---

---

It was taking a moment for many of the crew to prepare the first attack as the large sand serpent continued its assault on the team. Every second it encroached closer and closer to the gunner train as it ran it's course along the tracks. The team had frantically scrambled amuck the surface of the locomotive to charge, load and (hopefully) eventually fire the shells that Midna had brought up to them. Raiden did not offer to help, because while he was experienced in warfare technologies, there simply were too many of the creatures the vehicle had called "Akrids" swarming the crew as they prepared the explosives.

Running across the handrails and guards of the train, Raiden performed many masterful slices of the Akrids that the other passengers had not yet dealt with. Raiden had noticed the winged queen who resembled a bee dealing a fair sum of damage to the creatures, however it wasn't enough to keep dealing with the swarms. They needed to hit the big guy and fast. Somewhat distressed, Raiden voiced his concerns. "Hey guys, how much longer are we with those explosives?" It took a lot for Raiden to get overwhelmed with enemies, but then was one of those moments. Easily this was a lot for him to deal with and many other crew members might have been able to second that same thought.

It was as Raiden cut down the middle of another creature that the large serpent buried itself in the sand that the crew had announced their preparation for an attack. They had loaded the weaponry with the multitude of explosives Midna had carried and with the assistance of the young psychic, they were charged and ready for the assault. Raiden would have been lying to himself if he didn't get a little bit excited by the force that shook from within the emerging Akrid directly in the face, causing it to ripple and seethe in a roar of pain. Raiden gave his round of one-liners with the rest of the group. "Dead on!"

Of course, that was not enough, however. The large monstrosity quickly gained control of itself as it began encroaching the train again. Raiden did notice the red "weak spots", however, his only ranged weapon might as well have been a BB gun compared to the large boils. This was a job meant for those manning the guns, so Raiden had left himself positioned on ground duty. As the group fired with full force, the train shook at the might of the collision from the large ball. Able to sustain his footing, Raiden noticed the red tripod creatures now boarding the locomotive, and sighed under his breath. "You gotta be shitting me... One thing after another."

Raiden watched painfully as the white haired crew member smacked against the metal, cringing as the man’s supposed lover or the sort rushed to his aid. These things needed to be taken care of carefully, otherwise everyone on board would have ended up with concussions. His eyes were led to a decent grouping of the Bolsepia mounted atop the charging station, where Raiden could rush to the fastest. Dashing to the explosive gathering of creatures, Raiden quickly maneuvered his HF Blade into the scabbard on his back, swapping quickly to the red HF Murasama on his hip. He'd use the trigger on the sheathe to swiftly expel the blade into his hand, making a precise swipe at the monster, cutting it masterfully in half horizontally, propelling it away from the train with a sweep of it's legs, in case it had exploded as the others did to his new compatriots. "Piece of shit." He muttered as he located the next Bolsepia.

It seemed immobilizing the creatures then quickly disposing of them was the best option to dealing with their swarming masses, and Raiden was quick to notice this as he made quick work of yet another of the creatures, splattering the liquids against his red blade, quickly removing another from the battle. The battle for the others had not yet ended, as the man clad in the beige trench coat used his weaponry made of musical instruments to remove of some of the swarm in his radius. He nodded in secretive approval of how well the detective man was managing to handle himself. A skilled fighter was always appreciated in an effort as such.

Continuing the clean slices of the monsters, Raiden kept to his own, dealing with the problems that neared him now. He was sure that trouble was sure to return to the crew soon, so he needed to rush with his attacks. Blade in hand, he fought off the nearby living mines. It didn't take him very long after defeating them to realize that one of the monstrous explosives had cornered the small engineer who was performing various repairs on the trains. After the guy gave a cry for his companion to come and protect him, only to be cornered further by the red body, the Nopon began searching for a way out of the sticky situation he found himself in. Unable to help in the current circumstances, Raiden noticed the kerfuffle from his post. Quickly pointing, he shouted to the rest of the crew (or at least those who could hear him in close proximity), alerting them to the fearful situation that was taking place. "Someone, get that damn thing off of that engineer! I've got my hands full at the moment and the fucker's about to pop!"

Raiden truthfully would have assisted the guy if he was in closer range and didn't have live explosives prepared to jump at him at any moment. He dearly hoped someone could step in for his lack of ability to help in the current situation as he continued to mow down the enemies he currently had control over. Continuing to balance his blade in his palm, he killed yet another (and hopefully the last) of the explosive red-heads mounted in his area. He'd quickly make himself available for any other assistance closer to him if need be.

---

---

”Thank you for the escort sunshine” she told the swordsman who’d made sure she got to and from the ammo store safe and sound. ”Could have done without the view though” she added thoughtlessly, before wincing at her own words. The guy had probably been quite the looker before whatever had happened to require the replacement of so much of his body with gruesome metalwork, it wasn't exactly nice to rub it in.

Rather than go for another ammo run or have time to apologize however, it looked like she had more work to do up top.

”Wait, I’m also loading these as well as bringing them? A princess’s work is never done apparently” Midna said, slipping of her wolfos (which immediately leapt up and snatched a Trilid from the air without her direction) and then grabbed one of the shells at random using her shadow hand and plopping it into the slot, which was simple enough. As soon as it was in the machine sucked up the shell into the barrel, and opened up the slot again.

”So I just keep feeding this thing and- no alright only one more. Guess I’m waiting around for now” Midna thought out loud as she popped a second shot into the reserve slot. ”Now we just need to point it right- wow!” the princess stumbled as the turret suddenly shifted underneath her, being spun round by the travelers to point at their target. While surprised she didn't come anywhere close to falling like Cia did, but she did have to make a grab to make sure her 3 remaining shells didn't roll off.

”I’ve got them, don’t worry about it!” she reassured the others once that became the truth, hugging one shell with each arm and holding the third in her shadow hand, ready to fill the reserve slot. A heartbeat later it became available, because the cannon let loose a deafening roar as it spat its first shot towards the titan, the shell flying so fast it seemed to be instantaneous.

”Goddesses, this thing lives up to its size” she swore, rather awed by the power of the mass of machinery. Sadly despite its unfathomable might the titanic worm wasn’t going down from a single shot, or even really dissuaded in any way by it. Instead, as Midna fed the third of her five shells into the freshly emptied reserve slot, it used a bend in the track to catch up with them.

”Get lost you oversized caterpillar!” she yelled, disapproving of this

In doing so however, it exposed several mounds that Necronomicon identified as weak spots, an assessment she 100% agreed with even if she couldn't actually do anything about the spots due to them being out of range of her arsenal. Fortunately the people crewing the turrets had that covered, all of them blasting away at its side with gusto.

Unfortunately it wasn't content to passively sit and let them chew away at its side. Instead it spat out a massive spiked ball right at their train.

”Big shot incoming! Grab hold of something” the princess shouted in warning as she did the same, reaching out with her shadow hand and grabbing a railing just in time, as the biological wrecking ball smashed into the side of the train and sent it shuddering and causing her Wolfos to lose its footing and hit the deck with a pained bark.

Then the spine covered sack clinging to the train burst, and showered the vehicle with awful skittering pod things which, as it turned out when Poppi instantly dashed forwards to skewer one, exploded upon death.

”Oh great, of course they do!” Midna complained as she dumped her two remaining shells into the twilight realm ”You’ve still got two shots lined up! I’ll make sure you get the chance to shoot them!” she announced to the rest of the cannon crew before roughly helping her wolfos stand and setting about helping clear out the bomb bugs.

She raced forward on wolfos back, raising a hand and then lashing it forwards, summoning her newly acquired boxy minion out of the twilight realm and sending the megafied malignant mimic bowling forwards. It slammed into a pair of Bolsepia, bowling them off of the train in a single strike.

”No hangers on!” the princess shouted, lacking the cultural nuance to make any kind of train pun/joke in response to her hit. She spun around on her mount, spotting the skull jawed warrior making salami out of some of the bombs nearby, and in the process got her attention directed towards where Tora was in trouble a fair ways away from both of them.

”On it!” Midna replied as she flicked a hand, summoning a pair of Chilfos strikers. As the princess tipped off the side of her mount the two frozen undead hurled their signature spears forwards, skewering the bomb and stopping it getting any closer Tora but that did not realy solve the problem, but rather caused it to start priming its denotation sequence.

A heartbeat away from disaster Midna, having hopped from her wolfos’s shadow to Tora’s reached out with her shadow hand over the nervous Nopon’s shoulder and grabbed the pulsating carcass with a ”Gotcha” before hurling it into the open air next to the train.

Despite how impossible this battle seemed at a glance and the fact that it only barely began, Raz thought they were doing pretty fine so far! Though... no, no not really. For all the efforts in keeping the swarm at bay, a few flying stingrays cut through the line of defense and bombarded the train. And when the Railway Gun finally fired a round, it looked impressive... and only barely affected the huge monster. It seemed to make it mad more than anything!

Raz had a couple other things to worry about first, though. Aiming the Railway Gun sent the little platform he was on careening sideways. He was able to stay balanced of course, but the tall, seemingly blindfolded archer, Ciella, didn't. "I gotcha!" He shouted, swooping his TK to catch her by the wrist before she tumbled right off the train. With a yank he lifted her back onto her feet. Now that the charging station was facing away from the swarm, meaning they couldn't very well keep going at it, Raz took the time to offer some advice.

"You know, your center of gravity seems to be a bit... uh, high," he noted. "When you're on something precarious like, for example, a spinning platform atop a moving train, it'd help you keep steady if you lowered it. If you crouched down or something." Anything further would have to come later, as Red Eye changed tactics, and sent a whole bunch of weird, bulb-y creatures all over the train!

Raz was prepared to start firing again, but when the first Bolsephia exploded, he had a better idea. "Oh, this thing really made a mistake now," he chuckled. "It just gave us more ammo! Cover the button for me!" Raz clambered backwards, boosting off the charging station onto one of the railings, and reached his TK hand towards the nearest creature. It rose from the ground with ease, struggling in vain in Raz's psychic grasp.

"Hey guys!" Raz cupped his hands over his mouth and hollered towards Skull, Panther, and the rest of the turret gunners. "Batter... uh, fire in the... shoot this thing!" With a big psi-push Raz threw the snatched Bolsephia right back at Red Eye - specifically at one of those big bulbous spots that were obviously an important weakpoint. Hopefully his teammates got the meaning, cuz he just kept chucking them! Plucking the ones closest to Ciella and the charging station, as well as any that decided to move towards him, throwing them one by one at the many bulges for the gunners to shoot.

---

This thing just spat out more and more reinforcements. Even with Sectonia and her minions clearing the path for the others, some still go through. At least that new passenger was doing some good work cleaning up the baddies that got past the queen. Still, this thing wasn't letting up, and while she could fly backwards and still strike this thing, it wasn't all that pleasant to do.

But soon, at last, the cannon fired. And the creature in response, having actually felt that attack, decided to launch a big ball at the train that landed, releasing a ton of what were soon to be found out, bomb creatures. Likewise after having taken that shot, red bulbous growths appeared all along the creature in some spots between its plates, spots that Sectonia was informed were weak points and that the others not manning the big gun nor dealing with the rabble were shooting at.

"hmm hmm hmm. Weak points? What a quaint novelty. " Sectonia muttered to herself. Seeing as her minions on the train were having some issues with the bombers, Sectonia turned to face the train, and seeing who was doing the most of the killing down there, decided to cast her haste spell on Raiden, Raz, and everyone nearby. She was unaware of, nor could see, Tora in his station and his situation, but she could at least summon some ice antillions to start to freeze the stuff on the train to finalize her aid to the train crew before turning back to the monster, and with some cackles, threw her light rings at the creature. She did bemoan a bit though that it would be nice to be able to rest on the train and snipe this thing at her leisure though...

Frisk @Majoras End Albedo @Lugubrious, Papyrus @Dark Cloud

---

---

Linkle smiled at Frisk's enthusiasm. "Don't worry about going all out. I'm all healed up, remember? I can take it. Besides, I actually have a way to heal people if they get too hurt, but it takes something out of me to use it. So we'll be fine." She said, thumping herself on the chest as Albedo led the group slightly outside town. Pulling it away, she held up resulting bright pink in her hand before letting it pop. "Familiar, huh? That's one not my soul, though. It's actually...I'm not sure how they work, actually. I think they're powered by friendship."

The snow on the road here wasn't packed down from constant travelers, but it wasn't so deep that it could impair anyone's movement. "This looks alright." She said, holding up a hand to call everyone to a stop before walking forward a short distance from the child and the stalfoes. Turning on her heel, she pulled one crossbow out of her boot and twirled it before pointing it at the two. Frisk had that shield, and Papyrus was just bones. The bolts shouldn't be too hard on either of them. "You guys don't have to take turns. Just treat me like you would any evil villain! Muahahaha, and stuff like that!"

With that she started firing on both of them, alternating the crossbow between Frisk and Papyrus and fighting against muscle memory to not just hold down the trigger and spray bolts at them. The bolts were consistent, but they weren't the walls she usually put out. All she had to do was nick either of them, then the decision of whether or not they were going to fight in earnest would be out of their hands.

Karin watched proudly as her guests enjoyed themselves. Or rather, each other’s company. After all, Karin wasn’t here to be the center of attention! She was only here to facilitate the enjoyment of the Seekers company.

(And, of course, to find out more about who they were and what their goals were.) Karin knew hero types. After all, she was one of them herself. Not long ago she had participated in destroying M. Bison’s Shadaloo base, delivering the final blow herself with her personal orbital satellite cannon. But M. Bison was a threat to the entire world. If left unattended, his pestilence would spread across the globe like a plague and devour everything. As terribly cruel as the war with the Abyssals was, ultimately, it was a local problem. What could have possessed this eclectic and miscellaneous band of do-gooders to travel from afar and interfere so drastically? With no obvious external reward and with great mortal peril. Altruism only went so far as a reasonable explanation. It would hardly be reasonable to expect local heroes to travel to the other side of the world to deal with their issues. Karin herself has been an arbiter of justice and a keeper of the peace while staying at Limsa. Therefore, one must conclude that the Seekers had an ulterior motive. It was right there in their name: Seekers. What were they after?

Link, a dashing young man, approached her and thanked her for the service. “Oho, of course. It was no problem at all! I assure you, even someone of ravenous appetite cannot deplete the Kanzuki clan of our resources. I have plenty of practice with that kind of thing.” She cast a glance over at Birdie, who was lounging in the ocean in some kind of floatable.

“By all means, help yourself to as much food as you’d like. Just don’t get sick.”

Karin watched the volleyball game, keeping her criticism to herself for once. After all, she had set up the net for them to play.

“Well, Ishizaki-san. I do believe this to be a success thus far.” She said as he showed up with a silver tray of brightly colored drinks with various exotic fruits sliced up and cut into the edges.

“Ee-yup!”

“‘Ee-yup’?” Karin looks at him down her sunglasses.

“Ee-yup!” He repeats with a wink. Karin rolls her eyes and smirks. Of all her staff, only Mister Ishikazi could get away with such impertinence. He had special privileges, since he had been a part of her life as long as she had been alive.

More Seekers arrived, being Geralt and Yennifer, though Karin didn’t know their names. She overheard one of them asking about her, and Karin moved effortlessly from one conversation to the next, to make herself known to new party guests.

“That would be me. I am Karin Kanzuki, Mistress of this summer estate. You two are quite the-” She glances over at Geralt, and then Yennifer. “-handsome couple, if I am reading the proverbial room correctly.”

With Tora's assurance that they didn't need to wait for the shells to be loaded, Primrose and Therion set to do their part. The Travelers found out quickly that the opposite turning stations were just that: opposing controls to move the cannon's barrel either clockwise, or counter-clockwise. They shared another look with each other; a silent, seconds-long conversation that terminated with Primrose slamming her hand onto the panel to move the hulking gun, and Therion leaning out from his station with throwing knives tucked between his fingers. The whole crew had been doing a good job of keeping the little flying monsters at bay, but those that found their way through were put down by a few well placed blades. Quick and precise, Therion picked them off until the platform itself lurched and the gun swung around. He clung tight to the console as a trilid he'd been aiming at took it's chance and dived at him. Twirling it's body like a drill, the akrid cut into the skin of the thief's arm as he deflected it, and subsequently finished it off with his dagger.

"Careful!" he complained to Primrose without much bite in his voice. She scoffed in reply, then looked toward Jesse who'd taken over the task of actually firing the massive weapon. She also didn't know what Jesse referred to when she mentioned a "high" school, but judging from her tone it was likely a joke anyway. "You'll do fine," she told the red head, "take it from here."

The FBC Director made the finishing touches on the cannon's aim, and then she fired. The whole train shook with the force of the shot. To Primrose it felt like it had rattled her heart around in her chest. The roar of pain let loose from Red Eye was the only proof that the shot had even hit it's mark. Relief spread through the Seekers, a general low level of cheer that said they might really have a shot of beating this thing, and Therion went ahead and voiced the thought aloud.

"Might actually have a chance," he said, though there was still a hint of skepticism in his words.

"Don't get too cozy now," Primrose said, just as Red Eye decided to pull up alongside the train. Primrose started the process of turning the cannon again while the others started their offensive on the Guardian's weak points. It was just about on target when the monster launched something at them in retaliation. The spiked pod slammed into the train and knocked the cannon off track, and Primrose from her station.

