Among the most southeastern reaches of the World of Light, at the tip of the peninsula beyond the acrid fumes of the miasmic Sulfur Pools, the shallow lakes of toxicity and perennial yellow-green haze slowly but steadily yielded to increasingly healthy foliage, clear waters, and finally, a quiet city awash in the orange-gold rays of endless sunset. This was Twilight Town, sleepy place forever stuck on the transient cusp between day or night, just as it also seemed to be stuck in a small patch of safety between the chemical wastes and the unyielding sea, with its denizens stuck alongside it. For them, time often seemed to pass as if in a dream, with the days blending together as they lived and found their happiness in the moment, never quite able to awaken along with the dawn or drift off into the dusk, thanks to the sunset-scarlet gleam in their eyes.

Though the days might sometimes seem dull, the people here never wanted for company, at least. The city possessed a powerful sense of community united by its vibrant culture, and especially in its various districts, everybody knew everybody, and nothing brought people from all over the place together like Market Street. The long, winding, sloped avenue snaked through the whole place, all the way from Station Heights down through the neighborhoods and terraces to the Tram Common with its iconic circuit around the marketplace and the lonely piers beyond, where no vessels ever seemed to dock. Just about everything one needed could be found along its length, including dining, cafes, workshops, a distillery, a hairdresser, convenience stores, and even a clockmaker, as well as public services like the Firehouse and the Barracks, where the militia trains to be able to handle whatever trouble might arise, from within or without. Beyond lay all sorts of houses, where all sorts of people live. A narrow beach ran along the shoreline, while coniferous woods lined the hills beyond the walls. At all hours of the day trains slowly puttered across the elevated tracks, to and from the Central Station at the highest point of the hill the city sat upon. A number of residents can trace their path back to the one train in particular: the subway from Nyakuza Metro, whose mysterious and unpredictable phantom train has brought in many an outsider in search of a peaceful place to live, away from the danger and uncertainty of the outside world. Few who come, however, ever see fit to leave again, and the existence of

In this place of perpetual twilight, only the grand Clock Tower that rises and looms over the Central Station stands as any testament to the forward progression of time at all. Tolling the hours with its melodic bells, it provides the citizenry a loose approximation of when to go about their days, as well as a breathtaking view of the city from its top, where one can with melancholy gaze out across the impassable sea, or the perilous Sulfur Pools, and wonder if there’s anything out there.

Sitting on the roof of the Clock Tower that overlooked the town was a blond haired boy. He dressed casually on this particular morning, wearing a white open jacket plus black and beige pants combination rather than the “work-related” attire he wore on other days. He let his legs dangle over the side of the Clock Tower’s face, sitting with a posture and facial expression that looked almost forlorn, as if staring at something a million miles away. In the boy’s hand was a bar of light-blue ice cream on a stick. It had always been his favorite snack, and yet today he almost seemed to be ignoring it, with some blue drips beginning to melt off the tip.

And then, Roxas finally seemed to remember the existence of the ice cream and hurriedly took a bite of it. It was good, as usual, a delicious mix of sugary sweet and sea-saltiness. And yet, sitting there alone, it just wasn’t the same. He managed to finish the ice cream nonetheless, but now he was just left sitting there, with nothing on his mind except for memories of home. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. This was home, just… sometimes it didn't feel like it. Probably just his imagination.

He thought back to the beginning of this strangeness. He awoke, still in Twilight Town. But he couldn't help but feel that something was off. He felt like he didn't recognize anyone, and his friends were nowhere to be found. Maybe they’d gone somewhere? And maybe the strangers were just some new folks moving in?

Roxas had remained in and around Twilight Town for the next two months after that. When a militia was formed to help keep the town protected, he was quick to enlist in it. His knowledge of Twilight Town and skill with the Keyblade allowed him to pretty quickly make a name for himself as one of the militia’s best fighters. He’d had to fight a few skirmishes but overall they were able to keep things peaceful for the time being. But in all of that, he kept hoping to find some sort of sign of his friends. No luck. Now he was beginning to think he would have to start exploring this world if he wanted any hope of finding them.

“Well…” Roxas said to himself when he finally stood up on his feet, “...no more sense in lollygagging. May as well go report for duty.” he flicked the now-bare ice cream stick over into a nearby rubbish bin. And then he picked up a conspicuous looking black coat that lay on the floor of the roof nearby. After a quick change, Roxas was back out onto the streets of Twilight Town.

It was no exaggeration that Twilight Town had seen some significant changes lately. It had gained a much more colorful citizenry. Some humans still, but there were also the Twilighters: doll like people who had originally inhabited a Twilight Town of their own. And some of that architecture could be seen in various parts of the districts. It was almost as these two towns had been stitched together to form some kind of amalgamation of the two. It was an interesting renovation, he had thought to himself the first time he noticed it. But the Twilighters weren’t the only colorful inhabitants. There were occasional Toads, Koopas, some Moogles as usual, among many others.

Using the familiar Market Street, Roxas was able to find his way to the building he was looking for. During this walk, he was greeted occasionally by passerby, and he tried his best to greet them all in return. At a certain point the eternal sunset was starting to shine in his eyes and so he went ahead and pulled his hood up in order to give his eyes some brief shade. He eventually reached his destination and pushed open the door to enter. Once in, he pulled the hood back off and glanced around for the commander.

“Reporting for duty!” he said with a bit of gusto. Even if all he ended up doing today was a patrol, at least that was better than sitting and doing nothing.

“Ah, good morning, Roxas. You’re just in time.” Captain Auru, the elderly but strongly-built resistance veteran who now led the militia, seemed glad to see the small organization’s best fighter. A handful of the other members hung around the Barracks as well, slightly more than one would expect for any average, lethargic day in Twilight Town. Roxas identified the bow-wielding Cra, the paladin Iop, the druid Sadida, the fur-clad Osmodas, and the roguish, skeleton-faced Sram. After they greeted their friend, Auru continued. “We’ve got something of a situation, it looks like. A few hours ago, some Twilighters making their way through the Underground Concourse reported some strange noises, like shifting rock and animal cries. After a little searching they found a new tunnel, surrounded by some odd, green stuff we’re calling the Creep. We sent Sadida to take a look.”

The young woman nodded as she stepped up officiously, her attempt to look serious and important dissonant with her typical mellow, cheerful nature. “Yes, I scouted it out. The Creep looks like moss and isn’t harmful, I don’t think, but it’s alive, and worse, it’s spreading. Slowly, but surely, and wherever it clumps together, strange brambles and tentacles start growing. And when I went in farther to look, I found a cave totally overgrown with the stuff, guarded by strange, mean-looking creatures. There was a large hanging growth that looked important too, and right now the monsters looked like they’re focused on defending it, but if they decided to mobilize they could cause a real problem.”

“So we’re sending you six in to clear it out while this infestation is still young, before it gets any worse,” Auru supplied. “Any questions?”

Roxas stiffened his posture a bit and saluted, “Can do, sir. You can count on me!”

He thought about it a moment and then asked the only question he could think of, “Did the creatures have any markings on them? Like, red heart-shaped emblems or maybe white ones that split off into 3 arrow points?” it probably sounded like an oddly specific description but it was one Roxas knew all too well. While there was no knowing if these creatures in question were what he was suspecting, he still knew that at some point he was bound to start encountering them. As long as he still possessed his Keyblades those creatures would always find a way to show up and rain on everyone’s parade. But it was also just as likely that these creatures were something entirely different.

Either way it wouldn’t matter. If they threatened the town, then they would just have to stop them. He also couldn’t help but be curious what it was the creatures were apparently guarding. Some kind of treasure? A nest? Maybe they were protecting someone who was hiding out there? Whatever the answer turned out to be, he’d be sure to figure it out. And stop them, if it was a threat.

The Sadida shook her head. “No emblems, sorry. There wasn’t anything that special about these creatures, other than them being really nasty, and barely resembling any animals I’ve ever seen before.”

“Well, if they’re just beasts, they shouldn’t be much of a problem,” the Osmodas told the group, crossing her arms with a boastful smile. “After all, animals are my specialty. Whether it’s caring for them, or putting the bad ones down.”

“Should make for decent sport, at least,” the Cra boy remarked offhandedly as he expertly re-strung his bow. His Iop friend next to him just grinned, eager for a chance to prove himself.

Despite all the reassurance, Auru didn’t seem inclined to relax. Instead he walked over to the main table with a box and set it down, revealing it to be full of short-range handheld radios. “Well, let’s hope everything goes as smoothly as you think. I’ll be here as usual, in case anything else comes up. If things go south -not saying they will, mind, but just in case- just call with the walkie-talkies. This is the best way in…” He put a hand on the table and tapped at the hand-drawn map of Twilight Town, highlighting the nearest entrance to the Underground Concourse with his index finger. “Right then, no time to waste, kids. Hop to it!”

Every headed for the door, quickly making their way through the Barracks’ courtyard of training dummies and practice equipment to Market Street beyond. Even the nearest entrance to the Underground Concourse was a little off the beaten path, a fact not lost on the more competitive members of the militia. “No time to waste, eh?” the Sram smirked, his expression hidden by his mask. “How about a free-running race then? Loser takes point!”

The Iop’s eyes glowed in anticipation. “Oh yeah, bonehead? You’re on!”

“Like you don’t always end up taking point, anyway…” the Cra muttered, rolling his eyes.

“You boys better watch out!” the Osmodas warned them as she stepped up to the makeshift starting line. “I’ve been working on my whip technique. I’ll be swinging around so fast, you won’t know what you’re looking at!”

“Oh yeah?” asked Roxas as he crouched down at the starting line, “I know this town like the back of my hand. Every alley and every backstreet. Try not to get lost on the way!” he glanced back and forth between his teammates, “Ready… GO!” and he sprang forward in a full sprint.



The race was on! To start with, Roxas sprinted out ahead a bit before suddenly ducking between two shop buildings. He jumped toward the wall of the shop he faced and then pushed himself up and toward the opposite wall. Then he repeated that process in order to get himself up onto the roof of the first shop. But he didn’t slow down, Roxas instead kept running on forwards. When he reached the edge of the roof he simply made a big leap to the roof across the way and kept right on going. When the next rooftop looked too far to simply jump to, Roxas instead made a jump for a nearby power line cable and just let his momentum slide him forward until he was close enough to drop down to the next rooftop.

Osmodas may have had her whip and Sram had his agility but Roxas had tricks of his own. His knowledge of Twilight Town’s layout and a certain talent for just being able to reach seemingly unreachable places all while remaining in a good flow of fluid momentum. And that was currently getting him by at the moment. And then he heard the Tram approaching as he neared its rail. The Tram’s route would more or less get him in the direction he was heading. And so he made for the edge of the roof he was currently running on and leaped off the side. When he hit the roof of the Tram, he paused to let it carry him forwards. He even turned around and gave a sheepish wave to anyone who was still lagging behind him at this point. The Iop, having run at full tilt along the street, could only gasp for breath with his hands on his knees as he watched his ticket to victory roll away.

Roxas let the Tram carry him a short distance, hopping off just before it would be going up to the Sunset Terrace. As soon his feet hit the pavement he was off in a run again. This time he made a b-line for a nearby tunnel entrance into the Underground Concourse. Unlike earlier he didn’t look to see if anyone was near, deciding instead to keep his focus forward. These tunnels were almost like a maze and were incredibly easy to get lost in. Even if Roxas had gotten here first, if he wasn’t careful someone else could pass him up and beat him to the tunnel without them even noticing each other.

But Roxas had some memories of exploring these tunnels with his good friend Pence. That felt like ages ago, and he knew that that Pence and Twilight Town were the virtual ones, but the memory still felt real even to this day. And despite it being virtual, Ansem had been very meticulous in it’s design and had made it as 100% accurate as possible. That could give Roxas a slight edge here, if meant he was less likely to get turned around. Eventually he started to notice patches of green here and there. That had to be the “Creep” that Sadidas had mentioned. Great! That essentially gave Roxas a visual confirmation of where he should be going. From that point it was a matter of following where the mossy stuff led.

“Ha… ha… ha…” Roxas breathed heavily as he slowed to a stop. He was pretty sure he made it to the right place, but now he needed to figure out if anyone had beaten him here.

After a few moments, the sound of a heated argument reached him through the miniature labyrinth of the Concourse. “...Should have known you had something up your sleeve when you suggested it!” he heard the Osmodas saying. “How were you sliding across those rails?”

“Heheh, I thought you were happy with your whip?” came the smug, raspy voice of the Sram. “Maybe I’ll tell you…over lunch?”

“In your dreams!”

A loud, hearty panting announced the presence of the Iop, whose red face Roxas could practically picture. “No way, you three beat me?”

“...I’m surprised you got here this fast, just barreling through the streets.” Over this distance, the low tone of the Cra was nearly inaudible.

“Well, I…aha, there you are! At least I beat Leafy! And Roxas, too! Hah”

“I wasn’t racing, silly!” the green-haired girl laughed. “Don’t know about Roxas though, I didn’t see him. C’mon, this way!”

The Iop’s heavy footfalls echoed through the underground corridors. “I saw him ridin’ on the Tram. But he’s not here, is he?”

“Wouldn’t be so sure,” the Cra muttered.

Sure enough, the archer had the right idea. After a few moments the five turned a corner to find Roxas waiting for them. “Augh,” the Sram groaned. “Shoulda known…”

“Maybe he snuck by you while you were showboating,” the Osmodas teased, nudging the rogue in the ribs.

“Hehe… told ya I knew all the shortcuts.” he said with a victorious grin.

“Well, this is definitely the spot.” The Sadida put her hands on her hips as she surveyed the chamber. “It’s definitely grown a bit more, too. Gross…”

With a grunt the Iop crouched at the edge of the creep. “This stuff?” After just one whiff he balked, his expression one of disgust. “Ugh, it reeks!”

Roxas took a sniff himself and then quickly pinched his nose shut, “You’re telling me!”

“We’ll just have to deal with it,” decided the Cra, nocking an arrow to his bow. “Is everyone ready?”

“Yeah, let’s get this over with.” The Sram waited for the Iop to stand up before pushing him forward onto the Creep. “After you, Whites.”

With a sigh the paladin readied his sword, and started across the squishy, pulpy mess of biomass toward the tunnel. It looked wide enough for two militia members to stand beside one another comfortably, and though a blessing that discovery also begged one question: just what sort of monster needed a tunnel that large to begin with? While the underground Concourse featured its own serviceable illumination, this tunnel was dark, far too dark for the light of the Iop’s eyes alone to get him through. “Hey, anyone got a light? Can’t see the way through.”

Roxas did not, in fact, have a light. Or did he? He gave it some thought and said, “Lemme try something.” and held out a hand. With a flick of the wrist, the white Keyblade known as Oathkeeper appeared in a small flash of light. He pointed the weapon forward with both hands, aiming it down the dark tunnel. A thin beam of light shot from the tip of the weapon and arced down the tunnel. Unfortunately it wasn’t a permanent light, but Iop would at least get a brief glimpse of what was ahead, “Well? Spot anything?”

“No monsters,” the sharp-eyed Cra reported. “Just watch your footing, and we’re good to proceed.”

Carefully the group proceeded down the tunnel, keeping noise to a minimum. The Sram had already faded into the shadows, his presence undetectable even by his allies, which left the other five to feel their way through. The Sadida produced her little mushroom lantern that she used to navigate this path before, and alongside the Iop they led the way. Gradually traces of orange bioluminescence shone through the tunnel, telling the fighters that they were getting close, and after another few moments the main cave opened up.



The Sadida’s report turned out to be accurate, although it didn’t quite do the scene justice. True to her word, the entire cavern had been overgrown by the creep, every formation and stalactite festering with meaty moss, orange pustules, and the occasional tentacle armored by blue chitin. At the center of the mess hung a big, fleshy node, suspended by the tendrils that anchored it to the ceiling, which pumped like a freakish, oversized heart. In here the air itself was humid, hot, and heavy, as well as terribly rank, and the newcomers would doubtlessly be sweating before long. It was as if the militia had reached the innermost cavity of some giant organism, and like any organism, it featured plenty of self-defense systems.

Throughout the cave they could see a number of dog-sized Skulks, nasty creatures with bladed legs and rows of grinding fangs. Less common, about four in number, were the more sturdily built Gorges, capable of vomiting up the seeds of new growths. In nooks and crannies perches six or seven Lerks, ready to swoop down and fly at any threats. The worst and easily most upsetting creature, however, was a pale-skinned mutant humanoid, the Scout, with a head covered in tubes. From those tubes extended a web of long feelers, blindly groping for any signs of an intruder as it wandered around the cave.

“Whoa…” said Roxas in a hushed tone, “This is all just living here under Town?” this was a weird assortment of creatures, and that was saying something considering what he was used to seeing. He went ahead and summoned both his Keyblades, but held off on going into action just yet. Instead he looked around at his teammates with consideration, “Any ideas on how we should approach this?” he asked.

Dark monsters hunting for Hearts. Nobodies trying to incite Heartless attacks. Summoning a fortress maze in the middle of a barren wasteland. Those were all things he had seen before. And yet somehow none of that compared to these things. That one with the tubes was the most unsettling one of all. It was like they may as well have just stepped out onto the surface of an alien planet.

Come on, Roxas. Don’t freak out now! He thought to himself. You’ve got a job to do.

One-on-one combat training, huh? The Ace Cadet was intrigued. He had figured there were places here at home base for people to hone their skills, but he'd also assumed most would be team exercises considering they had whole forces going after each of Galeem's Guardians. For the Cadet, being a professional monster hunter, Guild Knight, Ace Hunter, new world expedition member, and now Seeker of Light... he had tons of battle experience, but almost no experience whatsoever with one-on-one combat with a human. What little he did have was only within the last couple of days. And it just so happened that when the list of random match-ups appeared, his sparring partner was none other than the Seeker who specialized in this kind of thing! He couldn't help but laugh, a warm and low pitched chuckle.

"Jeez, I dunno if I'm lucky or unlucky," he said. "Wacha say, Sakura? Want to go a couple rounds?"

Sakura was grinning ear to ear, practically vibrating with excitement. Finally, she had an excuse to fight her friends! She’s always been so reluctant to ask outside of Alcamoth, especially since they are so busy all the time. But now she doesn’t have to ask because the telepathic alien told them too!

”Yeah! Let’s go!” She exclaimed loudly, punching her fists together. ”The answer is definitely lucky no matter how you look at it! I always try to fight opponents stronger than myself.” She said sagely, striking a wise pose. Then she broke out into a giggle. ”I’m just kidding. I really like winning. But this should be fun! We never did get around to that arm wrestling competition.”

"Oh, yeah!" He did recall that back when they first arrived at the seaside and went to fetch gold for Brineybeard, they'd competed to see who could carry the most and wanted to see who was stronger. Now was the perfect chance, wasn't it? And Sakura's enthusiasm sure was infectious.

"And hey, we still can! There are probably a lot of areas to fight in around here, so how about whoever wins the arm wrestle gets to pick the spot? Ya-cool with that?"

Sakura grinned, rocking on her heels and holding one hand behind her back. ”Perfect! A pre-competition for our main competition.” She cockily rubbed her index finger under her nose.

With that sorted out, the two of them should probably move on. Most of the other pairs had already left the room, or were in the process of leaving. However there were two things that the Cadet thought of before that.

"Uh, where are the fighting spaces here anyway?" He asked, glancing at Mewtwo who had remained in the room.

