can fix this! I just need space to do so!” Kamek shouted out to the others, informing them of what she had just worked out and then requesting their help in putting theory into practice ”Get the monster away from the spirit and ash and I can bring him back!”

”Yeah, I can do that” Jr replied from where he was standing right next to the floating mage upon the cliff. He set down the fainted princess up there where she could recover safely, and then waved to his minion who was sitting on Kamek’s broom ”Mimi, with me”

”Young master wait I didn't mean-” Kamek tried to protest, not wanting to have jr face the beast that had only moments ago felled his father, but it was too late. With Mimi riding his shoulder once more the prince leapt back down into the fray.

“I’ll keep him safe!” Rika told the mage as she went down after the prince, to which Kamek responded by urging her to ”Stay safe yourself as well!”

As they young ran headlong into danger the mage was left alone. Or rather with Peach, who was another part of the problem. Kamek only had so much medical support she could give, and there were several people in need of it, so she directed her available resources as best she could. Relying on Blazermate to handle the more immediate issues down on the beach Kamek focused on the major patients. Three White mages were directed up to the cliff side, where they used their power on the fainted princess.

The other one circled the fallen Delsin like reverse vultures, waiting for his resting spot to be clear of the conflict. When it was, the two would swoop down, hurriedly brush the fallen ash into a concentrated pile, put the man's spirit on top, and then one would step back, raise its wand to the heavens and cast Raise upon the fallen hero.

This all required them to not be attacked or caught in the splash damage of the orphan’s wild attacks while they were doing their thing of course. Ensuring that did not occur would be up to the others, who needed to draw their foe away without getting killed themselves. With their one tank out of the picture and a portion of their healing support focused on trying to raise Densil, such a fatal mistake it was more likely now than ever.

Still, they had to try.

Jr and Rika’s plan was to try their pool trap again, though this time Jr tossed out a splatter of burning goop instead of shocking, just in case the Orphan calling lighting now ment it was resistant to the same. Hazardous terrain swiftly set up, Rika and Jr spread out a little bit and then they, and Mimi, pelted the monster with projectiles, with Jr hucking bouncing fireballs while Rika (and Mimi via copycat) adding rifle fire to their attention getting volley.

Bowser's attack on the Guardian went off without a hitch, or so it seemed for a brief moment. The six Koopa Kings unleashed havoc upon the Orphan of Kos, tearing and pounding at it with their hands, feet, and claws as much as they could, with no regard for their own safety. The addition of other targets at least made this plan somewhat sensible, even if Bowser's seeming lack of regard for his safety was a key part of it.

Against lesser opponents, it might have even been enough. The Guardian, however, was no mere lackey, no plucky young hero who couldn't take as much as they could dish out. This was a creature chosen by the closest thing this place had to a god, and bestowed a fragment of its power.

And it showed that power by unleashing its own havoc, forcing the Bowsers off of it with a massive explosion, sending the remaining, real Koopa King flying through the air and crashing to the ground, consciousness already escaping him. Geralt didn't watch as the cats carted him away, or as Junior impotently reached out to take his father's hand.

No, Geralt was already moving, both hands clenched tightly around his blade, before a small voice inside his head told him to loosen his grip a bit, not to give into the anger coursing through his blood, buoyed a bit by the Spirit of the Harbor Demon.

He was only halted by the Orphan's eldritch, reality-bending bellow, calling a bolt of lighting down onto its mother's corpse, which sent out waves of lightning across the beach, which were then struck repeatedly by other bolts of lightning.

Following Nadia's example, Geralt jumped over one of the waves, only to half-stumble when a bolt of lightning struck a nearby wave, forcing him to stow his blade and focus on dodging, risking the Orphan's wrath should he be caught unarmed.

While the newly-grown Guardian chased after Nadia, Geralt started making his way towards the rocks where Junior and the others were pulling Peach up.

As Nadia convulsed, Geralt ran for safety, perhaps overly confident in her ability to protect herself.

Delsin, however, was evidently not, for he used his powers to absorb the electricity, and took the fight to the Orphan of Kos. Geralt turned to call out, to try and get the idiot to consider his own safety, but the explosion of the placental mine and dodging a pillar forced his attention away from Delsin.

And then he was gone. Naught but Spirit and Ash. A jolt of electricity burst through Geralt's leg, injuring him and forcing him to pause as his muscles locked for a moment.

Golden, catlike eyes narrowed.

The sound of a blade being drawn drowned out everything else for a moment.

Geralt moved, heart pumping, feet pounding against sand, body pivoting like the most flexible whores he'd seen on the streets of Novigrad, flowing between pillars of lightning to strike at the Orphan of Kos. Silver flashed, driven by righteous fury and the pain of watching somebody good die before his eyes. The same pain he'd felt a thousand times before, the same fury that he felt staring down Whoreson Junior. As he stepped back from his first slice to dodge the imminent follow-up, Geralt's hand raised and made the Sign of Igni, a plume of fire bursting forth and scorching the Orphan.

Geralt fought like a man possessed, silver carving through flesh and crashing against whatever substance made the blade of this monster's weapon. Quen shattered as Geralt forced aside a counterblow, and though he spun with the momentum and regained his footing, he was forced to clumsily dodge a wave of lightning as the Orphan bore down on him, forcing Geralt to abandon his frenzied attack in order to keep his head.