"Ugh..." She pushed herself up as the pod opened up, letting dozens of bulbous red monsters skitter free. Explosive monsters, as it turned out. She watched the group contend with them, drawing up a spell in her hand. It seemed the easiest way to deal with the explosions was to get them off of the train, and so she lashed out with her dark magic to try and shove any that she could over the edge. She noticed a creature approaching her fellow dark mage, and focused her attention on that one. "Moonlight Waltz!" The spell struck the Bolsepia and toppled it, and a follow up sent it spiraling off of the train.

Back on the gun's platform, Therion had held fast when the pod struck. With his fellow operator flung away, it was now on him to get the cannon aimed properly again. He had some unexpected protection in the form of Raiden, who'd climbed up and was fending off any of the little creatures that drew near. Because of course this would happen right after they'd made some progress in the battle.

"Gods above," Therion muttered, hesitating at the panel's control. It was only for a few moments, but it was long enough for one of the Bolsepia to duck the metal man's blade and crawl it's way toward him. Therion growled and kicked the thing off of the platform, toward the group's Psychonaut who was using them for impromptu ammo. "Heads up," he warned, before he went back to shifting the main gun. Thankfully Tora hadn't been mistaken, it really was simple enough to control. The Railway Gun and it's platform moved again, on track to face down Red Eye again.

The dispersal of Bolsepia all across the locomotive, littering it from engine to Railway Gun to caboose, added a whole new dimension to the heroes’ already hectic struggle. Their suicidal self-destruction not only threatened the wellbeing of the Seekers, but the train itself, and nobody needed to point out that if their well-armed ride went kaput, the entirety of their campaign in the Sandswept Sky would soon follow. Skittering like puffed-up spiders, the oversized bomb bugs swarmed over the exterior of the train, moving as if by instinct to where their death detonations would do the most damage.

Fortunately, Raiden had just the tool for the job. His blade could carve through Bolsepia bodies without hindrance, and the precision of his Blade Mode meant that no matter how much carnage he left in his wake, his targets’ volatile heads went totally untouched. Killed too quickly and cleanly to explode, the Bolsepia that fell before him could do little but blow away in the wind, reduced to unsightly pieces and then, in short order, to ash.

He moved up top to the Railway Gun counterbalance, where the defense against the Akrid was the fiercest. There, the cyborg lent Raz and Ciella a hand against the Bolsepia, alongside Peacock after she popped up to add even more mayhem to the mix. Freshly armed with the knowledge that these things blew up when given half a chance, the little devil used a pair of striped flags to summon miniature biplanes flown by cartoonish bombs. Whether by sawing into Bolsepia legs with their propellers or just dive-bombing themselves, the planes helped send the unwelcome guests packing, but preemptively starting their countdowns and knocking them around quickly proved just as much a dangerous hindrance as a help.

With her own targets taken care of, Poppi joined her allies in their efforts to stop the Akrid sabotage. Cognizant of just how much danger these creatures posed, Midna and her assistants worked overtime to take them out as quickly as possible, while Sectonia cast her speed boosts down to make the most ruthless pest controllers among her allies that much faster. The insect queen kept her eyes on the prize, however, and though that meant she could deal some damage to Red Eye’s soft spots, she left the other Akrid unattended. Not many Trilid remained at this point, but those that did found Sectonia to be a tempting target, and as she slung light rings at Red Eye she got divebombed by a handful of the wretched things.

Down below, the Railway Gun remained in a state of chaos despite the Seekers’ fast action. The defense force by the charging station had splintered as the main cannon turned, with Raiden separated and Poppi -after hearing the cyborg’s shout- abandoning her post to save her Masterpon. With wild desperation she fought her way toward Tora, but in her haste she fell prey to an explosion that flung her down toward the tracks. Only a full-force thruster burn got her out of harm’s way, but it also forced her away from the train, and as she struggled to regain control and catch back up she could see the pandemonium caused by the Bolsepia all across the train. Joker had his hands full with the engine’s defense, relying on Arsene’s long limbs and Jinx’s stun gun to keep the scuttling bombs at arm’s length. One of them climbed up on top of Skull’s turret to blow itself up, and while the panicking thief managed to blast it back with his shotgun in time to save his own skin, his assailant still managed to take his turret with it. While Big Band’s Giant Step managed to knock down the critters on the roof of the caboose, it dealt only minimal damage, meaning that the Akrid were still very real threats. The one-man band went on the offensive, using Overblow, Brass Knuckle, and his patented 5000lb Slam dropkick to send the Bolsepia flying from the train. Even with the Scout’s assault rifle fire covering him, however, he couldn’t clear them all in time. A chain reaction from three of them tore a gaping hole in the armory car’s roof, leaving the remainder of the Railway Gun’s ammunition exposed.

Meanwhile Tharja, distracted by Robin’s injury, did not notice the Bolsepia priming itself behind her until it was already too late. Only one person did, in fact: Ciella. The furious red glow caught the archer’s eyes as she prepared a four-shot spread of rebounding arrows to clear the upper deck once and for all. For a split second the Agito wavered, reconsidering her choice of target. Then the Bolsepia in front of her surged, and Ciella let loose her shot straight ahead, washing the Akrid away in a torrent of maelstrom shots. At the same time, a loud burst on her periphery seemingly heralded the fate of Ciella’s former adversary, but when she glanced back over she saw that another magician had come to Tharja's aid with a well-placed couple of hexes. Ciella sighed, and turned her focus back to the enemy.

Tora’s own emergency, at least, turned out a little better. Midna saved the day at the last possible second, yanking the Bolsepia out of the Railway Gun’s passage in the nick of time and hurling it out to pop harmlessly in midair. Though it would be a minute before his heart stopped pounding, the Nopon breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been on the verge of tackling the Akrid to the floor and using his own super-spongy body as a shield for the machinery, but the Twilight Princess spared him such an unpleasant fate. “Thank you, meeh!” he gasped as he slumped down against the metal, fully aware that the array of red damage alerts on the screen beside him meant that despite his brush with disaster, he didn’t have any time to sit and rest. With a groan Tora wiped his brow, picked himself up, and busied himself with the repair console once more.

A moment later Poppi dashed in, her amber eyes wide with worry. “Masterpon!”

“Here!” Tora said, poking his head out. Though a little sootier and singed, the rotund engineer was none the worse for wear. “Glad to see Poppi okay!”

The sag of his companion’s shoulders suggested palpable relief. “Whew. Poppi also happy Masterpon not hurt.”

“What happen up there?” Tora asked, his eyes on his screen as he continued to work.

“Big slug cover train in bug bombs,” Poppi replied. “Mostly dealt with now, Poppi thinks.” She ducked back out into the sunshine, determined to stand guard over this section of the train. Thanks to the ingenious idea of Raz, the Seekers had cleaned up the leftover Bolsepia by returning them to sender. With all onboard Akrid eliminated, both the functional turrets and the capable Seekers were pounding the weak spots with all they had. As Poppi watched, one of the red spots, already tenderized by cannon fire, Bolsepia blasts, and projectile punishment, erupted in a visceral shower. When the extra-chunky salsa cleared, only a pulpy crater in the behemoth’s hide remained. The good news didn’t stop there, either. Thanks to Therion and Raiden’s effort spent keeping him safe, the cannon was in position ready to fire once more. This time it packed an energized Devil’s Roar shell instead of a bog-standard Cobalt, so once Jesse dialed in her aim on the sore spot her allies created, she could unleash one hell of a payload.

In that fateful moment, all the work put into that one shot paid dividends. The Railway Gun thundered, but its roar was nothing next to the calamitous bellow of Red Eye as the shell ripped a huge gap into the side of its thousand-plus foot body, revealing skeletal and spinal structure within the scarred, blackened flesh. It was a terrible, grievous wound, and yet…the behemoth did not back down.

Its response was immediate. Amidst its thrashing, Red Eye veered sideways. Its massive body slid closer and closer, keeping pace with its target. Big Band swallowed, the sweat beading on his forehead beneath his hat not just from the desert heat. “Hooh, I got it bad. And that ain’t good.” Unable to do anything but brace himself, and as frustrated as he was alarmed because of it, he hunkered down and watched until Red Eye grew so close that it began to push up against the train. Suddenly the both the track below and the train atop it began to tilt precariously to the right, its immense weight pitted against the incredible strength of Red Eye’s body. Suddenly the smaller turrets were so close to their target that they couldn’t hit anything but armor, though that was still small beans compared to the issues facing the Dragonfire main cannon. As its barrel shifted up, its counterweight shifted down, threatening to pull the entire train off the tracks with it.

“Meeeeh!” Tora cried as he climbed up from below, waving his wings in panic as the Thieves shot uselessly at whatever they could hit. “We going over any second now, meh! Maybe friends should abandon train!?”

“And then what!?” Band shouted back. “We got no chance without this thing!”

Poppi stood by her Masterpon, ready to grab him and hover at the drop of a hat should it come down to it. “If we mean to stay, we need get this thing off, now!” She jumped up on top of the cannon, making sure Jesse was okay. “Can we fire?”

That depended on whether or not the cannon was loaded, which it wasn’t. In the tumult of repelling the Bolsepia, no more shells had been either energized or loaded. It would also be much harder to aim while tilted, both for the gunner within and the Octopath Travelers beside. Something had to be done, and fast. Still, Red Eye being so close surely presented an opportunity of its own, and as Tora looked up, an idea hit him. A way to force Red Eye off, and maybe even save the train. “Poppi? Need boost up top, meh!” he pointed at Red Eye’s exposed spine, not directly aligned with the train but still feasibly close. “Friends! We need give biggy big monster back pain!”

After a little prowling around, Ace and Nadia managed to drum up a few more volunteers interested in a game of volleyball. Of the extended Koopa Troop, both Junior and Rika decided to take the duo up on their offers, the former out of enthusiasm for the sport and the latter out of curiosity. The acceptance of the former Abyssal helped speed Nadia to the conclusion that she would probably need to explain how the game actually worked, but she didn’t mind one bit. While she only got a chance to play it rarely, the feral loved volleyball most out of all the sports she’d tried, although golf and bowling weren’t too far behind. The motions for all three, in fact, played a part in her fighting style, often in tandem with her head to spike, roll, or drive it as the situation required. All that meant, though, was that she was overjoyed to share her favorite pastime with as many people as possible.

That said, not all of her fellow Seekers seemed too eager to participate. With the recency of their lunch and the general desire to relax after a ridiculously hard night’s work she didn’t blame them one bit, but after only the inexhaustible Blazermate pledged her support, Nadia found herself in something of a quandary. “Five, huh?” she observed, glancing around at the prospective players. “Maybe we can rope someone else in, just so we can have two teams of three.”

Since the luxurious Kanzuki beachfront estate did not feature a volleyball court of its own, the five hiked up the shoreline a short way past the sunbathing turtles and elaborate sandcastles. Nadia found it difficult to keep her eyes off the sparkling water, the myriad of corals that poked up from the shallows, and the strange but serene pillars just offshore whose wings undulated lazily beneath radiant halos. About halfway between Karin’s classy gala and the lively Island Paradise resort, her group found just what it was looking for: a pair of nets on neutral sand among the palms, their bounds marked by ropes along the ground. One looked to be in use, with a handful of players engaged in a rather extreme variant of the sport. The two teams, being ping-pong master and a stylish reptile versus a hammer-wielding girl and a skater robot, seemed to be trying to bean one another with the ball directly, racking up such impressive speed with their returns that Nadia couldn’t help but feel a little imperiled. On the other side of the palm tree row, however, the other court looked promising, empty except for a kid messing around with the ball.

Nadia trotted up to him, greeting the boy with a cheerful wave. “Heya! We were hopin’ to play a game. Mind if we use your net?”

After a moment spent sizing up the newcomers, with his eyes lingering on Junior the longest. Ron nodded slowly. “That’s fine,” he replied, his tone curt. “I can’t help but notice you’re one person short of equal teams. If children are allowed, I would like to play, as well. I need to test my capabilities.”

“Oh, uh, of ‘courts’! Welcome aboard!” As oddly serious and clinical as this kid seemed to be, Nadia was only too happy to accept the opportunity for even playing fields. Ron tossed her the ball, and after expertly snatching it from the air, the feral clapped it between her hands. “Alright, so! Anyone else know how to play, or should I start from square one?”

The Cadet studied the court before them. The ropes were obviously the game's boundaries, and the net splitting it down the middle provided space for each team on either side. A quick glance over where the other group were already engaged in some spirited play told him that the ball would pass over the net, but beyond that it was hard to guess any specific rules or guidelines the game should follow.

”I already know, but best the others learn it. Its not too complicated. Not like Tennis...” Blazermate said, doing some stretches even though as a medabot she didn’t need to.

"Might as well take it from the top, but I'm sure we'll pick it up quick," he said. He gave a friendly nod to Rika, his fellow in ignorance of the sport, who gave him a grateful smile in return.

Happy to oblige, Nadia launched straight into explanation. “Well! The goal is to score twenty-five points. Ya get a point when the ball lands inside the court on the other team’s side, or when they mess up. You can mess up by hittin’ the ball outta bounds or under the net, hittin’ it twice in a row, or grabbin’ it. Oh, and this is a contact-free sport, by the way!” With that she scampered over into the playing field, taking up position on the far side of the net. “Every round kicks off with a serve, like this!” In a smooth, practiced motion she tossed the ball up a short ways with her left hand, and as it fell she struck it with the palm of her right. The ball bounced off and sailed over the net to splash down in the sand on the other side. “When the ball’s in your court, the goal’s to send it back over,” she said, bending under the net to come back. “‘But that’s where the team comes in. You can pass the ball around and set it up for a good return. All sorts of hits work, but ya gotta show control, or you’ll send it straight outta bounds. There’s a couple types of hits just about everyone uses: pass, set, and spike!”

Dropping her head into her hands, Nadia demonstrated each motion in turn, showing off the low double-forearm pass, the high fingertip set, and finally the leaping palm smack. The force of her spike created a miniature sandy explosion where her head came down, but after recovery and a little dusting she was right as rain. “Early on, there’s sorta a rhythm to it,” she continued, her head tucked under her arm. “The pass sends the ball to the setter. The setter pops it up for the spiker. The spiker nails it on the other side. ‘Course, settin’ up the perfect spike is rare, and even then the other team might block it or bring it back. You can go as low as ya gotta as long as you pop it up for your team, so better ‘save’ than sorry!” She tossed her head up as if to serve it, but then caught it on her neck. After brushing her hair back Nadia gave the others a smile. “With me so far?”

”Thats cool for starting, but what about the almighty spike? You know with the powerhouses here they WILL try that at some point.” Blazermate said, having finished her stretches during Nadia’s explanation and, to make them seem completely useless, hovered off the ground anyway.

Brows furrowed, Nadia looked dubiously at the assembled players, that being two actual children, Blazermate, two women of rather slender-to-average build, and Ace. “Well, I dunno about that,” she replied after a moment. “We’re not playin’ too rough, I don’t think, ‘specially ‘cause its the first time for some of us.”

“More importantly,” Ron interjected, his pointed gaze directed at the floating Medabot. “Do you intend to use special powers to give yourselves an advantage? I was under the impression this would be a normal game–although, if such abilities are allowed, that would make things rather…interesting.”

Still a little unnerved by the boy’s manner of speaking, Nadia held her hands up, shaking her head. “Oh, no, we oughta keep it vanilla. An even playin’ field, at least for now.”

Ron crossed his arms. “In that case, we should divide the teams to have one kid and one newbie on each side. Don’t you think?”

“Sounds good to me!” Nadia concurred.

”Sounds handicap for the team that gets you instead of me, but sure let's go with that” Jr said to the other kid cockilly, although considering he’d played this sport at the olympics vs heroes and villains of two worlds, in his mind he had every right to be.

”So who’s gonna be on team Bowser Junior and who’s gonna be on team… uh what your name?” The prince asked the kid he was underestimating.

“Ron,” the boy said in succinct reply, his hands in his pockets.

”-on team Ron” Jr smoothly completed with that knowledge in hand.

”I’ll be on whatever team. I’ll need to make sure I don’t float around though if we’re keeping this vanilla.” Blazermate said, landing. She was only hovering a few inches off the ground as it was anyway, but not flying at all was going to be tricky. She’d also have to make sure she didn’t trip over her own kimono part, that would just be embarrassing.

“I’ll be on your team, right jr?” Rika said, thinking it a given and as far as the prince was concerned it was ”Yeah, obviously. No one’s got a problem with that right?”

If newbie Rika and the kid koopa were on the same team, then that meant the teams were handily decided. "Then I guess that would put me and Nadia on Team Ron," the Cadet said. He looked towards his proposed teammates. "That's Groovios with me!"

“Mew-sic to my ears!” Nadia agreed. After a moment Ron gave a stiff nod, as if deeming his new comrades sufficiently capable by rather exacting standards.

”Alrighty, I’m on Jr.s team then! This should be fun.” Blazermate said, walking to stand with Jr. and Rika. ”So… Now we just need team names and we’re good to go!” Blazermate said. ”But what names to use…”

“Names?” The idea of team names wasn’t something Nadia had considered. Not knowing a single thing about the young Ron made it a tall order to begin with, and while a single mojito wasn’t enough to impair her, she wasn’t feeling particularly creative either. If anything she was buzzing with excitement, eager to begin the game! “I got nothin’, but whatever, right? Let’s get this show on the road!”