Passed the Arc Mall, there are domed rooms with transporters inside. They will take you to one of the many archways that provide arenas for the Alcamoth's residents, it said, speaking into both the Cadet and Sakura's mind.

"Alright." That shouldn't be too hard to miss. The hunter looked back at Sakura. "You're the professional, are there any kind of rules we should follow when we fight? Like no hitting below the belt or something like that?"

”Eh, no, you can hit below the belt. Rules, rules…” She tapped her chin, trying to think of some rules she as a Street Fighter followed. ”Uhh...” She was really trying to think of something.

”No…eye gouging?” She offered up half-heartedly. ”I think that’s a rule. I’ve never seen anyone do that. So don’t stick your thumbs in my eyes, that would be pretty uncool.” She nodded. ”And you know, you win when you get a KO, so don’t hit the opponent after that. Only real jerks do that kind of thing. Basically just don’t do anything a villain would do and you should be good to go!” With those concrete and steadfast rules settled, Sakura began looking for a table and a place to sit so they could do their competition.

The Cadet looked a little perturbed at Sakura's example. Sakura suppressed a giggle. "I definitely would not act like a villain," he said seriously, a little bit of Jamaica shining through. He followed her to some seating nearby, taking his place across from her. Hopefully the small table was sturdy enough to support them. He rolled his shoulder, mostly for show, then propped an elbow on the table and offered a hand to his opponent.

"Count of three?"

”On go, after three.” Sakura corrected, sitting down. ”So it’ll be three, two, one, fight! I mean- go. And then you go on go. So it’s three, two, one, go.” The street fighter said. She propped up her elbow and then clasped her hand with his. She grinned, eyes glimmering.

”This is fantastic. If we didn’t have to save the Worlds I would live in Alcamoth.” She took a deep breath. ”Ready? Three, two, one, go!” The muscles in her arm flexed and Sakura bit down on her lip as she pushed against Cadet as hard as she could.

As instructed, with his hand wrapped tight around his opponent's, at go the Ace Cadet pushed. He was met with a wall of unrelenting force. Of course he knew Sakura was strong, he'd seen her fighting up close plenty of times now, but battling against her strength so directly still surprised him. And he was about to see her fight way closer up than before right after this! It was kind of exciting, in all honesty. He grinned at the street fighter, though it came off as more a friendly grimace since he was currently putting his all into trying to force her arm down.

"It's a pretty cool place," he belatedly agreed, "Tons of stuff I never could have even dreamed up."

He held his ground, elbow firm and un-moving on the table. He squeezed her hand harder, the muscles in his own arm taut as he pushed.

Sakura bared her teeth, one eye shut tight. She made a little exhalation noise as she stopped pushing forward and just tried holding her ground. ”Uh oh.” She said. ”...getting tired yet?” She asked hopefully, though it was probably trying to come off as cool.

"Nope," he lied. He was starting to feel it, but if there was anything he was confident in it was his stamina. He could definitely out last her, and if she was flagging then all it would take was a few more seconds. Or so he thought anyway, because she was seriously tough and he was already giving it all he had. He just had to wait until she started to give, and then finish it.

Sakura pressed her lips together. ”Not too late to surrender!” She said, straining the words out. The inside of her arm was on fire! Were there any tactics to arm wrestling? If there was, Sakura couldn’t think of any off the top of her head. Sakura gave it her all, grit her teeth and gave one big push. She started to force Cadet’s hand down but then she ran outta gave, wavering, the pressure relieving. In that moment while trying to hold fast, the monster hunter turned the tables and advanced. He pushed Sakura's arm back upright to where they started, and then down all at once to the table. Once her knuckles brushed the surface it was over, the Cadet pinned her hand flat for a second and then released.

"Phhhhew." He shook out his hand and wiggled his fingers, getting the feeling back into them. "That was a close one, but it's my win this time." So now he got the honor of choosing their stage, from which he initially planned to just pick whatever looked the most interesting.

Sakura grabbed her wrist and shook her hand, wincing. ”Itai-itai-itai.” She stuck her finger in her mouth. ”Aw, man. Guess I still need to get stronger…” She said, only a little bummed out. ”I have been slacking on my training recently.” One could almost hear Sakura trying to come up with new training regiments so she would have a better chance next time.

”Did you have anything in particular in mind you wanted to pick?” Sakura asked, curious.

"Not really," he replied with a shrug. "We'll see what looks fun when we get there."

The two of them moved on, starting to make their way across the Ark Mall. They chatted as they did so, mostly clarifications about the match they were both excited to take part in. Part of it was reconciling the fact that the Ace Cadet would be using a deadly weapon against an unarmed opponent, but Sakura assured him it was fine - expected actually. Even more, his items and tools were allowed as well. Fighting without their use meant the Cadet wouldn't truly be bringing his A-game, and they couldn't have that.

”The weapons are fine, really!” Sakura had said, giving two thumbs up. ”Come at me with all you got! Street Fighters can take it. At a certain level of skill, weapons are just another form of self expression through martial arts. Like…a hat! Or a hair color.”

Item use was a little more conscionable anyway, even if it meant he'd have to replace whatever was used up before they set out another mission. The two of them put their brain cells together to think of some kind of loophole around that, when Mewtwo once again intervened with advice. They hadn't gotten very far yet and their conversation was a bit loud, so the psychic Pokémon couldn't help but overhear them. It informed them about the city's Matchmaker system, which was used to prepare the stages for battle in the first place. With a solution seemingly found, the Cadet told Sakura to go on ahead to the plazas holding the stages while he got the rest of it set up. They parted, soon to meet again for battle.

It wasn't too much later that the Ace Cadet reappeared, waving at Sakura as he jogged up to her. Since last she saw him, he had traded in the casual fit for his armor of iron plate and green scales. At his hip was his weapon of choice for this match, the long sword Nightsky Ripper. Even though she'd said it was alright he didn't want to risk using the Master Bang sword and shield combination that was specifically meant to carve the flesh of giant monsters, especially with it's even deadlier upgrade, lest he get one or both of them hurt. Besides, he was a weapon's master and already very familiar with this long sword, so it wasn't like he was handicapping himself.

"Everything's good to go!" he said, giving the girl a thumbs up. "I even figured out something radalos for the arena. All we gotta do is go through the arch."

”That’s good! It would have sucked if we went through all that arm wrestling effort only for you to pick a random one.” Sakura said, laughing.

The both of them stepped into the fog, feeling the unusual pull of space distorting. When the mist cleared, they stood on the edge of a vast desert, bordered by the gates of a wild and rustic city. Vessels floated high up in the air via balloon, and behind them tempered sand turned to packed dirt.



Despite the desert just steps away, the temperature was pleasantly warm and not overwhelming. The space in front of the gate was wide open and devoid of people besides themselves. It would be a good enough place to fight. The Ace Cadet took it all in eagerly... maybe a bit too eagerly, as it seemed like he was scrutinizing every little bit of the area. The reason why was quickly explained when he finally turned to Sakura with a huge grin on his face.

"It's not exactly right, but it's purrretty close," he said. "That thing Mewtwo showed me that scanned the items can make areas based on whatever information you give it too. So this is the closest it could make to Val Habar, one of the cities from my home world! What do you think?"

Sakura had done a spin, gasping happily when Cadet revealed the true nature of what this place was supposed to be. ”Ace! That’s awesome!” She took it in again like she was just seeing it for the first time. ”Bal Harbor.” She said to herself, nodding.

”Do you like making cat puns now, too?” Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow. ”She’s kind of rubbing off on you, hmm?” She rose her eyebrows up and down.

"It's Val Habar, and - uh, haha, maybe?"

Had he made a cat pun? He didn't even notice. Cat puns used to be just part of his everyday life, given it was how the felynes and melynx spoke, so hearing them all the time again probably brought some comfort to his subconscious or something complicated like that. But more than likely Sakura was just right. The Cadet had been scratching at the back of his head sheepishly, but then he coughed into his hand to change the subject.

"You know once, before the Ace Palico went to..." He trailed off before even really starting the story, shaking his head. "Ah, nevermind, I can tell you later! Already kept you waiting too long."

He moved a little farther away from Sakura, not quite sure of the distance they should be starting at. "From 'go' again?"

Sakura nodded, and she took up a position that was outside the range where either fighter could threaten the other with advancing. ”Okay! Battle at Val Habar!” She said, emphasizing her correct pronunciation this time. ”First to who knows, best of whatever!” She smacked the sides of her head and then palmed her fist, bowing. ”Yoroshiku onegai shimasu!” She took up her fighting stance, bouncing lightly from one sneaker to the other. Though her energy was still upbeat, the smile left her face as she began to concentrate.

”Three, two, one…go!” On go, she quickly stepped forward and then backpedaled, wondering what Ace was going to do. Just sizing him up, it seemed.

She'd seen his free hand fly to the hilt of the long sword, joining the one that was gripped tightly around the scabbard. However when she didn't actually approach, the Cadet looked at her curiously rather than drawing it. Was it... a feint? Pretty tricky! Well if she was waiting for him to make the first move, then he would oblige.

"Alright Sakura, you asked for it," he reminded her, pulling something out of his item pouch. He held it up, giving her a brief glimpse of what looked like a small metallic hexagon - right before he pulled his arm back and pitched it at her.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, wondering what the item did. She guessed it was a grenade of some kind and dodged out of the way.

The device didn't need to strike her, in fact it would detonate in the air either way and let out a sharp, harsh noise so ear-splitting it could even throw dragons off of their game. And while Sakura was momentarily debilitated, the Cadet used the chance to move in.

”Itai-itai-itai!” Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and stumbled backwards, slapping the sides of her head several times. If she had any feelings on the matter other than ‘OUCH!’ she had no brain capacity to express them for the moment.

Now up close, it was time to really get into the action. And given it was a friendly match, the Cadet gave Sakura some prior warning just before his weapon was unsheathed.

"Heads up!" he called, and then with a flick the blade jumped from its scabbard, going into a horizontal slice aimed right at the girl's middle.

The good news was, Sakura was true to her word. She didn’t get split in half or anything. Slashed across the waist, she bent over and slid backwards, a bright yellow spark deflecting the blow. It was an unusual feeling on the other end of the blade, but it felt like a solid hit. Sakura dropped into a crouch, her back knee almost touching the floor, and raised her forearm in a defensive position.

It took a moment for the Cadet to grasp exactly what had happened, but he did realize that he didn't have to hold back. He could fully focus on fighting - and learning. With a glint in his eye he brought the sword up until it's tipped pointed to the sky, and then down in an overhead slash. It was just what he’d needed. The cut sliced down onto Sakura’s shoulder and she gasped, feeling a little heat in her cheeks. How embarrassing! Knocked onto all fours, she pushed herself back up to standing. Her hands were up and waiting for the next strike as she galloped backwards.

Looking to press his early advantage, the hunter followed after her. After the first few swings, it was easy to fall back into the familiar striking pattern of the long sword: a diagonal slash from calf to shoulder, then bringing it around again for the reverse, an opposite slash from neck to hip. Another quick strike across the midsection, followed by another overhead, and repeat. The flurry of attacks fell upon Sakura, unrelenting until the end of the Cadet's combo which was signaled by the sword being swung nearly 360 degrees to gain momentum for a more powerful blow aimed at her chest.

Sakura did her best to keep up, and mostly succeeded. As long as she interceded her forearm or her palm in the way of the blade, a blue flash met Cadet’s swing. Walking backwards she moved her upper body from side to side as the strikes came in. Nervous, she decided to call off Cadet's combo early. She spent some of her energy to pull off a defensive move. ”Right there!” As her arm moved from left to right, so did she, dropping into a balanced, spinning crouch. Her leg swung out and knocked Cadet off his feet, sending him flying backwards. The air darkened around both fighters as she did, dealing grey damage to Cadet’s legs. Sakura popped up to her feet and shook the pain out of her hands.

”Yeesh! I’m glad you have so much faith in me!” Sakura said, laughing.

After being launched the Cadet hustled to stand again. He took up a pose much like a samurai with his feet spread, shoulders square, and both hands on the sword held in front of him with the blade itself pointed at his opponent. "Well if I had underestimated you I probably would have already lost!"

The street fighter gathered a ball of blue energy between her hands and launched it towards Cadet at high speed. ”Hadoken!” She repeated the cry and fired out another and another, her hands moving towards and away from Cadet in a rhythmic motion. Blocking them was possible but not effortless, and they had a shove’s worth of kinetic energy behind them.

The energy attack coming at him he'd seen from her before, so when she started the motion he knew what was coming. He dodged to the side, only to be caught by the second one immediately after. It burst against his armor, further pushing him back. It also did additional damage as the defensive leg sweep she’d landed earlier caught up to him due to getting hit. More hadokens followed, effectively keeping him locked in place for the time being. He discovered that they could be disrupted with a well placed swing of his sword, but between getting the timing right or outright jumping out of the way, he was stuck until he could think of something.

It was true- a jump was a good way to deal with a fireball. But that might leave Ace open to different types of attacks. Her fireballs were no easy gimmick to overcome! The timing was made even harder by the variable speed of the fireballs. Some of them came in slower than others, like a pitcher changing up the speed of her pitch. Grinning, Sakura charged up a big one and dragged it through the air, lobbing it at Cadet’s feet. ”Hyaaah!” Whatever he did afterwards, Sakura sprinted up behind her fireball and aimed to catch him off guard with a roundhouse kick and get some close range offense going of her own.

After getting thoroughly pushed around by the hadokens, the Cadet had formed a plan. Putting it into motion with the final fireball, he leapt backward while swinging the sword around and over his shoulder in a stance that looked similar to a player up to bat, quite fitting given the way Sakura was throwing her projectiles around. It just so happened that this particular move was also called the Sakura Slash. Go figure! Once the big fireball hit the ground harmlessly in front of him, the Ace Cadet swung the sword in a mighty slash, the momentum giving him his own rotation to match her roundhouse. The blade met her kick, stopping her forward movement in midair. The Cadet followed through with the slash, hoping to throw her back just far enough that he could regroup.

Sakura wasn’t worried her sneaker would get ruined, even as it clashed with steel. Sakura brought her raised leg in and dropped backwards into a roll that ended up with her on her feet. Both fighters had enough time to set things back to neutral. Sakura moved to run in, taking a sidewinding curveball path towards him. But she was going to stop dead right as she got within stabbing range and try to bait out a reaction from Cadet, and then push forward. She thought to herself that there was no way she was going to be able to get close to Cadet if she just kept throwing herself on his sword- he needed to be worried that she might do something else!

Luckily for her, baiting the hunter was fairly easy to do. As she approached he positioned the blade back low against his hip, ready to draw in a manner similar to iaijutsu. If anything showed that he needed a lot more practice when it came to solo battle against another person it was this. When she ran close enough he tried anticipating her movement and lashed out, flicking the blade forward in a thrust only to meet air. His eyes widened in surprise, and he only had time enough to swivel his head toward Sakura before she dashed in.

The old bait and whiff. His sword was out of position, and Sakura knocked it aside with her fist. She was too far to get any hard hits in, but she could push in. ”Shunpukyaku!” She spun forward and brought her leg around like a hammer, slamming it into his chest. Now she was right up in his face, and Cadet only had a moment to defend himself. She attempted to stick her leg between his, grab his shoulders and fling him upside down and onto his hip. Trying to pull the long sword in close enough to be of any use was futile, but he wasn't without any options. Unlike Sakura who had de-fused with the spirit of Arashio, the spirit of Jamaica still lived in the Cadet. The ship rigging that fanned out from his lower back came around on either side of them both. Armed with mini cannon batteries and a curved blade on either one, they closed on Sakura while firing their guns.

Sakura twisted Ace over, leaning as she did and stepping into her throw. The rigging came in and jabbed into her shoulder in back, the explosions causing her to lose her balance. But because Ace was practically horizontal in the air, it became something of an awkward hit. ”O-oops!” Sakura said as she got hit. She stumbled past and over Cadet and then landed on her hands and knees. Fortunately she was a bit too tough to scrape her bare knees. She pushed herself to her feet, and turned to face Cadet. Dropped unceremoniously in the dirt, he blinked at the sky for a moment before scrambling up. He wiggled the ship rigging as if flexing it before it was tucked out of the way when he moved his sword back into position. It'd most likely be match over if he was pinned, so he was glad he'd escaped by any means. He'd had enough time to get to his feet as she did the same. ”Okay, that won’t work.” She said, glad nobody saw that.

Sakura brought her hands together and back, seemingly to charge another fireball. Once released, it would move very slowly, barely slower than Sakura’s walk speed. It would explode on contact, but only for Ace. Although upon realizing what she was doing, the hunter grinned.

"Okay, this one I've definitely seen!" he told her. And he definitely didn't want to get hit by it. Giving the attack a wide berth, he circled Sakura with the long sword raised. It was gripped in both hands, held up near his shoulder in a high stance. Though wary of what she might do, he decided to go for it - dashing in with the intent to jab her. He hadn't tried this move on such a small target before, but should he be successful he could dig the blade in and use it to vault himself up for an aerial slice. Now he just had to land the attack, not an easy feat.

Sakura made an unsure noise, smiling. ”I don’t know if you have!” She called out. She gave Cadet a wide berth as well, sprinting alongside her fireball and continuing to put it between her and Cadet, avoiding his jab. The fireball was so slow, lazily floating through the air, it was more like a floating mine than a projectile. One that she could walk through. She dashed through the fireball, leaving it behind, and went to jab him a few times with her quick fists.

She caught him off guard. Since when could someone just walk right through a fireball like that?! Though her punches landed, she found that if she focused more on speed than power then it would be hard to damage him through his armor... and even more so when his next attack landed. The Cadet braced himself through her jabs while the core of his chest started to glow pink. Then suddenly a wide, wave-like energy burst forth from his core, the Crush Shot affecting anything it managed to hit with the Weak status.

Cadet was a tough nut to crack, and her quick jabs didn’t find much purchase on him. That wasn’t something she was used to, even the biggest Street Fighters flinched at her jabs. But he was used to fighting giant monsters!

Sakura dodged backwards and raised her hands defensively as the wave washed over her, taking hold. Seeing him recover, she kicked at Cadet’s shin, only to find not much happened at all. She took a moment to look her body over. ”Uhh. What did that do?” She asked Cadet, shuffling evasively back and forth.

"Makes your attacks weaker," he told her honestly. "Don't worry, it's only temporary! Just means you're gonna have to work a little harder to win!"

”Oh! I get it. Okay, thanks!”

Though the longer they fought, the more Sakura would get used to his combat patterns with the long sword. It was a great weapon with high damage potential, but very technical - and if he relied solely on it then he'd eventually end up missing his strikes more often than not. That only meant that he would have to work harder too.

He took one hand off of the sword and raised his arm, where attached to his gauntlet was a mechanical device that looked halfway between a mini crossbow and a collapsed cage. From it, the altered arms of the clutch claw unfurled and locked together to form a anchor-like shape. He hadn't used this kind of flail before, but it didn't hurt to try it now during a practice match. It hung on a chain, and the Cadet took hold of it, swinging it in a circle.

"New strategy comin' at ya!" He flung the makeshift flail at the street fighter.

Sakura’s lip curled, grossed out by Cadet’s new, weird weapon. ”Ew!” It reminded her of Birdie’s chain, but even worse! At her reaction the hunter just laughed good naturedly. She crossed her arms in front of her, the flail crashing into her block. There was a thudding blue impact and Sakura grunted. She turned her skidding into a back pedal to get out of range. Fortunately, she had a lot of space to use given the environment Cadet had chosen. Just a big old desert. Sakura would have to pick her range carefully. She needed to be close up where she had the advantage, or far away enough that she could be safe. Mid range was Cadet’s specialty, especially with this new flail.