Almost as an afterthought, he summoned the Judicator nearby and mentally ordered it to keep him and his allies alive with its sickening flagellation. He was pulling out all the stops for this one. If the Striker went down like Fizz did (Though thankfully this one was more sturdy), he still had some doses of Swallow.

He just hoped this was enough for Kamek to do whatever it was (s)he(?) needed to do.

The big man was happy to dance it seemed, hammering in with a mechanical fist and sending it towards her. Right as it got close Midna socked the ice golem in the back with a ”Shatter sucker!” causing it to reel right into Big band’s ... trumpet solo?

She hadn't been expecting that, nor how time seemed to halt for everything but the little performance. Just as soon as it had begun it ended, and Band showed that he didn't really need Midna’s own big fist to deliver a devastating combo, because he had an unending barrage of his own up his sleeves.

Within only a few scant heartbeats the frozen brute had been reduced to splinters of ice, and then ash which exploded outwards all over the area they were in.

”Damn big man, if you wanted to make the finale a solo all you had to do was say so,” Midna joked, mighty impressed by his punching action, as she used her shadow hand to waft the falling ashy cloud away from them. Then she shrugged and added ”Guess I shouldn’t have had tried to grab the spotlight if I didn't want to get show up huh”

”Anyway, chains free, so we should finish up here and head up soon as possible,” she said afterwards, looking over the burning wreckage and minor avalanche of ice she had created with her fire un-safety, which had buried the skelly spirits more than she could be bothered trying to dig them up.

There wasn't much other looting to do either, other than the ice golem that was which she most certainly had not earned a claim on, because apparently the other creatures hadn’t died normally, and had instead turned into ghosts and fled away to who knew where. Worse, they’d apparently torn up the members of the group they’d gotten their claws on something fierce, and they weren't able to gradually patch them up using Sectonia’s little passive restoring aura either. Yoshitsune had especially taken some of the worst of it, something that Midna felt a bit bad about.

”Be safe you too” she told the samurai and his key wielding escort and then, unsure what else she should add, simply watched them go, the friendship bracelet on her wrist slowly dimming as its twin got further and further away.

There wasn't time to dwell on that sad little moment however. The specter of the monsters that had hurt her friend still loomed threateningly over the group, and the gnawing cold wasn’t going to stop its relentless clawing at their extremities. So they had to move on.

Onwards and upwards.

For most people, that meant riding in the cart gripped by the big claw of the crane. As they piled in and started ascending Midna wasn't quite sure who’s nerves were going to be more wracked by the end of the climb, the pile of people inside it fearing for their own lives, or her, floating right beside it, worrying about all of them.

At least she knew Raz would be fine if they dropped, along with someone closest to him, and Theon too, because it seemed like he was confident he could also have survived that drop they had both had on his own, but that left an awful lot of people who could still plummet to their doom if things went south. The question that Midna did not want to think about was who would she try and catch if they did fall, or, rather, who she would allow to fall to prioritize some one else.

To distract herself from that line of thought (after the sight of Band propelling himself through the air via fiery expulsion got old) she picked on the other thing they had to worry about instead ”So. Those ugly bat things. Must have been tougher than they looked from afar huh?” she said, having missed the entire apparently pretty horrific experience due to her boat adventure. Considering the state of Yosh, Tora and Laharl, those things had not been a fun time to fight and, if they were still on the loose, then she wanted to know what she’d be up against.

Sakura knew she couldn't react in dismay everytime one of her allies took a heavy hit. Still, when poor Peach was rocked to the sand below, she winced. It was hard to not run to her side. But there was nothing she could do for her, and running to Peach after fighting the Orphan close quarters would just attract more attention to the wounded princess.

Despite her desire to stay focused on the greater good, Sakura's jaw dropped as she watched the Orphan send the one and only king Bowser packing for the hills. All the way back to the beach! "B-bakana..." Without meaning too, her guns fell silent and her arms drooped to her sides. She couldn't believe it. King Bowser seemed totally invincible! But just like that, poof. Not in the fight anymore. Stress tightened her chest as she realised that their safety net was down, and the next person to get knocked down would be in tremendous danger.

And as Bowser was wisked away and Sakura cast her brown eyes down at their foe, she witnessed it's new, divine form. What...was the deal...with this weird baby?

Her hair stood on end as the creature howled. "W-watch out!" She cried as lightning struck the monster corpse and dangerous energy began to curve along the beach. Peach's safety popped into her mind, but as she turned and looked, Rika and Junior had already helped her.

As the lightning made it's way towards Sakura, she easily front-flipped over it with nine feet to spare between her and the ground. She saw Nadia dodge it too, but the beast went after her and caused her to get zapped. While she ran to go help her, Delsin once again interfered. His powers were impressive. In any other reality, the Orphan would have been blasted high into the air and into the ocean. But here, the Orphan shrugged it off and hit him over, and over again, until he was nothing but ash.

"IIE!" She yelped her dismay in Japanese. As she charged in, Kamek the wonderful wizard announced, steadfast, that this could be fixed. This soothed her heart and bolstered her resolve, and her wild charge became a determined advance. "Try your best..." She murmered, glaring at the Orphan as she ran.