She jogged over to the other side of the court, ducking under the net again before moving to the back right third of the court. “Tallest up front!” she called to Ace. “That way, you can jump up and slap any low balls right back!”

"Got it!" The hunter replied, sending a thumbs up her way before taking his position. Despite being a complete newbie to the game, he was equally as enthusiastic about getting started. His trademark grin was in place as he rolled his neck and shoulders in preparation for play.

”Rikas up front for us then.” Blazermate said, stepping back and pushing Rika gently up to the net to match where Ace was. ”Just hit the ball back over the net Rika, its pretty easy.” Blazermate said.

“Sure thing!” the ship girl replied, eager to try this out, as she got the bot’s point and walked the rest of the way to her designated spot without more pushing. Once there she waved a “Hi over there” to Cadet and then hopped a few times, hand outstretched, to get a feel for how high she could get compared to the net.The gauntlets, strapped to her back, did the opposite of weighing her down and instead left her with some slightly floaty jumps.

“So how do we start?” she asked once she was done with her practice hops, while mentally fiddling with the antigrav in her gauntlets to make them fit with the no power’s rule..

”Someone serves the ball, and then we’re off” Jr said, taking up the rear of the court, where he cracked his knuckles and then rolled his shoulders, which sent Mimi, still sitting there bobbing up and down much to her delight.

”Wouldn’t that be you Jr if we’re first to serve?” Blazermate said, actually bringing up a good question, which team was going to serve first? ”Wait, whos doing the coin flip for who goes first? I don’t have any zenny so…”

“Aw, no need to sweat it!” Nadia laughed. She slung the ball underhand under the net, sending it bouncing across the sand toward Junior so that he could pick it up and kick things off. “Let’s get this paw-ty started!”

”Alrighty Jr. Show them what the monster trio team can do!” Blazermate said, giving a fist pump to Jr.



”You mean team.. Eh why not” jr decided not contest Blazermate’s impromptu naming of the inhuman team and instead snatched up the ball that had been sent his way, eager to get going. He gave the ball a test toss to get a feel of it, and then after checking everyone was ready got the game started with a powerful smack of his scally palm sending the ball soaring over the net towards a spot vaguely behind Ace.

Nadia narrowed her eyes against the sun as she tracked the arc of the incoming ball. The arc looked too high for the monster hunter to block it, typical for most serves, but it also looked too low to be an easy bump even if he took the risk of back-pedaling. In just a moment the ball would smack down right about in the center, and as the most experienced one here Nadia made the split-second decision to for it. “Mine!” she sang, calling the shot, and as she scooted toward the middle she stepped out into a kneel, one knee in the sand, with arms extended for a low intercept. Right on cue the ball smacked off her forearms, and just a little extra oomph was enough to pop it decently high. It went a little forward and to the left, meaning Ron probably wouldn’t be able to help, but Ace had a pretty good shot, and he wasn't one to let opportunity pass by.

He moved, positioning himself beneath the airborne ball. He was confident in his hand-eye coordination, but not so much his control. There was pretty much never a time where he had to pull his punches, so to speak, so there was a real possibility of sending the ball out of bounds. But Nadia's instructions were fresh in his mind, advising that the goal was just to get it over the net and back into the other team's court. And to have fun, of course.

"Alright, here we go~!" Rather than attempt to 'set' anything up just yet, the Ace Cadet just returned the ball to the monster trio. Technically he was successful, but the pathetic shot drew a quick laugh from the hunter, half sheepish and half amused at himself. Trying to reign his strength in, the Cadet had basically just pushed the ball back over with the tips of his fingers. It's trajectory was shallow and it's speed was slow, but at least it was back on the other side now.

“I got it” Rika called out excitedly as she shifted over and under the ball, only to entirely misjudged her jump and strike, hitting it a few moments too late and in doing so managing to just giving the slow bopped ball some height again and sending it lazily towards the back of their court “-oops”

Blazermate, not being new at this game, saw Rika mess up a little bit for being new and recovered the ball, hitting the ball when it got near her to set it up for Jr. to return it. “All yours Jr.” Blazermate said.

”Alright! Here it comes!” the prince shouted as his claws bit into the sand before he leapt up with that gravity defying power and gave the ball a hard slap, aiming it to land about as far to the back as he dared.

The young prince’s strike sent the ball sailing, a high shot to the farthest end of the court. Its arc brought it well out of the reach of both Ace and Nadia, but so close to the rear boundary that it could easily go either way. Even with her keen eyes and quick reflexes Nadia couldn’t call whether the ball would land out or in, but either way, her team’s third member was determined to not leave anything to chance. Ron slid to a dramatic stop in a spray of stand, twisted around, and with a shout thrust his palm to the heavens. He struck the incoming ball dead on–or so he thought, for to the boy’s dismay the ball veered off sideways at a low angle, almost certainly doomed to land out of bounds.

That is, until Nadia saved the day. “Whoa!” she yelped as she threw herself backwards. The ball rocketed in, but just inches above the ground, the feral managed to whack the ball upward again with her fingers. Unfortunately, the odd hit put a spin on the ball, putting it on a collision course with the net. Beyond that Nadia couldn’t tell, as she plopped down in the sand. Whether the rally lived or died was up to Ace now.

The monster hunter flung himself into the ball's path, intercepting it on its way to the net. Maybe a bit eager to make up for his clumsy hit prior, the Cadet caught the ball on the side of his fist and launched it up... and up and up, sending it hurtling into the sky. When it came back down the ball bounced off the top of the net, wobbling in the air for a moment before pitching onto Team Bowser Jr’s patch of sand.

What had been a ”Ha” from a prince at the sight of the flubbed shot quickly turned into an ”Oh no” when it unexpectedly still managed to come over the the net by but a hair’s breadth. He dived and swung wildly, only just managing to bat it up into the air towards Rika who tried to stabilize it but failed, sending the ball bouncing just out of the side of the court and onto the sand.

As the ball hit the ground Nadia clapped her hands together, beaming with pride. “That was a fantastic fur-st round!” she declared as she treated everyone to her brightest smile. “Still, no matter how long it takes to get there, it’s just one point.” Her grin turned sly as she scooped the ball up from where it lay, then slapped it to get the sand off. “One down, twenty-four to go!”

The game began again, and though everyone from the total newbies to the more well-acquainted to the learned enthusiast tried their best, it took a while to recapture the magic from the first rally. Beginner’s luck couldn’t keep the Seekers from a handful of short-lived rounds on either side, whether that take the form of missing a pass, sending the ball out of bounds, or getting nothing but net. Nadia got ample time to teach everyone the practice of rotating on fresh serves, giving everyone a chance to not just play every position, but also try their luck at service. At one point a lopsided return caused the ball to plonk right off of Blazermate’s head, and though Junior dove to the ground for the hero save, his arms bounced the ball sideways over the boundary. After receiving a chorus of ‘nice try!’ and ‘so close!’, however, the little prince was happy to dust himself off and get ready for the next round.

Though a little reluctant at first to open up to the squad of tight-knit strangers, Ron loosened up over the course of a dozen serves, and quickly proved himself not just a fast runner but a remarkably high jumper, hurling himself into the air with the practiced grace of a martial artist. When Nadia neglected to call the ball and collided with Ace hard enough to send both to the ground in a heap, it was Ron who saved the day with a soaring karate chop to spike the ball back down on the other side. Almost as stunning a feat of heroism was the Cadet’s, who managed to grab Nadia on the way down and twist so that the young woman landed on him rather than the other way round, though the sudden tight squeeze left both so blushy that Ron could only roll his eyes.

As the game progressed, Nadia’s team racked up a clear lead, owing to the feral’s winsome combination of athleticism and expertise. Not wanting to get too carried away, however, Nadia started goofing around a little, going for stylish rather than practical hits. At one point she sprang up to spike the ball with her iconic flying screen door/, but the angle of the hit sent the ball too low, and it rebounded off the net like a wrestler on the ropes. Nadia landed in a handstand and flipped to her feet, but it was much too late to do anything other than observe the ball hurtle across the sand back toward the Island Paradise Resort. “Aw, kitty litter,” she griped, lightly slapping her knee. “I’ll get it!” So saying, she took off after the rogue ball. As she chased it down she watched it roll right for a red-haired man laying on a dark turquoise towel, dozing in the sun with his hat over his face. It came to a stop just inches away from hitting him, but the fellow seemed to notice anyway. He rose, took hold of the ball, and tossed it to Nadia as she approached. She caught it with one hand and gave a friendly salute before turning to run back. How funny that there would be two strapping young men with longish scarlet locks on one beach, but one was all she needed. Once back with the ball, she tossed it to the other team for service, then jogged to her spot so the game could continue.

To avoid wasting time Nadia reigned in her tomfoolery a good bit, and after that the game didn’t last for much longer. It ended with a score of twenty-five to sixteen in her team’s favor, but without skipping a beat she went straight into being a good sport. “Alright, good stuff, everyone!” Win or lose, the game itself was enough to make her happy, and with friends it was all the better. “High fives all around!” With her hands held high she clapped Ace’s, then Ron’s, who jumped up to meet her before she could even think about crouching down. Once she’d done the same for the opposing team, she put her hands on her hips. “Well, that’s volleyball! My favorite sport, and some of the most fun I’ve ever had. And remember, if losin’s gotcha down…” she winked with a devilish grin. “Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.” After laughing to herself she crossed her arms. “Or, we could switch sides and go straight into a rematch. Whatcha say?”

Game two ended up being a bit different from game one. Seeing as the newbies were starting to get a hang of the game, things were getting a bit more interesting. The game started with a serve from Nadia’s team, which thanks to Rika’s gloves, let her block the ball. However while she was able to easily catch and bump the ball, she missed it with Blazermate making the save and Jr. hitting the ball over, Ace accidentally bumping the ball out of bounds with his hit as Jr. hit the ball in an awkward part of the court. This was quickly made up for though with an ace from Nadia, making it past Rika and Blazermate tripping on her kimono, allowing the ball to land without issue.

The next few rounds went more like game one, with the newbies getting much better. Seeing this, Blazermate decided to spice things up a bit with what she mentioned earlier, and when Nadia served for her team again, Blazermate moved in front of Rika and spiked the ball down, catching Ace off guard, but also intriguing the hunter. And while his first attempt at a spike lead to the ball bouncing off his head, his next attempt was just as adept as Blazermate’s attempt, Rika trying but failing to catch the ball in time in a dive. Blazermate gave the hunter a thumbs up and after another spike from Nadia, Rika learned how to guard them.

And with that the newbies learned a new trick and how to counter it, leading back to a game where everyone had new tactics and used them in conjunction with their old ones to lead some strong rounds. Ace ending up to be a pretty nasty server, living up to his namesake at times. Jr. showed the other veterans a thing or two though, putting a nasty spin on a few returns that caught everyone off guard. Nadia also showed her cunning at times, making it seem like she was aiming at Blazermate but shooting the ball off towards Rika. Thankfully Rika’s giant gauntlets let her deal with these sneak attacks on occasion.

Eventually the game lead to a win for Jr.s team, thanks to a combination of some trick shots from Jr. and Blazermate getting some suburb returns thanks to her metal body. It wasn’t too shabby though and a good game all around. Rika and Ace had both grown well as they had gotten used to the game. And while Nadia and Ron had put up a good defense, Rika had learned a lot and caught up quick. Ace was definitely a powerhouse though, but that was made up for by Jr. and Blazermate doing all sorts of whacky shots to even up the score.

By the third game, the practiced volleyball players were well warmed up and the two newbies were hitting their stride. The pace of the game increased, as well as the general intensity of its players, with feelings of friendly rivalry struck up between the two teams pushing each to play harder.

It started with a serve from the Koopa prince, driving the ball toward the back corner of the other team's net. It was caught by his fellow kid Ron, who bumped it up back toward the net. It was a textbook pass, fast and efficient, and perfect for a follow up set. The Ace Cadet hopped up to tap the ball, stopping it's forward momentum and presenting it for his partner in crime to slam with the palm of her hand, spiking it back into the rival team's court.

The quick point they were looking for didn't come so easily though! The monster team's frontliner Rika was quick to move in with a dig, ducking under the ball and sending it skyward with both of her hands. At that point Junior had moved up to make a set of his own, followed by Blazermate on the attack. She sent the ball back over where it landed on the waiting forearms of the Ace Cadet. It was sent through each of Team Ron's players, with the team's namesake using his agility to dash to the far side of the net to try to get a point in an unguarded section of the court. The rally continued like that for a while, and each rally afterward as well.

The third game showed just how quickly the newbies had taken to the sport. The Cadet had a good handle on the game now, and started living up to his name with several service aces whenever it was his turn to serve. Of course the powerful shots found counters in both Blazermate and Rika, who used their metallic arms to save the ball when they could. In particular Rika had become a defensive monster, with her gauntlets and tenacity she would jump, run, and dive for any ball that her teammates didn't call out for - and successfully save it most of the time.

The battle between spear and shield was intense, but the one between the four veterans was even more so. Having learned to navigate the pair of lovebirds he'd been teamed up with, Ron proved not just a competent player but a decent strategist as well. As he gained more information about each player, including those on the opposing team, he called out instructions to Ace and Nadia in the heat of the match. When they cooperated it usually went well, but on the flip side Junior and Blazermate's tactics were hard to predict. Armed with plenty of knowledge about the game, but also aggressively ambitious and colorfully cheeky personalities respectively, they pulled out some unique and downright confusing shots.

Not to be out done, Nadia matched their energy with her own. Willing to think outside the box and wielding the talent to make it work, the feral's attacks were something to be reckoned with. In the latter half of the game she started making some fearsome cross shots, forcing the monster team to scramble to deal with them.

The match's high energy continued throughout. If it was possible the sand beneath them would have turned to mud from the amount of sweat the players poured into it. Everyone was scuffed up from sand being kicked up, or diving to save balls, but even so there were smiles on their faces. The more intense the match, the more fun everyone seemed to have. And so the game went on.

In the end, it was Team Bowser Jr's win. The spirited rallies toward the end of the match pushed the score passed the twenty-five point range, until they ended with 26-28. High on adrenaline, neither team was ready to quit playing yet, but they needed a quick break to recover. While they lounged, briefly retreating to fetch various bottles of water and sports drinks, Blazermate suggested spicing things up for the next game. Up until now they'd kept everything strictly vanilla: no special powers or abilities. However, now that everyone was familiar with the sport none of them had any objections to going wild in the next match.

The fourth, and what turned out to be the final, game was the one where all of the stops were pulled out. Jr suggested this primarily to advantage himself, and the reason for why he wanted that advantage, besides ego, was because his father had come along looking for him, initially to tell them about what was going down the rest of the day, but once he arrived he decided to stay and watch. Kamek was also there, but it wasn't her that Jr wanted to gain the approval of by winning.

Unfortunately for the prince, while he might have had a few volleyball related super moves up his non-existent sleeves it was Nadia who really shone when the gloves were off and the claws were out. Right out the gate she showed her stuff, sending a water-clone to catch a spike from jr, before propelling herself up via blood jets to get a high angle spike of her own driving into the sand a hair’s breadth past the center line.

She wasn't the only one who really benefited either, as Ron got to show off his own skills as he dashed through or hanging in the air to hit some shots, and even flashs stepping, briefly moving so fast the movement from point A to B wasn't visible.

With the teams having rolled back around to the original setup, only Ace on the human team wasn't pulling out absurd tricks, but the hardened hunter wasn't exactly a slouch when it came to the physicality department.

What the monster team had against this was a lot of air control, between Blazermate’s flight and Rika and Jr’s floaty jumps, and a secret little trick the prince had been counting on to win him this.

After enough back and forth one rally, Jr shouted for his team to ”Bounce it up for me! I’ve got something special lined up” which he got a few moments later, with Rika diving to bounce up a spike using her now gauntleted arms. The ball bounced high where Blazermate swooped in and passed it towards Jr who leapt into the air and then almost froze in time for a moment, having gathered enough power to perform a sporty special move.

He picked his target, and then slammed it home, sending the ball hurting at frightful speeds and slamming straight through the body of a water clone Nadia sent to interpret it, before bouncing hurtling onwards.

”Way to go junior! That’s my boy” Bowser cheered loudly in a way the prince wasn't old enough to be embarrassed by and instead only felt pride swelling in his heart at the praise. Enough that, even when the game ended with a close loss for his team, he didn’t really mind.

That was, however, the final game of the day. Both because after 4 increasingly intense games the players were all pretty tired, Rika for example more or less flopped down onto the beach next to where Kamek and Bowser had parked their butts to watch, and because the duo’s wandering had been in part to inform them as to what was happening next during their day off.

