Sakura and Karin’s battle was fast, explosive, and rhythmic. Karin in particular was showing off- she was not all talk. Her movements were strong and well practiced, transitioning from one into the other like she was a blacksmith forging a sword. Her movements were fluid, yes, but she wasn’t relying on speed and agility like Sakura might. At one point, Sakura took a misstep and Karin capitalized. She crouched down and, balancing on one leg, slammed the other into Sakura’s knee. In a split second after that she snapped forward and plunged her palm upward into Sakura’s chest, sending her spinning upwards and backwards through the air.

“Nice one! Incredible!” The totally unbiased referee shouted.

"Thank you, Ishizaki-san." Karin said, smiling.

But Sakura was no slouch either, and she was right back on her feet by the time Karin took less than a second to recover from her mighty blow. The two exchanged fists, palms, and kicks, and Sakura found her opening when she grabbed Karin by the shoulders and swept her leg out from under her, sending her head over heels onto the ground with a slam. Karin rose to her feet just in time to get her shin kicked and chin upper cutted.

Rolling to her feet and getting shoved backwards by a fireball thrown her way, Karin scowled. ”Copying my techniques, are we?"

”I did that one first!” Sakura protested, firing another fireball, and another one, and another one. Karin ducked under one, side stepped another, only to get knocked off her feet by the one sent at the ground that exploded outwards.

Growling, she leapt clean over the next fireball, and did nothing but walk calmly around the next, keeping her back to it. Sakura’s fireball stance changed subtly as she charged up a powerful fireball. Karin jumped preemptively, only to explode mid-air as Sakura launched the fireball at the vertex of Karin’s jump arc.

”Aah!” She curled around the impact just in time for Sakura to ‘catch’ her with another scooping uppercut. Landing, Sakura charged up another fireball as Karin rolled to her feet.

”Hadoken!”

Karin inhaled, and there was a glint in her eye. ”Gracefully!” For a moment she became as water, using her V-Shift. In a blur, she was beyond the fireball and palming Sakura into the sand.
Back-rising to her feet, Sakura charged up another fireball only to get kicked hard in the gut, the sound of electricity shattering glass scattered across the sand. By the noise she made it was evident the wind was knocked out of her.

Karin pushed the advantage, smacking Sakura around a bit. At some point another palm connected with her chin and Sakura was up in the air. Karin bounced her back and forth with a graceful double kick that made Sakura look light as a balloon getting stabbed into with a knife. ”Mujinkyaku!”

”Resenha!” Poor Sakura still hadn’t had a chance to get her feet beneath her when Karin span into her, arms outstretched, smacking her upwards with her palms three times. Both girls rose up into the air and a final palm buried Sakura in the sand. Landing, Karin took her by the arm and flung onto her back. As Sakura attempted to stand Karin grabbed her arm yet again, lifted in, and slammed into her bodily sending a groaning Sakura flat onto her back. This time, she didn’t get up, a grimace on her face.

Karin knelt down and flicked Sakura on the forehead. ”Ow!” Sakura complained, rubbing her forehead as if that was the part that hurt the most. ”What was that for?”

”That was a neck snap. You’re dead. Round one goes to me.” Karin declared, pointing a finger up in the air. ”I can see right through you, Sakura.”

”Doesn’t the referee have to declare that?”

“Round one goes to Karin Kanzuki!” Ishizaki declared, throwing a little white flag. It landed on Sakura’s forehead. She plucked it off and coughed, spitting into the sand.

”Alright, fine. I’ll give you that one. But my neck is not that easy to snap.” Sakura said. ”And anyway- do you have to be so morbid?” Karin let Sakura pull herself to her feet and brush the sand off her back. Choosing not to answer Sakura’s question, Karin considered what she had seen so far. It was good- the skill was there, but that wasn’t the issue before. Sakura’s spirit seemed to be in a better place. Less distracted. More in the moment.

Sakura rose to her feet, feeling pretty salty. And not just because of the ocean water in her mouth. But she had to maintain her composure if she was going to get Kanzuki back.

“Round two! Go for it!” Ishizaki-san shouted. And they did! Things got really fast, really quick. Karin expected another game of keep away and dashed in, only to get caught out by a foot to the face. Sakura made another misstep, walking too far forward, and Karin took advantage by crouching and swiping out her foot again. Only to catch nothing but air!

”Baited!” Sakura declared, lifting her foot over Karin’s and bringing her fist down on her extended leg like a hammer. This time it was Sakura’s turn to smack Karin around, and just when it seemed like Karin was about to defend herself again, Sakura gave up her own advantage just to push for an even bigger one, catching Karin off guard. Karin made a quite undignified noise when Sakura clasped her hands together and jerked Karin’s head backwards with a two-handed uppercut. That was always fun.

Karin kicked Sakura away and wiped her mouth. Sakura began chucking fireballs down the line, only for Karin to leap around and slide under them. But as she closed the distance, Sakura swept her legs out from under her.

”Baited-!”

”Oh, shut up!” Karin said, rising them both into the air with another spiral of palm strikes. Even knocked down, Sakura got up with a smile. Karin hated this feeling, that Sakura had gotten into her head. Of course, Sakura hated it even more when it happened to her, which is how it should be! Karin backed up, playing defensively, and Sakura surged forward, batting a warding kick aside and jabbing Karin in her perfect teeth.

The round would prove to be Sakura’s. Karin rose her fists to protect against a head strike only for her bare midsection to get struck instead. Backing up, she frustratedly found her legs turned to jelly no matter how much she wished them not too. Dropping to her knees she fell face first onto the sand.

“Round two goes to Sakura!” Izhikazi said, equally excited.

This snapped Karin’s eyes open and she pushed herself to her feet just in time to see the back end of Sakura’s infuriatingly adorable joyous spin she often did.

”This isn’t over!” Karin declared. She too had forgotten all about her greater goal of testing Sakura’s will. For both of them, there was nothing but the fight. This was how it always went.

”You got that right. Let’s finish this, Karin.” Sakura cracked her knuckles and her neck.

Boosh, boosh, boosh! Karin couldn’t get close. She was never sure what fireball Sakura was going to throw next. So she just had to grin it and bear it. Sakura enjoyed almost ten seconds of grinding down on Karin’s patience, and only when she was sent skidding backwards from a V-Reversal elbow did Karin finally get in.

Sakura confidently predicted Karin would push the advantage, only for Karin to show restraint. She countered another attack that didn’t come and was once again punished for it, sent flying into the air with a palm. There was a flash of energy and Karin surged forward, sending Sakura even higher into the air before she could touch down. As Sakura tumbled through the earth, curled around the impact point with her limbs trailing infront of her, Karin turned her back to Sakura and practically stepped into her with extreme force. Like Sakura had been hit by a car she bounced and rolled along the beach.

Pushing the offensive, the heiress span forward and brought her palm down hard on the fallen Sakura. ”Oof!”

Sakura jabbed Karin’s nose. Shocked, she put a hand up to it, hoping it wasn’t misshapen, however briefly. Yanking on Karin’s shoulders Sakura flipped her over her head.

As both girls popped to their feet and surged toward each other, there was a long time where neither of them got the upper hand. Despite Sakura’s promise for a swift end, a solid sixty seconds passed where fist collided with forearm, palm sliced through open air, and legs clashed at non-advantageous angles. Ishizaki went from cheering boisterously pressing his fingers against his teeth nervously. The speed of it all was intense, and there was a lot of spinning. Blue sparks of defensive energy- neither one could get the advantage over the other.

And then things went full spaghetti. It started when the both knee each other in the gut at the same time. Sakura jabbed Karin’s face, and Karin palmed Sakura’s forehead. For every block and dodge, there was a meaty hit. The two women really started laying into each other. Sakura’s jaw got clocked and she stumbled backward, laughing oddly, before getting her footing and catching Karin off guard with a kick to the arm that was borderline cringe-worthy.

”Gah! Oh, you little-!”

”Aagh!”

”Oah!”

“Eek!”

“Guah!”

“Bleh!”

”ENOUGH!” Karin roared, and full steam ahead she unleashed a bevvy of palm strikes in Sakura’s direction. Sakura backpedaled dancing between strikes and batting them away. Karin went low with a powerful diving sweep, but Sakura curled up and right over it. Karin span and went to choke Sakura’s collarbone only for her to smoothly disengage. Karin hopped up and brought her foot down on Sakura’s head, only for her to block it.

”RESSEN-” Karin once again exploded like a spinning blade towards Sakura. But there was no impact. Her hand, trembling with power, was thoroughly caught in Sakura’s grasp, her hand around Karin’s wrist. The street fighter’s gloved fist rested by her waist as a loaded shotgun, and for a split second Karin’s determined demeanor slipped, her eyes widening.

Sakura’s V-Trigger that she had been saving burst to life, and Sakura’s form was submerged in an aura of blue flame.

”You’re gonna get it, now.”

Gut punch! Karin’s doubling over was interrupted by an elbow to the side of her head. She took a step back, clutching it, only for her ribs to be jostled by a spinning two-fisted punch that lifted Karin off her feet.

”Full powers, go!” Sakura gathered energy in her hands and slapped it against Karin’s body, causing her to stand up straight.

”Here I go!” Sakura pointed beyond Karin, striking a confident pose. Then she erupted into a spinning maneuver that carried them both a clean fifteen yards, Sakura’s extended leg digging deeper into Karin’s belly five times in a row. ”HOOOOAAAH!” She screamed. Finally they both touched down, Karin’s hands on her midsection, her golden-red eyes thoughtlessly scrambling for an answer.

It seemed Sakura had found her target of choice, and like a hammer into an anvil she dug her heavy fist into Karin’s abdomen with a flourish of pink and blue energy. For a moment they paused, frozen in that moment of impact. ”SAKURA NO AME!”

Breaking the silence, she ripped her fist upwards and into Karin’s jaw, snapping her head back and launching her into the air. Sakura followed through completely, trailing behind Karin’s flailing form.

”No way!” Karin expelled the last of the air in her lungs with a cry of disbelief. Sakura landed easily on her feet, pumping her fists in victory and then crossing her arms. Finally, Karin landed flat on her back, eyes closed.

“She’s not going to be happy about that.” Ishizaki winced, peaking through his big fingers.
Wanna know who was very happy about beating the snot out of one of her best friends? One soon-to-be high school graduate Kasugano Sakura. Jumping for joy, up and down like a pogo stick, she let out an elated cry.

”I did it, I did it, I won, I won! Yattaze!” Beaming, she glanced towards her friends on the beach. ”Did you see me?!”

”...” Ishizaki was already at Karin’s side, somehow already having her on a towel and pillow.

”...Oh, crap, I almost forgot!” Sakura tapped her heart and produced a friend heart. Hurriedly, she rushed over, tossed the big butler man aside, and pressed the Friend Heart into Karin’s chest.

A moment passed, and Karin’s brilliant golden eyes truly opened for the first time since arriving in the World of Light. Her first instinct was to sulk, but the gears were already turning. Her harsh, authoritative, imposing and elegant demeanor melted away as she set a hand on her head and considered her life for the last long while.

”Karin..?” Sakura ventured, tenderly.

”Oh, my.” Karin said, setting a finger on her chin and pondering.She glanced around at the beach, and at Sakura’s friends, and at the blazing ball of light in the distance.

”I…I know right?” Sakura smiled apologetically.

”What on Earth?!” Now Karin was offended. ”Where am I?! What's going on?!”

“Oh, no! Sakura-chan, what have you done?!” Ishizaki cried in dismay.

”Silence!” Karin held a hand up, breathing heavily. "Sakura. You will explain yourself at once."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at her friend group. "Uhhh...well...uhh." She looked back towards Karin.

"It...it...it's so good to see you, Karin! Really!" She cried out in relief, and wrapped her arms around Karin. The stalwart woman's eyes widened, freezing up a little.

"This is not explaining yourself. This is hugging me."

"I've missed you so much!" Sakura said, tears streaming down her face.

Karin just let this happen, reluctantly returning the hug by patting the other girl on the back. This was not befitting on her image. Karin's generally displeased but tolerating face could be seen over Sakura's shoulder. The glare in her eyes seemed to say- 'ignore this.'