She charged alongside Geralt, and as he avoided one attack, she came in hot with a jump kick to the thing's shoulder. She kick-flipped off of it and landed.

"COME ON!" She shouted, pumping her fists as her body blazed to life with energy. V-Trigger II Activated. Now her fists had light blue trails like comets in the sky, and smooth, clean lines of ki energy accompanied her attacks. Sakura Senpu had activated, giving Sakura access to new moves and higher damage on her melee attacks.

As the Orphan swung at her, Sakura smoothly rolled to the side, and then returned the favor with a mighty "Shenpukuyaku!" She briefly became a light blue, spinning top of a human being, her foot cutting into the creature like a razorblade. And then she landed and dashed under it's arm, practically hugging the creature. She slammed her fist on it's back and rolled again, her bright fist crushing up into it's underarm. When lightning struck, she hopped into the air with a kick on the ascent and the descent of her jump.

All this to say, a powered up Sakura was taking a very aggressive approach, no longer committing to any combos or long recovery moves. Instead she ducked, weaved, and struck the creature where she could. She also worked along side Geralt and covered him where she could, and stayed out of the way of his attacks.

In the low light of the moonlight beach, Sakura emitted a soft but resilient light, like a spiritual pool of water.

Seeing Blazermate block its attacks with her ubercharge, the Orphan put two and two together for a moment and rushed at the Medabot as she had deployed her shield to deal some massive electrical damage to it. It put all of its might into focusing the invincible medabot, much to its frustration and Blazermate's annoyance. As it was focusing her, the rest of the group made their move, Bowser making the biggest move of them all.

This was one hard hitting, tanky area boss. The other bosses were tanky, but not nearly this fast. Nor did they manage to take out their biggest tank, Bowser! That was a bit of a shock, but thanks to his efforts, it did allow Blazermate to get up and heal up people while the Orphan transformed into its more... reaper... angel form? It was like someone thought. "hey, what if we made a flesh angel reaper?", buut they probably didn't think it'd be this painful to fight, or they planned on it in which case Blazermate would have to smack them around some if she ever met them.

Seeing as Peach was in the most dire of straits, as the Orphan was getting ready for its next attack Blazermate zoomed over to heal and revive Peach so she could get up and move on her own. She also made sure to shield Peach, the koopa troop, and anyone else nearby with the remaining projectile shield from the lightning and explosive attacks coming from the Orphan. She would protect her sentry... if it wasn't almost running out of ammo at this point. Still, at least this phase of the Orphan was more projectile based instead of being a melee monster, so her shield would be much, much more useful now. She'd also have to keep a very close eye on Nadia, since now the Orphan was using lightning attacks, and she seemed to be exceptionally vulnerable to them. But she'd have to get Peach up first before she could do much but heal the cat girl at this moment.

The Koopa Troop's plan worked. Faced with a brigade of Bowsers, the Orphan got dogpiled and disappeared under the combined weight of the multiple Koopa Kings. Though successful, such a plan wasn't without consequence - and the Orphan's retaliation was swift and powerful. An explosion forced the Koopas off of it, destroying the mimics and sending the real deal flying. The familiar squeak of wooden wheels signaled the arrival of the felynes before Bowser even hit the ground, and the sight of them filled the Ace Cadet and the rest of the Seekers with a strong duo of emotion. On the hand, Bowser would be alright. He was being patched up and carted back to safety right that very second. On the other, that was their last palico save. No more cats would be coming to rescue them. Now it was do or die, for real.

The Orphan emerged from the chaos looking more formidable, it's body and blade growing larger and something like wings floating around it's back. Don't start flying, the Cadet silently pleaded with it. It was already so fast and mobile, if it suddenly started to fly things would get much worse. They'd soon find out that it didn't need the power of flight to make the situation worse though - it let out a deafening roar and summoning a bolt of lightning down from above. Electricity started to roll in waves across the beach, with a few smaller lightning bolts striking the area. The bolts he was confident enough to deal with, but the waves were another story. He sought higher ground so as not to be electrocuted, finding one of Kamek's clones offering a leg up. He probably should have taken it, but that wasn't even Kamek herself, just a magic copy, so he turned away and fired the clutch claw at an outcrop of dark rocks in the other direction.

He'd made it out of the way of the electricity and the lightning, but didn't have much time for anything else. From his new spot he got harrowing view of the Orphan moving in on Nadia, and the feral getting quite the shock - then, the worst scenario all too soon. Delsin had jumped in to save her, but ended up torn to pieces. Gone.

The Cadet's heart was thumping wildly in his chest. Where he'd ended up was away from the rest of the heroes, close enough to see what was going on but too far to be able to help in a pinch. He watched Geralt and Sakura continue their melee onslaught, Blazermate fly up to heal the princess, and poor Nadia paralyzed on the ground. This wasn't a good spot, he needed to be closer to help stop the monster from killing anyone else. He was on the move as soon as the electricity stopped, though Kamek's shout that she could fix Delsin gave him momentary pause. That's right, something about raising the dead! He sure hope it worked, and to that end he changed course. He kept his distance but got to a slightly more strategic spot up on the rocks, one he could crouch on with little issue.