”I hate to be a spammer, but- hadoken!” The fireballs began coming in fairly fast, sacrificing damage and push back for speed and range. She even did a couple of one handed hadokens, thrusting out her palms to send quicker, smaller bursts of ki his way. She wanted Cadet to have to close the distance, and she wanted him to do it while he was under pressure.

At first he tried countering the fireballs with the cannons on his rigging, taking pot shots to make them burst before they got close. Fairly quickly he realized he wouldn't be able to outgun her blasts. If he advanced he'd be doing exactly what his opponent wanted from him, but what else could he do? Throw another sonic bomb, try and swap to his bow? None of those options really appealed to him, so moving up it was. He sheathed the long sword and made a beeline for her with the ship rigging fanned out. He took about as many hadokens as he managed to avoid either by dodging or dispersing them, and though he could feel the damage they dealt steadily piling up he continued to trudge on.

When he judged he was close enough to try something, he swung the flail again with one hand while the other dipped into his bag. From it he withdrew a vial with the blinding potion inside. He expected that she'd try and dodge the anchor, so as long as he timed it right he could toss it at her and actually hit his target.

Sakura ducked and rolled to the side underneath the swing, and as she prepared to step in, she spotted the potion coming her way. She couldn’t dodge, so she blocked the potion. The glass broke, causing the liquid to splash on her upper body. She meant to glance at it to see what that did, only to experience the quite terrifying sensation of losing her sight. ”Bwaah!” She screamed, flailing her arms as she frantically turned to get away.

"Also temporary!" her opponent was quick to mention. This would be his best chance to get close to Sakura with as little risk as possible. With the hadokens stopped and the street fighter on the backfoot, the Cadet swung the chain and flail at her legs to trip her up, then let the clutch claw retract and rest at his arm again. Prepared to draw the sword again he dashed in close.

Sakura’s legs were taken out from under her. Gasping, she fell flat on her face and lay prone, eyes squeezed shut. When she opened them, she saw the ground at the tip of her nose and was grateful. She was less grateful for the oncoming sound of boots, and she quickly rolled to the right. Her instinct saved her from the blow, the Nightsky Ripper's blade hitting packed sand where she'd just been a moment before. Another slash was headed her way not a second later as the hunter re-positioned and swung again.

Gritting her teeth, Sakura clenched her fist pushed herself onto one knee just in time to launch into an explosive uppercut. Her body flashed with power as she spent some of the energy she had gained during the fight. ”Kurae!” Unless Cadet got defensive, the uppercuts force would blow straight through his downward strike. She did one uppercut and then followed it up by another, leaping into the air and dragging Cadet with her via her fist. Sakura landed on her feet, and then pumped her fist.

With nothing to block the blow with, the Ace Cadet was sent flying back after two solid hits. He landed on his back with a groan. When he pushed himself to his feet again, Sakura looked as though she was ready for more - and either the Weak debuff had already faded, or she was powering up. Both were pretty dangerous to his chances of winning. Okay, gonna have to play this a little smarter! he thought to himself, once more bringing the blade into position. This time he waited to see what she'd do - another fireball barrage, or try and bridge the distance between them?

Sakura bounced back and forth on her feet. ”That’s one of my big ones. In future if you see an enemy block or dodge that attack, please save me. Because if you had blocked that I would have basically just fallen gently towards you like target practice.” She explained.
"Noted!" the Cadet responded seriously.

Then she went in, galloping forward. But she shifted on her feet and moved her head, keeping her hands forward and making her movement harder to predict. When she was in range she began trying to bait out a swing from Cadet, and basically engaged him on a purely theoretical level, dancing in and out of his effective range, making like she was going to go in only to pull back. She watched his feet and his hands and occasionally made eye contact. It was times like these where her mind was empty of anything except the fight. Sakura was in the zone. It also had the added benefit of giving her more time to wait out this Weak effect.

Not wanting to be duped by another one of her feints, the Cadet kept the blade still in his hand as he turned to keep an eye on her. When she got too close his grip would tighten to signal his intent to attack, at which point she would gracefully bounce back out of range. Once or twice he did swing, quick flashes of steel that never hit their target but didn't exactly leave him open either. It was a stalemate until one of them committed.

Sakura stuck her tongue out of the side of her mouth, proud of Cadet for playing it smart. She backed far away and dropped her guard, taking a few moments to walk back and forth and catch her breath. Then she wiped some sweat out of her eyes and got back to business. She did some fancy footwork, juking left then spinning right. She blasted a one handed fireball Cadet’s way and then leaped in, clearing ten feet before front flipping and bringing her foot down like a javelin. ”Sore!”

This is it! The Cadet shifted stances - he bent his knees and flipped the sword in his hand so that the blade was reversed and held it up at shoulder level, horizontally so that it was perpendicular to his body. Critical Juncture, the ultimate parry. The only problem was there was an energy blast coming right at him at the same time that the teenaged powerhouse was. His eyes flickered from the hadoken to Sakura herself, now airborne, and decided to focus solely on her. His senses sharpened and he braced himself against the fireball as it burst against his front, and then as soon as her foot connected with the blade he flicked it up in a powerful upward slashing motion.

As the sole of her sneaker found not armor but the edge of a blade, one of Sakura’s eyes winced shut in anticipation. It slashed vertically up the lower half of her body. A great bright yellow line was drawn from heel to navel, and Sakura was straightened out and thrown back. ”Gah!” She landed clumsily but quickly back rolled onto her feet, exhaling.

”Nice hit.” She said, before moving in again, her bandana trailing behind her head. It’s not like the hits didn’t hurt, but you were more likely to stop a street fighter completely before you were able to slow them down.

As Sakura moved in, she blocked a couple of Ace’s probing strikes, and then spun towards him, kicking at him with a ”Shunpu!” It was only meant to draw out his guard and let her advance. As she landed in front of him, arms swinging, Cadet would realize that he had the advantage. But Sakura was willing to take that risk in order to close the distance.

They were set to clash again. If he let her get past his effective range it would spell trouble. He thrust the sword straight forward toward her, though it was easily avoided. Transitioning into a sideways swipe he swung it in a wide arc, trying to catch her before she got too close.

Wide arcs were fantastic against giant monsters, but Sakura was 5’2 and almost within arms reach. The sword swing was hard, but she brought her bare forearms against it and then ducked under it, letting it scrape over her with a blue flash. Still crouched, she threw a crouching medium kick at Cadet’s leg. Then she stepped up and forward, throwing a series of heavy, long range punches his way, planting her foot closer with each strike. Her fists were interposed with Cadet’s blade as he defended himself. She forced out a sharp hiss of air with each strike, managing her breathing. The pressure was on! She was trying to get closer and closer still.

As she advanced the Cadet's mind raced while trying to think of ways out of the situation. He couldn't put any distance between them because every step back he took, Sakura took one forward. He couldn't swap to another weapon or reach into his bag, because if he lost focus and lowered his blade it would leave him wide open. The rigging at his waist did little to deter her as she pressed her advantage. He thought about trying to use another of his hunter arts, the Devouring Demon. At times when he was being pressed by a monster, it could give him an advantage to stagger it and get back into rhythm. But it was dangerous - not for her, but for him. If he powered up and whiffed, it would put him in an even worse spot... but then again, in a spar like this, the danger was only losing - not dying. Let's just go for it! he thought to himself.

After barely fending off one of her punches, the Cadet swiftly brought the blade in close to focus his energy. His body pulsed a dull crimson, his muscles and senses both strained, and just like that his attack power was boosted while his vitality started to drain. He caught the street fighter's eye and went in for another forward thrust. "Hyah!"

Sakura grimaced in anticipation, but this time it was on Ace’s behalf. It really wasn’t a good idea to try and power up right when your opponent is halfway through punching at you. Sakura knew that from experience. But Ace was going to learn that lesson the best way- the hard way. Simply put, she went and socked him on the jaw before his forward thrust could get much of anywhere. The impact from interrupting his powerful attack sent Cadet spinning away. Sakura dove forward into a roll and then jumped up and shoved her knee into him, launching him. Before he could hit the ground, she scooped him up with the knuckles of her fist. Shouoken!” Rattling off like a machine gun, Cadet would go flying once again while Sakura landed athletically on her feet.

”Sorry!” She said afterwards, hunching her shoulders a bit. Then, because this was a fight, she began running over to kick him while he was down.

When going for a high risk, high reward move like that there was always the chance it would end up that way: getting flung, landing hard on dirt and lying prone while a girl walloped you. Long sword abandoned, the Cadet covered his head with his hands and called out, half laughing, "Okay, okay! I surrender." The girl stopped, nearly falling over.

He really did need the practice it seemed. Early on he'd thought he had done pretty well for himself, though the longer the match went on the more he had fallen behind. The hunter rolled over onto his back and splayed his arms out wide, staring at the not-quite-right gates of Val Habar before his gaze eventually settled on Sakura. He grinned at her. "You kicked my Astalos."

A big, toothy smile on her face, Sakura practically yanked Ace onto his feet. With her mouth she made punching sound effects and mimed hitting him with an onslaught of elbows and jabs. ”Sphpewshpssh psshpsshpsshpssh-” Then she turned around and threw a real celebratory haymaker into the air, jumping for joy and running aimlessly. ”Yes! Haha, YES! That was awesome!”

”Yeah!” With one last punch that launched her upwards, she landed and made her back to Cadet.

”You can do so many things! How do you even hold all that stuff? You must have like, a million straps on your back!” Hyped up, she grabbed him by shoulder and turned him to look whatever weapons he was carrying on his back - which happened to be the sheathe for the long sword, his fairly large gathering pouch, the comically square looking backpack, a wicked looking carving knife tucked into a loose leather holster that had barely seen the light of day since he awakened in the World of Light, and a miniature oak barrel strapped sideways.

He let her examine his equipment all she wanted. "Yeah, pretty much," he said. He was pretty kitted out, though not so much as the last couple of days when his extra weapons were just stowed on his body instead of in the bag. "It's not really what I can do so much as what stuff I've got on me, which is why I carry around as much as I can. If I ever got disarmed I'd cart pretty quick," he explained, "compared to you, your punches are like super-human! Plus that thing -"

He turned around and made the motion of forming a hadoken and firing it. "Even on the receiving end of it, it's really cool!"

”Isn’t it? Isn’t it just the coolest? It’s called the Hadoken, which means Wave Motion Fist!” She blasts one out into the open air to demonstrate. ”Ryu-san is the best at Hadokens. Mine still have a long way to go, if I want to be as strong as him someday…” Sakura said, trailing off for a moment.

Snapping back into reality, she turned to face him. ”Oh, hey! I have a tip for you. Do you wanna hear it? It was about the mistake that cost you the match.” She said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Lay it on me, Master Sakura," he said, nodding his head. "If you're not around to come save me if I get stuck in a duel, I'll need all the help I can get."

Sakura’s face flushed red. ”Okay, first of all. Not a Master. Not Master Sakura. D-don’t call me that, it’s- nope. Nuh uh. No way. Ryu-san is the Master. And if you asked him he’d say he wasn’t. So that means I’m definitely not a Master, not even close. I- I haven’t even gone to a real dojo yet!” Shaking her head rapidly, she get back onto the subject at hand with a clearing of her throat. ”Don’t tell Hibiki-san I said that last part if you meet him.”

The Cadet cocked his head to the side, a bit confused by her little tirade. Plus he had no idea who 'Hibiki-san' was or how he'd recognize them if they ever met. He placated her anyway, giving her a small smile. "Gotcha, no master and no telling Hibiki-san."

”A-anyway.” She hopped into a fighting stance, moving her fists around. ”So I was bringing my fists in pretty hard, and that’s not a good situation to be in. Your attacks are way powerful, probably the most powerful I’ve ever faced. But they have a lot of windup. I imagine you need all the power you can get when you’re going up against monsters, but against faster opponents you’ll need to be quicker.” She moved her fist back and forth like she was punching. ”Just a simple jab. It won’t take much to throw someone off. Maybe you could check me with the bottom part of your sword. Just to my face, or my chest if you want to aim less. And you’re plenty strong, so a quick knee to my belly would work, too."

He was less sure about the other physical strikes she mentioned, but anything that might help he was at least willing to try. "The bottom part...? Oh, the pommel?" He drew the sword again, checking the weapon's handle from intricate guard to gold-colored pommel. That kind of strike wasn't intended for the long sword, but the Ace Cadet was nothing if not adaptable. And if he could pull off something half-way decent with the longer blade, then he could transition it over to the short sword too.

"Did you wanna practice?” She asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind!"

Sakura was happy about this response, punching her fists together. ”Great! I haven’t practiced with anyone since I got here!” She exclaimed happily, excited to run some drills. ”Okay, so. I’m gonna come at you like I did towards the end. And I want you to try to interrupt me with a quick attack. On go. Ready? Three, two, one, go!”

She began throwing her fierce punches his way, the kind that urgently needed to be blocked by a sword. But now that the situation was much more composed, he could find a gap between her punches and interrupt. Although shifting out of specific techniques and stances that had been drilled into him was easier said than done, he did eventually manage after taking a few punches to shift the blade and shove the pommel into her chest. It drove her off for but a moment, and then they started again.

After getting the hang of interrupting the fighter's flow, they went back and forth with it. The Cadet would break her stance, and Sakura would counter his counter. The two of them continued like that with the warm wind washing over them until they were satisfied. At least, with the practice involving the sword.

Sakura coughed, clearing her throat of some of the saliva that had been building up. "Yeah, uh,” She tapped her fist against her chest. "Let’s move away from that. Because my sternum hurts. Great work.” She gave a strained thumbs up. "Teaching people techniques is way more painful than I expected.”

"Learning them too, though I think it's been going pretty well," the hunter chuckled. "But yeah, let's switch it up."

After getting over the initial reluctance to try out physical strikes, it became apparent that for all of his strength the Cadet was not nearly so talented at picking up hand-to-hand techniques as he was with weapons techniques. Naturally this transitioned into much more basic training as a way to cool down before they inevitably picked up again.

Eventually, Sakura set her hands on her knees and took a breather. ”I have a question. So you were throwing like, potions and stuff at me? And grenades? I’m trying to think of things I could do to get out of it, because the bad guys are probably gonna have stuff like that, too.” She mimed throwing some potions and grenades. "Maybe I could-” She jumped ten feet in the air, bringing her legs in. Landing gently she flattened out her skirt. "Do something like that? Would that work?”

The Cadet watched her land, chin tucked between his finger and thumb as he considered her strategy. "That'll work against a lot of projectiles, but not everything. Like, here," he beckoned the girl over to him as he pulled out a couple of gadgets. Among them were the sonic-bombs he'd used earlier. He held up for her to examine. "Jumping up won't do any good against something that doesn't need to actually touch you... well, unless maybe you can jump even higher than that? Anyway, something like this that uses sonic waves, or a flash bomb that would blind you if you looked at it, or even a regular bomb that has a big explosive radius - your first instinct would be to get away, but it's probably better to contain them, or disable them before they can go off."

After a bit of fiddling, he took apart the bomb in his hand to show her the insides. Being from a more primitive world it wasn't a very complex device, but it was sophisticated in its simplicity. "You know, with so many different worlds I'm sure there's a million different ways these kinds of items work, so uh, take this with a grain of salt? But from what I know most of them are on a timer, or trigger. So if you break them apart before they go off, you won't have to worry!" That was mostly true anyway. Though there should always be a healthy dose of worry, given just how many different kinds of things could be chucked at a person. "It'll be tricky though. You could break out of these with your fireball, but if you used that on a bomb-bomb it would just go off early. Though that might not be bad either. I bet I could rig something safer than these if you wanted to give it a try."

Sakura looked over at the item, tapping on her chin. Yup. That was the inside of a bomb, alright. Probably. From the ‘future’ or not, Sakura knew approximately nothing about military hardware. "Uh huh. So just…step on it?” Sakura asked, stomping on the ground.

"Yeah. Smash it, slash it, slam it. Basically stop it from working before it, y'know, works!"

"And if it’s a bomb bomb I can just block it or dodge it, or, I guess crush it. There’s a couple of street fighters who just throw bombs at people a lot. And Ryu-san showed me that my fireballs work on any old explosion.” Sakura thought aloud. "But if it’s a potion, I should dodge. Because when it shatters, it’ll get all over me and affect me anyway.” She indicated the spot on her fuku where the stain had thankfully faded.

"If it’ll go bam, give it a slam. If it’s made of glass, move your…butt.” Sakura said, trailing off.

Ace Cadet laughed out loud. "Perfect!"

She rubbed the back of her head, grinning. "That was a lot of fun, Ace. It was nice to just…do my favorite thing! It didn’t hurt that I won of course but, win or lose, you still gotta smile.” She bowed respectfully, and then reached her hand out for a handshake. When he clasped her hand she brought him in for a bro hug of epic proportions, clapping him on the back.

When they separated he fixed her with a wide smile, patting her on the shoulder. "Yeah, it was Gargwawesome! And we can do it again whenever you want!" He told her. "Or almost whenever. I think if I don't get out of this armor and into some healing soon I'll be really feeling it once all the adrenaline wears off, heh."

He spun Sakura so that they were shoulder to shoulder as he steered them toward the exit, though he did glance back at the majestic desert town gate. "Next time we can go somewhere like the world you come from?"

"Yeah!” She did a little hop. ”I know the perfect place, it’s one of my favorite spots to fight. Next time for sure.”

Up, and up, and up they went. While Nadia made sure Omori could keep up, he didn't feel too worried. He could be pretty fast on his own time, but all the same this was unchartted territory to him, unlike the more experience Hatty. Just how far did this place go? How high? A longer glance over the railing would make the weaker-willed nauseous. Thank goodness heights don't bother the boy anymore.

And it just. Kept. Going!

Omori watched as Hatty regained Nadia's attention, pointing towards the way to her desired destination. A race huh? The feral knelt down to let Omori ride on her shoulders, to which he hopped on in one swift motion. He's done enough running for a bit. His arms were gently crossed above Nadia's head.

Hehe. It feels nice being tall-

The monochrome youth snapped out of his thoughts with widened eyes soon as Nadia broke off into a sprint. Not even a second passed, and Hatty speed by on... Okay how the crap did she get a scooter that fast?? More sudden was the appearance of two new racers, who Omori recognized as part of Kamek's fleet. The small turtle-like kid zipped after Hatty, and when Nadia slowed down, the black haired girl walked next to them. She, Rika, then introduced herself to the boy.

He nodded when she asked if he was Kamek's new acquaintance. "Omori." He simply introduce himself in return. "Nice to meet you too." The trio arrived at the central shaft, where Hatty and Jr. were resting with a couple of juice boxes. After regrouping, Omori hopped down off of Nadia, looking up at the shaft like she was. They all approached the huge-looking elevator, the boy stepping on after the feral, then they were joined by another. A woman named Bella, and a friend of the others from what Omori could tell.

He remained ever the silent one as they talked, catching up on current happenings and getting an explanation on how the elevator works. This apparently-haunted thing could take them to the top floor? Maybe he could see Otherworld from up there! Rika and Jr. were ready to head up, and no doubt Hatty was wanting to see too. So when they waited for an answer from him...

Omori casually pointed a finger up, glancing around the current party.

"Going up?"

Take that as a yes.