The Prisoner found Albedo to be an altogether manageable burden, helped not just by his slender build but also by the fact that he wasn’t just dead weight. Thanks in large part to Frisk’s single-minded determination, it seemed as though the duo successfully retrieved the alchemist from what would otherwise be a snowy grave before he succumbed to either suffocation or the cold. Wary of any possible pursuers, the Prisoner steered the others well clear of where the avalanche came to rest in its terrifying enormity, burying both the battlefield and any leftover would-be ambushers beneath tons upon tons of crunchy, chunky snow. When it became clear that no snowmen remained to challenge them the three could slow down, the frigid alpine air burning the throats of those who still possessed the ability to hyperventilate.

Not far behind them trailed Linkle, jogging along with an uncharacteristic solemn expression on her face. Despite all her power, she hadn’t anticipated that the tremors created by Bad Mr. Frosty’s ground pounds would actually sweep her off her feet. She picked herself up from those quakes just in time to see the fate in store for Albedo, and after that nothing else seemed to matter. In her mad dash to reach and save him she too fell victim to the polar landslide that engulfed him. Tumbled end over end to the point of total disorientation and deposited upside down, Linkle came to in the same terrible predicament that her new friend faced. Unlike him, however, she felt not the slightest trace of cold–only the anger and desperation to act. So too did she possess the physical strength and the elemental magic to break herself loose from the snow entombing her, and once back on her feet the Skullgirl turned her tranquil fury on Bad Mr. Frosty, far colder and deadlier than the thuggish snowman could ever be, and alongside the Prisoner she took him down.

It came as a relief to everyone that Albedo seemed more or less okay. While he’d lost his new murky green overcoat in the chaos, leaving him a mess of caked snow and mussed hair, he was free of any cuts, stab wounds, or broken bones courtesy of wood or stone debris caught in the avalanche. When Frisk sacrificed their coat for him he gave a slow, deliberate nod of gratitude, although trying to pull it tight around him to preserve his heat didn’t accomplish much. “I’m afraid it’s too small to do me much good,” he remarked matter-of-factly. “I would rather you keep it for yourself than risk exposure for little return. I would hazard a guess that I sustained a minor concussion at most. After all my time on Dragonspine I am somewhat used to the cold myself, and seldom did I wear an extra coat, anyway.” With the same measured stiffness he patted the kid on the head, his neutral expression saying that yes, he really would be fine.

The other two exchanged a few words, including introductions. From the looks of it, the Prisoner would be happy to join the merry little band as they made their way around the mountain to the fishing village, and naturally Frisk welcomed him into the fold. Albedo didn’t seem too elated, although by now his previous companions could assume that to just be par for the course. Instead he considered the new partnership with a pragmatic air, as if it presented some sort of complication. “An interesting choice considering that you don’t know our intentions, or where we’re headed,” he said after a moment. “But since you lent us your aid, we are in your debt, and far be it from me to deny you.” He nodded his affirmation, but did not extend a hand for the dead man to shake.

Then the alchemist tried to stand, but the way he wobbled after gaining his feet left a lot to be desired, as if his wipeout in the avalanche knocked his sense of balance out of him. He held out his arms to steady himself in place, breathing in and out slowly to maintain control. “Excuse me,” he said, his look apologetic as he regarded the others. “I seem to be…a little off-kilter. Perhaps I could trouble you to take the lead…as we continue.”

Ahead of them lay the devastation of the avalanche, which took up pretty much the entire width of the shallow river valley the team had been following northwest before. A far cry from the pristine smoothness of the open fields, it was an absolute mess of disturbed snow and debris. Entire pieces of splintered trees jutted from its misshapen surface at odd angles, and of the valley pines only the pointy green tops poked out. Still, the forces at play left the snow hard-packed, so the travelers could walk on and climb it just like any other ground, and the elevation change also gave them the option of an easy shortcut across the layer-cake hills that originally hemmed in the valley to begin with. Albedo followed the others with a little difficulty at first, but he composed himself bit by bit as they went along, and soon enough the formidable alchemist seemed to be right as rain. Whether or not his companions still worried about him, of course, was another matter, and while neither Linkle nor Prisoner might care about the cold, Frisk certainly did. Once started, shivers were hard to stop, and no amount of conversation over the course of a half-hour or so would halt the cold’s relentless, grasping progress through the bodies of the travelers.

As such, when they spotted a telltale trail of smoke rising skyward from a site among the conifers a little higher up on Dragonspine, the groups concern’s made the chance for shelter and warmth made it an appealing prospect despite the detour. From the hills, however, they could also trace the path of the icy river onward, snaking through the mountain’s sparsely forested foothills toward a bay on the northeastern shore, where the faintest suggestions of a gray-brown township could be glimpsed through squinted eyes. The four found themselves faced with a choice: persevere and stay the course for their destination, or seek a reprieve on Dragonspine itself to make sure that everyone in the expedition could continue free of worry.

As the light show of fusion ended, and while Bowser was still trying to show off his (mostly) old bod to anyone who would take a look a crew rolled in some of whom, unlike his intended target, did take an interest in his new-old form.

One was Rubick of many titles, a mage/scholarly looking type who took an immediate interest in the mechanism of fusion itself.

”Ah…” Kamek said before quietly admitting that ”In hindsight maybe we should not have been doing this in such a public setting without expecting… consequences” there was a pause and then she shrugged ”oh well, too late now”

”I’m Kamek, royal advisor and top magikoopa of Lord Bowser. Please, allow me to explain” she introduced herself, before she picked up the remaining dire penguin spirit and began to do just that ”This is a spirit, the remains of a felled foe. It can be applied to the heart to one of said foe’s powers or the head for some of its skills or knowledge, which results in the fusion you have just witnessed. We also just got a way to localize the effects of the fusion process as well, as can be seen by his flexfulness’ changes now mainly being to the shell where before they warped and contorted his entire body”

”You can also make a pact to instead summon them as temporary support” she flicked a hand to the side and summoned both Quiet and the End to one side. The pair glanced to and fro once or twice just in case there was a threat, before both took the opportunity to sit or lay down and enjoy the beach, with the old man commenting: “Finally some real sunshine. Took you long enough” as he basked in the light for the few moments he’d get.

”I, ah, yes. Entirely intentional” Kamek lied which got laugh and an eye roll from the snipers, before she coughed and got back to the last part of her explanation, saying ”and finally you can crush the spirits to produce useful items,” before demonstrating that by crushing the spirit and producing:



”Uhhh. Ok so it’s a bit arbitrary in what it produces sometimes, one moment” Kamek said after it sunk in what he had produced. She tossed it aside (where it was instantly tackled by Dazzle the Poppilo, demonstrating its toughness as it went bouncing away entirely unharmed no matter how many practice dire leaps it took to the face) and picked up one of the ocean crawler spirits.

There was a brief flash of light, and then the mage was holding a finely crafted silver and blue shield.

”There we go,” Kamek said, a touch relieved that she had not been given a detestably useful nick nack twice in a row, before holding out the shield and offering it to Rubick while saying ”here, see for yourself. Real as can be and quite finely crafted too I must say”



While Kamek engaged with her fellow mage, Bowser got the attention of the small pink robot who had been introduced as Susie.

”Yeah you know we are!” Bowser replied to her comment about them being as tough as they said, entirely missing the intent of the wink he had received and just taking things at face value as he gave another flex, arms pumped up on either side of his head, before gloating that ”Honestly, the stories probably don't even do us justice” while doing a downward flex over his chest, causing his shell to ripple as segments rose to reveal cannons, before those fell and allowed other segments to rise and unleashed stabby crackling crab limbs and tentacruel tendrils for a moment before they to where put away.

The king dusted off his hands after that, somewhat done with showing off now and instead directed his attention fully onto the newcomers, specifically challenging Susie with: ”So what makes you think you're tough enough to roll with us, huh little lady?” the question intended to be more of a prompt for her to talk about herself than any kind of derision or preemptive put down. After all, the ever useful Blazermate was right next to her as an example of why you shouldn't underestimate little bots.

While those two old turtles nattered on with the newcomers the kids were left to enjoy the sunshine and say hi to the more familiar late arrivals. Jr invited the hat kid to come build sandcastles with him, Lana and Rika, while the ship girl herself Bazermate and Nadia a wave before getting distracted by the big ship pulling into port. The talk about it being a trade ship reminded her she had a bunch of personal spending money burning a hole in her pocket, and suggested they check that out at some point as a result.

But maybe only after dinner.

While all this was going on there was the somewhat hard to miss street, or rather beach, fight also going on between their fancy host and the rough and tumble Sakura. While the troop were, of course, cheering Sakura on when they went otherwise occupied by chatting, they had to admit that Karin was quite the impressive brawler, something none had really suspected given her high class aesthetics.

It was an impressive bout, of that there was no doubt, and quite the nice piece of entertainment that ended with the hero winning (naturally) and then showing off some cunning by swiftly freeing her opponent from Galeem’s grasp.

”A big ball of light with wings blew every world to bits and then stitched them back together and made everyone forget that it did that” Bowser called over to the confused and embarrassed Karin, giving the most abridged explanation of this whole situation he’d given so far ”So we’re gonna punch its bosses, and then with them outta the way we’re gonna punch its lights out”

The various explanations about the world in general for the benefit of the newly freed went on a little longer. Primrose wondered if they shouldn't draw up some kind of pamphlet to hand out at this point. She listened in, planning to fill in any blanks for her fellow Traveler later. For his part Therion made sure to absorb all of the information being told to him, though he rolled his eyes when Midna classified him as a mercenary after his question.

"Har har," he grumbled at the imp. He was no sell sword... well, he wasn't before. But if he was to be traveling around helping the Seekers, whether by utilizing his thieving skills or otherwise, he only thought it fair to get some compensation for it. He wasn't the kind of person that would just do things out of the goodness of his heart, or so he liked to convince himself. As Midna went on, Therion didn't seem happy with her answer that a princess was bank rolling the adventure. It cut a little too close to home and his deal with Cordelia Ravus. Even so he made a vague gesture of agreement in Tora's direction as the nopon described all the horrific things they'd dealt with just that day. Though he would take dungeon delving over nothing if there were some shiny things to procure, having gained some experience with it over the last couple of months traveling in Orsterra. Before the whole universe combination thing had happened. He didn't care much about being branded a criminal or whatever the large rabbit earred lady was going on about considering his profession, but he did note that Primrose had a frown on her at that news. No going back to that spa then, at least from that entrance, she thought sadly.

There was, apparently, an actual mercenary among the groups newest additions in the form of the cyborg ninja. Therion gave Raiden a once over and ultimately looked away without formally introducing himself, still a bit miffed he'd been unwittingly fooled by Raiden's disguise. Besides, he hadn't actually introduced himself to the other Seekers either, Primrose had done it for him. She did no such thing now though. The dancer had taken her own seat in the shade, petting an ice antillion in order to keep it from wandering too far from her. With Raiden's introduction she nodded her head to him in greeting. "My name is Primrose," she said simply. "Glad to have you." Given that she was sitting in the sand overheated, sweaty, and tired she didn't bother to turn on the charm for the cyborg, but she did offer him something of a smile.

She turned away as everyone else said their greetings. Drawing her knees up to her chest, Primrose folded her hands atop them and rested her head on her arms. Physically she was all healed up, but while still fatigued Primrose decided to conserve as much energy as possible and wait out the time by people watching. She could tell that Therion, who lay not far off, was just as exhausted as she was. Maybe even more so. He was stretched out trying to look like he didn't have a care in the world, but the tight line of his posture said otherwise. She turned her attention to the Phantom Thieves where they sat in a loose circle with Necronomicon overhead. Not that anyone needed more heat, but it did warm her heart to see. Once everyone got a good rest she'd have to follow up with Panther a little.

Most of the others were still in various states of dozing and recovering after the battle, or in the case of poor Raz stewing innards. Her eyes quickly moved on from the boy and trailed over to Tharja, and she wondered what the woman would do now. Big Band struck up a tune for Tharja's sake, and the dancer was content to listen to it until their allies came to pick them up.