Set up took just a few hurried seconds, popping the coating out of the bow and scraping an arrow head across the stone to make sure it could spark. He was kind of relying on Rika and Jr's plan to buy that time. With most of the Seekers moving closer to the Orphan, there wouldn't be enough space for Kamek to do whatever she needed to do. Plus, Nadia was still right in harm's way. So, the Cadet's plan was simple - he'd just call it over to him. The hunter's mind was telling him this would drop their damage output, but if it kept them alive then it didn't matter. He was sure he could handle whatever was about to come his way. Probably... no, definitely!

"Someone grab Nadia and make sure she's okay!" He shouted at the others. Next he focused on the Orphan shooting one arrow at it's head along side another shout to get it's attention.

"Over here, crybaby!" Without pause he knelt on the rock, scraping one of the great arrow's heads on the surface until it sparked and just began to catch fire and nocking it in one motion. The Cadet didn't really fancy himself a gambler, but he was betting that it would head straight for him and that his aim was true enough to get one good shot before he had to rely on his dodging skills. He pulled the bow back hard and the arrow crackled like crazy, ready to be let loose and burn through it's target.

---

With the danger passed, for now, the Seekers quickly got back to work getting the lift up and running. Diligently Primrose help to tend to the wounded, and then rested well within the brightest areas to regain her stamina. Her fellow Traveler stood as one pair of eyes keeping a look out for any other interruptions, shifting in place from time to time to stop from shivering in the cold.

Once their ride up to the top was ready, the two of them wasted no time piling in to the cart alongside the others. At least, the others that couldn't fly themselves - which surprisingly included Big Band.

Besides the sound of the clinking chain and the groan of the pulley, most of the ride up was quiet. It was a companionable silence, and no one seemed to mind when it was broken. Primrose nodded to Tora and Poppi.

"Well enough."

Primrose pulled the white scarf a little tighter around herself, half due to the cold and half to hide the little smirk Tora's comment brought to her face. She really was fine, memory of that ghoulish face lunging at her notwithstanding. Thankfully she hadn't been raked by the wendigo's claws, so her recovery had gone a lot more smoothly than the others. She counted them all lucky that they'd been able to tend to Yoshitsune and Laharl in time. Though Sora and Yoshitsune's departure ultimately lowered their collective battle power, at least they still had the reserve team ready to join them at the mountain's top.

The next person to break the silence was Midna, and Primrose nodded at her as well.

"It is as Poppi said earlier, their ghosts flew away. They didn't turn into a normal spirit orb."

"What about a 'spirit orb' is normal, exactly?" Therion couldn't help but chime in, meeting Primrose's eyes with a quirked brow.

"...I suppose 'common' would be a better word. You get used to it, and you'll learn more soon enough."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She ignored the last question, continuing the conversation about the wendigo. "Besides that, it seemed they were only truly defeated with fire."

Therion scoffed, crossing his arms under his shawl. Of course they were only weak to fire. Just their luck. To be fair they were in a frozen wasteland on the inside of a ice mountain, he guessed that pretty much everything here would have a weakness to fire... and he still couldn't use his magic to help out with that. The thief spent the rest of the ascent tucked into one corner of the cart, legs crossed at the ankle to match his arms. He observed the ragtag group, including the curious flyers, though his red-tinted eyes didn't dare look down over the side of the lift. Primrose understood the feeling. Even though this type of lift was much more in line with she and Therion's experiences in their own world, truth be told she would have preferred to ride inside of Alibaba again just for the security. But the claw gripped the cart tightly, and the chain looked strong, so they'd probably be alright. They just had to prepare for whatever the summit of the mountain had in store for them.

Sectonia let out a sigh as the fighting was over, moving back next to her fire anitlion as this air was something she did not like without the heat of her summon around. While she kept her composure as best as she could, anyone paying attention could see when she wasn't near her antillion her antenna were shivering a bit. The rest of her allies were not doing so well either. some were much better off than others, but those who got assaulted by the feral zombie looking things that were, frankly, far more durable than they should've been, werent' healing right even with her regeneration aura benefiting them. Even so, they all did well clearing them out with band being a bit... flashy about how he finished the ice golem much to Sectonia's approval. Although he seemed to not want to come with the rest of them, having had enough of all of this before flying off like a rocket.

It was then pointed out by a few of them that there were no spirits left over from the feral zombie things they had killed. Sectonia knew what this meant, and said. "Well if they are just souls flying about, not spirits themselves, then someone or something summons these things and until we defeat that, they will just keep coming." Having said that, Sectonia scooped up her fire antillion and went up the shaft with everyone else. Now that its been shown how much of a threat these thigns are, she'd have to keep a much more attentive eye on them.

While Tora stumbled for a moment over Midna’s word choice, not knowing what she referred to as ‘bat-things’ and wondering if she ran into her own monster problem up on the frozen ship, he spared no effort in his complaints about the Wendigo. “Meh, meh, meh! That freakypon was absolute menace!” he confirmed. “Ridiculous speed, claws sharp enough to slice ether-alloy like butter, and even though it butt naked, it stupid hard to damage!”

“It very lucky we discover fire weakness so fast,” Poppi murmured, her tone suggesting that she’d given thorough consideration to what might have happened had they not made such an expedient breakthrough.