Bede was very interested in hearing Vandham’s description of a Moogle they sounded so cute. Especially the comparison to fairies. Bede’s eyes went wide. “Oh my goodness, that’s so cute! I love fairies!” Bede cooed excitedly. Then he calmed down and regained his composure. “I mean… yes that’s very nice. I know a thing or two about fairies. I was taught all about them by my mentor before all this happened…”

After chatting with Vandham, Poppi came back with her Moogle contact. After getting the information they were looking for, it was noticed that Torra had gone missing. Poppi asked Bede if he could help search for him, and Bede sighed. “Well… alright, but in a strange place like this, he could literally be anywhere.”

And so the search was on. Bede walked around and saw no sign of the nopon anywhere. How could something of his size be this difficult to track down? However, they did see plenty of other weird things. Bede encountered a small, orange creature with a cute face. It was unlike any Pokémon Bede had ever seen. Bede went up to pet it. But as soon as he reached out his hand, the creature transformed into something scary. The angry creature chased after Bede, but it eventually exploded. Bede just stood there in disbelief for a moment before shrugging his shoulders and carrying on.

Jesse liked Raz already. He thought about the world in a strange way, which was something she could relate too. Maybe psychics really did have a lot in common no matter what universe or… video game they came from. As for his question, she took in the views of both ways and came up pretty stumped. There was no easy way to the surface. And it’s not like the infrastructure in the World of Light had any obligation to make any kind of sense.

“Shit, I dunno.” She admitted bluntly. “We’re a cartoonishly far distance underground. It’ll take us so long to get there, we’ll be in another place entirely.” She rolled her shoulder. “Which we could do. There’s a couple other places on the Purple Line we could try, right?”

“Either way, it might not be a bad idea to ask for directions. There’s some people back down near the station.” She jerked her thumb down the stairs they just came up. “Honestly, as much as I’d love to get my hands dirty, I learned once already that traipsing off to go on some misadventure is a bad idea when you’re working with a team.” She looked at the Fungal Wastes and the Fog Canyon.

“Man it does look cool though, doesn’t it? I’ve seen some crazy fungi in my time and this is by far the coolest.” Jesse considered both options, before looking at both of her fellow members of the Purple Line team. “N-no, we should at least try to ask for directions first. It’s probably only a matter of time before some crazy bullshit happens around here, anyway.” With that she began jogging down the stairs. At a turn in the stairs she hopped over the railing and floated the rest of the way down.

Once back at the Train Station, she glanced around for those people she spotted earlier. The three Migosp’s looked pretty involved in their own conversations, so she would ask them second. There was a girl having a picnic with two lady bugs, and at least the girl had a mouth so Jesse could hazard a guess that she spoke.

And maybe I just want to ask directions from a girl having a picnic with two giant ladybugs. I’m allowed to have Alice in Wonderland fantasies, okay? There’s a 50/50 chance she’s either totally normal, or speaks in rhymes. Either way I'm onboard.

Straightening out her jacket, the Director walked over to the picnic goers. “Hey, uh, excuse me. Sorry to interrupt. My companions and I are new here and we’re trying to get some reception.” Jesse stuck out her pinky and thumb and wiggled them like she was holding a phone receiver. “Do you think you could tell us the fastest way to the surface, please? Or, y’know, if it’s even possible to get to the surface from here.” She asked.

As one might expect, everyone was just as excited to ride the unconventional lift as Bella, if not even more so. Hatty wanted to get started straight away and even jogged over to the control panel that the Seaplane Tender mentioned so that she could be the one to press the button when ready, and both Junior and Rika were right behind her. Nadia hadn’t expected to run into the two of them on the way over here, or for the little prince to jump straight into the rather one-sided race for that matter, but the more the merrier. She wonder who ultimately won between Hatty on her scooter and Junior in his clown car, but didn’t think to ask. Something much more interesting and impressive now diverted her from the pint-sized derby after all!

She joined the others on the glass platform, followed by Bella, which made six passengers total. More than enough, she figured, to take on any spooks that happened to be haunting the grand elevator, if that turned out to be an issue. Truth be told, however, she couldn’t muster complete confidence in the integrity of the glass. If disaster struck on the way up, ghost-related or not, it would take some serious work on her part to keep everyone safe. Plus, while the feral surmised that she probably could leap between these struts, she did not relish the prospect of making the climb under her own power. As even a cursory upward glance could confirm, it was a long, long, long way up.

Hatty smacked the button, and the climbing machine got to work. Its huge mechanical legs reached upward, four at a time, to grasp the next rung in the sky-high circular ladder that this elevator shaft served as. Then, while they hauled the platform up, the next set let go of the support ring beneath to reach above the current one, and the process repeated. Despite the sheer amount of force in play, the technology worked with astonishing smoothness, with barely a bump in the platform’s upward ride. Rather than cling to handrails or spread out on the floor in a desperate attempt to not be jerked and jostled around, the passengers could stand and even walk around as they pleased, though after just a couple moments the platform had ascended high enough that the view of Alcamoth’s great atrium was snuffed out by the sides of the elevator shaft. That left the six with just sheer metal walls, one another, and some rather dramatic elevator music.



Nadia couldn’t help but be hyped up a little as she listened to it, in fact. She’d worried for a little bit that this might be a slow, boring, even awkward ride, but now she was feeling amped. Unlike the cheery, inane tunes one might find in a hotel or casino, which only existed to fill dead air, this track fitted a high-stakes fight. As she stood with her arms crossed under her chest, she nodded along and tapped her foot with the beat. The glass beneath her neither rattled nor budged as she did, seemingly secure enough to ease the feral’s worries about it breaking. “Wow, I’ve never heard mew-sic like this,” she said. “It’s weird. I can hear voices, and…violin, maybe? But I don’t recognize most of the instruments at all.” A total stranger to electronic music, she tilted her head, then smiled. “Still, kinda intense, nyeah? Make me wanna move my feet!”

“It is new to me as well, mon amie,” Bella admitted. “You say it makes you want to dance?”

“Dance?” Nadia shrugged, laughing, “Nah, I dunno. Maybe I’m just hopped up from my fight with Susie still.” She looked up, wondering how long this climb would take even at this pretty decent speed. Judging by the rate at which the light at the shaft’s tippity-top was getting closer, it would be a while. “Since we’re waitin’, though, maybe we could do somethin’. Just to kill the time, y’know.”

Suddenly a lightbulb went off over her head, and her ears stood straight up. “Oh! We could do some trainin’! Not you Bella, I mean, unless you want to of course, but for the rest of us. Check this out!”

The feral jumped into a fighting stance, bouncing back and forth as she channeled blood into her arms, increasing the pressure in her veins. “It hit me yesterday, I’m a short-range fighter, right? If I’m gonna mess someone up, I gotta get up close and purr-sonal to start slashin’ and bashin’. But after fusin’ with the Oceanid, it wondered: what if I could punch from a long way off?”

Abruptly she threw a big right hook, detaching her forearm except for the stretchy muscle fiber and blasting out pent-up blood from the back. Her punch shot across the rising arena, ran out of steam, and dove down to bounce off the floor. Then, with just a flick of her arm, Nadia snapped the forearm back. It retracted and slapped right into place with a small spurt of vital fluid, and the cat burglar flexed her fingers. “It’s like a rocket punch! The only issue is, I don’t have any practice aimin’ it. Cool, right?”

She looked around at the others. “So I can work on that, if anyone can help me with targets. Course, I can return the favor. Here!” With a flourish she summoned a squad of copycats. “You can practice with these! I can sorta control ‘em, so if there’s somethin’ ya wanna work on, I’m all ears! Just make sure that you don’t spill any blood over the sides, ‘cause I need that back.” She offered an encouraging smile to the team’s newest member. “I ‘specially wanna see what you can do, Omori! You’re gonna be havin’ our backs out there, after all!”

With a rough plan in mind, the impromptu training session began. If her sparring match with Susie didn’t wear Nadia out, the combined effort it took to both coordinate her copycats and to do her own training certainly did. The whole setup might be a little slapdash, but she and the others applied themselves with gusto; perfection wasn’t necessary, so long as they had heart.

---

With everyone having fun, the time flew by, and almost before the passengers realized it the light of day shone on them once more. At long last the platform finally stopped, its spider-legs creaking to a halt as they locked in position, and the six found themselves in the middle of a large rooftop balcony beneath a cloudy, overcast sky, at the absolute pinnacle of Smash City Alcamoth.

Rather than awe, however, the first thing Nadia felt was the cold. “Ooh jeez, wasn’t expectin’ the brr-eeze.” It was windy and chilly up here, enough to make her shiver a little in her new zip-up jumpsuit. She went ahead and zipped it all the way from its usual spot below her belly button up to her neck, although that did little for her arms and legs, which quickly developed goosebumps. From the top of the elevator shaft, the rooftop extended a good ways in every direction, and it was as flat as it was empty. She half-expected to see a deck chair or two where an Alcamoth resident might lay down for some sunbathing during his time off, but she guessed this spot might just be too high-altitude. A protective railing encircled the rooftop, with glowing lines running around the base, and along with the rest of the group Nadia headed toward the edge. She could see distant mountains beyond it, but not much else, and only when she got close to the railing could the feral begin to really appreciate just how high-up she was.



Nadia’s eyes widened as she stood, frozen but for the wind playing with her ears and hair, in front of the jaw-dropping view. Not only could she see the sparkling surface of the whole Eryth Sea far, far, below, but she could take in the entirety of the spiky, protruding mountain range that encircled it on all sides like the jaws of some primeval sea beast. The thought made her shiver all the more. In the highest mountain cliffs between this basin and the Land of Adventure she could recognize the vast, spherical cutout where the End once existed, according to the stories she’d heard about the Seekers’ past exploits. The valley that housed Spiral Mountain lay not far off, and beyond that range she could take in the rolling hills and deciduous forests of the Land of Adventure itself, as far as the tinge of the atmosphere let her.

When she turned her southwestern gaze all the way around and ran across the rooftop to the other side, she got her first glimpse of the staggeringly enormous desert that lay to the north, the Sandswept Sky. Its dunes seemed to stretch on forever, at least until they met the bone-white salt plains near the ocean, or the indistinct but still-noticeable wall that ran horizontally across the region at about the one-third mark. Vast sandstorms wandered the desert, as distant and amorphous as clouds, and though she could make out few details, one thing stood out to her: across the barren wastes, an unimaginable distance away, a solitary mountain loomed, even taller than Alcamoth itself, with a peak cleft in half as if by a celestial blade, spilling out a heavenly light that piqued her curiosity.

To the east, meanwhile, lay the illimitable sea, and beyond the southern mountains one could take in a landscape cloaked in chemical miasma. No matter where one looked, tiny places of interest and other landmarks could be found, even if they were too far away to be identified. Nadia even scanned the eastern horizon to see if she could see anything beyond the waters, but the curvature of the earth hid any other continents from her sight even here.

It was so incredible that it took even the gregarious chatterbox Nadia Fortune a while to find her words. “Wow,” she said at length. “So this is the World of Light. Or…not even, just a small part of it. Can’t even see the Dead Zone, or what became of it, anyway. I mean, I’m sure my world was just as big, but I never got the chance to see it. Not like this...” She took a deep breath, leaning on the railing, and fell silent to enjoy the view.

After a couple minutes, a sudden flash off to the left caught her eyes, and the rumble of thunder soon followed. Cold, fat droplets began to fall across Alcamoth’s pinnacle, as well as the people atop it. The clouds had gotten thicker and darker, and rain fell in curtains across the land to the west. One drop splashed on Nadia’s cheek, followed shortly by a couple to her arms. In just a few moments, the rain would be here.



“Double DOWN!”

Fueled by the furious flame of his Red Queen’s Exceed, Nero blazed down toward the cracked surface of Isabelle’s reception area in a wedge of blazing sparks and gleaming steel. Though his through was already raw from all his yelling, his hotblooded shout rang off the walls of the Great Hall that lay in the exact center of the dividing wall between the two halves of Alcamoth’s grand atrium–the hub of the whole building, where Isabelle worked as a receptionist and the last line of defense between the dome’s indoor park and the mission-critical Ark Mall. The Devil Hunter drove his blade toward his foe with everything he had, but at the last moment his target canceled himself out of the way in a purple wave of slowness, then launched upward in a riotous uppercut of explosive retribution. The burning fist slid past the Red Queen’s deadly point and into Nero’s jaw, bringing the one-sided fight to a definitive end in an explosive fashion.

“Kyrieeeeeeee!” Nero howled as he went flying, half-conscious, until with a final breathless grunt he crashed into Isabelle’s reception desk, breaking it in half. The little dog cowering beneath it barely escaped in time to avoid getting crushed herself, after which she hid behind the wreckage, her breathing erratic, unable to take her eyes off the newcomer that had just demolished his second helping of Door Bosses.

Chest heaving from exertion, Sol Badguy lowered his weapon and sighed in annoyance. “Ugh. Looks like we took out all of ‘em.”

“Yaaay!” Jack-O sang, jumping up to wrap her arms around Sol’s broad shoulders despite all her new cuts, burns, and bruises. “Nice of you to say ‘we’, but let’s be honest babe, it was mostly you! How many’s that now, ten?”

“Five and then four, so that’s nine, not countin' the rodent,” Sol grunted as he suppressed a begrudging smile. He reached up to push lightly at Jack-O to stop her nuzzling him. “And you helped, at least. Just get off me for a minute, will ya? You’re embarrassin’ the both of us.”

The bright-eyed woman just laughed. “If lovin’ you is cringe, then I don’t wanna be based!”

“...Gimme a break…”

The two fell silent as they heard the sound of clapping over from the far door. They turned to see a stylish woman in a red suit and jacket advancing toward them, an easy smile on her face and a demonic greatsword slung over her back. Her eyes roved between Chrom, Knuckles, Joe Higashi, Luigi, Wii Fit Trainer, Ghalt, Ashley, Din, and Jak & Daxter, all strewn around or out in front of the Great Hall. “Not bad!” she complimented the new arrivals. “Two whole teams weren’t enough, huh? Yeah, not bad at all. Still…” She came to a stop by the reception desk and raised her sunglasses to give a sidelong glance to Nero, who she proceeded to poke in the ribs with her forked tail. “Now the dead weight’s out of the way, we can get this party started for real.” In a flash she pulled two handguns from holsters on her back beneath the coat, which she spun in her hands. “Whatcha say?”

“Hmph.” Sol scowled at her, his breathing suddenly normal again, as Jack-O dropped down. When she circled around to stand beside him, her mask was back on. He hefted the Outrage Mk II onto his shoulder. “What a bore. If I ever see that camera girl again, we’re gonna have a nice long chat. If I wanted to bust some heads, I coulda gone anywhere.”

Dante flashed him a cocky smile. “Hey now, don’t kill the vibe before you’ve had a chance to mingle. How about a party trick?” In a snap she switched between her four main styles, ending up in Swordmaster with her huge claymore in just one hand.

“Heehee, you’re in for a treat~” When Jack-O grinned, the metal of her mask contorted to mirror her expression. She stepped forward, only for Sol to step in front of her, holding his hand out protectively. After a brief moment she nodded, and as she stepped back the round metal hobble attached to her leg grew in size. When she sat on it, it began to float, lifting Jack-O up and out of harm’s way.

“Enough talk,” Sol said, cracking his knuckles.

Behind the legendary demon hunter, Euden and Mym suddenly burst in through the door, but Dante held her own hand out to stop them. “Hold it! This dance is all mine.” She extended the Devil Sword point-first toward Sol. “Now…let’s rock!”



Vandham, Poppi, and Bede made their way around Radlandia keeping their eyes peeled for the artificial blade’s missing Masterpon. This turned out to be yet another task easier said than done, though, since while the town wasn’t that large all told, it offered visual clutter in spades. They passed a little koi pond for instance, in front of which a trio of four-armed, fishlike Mist Nobles played their flutes for donations from generous pedestrians. There was a little playground in a gravel lot between two houses, where a ring of dark shadows danced and jumped in an unsettling synchronized manner, as if jerked around in unison by some unseen force. In an alley full of trash cans stuffed with odd, sometimes alien gunk, some local pests made a nuisance of themselves as they scavenged for something to eat. Through the windows of one building the visitors could see an office overgrown with teeth, and various eye plants grew all over, from windowsill gardens to cracks in the sidewalk. Of Tora, however, they found no sign. Poppi asked a couple locals, including the one-footed Hearthian miner Tektite and King Onion out on a walk, but only Trowzer the snake could point them in the right direction.

Not all the oddities contented themselves with a background role, either. At one point Bede seemed to trigger a little floating critter, which turned aggro and went after him. He ran off with the beast right behind him, forcing Poppi and Vandham to give chase, but before they could catch up and dispatch the thing it blew up of its own accord. After that they ended up on a boardwalk by the sea, where they found themselves approached by the noodly black garbage worms that arose from the rocky surf in clumps in order to snatch flies and little fish. Poppi readied herself for a fight, but just in case she allowed the wiggly creatures to make the first move, and in the end they just nudged her a little, although one nearly swiped Vandham’s sickle and forced him to snatch it back. And of course, no matter where the trio went, the skateboarders tended to shoot by without warning on their bright blue tracks, which demanded an extra dose of vigilance.

The boardwalk path took the three around the edge of town, where the uncanny but still sensible rows of oddly-shaped houses with their oddly-shaped denizens gave way to a psychedelic countryside of color. Here, the sky itself seemed to become striped, singular hues dominated entire swaths of forest, bizarre creatures followed certain patterns and the pools and rivers that ran between them took on the black, starlit abyss of the night.



Despite the visual chaos, Poppi spotted Tora right away. He was being led, as if in a trance, toward the edge of a lake by an Elgyem, which beckoned him closer to a rainbow bridge that ran across the cosmic water using a series of flashing lights. What it had in mind for Tora Poppi could only guess, but she wasn’t about to let the little creep have its way. Only the interjection of a Pokemon Trainer, and the assurance that he could handle the situation, could stop her in her tracks.



When Jesse approached their picnic, Agitha, Leby, and Dib looked up in sync. While the girl mostly cared about her insect companions, it was difficult for the two siblings to hide their curiosity. While their trip to the Metro marked only their most recent interaction with the outside world, maybe the arrival of new strangers here made for something of a rare occurrence. It wasn’t too tough to tell, after all, that as a crossroads the Queen’s station was an unpopular one, seldom admitting visitors to disturb the wibbly atmosphere of Fog Canyon, the musk of the Fungal Wastes, or the crystalline quietude of the Salt Pits. The ladybugs, therefore, did not hesitate to wave hello to Jesse with their little segmented limbs.

“Hi! Welcome to the underground!” Leby greeted the parautilitarian. She assumed that by ‘reception’, Jesse meant someone to receive her, and while the station offered no personnel for such a task, Leby figured she could help. Unfortunately, Jesse’s question left her at a loss. “The…surface?”

“She means the world above!” Dib said excitedly. “That’s where people like her are from! She must mean Dirtmouth!”

Leby thought about that as rubbed her thorax, which was a little sore from sitting in the weird way that a picnic demanded. “Oh, really? Well, it should be possible, I guess. But that’s way, waaay out there, right? Hours and hours away. And even if you did get there, you’d have to climb up the Chasm somehow…”

“Never been, only heard about it,” Dib told the newcomers. “It’s really tough though. Even with all the mining equipment down there, we’ve never heard of anyone that got up. Just got word from people who stopped at Dirtmouth before coming down. Course, they might just never have wanted to come back down afterward.” He shrugged his nonexistent shoulders.