Kamek gave a bit of a speech on spirits, something Blazermate already knew all too well, but Susie was new to. She found that interesting, as it meant that if she could start robotizing worlds here, there would be way more resources to claim. Or there could be some interesting things she could find for herself. It also explained why some people seemed to be so... haphazard looking.

Susie noticed right away Bowser wasn't the most perceptive person in the room; often times the strong ones weren't the smartest which worked perfectly for her. Still, as he flexed, she clapped and giggled for him to egg him on, flattery always let you get your way after all for people like him. Of course, he came right out with no pretense or anything asking what Susie could do, glancing at Blazermate as he did so.

Clearing her throat, Susie gave a sales pitch of who she was and what she could do. "As this one said." Susie started, gesturing to Blazermate. "My name is Susie, Susie Haltmann. CEO of Haltmann Works Company. We specialize in robots, weapons, harvesting planets, terraforming, making wishes come true, and science." She then pulled out her blaster gun, showing it to the rest of the group. "This is my top of the line H.W.C. Blaster. It can vaporize foes at quite the range for a gun of its caliber." She didn't demonstrate this function however, as it would be improper to fire such a weapon here in town. "And this is just one of the many inventions we have made at Haltmann Works Co." Susie was a bit disappointed in herself that she couldn't show this Bowser her business suit, for some reason she hadn't been able to call that for quite some time. If she could, she wouldn't have been sitting around this town...

"And I could use a new bodyguard, I lost my adorable little Mecha Knight. Although we'd need to dress you up in a suit of your own." Susie said, giggling with a joyous look on her face. Soon there was a merchant ship coming into view, which considering what susie had been saying, gave Blazermate an idea. Getting her attention by tapping her on her... shoulder? head? Susie's lack of arms made that all confusing, Blazermate pointed to the ship and asked. "Hey, your good at the merchant thing right since you run a business? Could you see what you could get for this?" Blazermate asked, pulling out a giant bean. Susie looked at it bemused, and kept that expression until Blazermate explained. "I found this in a giant haunted ship thing. A lot of the stuff where it was found was kind of... strange but I know its got some kind of magic or whatever you call that. so its not just a 'giant bean'. "

Hearing this, Susie took the bean from Blazermate and looked at it intently, her visor down as she looked at it. After a bit she flipped her visor up and said. "Yes, I could get quite a lot for something like this!" Susie put the bean away and turned to Bowser and the rest of them, most of which weren't interested in the merchant ship. It was soon told to Susie that they weren't very money savvy or had much in the way of funds outside of the gothic dressed princess. They relied on monarchy and savage methods of making money, or using money they just had as monarchs which Susie mentally scoffed at. "Forgive me, but from the looks of it, it seems none of you are business minded. And considering some of the powerful objects found on ships like these, well... No need to worry about that outcome anymore!"

It seemed that the rest of the group were going to go to this ship later though, so Susie couldn't flex her business muscles quite yet, with the two fighting each other having concluded with the one in the skirt winning. She did.... something... that looked familiar to Susie but she couldn't place it, and then Bowser began to go into a very quick explanation of some strange... thing? Why couldn't Susie think about any of that?

Seeing her puzzled look, Blazermate remembered that Susie was still under Galeem's influence and wouldn't know anything about any of that. Seeing as they had just beat a boss and wouldn't be fighting another one for awhile, Blazermate thought a bit to herself before shaking her head. "When we're in a more private area, we'll need to fix Susie and Rubick too if they want to come with us..." Blazermate thought to herself. She then said to Susie. "Oh don't worry about that, I'll fix it later!" Blazermate said to Susie, which confused the pink robot but she shrugged and just moved on.

===================================================



Sectonia listened as the newcommers introduced themselves, noting that there were two sellswords in their new members. Tora also went on a bit of a tirade on how they had almost nothing to show for their travels outside of a dead area boss and Sectonia could only agree with the group although for different reasons. "I have my own stash of currency, but no one here will take magic gems as payment. Its as if their beauty is lost on those in this desert." Sectonia said, scoffing. She then continued. "Besides, the end goal of what you use currency for should be what you should look forward to, and as my minions, you all have access to something that helps you with that." Sectonia pulled out that ghastly avarice helmet momentarily before putting it away.

"... Still, finding magical items will be of paramount importance if we are to deal with bosses like 'that' thing. Without that train, it would have taken days to defeat that large creature." Sectonia said, the mere mention of that causing a small wave of exhaustion to go through the camp. "If that airship works well, perhaps we could use that to look over the desert for these 'ruins'. But after rest, and cleaning a few of you up. Viscera is quite ugly."

”Then you’re welcome aboard Riden” Midna said, formally welcoming the warrior into their ranks, before tilting her head and thinking about his comment about feeling controlled before and his prior comment on that topic before they had stopped asked ”So… is ‘America’ some great evil in your world? Got any pointers for how to deal with it if it does show up?”

While they were talking Midna’s ears perked up at overhearing the idea that they might get some gratitude for killing the worm, and then they drooped back down when it became clear that they’d just lost any gratitude and/or clout they’d worked so hard to build up back at Al Mamoon in one fell swoop, and might even be considered enemies of the state.

Her head flopped back onto her wolfos’s back as she bemoaned ”Urh, and I was looking forwards to sniffing around that market with a proper treasury to back me up” the princess just assuming that getting funds was a given, as if there weren't a million and one things that needed funded, let alone the fact that Peach’s money was hers, not the seekers.

Then she though a bit beyond herself and briefly worried that ”I hope the people we help freed don't get scorched by the bridge we just burned” before going right back to herself when she realized, same as Primrose ”argh and no spa too!”

Then she sat up again suddenly, snapping her fingers as she realized that wasn't exactly right ”No. Wait. We’ll have an airship before sunset… and it was up in the clouds… so maybe we can just fly to it? Wherever it is?”

She wasn't the only one thinking about what could be done now that they’d have fast aerial travel at their disposal. The whole desert would open up to them with a flying machine under their command, and so, in lieu of being able to buy better gear, Sectonia suggested they go out and raid some ruins to see if they could scrounge up some ancient artifacts from them. Specifically those that would let them take on red eye without relying on finding a replacement for the railway gun. Failing that, if they could get strong spirits, then combining that with the mimic hat, they could just create their own fancy gear.

However ”I’d join you on your treasure hunt, but I’ve got some unfinished business up the mountainside. Did give that tree trapped guy Gemino a promise, even if its a weird one” she said (referring to the poor man they’d met on their climb’s desire for burning oil) and who knew, maybe she’d get lucky and this monastery she needed to go to would fit the ancient ruin with artifacts in it category, before adding ”But I can get back mountain top side with the warp rock and then just drop back down so I should be good” and then thinking for a moment ”We have two of those right? We should set the other one up on the ship once we get it, lets us, or at least me, jump back to it once we’re done with whatever splitting up we end up doing”

Once she finished talking she leaned back against her furry backrest, only for the wolfos to shift behind her, the beast perking up its ears at first and then turning to peer off into the distance.

”Huh? What is it, mutt?” she asked, before sitting up and squinting off in the direction, her sun adverse eyes only managing to pick up some blurry shapes in the distance ”What are those… and where they there earlier”

While watching the match the Cadet had retreated into the sparse shade of a palm tree. He was definitely done exploring for now, so he got cozy and leaned against the tree's trunk with a lemonade in hand. As far as spectators went, he was one of the louder ones. He'd been amused with Cerberus' mixture of cheers and jeers, and joined in with their enthusiastic callouts - in support of Sakura, of course.

The day was wearing on, by then it was already late in the afternoon. Evening would be quickly approaching, which seemed to be the queue for the missing Seekers to start reconvening on the beach. Princess Peach and Hat Kid found their way to the estate, and Blazermate returned with two strangers tagging along beside her. To the newcomers the Cadet waved his hand, accompanied by a jovial "Hey there!" They'd come to the beach at a good time if they wanted a show, as beside the main attraction of the beach battle was the light show of spirit fusion.

He hadn't been paying much attention to what Kamek was explaining until she actually demonstrated. Something to force the fusion into a specific body part? That was pretty handy! Although the Cadet had to agree with Geralt, in principal at least. Fusing had only been for necessity for him. In fact with the princess here and pulling spirits from people anyway, he wondered if he should have Jamaica removed. The Cadet glanced down at his chest, but all he saw was his own skin - slightly darker after the fusion, tinted red from the sun. He'd briefly checked his appearance that morning in the inn, and he didn't particularly dislike the changes. The rigging and water walk ability had been extremely useful as well. ...was it disrespectful to be thinking like that? She'd been her own person, not just a power-up, though the Cadet hadn't known her. But it wasn't like she could come back either. It would probably be best to keep her spirit, especially if it would help get used to the process. He didn't really want to be fusing with anything, but if things kept getting more and more difficult for them then he might not have much of a choice.

The Ace Cadet looked back toward the brawl, and then out over the ocean where a huge vessel was taking up most of the scenery as it passed. His armor was still sitting in the sand, facing the vast blue as well. I should probably gather it up, he thought. Though he wasn't looking forward to donning it again while it (and he) was covered in sand. Maybe he could ask Bowser to wash it down with those water cannons on his back once they got back to Limsa proper?

There was another person heading towards them on the beach, and once close enough they were easily recognizable as Nadia. The Cadet beamed and waved at her as she approached. She brought with her a bunch of money and a suggestion for dining. After Peach's question, the Cadet nodded towards Cerberus. "What they said."

Nadia came over and laid a hand on his shoulder. He barely suppressed a yelp when she squeezed it, the slight stinging pain sunburns already starting.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you hang out with Carapaceons. I think they were trying to turn me into one of them," he laughed. Speaking of, he looked over at Blazermate where she chatted with her new friend, hoping to grab her attention. "Hey, Blazermate? Would you mind using your healing beam on me?" Hopefully it would just zap him right back to normal.

"Oh! Right - I also got some loot. Here, take a look," he said as he turned his attention back to Nadia. He beckoned her to follow the short distance over to where the conspicuous chest sat by the shell radio. He popped it open and pulled the lid back, displaying the pearls and trinkets inside. "Ja-jaaan! Pretty Radalos, right? Anything strike your fancy, Ms. Fortune? Help yourself!"

Its contents were of course available to the rest of the Seekers as well, for what few items there were. The Cadet himself was mainly interested in pawning the pearls so he had some spending money. He fished the blue shell necklace out and offered it to the feral, pausing only when he took note of her change of clothes. "Maybe it's too much blue, but here.

"So, where-" He'd wanted to ask about her own exploration and what she'd been up to, especially to bring back what she did. Not just her, but Kamek, Rika, and Link too - clearly they'd gotten up to something. But it might have had to wait to be discussed over dinner, as there was a crack and a cheer coming from the battle between to the two street fighters. A decisive victory for Sakura it seemed, and a newly freed Karin. Though the look in the later's eyes dissuaded the hunter from looking at the girls' embrace for too long. Instead he looked back to Nadia and Princess Peach and raised his eyebrows. Seems they'd be departing for dinner soon after some explanations. Hopefully the restaurant could fit them all. Maybe they had a patio.

@Archmage MC

As the fight between Sakura and Karin began and swung into gear, Geralt's attention was robbed by an old, familiar stench. His eyes dilated, and he frowned as he casually took a deep breath, slowly turning his head towards the smell of blood. Nadia. He was used to her smelling like blood, odd as it was, but this was different. Not only did her infusion with that Spirit change how she smelled, what he was getting from her was extremely concerning.

The scent of multiple people's blood. His brow furrowed as his eyes bored into her, and Yennefer, having stuck close to him, sighed with disgust. "Really, Geralt?" She whispered, harshly. "She seems quite happy with that one, already, not to mention that I'm right here."

Shaking his head, Geralt explained, putting an arm behind her back to get closer, "Not that. She reeks of blood, Yennefer. Different people's blood. Several people. That, and cheap booze." Yennefer tensed a little.

"You don't think she..."