Primrose brought up the creatures’ abnormal deaths as well, which out of everything probably sat with Tora the worst. Since coming to the World of Light, the longest-serving team members had grown accustomed to its laws, relying on little they knew to make sense of everything else. Like the spirits that still puzzled Therion, for instance. The fact that some enemies disobeyed those laws was a profoundly worrisome one, and if Sectonia’s theory held water, it would take a lot more work to put the Wendigo down for good.

“Man,” Mona groaned. “It just had to happen right when half of us split off, too. Either we’ve got majorly bad luck, or this world is actually conspiring against us.” Poppi couldn’t help but agree; out of everyone who got hurt, Therion wasn’t among them, so the team couldn’t even free his gleaming heart.

“Damn flares,” the Scout cursed, eager to deflect any blame that might be headed his way. “Deep Rock seriously needs to invest in some better equipment.”

The thought of his allies getting assassinated while he’d been powerless to help shook even the typically stolid Fox. “We must be more careful about when we split up.”

“For real…”

Other than that brief spark of conversation, the ascent was a muted one, as if the weight of the mountain and settled upon them and brokered a solemn silence. The lift raised the band of heroes to dizzying heights, albeit slowly, and while the team’s gliders meant that a fall wouldn’t be fatal, nobody wanted this ordeal to last a second longer than it had to. While Sectonia’s aura continued to balm their wounds, it was hard for anyone to feel good about the skirmish in the dark, even the chipper and optimistic ones. At the very least they could appreciate the total lack of allied casualties, since the more experienced and jaded among their number knew just how quickly death could take the unprepared, and even the likes of Tora had known the loss of a companion. Even without permanent losses, however, the encounter left its mark, and not just in the blood of comrades forced to retreat.

For the greatest foe that stood between the Seekers and their objective was no frosty giant or slavering ghoul; it was the mountain itself. Every minute that passed, the cold burrowed a little deeper into their bodies. It crept a little closer to their cores, the mountain’s icy grip tightening its grip, little by little. The heroes shivered as the elevator brought them onward and upward, really feeling the cavern’s terrible chill now that the blood-pumping action was over. If it hadn’t been obvious before, it was dawning on them now: this trek had become a battle of attrition, against a foe they could not fight.

Tora’s teeth chattered as he tried to snuggle closer to his companion for warmth, but the roasty-toastiness he sought was not forthcoming. “Poppi, what gives? Why turn down heat, meh?”

It was a moment before the artificial blade replied, her expression serious. “At previous heat level, energy usage outpace ether intake by unsustainable margin,” she murmured. “Ether furnace not operating at full capacity in such extreme conditions. Unless lift drop us off right in front of boss, it only get worse, too. Poppi need conserve ether.”

“O-oh,” Tora fretted. “W-well, we at least in holding pattern, yes?”

Rather than look at him, Poppi stared upward. She watched Big Band’s rocket peter out as he came to a stop over a stone ledge high above, which he proceeded to land on safely. Then, in a low voice, she said, “Unfortunately, Poppi still currently operating at loss.”

A few minutes later, the lift came to a stop at the top of the immense cavern. It came to a rest in the middle of a web of wooden platforms and scaffolding, which also housed the suitably gigantic pulley mechanism for the lift, but the main point of interest was the way out. Two very heavy wooden doors sat at the end of a carved stone passage, the way dark thanks to lightless braziers but otherwise featureless.

Big Band did not look happy. As the brass behemoth shivered, his components let out a subdued symphony of clicks, creaks, and honks. “My regulators ain’t built for this crap,” he informed the others. “An’ the part of me that’s still human’s fixin’ to freeze solid. ‘Course, I don’t suppose any a you bunch are doin’ any better.” When he respired, his instruments gave voice to his uneven gasps, letting off puffs of steamy breath.

“Oxygen’s definitely thinner up here,” Necronomicon warned, before making a quick pivot into a positive spin on the situation. “On the plus side, that means we made a lot of progress.”

Standing near Poppi for whatever heat he could glean, the Scout grumbled, “I’d ‘ope so. We were roidin’ that thing for a bloody long time.”

“Then our mission is nearly complete!” Braum laughed, though even the impressively cold-resistant Freljordan had begun to shiver. He stepped forward to clap a hand on Band’s shoulder. “Come, friend, let us get this door open for everyone!” The detective joined him, and the two put their strength to the task.

It proved to be no easy feat however, as a pressure on the other side of the doors demanded more than a little strength. The reason why became clear as soon as Braum and Band succeeded, for as they finally threw open the doors a mass of bitterly cold wind struck the heroes like a giant, invisible bludgeon. They stepped out into the elements to find themselves near the top of a lesser peak, joined to the main mountain it grew from like a tumor by a snow-covered stone bridge that led between high walls.



Try as he might to get a good view from the bridge, and find encouragement in seeing just how far he’d come, Tora could see nothing through the wintry haze that enveloped the mountain. Only dark stone and white powder awaited him no matter where he looked, although some of the outcrops looked very much like giant faces or even full figures, and way off to one side, across a vast span of emptiness, he thought he saw the outline of a distant structure a bit lower down. Unwilling to give up any progress for the sake of curiosity-driven exploration, Tora hopped down from Poppi’s arms to help lead the team on the path laid out before them, across the bridge and toward the opening between the walls Theoretically the existence of man-made structures offered some comfort, a hint of control amidst the chaos, but practically it was just more frozen rock. They could only hope to find shelter in whatever structure lay beyond them. At least nobody had to worry about the possibility of the wind blowing them off the bridge, since it came at a fortuitous angle. In a silent, focused procession, like pilgrims bound for sanctuary the Seekers marched up the stairs. In like manner they passed through the grand gateway, to where the last leg of their journey began.