“What about you, Miss Agitha? Do you know a way up top?” Leby asked her gracious host

“I am afraid not,” the girl responded in a soft, whimsical tone. “I but wander the safer trails, making acquaintances of all the fine bugs and beasts I chance upon…”

“Well, there you have it,” Dib remarked. “Sorry that’s all we got, we mostly just stick around Bugaria, and travel sometimes. It can be dangerous around here.”

Leby offered a supportive smile. “Good luck finding your way up, though!”



True to Red’s callout, an offensive push out from the encampment couldn’t be sustained. Rather than try to push through the persistent gunfire of the entrenched Shrikes, the survivors of the initial ambush and the first responders fled back inside the compound, thanks to the rangers’ suppressive fire and the shieldbearers’ defenses. Once the defenders got inside and locked up tight, the attackers’ vicious ambush would become a far more disadvantageous siege, turning the tides in favor of the fortified defenders. Sensing their prey’s imminent escape into the safety of their base the Root pushed forward toward the main gate in force. The Shrikes vaulted over their cover to chase down the men and women on the run, their arcane weapons ablaze with crimson gunfire. Under the barrage Ren Si and Brigitte found themselves locked down, unable to do anything except back toward the door. An allied archer, one of the last fighters still outside, leaped up from her foxhole to make a mad dash for safety, but four Shrikes turned their sights on her and lit her up in a volley of three-round bursts.

“Thorn!” Brigitte exclaimed, breaking formation to hurl an armor pack the archer’s way. It went slightly wide, but Thorn dove for it, which meant more shots that wiped out the extra protection a mere moment after she gained it. Brigitte, meanwhile, only lowered her shield for a moment, but it was enough to lose about a third of her life from the other Shrikes still closing in. When she popped it back out, it took only another couple seconds for it to turn red and cracked. “Gragh!” she snarled, gritting her teeth. “We have to help her!”

“That barrier won’t take much more!” came a sharp, nasally voice. The would-be captain of the doomed expeditionary force, Tinker stepped out from behind her to burn through the chest of the closest Shrike with his arsenal’s laser, then launched a trio of heat-seeking missile to dissuade two others. “We need to get inside, and close the doors, before they overwhelm us!”

“Then move!” Ren Si grunted. “Both of you, now! My shield will hold!”

“But…!” As she watched Thorn succumb to the onslaught, Brigitte’s heart filled with rage. “Damn it, fine!”

Tinker turned tail to run through the doors along with three other survivors (Blackpaw, Deadeye, Dobbin) while the shieldbearers backed up as fast as they could. Before they could get through, however, the Shaman set off another concussive explosion of lung-withering, wine-colored vapor right in the middle of the gateway. In one stroke the monster finished off Blackpaw, blew Dobbin into the defenders’ backs, blasted the others inside, and blocked the defenders from entering with a guarantee of a crippling Root Rot infection. “We’re cut off!” Ren Si roared, girding himself as the Shrikes swarmed closer.

On the inside, Wonder Red’s unite morph put one hell of a dampener on the Root Hulk’s rampage, hurling it back the way it came with a couple Rippers pinned behind it. Still, that left a squad of five Rippers inside, and they spread out to take on the five outlaws that moved in to cover the priest August while he healed the Lawbringer. The Ripper that scored a headshot on the blonde-haired gunslinger, dropping her instantly, quickly proved that they weren’t to be taken lightly. But with the Scout, Sander, Wonder Red, and the electric artillery of the antlions backing the remaining outlaws up, the Root went down without confirming another kill, even if they did land a couple painful parting shots.

By then the Hulk burst back through the wall once more, this time practically demolishing the whole section of it. With the Ripper shock troops out of the way, a dozen dual-wielding Ash Devils pushed in after it, hurling their hardwood axes and cleavers as they rushed into melee range on tentacle roots.

The Scout looked between the wave of fresh enemies and the train station, wondering if he could make a run for it, but Red’s outcry steadied him. “Bloody hell, you all’d better thank me for this!” He switched to his jury-rigged boomstick, then pulled out his grappling hook. “I’ll flank the buggers!”

While the others dealt with the Root head on, he zipped toward the breach in the wall, where he dropped his last slowdown grenade before he began a bold strafing run. He sprinted behind the monsters’ ranks, unleashing blast after blast into the Ash Devil’s unguarded backs, which staggered and in some cases even killed them in a spray of shrieking splinters. Finally, he slid his treasured pickaxe from its strap and jumped to land a cracking Power Attack on the Hulk’s back. The monster turned to strike at the annoyance, only for the intrepid dwarf to grapple away, giving Red, Sander, and the two remaining outlaws -that being the pink-eyed robot and the glass-jawed adventurer- the chance to finish off the monster for good.

Back at the front, the dramatic entrance of Queen Sectonia turned the disaster there on its head. The sudden advent of a giant time-space rift in front of the main gate wiped out the six or seven Shrikes clustered around the defenders in one devastating stroke, leaving the stunned shieldbearers and poor Dobbin totally unharmed. That left another six spread out around the gatefront along with the Shaman, all of which immediately rushed back toward cover to resume the gunfight, shooting up at Sectonia as they did. The Shaman readied its staff to blast the insect queen out of the sky with another burst of Root Rot, but as it did a grenade landed at its feet. It turned toward the source to see the sniper it blew up earlier, afflicted and coughing but very much alive. “...Gotcha,” she sneered, and the grenade went off in a vortex of void energy that ripped the Shaman apart.

Not too long after, the battle was decided, furious but brief as it was. Though eleven casualties occurred on the part of the defenders (three in the initial ambush and the rest in the fight) and for a few desperate moments it looked as if they would be deprived of their tanks and overrun on two fronts, the quick thinking and cooperation of the ‘good guys’ plus the help of the newest arrivals turned the tides on the Root. The worst-injured and rot-infected went to the medical tent for treatment, while the others gathered in the middle of the compound, licking their wounds. “That went a lot worse than usual,” Sander bemoaned, wincing as a healer applied a potion-soaked poultice to his axe wound. “Grr. These ones weren’t just clever, they were organized. We’ll need to get that breach fixed ASAP, and shore up our defenses. More patrols, more firepower. This clearly isn’t some casual staging ground for looters and levelers any longer…”

Sectonia, Red, and the Scout did not get any particular recognition for the efforts other than some praise -and a couple complaints- from those they fought alongside, since they were just random adventurers off the train like anyone else, but they did get access to the outpost’s supply of munitions and remedies to restock with. Once things seemed to have settled down, they could return to the train station at their leisure.

"Wh- Hey, hey easy!" Frisk's eyes shot open soon as the Spheal began to panic. Unsure of why or what was causing the poor Pokemon to panic like this, she kept trying to step closer to the other two. It only made it worse, and at the threat of it's wound reopening? Frisk quickly backed away. "It's okay, it's okay, I know you're scared... I'm sorry." She apologized to the Spheal, gently petting it. Dried or not, a bit of crimson had stained her jacket. She quietly hoped they could find more health items for it's sake.

Albedo's deduction was a bit of a cause for alarm, however. He never saw the Pokemon before, and yet it was afraid of him. Right, the wound would match up to a blade, now that she thought about it. At best, that's the only reason why Spheal reacted like that. But at worst... Frisk shook the speculation out of her mind as she walked ahead of the rest. It couldn't be that Albedo was lying, right? As far as she knew he's been in Snowdin for a long while, and he wouldn't just attack an innocent creature without a good enough reasoning, right? Something weird was going on. But she'll have to worry about it later.

The climb upwards continued on, eventually leading to another campsite. It appeared recent, a hopeful sign that Joserf was still alive. Frisk took the opportunity to look for anything that could help heal her charge. Nothing. But there was some cloth she used to make a makeshift bandage. That should help with the bleeding for now. From a pouch the group found more notes. They were on the right path! Needed more climbing, and Frisk was worried Spheal would slip out of her grip, climbing with one hand or not. So she cleaned out the pouch the best she could, and carefully set the pokemon inside. "Hold on tight, we're almost out of here." She said to it, putting the pouch on.

Dirt flew from beneath the tires of the all-terrain vehicle as it tore and drifted through the landscape, with few thoughts paid to preservation when a stage-three monster threat put survival on the line. All the bumps in the road forced the passengers to grab hold of the chassis to steady themselves, but even then it was a herky-jerky trip. It took enough effort for Band to keep his two and a half tons of steel chassis and brass contraptions from falling out of the Warthog, in fact, that a full thirty seconds or so passed before he happened to pick up on one rather important element of his new undertaking. Or, to be more precise, the lack thereof.

“...Wait just a minute, where’d that Raiden guy go?” he wondered, looking around the transport for any sign of the cyborg ninja. There wasn’t much vehicle to search, so it took just another moment for him to determine that Raiden was definitely not on board. Band furrows his bushy brows as he looked down at Peacock. “You see him anywhere, kid?”

The toon goon shrugged, the very picture on nonchalance. “Didn’t jump on, I guess. Maybe all that jabberin’ from these other maroons got him pissin’ his pants or somethin’.”

Band grumbled under his breath, reconsidering the situation. “Well…without the extra stoppin’ power, I dunno how involved we wanna get with this monster huntin’ deal.” As the Warthog’s right wheels ran over a stone he rocked forward to offset the balance, then continued in a lower voice. “And, y’know, I could go a good while before tanglin’ with any more giant monsters, just sayin’.”

To his surprise, Peacock nodded. “No kiddin’! I’m just about ready to blow this popsicle stand meself.”

“What, ya don’t wanna paint the jungle red, or however ya say it?” Band raised his eyebrow at her.

Flapping her gloved hand dismissively, Peacock shrugged again, this time more in a what can you do sort of way. “Eh, I like a good wallopin’ much as anyone, but we’ve been out in the middle o’ nowhere for ages. Sooner we get done rattlin’ around, the sooner I get back to what really matters!”

“Fair enough!” Band leaned forward toward Regina and Beckett. “Sorry ladies, me’n my little friend here ain’t cut out for big game huntin’ after all. Good luck though!”
Regina just rolled her eyes, but Beckett laughed in disbelief as she shook her head. “Well, what are you waiting for, then? Get off our truck!”

The daring duo obliged, and together leaped off the back of the moving vehicle. Peacock used her dress like an umbrella to slow her descent, while Band landed heavily, carving a furrow through the ground as he quickly slid to a stop. With a disagreeable grunt he stepped out of the disturbed earth and kicked his feet, one and then the other, to get the dirt off, and he in his new surroundings around as he did. From the looks of it, he and Peacock got off right before a large and misty marsh that the Warthog and its occupants soon disappeared into, sloshing through the scummy water when no wooden bridges blazed a trail between the spiky roots. While the area near the main base felt pretty balmy, this area felt a lot cooler, although no less humid. The fog that filled the place reflected the polar light that filtered through the dome high above. After a moment he identified the wall, still pretty far off. Though the edge of this artificial ecosystem seemed a lot closer than before, he and Peacock would still need to make their way on foot.

“Let’s skirt around the swamp,” he suggested. “Might add a couple minutes, but we won’t get all mudded up.”

Peacock made a show of shading her eyes as she scoped out the marshland and its clusters of tall, thin trees. “I’ll betcha a wad o’ dough mud ain’t the worst thing in there, pops! Whole scene’s straight outta some horror flick, prolly lousy with monsters!”

“Not takin’ that bet,” Band sighed as he turned to go. “‘Cause I believe ya.”

They hiked for a ways, giving the tangle of cattails and mangroves at the water’s edge a wide berth lest any well-hidden ambush predators take them by surprise. Andy Anvil and Tommy Ten Tons showed up both to bolster the group’s numbers and to provide extra deterrence by doing their best to look very fierce and angry. Their boss Peacock waltzed along with a smile on her face, but the fact that she kept her trusty revolver in hand told Band that she might be a little more nervous than she looked. Meanwhile, the detective took the rear, his eyes perpetually narrowed as he studied his surroundings.

This environment, he quickly found, was far from empty. Loads of creatures of all shapes and sizes, though typically small, called this place home, and though it didn’t teem with activity, enough moved and made noise in his vicinity that the trek kept him very busy. Whenever something jumped, dove, croaked, or called out, he needed to zero in on it and decide whether or not it meant trouble, all within the span of a second. Most of the time it turned out to be nothing, like a stork lunging down to grab a frog, or a couple bulbdogs playing. When they spotted a young duck trip and fall into a patch of worm grass and get eaten alive, they knew to steer well clear. At one point something huge moved in his peripheral vision, so he whirled around with both brass knuckles deployed and ready to brawl, but the bizarre creatures that wandered into view barely acknowledged his presence. Though they resembled moose or deer in part, the unsettling beasts towered over the quagmire on freaky, spindly spider legs, and large globules hung from their bodies, like half-melted fudgesicles in the sun. When it became clear that neither group wished to bother the other, they went their own separate ways.

Noises of gunfire and destruction echoed across the marsh from afar, but the only danger Band and Peacock found came in the form of a pack of snaggletoothed reptiles they found sunning themselves on some rocks around a river that fed into the swamp. When the detective traced the river’s path up toward the source, he found himself with a mostly clear view all the way to the outer wall. Unfortunately for his group’s plans to quietly sneak by the lizard pack, the hunters caught their scent, and rose from their stones to approach the newcomers curiously.

Peacock held up her revolver. “Ya want I should bump ‘em off, or what?”

“They don’t seem friendly, but maybe I can sing ‘em a different tune,” Band mused. “If it’s gonna be uphill, might as well avoid an uphill battle.”

As the predators closed in, hissing at the intruders, the detective deployed his instruments. The brass showed up in bulk, trumpets and trombones and even his sax, and Band began to blow. Rather than weave his usual melodies, he played a flat, simple tune, less for the sake of beauty and more for the sake of noise. Surprised by the alarming racket, the reptiles froze in place for a few moments, then suddenly backed off. Band let go of his mouthpiece to grin at Peacock. “Looks like it’s working!”

From the swamp erupted a Royal Ludroth, screaming like an eagle as a ton of water shook free from its spongy main. A handful of its subordinates joined it, and the other lizards rounded on the new threat drawn out by Band’s playing. From the bipeds’ burrow emerged the tyrannosaur alpha to contend with the invasion, adding to the chaos. The detective himself stowed his instruments in an instant, his eyes wide. “...Think I’ll skip the encore, c’mon!” He grabbed Peacock before she could start blasting the Ludroth and charged off as fast as his servos could carry him, leaving the reptile rumble behind as they fled through a section of the jungle suddenly alive with activity.

Only once they reached the outer wall did the team stop running. Band doubled over, breathing heavily. “Whew, mighta blown a gasket or somethin’ with that one.” As he tried to compose himself he looked over at Peacock. “Y’alright, kid?”

“I ain’t even winded, old timer,” she boasted.

“Good.” Band straightened up. The bottommost part of the Biodome’s dome appeared to be a wall, with the less secure glass only starting a ways open. He looked one way, then the other, but couldn’t see any way through. “Trouble is, how do we get outside?”

Peacock, who’d fallen into arms of her minions in exhaustion after making her boast, gave a chuckle as she tipped her hat. “Leave it to me!”

Once back on her feet she reached into her pocket, digging more and more of her mechanical arm inside until finally she brightened up and pulled out a small, floppy black disk. She plopped it on the ground, where it swelled to become a pitch-black pit, and jumped in only for it to close after her. Even if he’d seen this stunt a dozen times by now, the application of cartoon logic in real life never ceased to amaze Band. With a sigh he sat down on a fallen log facing inward to keep watch for any sign of trouble while Peacock called in the Moogle outside.



Albedo waited in patient silence as his companions perused the ruined camp. With her attention of the wellbeing of her new spherical friend, Frisk more or less skimmed the notes before putting her effort toward making the Spheal more comfortable, while the Prisoner rummaged through the wreckage far enough from her that his infectious miasma couldn’t cause a problem for the others. That Joserf had been here recently Albedo didn’t doubt, but with no sign of the man itself, he didn’t care much about anything that might be found amongst his leavings. Instead, he just stared at the others as he went about their business.

It really was cold in here. This cavern more than made up for the lack of windchill by virtue of its total insulation from the sun, meager as its heat might be in the Frozen Highlands. No frigid flurries or buffeting winds lashed against the explorers, stinging their skin or pushing them around, but the stillness in here was cruel in its own way. So too was it terribly dark. The blue glow of the flowers and crystals provided only the barest level of light, turning everything hazy and indistinct. When someone’s passage disturbed the plants, jagged shadows took flight, making anyone of sound mind as psychologically uncomfortable as they were physically. Any real adventurers in such a hostile place like this would have brought their own sources of light and heat, but Frisk and the Prisoner took no such precautions. They just followed Albedo’s direction and suggestions, heading into places ever more forbidding and remote, places so deep and dark that if something were to happen, their spirits might never, ever again see the light of day. And yet, they did so without question. Who, after all, knew better than he?

Who knew Dragonspine well enough to pick out certain landmarks and the paths between them, and offer sound advice about its dangers, but not well enough that he could go without a guide?

Who knew enough about Pokemon to tug on the heartstrings of one who loved them, no matter which body that heart might be in, and keep an eye out for them despite not knowing what they looked like? And earn the terror of a creature he’d never met, after it immediately warmed up to someone else?

Who could exploit the specific weaknesses of Hel-walkers and Draugr well enough to keep multiple at bay and kill them if need be, but not well enough to even try saving a defenseless bystander, or to call out for help from separated allied fighters? Who could escape with barely a scratch, but use up half the team’s healing, leaving them with nothing should things go south later?

Who sealed the only way in to a cavern with no other visible exits, then steered the others to a high-up corner with just the answers they were looking for?

Who commanded powers over ice, despite possessing a Geo vision?

And who, after Albedo went to lengths to buy a heavy coat with which he might ward off the cold, an experience that helped bring him closer to Linkle, emerged from the avalanche to claim to be unbothered by winter’s sting?

The patient watcher standing behind Frisk waited for her to put her Spheal sack on, and then made his move.

He dashed toward her back, a longsword of crystallized Cryo forming in his hand, long enough to skewer both targets in a single thrust. ”No, stop!” came an explosive yell from beside her, and the Prisoner lunged to get in the way. Used to defending with shield only, the Prisoner went on the offensive, bringing his balanced blade around to strike before the ice sword could pierce through. ”What are you-!”

The edge suddenly bounced back, the metal vibrating from the impact. His eye opened wide to see a coating of ice on Albedo’s left hand, so hard and thick that it worked as an impromptu shield. In reply the alchemist pivoted the Prisoner’s way, and in a ruthless riposte pierced his swordpoint through the animated corpse’s chest. As of anticipation of the lack of finality that blow would have for the Prisoner’s unliving body, ice spread out from the point of impact, initiating a freeze. ”Ugh!” the Prisoner growled, angry now. He smacked his attacker with an infectious headbutt, causing him to let go of his sword and stumble back, and unleashed a giant swing. Spikes of ice shot up around Albedo to take the hit, and as the Prisoner’s sword smashed through the barrier, he found no sign of his opponent.

Not until a flash of bright blue light made him look up. In the cover of the icy mist Albedo had jumped up into the darkness, and now a giant snowflake glyph shone behind him. A deluge of icicles hurtled down, stabbing into everything in their path. If the others did not jump from the camp ledge down to the cave’s top floor, they would be skewered along with the camp’s remains.

Bugs at a tea party giving her directions. The more she saw them react to what she said, the more she realized there were some communication barriers. Like what ‘reception’ meant. Or even what the surface world was. Jesse ended up stuffing her hands in her jacket pocket and letting them work it out amongst themselves, nodding politely whenever addressed.