"No. What I've gathered from her, she's at worst a petty thief with a good heart and a painful past." Which made this all the more curious. "I don't know what happened, or why she isn't mentioning it, but she might just not want to worry anybody. She can handle herself in a fight, for sure, especially given she has some kind of regenerative capabilities that make mine pale in comparison." He shook his head with a frown. "Still, she can be killed. It just takes a lot more, and I worry that's made her more prone to being cavalier about her safety."

Yennefer merely gave him a small smirk and playfully pushed him off her. "Look at you, treating your little band of heroes like they're your kids. While ours is still out there..."

Both their faces fell a little, before Geralt sighed. "You and I both know that wherever Ciri is, she's doing the same damn thing. Girl's got even more of a stubborn streak than I do when it comes to doing the right thing."

"At great personal cost, yes, I am keenly aware, Geralt." It was him trying to intervene in the pogrom that got them killed the first time around, after all, and Geralt sighed again at the frosty tone.

"Point is, she's more than capable of looking after herself and making friends. And I've found myself wrapped up in quite the conundrum here. It's not like I can just...unlearn everything about Galeem."

Speaking of which, Karin and Sakura's fight was coming to a head, and the former found herself being launched into the air. Sakura quickly revitalized her with a Friend Heart, and Bowser took it upon himself to explain the situation.

Geralt added a little on. "That," He said, pointing at Galeem, "Is what I was talking about earlier. Not the sun. Your sunglasses hid the red eyes everybody has under his influence. Speaking of which..." He trailed off, looking around. "Quite a few unfamiliar faces around. Might come off wrong if we...introduce them...to the new world without thinking it over first."

He was, of course, referring to the simple strategy of 'Beat up your new friends, heal them, and explain everything.'

"I'll leave that to you, though, I gotta do something." Turning back towards where Nadia and Ace were sitting, he walked up with a wave. "Welcome back, Nadia." As he spoke, his eyes searched over her quickly, before returning back to her own, a silent message playing. 'I know.'

"Get up to anything exciting?" 'It's up to you on who to tell, but we will be talking.' "It's been fun over here, though I've spent most of the day relaxing with Yennefer. I just came out of a war into this nonsense, so I'm more than happy to take what I can get." As if to punctuate his statement, Geralt's oversized shirt fluttered in the light breeze. "Though I'd prefer something that fit better."

It sucked being tall and lanky, but this was ridiculous.

Jesse paused, hearing people talk about her. Pausing and spinning on her heel. she headed back towards the group as they discussed summoning a form of transportation. "Great. No, that's perfect. I wasn't really looking forward to another walk."

Polaris twinkled.

That would be like, what? An hour? A day? A week? I kind of lost track of how far that train went.

They even had shade. In short, Jesse thought things were pretty comfortable. She took the time to take off her shoes and smack the soles, shaking the sand out of them. Then out of her hair. While she relaxed her hard-worked body she casually eavesdropped on the conversations of others.

Not really eavesdropping though, is it? It’s like a group conversation kind of deal… not that I’m any stranger to eavesdropping.

But what got Jesse’s attention was once again the mention of America. Considering she was literally in another dimension, it sure did come up a lot. Though perhaps that might have something to do with the weird culture-conscious nature of this universe, or how ideas could bleed through different realities. These were ideas Jesse had a decent degree of understanding of giving her line of work.

Although, it didn’t sound like things were particularly swell in Raiden’s America. And Midna’s question caused Jesse to stifle a laugh. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make light. It’s just that in my home world I work for the American government. I don’t intend on subverting anyone’s free will though.”

Jesse hesitated, thinking about her literal mind control power that she has. “Actually, wait. Uh, hm. Well- okay. I did do it a few times but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. They were basically already dead. It was- it was a whole thing.” She waves away the thought dismissively.

Karin blinked at the giant turtle man and weird man and all the weird people on her private beach. And she thought how odd indeed it was that her friend Sakura had previously been seen with cat ears. And Bowser explained their mission in succint and clear detail. Geralt directed her attention to the giant glowing ball on the horizon that was actually NOT the sun but rather something called Galeem.

And Karin sat there with her best friend's arms around her, blinking. "Why. Yes. I imagine that is all a bit strange, now that you point it out." Sakura pushed back, eyes still wet with relief.

"Yeah, huh? It's really weird! And horrible! It's like Mister King Bowser said. This whole time- and the friend heart that I cheated with was just me trying to save you from the evil mind control. And then we had to go off and-"

"You mean to tell me my very free will was at stake and you lost?!" Karin said, indigant. "And then you buzzed off to the other side of the ocean instead of trying again! I killed someone in the interim time, you know! And I found that very strange since our goal was to take him alive!"

Sakura startled back, covering her mouth. "Oh, my gosh. Miss Karin, I'm so sorry-"

"Oh, it's fine. He definitely had it coming, I suppose. The serial killer type. But still, it was rather uncouth and out of character for myself." She went to adjust the ruffles of her sleeve only for her to realise she was still in a bikini.

"...I do look fantastic but it's hardly battle appropriate attire."

"So you're coming with us!"

"Of course I'm coming with you, Miss Sakura. You all probably had a miserable time without me. Especially you. All by your little lonesome."

Sakura tilted her head to the side. "Well, you're not wrong. It was the worst day of my life, pretty much. I also had to kind of kill some kind of people." She says, concern and regret flashing across her features.

"I don't doubt it. But yes, this Galeem-" Karin shot up to her feet. "My estate! In Tokyo! Where is it?"

Sakura fell onto her butt. "Umm...I don't- I don't know? It could be anywhere. Or it might not even exist."

"So either it's been stolen or- or it's been left somewhere abandoned and-" She gasps, setting a hand on her chest. "And a bunch of commoners and vagrants and layabouts are helping themselves to-" She clenches her fists. "It's unconscionable!"

"...Is that somehow worse than it not existing at all?" Sakura said. "I mean maybe it's like, they have a roof over their head now, right? At least?

"Yes, it's-!" Karin started. Grumpy, she sighed, brushing a golden coil of hair over her shoulder. "I suppose you're right. But, but what about my private army of ninjas!"

Sakura shook her head.

"My personal orbital strike cannon, the Red Spider-Lily?" Karin said pleadingly.

Sakura shook her head again. Secretly, she was kind of glad Karin Kanzuki no longer had the option to nuke people from orbit with a giant laser. "Sorry, Miss Karin. Some people still don't even know where their loved ones are-"

"And my vast collection of antique cars!" Karin pouted. "No. No, this cannot stand. Nobody gets away with unepending the Kanzuki name. ISHIZAKI-SAN!" She shouted, with a voice so clear and loud, Sakura once again startled.

"Yes, Karin-san!" Ishizaki saluted, looking mildly concerned and confused. The other staff on the beach did as well.

"Knock yourself out at once!"

"Well, all right." He said with a shrug, and then clocked himself on the jaw. Sakura looked vaguely horrified.

"All right, Sakura." She gestured at her butler/ life-long mentor. "Do that thing you did on me."

"Miss Karin! You can't just- I can't believe he actually- it's not free, y'know!"

"Oh but you have so much love to give and you have such a pure heart now shut up, do it, I don't know how."

Grumbling, Sakura did so. Ishizaki kip-upped to his feet. "Ooooh! Wow! Yeah, okay, I get it now! That's crazy!" He glanced over the beach, scratching his head at Galeem in the distance. "That is somethin' else!"

"Well, welcome to the club." The street fighter said, clearing her throat and rising to her feet as well.

"I'm off to get changed. Sakura, you can stay in that droll one piece if you want." She hesitated, looking at the festivites on the beach. "You're all free to enjoy yourselves, naturally. For the rest of the day. But I have matters to attend too now and I could hardly do them without shoes on. Be well, all of you! I shall return shortly." And with that she strutted away. Ishizaki-san followed.

"...She is such a weirdo." Sakura concluded, brushing a strand of brown hair out of her face. "She's gotten better but she is seriously a weirdo. I think all rich people are weirdos. I've only met a few but they're all kind of weird."

Sakura spotted Nadia and waved. Looked at all her friends. Then she kinda turned in a circle, wiping her eyes free of tears. She wasn't sure where to go, now! Maybe she'd just wait for a commotion to happen. Slapping her sides with her limp hands, she sighed with relief and contentment.

The matter of money, and especially due recompense, was one near and dear to a lot of the Seekers’ hearts. Sectonia pointed out one avenue for getting paid, that being an extravagant treasure hunt across the entirety of the Sandswept Sky, exploring far and wide in a bid to leave no stone unturned when it came to making bank. Midna ruminated on the possibility as well, remembering both previous transportation used and promises made. Normally Tora would be all for it, anything to make a quick buck, but right now he could only think of it as an attractive possibility. Even if they weren’t totally done with the Sandswept Sky just yet after all, everyone needed time to recuperate after weathering the incredible trial they’d undergone.

Though cooled, sheltered, and comfortable as they were going to get out here, their muscles still burned from overexertion, throats hurt from hyperventilation, ears rang, and bones hurt. The efforts of the medics meant that their fatigue would outlast their injuries, but it would still be a good while before anyone could seriously consider getting back into action. Luckily, time was one thing the weary heroes had in abundance as they waited for extraction, along with heat, space, and sand. Soon only Big Band’s saxophone could be heard over the desert ambiance, playing a slow, melancholy tune in a heartfelt and soulful attempt to set aching hearts at ease. With the big man as tired and torn up as everyone else, however, it wasn’t long before only the whispers of wind and sand stood between the Seekers and silence.

It wasn’t ideal, but at least it wasn't humid either, and it was rather peaceful out here. Now that they’d come back down to earth after the outrageous highs and lows of their fight against Red Eye, the team could get acquainted -or reacquainted- with the same feeling that confronted the first Seekers when they first emerged from the mountain range that encircled Alcamoth’s Eryth Sea to witness the Sandswept Sky in its staggering entirety. Though large for a Nopon, Tora still seldom beat any humans out in terms of height, and in this barren expanse he felt even smaller than usual. At least the likes of Big Band and Braum couldn’t be doing much better, he figured.

It was weird staring across the miles and miles of wide-open land back at Split Mountain, knowing that he’d just been there and having a much stronger appreciation for just how massive it really was. Worse still, even after their grueling effort to attain that lofty peak, the Seekers still never quite reached that mysterious pinnacle, and found out what lay beyond its heavenly light. Tora sighed and laid his head back down to rest, but Poppi continued to stare at that zenith, unbothered by the glare of the sun. What prompted mere curiosity in her Masterpon, she found herself thinking about with almost spiritual reverence, like that peak represented the ultimate end of one’s story, distant and unknowable no matter how far one got. She felt a little foolish just thinking about it, unable to explain or even properly understand that sort of sensation as an artificial being, but she felt it nonetheless. Poppi wondered if she even really wanted to know what lay at the end. What answer could live up to the journey there?



In time the heroes recovered and recomposed themselves, cleaned up and breathing a little easier. As the sun dipped down to the horizon and Split Peak’s glow grew bolder, long shadows stretched across the sand, cast first by the Seekers and then by the dunes. When Ciella’s shoulder finally felt good enough to bear her off into the gathering dusk, she stood up from the sand and dusted herself off. “With Robin’s death, his visage of Grima, and these new revelations, the Grimleal will have much to consider,” she said. “Though your strength and teamwork leaves much to be desired, I can see that you’re not deceiving yourselves. If the Galeem you speak of truly believes itself lord of all, someone must show it that even gods may know despair.” Ciella bid her temporary allies a begrudging farewell, transformed, and flew off in the direction of the far-off, heatwave-distorted blur that was Al Mamoon.

Whatever uneasiness the Agito left behind her, the minutes that followed did not. Dust devils and cactus were nothing new to the Sandswept Sky, but when Midna’s intrigue prompted her comrades to look out across the desert, they wound up echoing her bemusement. Had there always been cacti so close, and didn’t those plumes of sand seem oddly stronger than usual? Band’s eyes narrowed as he took in his team’s surroundings. As much as he wanted to take it easy, he hadn’t been able to get comfortable out here, and a professional detective couldn’t just switch off his instincts, either. He’d been watching enough to know that Midna’s hunch was right; these disturbances weren’t business as usual.

“Poppi,” he said suddenly. “You’ve got good eyes, right? Any chance you can tell what’s goin’ on out there?”