Tora blinked, stupefied. No haven or structure of any kind stood before him. Only snow. A breathtaking field of snow at a very appreciable incline, unbroken except for an untold number of small stone rods, chewed up by the biting wind. The horrible thought struck him that those meager stakes, devoid of inscription or ornamentation, must be tombstones–all that remained to mark the final resting places of climbers that came before. He couldn’t tell how many were scattered about, for they extended as far as his vision did into the snowstorm that blanketed the mountainside, obscuring all but the radiance that shone through the split peak, still so heart-rendingly far away. And though no buildings stood beyond these walls, they served the purpose of protection nonetheless–protecting the Seekers from the true force of the mountain’s headwind, until right now. It rolled down across the field and into the heroes with staggering force, enough to send anyone who didn’t hunker down in the snow right back through the gateway.

Appalled, Poppi strained her optics for any sign of shelter that could shield her friends from this cruel wind. Instead, she discovered certain woeful shapes beside a few of the stone memorials, frosted over and still as statues. She spotted a naked man in a black iron pot, a sledgehammer clutched tight against his chest, and she saw a little girl curled up behind a drift of snow, where the wind wasn’t quite so punishing. Then Poppi stopped searching.

It would take anyone a few moments to come to grips with such a sight, but the Seekers failed to receive even that. As they took in the Graveyard of the Peaks before them, squinting against the wind and the flurries of snow driven before it, one patch of shadowy whiteness separated itself from the rest. It grew closer and more distinct, until its recognition could fill a number of the onlookers with anger or dread. Tora bristled with anger at the sight of the floating nemesis that appeared before him twice before, the first to set Poppi against him as an enemy and the second to instigate the binary sniper duel that threatened his mission quite unlike any challenge before or sense. It was, without ceremony, Master Hand.

Its voice, a toneless distortion, thrummed through the air. Its every word sent vibrations through the heroes’ bodies, producing the sound that a grimacing Big Band quickly came to loathe as much as Tora and Poppi.

“Seekers of restoration, bravers of extremity. You have traveled far, and but few steps remain. While last night your compatriots trawled the depths of the sea, you now gaze upon the apex of the world, where the end of the land marks the origin of the sky. And though you have done well to come so far, the prize you seek lies beyond your grasp. For the summit stands above all things. By no power of yours will you attain it.”

Master Hand held itself out, palm upward, as if sharing something of vital import. “At this hour, I bring you neither misfortune nor hardship. No enemies to block your path. For none are needed. The cold, the wind, and the mountain are all that you require. Turn back, lest your last breath be drawn among these countless monuments, raising the peak yet higher with your ashen corpse preserved in ice, as with so many before you. And yet, I know you will not. For is it not the mark of a hero to never surrender, but push forever onward, even unto the end?”

The entity snapped, then turned upward, its fingers closing, and without another word disappeared into the storm, leaving the heroes with its ultimatum, the cold, the wind, and the mountain.



Stunlocked and muscle-impaired by the lightning that coursed through her vital fluid to the point of steam rising from her electro-charged body, Nadia was in no position to see the fate that befell an overconfident Delsin. Shocked mentally as much as physically by the elemental reaction, in fact, she could barely even hear it, but every one of the feral’s comrades still on his or her feet received the full brunt of the horror. The screams of man and monster alike resounded across the beach, their cries intermingled for a brief but awful instant before Delsin fell silent, and only the stomach-churning sound of the Orphan turning its victim to mulch remained.

Rendered vulnerable by his heart-rending stint aboard the Maw, Link could not take it. An immensity of guilt and anguish fell upon him, and beneath its weight the hero crumbled, stricken by the cries that resounded in his mind. He sagged like a deflated balloon until the Orphan’s tide of lightning crashed into him on the rebound a second later, and though without enough Hydro on (or within) his being to share Nadia’s paralysis, he was brought to his knees by its electrifying power.

Given Link’s legendary reputation, it came as a miracle that the youngest and most inexperienced members of the team fared better. While Kamek flew to safety, weaving between the bolts that fell from heaven to strike the wave below at regular intervals, Junior and Rika risked their necks to save Peach’s, and together the three found refuge upon the rocks. The princess came to with fortuitous speed thanks to the white mages’ treatment, downed rather than knocked out by the Orphan’s brutal backhand, and Blazermate’s sudden arrival sped up her recovery even further. From their vantage point the cluster of survivors could watch Hatty dodge through the thunderstorm with expert precision, so much so that the agile child could even summon her Black Mage between storm fronts to plaster the Orphan with some Lighting of his own. Though the spell contributed but little to the nightmare’s demise, its damage continued to stack over time, while Hatty herself could stay on the move.