Who said I don’t have social skills? Who said it, huh? Seriously, who. I want names. The light in Jesse’s head did something akin to rolling her eyes.

The Director rubbed her chin at the information about the nature of the surface world. Hours and hours away. “I figured something like that.” Bugaria, huh? That was a good a name for a place full of bug-people as any, right? And wasn’t Gerudo Town named after the Gerudo?

Seems kind of funny though, right? That’d be like naming a town humans lived in…Humanaria.

Actually, I’m going to shut all the way up. My hometown was named Ordinary.

She dismissed any need for apologies with a wave of her hand.

“No, it’s fine. You’ve been really helpful. Thanks. Have a good day.” She nodded to the two ladybugs and their hostess, as she turned and walked back to her two Purple Line companions.

“So. It gets dangerous off the main roads, no surprises there. This place is called ‘Bugaria’, I think. There’s some mining operations going on in a place called Dirtmouth, which sounds like a human surface town. But apparently it’s hours away and pretty difficult terrain.” Jesse rolled her shoulder, as she was prone to do.

“I’m thinking we just try the train again. Go to another station down the line. Maybe the Resort? We just need one Moogle per line, right? At the very least, I don’t see us making any progress here by ourselves.” Jesse concluded. “Especially with only a vague goal and sense of direction. It’d just be a big…stupid waste of time. We’d get eaten by giant bugs.”

“...Huh. Well, I guess we’d turn to dust first. Before getting eaten. So there’s an upside. But overall, no, not worth it.”

Jr took it back, whoever had made this spider leg elevator clearly had some excellent taste, or at the very least excellent taste when it came to music. They also had some pretty fancy engineering props based on how utterly smooth the ride was. He had some experience in that kind of thing after all, and knew that making a thing with legs not jostle the ever-living heck out of its rider was no mean feat, let alone making it feel like they were being lifted by wheels rather than legs.

”I wonder if we could get it to go and walk about instead, or if it's super specialized to wall climbing” he wondered as he took a closer look at the not at all safe to be around robot legs. You only had to be standing a bit too close to the side to be in the perfect position to get domed by a mechanical knee.

The boy prince, of course, did not let this distract him one bit.

While he inspected, Rika was content to just jam out to the music, eyes closed and with her head bobbing and torso shimmying to the beat. Her little jam session came to an end when she heard about the training idea, and she reopened her eyes just in time to see Nadia’s arm rocketing across the room, which she thought was pretty cool and said as much before taking up the offer for some more combat running vs a Nadia water clone.

”I guess I could do with more uh, one on one practice” Rika said, squaring up her guns and then, fortunately, thinking the better of it ”but maybe not with shooting in here… hmmmmm well, I do kinda need to learn how to use these better” she added as she extended her hull blades and did a few chopping motions ”yeah that’ll work. Punchy chop chop training here I go!”

Before she could step up to the plate however, Jr hovered over, deploying a massive wrecking ball from his clown car and announcing ”I’ve been wanting to try this out since I added it, so come here kitty clone, it's time to make a splash!”

”Uh, jr maybe practice something other than that so you don’t, well, hit one of the big legs?” Rika suggested, eyes going to and frew the massive unyielding underslung weapon and the exposed spider limbs that were all that was keeping them from plummeting to their doom.

”What? Nah it’ll be fine! I’ve got complete control” Jr insisted in a way that convinced no one.

”Of something you just added and have never used?” Rika said, putting words to that lack of confidence

”I… Well…”

”...”

”Ok fine, jeeze!” Jr relented after a brief little stare down and undeployed the wrecking ball. Now lacking for that to do, he thought for a bit and offered to be the one who acted as target practice for Miss Fortune, saying ”Hey, Nadia, how about you try and hit my car on the nose while I have it hovering about then instead?” and then tinkering with some controls to set the thing to a simplistic autopilot that made the car start to hover around ‘evasively’ in a manner very reminiscent of a shooting gallery target.

This let him chill and spend most of his time watching the others, both to get an impression of this new kid and seeing how Rika was doing. Said ship girl was running into the increasingly familiar problem of being out maneuvered, throwing big wild heavy swings at first that the nimble Nadia clone could slip around most of the time, and then punish the over committing abyssal.

Still, if Rika had the troops troop’s flaw of being slow but strong, she also shared their resilience, not just physically but spiritually, as she picked herself up again and again and threw herself back into training, something that started to pay dividends as she switched from just trying to win to trying out new things. The aforementioned hull blades, while they hadn’t much reach compared to her gauntlet punches, were quick, and using them Rika could react fast enough to block or punish the swift kitty when it came in to hit her after one of her own failed swings.

That she visibly improved even from just this impromptu training session indicated both a capacity for quick learning, and a complete lack of actual prior training, the ship girl having acted mostly on a mix of programmed instincts and trial by live fire learning up until this point.

The more of this she got, the better equipped she would be for when they headed out again into the world.

---

The adrenaline of fighting and/or the interesting in elevator entertainment available for watching made the rest of the trip up top go by quickly enough, and in what felt like no time at all the soundtrack came to an end and they had reached their destination.

Quite a chilly one too. Lacking any clothes to zip up Jr mainly hunkered down a bit in his clown car and turned up the radiator to fight off the cold. High altitude wasn't exactly a new or exciting thing for the prince who often flew about that high either on airships or in this very car, but he still had to admit, it was quite the nice view they were getting up top. He totally got why it wasn't exactly the hottest spot in the city however.

Rika, for her part, ended up doing a whole lot of running as she moved from vantage point to vantage point with childlike awe and glee at the sight of, well, just so many new places, which more than made up for the lack of insulation her sundress provided.

A barrage of questions about what everything was accompanied her energetic sightseeing, one that only ended when the rain started to sweep in to put a damper on their adventure.

”Urg, lame. Well, kinda done everything we can up here anyway and we haven’t even seen a single ghost, so let’s head back down yeah?” Jr suggested, not wanting to be out in the rain for any longer than he had too.

---

”Oh cool, a show to go along with my snack” Was Bowser’s reaction upon meandering over to see what all the commotion was about in the entrence hallway and finding a pair of strangers had beat the snot out of the door guards. Rather than go help he instead stuck another prawn in his maw and leaning on the stairway banister to spectate like a few other people where doing. The main difference between those worried people and him was of course that they were absolutely noncombatants, especially when compared to the decked out king, something anyone with a conscious or a brain might take issue with.

”uhhhh, sire? We, ah, really should be helping not watching” Kamek pointed out to her king as the pair of them looked down on the incident from just beyond the entryway to the Ark mall, within which they had been strolling till they heard sounds of the battle.

”Huh? Come on they ain't killing anyone what’s the big deal… Urgh alright fine” Bowser relented after being stared down by his advisor for a few moments and pointed a finger down at the intruders and roared ''Listen up you shmucks! You're gonna regret interrupting my snack time!” before dumping the rest of the shrimp into his maw all at once, crushing up the box and tossing it at a nearby bin.

Which he missed.

The king gave his failed throw a flat look, shrugged, looked away and stepped one foot up onto the banister in preparation to jump into the fight, only to glance back at the bin, sigh, step back down from it in order to stomp over to put his trash away properly.

”Let’s clear some space shall we” Kamek said while this was going on, pulling out her wand and summoning first a team of toadies, and then a set of clones of herself which she started to turn into white mages.

”These will be tending to the wounded, please don't interfere with their mission of, bleh, mercy” she called out to the fighters, as the toadies moved to pull the downed fighters well out of harm's way while his white mage clones set about stabilizing the worst of them. It wouldn't be getting them back into the fight, but it would prevent any deaths, be it from blood loss or being collateral damage.

As the magical constructs fanned out to perform their rescue mission, the Koopa King returned and attempted to pick up from where he had left

”Alright now your gonna regret messing with-” the turtle began to announce himself once again after doing his civil duty, stepping one foot onto the banister dramatically again as he did so, only for him to see Dante had arrived in order to steal the spotlight while he was busy picking up trash.

”Wha- hey- ah come on” he threw his hands up in exasperation upon being told to back off and then turned and stomped off muttering something about getting more shrimp instead. Kamek just shook her head at this and set about supervising her magical medical team while the action heated up down below.

The dual wielder’s question was one that all the militia members were busy asking themselves. While all five faced their fair share of monsters while out on their travels prior to winding up in Twilight Town, nothing they’d see was quite like this.

“This is weird.” As he squinted around in bewilderment, unable to make heads or tails of the scene and not sure what to attack first, the Iop’s lip curled. “Stinks, too!”

“Eh, not as bad as you before hitting the showers,” came the snark of the Sram from the shadows.

His bright-eyed companion tried to glare at him, but thanks to the rogue’s stealth, couldn’t tell where he was. Instead he bared his teeth in one random direction after another, the mission momentarily forgotten. “Say that to my face, Hush!”

“For all you know he is saying that to your face, and you just can’t see it.” quipped Roxas, in spite of himself.

“What we need isn’t bickering,” the Cra reminded them, his low but urgent. “We need a plan.” He glanced at the Sadida. “Can you tell us anything about these creatures from last time?”

The girl scratched at her neck bashfully. “Uhh…not really, sorry! I only got out clean because I stayed far away and booked it the moment one looked my way.” Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists, and opened her eyes with renewed determination. “B-but I can tell you one thing. This stuff around us might look like moss, but it isn’t, and those things scattered around aren’t like any plants I’ve ever seen. They react to their surroundings. You can see them twitching around, and while you can’t feel it through your shoes, this creep is moving beneath my feet!”

Roxas lurched back step but quickly regained his footing, “Ew, gross! How are you not wigging out right now?”

As the Cra pursed his lips in disgust, the Osmodas kept her eyes on the cave’s denizens. “These animals, too. They’re not behaving naturally. No hunting, no foraging, no butting heads, no sleeping, even. They’re just standing idle, like they’re waiting for something.” She crept forward slightly to risk a closer look. “Their eyes,” she then whispered. “Glowing orange, just like on the plants. And that thing in the middle…”

She scooted back into safety, her expression cloudy. “Maybe…they’re like ants, and that thing’s like their queen. Some kind of hivemind, and this creep…if it’s alive like you said Leafy, then…”

“It’s not just their territory. It’s their body,” the Cra murmured. He peered at the giant, dangling organ. “And that’s their heart.”

The Iop grinned. “Then it’s easy! Take out the heart, and the rest dies!” He jumped up with his sword in hand, and before anyone else was even close to ready, prepared to charge out into the open.

“You really think that’ll do it?” Roxas asked the Iop. Not that he would complain if it actually did turn out to be that easy, “Well… only one way to find out: How about this?!” and without warning he swung his arms in a forward circular motion. His hands loosened their grip on the handles of the weapons and they both went flying forward in opposite, circular arcs. If this was a lucky enough shot, they might even graze a few things on the way as they both circled in on their intended target: the hanging growth that his teammates had concluded was like a heart.

The others, who’d jumped up to stop the Iop before he did something impulsive as usual, went googly-eyed as Roxas took over in the jumping-the-gun department. “Wait what?” the Sadida yelped.

“We didn’t make a strategy!” the Cra protested.

When the Keyblades unfortunately missed their mark, Roxas immediately summoned the weapons back into his hands. With that, their presence was officially known to whatever these things were. No point in hesitating now. Roxas sprang forward, deciding that he was done waiting, “Here goes nothing!” He was trying to make a straight run toward the hanging growth he had aimed at moments ago, being careful to take occasional swings at anything that lunged him along the way.

Well, it was go time now. The Iop and Osmodas charged after him, shouting, while the Cra nocked an arrow and followed. He jumped up onto a cave formation to offer arrow support from afar, while the Sadida nervously hung back. With no plants to manipulate and a terrain that couldn’t support new ones, her abilities were limited. Instead she summoned the Ultra-Powerful Doll, hoping to build up the team’s numbers and even the playing field. “Do your best, everyone!”

Just like with the race, Roxas channeled his memories of the Town he called home. He ducked and weaved about as best as his memories and instincts allowed him to. All in an attempt to slip past the beasts and attempt an aerial, x-shaped slash of his Keyblades against the hanging growth.

Just before he reached his target a Lerk dove for him, its swoop perfectly poised to knock Roxas down to start digging in with nasty teeth and claws before he could complete his attack. From the shadows, however, the Sram burst forth, embedding his knife into the flier’s belly, then pivoting to pin the dying creature to the ground. “Go!”

The x-cut hit home, carving a meaty cross through the flesh of the core, but though the bizarre organism writhed as it let out a guttural groan, it turned out to be a lot tougher than it looked. Its central mass boasted a boatload of health, while the rubbery cords that suspended it absorbed and bent with physical force. Worse still, the instant Roxas touched it, all the monsters in the whole cave took notice. A cacophony of screeches, roars, and bellows bounced off the walls as they swarmed in to protect the core.

Unfortunately for them, the Iop had the same plan. “Hraaaaaah!” he yelled as he charged in, swinging his sword in wide, punishing arcs. With his brute strength he could even knock over the Gorges, who posed the greatest threat. Tentacles slapped at him and Hydra growths shot painful spines, but he persevered all the way through to the front line. At one point it looked as if he’d be buried below the monsters, but around him welled the elemental power of Sadida’s Tear, healing him and blasting away enemies in a fount of magic water. It then turned to steam as the Osmodas and her Gobette summons powered through, alight with a flock of incendiary crows, fanned flames, and burning whip strikes. As Roxas watched, a well-aimed arrow shot down a Lerk mid-flight, proving that the Cra had his back. “Cut it down!” the Iop yelled as he made his way over, then turned his back to face the monsters with his sword upheld. “We’ll keep ‘em off you!”

“Just be quick about it, and keep an eye out in case any sneak around!” the Sram cautioned before vaulting over a charging Gorge to land on top of it and steer it into its allies.

“Got it!” said Roxas, looking back up at the growth-heart… thing. And that was when he spotted Iop nearby, “Mind if I get a boost?” he asked, the Iop responding by briefly sticking the blade of his sword in the ground and holding both hands out together. Roxas bolted toward him and jumped up onto the Iop’s tightly closed fists who then foisted him upward with all the strength he could.

“Here I come!” shouted Roxas, giving an upward swing with Oblivion right into the growth. After this he twisted his around in a series of quick aerial sweep attacks with his weapons. Not particularly strong attacks individually, but they could certainly add up when strung together into a combo like this. When Roxas started to fall back down he performed another dual Strike Raid, hurling his Keyblades upward in very much the same fashion he had done at the very beginning of the fight. Unlike then, this time the blades were thrown close enough to the growth to hit their mark at full force, and then a second time while circling back around toward Roxas, “Take that!”

Roxas landed back on the ground at just about the same time his Keyblades returned to his hands. Nearby he spotted a Lerk swooping down from behind the Iop, and he was quick to throw one of his Keyblades up at it to prevent it from back-attacking his friend, “Gotcha!” said Roxas, unaware of a different Lerk swooping down for him, only noticing it after an arrow from the Cra shot it down. He shot a quick thumbs up at the archer in gratitude and then caught the returning thrown Keyblade without even needing to turn around.

By that point the combined efforts of the squad seemed to be putting a dent in the enemy force, such that it was, which coincided perfectly with the damage done by Roxas to the core. Unfortunately, these monsters were quickly proving themselves to be a lot less braindead than they first appeared. They shied away from the Osmodas’ flames as she fought alongside -and at times drew aggro from- the Iop, and rather than oppose the enemy team at full force the Skulks latched onto the Osmodas’ Gobbettes and the Sadida's dolls to drag them away from the defenders and into the monstrous pack, where they could be torn apart beyond the militia’s reach.

The real problem, however, turned out to be the Gorges. Rather than throw their lives away in close-quarters combat, they retreated when wounded in order to vomit up masses of infestation, which soon developed into new Hydras. Once grown the living brambles began to shoot spikes, which alongside the Gorges’ spit attacks made for an unexpected amount of projectiles from multiple angles. This made defensive positions even harder to hold. While the intruders occupied themselves with the Skulks and Lerks, perhaps as intended, the Gorges slid around the fringes of the fight on their bellies, continuously spawning Babblers and dousing their allies with healing spray when not taking potshots themselves. As long as they remained, this battle of attrition would not be in the party’s favor.

Worse still, the monsters had worked out where the team’s sharpshooting, healing, and elemental magic was coming from. “Eek!” the Sadida squealed as the Skulks leaped at her, chasing her around until she was backed into a corner. With no other options she turned polymorphed herself into a hardwood tree, boosting her self-healing and defense but nullifying her offense and anchoring herself in place. Lerks swarmed the Cra faster than he could shoot them down, forcing him to ditch hide sniper nest before they knocked him from it. With their support on the run, the frontliners wouldn’t hold, and the Cra knew it. “We’re in trouble,” he matter-of-factly said into his walkie-talkie as he dodged through the horde. “Repeat, we’re in trouble. Is this thing on? Please send help!”



Roxas could hear his teammates behind him. They were beginning to struggle, and would run out of time if something didn’t happen now. He heard Cra radioing for help, but it was likely that help would not get here in time. He looked back up at the heart, seeing that it took a decent chunk of damage from all his previous efforts, but was still hanging there strong. He couldn’t afford to let this drag out. He had to hit it, and he had to hit it with everything he could muster.

Roxas closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “No more playing around…” he said under his breath, “...I have to end this!” After all the battles and struggles he had gone through against the Heartless, the Organization, against Xehanort… the idea of these creatures being the thing that made him struggle seemed ridiculous. No, he was stronger than this. He knew that. And it was about high time he started remembering some of that strength.

Roxas launched himself upward. But rather than go for a straight attack against the Heart, his aim was just slightly off. Instead he hooked one of his Keyblades onto one of the cords and let his momentum swing him up and back around. Only then did let himself get in a passing slash with the opposite Keyblade. But he had effectively slingshot himself back down to the floor. He hit the ground with bent knees and immediately pushed himself back upwards, this time at a diagonal angle toward the nearest wall.

Along the way his trajectory took him past the Iop, and he held out his Keyblade for a passing slash at one of the Gorges he was fighting. But then Roxas came to the wall and he twisted around so that he would hit it feet first, his knees bent and ready for him to instantly launch himself off the wall and back toward the Heart again. Now his body seemed to glow with a faint light that left behind a thin sparkling trail in his wake as he seemed to be outright flying toward his intended target.

Like before, Roxas hooked his Keyblade onto a rubbery cord, but this time his speed and momentum allowed him to swing around it multiple times, slashing at the Heart with each pass until he seamlessly switched positions and swung himself on a cord on the opposite side. Once again he swung himself around, slashing at the Heart along the way. And then he slingshot himself toward the opposite wall from where he had come from.

Similarly, he passed by the Sadida now currently in her tree form, and let himself crash onto the ground amidst the creatures attacking her. Still without losing a beat, Roxas spun himself around with his Keyblades arms outstretched in order to perform a punishing spin slash against the lot of them. But he was gone again after that. Launching himself up at the near wall and pushing himself back - once again - in the direction of the Heart.

He hooked onto a cord, but instead of swinging around on he used it to merely position himself onto the Heart directly. He held both weapons up and pointed them downward, “Get out of my town! And take your friends with you! HAAAAAA!” He thrust the Keyblades downward, trying to stab them as deep into Heart as he could get them.