After taking a moment to zoom and refocus her optics, Poppi kept her expression as neutral as she could. “Poppi not want alarm everyone, but there probable trouble approaching.”

“Trouble? Whaddya mean, what kind?” Band asked as he rose to his feet, reasonably alarmed despite Poppi’s disclaimer.

“Poppi is detecting numerous creatures incoming, like cross between cactus and reptile. Also see sand kicked up by multiple underground entities. Further details Poppi cannot make out, but sand trail consistent with jaw fish friends encounter en route to dessert village Parnasse.”

“That ain’t good,” Skull remarked. The commotion had drawn the Phantom Thieves over from where they rested, and while still clothed in their civilian attire for now, the imminent danger left them ready to switch gears into combat mode at any second. Just about everyone beneath Sectonia’s crystal began making preparations for a fight. Skull his head and groaned, “Why they gotta come after us now? Haven’t we dealt with enough crap today already?”

Poppi tilted her head and put a finger to her cheek. “Could be due to giant monster disturbing area. Reacting to dark wave, energy fluctuation, or maybe just chance for food.”

“That not important right now, meh!” Tora yelped. “With biggy big pit behind us, our back to wall, and friends have nowhere to run! How long ‘til monsters get here, Poppi?”

“Based on current speed, we have only few minutes,” she told the group, her expression cloudy.

Joker crossed his arms. “Moogle!” One of the faerie-koalas appeared in front of him, and the Thieves’ ringleader wasted no time laying the situation out. “We’re about to be attacked. Is there any way the airship could pick up the pace?”

“H-huh!? Oh!” The moogle nearly panicked, but managed to swallow her nerves. “I’ll go over and tell them. Just hang tight, guys!”

A nail-biting minute dragged by as the monsters grew closer and closer. As they closed the distance, more of the Seekers could get a good look at them, or at least the ones above ground. An entire pack of Sabogar were headed the heroes’ way at a gallop, thorns sharp and red eyes bright with hunger. With them were two fearsome, draconic Saboquill that flew at such a low altitude that their tailfruit scraped grooves in the sand for their pack to follow. As if one squadron of carnivorous plants wasn’t enough, a second buzzed along over the earth nearby, consisting of a few Piximi escorting a lone Florami, all of them a strange combination of serpent, dragonfly, and orchid that looked as majestic as they did dangerous. Of course, given whatever lurked beneath the sand, the Spectrobes were still only the tip of the iceberg. As everyone’s tension and impatience mounted, his own not least of all, Joker couldn’t help but want to call out again. Just as he opened his mouth, however, Poppi pointed to the sky. “Look!”

Those already scanning the sky to the south for any sign of rescue followed her finger to see a dark dot approaching fast, difficult at first to discern from the darkening sky if not for the triple corona of light behind it. Palpable relief spread across the group as the Virgin Victory blazed toward them at full throttle, Tora going so far as to topple over from the release of tension. No matter how capable his team might be, this was a bad situation that they did not want to fight on the enemy’s terms, but now backup had arrived.

The ship descended over Hollow Heights, slowing down until it came to a stop above everyone. At first Tora thought it was going to land in order to pick everyone up, but he quickly noticed that the fin on its underside rendered that impossible. “Do they expect us to fly up there?” he wondered aloud, his nerves beginning to show as his gaze flipped between the Virgin Victory and the wave of monsters quickly getting too close for comfort.

Then four figures appeared on the edge of the ship’s upper deck. Tora squinted to try and see, but before he could make anything out they jumped down. All four landed together, with their leader a sight for sore eyes. “Vandham!” Tora and Poppi cried together. With him were Shovel Knight, Asbestos, and of course, Wonder Red.

“Ey, kids!” Vandham grinned. “Love to catch up an’ all, but it looks like we’re on a tight schedule, so ‘ere!” He cracked open a metal case and laid it on the ground, revealing a number of futuristic-looking badges. “Everyone ‘urry an’ grab one, and we’ll beam ya up!”

Neither Tora nor Poppi moved to take one, instead allowing the others to go. “We can just fly!” the Nopon explained. As he looked between the other members of the rescue team, his attention predictably landed on Asbestos. For a moment he stared at her in confusion, but what he was looking at quickly dawned on her. “Oh, you lizard girl! Never seen one before, meh.”

Asbestos looked like she wanted nothing more than to punt him. “Huh? You some kinda stupid, pal? Why doncha take a pictcha, it’s last loahngah.”

Before Tora could reply, the ground nearby erupted. A Molduga emerged from the ground in a huge blast of sand, well ahead of the other monsters. Tora yelped, scrambling to ready his Drill Shield, as the boast threw itself toward the assembled heroes. Asbestos, however, charged right back. “Tch!” Asbestos spat, clenching her teeth as she hefted her own massive shield. “SCREW OAHFF!” Shield met Molduga jaw in a tooth-rattling collision, but before the monster’s momentum could push it through, the impact triggered the shield’s hidden mechanism. It retaliated with a massive outward explosion, dealing all the Molduga’s damage right back to it. With a guttural howl it flipped end over end before the heroes’ awestruck eyes and slammed down with its back on the sand, its little legs flailing helplessly in the air.

From the point where it landed, the land suddenly teemed with sandworms. Before the Seekers could face the new threat, Shovel Knight stepped forward. “I shall handle this!” he declared, moving in with his shovel in hand. “Go! We canst already warp back up as needed!” As he ran he deftly plunged his spade into the ground again and again, flipping sand worms from the earth like a teenager would flip burgers. None could so much as touch him.

The cactus monsters bore down on the heroes next, but Vandham did not seem concerned. “Yeah, g’wan!” he told everyone as he pulled twin hand scythes from his belt. “If you wanna knock a few ‘eads together I won’t stop ya, but we got things taken care of down ‘ere ‘til everyone’s aboard!”

Band nodded and swiped a badge. “Got it. I’ll leave it to y’all then.” Barely had he clipped the thing on before he disappeared in a beam of light, teleported to safety inside the Virgin Victory. Peacock followed suit, and the Phantom Thieves not far behind. The Scout hurried to do the same, but Braum took a moment to lay an encouraging hand on Tharja’s shoulder and urge her to escape along with him.

Tora and Poppi, however, lingered. While they trusted Vandham, they couldn’t bear the thought of witnessing another heroic sacrifice. They nodded at one another, then ran to their friend’s side. “We leave when you do!” the Nopon declared.

“Roger, roger!”

Vandham gave a booming laugh. “You’re on, pipsqueaks!”

In the end, though, the dynamic duo had little to worry about. Only a frantic few moments were spent fighting before everyone got aboard the Virgin Victory, so both the rescue team and Tora and Poppi soon joined them. As the ship lifted up into the sky with the Seekers on deck, it left what remained of the monsters behind, with only the fliers a potential threat. Even those became a non-issue when the Virgin Victory got going, cruising across the sunset desert.

“Welcome aboard,” the voice of the captain greeted them. “It looks like we caught you all in the nick of time. Good show getting everyone out of there in one piece. Feel free to peruse the ship as we make our way to our destination, I daresay its air-conditioned interior would interest you all.” Nelson cleared his throat over the intercom. “The recon teams have informed us about a settlement known as Gerudo Town to the east, which is where we are headed for maintenance overnight, as putting the Virgin Victory into overdrive to reach you in time was not without its costs. While there are rather strict rules about who may enter, it is a secure area where we will be able to rest, repair, and refuel.”

As the intercom cut off, Band sighed. “Well, dunno if I like the sound of the whole ‘strict rules’ thing, but it beats roughin’ it out in the desert, or openin’ up any cans of worms in Al Mamoon.” He made his way over to the door leading inside, eager for some air conditioning. “Hooh. I could use some quiet nights with quiet stars. Take it easy, folks. See y’all in a bit.” With that the Seekers could disperse throughout the Virgin Victory, and get a feel for the ship that would no doubt play a large part in the adventure yet to come.



Nadia winced as Ace flinched under her touch, not realizing that she’d actually laid hands on one of the sunburns she alluded to. “”Oh, ow, sorry,” she murmured in sympathy. With the Cadet tough as nails and cheery of disposition, however, he was back to laughing in no time. While Nadia had no clue what Carapaceons were and their purported attempt to bring Ace into the fold sounded rather alarming, he didn’t seem that concerned about the experience, so she opted not to pry.

When the monster hunter mentioned loot, however, she was all ears, and despite the copious amount of treasure stashed in her new bag the feral trotted after him with bright eyes. “Nyaow we’re talkin’! Ya mean ya actually went and found real buried treasure? That’s a claws for celebration if I’ve ever heard one, nyeheh!” Her fishtail swished back and forth in excitement as she bent over the trove with him. When Ace unveiled his haul, Nadia could scarcely believe her eyes. “Holy cow, are those all real pearls!?” he breathed, utterly gobsmacked and practically drooling with greed. And Ace was just offering them to her!? She couldn’t do much more than squeak out a helpless laugh. “You’re crazy! In my world, a haul like this’d leave you set for life! Or bump ya right up to the tippity-top of the mafia’s hit list, more likely…” she cleared her throat and composed herself, holding up a hand of denial as she averted her gaze. “Nah dude, it’s all yours,” she told him, as much as it hurt to say. “Finders keepers, right? Got enough goodies burnin’ a hole in my pocket. If ya don’t want it, maybe ya oughta split the proceeds across the whole group so we’re better prepared goin’ forward, or somethin’. Spurread the love, y’know.”

That said, Ace had plans for at least one of the treasures. He offered her a gorgeous necklace, its flawless spiral shell almost like sapphire, as blue and brilliant as the glittering sea beside them. Despite what she’d just said, Nadia was beyond tempted by what she saw as the best bauble in the whole hoard. Besides, this came as a particular gift from Ace, right? That gave it sentimental value. After a scant second or two of convincing herself she allowed herself to be swayed, and with a resigned grin Nadia accepted the pendant. “It is my color, after all,” she joked as she hung it around her neck. “One hell of a gift, huh? Guess I’ve got to give ya somethin’ in return~”

Wearing a mischievous smile, the feral made her move. She stepped real close, stood on her tiptoes, and smacked the big goof with a kiss on the cheek. When the deed was done she bumped shoulders with him playfully, just as they had before departing for naval warfare the day before.

After that it took Ace a moment to recover, but even then he barely got two words out before Sakura and Karin’s duel came to its thrilling conclusion. Ace got one last look at Nadia’s gleeful grin before she turned around to lead the way back toward the others. She’d been meaning to watch their fight at rapt attention the whole time she could, taking notes the whole time that she might be able to use to improve her own fighting ability, but in the end other matters just happened to get in the way. Oh well, Nadia thought, nothing close to regret in her heart for what just transpired. “Good stuff ya two!” she called to the street fighters as she walked over to rejoin the main group. From what she’d seen just now and in the course of the team’s campaign so far, Nadia really didn’t relish her chances if she ever were to come up against Sakura for whatever reason. In terms of raw power and defense the well-trained martial artist had her beat, but hey, maybe the sheer dishonesty of Nadia’s unrelenting and unpredictable offense would turn the tables. Either way, the feral was happier than ever that Sakura -and now Karin, too- was on her side.

After arriving Nadia took a seat beside Ace among the group, looking terribly smug about her pretty new necklace. It looked like the Koopas had given the new mage Rubick a crash course in spirits while she hadn’t been paying attention. Even if the arcanist didn’t look super trustworthy at first glance, she figured that by now he must have an idea of the caliber of the group he’d be up against if he started causing trouble, so she wasn’t going to worry about it. What worried her more was what he, and by extension all her other new friends, would be up against as their adventure continues. If the Orphan of Kos was just the third of thirteen big, bad bosses, it was only going to get rougher from here on it. Speaking of looks though, Nadia noticed for the first time since her arrival that Bowser seemed a little different. In fact, he looked a lot more like his old self, without all the strange proportional distortions caused by a somewhat carefree attitude toward fusion. She nodded her approval. “Lookin’ good, boss man!”