“Whoo!” Nadia breathed, a wide grin of unadulterated joy plastered on her face. It was a wondrous thing not just to see but to feel the improvement of the others as the games progressed, each more exhilarating than the last with new feats of synergy and athleticism. Then, once the players had three normal games under their belts, the whole thing culminated in a no-holds-barred superpowered bonanza so crazy that it even caught the eyes of the Lethal League competitors practicing next door. Holding back or not, Nadia’s blood-powered mobility and extendable reach made her a force to be reckoned with, but no amount of clever tricks negated the incredible advantage that was Blazermate’s flight. Even when she brought out copycats for increased coverage, Junior powered through with such a superfluous spike that Nadia couldn’t help but be impressed. No matters how handy her doubles were, they were no substitute for the real thing! As absurd as it ended up getting, it had been a total blast, a spectacle of sportsmanship, self-improvement, and good old-fashioned fun. While fighting together against impossible odds most certainly made the Seekers allies, it was stuff like this that allowed Nadia to call them ‘friends’, and she couldn’t be more happy.

Of course, she also couldn’t be more winded. When the rush of adrenaline subsided, Nadia just about keeled over where she stood. Her chest heaved as she doubled over with her hands on her knees, glistening with sweat all over. “Hah…hah…” she panted, wiping at her brow. “That’s definitely enough for now. Good games, guys!” It went without question that this was the last game, so after she traded high-fives with the other players, the group started to disperse. Some just wanted to plop down, others to grab some drinks, but Nadia fixed her eyes on the ocean blue, her eyes shining almost as brightly as the gentle waves that glittered like diamonds in the afternoon sun. It called to her with a siren’s song, and this time she couldn’t paw-sibly resist.

As Nadia jogged over she pulled off her tank and then slipped out of her shorts, leaving just her swimsuit. She stopped by her chair only long enough to fling her balled-up clothes into the seat, then spun toward Ace to beckon him to follow her. “Time for a sea-esta!” she called as she made her way toward the water. “Don’t keep me wadin’!”

Without further ado she sped past shells and seagulls, leaped over a bastion of sandcastles, splashed through the shallows, and hurled herself into the drink. Immediately she was struck by a wave of relief, both literally and figuratively. Though a slight shock at first, the water was perfect, warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to be so wonderfully refreshing. Delighted, Nadia immersed herself completely, allowing the crystal-clear water to wash away all the sand, sweat, and fatigue built up over the course of her volleyball matches. For a moment, everything seemed to drift away–her tension and her pain, her past, her worries for the future, the crisis facing the world, even her thoughts. It felt like heaven. She had slept last night, she’d enjoyed going back through Limsa Lominscuttle Town, and she’d taken it easy right after lunch, but now -for the first time- Nadia Fortune could really relax.

After a few seconds she bobbed to the surface, floating on her back with her eyes closed and her shell-white hair spread out in every direction. Down below her fish-tail swished back and forth in contentment, which helped keep her up, but even without its aid Nadia felt lighter than a feather. It did occur to her that she never liked getting wet anywhere near this much and this newfound appreciation of the water might be a byproduct of her fusion with the aquatic Oceanid, but right now Nadia couldn’t imagine the change as anything short of a blessing. Who could say no to the ability to enjoy more of life’s great joys, after all? Still, it did feel sort of surreal, and not just the physical change to her body, but existing in this crazy world in the first place. It probably wasn’t real, all things considered, but after all she’d been through it couldn’t possibly be a dream. Either way, while stuck here she might as well hold onto whatever morsels of happiness happened to come her way. Speaking of which…

As a shadow fell over her Nadia’s eyes slid open to find Ace standing right next to her, his head and chest above the surface. True to what one might expect from coral shallows, the water wasn’t really very deep here. Still, a devilish idea took hold of her. “Wah!” she blurted out as if startled, then began to flail her limbs about. “AaaAAaah, help me!” the feral cried as she splashed, neither panicking nor suppressing her smile very convincingly. “I’m just a cat in the water, I can’t swim! Oh, save me~!”

Ever the hero, Ace sprang into action without a second thought. He bent down and scooped Nadia right up out of the water and into his arms, holding her beneath her knees and behind her back. It was another bridal carry, just like when Ace caught her last night, albeit in much happier circumstances. By instinct he held her close and tight, like a giant egg that might splatter if so much as a stiff wind blew his way, and it was everything the feral wanted. She threw her own arm across his shoulders, giggling as the monster hunter’s face betrayed the gears turning in his brain. “Nyahaha! Either ya really forgot I can swim just fine, or ya really can’t help holdin’ me! I’ll have to return the favor sometime.”

While it would have been well within Ace’s right to drop her back in the drink then and there after the practical joke, he took a few steps to set her down in knee-high water anyway. “Why thank you, thank you,” she grinned as she put her hands on her hips. “Man, isn’t this place awesome, though? It’s gotta be, I dunno, what’s that one phrase you like? Rad-alos, yeah? You’re gonna have to explain that one sometime.” Eyes bright, she scanned the water for signs of movement. “For now though, let’s check this place out!”

Heaven’s Edge, the shallow coastal zone just beyond the tropical shoreline, pierced by winged holy swordblades, was as versatile an area as it was large. No two spots were quite the same, for the terrain underfoot fluctuated wildly in terms of elevation. In some places the sand formed flats or bars that were knee or even ankle deep, but elsewhere there were basins or ravines between the bars that went as deep as thirty or even fifty feet, some of them very large, where seagrass bloomed around coral mountains and sandstone formed all sorts of delightful formations. As Nadia quickly found out, she could dive from the top of a sand plateau all the way down to the depths of a trench to get a firsthand view of the wildlife. No matter where one went within Heaven’s Edge one couldn’t avoid witnessing its incredible array of flora and fauna. Even on the flats there were various crabs among the corals, but things really got interesting underwater. All kinds of fish, both the tried and true and weird but wonderful, swam and schooled throughout the azure reef in an incredible display of color. There were eels, otters cracking shellfish, lobsters, rays, big snails, squid, and even a bizarre fish with a human head that earned a double take from Nadia. When she waved at him, however, he just rolled his eyes in a rather brusque manner and carried on. She happened to catch a glimpse of the ocean beyond Heaven’s Edge while diving, and though the sight took her breath away, so did being underwater, so she turned back toward safer shallows. At one point a curious otter swam up and pawed at Nadia’s fish tail, and when she reached out to scratch its head, it was so delighted that it began doing somersaults in the water, just for the fun of it. Of course, Nadia then had to join in, until she got so dizzy she could do little other than float back up to the surface.

There were less natural structures, as well. The winged swordblades remained stolid and mysterious, their origin and purpose nebulous. During her dives Nadia spotted a number of fragmented ruins underwater, most overgrown with barnacles and such. On the largest sand flat, beneath only a few inches of water, she and Ace also found a faintly ominous circular depression of stone brick, with a central emblem that gave off a deep purple glow even in direct sunlight. It didn’t seem to do anything, but Nadia didn’t check very thoroughly, either.

At one point, after getting a good way out, she cast her eyes back toward the shore. The Kanzuki Beach Estate really was beautiful, but from here she could see a good deal more than that alone. Farther south on the beach was an inlet fringed by palms and formations of large, light gray hexagonal stones. An old shipwreck stood in its center amidst all sorts of strange food-based bugs, apparently converted into a dwelling place by the lone grumpus within. Beyond that lone encampment the beachfront showed signs of development for a good distance, though not quite as high-profile as the resorts to the north. Even farther still, the tropical jungle gave way to rocky upheaval, beginning with smooth cliffs and natural overhangs and ultimately becoming forested marble cliffs that overflowed with waterfalls. It made for quite the picturesque coast.

A little north of the Kanzuki estate and not too far from the volleyball courts, meanwhile, something was afoot. Some posts had been embedded in the ground by resort staff and tarps stretched around them to form a big letter C, a good fifty feet in diameter at least. After the workers positioned some machinery by the tarp, they switched it on, and the giant blower began to fill the area with bubbles. The suds came thick and fast, quickly covering the whole zone, but light enough that they quickly began to pile up. As onlookers gathered around to watch in eager anticipation, the bubbles amassed into drifts like snow, becoming a sudsy heap higher even than Ace in some places. Once the mountain had risen, party music began to play, and kids and adults alike waded into the mass to goof around and dance.

By now Nadia was feeling pretty refreshed, but all the swimming, climbing, wading, and jumping she’d done around Heaven’s Edge left her even more pooped than she’d been after the volleyball game. “I think I’m out of gas,” she confessed to Ace. “Think I’m gonna go back and crash in the shade, at least for a minute, 'cause that bubble pile's got me curious. Appreciate cha comin’ with, though! This was really great.”

@DracoLunaris

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While the others took their food from the generous spread and found more comfortable places to eat their fill Like had no intention of leaving his place beside all this beautiful food. Instead of sticking to one spot like that big guy from earlier he made his way up and down the table, grabbing anything that struck his fancy and putting the impressive pair of chompers he now sported to good use. Beef or fish, grilled or fried, healthy and unhealthy alike were all chopped up by his sharklike teeth and disappeared down his gullet. Even the bones were crunched up and devoured. Link never let anything go to waste, just to waist. If one wasn't familiar with his usually appetite and the ordeal it had been put through yesterday they would think he was intentionally trying to prove their gracious hostess wrong about being able to eat her out of house and home.

It was soon that he discovered his old friend, the bananas, along with it's new acquittances the pineapple and the watermelon diced up into neat slices beside them. He scooped up some of the sweet pink triangles and indulged a little time here with the fruit, savoring the taste. Somehow it was even better than yesterday, despite the hard green bit that hadn't been a part of their meal at the lagoon. That had to have been a part of the fruits outer shell, so he knew what to look for in the future. This fruit spread, however, made him painfully aware of who was so far missing from this party.

He looked out over the beach. Geralt had just arrived, along with Raven haired woman he wasn't familiar with. The two of them were introducing themselves to Miss Kanzuki. There was one, but Peach wasn't here yet. Nether was the Kid in the Hat, nor Sakura. There was only one, though, that perhaps wouldn't know this was even happening.

He got a chance to inquire as Bowser returned for seconds. "Hey Bowser." He asked. "You didn't meet up with Mirage when you were brought back last night, did you?" He remembered how it had been when him and Euden had been carted off during the battle with the Enderdragon? They had ended up in the same place. "He joined us midway, so I don't think he got an invitation?"

Regardless of the answer he figured that someone as sharp as him could find them if he wanted too. After yesterday he wouldn't blame anyone if they wanted to just leave them alone and make their own way in this world. In fact, he found himself preferring that after what had happened to three out of the four people that had joined them since they arrived in the Edge of Blue.

As the others went about, relaxing in the sun and making merry, Link found his enjoyment in watching them while sampling seafood. After biting down on his first clam, having assumed it was some kind of Goron-style rock dish, and discovering it's juicy center he started opening the others with his broken sword while watching the volleyball game occurring down the beach. The carless joy of the other put his heart at ease, and finally prompted him to leave his post and wonder down to get a closer look at the action. He even managed to snap a shot of the game with his Slate right as Junior hit the ball with his climactic spike. He managed to capture everyone's reactions as the ball flew down, exuberant happiness and excitement springing off the screen at the viewer. He was getting pretty good at this.

As the others dispersed Link did some quick inventory of his photos deleting the one he didn't need to keep like the shots of random wildlife and weapons before deciding what to do next. He could go back and keep eating, he supposed, but he was already feeling rather sluggish. The ever present hunger he felt had quieted from a loud roar into a whimper, and along with that last stressor he felt some of his energy leaving him. He could lay down and catch a few more hours of sleep but he was afraid that would invite more of his nightmares to ruin this lovely day. Besides which, the shot of adrenaline that shot through his body when Ms. Fortune started fake drowning rendered that impossible, no matter how bad her acting was. He almost dove right into the surf before noticing that Ace was very clearly standing up where she was.

When had he gotten this high strung? He needed to indulge in hobbies other than saving people, lest he embarrass himself attempting to protect someone from their own flirts. Sighing, he decided to take a cue from the lovebirds and cool off in the ocean. Maybe the water would work away some of the soreness he still felt from sleeping with the shipgirl rigging on. Speaking of..

He went back up the beach, feeling around on his hips for a way to slip the gear off like he had seen others do, and left the arms and rigging neatly folded up on one of the wooden beach chairs. It was looking a little banged up, which wasn't surprising considering he was probably much rougher on it that its previous owner. Maybe he could swing back by the navy barracks later and see what they did for repairs? This weapon was too useful in other ways for him to break.

Making sure that his new flippers were on and his hat and Champion's Denim Vest were safely stored away in the slate he waded out into the ocean. The waves gently brushed past him, a far cry from the ugly way the ocean had behaved yesterday, and seemed to pull the stress from his bones. It wasn't too cold, and he had always felt at home in the water despite not being very proficient at actually swimming. He made his way along the sandy floor, avoiding the drop offs and deeper holes that were scattered willy nilly across the ocean floor, until he was up to his waist. Then he dropped down into the water and put the flippers to the test.

It didn't feel like being an Abyssal. It didn't even feel like being a Zora, though he could feel an improvement over his normal ability as he kicked his feet and let the flippers do the work. It was enough that he felt confident swimming out over the deeper parts and diving down into the depths, taking a deep breath and filling his eyes with the wonderful assortment of sea life that made their home in patchwork quilt of an ocean. He started filling up his photo space again almost immediately, the Slate acting just as well underwater as above, always eager to see what was just around the next reef. His only regret was that he tired too quickly and had to swim back to the shallows to recover his stamina between every excursion. It kept him from swimming out father and seeing the sights that existed in the ocean beyond. The itch to explore was almost overwhelming now, to go out and see what there was to see, but he reined himself in. Maybe later he would throw the rigging back on, climb to the top of one of those white swords, and see if he could get to the top? He could take a flight over the entire beach from the top of one of those things.

He settled back from his latest dive, chasing after a gang of blue and white sea creatures, but soon found it different than the other sandbars he had landed on before. He looked down, feeling the solid stone under him. He had stumbled on the same ominous stone depression Ace and Ms. Fortune had, the glow from the center shining up even under the midday sun. He looked around, cocking his head in the faintest of hopes that he might hear familiar accordion music playing from somewhere. There was noting, though, save the splash of waves and the cries of sea birds. Catching his breath, he stood up and strode toward the center to examine it anyway. This was something. Landmarks like this always were, even more so if they glowed, and hint or no they demanded to be examined.

So he did, stepping into the glowing circle at the center of the landmark and hoping that it was as simple as that. He hoped he didn't have to play a song, or camp on it for a couple of days, or do anything specific because then he was out of luck.

”Next time do something rather than freeze up and I won’t need to be your knight in shiny armor next time. It just isn't my style” she told Tora even as she patted him on the shoulder reassuringly before adjusting her tact ”... I mean, your welcome” before turning her attention to the pole of blinky lights and warning text on the screens Tora had been monitoring.

”Well that doesn’t look good. Going to go make sure it doesn't get worse. Stay safe Tora, and try not to need saving again!” Midna told him as she excused herself and then slipped around Poppie as the bot returned to her maker's side with a ”Hi. Thanks for finding out those things exploded. Bye” and returning to the fray just in time to help the last bit of cleanup by copying Raz’s clever idea of returning the bombs to sender.

That little plan found her yelling ”I think you dropped this!” while using her shadow hand to hurl one of the bombs in an overhead swing that would give a baseball pitcher a run for their money. It soared forth, slapped into the weak spot and detonated in a fiery explosion.

A few moments later the spot finally cracked under pressure, bursting out and showering the sand with gore ”ew, that’s disgusting” and leaving it open for the cannon to fire in its second shot, this one striking the softened up spot with unfathomable fury and tearing open a titanic hole in the side of the ugly bug.

”How do you like that, you oversized maggot?” Midna taunted it, her words being drowned out by the ongoddessly loud scream the Akrid was letting out in response to its wound. Unfortunately Galeem’s influence ensured that this (seemingly) grievous injury wasn’t going to get the beast to back down.

In-fact it seemed to only make it angrier and more aggressive if anything, the semi standoff they had had racing side by side ending as it swerved towards them. Seeing this incoming the princess wrapped her limbs tight around her wolfos and then grabbed a banister with her shadow hand but that turned out to be unnecessary as the impact was more a push than a slam. Not that the gradual train tipping it was enacting wasn't bad in its own way. You didn't have to be a genius or have knowledge of trains to know that having it fall over while moving at the kind of speed they were was not going to end well for them.

They couldn't just shoot it either, because while there was still a shell in the feeder slot, the process of loading it and charging it up had not been started. Only Tora’s plan of hitting its spine looked like it was going to get them a chance.

”Get that shot loaded!” she shouted at the rest of the gun crew while she pulled out the hulking Clubba Club from the twilight realm. Holding it in all three of her hands she began to charge it with lightning while floating slowly upwards off of her mount’s back.

”I’ll help encourage it off of us!” she announced, at which point she summoned a supersized vibrava from a portal. The twilight beast grabbed her in its legs and buzzed upwards at an intense speed towards the gap in the massive monster’s armor, bringing her and her oversized weapon with it. Then they flashed past the opening, rising higher and higher above it, the vibrava letting out a torrent of purple flaming dragon breath to scorch the exposed interior as it rose. Finally the vibrava’s time ran out and it returned to the twilight realm, leaving the princess to plunge down towards the exposed spine with her wreckingball of a weapon.

”Look out below” she yelled as the wind rushed past her, before swinging the oversized weapon with both mortal and magical limbs and delivering a bone shaking hammer-blow to the spine. Then a heartbeat later it was followed by a massive bolt of teal lightning hammer down in front of the impact site, zapping the spine nice and good.