At the same time, the loss of both Delsin and Bowser spurred the others forward. Brushing off the jolt that gave him pause Geralt flowed across the black sand like a raging river, his fury tempered into wicked strength. The Orphan of Kos met him with a double-handed diagonal cleave, but the Witcher dodged to the right side, and a burst of flame seared the abomination’s stretched-thin flesh. Beside him Sakura’s flying kick struck home, but it would take more than that to overcome the Orphan’s posture. Burned but not broken, it took a follow-up swing and carried on with a second blow from the other side, a blow that demanded the sacrifice of Geralt’s shield. The meaty guillotine rose skyward for the third hit of the sequence, but its would-be victim wisely disengaged. His choice of caution over capitalization spared him a hit from behind from the resurgent wave of lightning, and enough hitstun to guarantee his enemy’s killer finale. Rather than blood, the fall of the Orphan’s blade exhumed a splash of muck from the briny beach.

When Geralt stepped back to bring out the Judicator, Sakura picked up where he left off. Her enemy wheeled around in a terrifyingly huge three-sixty slash, both strong and high enough to decapitate an entire crowd of civilians, but the Orphan’s height allowed the Street Fighter to roll beneath its outrageous swing. Empowered by Sakura Shenpu, she struck back with a brilliant twirling gale kick, then moved again to make sure her next attack didn’t come at a terrible cost. Fighting with a true hero’s courage and determination at a blistering pace, she danced around the Orphan as it launched into a series of wild side-to-side sweeps, able to land only one strike at a time as she struggled to stay one step ahead of the thing. When her number came up, Geralt was there to lend a hand, using his excellent range to thrust and slice at the horror’s winged back while the lash of the Judicator’s thurible provided emergency restoration.

Those who fought the Orphan in the ensuing moments quickly found it to be an entirely different beast. Whereas it fought like a madman before, it now no longer fought like a man at all, instead throwing itself around in immense lunges, pounds, and sweeps that brought it in and out of range. It made for a highly mobile -not to mention stressful- fight, and that posed a problem for Kamek’s mission to revive Delsin. The abomination just wouldn’t stay put, either in the fiery slime the Koopa Prince laid down or when fighting any particular opponent, no matter how much Junior or Rika shot it. Not, at least, until Ace’s arrow zipped down and lodged between its ribs. The Orphan paused a moment to stare at the projectile as its internal pressure forced it out, and when Ace’s shout reached it from the rocky cliffside he’d been climbing, the nightmare leered his way. As the Seekers surrounded it, the nightmare leaped into action.

With a scream it leaped into the air, soaring even higher and faster than it did to swat Junior from the sky before. As it neared the top of its arc, it wrenched a handful of flesh from its placenta and hurled it down at the beach below in a visceral bombing run. Nadia, only just now recovering from her untimely electrocution, stared upward in dismay. “Meatier shower!” she yowled, scrabbling uselessly at the sand with numb limbs in a vain attempt to get out of the way. In accordance with Ace’s shout, however, a familiar blacksteel tail wound around Nadia’s midsection and scooped her out of harm’s way. With the feral on her leviathan’s grasp Bella got clear of the bloody explosion, though the shockwave still knocked both on their rears.

Heart racing from exhilaration and electrical stimulation alike, Nadia spent the first few seconds of her new lease on life panting. “Whoo…whoo…thanks a million, Bell.”

“Je t’en prie.” The Abyssal pushed herself back to her feet with her tail and extended her hand to help Nadia up, noting that the catgirl’s flowy hair was standing on end. “Are you alright?”

“Guess so, but man that lightning hertz.” Nadia pulled off a Nyawn to kickstart her regeneration, then cleared her head -as well as the leftover static- with a hearty shake. When she stood and opened her eyes she saw the full extent of the Orphan’s devastation. While Blazermate’s shield protected both herself and Peach, the bombardment had scattered both her allies and Delsin’s ashes across the black sand, turning Kamek’s already-difficult endeavor into a near impossibility, and now the freak was headed for Ace, all on its lonesome. “Dammit!” she hissed, and without a second’s delay she launched herself across the sand on all fours, running toward the monster hunter as the Orphan hurtled his way.

With that hideous face coming fast the string of his greatbow pulled taut to the max, Ace had one chance to make it count, and he bet the farm on it. His Power shot blazed forth, ripping through the air and into the gristle of the onrushing monstrosity. Unable to pierce through, it conferred its full force into the Orphan’s upper body, enough to throw off its flight pattern. With a wail the thing fell short, slamming into the rocks below. Even that stopped it for only a second, however, and though projectiles rained down upon it from the Koopa Troop, Sakura, and a recovered Peach from her vantage point not so far away, the creature began to climb. Not even a withering railgun shot from Bella managed to knock it down. Its unsettlingly rapid ascent forced Ace to scramble for his life, and though he evaded each blow the margin for error grew slimmer by the second. After the monster paused to hurl another handful of fleshbursters down at the beach, it took to the sky once more to dive down upon Ace from above. Yet even when backed into a corner, the monster hunter managed to escape with a little help, and when the Orphan’s guillotine fell upon salt-weathered stone it split a deep fissure into the cliffside.

It was then, as it stood over the crevice, that something seemed to occur to the Orphan of Kos. Even from her position at the foot of the cliffside where she’d been charging up water purr-essure for a superjump, Nadia could almost see the gears in its head turning. As she rocketed up into the air she watched the monster gouge a huge chunk of meat from its placental blade, but rather than lob it at the Seekers, it plunged the throbbing mass into the stone. “No freaking way,” she whispered, but sure enough, her worst fears came true.