Just as the Militia teetered on the brink of losing control and being overrun by the Kharaa monstrosities, their team’s star player had awakened. Driven by his memories and his determined refusal to let his friends down, be they new or old, he’d ricocheted through the chamber in a series of daring and punishing maneuvers, his flowing motion a dance as smooth as silk. Again and again the keyblade wielder appeared by a beleaguered ally to strike their attackers down like a bolt from the blue, then was gone in a flash to land another critical hit on the dangling heart. Finally, all that momentum fed into a singular double-bladed impale to spell the end for this wretched infestation.

The heart cried out, its scream deep and guttural, and it thrashed like an insect in a spider’s web, wriggling and writhing on its suspension cords. A luminescent fluid, viscous and putrid, poured from the wound. And yet, the hideous organ would not die, at least not yet. It would be a few more moments before it bled out, and in those moments the fight raged on.

With help from Roxas all over, however, the battle had taken a turn for the better. With the crucial moment of preparation granted to her, the Sadida unleashed a Poisoned Wind to wipe out the creep around her. As the Skulks leaped toward her, she concentrated her power to call forth a Manifold Bramble, the sheer hardiness of which allowed it to spring forth even from inhospitable stone. “Don’t come any closer!” The spiky branches coiled around the monster and pierced their bodies all over, leaving them to die in the thorny embrace of the Sadida’s new protective wall. She did not hesitate to then cast Drain to steal their life and redistribute it to her allies all around.

That boost was just what the Osmodas needed. She used Summoning Warrior to take her flagging minions’ strength for herself, then as the Iop held off the monsters, cracked her whip at the nearby Hydras in Tentacles in turn. It wrapped around them and then burst into flame, destroying them one at a time. The Gorge who made them slid around on its belly to reposition, but the Osmodas spotted it in time. “Not so fast!” Her whip lashed out and wrapped around its neck. Gritting her teeth, she tried to pull it toward her, but the hefty beast almost yanked her off her feet. “...Whites!”

“Yeah!” With a terrific swing the Iop knocked up the Babblers swarming him, unleashed a Flurry of punches that killed each and every one, then turned to grab hold of the Osmodas’ whip. “Now, Rammy! Yaaaaaah!” They pulled together, and the Gorge sailed their way, bellowing. Moving in sync, the pair struck home with a coordinated Super Iop Punch and Crackler Punch, and in a singular impact of fire and earth they reduced the Gorge to chunks.

Meanwhile, three Skulks and two Lerks had backed the Cra into a corner, but as they dove in the Sram appeared from the shadows again, unleashing Rascalry. “Going somewhere?” A burst of watery skeleton hands met the monsters mid-leap that dealt damage, stole armor, and left weak points all in one. Before they could recover, the Cra’s Storm Arrow kicked up a whirlwind that bundled them all together, and when they fell they landed right in a cluster of the Sram’s Shadow Traps. “...All yours, Nock!”

“Then that’s a wrap,” the Cra muttered, drawing his final arrow. It exploded above the trapped enemies, and a rain of arrows fell upon them, silencing their despicable cries for good.

The Militia’s teamwork left the enemy force in tatters, and with no reinforcements, it was time for Roxas to finish the heart for good–maybe with a little teamwork of his own.

Once the heart started its violent shaking, Roxas immediately dislodged his Keyblades by simply dismissing them. After hopping back down to the chamber floor he re-summoned them back to his hands. Around him everyone was getting their second wind and seemed to be finishing off heart’s protectors. That left only the target itself, clearly on its last leg.

Deciding to be a bit fancy, Roxas performed a short little flourish with his Keyblades before hurling them back up at the heart for one final Strike Raid. At the same, the Cra had taken aim and fired off an arrow that sunk into the heart with perfect aim just before Roxas’ blades whirled through it and boomeranged back down to their thrower. As for the arrow, it suddenly produced a fiery explosion, the heart finally meeting its end. Its eulogy came as a hideous chorus from its remaining spawn, who wailed in pain and terror as they shriveled up and died.

“Yes!” Roxas cheered, performing a slightly longer flourish with his keyblades. He spun them both at his sides before making two x-slashes at the air in front of him, “Victory is ours.” he proclaimed as the Keyblades vanished from his hands and he turned back around to give the team a congratulatory thumbs up.

“Let’s head back. I dunno about you guys but I think I’ve had my fill of dark creepy tunnels for one day.”

The Sadida, who looked close to tears, let out a shaky laugh. Even if all the Khaara monsters seemed to have keeled over when the heart died, she was still on edge. “Ha-ah. You said it.”

“Any serious wounds?” Though bleeding from a couple bites himself, the Cra looked around at everyone else first. “If not, let’s go.”

With the Osmodas and a few Gobbettes in front with the lantern and the Iop taking up the rear, the team moved out. On the way they exchanged a bit of praise and, as usual, a lot of banter. Around them the creep withered away like plants in the dry season, gradually turning to ash, and bit by bit the reprehensible smell began to fade. Once back in the Underground Concourse the fighters could both breathe and move around a lot easier, although one final surprise awaited them. Just before they reached the ramp that led back up toward daylight, a huge commotion reached them from outside, and all of a sudden a horde of familiar faces appeared. In the lead was the bare-chested Sacrier with his ink-black tattoos, followed by the feline Ecaflip, the mop-headed, bespectacled Feca, the bearded Enutrof with his trusty shovel, the Eniripsa on fairy wings, and finally Auru himself, a fantastical bazooka slung over his shoulder. Their battle cries came to an abrupt end as they slid and tumbled to a stop in front of the original squad in comedic fashion.

“You’re alright!?” the Sacrier stormed, his teeth bared. “You BOZOS nearly gave us a heart attack!” He pointed at the Eniripsa, who’d evidently been crying the whole time. “Look what you did to Blush here!”

The Feca pushed up his glasses, his expression frosty. “Hmph. Looks like you got us all riled up for nothing.”

“Can it, you two!” the Osmodas spat. “We were fightin’ for our lives in there!”

“Is this you kids’ idea of a practical joke?” the Enutrof questioned, tugging on his whiskers in consternation.

“No, sorry,” the Cra winced. “I forgot to follow-up my call to say we pulled through. It was a close call.”

The Iop threw an arm around Roxas’ shoulders. “You shoulda seen this guy, though! He was flyin’ around like a freakin’ boomerang, all shwing, shwam, shoom! Finished that fugly heart right off!”

Roxas could only offer a shy smile, “You guys finished off all the others. I would’ve been toast if I’d been down there alone.”

“Heart?” the Eniripsa squeaked, her watery eyes wide. “T-there was another Enrirpsa in there!?”

“Obviously not, you airhead,” the Ecalfip drawled.

“_{Y-you’re so mean, Ante!}”

“Quiet, you all!” Aura crossed his arms. “The important thing is that they’re all safe, and whatever that was is dealt with. Right?”

“I think so.” answered Roxas, “The green stuff started withering into ash after we destroyed the growth. So it doesn’t look like there’s gonna be any more of those things.” he looked to the Sacrier and fanned air in front of his nose, “Trust me you were lucky not to have to go down there. Stuff seriously reeked! Feel like I’m gonna need a week-long bath after smelling that.”

But after that he returned his attention to the commander, “I don’t remember seeing any sign of how those things got down there to begin with though. Maybe letting someone investigate the remains is called for here?” not that he presumed to tell the commander what to do, but surely he wasn’t the only one having that thought, right?

“But whatever the next move is, do we have permission to head back to the Barracks, sir?”

Auru nodded. “We’ll go back for now. Figure out what happened here later. Miss Blush, heal ‘em up, won’t you?”

“R-right away, sir!”

As the Eniripsa got busy, the united Militia moved out, headed back home to celebrate another job well done.

As he watched them all be healed, part of him couldn’t help but make comparisons to his old friends. The Iop often reminded him of Sora, since the two of them definitely shared a similar headstrong attitude. Their attitudes were a bit different but the Osmodas and her fiery whip always managed to remind him of Axel. The Sadida and the Eniripsa often made him think of Xion, while the Cra’s sharp wit and the Sram’s affinity for the shadows always made him think of Riku without question. But they were different in their own ways as well.

And that Creep stuff… what even was that? Where did it come from and just… why? Unfortunately those particular answers weren’t going to come today. And the fight itself, particularly its finale. Why exactly did Roxas need to “remember” his strength like that? It wasn’t like he had forgotten about all his previous battles and yet… he shrugged it off. Maybe he’d just been slacking off in the time since those days? Yeah, that had to be it. Maybe if he just spent more time against the practice dummies it would all come back to him more easily.

And then it was his own turn to be healed. Honestly, Roxas wasn’t nearly as hurt as any of the others. He’d been lucky enough to avoid fighting against the defending creatures and instead just focused on the heart, which hadn’t actually fought back against him. But he let the Eniripsa do her thing anyway and made sure to thank her for her trouble.

“Oh! I just thought of something, I’ll meet everyone back at the Barracks!” Roxas announced before he bolted off in another direction. It looked like he was headed in a different direction down Market Street. He swung by a particular stall and the vendor greeted him with a smile.

“Heya Roxas, back for more already?”

“Yeah, but I need a whole box this time.” he said, pulling out a silk pouch and pouring some Zenny from it onto the stall counter.

“You’re not planning to eat it all by yourself?”

“Nah, it’s for everyone at the Barracks.”

“Ah, got’cha. Here ya go! Try not to get brain freeze!”

“Thanks. See ya later!” Roxas grabbed the box and waved as he ran off back in the direction he had come from. He needed to go straight there, or else it would all melt. He ran fast, taking a shortcut he knew that would get him back to the Barracks just after the rest of the militia arrived.

“Sorry about that guys,” Roxas said as he burst through the Barrack doors, “but I got us all a little something. Tada!” he presented the box, and opened it to reveal some light-blue ice cream bars, “Dig in guys, ice cream’s on me!” he said, while also being quick to snatch one up for himself.

This was always his favorite part of the day. Coming back from a tough mission and celebrating with an ice-cream. Of course, it was something he did all the time with his old friends. But now Roxas wanted to share that little tradition with his newer friends. Granted, they weren’t all sitting up on the Clock Tower, but the location didn’t matter. Only the memories that were made.

“Score!” said the Iop, snatching up a bar and practically inhaling it, “Ow ow ow!” he yelped in response to brain freeze.

“Looks yummy.” said the Sadida as she took one and licked at it carefully.

“Alright, sure.” Sram snatched one up and licked at it with a shrug.

“Could definitely go for a snack!” it was the Osmodas, taking a bar for himself and nibbling on before taking a bigger bite.

“Eh… what the heck, why not?” sighed the Cra. Sweets weren’t usually his thing, but if everyone else was going to eat one then he may as well.

Roxas laughed to himself at his friends’ antics. And this time, the ice-cream tasted much better.

Just about eyesight of smash city, across the Eryth Sea, stood a power plant charged by a singular massive spinning turbine. To those in charge of the city, it was an eyesoar. Not because of anything to do with the structure itself however mind, wonderful renewable energy source that it was, but because of the brutish locusts (derisively known as Grubs by their natural enemies, the Gears) who called it home. Attempts at friendly contact had been met with gunfire, and subsequent relations had only deteriorated thanks to a raid on one of the merchant caravans winding its way over too spiral mountain to exchange fish for crops.

After Mewtwo had set the blue team to work training, and discreetly oversee their matches via the spectator system, it had instead decided that it was high time someone cleaned up the local trash. That they seemed to be sitting on quite the stockpile of weapons, ammo and military vehicles would be a (significant) side benefit of making the region safer and fully under the control of the seeker’s forces.



The first challenge to taking the base would be the beach and the ruined wall that separated it from the more modern power station propper. Here, small gangs of locust grunts patrolled across sand and stone, or lounged on lazy lookout duty atop the walls, the fact that no one had dared bother them in forever meant they were pretty lax in the whole deal.

That was right up until a comically large cartoon bomb bounced down into the sand next to a patrol of grubs. They had but a moment to look at it in confusion before it detonated, central explosion vaporizing one while a series of secondary explosions lashed out in a cross shape from the central one, pulping a few more unfortunate grubs in the process and posthumously teaching them about the importance of spacing.

The surviving locusts scrambled for cover that could not save them from the bombardment dropping from the sky, grub after grub being blown to bits by the air dropped bombs. Their leader, Captain Jermad, took cover within the powerplant itself, but swiftly realized that he was under in no danger and stepped out onto the platform behind the windmill to get a look at what was attacking them. Gazing to the sky, squinting into the morning light till he spotted the source of their problem.

Two shapes, floating improbably in the air, one simply hovering there, menacingly, with its arm outstretched to its side towards the other one. This second seemed to be the source of the steady rain of black bombs pelting his front line. But, as he had noticed, they were not hitting his main base.

The monster of a man glanced down at the vehicle and ordnance stores of the compound and understood very well why this was, snarling “Greed” to himself before pointing down at some of his reserves and then up at the hovering figures.

Up above Mewtwo narrowed its eyes as it spotted movement within the compound in response to its telekinetically held helper Bomberman’s shower of explosives. This had been effective enough as an opening, it decided, but now was time to activate stage two before their enemy had time to recover, something it did with a thought.

As an engine roared to life along the coast, Jermad’s response came into view, a pair of Reaver squids taking flight, each carrying a pair of grubs on their backs, one pilot as a pilot and one as an assistant gunner.

The pokemon made a sound of minor inconvenience at this, and began evasive actions, bomberman in tow, as the assistant gunners opened up on them with their pistols… only for one to immediately sprout an arrow from the neck.

From within her sneakily taken watchtower sat upon the hill overlooking the beach the goblin warlord and ace archer Hollythorn drew another arrow from her quiver to as her ranger strikers finished off the last of the grubs who had been stationed within. She wasn’t technically part of the 4 hero band task with this mission, but the reason she was here was, and was also presently recklessly racing headfirst towards danger, if the roaring engine sound barreling towards the base was any indication.

The grubs on the beach, the few that remained, pulled themselves together after the bombing stopped just in time to be targets for the whirling miniguns of Duace as the hotrod came roaring down the beach, peddle held to the metal by one Eddie Rigs, hero and liberator of the Brütal Land.

Bullets riddled the defenders as their own pinged haplessly off the souped up car, and by the time it did a sharp turn and powerslide up to park beside the wall it was kicking up their dust along with the wave of sand it showered down onto the battlements like a smokescreen. Along with this wave came an armored and crowned figure who leapt high into the air, wall jumped off the wall for more height and then floated back towards it for a moment before finally then dropping down onto one of the grubs.

”Hi I’m Daisy!“ the eponymous princess introduced herself as she smashed a frying pan down on his head with a distinctive clong! before bringing up the quad barrel pistol she held in her other one and haphazardly blasting it down the length of the battlements, filling the space and enemies in it with shotgun shrapnel.

Grubs fell as she tossed the empty weapon at the closest survivor’s noggin before she rushed through the ash to deliver an unsportswomanly steel toe capped kick to his groin. As the grub doubled over in pain Daisy finished up by smashing him over the head with the frying pan. This unfortunately bent the poor pan all out of shape, so she hurled it at another locust and was, at that point, unfortunately all out of weapons.

It was thus a good moment for a winged shape to rise up to join her, Eddie flying with demonic wings to deliver a two handed battle axe blow to the grub that was raising a weapon to shoot the princess, while an arrow sprouted from the eye socket of another who was doing the same.

Princess daisy-bombed her own target off the wall (a move that came complete with a shower of her flowery namesake) and then waved up to the goblin appreciatively for the assist. In response Hollythorn rolled her eyes and then focused back on the air battle, where Mewtwo was doing its best to evade the remaining squid like Reaver, the other having been left blind by the death of its two riders at the goblin’s hands.

This second one was proving trickier, knowing it had to be evasive or die; it was sacrificing its own ability to aim to stay alive, spraying bullets out that were of little threat but forced its own target to keep moving.

I tire of this. Give me a moment that target thought too bomberman, before tossing the explosive slinger skywards and flying right at the reaver, raising a blue bubble shield around it that deflected the shots and then rammed into the beast’s head. A glance from the mon that met the pilot’s eyes disabled the creature’s ability to pull the trigger a moment before the bubble burst like shrapnel from the impact.

The mon took the moment he had given himself to palm strike the head of the beast, purple psychic energy flaring which he drove directly into its brain, pulping it to mush.

Then he kicked off the now plummeting and disintegrating beast, flew at lighting speed and snatched Bomberman out of the air right before the hero met a watery grave and then finally swooped towards the beach to link up with the princess and the roadie at their now cleared wall.

The base proper awaited.



Mewtwo dropped Bomberman off at the beach and then hovered up to see how the two were doing, which turned out to be hiding behind their captured wall’s battlements as bullets rained down.

“Projectile spammers huh? Real buncha cheap jerks” Daisy said to him as the mon ducked down to join them, glancing at an arrow embedded in the wall that had a bit of paper with “take cover you idiots” on it.

Quite the mon thought back, its eyes briefly skimming over a pile of replacement weapons Daisy had acquired from crushing grub sprites, before it formed a bubble shield around itself and stood up to get a look at the situation. The hail wasn’t as intense as it seemed while it had been ducking for cover, the mon found. The grunts, hunkered down behind various corners and chest high walls across the base, were instead taking turns to ping off a few shots to keep the hero’s heads down while a squad of them moved towards the entrance of the base to flank them, both actions done under the command of their observing leader.

A thought and a resulting bomberman bomb took care of the little flanking threat right before they rounded the corner. The response to both this and, of course, Mewtwo standing up in the first place was an increase in fire power concentrated on him, a hail of bullets slowly cracking the shell of power as the sight of a juicy target immediately broke the grunt’s discipline. The mon smirked, standing there with its arms folded behind its back, as its allies got to move to a new position while it was the focus. A moment later fire opened up a little ways away along the wall on either side of the mon as Eddie and Daisy used spirit spawned weapons to return fire.

Unfortunately they were not exactly expert shooters with adult rifles and their opponent was no fool, having held back troops who at his command immediately popped out of cover and opened up on the other two, driving them to hunker back down again.

Mewtwo ignored a cry of “Uuuurgh, so cheap!” from Daisy while partially agreeing with Eddie’s shouting of “We need to get in there and wreck these dudes face to face!”

‘I suppose I will resolve this myself then’ the mon thought to them, before dodging to the side with a twirling motion while dropping his bubble, before vanishing in a flurry of sparkles. A moment later one of the grunts was hurled out of cover and into a fiend’s line of fire. Then from an entirely different position a ball of purple energy soared out, hammering another grub in the back. Suddenly finding themselves flanked by the fast moving mon the locusts reacted in a barely controlled panic as their leader shouted for order (and then promptly retreated inside to avoid being taken down himself by the teleporting terror himself)

Daisy took this moment to take a peek back up over her cover and then once she did not lose her head, popped two locust rifles on the battlements and just pulled the trigger down, spraying uncontrolled amounts of fire in the general direction of some grubs while giggling with girlishly manic laughter.

Eddie meanwhile strummed a few notes on his guitar and then leaped down as the Deuce came roaring around the corner under its own power in response, having picked up bomberman on its way there. He mounted up and hit the gas, sending the Deuce slamming forwards into a locust position while Bomberman tossed his signature explosives out the back at those that avoided being splattered.

If that had been the limit of the locust’s power, it would have been over, especially once Hollythorn repositioned, got an angle on the inner compound, and started steadily picking off grunts one by one. Unfortunately, Jermad had one last round of reserves saved up which he now sent into the fray.

Along with them came the rain, slinging down from the darkening sky.

A barb toothed preacher waded into the battle, screaming holy commands at the grubs to rise and fight, demands that were met with revitalization that sealed their wounds and even raising them from near death states.