She sent the mace back to the twilight realm rather than trying to swing again while she shook her arms, having jarred them pretty badly in the process of her strike from the drop. Rather than stay put she gave the spine a wound up shadow hand punch, letting the recoil affect her just enough to launch herself clear of the gaping hole.

”I’ve got to go, but here, have this!”

As a parting gift, she launched her super sized shadow mimic at it from another portal, the massive trapped chest flying at the spine jaws open. The chest’s rim slammed into its target and then its lid snapped shut around it, the mimic delivering an all mighty bite to the beast before it vanished back home quickly as it had arrived.

”Who’s next to take a crack at breaking its back?!” the princess asked loudly as she dropped down to land atop her steed’s back once more, the whole combo having taken only about a handful seconds all in all.

Raz figured that his gambit - peppering the monster with its own creature-y bombs - would do some damage. Explosive doodads + big glowy thing = major hurt. That was Psychonauting 101. Well, 102, maybe.

What he didn't expect was that it would weaken Red Eye so much that the next shot would practically tear it in half. There was a very brief moment when Raz was going to celebrate his quick thinking, only for his fist pump to turn into doubling over at the horrendous gash torn into Red Eye's side. "Oh man," Raz grumbled, hand over his mouth, "maybe it wasn't such a good idea to... eat all that spicy Mexican food before the climb..." There wasn't any time to hurl, however! The victory came at a cost, one that threatened to upend the entire train and literally derail any chance of besting this thing.

Raz was able to steady himself on top of the Railway Gun's railing as the whole thing tilted. Before he could come up with a plan (which was pretty much amounting to a quick lesson on balancing for everyone) the more experienced Tora called for an attack on the newly exposed spine. It did seem like a straightforward idea, but with Red Eye hugged right up against the train like that, wouldn't 'giving it back pain' make it thrash and throw them off for sure?

He couldn't voice this thought fast enough. Midna was quick to follow up on Tora's idea, going all out on the Red Eye's insides, with others no doubt right behind her. Gritting his teeth, Raz reached back, digging around his pack for a certain slice of cured meat. He felt like he needed a second opinion on this.

It took a couple of waves before Ford caught the whiff, and since Raz didn't want to wait around for long he was already clambering onto the main gun when Ford popped out, nearly throwing Raz's balance right off the train. "Hahh, I'm startin' to regret givin' that to ya, I'm real peckish and-- hoo boy! That's a biggun. Who's brain cooked up somethin' like that?"

"Not in a brain right now, Ford!" Raz shouted over the wind, making his way up the gun's barrel, at such an angle that it was more like climbing a rope. "Real thing, real danger! Could use some experienced wisdom here! Big thing, train, about to get thrown off the rails..."

"Oh, ohhh nelly, that is a real pickle." Ford looked Red Eye up and down, as best one could when they were a head sticking out of another head. "And not a pretty one at that. I don't got much in the way of any monster fightin', but if this thing's got a spine, then it's bound to have a brain."

"You want me to go into it's mind?!"

"I'm not finished yet, boy! No time for a biology lesson, so the gist of it's gonna be that you might be able to get a good dig into that there spine and make it jerk around, like the reverse of poking at a person's gray matter. Obviously this thing doesn't got the same structure as you or me, this is just an estimation--"

"I'll take anything Ford!" By now Raz was far enough up the barrel to be able to jump right down into the monster's wound, nothing that he was looking forward to.

"Get at it between the fourth and fifth vertebrae from the back there! Should see it flopping away from that train of yours like a fish chasin' water. And hold yer breath!" Ford began to shrink back into Raz's noggin. "Though maybe you upchucking into that thing will help ya more in the long run."

With that shaky plan made, Raz swallowed down a lump in his throat, and shifted his goggles over his eyes. "This is gonna suck..." And then he dropped from his perch. There was a brief moment in the air where the loss of momentum threatened to have the whole battle speed right past him, but Raz's aim was good enough to see him land into Red Eye's gaping wound. He bounced, slid, and skidded along it, kicking up a lot of blood, though he managed to grab hold of some flayed skin to keep him in place.

"Urrgh. Yup. I hate this." Things were slippery and he was already woozy from the abject grossness of this, so he had to shuffle on his feet to get further along the spine. In hindsight, maybe he shouldn't have went ahead and did this, but that was probably just the smell of burnt flesh getting to him! It was a few harrowing seconds for Raz to get where he needed to be, right beside the spot Ford pointed out. With how big Red Eye was, its spine was more than twice the size of Raz, though that might be a blessing in disguise - his tiny size meant he could jab into the disks easier, right?

Raz squared his knees to hold his balance. "Alright, big guy, I... really hope this works!" He drew his hand back, psychically summoning his TK hand, fingers out and poised to jab, and with a solid thrust drove it right into Red Eye's spinal cord!

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Frisk @Majoras End Albedo @Lugubrious, Papyrus @Dark Cloud Linkle @Gentlemanvaultboy

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Healed up or not, Frisk was only slightly worried about hurting Linkle too badly. But from what they've seen, she was pretty freaking strong. And besides, there was no ill intentions with a quick practice spar. Their eyebrows rose when the Skullgirl mentioned she had her own way of healing people, and their eyes widened when she pulled out a... Ah, so it wasn't a soul. Right. The "powered by friendship" thing sounded kinda cheesy.

Once they found a good enough area to stop, the child set down some of their things so it won't be a hinderance, and hurried over to Linkle once she called them over. Soon as she pulled out her crossbows, their soul answered the call of an approaching battle. They playfully shook their head at her suggestion of pretending she was a bad guy. As she began firing at them, instead of immediately bringing out their shield, Frisk simply went on the evasive. They took their time, watching closely for patterns in the Skullgirl's attacks, and building up a sort of rhythm to their dodging. They won't attack yet.

In response to Frisk's daredevil decision to dodge bolts instead of taking them with their shield, Linkle focused a little more on the child. To see just how agile the child really was Linkle slowly ramped up her game, increasing the number of bolt volleys and decreasing the length of time she left between them as the child danced around her attacks. Impressed, Linkle reached down and added her other crossbow to the mix to instantly double the difficulty.

Frisk smirked, seeing as they drew Linkle's attention enough for her to increase the tempo. To and fro through volleys of arrows, they began their approach towards the Skullgirl, doing their best to keep up with the pace. Though they did get nicked by an arrow here and there, causing them to lose focus for a second. Once they were close enough, they aimed their gloved fist at Linkle's head, and swung.

Never in her life had Linkle seen anything come at her through one of her volleys by dodging. Things that did tanked through them, and ended up with far worse than a couple of nicks for their pursuit. Those nicks, though, also put Frisk on the attack. As the child swung at her face Linkle retreated, rolling backwards into a crouch before putting one hand on the ground and lashing out with straight kick.

"Tch!" Frisk clicked their tongue, seeing as their attack failed to hit. And seeing Linkle switch to a more melee approach, they decided it was time to try a bit of kindness. Their soul clicked green, and the pale blue barrier that formed from it took the blow for them, nearly knocking the kid off their feet from the impact.

Linkle didn't let up. Deciding to see just how much the shield could take she darted forward and didn't stop kicking it, bringing the flat of her boot against the surface over and over again.

Their boots slid against the snow, their focus solely on keeping the shield up as long as possible. Admittedly, it was taking a good bit of energy against someone as strong as the Skullgirl. She wasn't the only one who wanted to know how durable Frisk's magic was, even they didn't know! And with enough blows,

"Ah!"

The shield shattered like glass, catching Frisk by surprise, and their soul returned to it's original color.

As Linkle took another step forward, she grimaced from what she was about to do. Taking advantage of the child's surprise at their own broken shield she drew her leg back and let fly with all her strength right into the side of the child's head. The blow was enough to lift Frisk up into the air, but Linkle was already moving fast. She tapped her chest to pull out a Friend Heart and, snatching Frisk out of the air with one arm, pushed the heart into their chest to bring both their influence from Galeem and the no doubt splitting pain in their skull to a quick end.

“Sorry I had to get that rough, Frisk. Are you okay?” She asked, still holding the child and giving them a concerned once over before setting them back down.

Of course, the quick chain of events left Frisk feeling a bit disoriented. They were kicked in the skull, caught, then healed, right? Only, it didn't just heal them. Their eyes remained widened as Linkle asked if they were alright. The youth looked around. At their current party, at their surroundings, at themself. They looked down at their soul, and dismissed it.

"What happened?" They asked, then looking back up to Linkle with renewed determination. "What really happened??" They bore no ill intent, only a wish to know the truth.

"Okay." Linkle replied, squatting down for a real chat. Even though they were still shut, the childs eyes were open wide now. "Sorry for lying, but you wouldn't have been able to believe me before now. That heart isn't really a healing thing, that's just something else it does. Without it, you would never have been able to remember the bright light, right before all this happened. Do you remember the bright light?"

"Bright..." Frisk pushed their bangs back as they looked back to before their arrival. And they shuddered. "Y-Yeah. Yeah! Me and my friends, we were ambushed by this jerk of a flower, but something else; something terrifying took us out before he did, even him!" They frowned, looking back to Papyrus and Albedo, who was hopefully trying to help him like Linkle did. As much as the child didn't like any of their friends get hurt. They looked back to the Skullgirl. "Well, guess since things really have changed, I can tell you the other power I have."

Frisk smiled, walking back to their things to grab their trusty stick. "You know how I said determination lets me adapt my soul trait? My magic??"

Linkle cocked an eyebrow, not quite done explaining but super eager to see what else the Child had in store. She leaned forward, nodding, "Yeah, yeah! Were you about to break out some super move on me?"

They scratched the back of their neck with a nervous giggle. "I wish, but this is something a bit more complicated." Frisk walked over to a clear patch of snow, and drew a four-pointed star on the ground. "The short version is back in my world, with enough determination, you can manipulate time. These little stars here kinda act as foci for that. They usually appear in safe areas like Snowdin, or when danger's around the corner." They started to explain. "Though I guess no one else saw them, huh? Anyways, traveling through the Underground with non-violent intentions wasn't easy. I got hurt. And in some cases, I died. But when that happened, I end up back where I last saved my progress, no wounds or anything." One of their cheeks puffed out in thought.

"I don't know if I'd be able to make it this far without it. With my second and third or so attempts, I guess it gave me the experience to survive. But since I ended up here, my powers have been a bit weird, and these became more of a checkpoint than anything." Frisk looked back to Linkle, and Albedo in fact. "You may have seen me blink away back at Treat's old home? That was me going back to a checkpoint. It kinda works like teleportation now. Doesn't heal me and all that stuff. They shrugged.

"Whoa, like the Hero of Time?" Linkle asked in amazement, scooching over across the snow to check out the symbol Frisk had carved in the ground before the next part of the Child's statement hit her. "Wait, so you went on your adventure without fighting? Geeze, no wonder you're so agile! You must have had tons of practice." That did lead into the second part of her explanation. "Unfortunately, I don't think that's an option here. If anyone with red eyes, like you did, gets into a fight they have to keep fighting until the fight is finished. That's the way things are in Galeem's world."

Linkle pointed up, drawing the child's attention to the artificial sun hovering in the sky. "That's what got everyone with its light. Me and my friends have been trying to fix everything back to the way it was, but to even open the way to that thing we've got to defeat all these guardians down here. That wild man is one of them, which is why I have to face him so bad."

Frisk frowned. "That's-!" Awful. They looked up to the artifical sun, the reason why they're all in th in this mess. Galeem."...I know. As much as it sucks, I know the game's changed." They glanced back to Linkle. "I know I have to rebuild my strength, and get stronger after that. For everyone's sake. I might not be much of a fighter, but I can support everyone who can! Atleast until I can be just as formidable." They pumped their fist with a determined smile.

Linkle smiled back. "You're a real hero, you know that?" She said, standing back up and placing her hands on her hips. It was a weight off her mind that the child was so mentally tough, not to mention that they could dip out if they were in mortal danger. She entended a hand to the child. "Welcome to the Seekers of Light, Frisk."

With no further delay or restraint, Frisk shook her hand with a grin.

Seeing their opportunity as Sectonia was busy attacking their boss, a few flying enemies she had missed decided to attack the bee queen, divebombing into her and exploding on contact. Sectonia was quite tough however, and that wasn't enough to cripple her. It did hurt for sure, but not enough for her to externally react. And after a few counterattacks by her minions exposing a weakpoint and another shell landing upon said creature, it took a massive chunk of damage, exploding into gore as it lost a massive part of itself.

"This creature couldn't be more disgusting if it tried." Sectonia said. With a giant chunk taken out of it, bones exposed, it was still trying to detail the train, having even caught up to it presumably after losing a massive chunk of its body making it lighter, and thus, faster. All while causing some damage to the train, the biggest problem exposing the ammo car to the open air.

Sectonia knew this could cause some massive, massive issues if this creature tried the same tactic twice. And while it wasn't the smartest, even an accidental type attack that hit that exposed ammo cache would cause a massive explosion and wipe out all of her minions. Well, she couldn't have that. So while the rest of her minions made their way to attempt to attack the exposed spine of this creature, Sectonia took her time to summon a crystal and use it to cover the exposed ammo car, resealing it so that this creature couldn't cause any issues later on. This did finally tire the queen though, and while the others were off the train attacking, she had to fly and take a bit of a rest on the train.

Of course she refused to allow her minions to know she was tired, so she put on a front to use her position on the train to defend the crystal she had just made as she fired large rings of light at the creature's spine, the light rings acting like buzzsaws as they flew. Her little magical mask made some go off course, hitting the creature in other spots, but after a volley of 5 large rings, which became 15 when split, at least a couple would hit their target.

Thanks to her vantage spot on the train, overlooking everyone trying to get this massive creature to stop trying to derail the train, Sectonia got a good look at what everyone could do. While none of them seemed to have the same magical abilities as her, she did notice at what everyone else was bringing to damage this thing. Tora was fairly straightforward, punch the thing using a combination of Poppi, some mechanical thing, and his own strength. Midna surprised her the most, showing that while she herself wasn't an accomplished mage in most regards, she did have a mastery over teleportation and portal magic, throwing things or summoning things out of portals at an even faster pace than the Queen. Raz... Sectonia really couldn't figure out what he was attempting as his attack was a lot less flashy. He seemed to jab the spine of the creature, in an attempt to sever it like she was? Well at least her rings of light wouldn't bother her minions.

Looking at the others on the train, Sectonia said. "Get that gun ready to fire!" She'd assist, but her size made that difficult, so she decided after her barrage of attacks to potentially catch any of her minions if they fell off the train when this thing no doubt counterattacked from all their attacks.

As long as they kept this up, they could win. Jesse laughed at Poppi’s response to her joke. She observed the damage against Red Eye and the swarm of flying, exploding, big headed enemies. If they destroyed the train, this whole thing was over. There were a few close calls, but fortunately no one was severely injured yet. The newcomer, a cyborg with a sword, was doing some work that caught Jesse’s eye in particular. Everyone did their part but yeah, new heroes could be trusted. Still, the Director imagined that the status quo wouldn’t last long if they didn’t start making more progress.

Jesse exhaled with satisfaction as the big cannon let itself rip into the giant Red Eye’d beast. That wasn’t the end, not even close, but it sure as shit did some damage. She glanced over at Raz, who for a moment seemed to be struggling with the gore. “Keep it together, kid.” She said with a small smile, though what she was smiling at was a little unclear. This train fight was something else!

Now the giant monster was right upon them, so close she could practically reach out and touch it. They had moments to act, and the cannon wasn’t aimable anymore. They had to get the monster to back off. The idea seemed to be a boarding party.

Poppi asked her if the cannon was ready to fire. “Nope.” Jesse responded, popping her ‘p’.

Jesse decided to help reload the cannon. The minions were dealt with for now and while she dealt good damage over all, she didn’t have any big, high damaging moves that had long cooldowns which is what they needed to get this thing to budge. As soon as the cannons looked like they were about to be finished reloading, she’d hop back into the cockpit and prepare to make the appropriate adjustments. If it backed up a short amount, she’d aim for it’s mouth so the cannon would fire inside and not damage the train of the people on it. If it backed up really far, she’d try and hit the same spot the cannon hit earlier…unless it looked like the boarding party Seekers might still be there from their targeted attack. In that case she’d aim for its mouth again.

---

---

Raiden would have been lying to himself if he said this battle were a piece of cake, in fact, it felt like it went longer than any of his victories against other foes. As he hacked and slashed at the explosive pods, swiftly disposing of them, he just as quickly went on the defensive, not to mention the overall looming threat of the large Akrid constantly chasing them. Raiden was getting tired, yet he couldn't help but feel like this fight was to be much longer than expected. He was in for the long haul, and he wasn't going to give up on his newly acquired crew members.

The Queenly looking summoner had buffed him and many other members with some sort of ability that made him faster. He gave a quick thumbs up rather than shouting and continued to slay many of the enemies with his newly acquired haste. The boy he had warned to be careful earlier was making quick work of the explosive enemies and had also found a way to weaponize them against the large enemy they were facing. The kid wasn't only strong, but he was also a damn quick thinker! This team was proving incredibly capable and Raiden may need to properly congratulate them after all of the nonsense with the large enemy had ended, if he had gained their trust any that is.