Geralt then came her way, which sort of caught Nadia by surprise. While their team-up attacks worked out pretty well against the Harbor Demon and the brutal third round of Master Hand’s Trial of Purity, they hadn’t really spoken much outside of combat. That just meant, of course, that a welcome from him was extra special, and Nadia returned his cordiality. “Heya!” Since he approached her she then expected him to continue, but instead he just looked at her in a pointed, rather intimidating way. Nadia’s ears flattened instinctively. He continued to speak, and while his words were pleasant enough his question came across as oddly loaded. Nadia, confused by his mixed signals and not exactly putting two and two together as to what he was getting at, fumbled her response like a dolt. “...Haha, yeah!” While she tried to laugh it off, she got the impression that whatever this was, it wasn’t over.

In desperate search of an out, she turned her attention back to Karin and Sakura. Miss Ringlets seemed to have her hands -and head- full as she attempted to come to grips with the fractured state of the world. Hearing Karin bemoan all the property and servants and orbital weapons and collectible cars struck Nadia as funny in a mildly sadistic sort of way. “She’s definitely someone I would steal from,” she muttered to herself. Always a pleasure to see a spoiled brat get humbled. Pretty damn hard to feel bad for her when she’s still living so large, too. Her brow furrowed as she ran those thoughts back. Then again, she did all this just to thank us. I’m kinda being a bitch. Karin went away, but Nadia resolved to be friendlier to her when she returned.

Now that the show was over and everyone was together, it was getting to be about the time to bid the beach farewell. It had been wonderful, a much-needed breath of fresh air in paradise after yesterday’s horrors, but after having their fill of sand, surf, and sun, most everyone felt like a change of pace. Despite Karin’s catered feast stomachs were beginning to rumble again, even for the likes of the elegant Princess Peach. She clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “Well then! How about we head to dinner? Nadia, do you know the way there?”

As a bunch of eyes turned her way Nadia scratched her head, unable to suppress a bashful smile. “Eheh, ah, not really actually.”

“Where were you thinking of going?” Ishizaki asked, helpful as ever. When supplied with an answer, he provided the Seekers and their guests with the directions they needed. As it turned out, Rum for Ale could be found in the southern shore district, among the colorful collection of homes and businesses known as Mist. After thanking him, and asking him to let Karin know when she came back, Peach set off at the head of the group in search of fine Cuban cuisine.



Rum for Ale took the form of a unique building, in which all the kitchens, pantries, and other facilities encircled a central courtyard. There, with ivy-covered walls and fragrant flowers on all sides, the customers could dine open to the air in the shade of palm trees. It was very pretty and, as the Seekers saw when escorted inside, largely unoccupied. Nadia couldn’t even guess as to why since the place seemed so nice and came recommended by the Half-Genie Hero herself, but she wasn’t about to question her luck, either. The staff allowed the group to put four tables together, and while the heroes went about trying to find the best arrangement, the staff rolled out the heavy-duty stool for Bowser and the high seats for Junior and Hatty. When the waiter apologized that the wait time for food might be a while on account of a staff shortage, Cerberus for some reason thought it would be fun to offer to help out as waitresses. While a little dubious, the manager needed the help given this party size, and the three were at least dressed for it, so he accepted their aid and the enthusiastic Triple Demon sprang into action.

In short order the tablecloths were spread, everyone found somewhere at the tables to sit, menus got circulated, and the servers readied to notebook to take the group’s drink orders. Whether or not Cerberus knew how to read was a separate issue, but it was hard to deny their spirit.

Rubick hung on Kamek's every word, fascinated by the process he had just witnessed. To think there was something like that in this world; why, it was just... unthinkable! On a basic level, it made so much sense, and yet, Rubick could not believe he had not thought to try it before. Rubick laughed and said, "The more I learn about this world, the more it amazes me." As he accepted the shield from Kamek, he continued, "These 'sprits' that hold so many different powers and abilities... even the Arsenal Magus would be jealous. I pity him for not being here." Flipping the shield around, Rubick marveled at its design and aura. Clearly, its true worth was in blocking magical attacks, but what was more amazing was how it was made. Rubick wanted so badly to apply this newfound knowledge for himself, but where was he going to find a foe to fell? His immediate thought was to look around him for a suitable target, but quickly decided that that would be a terrible idea. Everyone here was undoubtedly superior to him, and he was not at full strength yet himself.

While examining his surrounding, Rubick overheard Bowser mention a detail that was seemingly important. However, the moment he tried to think about it, the knowledge had already faded from his mind. As Rubick starred quizzically at Bowser, he realized that that fact alone was very strange to him. It was unlike him to forget about knowledge before he decided to forget it, and certainly not while he was in the middle of learning about it. Turning to Kamek, Rubick was going to ask Kamek, "What was your friend... there..." but that feeling too evaporated from his mind. His eyes glazed over, then he blinked and resumed his excitement. "Oh, what fun! You must bring me along on your future adventures! I guarantee you I will not hold you back, for any feat you can perform, I can just as easily! That is my guarantee as the Grand Magus."

”Me, your bodyguard? Hahahahahaha” the king had a right belly laugh at Susie’s suggestion before explaining ”Little miss I am Bowser, the koopa king! The biggest baddest boss that ever was or ever will be. I’ve rioted across the dimensions and conquered galaxies, and I don't play second fiddle to nobody no more” before crossing his arms and nodding to himself matter of factly.

He let that statement hang for a moment, and then spread his arms and graciously informed her that ”Now you couldn't have know that, world being as it is, so I’ll let this slide, long as you know who’s boss” before putting his hands on his hips and saying ”and besides, I could always use more minions with a rap sheet like yours” because it certainly was impressive sounding, even if it didn't quite step up to his storied history in the king’s entirely biased opinion.

Speaking of the past and deeds done in past worlds, the king could certainly relate to Karin’s horror at having lost all of the personal possessions and loyal troops she had amassed over her life to the universal rebuilding process. He also admired the personal loyalty of her servant and generally did not agree with Sakura’s assessment that she was a weirdo.

”Nah I think she’s pretty alright in the head priorities wise” the King commented, probably reinforcing Sakura’s belief in the process, though he did have one point which was that ”this would be a lot easier with all our mooks and superweapons at hand after all. We wouldn't be having to much around in a dinky cargoship if we had my airship fleet for example”

”Yes well, be as it may, the best we can do is try and acquire what we can in this world resource and support wise. Such as putting our new business partner’s skill to use in bartering for gear” Kamek suggested ”But maybe after dinner, as Rika suggested”

Which, as their stomachs suggested at the mention of it, should be something they got going to go and do fairly soon. As such, when Peach suggested it, there was little hesitation among most of the troop to pack up shop and go get some grub.

The only exception was Jr, who hung back to give a somewhat drawn out farewell to Lana, who needed to be getting on home, what with it being close to dinner time and all.

“I’ll see you around some time?” she said, once most of the party had already set off (including the grand magus who Kamek had had no issue inviting along. It meant she could keep an eye on him after all, because there was no desire to play out the Sephiroth situation all over again)

”Yeah… sure I’ll see you when I see you” jr agreed after a few moments of hesitation, knowing that it was unlikely they’d be back any time soon. Still, with Kamek calling for him to ”come along now young master” he bid his final farewells and headed with the others to dinner, knowing in his heart that they’d probably never meet again.

The prince shoved that feeling down into his guts, where it joined his growing hunger and meant that he was positively famished by the time the group set themselves up in the Rum for Ale. The the troop parked itself around Bowser’s heavy duty stool (which he still needed even after shrinking down to his minimum size) and ordered a round of nonalcoholic drinks to start them off: cola for Jr, root beer for Bowser, sparkling apple juice for Kamek, an eclectic fruit juice for Rika and water (in suitably sized pet bowls) for the pokemon.

Level: 2
Experience: 18/20
Currently In: Frozen Highlands, Dragonspine
Word Count: 445 (+1 Exp)
Albedo @Lugubrious, Linkle @Gentlemanvaultboy, Prisoner @XoXKieroBombXoX

Man, am really I that small?? Frisk wondered, seeing as it didn't exactly fit Albedo. Well, they did intent to use it like a blanket, but guess they didn't think it through. The kid quietly listened to the alchemist's reassurances that he'd be fine. Though they didn't speak against anything, they still wished to keep an eye on his condition. As far as Frisk knew, Albedo was just as human as they were, magic or not. "If you say so, but we should stop by somewhere warmer at some point. That avalance had the best of us shaken..." They softly said, letting Albedo pat them on the head. Linkle's expression didn't go unnoticed.

Then there was the matter of Prisoner joining them. The youth understood that the other two could have some concerns over their headless ally tagging along, especially if he really was the guy Linkle sensed was following them. But they had a gut feeling this guy had well intentions.

There was probably some bias from their quick team up, but still!

Albedo tried to stand back up, almost losing his balance in the process. Instinctively, Frisk held their arms up in case he did fall, then sighed in relief when he didn't. Though their arms didn't go slack yet. The child had to get their coat back on after all, carefully grabbing it off Albedo and throwing it back on themself. Then the group was able to keep moving forward.

Frisk decided to walk alongside the group instead of riding Linkle's sled. Atleast for now. The leftover snow from the ambush was compacted enough for them to walk on, luckily. They sometimes looked back to check on how Albedo was doing, even slowing down the pace to let him catch up. He eventually was able to recover enough to keep up like normal. Hopefully whatever idle talking could distract the group from the cold long enough to reach somewhere warmer.

"Over there." The trail of smoke, possibly from a chimney, was what Frisk noticed first. It was a bit higher up the mountain, but the quick rest at whatever-that-place-is could be worth it. Unless it had more bad guys. Then there was the town way too far off for the youth's liking. If they kept going, they could probably make it before the day was up. But then something else might crop up, wouldn't it? The cold would be worse come nightfall. Their brows furrowed in thought. Then they glanced back to the alchemist.

"How're you holding up?" They asked him. "I know I said we should stop by somewhere warm, but I won't stop you if you want to keep moving."

Susie had a bit of a complex expression on her face hearing Bowser had ruled galaxies. As far as she knew she never heard of him before, and she knew a lot of the big names to buy or sell from in her world. Seeing as he was strong, but not intelligent, Susie wondered how he even managed that. Considering Susie had no recollection of Bowser, she gave him a polite clap and decided to at least humor him, but before she could make a sales pitch, she remembered she didn't have her PDA linked up to the HWC mainframe, so she couldn't even offer a product catalog to the king koopa.

"Ah, another Galaxy subjugation! When I have access to my PDA, I have quite the catalog for you." Susie said to bowser, giving Bowser a sweet expression. Thinking to herself however... "If you can afford them..." Then this koopa just imposed himself the boss. Most people of Susie's position would hate someone this dumb saying something like that, but those people weren't clever and has no business sense. Even if this guy was dumb, it seemed like he was very easy to work with how he talked and what Susie had seen so far, and having someone strong work for you didn't necessarily mean they had to 'work' for you.

Blazermate meanwhile helped out Ace, healing sunburn felt like something that was much easier than wounds and broken bones like she had healed earlier. If her medi gun had a personality, it'd be very blasse about this whole situation. Seeing how Ace himself was trying to flirt with Nadia, instead of the other way around, being the cat lady's wingbot wasn't going to be too difficult. All she had to do was set a relaxing mood and it seemed like things would just progress normally. And with the others talking to themselves, the two were able to share a cute moment.

Eventually the moment passed though, and talks of dinner were coming about. Blazermate decided to follow the group not out of wanting food, but just socializing with everyone. Susie thought the same, having been to this place before, although she might need to order something this time to 'fit in' with this group better. Unlike Blazermate, Susie could actually do something with food and drink, although she preferred sweet things over anything, especially ice cream.

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Once they got to the restaurant everyone got seated. Blazermate was used to Bowser and his family and their shenanigans in places like this at this point, but Susie found it humerus. A group of ladies that seemed to talk in unison, decided to go play waiter as apparently they were understaffed today. Something Susie could probably fix if she could sell some Haltmann robots, but... At least right now for a drink she could order a strawberry milkshake as the others offered their drinks. Blazermate, being a bit too preoccupied with other shenanigans at this point, didn't pay much attention to that fact. "Hey, so we have two magic users, one that is a showman... Can you two do some tricks while we wait for our food and stuff? I'm sure you could do some awesome party tricks with magic!" Blazermate said to Rubick and Kamek.