The craggy cliffside exploded in a massive blast of bloodstained stone. Huge boulders flew in every direction, and along with them flew Nadia, Blazermate, Peach, and every other hero in the area, although none quite so high as Ace. It was luck of the draw that none happened to hit Nadia, but watching one breeze right by her made her realize something strange. Both the Seekers and the debris sailed through the air slower than it seemed like they should, and they didn’t fall nearly as fast. For a moment the flying cat burglar thought it was just adrenaline warping her perception, but as the seconds ticked by she became less sure. It was almost as if gravity itself had been turned down a notch or two. Why? Hell if she knew, but considering the impossible location of this beach, anything might as well go. Whatever the cause, she could see both the Orphan drifting down toward the beach through the chaos, and her allies tumbling through the air, and the sight sparked another crazy idea.

“Someone keep it busy!” she called. Airdashing toward one of the flying boulders, Nadia split off a copycat before she kicked off downward, headed toward the earth. At the same time Peach directed her fall toward the Orphan, during which she fired her scatterboom again and again as to scorch the earth where her enemy stood, halting her momentum each time she did. Thanks to that special trick, she managed to evade its retaliatory cleave, although it would take more than one hero’s efforts to keep the monster from wandering off.

Up above, Ace’s flight came to a stop in the arms of Nadia’s watery copycat. “A purr-fect plaything!” she laughed as she grabbed him out of the air and threw him down toward the earth. There, he found the real Nadia Fortune along with another one of her mimics, a net of sturdy muscle fibers pulled between them. It broke his fall, then stretched to its limit beneath the weight of the monster hunter plus all his equipment. Ace got a split second to see Nadia to his left, a kooky grin on her face. “Go get ‘em, tiger!” she decreed, just before her elastic sinews snapped back. Both Ms Fortunes yanked on the net with all they had, ejecting Ace in a high-speed arc toward the beleaguered Orphan of Kos.

Up and up they went, higher and higher, and while Midna learned a bit more about the things she had misidentified as bat-ish monsters they, fortuitously, did not return. As far as the twilight princess could tell they weren't being hunted by them either, her darkness adapted eyes not picking out any further movement out in the frozen caves.

Indeed, no further foes assailed them. Other than the ever present cold of course, which gnawing at them, wearing them down, and only increasing in intensity as they ascended, to the point that even Poppi’s flame production stopped working due to the ever increasing exertion needed to keep it going outpacing her ability to supply it with mana, or at least that was Midna’s understanding of the problem.

As they arrived at the top of the lift and slowly headed for an exit to the caves, it became clear that one else was really doing well. Even those who were used to or adapted to the cold, like Braum, were feeling the chill, though it was honestly impressive that the big man had gotten this far without any clothes. Shame they didn't have any to give him and let him carry on unbothered.

Midna meanwhile found herself curled up and hugging herself in an attempt to withhold as much of her dwindling reserves of heat that she could as she floated in the air. It was a position that wasn't quite fetal, but it would likely have gotten there if the blast of wind caused by the two big guys of the group throwing open the door hadn’t sent her tumbling backwards through the air, swearing as she went.

For a bit after that, she joined them on the ground, but her lack of friction caused by the mag-lev mod meant that she had to spike each step with dragon clawed toes. They trudged across the bridge beyond the caves like a line of pilgrims, though ironically enough the monastery the man who’s thimble she had in her possession had talked about seemed to be off to the side of their path. Given the state of herself and the party, the princess was in little mood for side-questing.

That mood changed when they finally reached the far side of the bridge and passed through the stone gateway beyond and found a void of white, spotted only by a few frozen corpses and a star-field of what might be gravestones, neither of which boded well. Oh and, hiding in plain sight, there was also a giant white glove floating in the wall of white filling the air. Mind dulled by cold, it took Midna a moment to realize that this must be the so-called master hand, which spoke with bone shuddering words and more or less spelled out their doom, before confidently stating that they’d push on regardless, because that was what heroes did.

Midna disagreed. Not about never surrendering, she wasn't about to call this a lost cause because of some very very very bad weather, but sometimes you found a impassable barrier that you needed a certain tool, or a power that was not your own, to bypass that you needed to get from somewhere else, and that was the framework she approached this wall of wind and white with.

”The guy in the tree said something about scolding hot oil when talking about the monastery. Not going to engage in whatever crazy cult stuff is going on over there, but if they can heat oil, and, you know, live up here, then they have the fuel to warm people right? Clothes to stay warm? Magical resistance? Something to deal with this. Because if we try to brute force that as we are, it is not going to go well” Midna suggested, hoping there would be a key to this to be found nearby. If they could get around to the monastery in the first place.

If they did vote to soldier on together, well, she was not going to try and shove through the snow herself. That was quite literally impossible, the lightweight and low friction princess would be slid backwards if she tried to go under her own power. So she would summon her wolf-dran, the only one who had taken power from a mountain denizen for its own in hindsight, and then hide in its shadow as the cold adapted beast with its clawed grip and low quadrupedal form made the trek for her, the princess saving her strength for if, or rather when, she would need to try and bail the others out of the nightmare that was, goddesses willing, the last part of their accent.