As the cyborg desperately returned to the main body of the ship, near where many of his acquaintances were preparing an attack against the sand serpent. There wasn't much Raiden could now do as the only threat present was the one threatening to attack them. As the team hammered into the giant red spot on the Akrid, Raiden stood prepared to attack, defend, or run recon as they finally blasted the wound open. Blood was of no issue to the cyborg, his life had enough of it to be unfazed by it, but he understood why that wasn't the case for all the other members. Firing another large attack at the Akrid, a shell was dispensed and hit the side of the monster where the weak spot had been popped, revealing a grievous wound that surely did not leave the large creature happy. Raiden grinned slightly under the shade of his sombrero. "We'll make quick work of this guy at this rate!"

The creature let out a deafening roar, before it began to thrash around and suddenly ran through the sand directly towards the train, causing it to first rumble, then just as quickly begin to tilt towards the other side of the track. At this rate, the train could flop over causing this assault to be a bust. There was very little Raiden could do. "I'm gonna have to agree with our 'Instrumental' friend here, we ditch this ship, we become snake food! We need ideas on how to take this fucker down and fast!" The crew on the cannon hadn't prepared a shell yet and if they were to fire at the large mass of serpent siding the train right now, they'd definitely be blasted off the rails.

It'd take a moment for one member of the firing crew to help load the canon, but it was still a relief, as they needed a counter-attack as soon as this goliath backed off. Many of Raiden's acquaintances were chipping at the nasty wound left at the side of the attacking giant. Between the queen, the psychic, and the impish woman Raiden had provided bodyguard assistance to, the creature could back off the ship at any time. Raiden had a genius idea, but whether or not it would injure the threat enough or not was beyond Raiden entirely.

After each of his teammates had turns walloping the Akrid, Raiden had decided he was next to join in the efforts of attacking the large wound. Once again switching between his blades, Raiden now wielded his HF Blade, and surged electricity from his feet, rushing off the main body towards the edge where the creature was crashing up against the side. Performing a simple attack, Raiden jabbed the full length of the sword into the wound of the Red Eye and twisted the blade gruesomely into it's skin. That wasn't the end of it. With decent stamina still surging within his body, he used the penetrated blade as a tesla as he began giving electrotherapy in dangerously high amounts to the Akrid. He kept shocking the beast, even when he felt his electric powers draining until the very last second when they gave out.

Ripping his blade out with twice the swiftness of how it entered, Raiden ended his portion of the attack and moved back. "How's that feel you bastard!?" Raiden was proud of his attack as he had made work of the creature with his shocking abilities and now hoped that the teams combination of attacks had been enough to convince the creature to back away from the ship. Raiden would have been lying to himself if he didn't wish that their current attacks were enough to kill the creature. However, he did feel that the fight was going well better than expected.

However, there was certainly still danger looming on the ship as it continued to tip to the side. There were many injured members on board and there were less enemies present, so now was as good of a time to assist them then any. He had noticed that the dark haired woman and man next to her were not active in the battle anymore as the silver-haired man had sustained some nasty wounds from the mixture of shuddering train movements and flying beasts. Surely they wouldn't refuse the man's help...

Rushing over, Raiden quickly dug his feet into the train, preparing to hold the weight of two people in each hand in an attempt to prevent them from falling off the quickly moving locomotive. He offered them each one of his hands, or both to the woman depending on the injuries of her partner and how serious they were. "I gotcha guys! Just take my hands! Takes more than this to rock me off some rickety vehicle!" He braced to hold their weights each, should the train continue to turn itself over, as his heels dug and scraped against the surface of the train.

---

---

While the others went off to play some sort of ball game further down the beach, Geralt and Yennefer had a quick chat with Karin. "Oh, Miss Kanzuki, your estate is simply marvelous!" Yennefer's cheer was real, but overplayed just a bit. It really was a wonderful place that she'd offered. "We're ever so grateful for your invitation. Yes, this is Geralt. My name is Yennefer. It's very kind of you to allow us all to visit and relax."

Geralt nodded with an appreciative hum. "Yesterday was rough. It's nice to be able to just...relax for a moment. We'll be going back out soon enough, depending on how the folks from the other team work things out on their end. Thanks for all this."

Shaking her head with a chuckle, Yennefer effortlessly slapped Geralt on the shoulder. "Always so focused on work, Geralt, even at a party! Some days I wonder if you even know what the word relax means!" This earned a roll of the eyes from Geralt.

"Oh, trust me, I'll be relaxing plenty once I get some drink in me." That much, Yen knew, was far too true.

"Oh, I'm sure you will. Stay out of my wardrobe this time would you?" Yennefer teased, earning a sigh from Geralt. If he hadn't wanted to be teased about it, he shouldn't have done it. "I'm certain we'll see each other again, Miss Kanzuki, but for now I fear Geralt's going to lose himself if he doesn't get any food in him. He's been irritable since getting back."

"Just haven't quite filled my stomach is all. That curse must have had some lingering effects..." Geralt justified, acting far too casual about possible long-term effects of being cursed of all things.

---

With drink in hand and half a plate remaining of a heavy assortment of food, Geralt was contentedly laying on a beach chair next to Yennfer, both in the shade to protect their pale complexions from the sun. "This really is nice." Geralt admitted before taking a sip of his drink. "Just wish it could last."

"Oh, don't be like that Geralt. I know we're old, but there's no need to be so pessimistic all the time. We've had some things truly work out for us, haven't we? We don't have to worry about the Wild Hunt at least. Wherever Ciri is, I trust she's handling herself quite well. I do miss her, still, though. After all that time, to barely get to spend any with her is far too cruel."

Geralt took her hand, squeezing it as a silent comfort before speaking. "But we'll find her. Always."

"Always." Taking a sip of her own drink, Yen hummed. "It really is quite a delightful drink. I can barely taste the alcohol. I may have to visit here again when I get the chance." That got a laugh out of Geralt.

Ahh, this was nice. And for once, they weren't being interrupted by some imminent danger or something going terribly wrong. Truly a miracle.

With the entire train and everyone aboard on the line, the heroes scrambled to scale the behemoth sand worm and lay the hurting down. Using whatever means at their disposal they flew, levitated, hitched a ride, and otherwise made a beeline for Red Eye’s spine. The few who raced upward left behind those without the means to ascend or the damage output to capitalize it, struggling to not just avoid a disastrous fall from the precariously tilted Railway Gun to the inhospitable sand below, but also to get the Dragonfire cannon ready again.

With Midna up and away, Sectonia spitting out magic, and Braum surfing the sand on his shield as he held onto a railing for dear life, it fell to Big Band to get the shells where they needed to go. The last one that the Twilight Princess fetched had rolled across the deck of the Railway Gun and nearly parted ways with the train itself, but a Brass Knuckle charge brought him close enough to Emergency Break and catch the shell just in time. With it tucked under his arm like a football and Peacock helping to push him from behind, he pulled himself along with one pneumatic arm, his struggle both to stay upright and to hold back a string of vehement curses in front of his young protégé. He hauled himself into position and deployed a kick pedal to smack the ever-loving hell out of the console. The one currently in the loader moved on to the cannon itself, while he slapped a new round into the charging station. Or rather, he tried to. “What in the!? It won’t go in!” After one more try just to make sure, he stuck the Wrath shell in the reserve slot and put the Cobalt in instead, without issue. “There we go, jeez. Thing’s gonna make me throw a tempo tantrum.” When Jesse arrived to help with the loader, he repositioned his drum pedal to the charger console and applied it with gusto.

Unfortunately, there was one other problem. As Red Eye tilted the train sideways, the main cannon’s immense counterweight dipped lower and lower, until its back began to dig into the sand. It would have served as a last ditch support to keep the train from toppling if not for the friction that immediately started turning the cannon barrel toward the front of the train, throwing off both the main gun’s aim and the whole train’s balance even more. Primrose and Theron strove with all their might to turn the cannon the other way, but the mechanism just wasn’t strong enough. Any second now the Railway Gun would capsize, and just like that the whole operation would be up in smoke.

Up above, however, the team’s attackers were giving a hundred and ten percent. Raiden carved up and pumped electricity into the wound while the others shot skyward. After blasting whatever looked vulnerable on the way up they focused on the behemoth’s spinal cord, whaling on it with a slew of weapons and powers. Hoping that their gigantic foe counted as earth-aspected, Poppi had switched to her Electric Core, so it was with a blade of crackling yellow lightning that Tora laid waste to the exposed nerves and vertebrae. Midna fractured bone with her immense bludgeon before roasting it with lightning of her own, then sicced a bloodthirsty mimic on the spot for good measure. As she backed off a familiar purple AoE appeared on top of the spinal column, followed shortly by a rain of torrential arrows whose incredible destructive power Midna knew all too well. Sectonia’s magic followed suit, a fusillade of light rings that sliced into flesh and bone alike. Even so, with the cord just too big and thick to be severed, it was Raz who sealed the deal. Using his telekinetic hand he dealt the spine a critically precise blow, driving a wedge into the perfect spot to shatter Red Eye’s composure. With that mechanical damage plus the intolerable agony inflicted by the others, the Guardian hit its breaking point and was forced to back off.

With a tremendous screech it tore away from the Railway Gun, allowing train and track alike to slam back down into place. Everyone aboard, including those holding on to either allies or the train itself for dear life, hit the deck hard. As brutal as that impact was, the narrowly averted catastrophe was a cause of celebration. Tora and Poppi swooped down to snatch Raz as Red Eye fell back, diving back down into the sand for shelter. The tremors that its continued warpath left behind, however, left nobody believing that this was anywhere near close to over.

As the reunited team tried to get their bearings, Joker ran over from the locomotive at the head of the train. “Conductor says we’ve got a junction coming up!” he shouted over the general commotion of rushing wind, clamoring track, and chugging engine. “We need to figure out somewhere to lead this thing!”

Scarcely did he get the words out, however, before the desert to the train’s right erupted. Red Eye surfaced a distance away from the train, the grievous wound in its body on the opposite side. Worse still, the main cannon -primed and ready to fire- was now facing the complete wrong direction. Another swarm of trilid was on its way, and though smaller than the first, it came alongside a second giant Bolsepia pod that soared like a beach ball through the air. This time, however, the heroes knew just how important stopping it was. Ciella and both right-side turrets opened fire, pushing back against the incoming calamity. Joker, the Scout, Poppi, Robin, and everyone else possessed of firearms or magic joined in, but like a meteorite the pod bore down on them nonetheless.



The air was brisk as ever, but the oftentimes biting wind was mild, and the fresh snowfall light. For Albedo, the big flakes brought to mind images of young children on their rare trips to Dragonspine, wide-eyed with amazement as the beheld a landscape blanketed in powdery white. After gallivanting through the drifts to catch the biggest snowflakes on their tongues, they’d plop themselves down to make snow angels, or start packing together ammunition for impromptu snowball fights. Theirs was a childlike joy, pure and simple, that Albedo never minded coming down from his usual haunts to see. As one who frequented the lonesome mountain in search of solitude for his studies and inspiration for his arts, he often ended up serving as a guide to such visitors, and it was a rather similar journey that he, Linkle, and Frisk undertook now. Though hidden for now by the snowy clouds and fog, Dragonspine awaited them far to the northwest, and beyond that lay their passage to Edinburgh MagicaPolis. By this point, most adventurers would be too accustomed to the climate to delight in these simple pleasures, and too knowledgeable about its horrors. Winter was beautiful, but it was also cruel, a fact not lost even to children from his world like Joel, whose father Joserf was lost in the mountain for the longest time. Albedo had no doubts that even if he managed to guide his new friends on the safest path imaginable, they would encounter resistance on their journey.

Before any of that though, there was the pressing matter to which he’d already alluded. After putting enough distance between her group and the town that any unusual spectacle would go unseen and unheard, Linkle brought the trio to a halt so that they could have the sparring match she’d suggested earlier. Albedo nodded his approval, tacit in his understanding of the Skullgirl’s true intentions and, despite the undeserved pain that entailed, complicit. In silence he pulled back to give the combatants room to maneuver, as well as to keep himself out of the crossfire since, knowing what he did of Linkle’s fighting style, there would be plenty. A Solar Isotoma both elevated him out of the way and gave him a bird’s-eye view of the fight as it began just a couple seconds later.

It began uneventfully, with Linkle holding her ground as she sent a steady trickle of crossbow bolts Frisk’s way. With their tips unmodified, every single one could do some real damage to the rather normal-looking child should they hit, but Frisk managed to exceed Albedo’s expectations right from the get-go. They evaded each and every projectile, dodging and weaving even as the barrage intensified, turning from a trickle to a stream and finally a torrent. It wasn’t long before Frisk soldiered all the way into melee range and managed to actually throw a punch. They did well, although Albedo could be only so impressed whilst knowing just how much Linkle was holding back. Things quickly escalated after that, with Linkle launching an offensive that ended in a knockout kick. The alchemist couldn’t help but wince, despite his new friend’s quick intervention to make sure that both the injury and Galeem’s influence came to an abrupt end.

With the fight suddenly and definitively finished, Albedo stepped off his isotoma, landed in the snow with a roll, and approached the two as they spoke together. Frisk’s blurred memories seemed to be returning, and with them the inevitable realization that this coagulated reality couldn’t be allowed to endure. They didn’t even question it, but proceeded straight into an explanation of one of their more esoteric abilities, to which Albedo listened with interest. The power Frisk described turned out to be a real whopper: the reversal of causality to a prior point in time, able to undo untold disasters and give Frisk another shot at achieving their goals. Though he masked it well, the casual dispersal of such information left Albedo reeling. “Incredible,” he breathed. “And nobody else retains their memories of the erased time? In essence, such an ability makes you…well, theoretically unstoppable.”

He cleared his throat and gave Linkle a chance to speak, ruminating on the possibilities. Obviously what he said wasn’t quite true; even with the benefit of infinite attempts, experience alone couldn’t overcome every obstacle. It also sounded like Frisk abhorred fighting, though whether or not that principle would continue to hold true in the World of Light was up in the air. In a way, the idea of being ‘undone’ by such a power was a terrifying one; it robbed him, and by necessity everyone else, of agency. Albedo found himself feeling grateful that Frisk’s ability seemed to be diminished somewhat, at least by their own admission.

Misgivings aside, everything seemed to be in order. Frisk had been freed, hands had been shaken, and everyone was ready to proceed in earnest. Albedo took the chance to shake with the child as well. Even if he didn’t typically engage in such gestures, after being hugged by them a couple hours ago, it was small potatoes. “You did very well,” he told Frisk. “Countless are the hands who bring destruction, but few are the hands extended in compassion. I am happy to have you as an ally on this journey.” With that, he turned and began to lead the way onward.

A good deal of trudging brought them across the trackless snowfield outside town. Aside from the rolling white hills and heavily-coated shrubs there wasn’t much to distract from their forward progress. At one point Linkle did catch a glimpse of a familiar ravine, and when she jogged over to check she found a yawning hole in the immense seal of ice placed there yesterday, the belligerent she’d trapped there on the loose once more. Not much could be done about that, though, and the journey continued.

Albedo led the others from the snowfield into a rugged coniferous forest, its bushy boughs of green needles caked in icing snow. With the ambiance of the town long since faded into the distance it was very quiet, with only the whisper of the wind accompanying the crunch of the travelers’ boots through the snow. While Albedo wasn’t expecting the woodland creatures to roll out the welcome mat, he noticed the utter lack of any sign of wildlife, wondering if the local animals were avoiding them for any reason in particular. It was a while before he picked up the telltale caws of crows, and not just one or two, but a handful. Though the source of the noise lay off the path he’d planned for his group to take, his curiosity got the better of him. “If neither of you mind, could we chance a brief detour? I must say I’m interested to see what’s going on.”

It wasn’t long before they tracked the scavengers down. Their answer lay just beneath a slight knoll, in a perfectly unassuming and unremarkable spot, but the sight of it made Albedo visibly dismayed. It was the remains of an animal, a normal deer if he had to guess, stripped of any worthwhile meat and left in a pile for the crows to peck at and squabble over. The alchemist shooed the protesting birds away and knelt over the corpse, taking hold of a bone to test its weight and consistency. Only after his silent examination did he finally speak. “How strange,” he murmured. “As you both are no doubt aware, in this world, all living things are reduced to ash shortly after expiration. The stuff of creation, which in my world could be termed ‘dust of azoth’. Yet this animal is dead as it should be.” He glanced at the others. “So even though this is, in a way, completely normal, it is also a startling abnormality. Without a solid grasp of why bodies turn to ash in the first place, I cannot tell why, either…” There were no clear-cut signs of tracks around, thanks to the snowfall, but the disturbance of snow on nearby branches marked the passage of something else through the area. With a sigh Albedo rose. “Sorry, let’s be on our way. Only, perhaps we should be a little more cautious as we proceed. These woods may house further anomalies.”