======================================

Conversations went on. One half of the duo from Orsterra had largely dropped out of said conversations, doing his best to just rest. As always he kept an ear open for information, or a topic that would really catch his attention. The only one that did was Jesse's odd ramblings about free will, during which Therion not-so-subtly shifted farther away from her.

The other half of the duo was a little more involved. Primrose still sat with her legs drawn up and her head resting on her knees, though when Big Band stopped playing his music she turned her face towards the other Seekers. There were some good points brought up from Sectonia that the dancer agreed with. More firepower was sorely needed. And of course, some time to recuperate. Midna mentioned the possibility of flying to that airborne spa. If there were possible it would be great, but considering they'd been teleported there she wasn't sure where in the sky it could be. If it was really suspended over Al Mamoon, they might run into the same issue by flying into their airspace. Speaking of, the Grimleal captain Ciella made to leave them at that point. Despite their differences, Ciella had been a great help to them much to their surprise. Primrose nodded to the archer as she transformed and flew off. Indeed, with the Agito protecting Al Mamoon's skies it may be dangerous to even approach by air.

There was another matter that Midna mentioned, about returning to the mountain. "If you'd like some company, there are some things I would like to check into there as well," she told the imp. That monster's slide down the side of the mountain was sure to have crushed anything in it's path, and she wanted to see just what that was. If some of the structures were affected even a little, it would be good to help out the people that resided there. Plus it would give her some peace of mind just to confirm that little overlord had made it down alright.

It was inevitable that the small peace the Seeker's had while awaiting their transportation would come to an end. Poppi identified monsters making their way toward them. The description she gave included the massive fish-like creature that had chased them through the desert. Running for their lives on foot, again was not something that Primrose wanted to do. She untangled herself and stood, preparing for conflict. Therion had already taken to his feet at the first mention of danger, peering into the distance to try and spot the encroaching monsters.

The artificial blade had mentioned they would only have a couple of minutes. However, following a panic call to a moogle, their salvation ended up arriving just in time. The ship sped toward them, and four people descended from it in order to help them out. The foursome was strong too, as they quickly demonstrated. Now all they had to do was get up to the ship with those badges and leave.

Despite being recently freed, Therion was adapting quickly. A flying ship was impossible and insane, but how many other insane things had happened lately? A lot. And it included the fact that people were disappearing once they took one of the badges offered to them by the large man. Transported into the air ship, apparently. Taking it at face value, Therion wasted no time grabbing one for himself. In the blink of an eye he was gone.

Primrose was soon to leave, but figured that the least she could do was provide some support to the people protecting them. A dance of defense to help everyone that was holding off the monsters - after all the goal wasn't to slay them, merely keep them at bay until the Seekers were all safe on the ship. Once the defense buffs took effect, Primrose took a badge and was transported.

Soon enough everyone was safe and on board. A voice crackled to life and welcomed them all, as well as delivering news about stopping in a nearby town due to the ship needing some repair. The restriction mentioned was curious, but if it was really safe and secure as the voice said, then it would be worth it.

"Well," Primrose said, breathing in the cool air of the ship's interior. "I am going to look around and see if there is some kind of bathing area." The sooner, the better. Especially if this Gerudo Town was strict, it wouldn't do to show up filthy and risk a bad impression running them out of town.

She followed after Big Band, then ultimately headed in a different direction. The other Traveler was taking his time and looking around the areas before moving to the next one. "This'll take some getting used to," he mumbled. He'd love to catch a cat nap, but in such unfamiliar environment he couldn't see himself relaxing enough to actually sleep. Therion scrubbed a hand over his face, deciding that after inspecting the place that if he found a cot or even a comfortable chair he'd at the very least rest his eyes. And his brain. An overload of information was just asking for a headache.

Everyone was relaxing under the makeshift shade Sectonia had made, her ice antillions and poppi keeping everyone cool as they all waited for the ship to arrive. While everyone healed their injuries thanks to her artifact and other healing powers of the group, eventually the ship came to pick them up. Unfortunately, or fortunately, creatures began to attack as the ship got close. Some beautiful, some large, and some that weren't much of note. As the creatures approached, Sectonia finally found something that caught her eye, even if a little. Flower type creatures that had appearances that she hadn't seen before, apparently even flowers could bloom in a sandy wasteland and these were the example of what they looked like.

Getting up to fight, one of the large creatures attacked and was subsequently knocked on its back by one of those on the airship, someone Sectonia didn't recognize right away with a large shield that exploded when struck. Some of the others used medallions handed out by Vandham to teleport to the airship, but seeing as she could fly and teleport herself, Sectonia had declined them. Instead, as the cactus monsters began to attack, Sectonia activated her Chaos Heart shield ability before moving to engage them, throwing large rings of light everywhere, trying to hit both the cactus creatures that she found interesting in hopes of grabbing those spirits to test out later, and trying to attack the big creature at the same time with any rings that missed said cactus creatures.

Thanks to her shield, she could take a few hits from the creatures retaliating, allowing her to have much better aim with her rings than usual. Even if her mask magic item caused them to fracture into clones of themselves and be a bit unwisely, the sheer amount of large light rings flying through the air was too difficult to dodge for long, and soon Sectonia had one of the Piximi spirits in her hands, while doing damage to the overturned Molduga and its allies. Of course, some of its allies had a strange ability to cause damage to Sectonia based on what she did to them. At least her chaos heart shield absorbed some of the damage...

The Florami however managed to both attack and dodge unlike its Piximi underlings, dodging a fair amount of light rings and when it was hit, it started to slowly regenerate. All while also blasting Sectonia with its own blasts, the bee queen being its focus. Since it attacked with energy blasts however, Sectonia didn't take the amount of damage the Florami was expecting thanks to the queen's pipe of insight, her chaos heart shield, and her natural bulk. Still this creature intrigued her more, and with the others joining the fight, Sectonia requested that some of them helped with the Florami.

Moving closer to it so that it couldn't avoid her much at all, Sectonia pulled out her swords as she still needed to keep some magic in reserve if something bad was to happen. While most of the group couldn't deal with a flying target, of all things the Scout was one of the few who could. As Sectonia struck it with her swords, the Scout began to shoot it from behind. He then threw something at Sectonia and the creature, telling her to 'catch it'. Seeing as she had her swords out, there wasn't much she could do, but as the grenade bounced off her, it exploded in a static field that slowed down the Florami a ton. And thanks to the two working on the creature, Sectonia's shield breaking as the Florami tried its best to defend itself, eventaully it fell and Sectonia had her prize. She then swooped over and brought the scout up with her to the ship.

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

After the engagement with the creatures, the captain of the ship, Vandham, told everyone they'd be going to a nearby village called, uninspiredly, Garudo village, to repair and refuel the airship as getting to the group as fast as it did caused a bit of damage. He mentioned there being 'strict rules' about it, which sounded strange. Sectonia asked. "What would these 'strict rules' be then?"

Nadia's awkward response to his rather pointed stare was a bit surprising, given her apparent easygoing nature, but Geralt supposed it made sense since he'd noticed how awkward she and the Ace had been around each other in general. He hadn't meant to intimidate her (Which he assumed by the body language she was giving off), but nonetheless gave a smaller, more comforting smile, and nodded. He wasn't looking to piss off Ace, either. He knew the guy was generally pretty easy to deal with, but romance made men act rashly.

Following Nadia's attention to the two, he shook his head. "Rich folk tend to get strange. Not sure what she means by 'orbital strike cannon', but it sounds like nothing good." With that, he parted from the pair, rejoining Yennefer with a nod. "Not sure she got the message exactly, but I want to find out what the hell happened later."

Yennefer just rolled her eyes. Geralt, still playing the hero as always. "Mmm, of course, dear." She'd probably rather he mind his business and let her find him to ask what the hell he was up to on her own, but she knew the pain in the ass Witcher she'd come to love too well to even imagine that happening. He'd get some idea in his head and follow it to its conclusion. While it was certainly helpful for hunting monsters and solving mysteries, she was sure, it was a source of frustration for when he was ferreting out people's secrets. He had the strangest sense of others' privacy, where it almost seemed arbitrary the point where he'd drop some personal matter rather than continue to force himself into something.

Still, he was good at what he did, and it's not like she expected this to go anywhere terrible. If it ended up making things awkward, she'd intervene. "Just don't upset her lover overly much, I'd rather you not have to fistfight your friends over a misunderstanding."

Grunting, Geralt nodded. That was probably the worst-case scenario, though it'd be easily resolved by either explaining the reason he needed to drag his new-maybe-lover aside for a private chat, or he could play the "I'm almost 100 years old and she looks like a child to me, this definitely isn't what you think it is" card.

Ace didn't know him well enough to know it would be total bullshit, either. Thankfully, his lecherous reputation hadn't followed him here.

As the group began to meander their way towards the restaurant they'd be eating at, Geralt kept an eye out on Nadia and Ace, the question itching in the back of his mind. Most likely, she wound up in a rough part of the town on her own, and got into a fight with some less-than-savory folks. Given Galeem's influence, however, it most likely ended in a bloodbath with Nadia as the sole survivor. What Geralt was concerned about was the town's guard force finding out and making it into an issue. As much as they seemed to praise the Seekers for helping to end the war, they might not take kindly to one of their own killing a bunch of people and then running from the scene.

It wouldn't be his first time having to explain away a small massacre, though, and it wouldn't be the last. People were quick to make decisions they couldn't back up, even five-to-one. Running away tended not to help things, especially when the locals weren't entirely sure how things escalated.

Once they were all seated, Geralt tried to get Nadia's attention before excusing himself to the restrooms, waiting in a side corridor near the aforementioned spot for Nadia. "Just going to be blunt about it." He said when she joined him. "You *reek* of blood, and it isn't your own. Want to make sure we're not making any enemies here we don't need. Not trying to blackmail you or anything, just wanna know what happened." Once he got her side of the story, he could try and see what would be the best next step.

”That… Ok?” was Midna’s confused response to learning about America and Jesse’s apparent subverting of the wills of the dead. She could pick a bone with that, but technically wasn't that exactly what Strikers were? She decided to leave that line of inquiry where it was, at least till later when they weren't being slow cooked in a desert. Though she did keep an ear out for whatever Riden’s response to that might be.

---

”Well I can’t say no to your company now can I Prim” Midna replied to the offer/shared interest in checking out the mountain again after a bit of down time. If there was anyone who she knew she could trust to handle herself it was the dancer who she’d joined up with this team alongside of.

---

Minda’s, or rather her wolfo’s, early detection of something weird going on out in the desert was followed up by the superior vision of Poppi, who clarified the weirdness as being incoming danger, namly a whole swarm of monsters coming at them in a unified front for goddesses knew what reason. That said, they had pre-warning of the attack for once, which was better than being ambushed for most.

And for Midna, all the time provided to prepare was a warm welcome.

”A few minutes? Ha, these stupid animals are going to regret giving me time to warm up” Midna declared, before setting about showing them her moves. Her dance moves.

Or well. One dance move really, but when that one move was dragon dance you really didn’t need any other move, because by the time the swarm of spectrobes were upon them Midna was brimming with maximum Draconaion energy, quadrupling her speed and physical damage. Plus a nice little defense boost from Primrose and, on top of all that, a little tail whip from her wolf-dran for even more speed and an attack speed buff.

As the horde approached, the Princess fetched her long knife from the twilight realm and charged it with electricity. Then she cracked her neck, and told the others ”You all get on the ship, I’ll catch up. I’ve got some cacti to cut up” before taking off at speed, brazenly counter charging the incoming herd.

The pint sized imp blasted forth with utterly inhuman speed, kicking up sand in her wake. Before her, a wall of spikes formed by the herd of Sabogar. Above it hovered the strange flower like Piximi and their Florami leader, along with a pair of Saboquill, who’s silhouette set of warning alarms in her mind back to the flygon encounter. That had been a close one, but she was stronger now. Much much stronger.

Still, that didn’t mean she was going to take them lightly, or even take them at all. Really she just needed to act as a distraction long enough that everyone else got onboard, and then she could just shadow hop up to the ship.