Now on the alert, the group continued through the pine forest. They kept their eyes and ears wide open for any sign of trouble, and sure enough, the sounds of commotion eventually reached them through the trees. Albedo picked up the pac, running alongside the others until they came to the lip of a small ridge, overlooking a clearing. Down below they spotted a batch of snowy ruins, but it was the fight in front of them that caught their attention. Linkle recognized the great Gammoth that she saw yesterday, now fighting against a squadron of men in a mixture of robes and armor. As the onlookers watched, the humans worked as an effective team. They fought with a backline of clerics that alternated between the use of holy incantations both against their giant adversary and to heal any injured, while melee fighters whaled on the Gammoth’s legs between attacks, all of them spread out enough so that no stomp or slam would hit multiple of them. Judging by the wounds all across the Gammoth’s body, the hunt had been in progress for quite some time already, and Albedo saw no reason to interfere. Though the Gammoth fought with brutal desperation and overwhelming strength, the clerics and paladins were a well-oiled machine. Three in particular stood out among them: a priest in blue who commanded the power of wind, a warrior in red whose tenacity and martial prowess just about stole the show, and a knight in silver and gold whose assault wove tirelessly around the Gammoth’s attacks. Thanks to their efforts the beast was already flagging, and as its rampage neared its end, it was the knight who stepped forward while the others held off. He sheathed his sword and spread wide his arms, casting a circle of golden light that surrounded the beast. Runes sprouted from within like trees, then burst like twinkling stars. A moment later the death blow was dealt, and the Gammoth thrashed its last before slamming to the ground hard enough to shake the whole forest with the tremor.

Albedo crossed his arms, a hypothesis in mind. He watched the giant animal for any sign of decomposition, but as the seconds went on its massive corpse failed to turn to ash whatsoever. Down below the men and women were already talking amongst themselves, swarming around the body with carving knives at the ready. Their leaders and their chief healer, meanwhile, stood by. “Well, that’s one mystery solved,” Albedo remarked. “Convenient timing, too.” He glanced at the others. “I’m interested to learn more, but it seems as though they intend to butcher the creature. Shall we introduce ourselves, or pass on by, do you think?”

With @Lugubrious

---

---

For a few moments after Link stepped onto the circle, nothing much seemed to happen. He stood in anticipatory silence with the little waves lapping at his shins, awash in those peaceable sounds of rolling surf, wind through palm fronds, and distant voices. Only when he bent down and sank his hand beneath the surface to run his fingers along the rune-emblazoned central disc did the strange structure seem to react. The purple emanation appeared to pulse, and to his surprise something inside Link -his heart, perhaps?- seemed to throb as if in response. Then a dark crack opened up in the dais, and the world flipped upside down.

At least, that's what it felt like. After the wave of dizziness and disorientation passed, the hero of the wild looked around to find that his surroundings weren't quite as he left them. Nothing had changed physically, as far as he could tell, but a certain lethargic twilight had overtaken both earth and sky, bathing the sea, shoreline, jungle, and distant city alike in somber hues of gray and black. A ghostly white barrier surrounded the area, ten meters or so from the edge of the stone-brick depression in every direction with no sign of any way through or around no matter how hard someone on the inside might try. Link could see no signs of life anywhere, and all the gentle coastal ambiance he'd been enjoying up until seconds ago was gone. Only the murmur of the water around him and the splashes of his footsteps through it staved off total silence. To the outside world, the boy had taken on the appearance of a specter, a translucent white outline with no substance beyond the reach of hearing or touch, but within the confines of the Evergaol Link realized what had happened. He was trapped.

Only one other thing stood out to him. An intensely purple rift in the sand on one side, the space within black as pitch. The closer he got, the more it became audible--a strange noise, slight but identifiable, discordant, but vaguely musical in structure. He pulled out his lantern to counter the gloom and gathered his thoughts. He had been anticipating a more mechanical reaction from tampering with the dais, something opening up or rising out of the surf. A secret elevator leading to who knows where. A teleportation. This wasn't like anything he had ever experienced, save perhaps the way the Great Plateau had changed to facilitate the first obstacle in obtaining his very own Divine Beast. Still, even as obviously trapped as he was, he felt excitement dancing in his chest. He could leave fear for if he found that there truly was no way out, which he didn't believe. That purple rift looked like a promising exit, or at least a way forward. As he approached he held his lantern over the rift, hoping to cast some light into the blackness at its center and see what could lay beyond.

When Link got too close, however, he quickly realized that the rift wasn't a way out, but rather a way in. Purple energy flooded outward from the rift as an almost liquid darkness welled up within, and from that nebulous maelstrom a monstrous shape began to emerge. For a second or two it appeared to be an inhuman monstrosity, a wide and unnatural body with multiple heads and a tangle of misshapen limbs beneath, but when the shadowy haze began to dissipate after a brief moment, and the fearsome thing broke apart, undoing the deception. As the darkness cleared it revealed three women standing before Link in a tight-knit bunch, each clad in a black suit and tie over a red dress shirt, with long white hair and pointed dog ears, while barbed tails wagged behind them. The trio appeared to be totally identical, with a singular exception made all the more notable by the nature of the World of Light. When Link met their eyes one after another, expecting the sunset red of Galeem, he instead found eyes of fiery orange, cool blue, and shocking violet.

"What do we have here?" the three said in eerie unison, regarding their visitor with interest. "We've been cooped up in here forever...please, won't you take us out to play?"

As the three drew apart, the sound began to intensify, forming strident, electronic beats and notes. The eyes of the Triple Demon began to glow, and the elements danced across their bodies. The first demon conjured an iron staff from a gout of flame, the second brought forth a three-section staff in a flash of purple lightning, and with a flurry of ice the third took hold of a three-headed nunchaku. With a shared gleeful smile Cerberus stood ready to fight for her freedom.

He had stumbled into a Trial of Strength, then? Link had jumped back as the shadow had emerged from the rift to give himself some distance from the monster that was emerging, but from its initial fearsome shape he hadn't expected the trio of girls that were arrayed before him. Still, he didn't think his initial impression of them was altogether inaccurate. They obviously weren't human, and not just because of the ears and tails. Their demeanor didn't display any fear, or the desperation he'd have if he'd been locked up in here "forever." On the contrary, they seemed positively eager to play with the toy that had stumbled into their clutches. He would have chalked that up to Galeem influence, the trio acting on orders or just following their nature unimpeded by any understanding of the greater situation, but that was impossible. Their eyes were normal like his, free of any Galeem influance.

"I don't think you want to play out there." He replied, calling his sword and shield into his hands as the three squared up with him. The one with the staff could attack from mid range, but all this water could put her at a disadvantage compared to the other two. At least, it would if the fire wasn't too hot. "Most everyone is brainwashed outside. Being in here might have been what protected you from Galeem, because I can tell he's not inside your heads." His trunks and flippers were replaced with his shorts and boots. He had no idea what that ice weapon was or how it could be used. A throwing weapon? Or did she intend to fight up close with it? He would have to keep an eye on her and see how she use it before formulating a plan to counter it.

Despite their provocation, Cerberus did not mindlessly go on the offensive against their prospective challenger, but kept all six eyes on him as he spoke to them. They did not relax their weapons at all, seemingly regarding a fight with Link as an immovable eventuality, but at the very least the Triple Demon seemed content to hear him out. They seemed a little out of it, maybe dazed by their first contact with another living being in who-knows-how-long. When he insinuated that confinement here might actually be preferable to the outside world, however, the hero was met with three looks of confusion. Cerberus tilted her heads. "Are you joking?" they asked him. "It sucks in here! There's nothing to eat, nobody to talk to, and it's boring as hell! So we're hitting the bricks, whether you like it or not!"

"Where is here? Do you know?" The vest came back on instead of the armor, mostly because of the third and most dangerous one. There was no blocking the lightning crackling along that disconnected staff. One touch of that thing, one single clash, and he would be disarmed. He could only hope they weren't immune, because that would be the only thing stopping her from using it in the water they were all standing in.

Link second question question earned him another mix of bafflement and disdain. "This is a jail, dummy!" Cerberus told him. "If you're in, there's only one way out: waiting for someone else to get stuck inside, then beating the snot out of 'em!" A shared expression of pain overtook the three, leading to narrowed eyes, furrowed brows, and anguished frowns. "Jails...are where losers get stuck. Lost souls who got mixed up when everything went bananas...and shoved under the carpet." As they seemed to recall the nature of their predicament, the triplets' grip tightened on their weapons and newfound determination prompted smiles with clenched teeth. "So play nice, and maybe we'll let you out after you take our place!"

With that, the first Cerberus ignited the tip of her staff, and charged. "Fear my flames!" she growled, unleashing a barrage of rapid jabs and wheeling strikes.

"Sorry, I just found this thing on the beach." Link said, jumping backwards to avoid her first few jabs, then bringing his shield to bear to weather a swing aimed for his head. "I have no idea what the situation here is."

She was strong for her frame, the jolt that shot down his arm attested to that. He side hopped another flurry of thrusts, time slowing down as he landed. He didn't capitalize on it, though. Despite this three on one, he was calm. For the first time in a while he was the only one in danger, and he still wanted to know more. The girl spun on him with another wheel strike he got to watch in slow motion, and as time resumed he brought up his shield and thrusted it out just as she made contact to parry it and throw her off balance. "So you're in here because Galeem couldn't find a place for you in it's world? Why?"

Cerberus stumbled as she got parried, splashing backward a couple steps in the water. While her moves were flashy and stylish, so far she did not give off the impression of a particularly composed fighter, and after only a few moments spent fighting in the water her clothes were soaked up nearly to the waist. The indignity of getting rebuffed, wet, and not taken seriously might have frustrated the average combatant, but she seemed to be having fun. "Dunno!" the demon said cheerfully, twirling her staff with both hands to build up flame before spinning around for an overhead slam. Its momentum carried it through to the water below, where the elements collided with a loud hiss and erupted into a thick cloud of steam. Cerberus then planted the butt of her staff in the ground and used it to vault forward in a flying kick, her leg wreathed in flame as it tore through the mist.

That was what Link had been worried about when it came to the fire staff. As the steam billowed up he immediately moved, side hopping in anticipation of her attacking him under the cover of the steam. That's what he would have done, but it wasn't all he would have done in their shoes. The steam also broke his line of sight with the other two, giving them the opportunity to surprise him as he exited the steam cloud. So instead he pulled out the slate mid hop, using Cryonis to form a cube of ice where he landed that lifted him up out of immediate harms way.

Scarcely a second after Link elevated himself through the power of Cryonis, the fiery foot of Cerberus' Rock Back kick slammed into the pillar below him. In the steam she created it would have taken some luck on the demon's part to hit the hero on the first place, but it was hard to avoid the frosty block he'd created. "Ouch!" she yelped, though her target fared far worse than she. Her kick spread a web of blazing cracks through the ice from the point of impact, and when she followed up with a flurry of red-hot pokes aimed high, the frozen pillar quickly went from sweating to melting. Without missing a beat Cerberus then whipped her staff from side to side in a series of upward strikes, endangering Link almost as much as the promontory he stood upon, until she finally culminated in a horizontal sweep that unleashed a swath of dangerously powerful flame in a wide arc. As ice and steam alike blew away before her, Cerberus planted her staff in the water, and her other hand on her hip. "Hah! How's that?" she grinned. "Even Berial's got nothing on these flames!"

Unfortunately for her, Link had slipped off the back of the ice block as soon as he had the impact of the girls foot striking it. Surprised it hadn't shattered on impact, and that the others hadn't gotten involved yet, he had nonetheless used the opportunity and noise presented by her wailing on the block to circle around behind her in the cloud. It was a good thing, too, because he could feel the intensity of the heat from that last attack that blew away the steam.

He had gotten a pretty accurate read on where she was, ending up crouched just off to the side and behind her as the steam cleared. Standing up, his arm now covered in the Ro Cestus, he gave a "Not bad," before sending a punch flying into her side.

Cerberus' ears twitched toward the source of the voice behind her, but it was too late. Link's sucker punch caught her with her guard down, and when his cestus collided with the demon's ribcage, all her wind left her in one mighty gust. "Gauhhhhhh," she whined as her eyes bugged out, staggered and fighting to stay standing as her knees threatened to buckle beneath her. Involuntary tears welled in the corners of her eyes, but with one hand clutching her side and the other so tightly clamped on her staff for support that her grip left her white-knuckled, Cerberus managed to stay upright. "Cheap...shot..." she groaned, her narrowed eyes on Link for any sign of a follow-up.

Before Link could capitalize on the demon's injury, he heard the splashes of running footsteps behind him, and turned to see the second girl running his way with her electrified three-section staff in hand. One of the triplets being vulnerable, it seemed, was the trigger for another to tag in and take her place. "Feel my thunder!" Cerberus cried, and as her sister cleared the way, she thrust her weapon the hero's way. The segments split apart, string together by arc of lightning, to launch straight at Link like a giant spring from a huge distance. Worse still than her Long Barrel move was what happened with her sanjiegun struck the water; the moment it made contact, the lightning electrocuted the water -as well as anything in it- inside a two-meter radius. After her staff sprang back into her hand Cerberus sprinted into the electro-charged zone without any ill effects, eager to continue her offensive.

Link hadn't had any designs on finishing the staff wielder off, but if he had the intervention of the lighting wielding one would have put those plans on hold. He just barely jumped out of the way as the head of her weapon shot past and landed in the water. He pulled out the sailcloth, a desperation measure to avoid what he knew was coming for a few moments longer. The water under him lit up with purple arcs of electricity, staying there even after the girl pulled the weapon back into her hands. Fortunately for him the area of effect wasn't nearly as large as he anticipated. Unfortunately that didn't make any difference. He only had a few precious moments before he splashed into the drink.

In those moments, as his mind raced for something he could do, he remembered Delsin. He remembered how Delsin died, and what he had seen the man do before right before. He tensed his muscles as though her were about to take a running leap and willed himself to move forward like he had seen Delsin dive through lightning. To his surprise, he felt himself....dissolve? That wasn't the right word, but it was the rightest word that came to mind. He felt himself pull apart, his whole body becoming a mass of disparate and small pieces. He felt himself painlessly turn to ash, each tiny part of him flying through the air on some otherworldly power, before suddenly he wasn't a plume of Link anymore but a whole man again. Whole and cresting just over the edge of the electrified area!

Then he felt himself get speared like a fish, the tip of the girl's weapon digging right into his back and pumping volts into him. His shield went flyinging off his and splashed into the water just as he did, falling face down and letting out a stream of pained and gurgling gibberish as the electricity wrecked his body.

After a few moment the shock died down and he pushed himself up out of the water, hacking up some of the sea water he had inadvertently drunk before turning to look back at his opponent.

As he got up Link found that Cerberus had been busy while he was suffering from paralysis in the briny shallows. She'd filled her staff with electricity and windmilled it in a circle in front of her, creating a trio of miniature storm orbs of bright lightning in purple clouds, which proceeded to float in Link's direction. While her Thunderclap homed in on its target, the demon herself -excited by her success so far- ran up behind them. She leaped out of the water, twisted sideways, and began to spin vertically at a breakneck pace. Her Long Revolver took her in a parabola though the air, a dizzying blurred whirlwind alight with lightning, as she careened toward Link for the climactic blow.

A brief look of panic flashed across Link's face as he saw her coming at him, a quick inventory of is options flying through his head before landing on one that could work. Sliding his thumb over the Bomb Rune on his slate and chucking the resulting bomb her way, he dove away and detonated all at once. The bomb exploded in mid air, not giving the girl a chance to knock it away with her attack. They weren't powerful as weapons, but the force was enough to disrupt her. The very edge of the explosive force also caught Link and almost bowled him over again, but he managed to get his feet under him and keep moving to hopefully avoid the balls of electricity that were floating after him.

With a surprised yelp Cerberus found her Long Revolver interrupted by Link's bomb blast, and the ensuing explosion hurled her backward in a trail of smoke to hit the water with a big splash. A second later she popped up with a gasp, her eyes wide from the unexpected dunk and her hair as utterly soaked as her fancy suit. She saw Link on the run from her Thunderclap, but the combined forces of the water bogging down his movements, the narrowly avoided tumble from his own bomb, and the barriers that enclosed the Evergoal made the demon's projectiles hard to shake off. The first storm orb fell short and hit the surface a short distance from him, only to rupture and zap the water around it, which ended up hitting Link after all. As the last two orbs homed in Cerberus rose from the water, waited a moment to see if Link pulled off that ash dash again, then jumped up to send an aerial Long Barrel to bop him on the noggin. As the hero was engulfed in a tumult of lightning, Cerberus landed, wiped her wet hair off her face, and let her sanjiegun dangle over her shoulder. "That's right, soak it all in!" she taunted. "My lightning's what has-beens like Nevan dream about!"

Link slammed up against the white edge of the battlefield, using it to hold himself aloft after his second dose of shock therapy. He turned back, the other orbs closing in on him. Grimacing, he turned toward them and waited until they were right on top of him before willing himself to dissolve again and rush past the orbs as a plume of smoke. The orbs were left to crash and discharge against the barrier.

That had been what the girl had been waiting for. As soon as he was whole again he felt a sharp jolt of pain as something cracked against his skull and sent another blast of lightning through his body. The blow itself didn't hurt as much, but the layer of protection he had gotten from the Tidehunter didn't seem nearly as effective against the lightning to him. He shorted out and fell down to his knees in the water as the electricity left him, listening to the girl gloat while a trickle of blood fell over his right eye. Isabella had been right, he wasn't really in any shape to be doing this right now. He needed to take the pressure off.

"Fish woman!" He called as he struggled back to his feet, the Siren Striker emerging out of the surf beside him to try and even the odds, though not in the way that the three of them might think. A song drifted over the battlefield from the Sirens lips, her form flickering from a horrid and disgusting fish monster to a lonely sailors fantasy made flesh. The song layered into the discordant music that had been playing since the battle began, somehow managing through some feat of natural musical genius to harmonize with and complement it as it tried to draw one of the three to Link's side.

While the Triple Demon looked on in confusion, Link's striker sang her abyssal tune without interference, and as the wondrous yet uncanny melody washed over the perked-up ears of his opponents, the effect was immediate. The Siren's Song of Desire totally charmed the only soul present to hear it: Cerberus.

Link was surprised at the results. It would have been terrible if the Siren had managed to take control of their entire team during Master Hand's trial. Unbeknownst to him, the song had really had weaved its way into only one of them, but while there were three enemies they shared one soul between them and so the song had managed to find a loophole to beguile the lot.

All three triplets relaxed, lowered their weapons, and with dull eyes and slowly wagging tails approached Link in something akin to a trance. None of them seemed hostile anymore, with the first and second more focused on wringing out the salt water from their clothes and hair as best they could, while the third just stood with her head in her hands. "What's this weird feeling?" she asked in a slightly slurred voice, rubbing at her eyes. "We can't...think straight." She withdrew her hand, blinked a few times at her upheld palms, and looked blearily at Link. "What's...going on? Why were we fighting...again?"

"You were...." he started, wondering how he should play this. They were more in charge of themselves than Bowser, Blazer, and Peach had been if they were still questioning the situation. He might have to tread carefully. "We were fighting because you wanted to keep me here." Not even really a lie, and as he spoke another devious not-lie crept into his head. "And you were showing off those impressive weapons of yours, remember. Hotter than Berial, more electrifying than Nevan? You were right." Shooting his shot, he extended a hand to them palm up. "I would love if I could take a look at them up close. Please?"

The Triple Demon responded with looks of suspicion, each holding her weapon close. "No way, pal! Cerberus is who we are, and you can't take that away from us!" In close proximity, the elemental traces that lingered around the bo staff, three-section staff, and nunchaku shone with the same light and energy within each triplet's eyes, marking them as someone highly personal. As it turned out, switching allegiance did not necessarily entail control, or even increased suggestibility, for the three. Their stupor existed only because no other enemies existed in the Evergaol for Cerberus to fight on Link's behalf, and the seconds until that even that expired continued to tick away.

Well, it had been worth a shot. At least he had been given a chance to catch his breath, but he had no idea how long that would last. "Sorry. I had no idea they were so important to you." He took a few more precious moments to gather himself, make sure his head was on straight. Then he drew his fist back and re-equipped the cestus. Charging up power, the cestus being wrapped in a cloak of smoke as though the arm inside was on fire, Link unleased a spin attack with the cestus while the three of them were bunched up.

All three triplets watched uneasily as Link gathered power within his weapon, sharing increasingly worried glances between another. Though neither so dense or dazed they the possibility of what their temporary ally might be doing escaped them, none seemed to want to believe him capable of such a cruelly traitorous act. Instead they huddled together, shrinking down like dogs who knew their master was about to beat them, right up until Link let loose his wild haymaker and sent all three flying in a chorus of yelps.

Cerberus splashed down on the other side of the Evergaol's central dias, but only a couple seconds later erupted from the water, sopping wet and barking mad. The fog that the siren's song settled over them seemed to have lifted, so despite being bruised and disheveled the Triple Demon leveled their weapons at Link once more. Having taken the brunt of their challenger's attack, the nunchaku-wielder seemed to be in the worst shape, but it was she who stepped forward first. "Freeze..." she growled, holding up her arm with her palm extended. The central ring hung around her wrist, while the three heads of her weapon dangled from chains of frigid mist. "To the bone!"

With a flick of her wrist she started the nunchaku spinning, whirling them like a propeller. The turbine technique sent a torrential funnel of wintry wind Link's way, which both flash-froze the water between him and pushed him back toward the Evergaol's barrier. Though already hard to resist, the tempest's ice threatened to harry Link's movement even further, making it that much easier to pin him to the wall. Despite her injuries, Cerberus grinned. "Feeling it yet? When it comes to ice, a petty demon like Bael simply...pales in comparison." Her blizzard continued for a few moments longer, then ended when she pulled her nunchaku back, grabbed hold, and thrust all three heads into the water. Instantly an outbreak of ice spikes surged forward toward Link, ripping up through the water like a frozen tidal wave as they bore down on him. The first and second girls climbed up onto the ice and followed along after the wave with weapons in hand, moving in low stances like beasts toward their prey. Of the two the staff-wielder arrived first, ready to deliver a fiery smack wherever she could.

Link pushed himself back off the wall, ice cracking and falling off him as he shivered and faced the combined assault coming his way. The first problem was the spikes, which he stepped into and became a plume again. As smoke he filtered around the sharp points of the spikes, reforming on the other side only to be immediately met with fire staff again. She thrusted up at him, the tip of her weapon engulfed in flames, and he was forced to block it with the cestus. On the ice the force of it caused him to slide back as she advanced, but he knew the more dangerous of the two attackers would be on him soon. They were finally using their numbers advantage on him, probably because they hadn't appreciated him knocking all three of their heads at once.

"CIA!" He called, a battle cry and command all at once. The sorceress appeared beside him, gate of souls aloft in her hands and already turning. Dark Link jumped out of the gate and charged forward two at the fire Cerberus and two at the lightning Cerberus. Their blades lashed out at their targets as they approached, but they were more meant to tie up the pair than anything. While she was busy with the incoming threat Link pulled out another bomb, his cube one, and chucked it into the melee he'd entangled lightning in to blow her up again.

The sudden appearance of another arcane ally at Link's side made Cerberus hesitate for just a moment, but that was all the time Cia needed to open wide her dark portal and pollute the battlefield with Dark Links. Without a word the quartet of shadowbound swordsmen swarmed across the ice to rush their astonished opponents down. Their onslaught instantly put both triplets on the defensive, nearly knocking the staff-wielder flat on her butt as she struggled to backpedal across the ice from her attackers while blocking their wild slashes. She crouched down, reached behind her, and dug her nails into the ice to anchor herself before launching into a wheeling strike to gain some distance. The blazing arc of her staff melted a crescent in the ice as she did, slowing the Dark Links' assault just enough for Cerberus to regain her footing.

No sooner had she disengaged, however, did some of the light leave her eyes, while those of the sanjiegun-wielder flared up. She'd been blocking desperately, unable to mount any offensive of her own and suffering greatly for it, but as her three-section staff sparked to life a grin came over her face once more. "Revolution!" she cried, and around her erupted a maelstrom of lightning-infused punishment as her weapon wreaked havoc. Though at first it looked like the flailing of a lunatic, she was handling her staff's sections with skill and precision, so focused on denying the Dark Links' approach that she didn't notice the bomb that sailed her way.

At the last moment, however, her sparks died down, and as the third triplet jumped in for the save a veil of frost danced around her. "Ice Age!" she called, whirling her nunchaku overhead. Around her and the second demon a cocoon of ice sprang into being, forming a defensive shell able to withstand the blast. Even as the burst of magic and smoke cleared and the Dark Links resumed their attack, the cracked barrier held firm.

Meanwhile, the first triplet had come under fire again, treated to a half-dozen painful cuts by the Dark Links that assailed her. Smelling blood, they closed in for the kill. The first executed a spin attack that forced Cerberus off the ice and into the water, and as she floundered the second springboarded off the first for a lethal plunge attack. For a moment Cerberus waved, her fear plain to see in her eyes, but in a flash they gave way to burning determination. She bet the farm on a single heavy thrust and managed to catch the Dark Link in the chest, blasting him back toward his comrade. Cerberus then leaped from the water, pierced the ice with her staff, then whirled around it with her hands on the pole and her steaming feet wreathed in fire. "Hahahaha!" Her revolving red-hot kicks broke open her enemies' guard, then blew them away, and as Cerberus finally slid to a stop on the ice she closed out her performance with a cheeky bow.

The two Dark Links attacking Firestaff were blasted into shadow by her assault, while the two going after the others faded away. They only really had a few good attacks in them anyway before they faded out, but their assault combined with the bomb had succeeded in pushing two of the triplets into a corner and reveled to an observant eye exactly how those weapons of theirs worked. They had only come at him one at a time because only one of them could have the power at once. Why you would ever design a weapon to work like that he didn't know, but it had to have something to do with the triplet's themselves.

Storing that info for later, though, he instead took advantage of that corner they found themselves in. Before they could undue their cocoon he brought up the Sheikah Slate and used the Stasis Rune on it. Bright gold chains wrapped the cocoon, infusing it with golden light and freezing it in place. Ignoring the third for now Link set off on a slippery run across the ice toward them, landing one clumsy blow and one stronger one on the cocoon with his Cestus clad fist to send the whole thing flying once the clock ran out. Not at mach speed by his judgement, but enough to maybe incapacitate the two.

Link's smackdown on the frozen shell came to an abrupt end when Cerberus slid his way over the ice. She dug in her nails to stop herself in a low stance, then held the ignited end of her staff in front of her head like a torch. With puffed cheeks the triplet blew a torrent of flame at her enemy. As the fire raged, the other two waited patiently inside their defensive bastion for the stasis effect to end, since that meant that the walls erected by Ice Age would disappear on their own. Not for a moment did Cerberus think that the increasingly rapid blinking would end in a veritable shotgun-blast of ice shards. The explosive blast hurtled them into the drink once more, accompanied by a duet of screams right up until they got abruptly caught off by the water. Dazed and battered but still fighting-fit, the sanjiegun-wielder staggered upright, but the groaning nunchaku-wielder remained on her knees, her ears drooping as she hung her head.

Becoming quite adept at his new dodge, Link turned to smoke again as the flames came his way. This time he went straight up, reforming over the fire and pulling out his sailcloth. The rising air, heated by Cerberus's attack, was a welcome comfort after the freezing wind he had been subject to and carried him up along with it. He got a birds eye view of the prison shattering and sending the other two sprawling. One seemed content to stay down, but it wasn't the one he would have liked.

He dropped toward the lightning wielder, pulling out his bow and knocking an arrow as time slowed down around him. He let fly at her, aiming for the arm she held her weapon in before switching to the Trident and beginning his true attack. He spun the deadly weapon around as time resumed, pointing the blunt end right at her as he fell for a diving attack.

Cerberus tried to compose herself as Link cruised in using his sailcloth, grasping in the water at the other end of her tri-section staff. When her opponent produced a bow and took aim from on high, the triplet tried to dodge, but the hero's arrow flew true. It sank into her shoulder, nearly toppling her backward in the process, but alongside the pain something else welled up from inside her. She planted her foot beneath her to stop her fall, and with lightning in her eyes, took one end of her sanjiegun in either hand. A scream of anger tore loose from her lips, but it was backed by another voice, far louder, deeper, and more monstrous than hers. "PerCUSSIOOOOON!" As the roar resounded through the Evergaol and Link's plunge attack fell toward her, she rammed both ends of her weapon through the water into the ground. A whole thunderstorm's worth of lightning bolts immediately burst forth around her, filling water and air alike with rippling purple voltage.

Link tried one last-millisecond thrust as the girl raised her weapon, driving the shaft of the trident towards her, but he wasn't fast enough. Lightning filled him again as the world in front of his eyes went white. The next thing he knew was the blisteringly cold water and the taste of salt. He pushed himself up again, having belly flopped not far from the lightning wielder. The trident had flown out of his hand when the lightning struck him, embedding itself in one of the still floating chunks of ice. He stared up at her for a moment, breathing heavily, then sighed and rose gingerly back to his feet. "Were you three serious before, about letting me back out? Because for the life of me I can't think of a way to beat you that doesn't involve killing you.

For a few seconds Cerberus didn't respond. She still stood on the spot where she'd unleashed her cannonade of thunderbolts, stooped and panting as her sudden fury subsided. The mood of the fight had changed, and not because Link had been sizzled senseless a second time. The hero seemed reluctant to continue fighting, at least in the same manner as before, and in the brief lull everyone took a few seconds for a much-needed break. After a deep breath the third triplet pulled herself together and rose, dripping, from the water. She drew up alongside the second as she yanked the arrow from her shoulder, prompting a high-pitched yelp, while the first pushed through the water past Link, her eyes wary and her staff clutched tight in her hand. When she joined the others the Triple Demon was reunited at last, and all three seemed to consider their opponent's question.

"Sure!" they said after a moment, smiling despite their various wounds. The notion of Link actually trying to kill them apparently didn't concern them too much. "Might as well since we couldn't get out in the first place if you didn't drop by. Besides, it was fun playing with you! You're a tricky one, huh?" The triplets flourished their weapons, ready for one last hurrah. "'Course, we gotta beat you first! Don't just roll over on us now, unless you wanna play dead!"

He couldn't help smiling back. They were a group of weirdos, but despite the shocks they had turned out to be some endearing weirdos. After yesterday the last thing he wanted to do was cast a dark pall over his time off. Cutting them down when they just wanted to feel the real sun would leave too foul a taste in his mouth to relax. Could he trust them? Maybe not, but his friends were all out there anyway if they were lying. "All right, but fair warning. That dark lady I summoned? That's all my friends left of the last woman that wouldn't give me back! Hyaaaaa!" He came around with the cestus, holding it in both hands and rotating over and over like a hammer thrower into the center of them. After a few rotations to build power he brought it over his head and slammed down to release a small shockwave that threw up a wall of icy water.

"Yaaaaaah!!!" Excited for the climactic showdown, Cerberus charged straight toward her challenger, only for the electric triplet in the middle to get smacked head over heels as she ran right into Link's wallop. "Aw, damn it, I--blblblblblbl!" She flipped backward into the water, blowing bubbles as she sank, and right on cue the third demon's eyes sparkled with icy blue light. Both she and the first triplet wisely backed off as Link's cyclone whirled between them. His typhoon ended in a mighty splash, and as if a lightbulb went off over her head, the 'chucker saw her chance.

Just as her clobbered counterpart did earlier with her three-section staff, Cerberus grabbed hold of her weapon's three heads, and with all her freezing power focused into a single point hammered the nunchaku into the giant splash. "It's cool!" In an instant the wall of water flash-frozen, becoming a bowl that enclosed Link on all sides.

Without delay the staff-wielder pole-vaulted over the lip, her fiery foot extended to make sure Link didn't ultimately miss out on the flying kick he eluded earlier. "Rock Back!" The blow splatted him against the bowl, and after planting her staff in the very center, Cerberus repeated her stylish move from earlier. She whirled around in a flaming revolution, smushing Link's head against the ice with her shoe the whole way, until his momentum slung him over the edge.

"Here, boy!" As he flew, the hero got a brief glimpse at the second triplet in his way, her three-section staff held like a baseball bat as Cerberus wiggled her hips in anticipation. "Now..." Lightning flashed in her eyes, and with an ear-to-ear smile she let loose. "Lay down!"

---

When Link next awoke, the sun was shining overhead, the seabirds were squawking, and he could hear party music on the shore. He was back in the real world, and around him stood Cerberus, all smiles and wagging tails as if they hadn't just beaten the snot out of the poor guy--or maybe because they had. All three were a mess, their fancy clothes sodden and torn and their hair in utter disarray, but they seemed happy, and each extended a hand to help him up. "Wakey, wakey!" they teased.

"Wha?" He started, very confused as he just chilled for a second in the refreshingly warm water and let it sooth all the new aches. They cold just get him out? That was how this worked? He took their hands and let them help him to his feet. "You've got to tell me more about this thing." He said, fascination tinting his voice. He glanced down to make sure they were in the same place, check if the circle was still glowing. "I thought you had swap to get people out. Well, in any case, welcome to The World of Light."

"Well, yeah, but you can also just open it once it's been tampered with!" Cerberus watched him examine the Evergaol's dias curiously. With its contents vacated the magical prison no longer served its purpose and had gone inert, with no trace of the nebulous glow that shone from it before. "Lots of people came by while we were inside, but none of them ever came in!" the Triple Demon continued. "It was SO frustrating!"

Their gaze quickly wandered, taking in the incredible natural beauty of the western shoreline for the first time. "But now we're free," they breathed, as if they still couldn't quite comprehend the fact. "Free to corrupt the mortal realm! Think we'll start with..." Their ears perked up as they caught a scent on the breeze. "Ooh, whatever that is! Let's go!"

Having locked onto Karin's barbecue buffet over on the beach, all three took off at a sprint across the Evergaol. They took one step off the sand at its edge and promptly sank down into a hidden trench with a collective yelp. When they surfaced they'd broken formation, flailing and splashing in comical fashion as they tried to push one another out of the way and get at the food.

"Gah, what maniac put this hole here!? I'll rip 'em limb from limb!"

"Come on, doggy paddle don't fail me now! Ow ow, hey, no pulling!"

"Aaaaagh, it's all falling apart! I just wanna eat food, damn it! Hey!"

Link couldn't imagine what kind of person would come across a glowing dais in the middle of nowhere and not mess with it, and frankly he didn't want to consider what went on in such a mind. He did get a little worried when they started talking about corrupting the mortal realm, but those worries were alleviated when the trio fell into the deep end and started squabbling like children. Even if they were evil, they seemed like the Bowser brand of evil. He swapped back into his swimwear and flippers and dove in after them, ready to explain to miss Karin where he had brought three ravenous hellbeasts to her property.