Of course, another way of looking at a distraction was just an easy target, and Minda rapidly became one as she raced forth. Through the lens of her mask she saw spines on the Florami’s chest begin to light up with a powerful glow, which was all the warning she got before a barrage of energy blasts lanced out, forcing the princess to hurl herself to the side to avoid being vaporized.

The princess slid on the sand, maglev allowing her to preserve her speed rather than just grind to a halt, which was just as well because the Piximi followed up their evolved leader with a barrage of flash beams blasted from their visor-like faces, which left a sting of patches of glass where they liquidated the sand where Midna had been standing only moments ago.

”That's all you’ve got?!” she shouted, only for the Piximi to lash out with their vines, tossing energy balls, while the Florami performed a grateful spin, firing out an 8-way blast of beams all around its pack.

”Me and my big mouth!” Midna decayed herself as she narrowly avoided being blasted by the octo-beam, and then swatted aside some of the energy balls with a shadow hand while avoiding the rest.

That was about the point the ground pounders were atop her, which should have been disastrous, but Midna just grinned viciously because here was ”Finally something I can hit!”

The wall of spiky deaths bore down on her, the leader of the pack lunging at the puny looking Princess, only for her to bolt right towards it, draw out a massive shadowhand and then to finally bring it down in a massive slap that pulped the triceratops-like beast in one shot. That wasn’t all it did, oh no, because Midna leapt right as the slap struck down, using the limb attached to her head to pole vault up over the two following beasts, who crashed into each other and then got a quartet of down thrusting chilfos dropped on top of them for good measure.

As those two cried out in pain and tried to get the stab proof undead off of them to little avail, Midna performed her killer landing somewhere at the back of the pack, driving a long knife blade into the neck of another Sabogar, right between its horns, the tough flesh being no match for a dragon and gravity assisted stab, the charged blade then hammering it with a flurry of lightning bolts till it popped to ash.

Midna, a touch sore by what she assumed was the mundane recoil of her powerful strikes, reached out and caught the spirit in her free hand before sending it to the twilight realm for storage. While she did this she was blasting sand from that same realm into the eyes of a pivoting Sobogar to buy her enough time to do her loot pickup, which she followed by sicking an overused wolfos on the spiky thing.

Unfortunately, the twilight beast faltered when it tried to work out where in the world it could even attack the spike covered spectrobe safely, and instead primarily acted as bait for an attempted bombardment by some of the fliers. It fled yelping back into the twilight realm a moment before the dragon like Saboquill came swooping down, swinging its dragon fruit shaped tail like a wrecking ball.

The bright red mass bowled through the sand, kicking up a wave of spikes as it went, forcing Midna to flee the only direction she had, which was up.

She jumped, and then summoned her Vibrabva (sized up) and grabbed its tail as it buzzed up and away from the Saboquill which was slowed from giving chase first by its tail being lodged in the sand and then also by a quick blast of dragonbreath from the Vibrava.

Before her arial taxi vanished Midna kicked off of it, tossing herself at one of the hovering
Piximi. The primarily ranged attacker flailed at her with it’s vines, but the princess thrust her shadow hand and grabbed it. Rather than crush it or kill it in some other way, the Princess used it as a springboard, tossing herself up and around, away from the pursuing Saboquill and towards the majestic Florami.

It turned from its dule with Sectonia and charged its laser in a desperate attempt to keep her away, but Midna summoned her Mimic minion mid air and kicked off of it right before the laser was fired, sending her and the murderous chest flying to either side of the beam. Then she reached out with a shadow hand, grabbed a petal and pulled herself into the graceful titan’s foliage

”Sorry, can’t have you blasting the ship!” she shouted at it as she climbed up it even as it spun around in a panic, firing wildly. Then she got to its neck and started stabbing it while yelling ”Get pruned!”

Further stabs where unfortunately prevented by the Saboquill she had barely avoided coming heroically to the beleaguered flower’s rescue, forcing Midna to toss herself off of it rather than be plucked from her target’s back.

At least Sectonia was there to pick up her slack, the queen bee re-engaging the floral flier and bringing it down soon after.

That, of course, left Midna the problem of the Saboquill which was relentlessly chasing her even as she fell towards the ground.

”Buzz off!” she demanded, thrusting her knife out and shooting a blast of lightning into it. Yet not only did this not dissuade it, but Midna felt the same pain she had felt after striking down two of the Sobogar, only intensified, as half the harm she did to the dragon reflected right back at her.

”Goddesses! Die!” she cried out in anger and pain, summoning her mimic, sized up, and slammed it upwards into the Saboquill right before she hit the ground. She arrested her fall with levitation, and then watched in horror as the sized up Mimic slammed into the Saboquill, dealing ferocious damage, and then burst into ash, the ambush predator having not evolved to take anything close to what it dished out

Still, in its last moments it had hit like a truck, and it sent the dragon crashing down into the sand close to Midna. After a few pained seconds, both of them pulled themselves up out of the sand and faced each other down, seconds that allowed Midna to understand the problem she was facing.

Midna reeled backa shadow hand, and then hesitated. Her overwhelming power from her dragon dances had just become a curse. Because she, like the mimic (whose spirit was slowly drifting down to the ground as a poignant reminder) was not built to take the amount of damage she could do to this thing with one punch. She had other options of course, but she didn’t know at that moment if she wanted to risk sacrificing more of her beasts to this fight.

The Saboquill had no thoughts to give it pause, just bestial and Galeem fueled bloodlust, and so it roared a (slightly strained) roar and then charged the dilemma stricken princess, whose decision was made for her when a shape hurled over her shoulder and into the dragon’s path.

“Braum is here!” the muscular mustached man declared as he slammed down in the sand before her and raised his icy shield in its path.

”What are you doing here! You need to get on the ship!” the briefly panicked princess demanded to know

“Not to worry, Buam has his ticket already” Bruam told her, holding a badge with two fingers to show her it “So it is you who should be hurrying along to be getting on the ship”

”Not until this thing is dead.” Midna insisted, mostly out of pride and a desire of vengeance, but in par it was because she was also fairly sure this thing was going to chase her to the edge of the world and back if it wasn't dealt with ”Just be careful, it reflects damage”

“Ah like Thornmail… eh sort of” Braum replied as he dashed an icy blast into the Saboquills face as it tried to bite past his shield, causing him to flinch “Oh. Yes, Braum sees” before advising her to “Hit it quick and light”

”Huh?” Midna was confused, but she did as suggested, darting around and slashing it lightly, while summoning her Vibrava and having it buzz around the other side where it delivered a crush to one of its juicy leaf wings. The dragon roared and looked to be about to deliver a mighty swing with its spiny tail when Braum bopped it on the snout, causing it to sudden freeze, literally and figuratively, as four consecutive hits caused Braum’s concussive blows ability to prock, stunning the monster.

”Oh! Now lots more” Midna said as she got it, summoning her wolfos and wolf-dran and having them smack at the dragon alongside the three already doing so, all of them doing light damage individually but getting a lot through together while spreading out the hit reflection.

They got about two second of this before the dragon broke out of its confinement and then swung its spiky tail around, slamming it into Braum’s shield, causing the big guy to stubble back and be right open for a bite or claw attack

”no no no!” Minda cried out, before thrusting her blade forward and sending a stream of lightning blazing into the dragon, even as the recoil burned at her. The Saboquill, already in dire straits, withered under the multi second electric bombardment, stumbling back and then, at last, with a blast of dragonfire from the Vibrava, it fell for good.

And Midna fell with it. Not dead, but slumping under her the pain and the over exertion.

“Bruam has you” Bruam declared, moving swiftly to her side, grabbing her under one arm and then activating the badge, sending him and her warping up to the Virgin Victory, moments before some of the remaining beasts closed ino to try and finish them off.

And leaving the Vibrava behind to fend for itself. It swooped out of the way of a sandworm, snatched up the spirits of both the Saboquill and the fallen Mimic, and then slipped back home to the twilight realm before it was turned into dinner meat by the remains feral beast horde.

---

Had that been irrepribly stupid and uncessiery, Midna asked herself when she awoke onboard the ship.

The answer was, of course, yes, but, if she couldn't stand up to some random monsters, let alone the titan-like red eye, then what chance did she have against whatever stood in their way next? That was her justification anyway, but it was as likely stubbornness and heat stroke that had made her refuse to pull out of a fight that, at the point which it had turned bad and already cost her, she hadn’t actually needed to fight. Braum having his badge at that point proved it after all.

Still, the jovial man did not disparage her foolhardiness one bit and, in the end, she did have her prizes thanks in no small part to her Vibrava’s actions.

It was an asset, and one she decided to invest in. The Sabogar spirit she infused its heart with might not be a perfect match now, but if she understood how this whole evolution thing worked, then the resulting flygon-saboquill evolved form would be an absolute beast.

Her fallen mimic and Saboquill she used in conjunction with Sectonia’s greed hat for itemization, the previous discussion of gear sticking in her mind. Plus, with Flygon already in her, she did not want to find out if having two dragons in her would tip her over the edge into becoming some kind of lizard woman. No offense to Asbestos meant.

After that was all set, she followed Primrose’s lead in looking for a bath. After being frozen, scorched, sandblasted and thoroughly roughed up, it was definitely something she needed.

It'd been years since the Cadet had been at the age where he'd stutter and blush when a pretty girl looked his way, but the kiss Nadia placed on his cheek still almost short circuited his brain. Though Nadia was more forward than what he was used to, it still came as a surprise. A pleasant one, of course. It seemed there was still some red coloring on his face, even after Blazermate had graciously healed him. The Cadet matched Nadia's smile with a bright one of his own before following the feral back into the thick of the group.

Now that Sakura and Karin's battle was over, it was time for the Seekers to move on. First was finishing up those dinner plans, and it appeared that everyone was of the same mind. Karin was even planning to join them after she some business she had to taken care of, which seemed like it might take a while if the list of things she was bringing up was anything to go off of. Either way it was great news. It was good to see Sakura so happy for her friend as well. Geralt had come over for some light conversation and mentioned it didn't sound good, but the words "strike" and "cannon" sounded pretty cool to the Cadet. "I think it sounds like it'd be useful," he laughed. "I hope she finds it!"

Everything else seemed more or less settled. While everyone was wrapping up the Ace Cadet fetched his armor. His treasure trove was easy enough to dump into his own cache, as it was all small save for the radio and the chest itself. He left the shell speaker where it was, still playing music. The rest was coming along with him. If it was really as valuable as Ms. Fortune made it out to be, he'd certainly be sharing, but that would come later. With some directions from Ishizaki, the crew got going to the restaurant.

The establishment's aesthetic was very cool, with the open courtyard and the plant life. With orange sky overheard and a soft breeze, it was a delightful place. And, thankfully, there was space enough for all of them out there. Once everyone was seated, and fore-warned about a staff issue, they began to settle in. The Cadet glanced over the menu. With as large a group as the Seekers, their orders were going to put strain on the kitchen either way, so his usual order of 'everything' would just add more on top of that. So this time he'd actually choose some things, but it was hard when everything sounded so good. One choice was easy though, which was the beverage. The place was called "Rum for Ale," so of course we went for the rum.

He'd stuck his nose back into the menu after Cerberus bounced off to get the other drink orders, but after hearing Blazermate's suggestion for entertainment he peeked over the menu's edge. Not to try and dampen the medabot's enthusiasm, but he had to at least try and counter her idea for his own peace of mind.

"Party tricks are probably beneath their level,", he said hurriedly. At the very least he knew Kamek was some kind of advisor to her king, so she wasn't at the level of a court jester or something like that. It was a weak argument, but he went on. "Besides, I bet our newcomers are as Quru- er, curious about us as we are about them. We could just get to know each other better!" After all it'd been barely an hour since they'd met Rubick and Susie, and barely a day since meeting Karin (for most of them, though the person in question wasn't actually present at the moment). He wasn't seated particularly close to the casters so if they did start a magic show he could at least focus on something else in the mean time. The restaurant itself, the menu, Nadia when she got back, or strike a conversation with those on his side of the table if they weren't too enthralled.