“Oh come on!” Daisy yelled as she tossed her spent weapons (much of whome’s ammunition usage had been rendered meaningless) away and pulled more from her pile, only to come under suppressing fire again from the revitalized Grubs.

“Hey Holly! Can you do something about that!” the princess called up to her friend as bullets pinged of the stone wall behind her. Unfortunately the goblin was presently in the midst of fleeing from adorable drill faced creatures called diggles which were made a bit less cute first by the locust augmentations covering their eyes and second by the fact that they had used those strange beaks to burst out of the solid rock Hollythorn had been stood on, and the warlord had no interest in finding out what they did to her green flesh.

Down below Deuce skidded to the side, splashing up rainwater as Eddie pulled a U-turn and aimed to simply run down the preacher and his troops, only for canonfire to sound to the left of the car and a blast to slam into one of its back wheels, sending the care careening and crashing into a nearby building while the basted wheel spun away in the opposite direction.

As Bomberman and Eddie pulled themselves from the crashed vehicle as the source of the cannon fire rushed towards them, the rampaging cybereticly enhanced moon bear storming towards them to take them down with tooth and claw while its cannon reloaded itself.

Further back Jermad had returned from summoning his troops from the reserve, a fresh waves of grunts heading for the front lines on either side of him while the captain himself was flanked by two Theron Guards armed with strange bow like guns as retook his windmill observation spot.

These weapons his guards raised and began “charging” up (a yellow glow building at the front of the gun) when Mewtwo appeared and began laying waste to the grunt wave. A volleyball shaped and sized orb of shadow slamming into one was its opening, before the mon teleported out into the open next to another pair running next to the first. To one it delivered a dark blast with a palm thrust that ripped its insides to shreds, and the other it slammed with its tail, the bulb at the end acting like the head of a flail as it delivered a blow that snapped its neck.

Then the mon physically crushing both felled grunt’s spirits, levitating the resulting guns the moments they formed and opening fire with all three while using its blue barrier to block retaliation from the other panicked grunts as it mowed them down with cold and brutal efficiency.

At least until one of the bow wielding guard’s added their own shot to the mix, the torque rifle firing its rpg shaped bolt with intense speed, which slammed into and then right through its bubble barrier. A split second decision to start dodging this shot when he heard it go off saved the mon from also being penetrated by the missile, and instead it only exploded inside the barrier and behind the mon, knocking it off of its feet and face first to the ground.

The mon launched to the side, psychically pulling its fallen form out of the way of the second shot, before blinking into the air and then blasting forwards head first towards the captain and his 2 guards, only to have to swerve out of the way when a third cut in with an oversized axe. It then parried Mewtwo’s weeping tail swing with the flat of the axe head, and finally lashed out with an electrically charged fist, the Boltmon who the locusts had found plugged into the heart of the generator willing to do whatever it took to protect its new master.

Down below Eddie did almost the exact same move to spare Bomberman from death by cyberbear, using his own massive battle axe side on as a shield to catch the biting jaws of the rampaging cyborg.

“Gahhh, your breath stinks! Get lost fur ball!” he shouted at it, before trying to sock it in the jaw. Unfortunately, it was A: a bear and B: had a metal lower jaw which just ment the roadie mostly succeeded in hurting his own fist, pulling it back and shaking it with an “ah-cha-cha-cha!” before stumbling back as the bear tried to wail on him again with another paw strike. This one caught him on the arm, sending the metal legend stumbling right as a bomb was slid between his legs.

“Uh oh” he panicked as he saw it and just how low the fuse was, raising both arms and closing his eyes to try and protect himself as it went off. There was a wumf of flame and a pained yowling from the cyber-bear as it was blasted, but there came no fiery incineration for Eddie, who instead opened his eyes to see a cross of scorch marks on either side where the X shaped explosion had blasted past him.

The cyber-bear itself lay crumpled in a heap, struggling to rise on sparking limbs. Unfortunately, as the roadie turned and gave bomberman a thumbs up and a “nice one” the grub preacher arrived to undo their work, lacerating maw opening wide and letting out the beginning of screeching invigoration intended for the fallen warbeast… Only for it to get an arrow shot right down its throat.

The monster clutched at its neck and maw as it fell, much to the alarm of rank and file who were suddenly left medicless once more. Those that glanced up towards the source of the shot found the sight of a football gear clad princess merily goomba stopping the crap out of their trained diggles, bouncing from noggin to noggin with her studded football boots and leaving puffs of dust in her wake. Meanwhile the relieved goblin who had ended their spiritual leader was half way through notching about two dozen arrows into her bow all at once.

Those that looked to see what had killed the preacher, then, were the first to join it in falling as Hollythorn proved herself to be a one goblin archer volley as she lossed a rain of arrows which joined the actual rain showering down into the enemy ranks. Those that had ducked down behind chest high walls joined the first lot in death about a split second later as the arrows dropping from the sky ignored their traditional cover system and struck down right through their bald exposed scalps

Those that found cover under things tried to throw up one last show of resistance, only for Eddie to come charging in, powerslide on his knees over the rain slick concrete to get under their fire, the roadie shredding guitar so hard as he slid that the power cords literally melted their faces off.

“How do you like that!” he laughed, standing as the grubs fell, only to duck down again as more gunfire sounded.

This wasn’t directed at him however, and instead was coming from the remaining forces gathered around Jermad who were focusing on trying to survive the one mon army that was Mewtwo.

The perfect pokemon was soaring through the compound’s rooftops, gunfire chasing its tail as it circled the locust captain, looking for an opening. The boltmon down below mirrored his movements, placing himself between his boss and the pokemon, the digimon using its oversized ax to bat any and all shadowballs Mewtwo was tossing down out of the sky before they could strike down his boss. Said boss meanwhile was not cowering, but instead was wielding a long rifle to try and shoot down his opponent. He was joined in this by his troops who were hammering rifle fire and explosive bolts skywards, all convinced they only had to get lucky once and this would be over.

In reality they’d actually gotten lucky half a dozen times already, and though it was hiding it well, the mon was starting to feel the nicks and bruises that had been left on its legendary frame and was wondering how much more of this it could take.

Then a black ball pinged perfectly off the frame of the windmill and landed amidst a cluster of grunts before detonating in a fiery explosion. A cheery cry of “Goaaaal!” came from the sporty Daisy, before she lined up a kick and sent another one of bomber man’s bombs hurtling into the frey with perfect penalty shot precision. Grunts that moved to react to this got arrows from Hollythorn, while Eddie used his demonic wings to fly up to the raised platform the captain was commanding from.

The Boltmon turned to face him, batting away a bomb with his axe before charging the Roadie to meet him blade to blade, the muscular monster and man straining as each tried to push back the other’s weapon with their own.

Behind the clashing warriors the two bowgun armed guards suddenly swung their weapons to one side and unleashed their bolts at mewtwo as it descended from the sky, only for the mon, now unmolested by conventional bullets thanks to the ladies and bomberman's fire, to flick its wrist, sending both shots whimsically spinning up into the air under the power of confusion, before they were sent sailing right back at the guards, the bolts punching deep into their chests and then exploding, showering Jermad with their ashes.

Seemingly undeterred, the captain coolly raised his long rifle and definitely blasted away at the mon’s raised shield before dodge rolling to the side as the barrier slammed into where it had been. Dropping his rifle and drawing a pistol Jermad spun around to try and get a beed on the monster that had torn through his troops only for his arm, and his whole body, to freeze in place. Only his eye’s could turn and see the outstretched three digited hand grasping him with power’s beyond his comprehension.

His arm shook as he tried to fight it, only for the mon to suddenly whip him over its head, and then launching him with that momentum and more, slamming him into the back of boltmon.

The Frankensteinian monster stumbled, received an arrow to the knee and then an axe to the gut. The captain meanwhile hit the deck, grunted and then tried to push himself up off of it, only to find his death drifting towards him.

“This is not the end of-” he tried to threaten with his last words, but the perfect pokemon ignored him and simply calmly pointed down at him with a finger and engulfed the captain in a dark explosion that tore his body asunder.

The Locust’s captain was dead, his forces in disarray. All that remained was cleanup.

The still falling rain at least handled the ash part of that.

Having completed their matches, Susie and Blazermate were spending their time relaxing more than anything. The two robot ladies were chatting about their old worlds before having come to the WoL as Nadia and the others were running about doing who knows what. "So, you kind of look like a really fancy medabot. All round and everything. Most medabots don't have that look." Blazermate said as the two girls were sitting at a table watching everyone else do their thing.
"You keep calling artificial people medabots. Is that your word for 'robots'?" Susie asked, sipping on a coffee cup she bought.
"Well, no. I know what robots are, but medabots are way more advanced than robots. I mean, it even looks like you have arm parts, a head part, and leg parts! Although no medal slot, but... well your not a medabot, but you look like one!" Blazermate said, a bit incredulous as this hasn't been the first time she had been asked that question. Susie putting down her cup to think for a moment trying to decipher what Blazermate had said. Looking the medabot over, she got an idea of what she meant. After all, that shield arm did not even match Blazermate's color scheme at all, and it was clearly her arm and not just being worn.

"I see. Well, if you mean by 'parts' things that you can swap around, no, I can't do that. That does explain your look though." Susie said, following with "Like some science experiment gone wrong." under her breath. Not missing a beat after saying that though, Susie continued. "Like that shield for example, that looks bolted on. I could see interchangeable parts being an interesting Haltmann robotics product. Would you care to show me how they work?"

Much to Susies surprise, Blazermate obliged. Not even needing to turn herself off or go into some kind of 'modeling' chamber, Blazermate pulled out a screwdriver and twisted a few screws and popped out a few tabs and her shield arm fell off into two distinct parts, her tinpet arm showing. "See, like this. Your a smart girl, I'm sure you could figure out how to put it back on." Blazermate said, offering her tinpet arm and her disassembled shield to Susie. Blazermate felt like she could easily take on Susie even with one less part, so she was ready to attack her if it came to that.

Of course it didn't, and Susie quickly found out the trick to taking parts off of and putting parts back onto Blazermate. She did notice there was something 'missing' with Blazermate's shield arm when she put it back on the second time, having disassembled it out of curiosity. At first Susie thought she lost a piece, but Blazermate assured her it was fine as it always snapped on like that, before explaining that this arm had always been a bit glitchy since she got it. "See? A simple yet powerful system." Blazermate didn't mention that in her world most medabots were essentially toys for grade schoolers, so they were made as simple as possible to assemble. Knowing that fact would make ANY of her new friends look at the medabot in quite the different light after all.

"Hm... Well I don't know everything, but yes, I see a new Haltmann line of robotics. A consumer model. Although the overhead might be a bit..." Susie said, muttering to herself after Blazermate had reassured her she was fine. Having shown Susie something, Blazermate then asked her a question. "So your artificial like me right? Why are you drinking and eating food? Thats really weird."

Susie giggled at that comment, sipping more coffee in an almost 'are you jealous' fashion before saying. "I'm just that advanced. I don't need them, but the world would be boring if you couldn't taste ice cream." This still confused blazermate to no end, but she just went with it in the end. Susie did look like a super fancy medabot from the future or something, so future parts were just weird like that then.

The two girls chatted a bit more before an idea struck Blazermate. "Hey... We have been going around beating Galeem's champions and all that, but you know... If things are going to just scale up as we go we should get new parts... Or I guess powers, upgrades, all that sorta thing... You know what I mean. We should go and actually look for good ones for a time before we go fight more champions. Just finding what we do on the way has worked so far, but there has to be like, super good stuff just sitting around off the beaten path that could make us all super strong and make this champion busting thing way easier. " Blazermate mused. Bowser had been fine with eating any spirit that came his way, but there had to be a better way to find super good ones. Finding stuff that worked for Blazermate were really rare.

Susie agreed with this plan, but at the same time wondered how they would even go about that. She had been keeping an eye on her PDA on her sales on the Grand Exchange, trying to turn more profits so that she could buy any high tech stuff that came her way in a shop, but she had found stuff like that was rare. Watching Susie doodle with her PDA, Blazermate asked what she was doing, and as Susie explained her idea, Blazermate did something Susie didn't expect, and scoff at the executive.

"You shouldn't just look for tech. There is magic stuff too that might work just as well. I've seen it. Heck, I think these little pins I have are magic." Blazermate said, gesturing to three little badges she had on her chest. "Like imagine stickers or something that makes you stronger, tankier, or gives you superpowers. Things like that exist here and you can't limit yourself to just technology, even if its good."

Susie had to take a bit to calm down and think as to what Blazermate was saying, before asking the Medabot. "And you know this from experience?" with Blazermate nodding, continuing. "Yeah. I also found this ghost like 'powerup' or so I think it was called. It did nothing to me visually on the outside, but now I can summon exploding homing ghosts. A really cool power that takes no part slots? Yes please!" What Blazermate was saying did make sense to Susie, perhaps she had been a bit too quick to ignore things like that, but she'd need to see more things like that in action. She wasn't going to adopt 'savage' items without them being worth it.

Yennefer was off...doing something. He wasn't sure what, but as long as she didn't come back while he scrubbed the blood from the inside of his armor, he was fine with that. Boiling away the water leftover with a very carefully-controlled fire from Igni, Geralt sighed. Whatever the hell had happened, it had rattled him more than he let on to Pit. Nearly dying, and nearly dying in what was supposed to be a friendly spar no less, was never a pleasant experience. Dying itself hadn't been either, but now that felt so long ago, while the memory of his vision fading while Pit's panicking voice drifted off was at the forefront of his memory.

No matter. He was here now. He was alive now. He still had work to do, as well. Quickly donning his armor again, Geralt checked it over to make sure it was in good working order. The blood hadn't stuck around long enough to rust, and the fire from Igni wasn't intense enough to warp the metal any, so as it was he should be fine. His other gear hadn't been damaged in the battle, so there wasn't any worry there. All things considered, he was doing quite alright.

As he returned to the Great Hall, Geralt's pace hastened a bit when he heard what sounded like a commotion. As he arrived, it was with shock to see Dante fighting a rather rough-looking fellow, wielding what...vaguely resembled a sword. If one removed all semblance of tapering, sharpness, or any other aspect of a sword that made it a sword in the first place. Almost like an even duller executioner's sword. He noticed Kamek's Toadies flying around, dragging wounded Door Guards from the battle, and he nodded towards the magikoopa. Nobody else was getting involved in the fight so far, but Geralt drew his bow just in case. If needed, he could provide some ranged support. If needed. He wasn't quite sure Dante would appreciate it, though, so he held his fire for the moment.

Sectonia was pretty happy with that new power of hers. Considering it manipulated more exotic magic itself, she was very sure it asn't from that flower dragon thing she had recently absorbed. Speaking of which, seeing as only a couple enemies could reach her where she was and the one that did leap for her was knocked out of the sky by some of the locals, Sectonia decided to try her other new spirit's power and rained down solar beams to attempt to clear a path back to the train for her land bound allies. Although while they were laser beams, they weren't as great at clearing space as her other attacks, and after trying a few solar blasts, she decided to just clear the way with her large Rings of Light, which covered far more space. Even if they were occasionally a bit random now as they were duplicated in triplicate.

Sectonia gave her allies air support in this way, although considering the ranged weapons of the enemies below and her royal size, it wasn't really difficult to hit the queen bee while she was in the air raining down spells. Although after the first few hits Sectonia put up her Chaos Heart shield which deflected quite a bit of gunfire that went her way. Even so, Sectonia was on a timer as more and more enemies focused on her instead of her allies, and she had to start blinking around and towards the station as her allies managed to approach it.

"So... lets make our way to the next stop. This place has quite the stinging pest problem." Sectonia said when they were all at the station and out of danger from the hordes.

Primrose’s friend heart fell upon Rosaria like a blessing from a Statue of the Seven, fully healing her in a single go. The sudden removal of her agony, as well as the onrush of memories from her world’s end left the good sister reeling and almost delirious. When she instinctively clamped her hands against her head in order to get a hold of herself, though, she quickly realized that the awful burn that scarred both body and mind was no more. Breathing deep, she slowly lowered her hands. Her true eyes seemed to be a pale maroon, lighter than her short, wine-dark, and without any mutilation to seize any one's attention, her onlookers could see that she possessed a cold, austere beauty, mysterious and unattainable as a thorny blue rose.

“Thank you,” she told the dancer, a rare sentiment to be had from her and not one to be taken lightly. In return Primrose merely nodded, a small smile gracing her lips. Gingerly Rosaria tried to stand, and she found herself more than capable of doing so. With her affliction nothing more than a painful memory, she quickly found the strength to fight again. Her cross-spear appeared in her hand. “We should get going, before more turn up.”

Shovel Knight held up his gauntlet-clad hand. “We cannot! Fierce though our battle was, twas only a diversion for the sake of our ally, who even now struggles in the furnace chamber below. We must proceed thither, but thy fighting prowess wouldst be most welcome!”

When she considered the debt she’d accrued to these people, Rosaria couldn’t balk from the chance to repay them. “My spear is yours.”

“Huzzah!” the shovelier announced. Feeling revitalized thanks to Primrose, he held up his shovel blade to rally the troops. “Forward then, and not a moment to lose!”

“Well, way back is filled with oil, so best we be careful-” Braum began to say, before being interrupted by a chirp from Midna’s vibrava as it raised its head as if to listen, and then swiftly dove into a portal that opened up right next to it. Seeing as Midna could not know they where in the clear, Braum did not think this the best sign, so he amended his started statement to “-or swift… ah ha, and I know how!”

There was a loud thunk as the mighty warrior let his shield dropt to the ground before he put a foot on it. “Climb aboard my friends, for today we ride hot oil like it is cold snow!”

Rosaria’s brows knitted together in concern for the harebrained idea, but it made perfect sense to Shovel Knight, who’d just a minute or two ago ridden upstairs on two gears locked together. He jumped aboard, and with a resigned shake of her head the spearwoman followed. Last on was Primrose, who looked from the bubbling oil and the shield with a dubious expression. Braum held a hand out to her to help her step on, and with a sigh she took it. "This is just crazy enough to work," she said, bracing herself for the ride.

“Then let us be off ha ha!” the confident brawler declared as he pushed them off, and their oily slide began.

While the oil helped, their descent was still made atop stairs, and as the team of heroes soon found out, their shield rocket and jerked like a rodeo horse. They held onto their makeshift surfboard -and one another- for dear life as the rocky ride bounced, bumped, and jarred them all the way from the top of the stairs to the bottom. By the time the shield reached level ground and slid down the hall thanks to a combination of oil and momentum, its passengers were both plenty numb and a little loopy, and it took everything they had not to topple off as the corridor spat them and their shield out into the fire sanctum once more.

Their arrival quickly revealed that not everything had gone as planned. The first thing the new arrivals saw, rather than an escaping Midna with the poor kids under her wing, was a towering pair of demonic chicken legs with a cage dangling from its waist, with a fearsome masked clergyman on top, spewing flames. It was safe to assume from the chaos that everything had gone belly-up. “Gadzooks!” Shovel Knight exclaimed. He leaped off the shield, followed shortly by Rosaria, Primrose, and Braum himself, who proceeded to pick it back up. “Quickly now, forward!”

”Careful, that flamethrower guy refuses to go down easy!” came a shout of warning from Midna as she, propelled by her Vibrava acting as a backpack, buzzed away from the priest (who still had a pair of knives deeply buried in his flesh) as his mount gave him all the height needed to turn his flamer into an AA weapon.

A trio of sisters were also hanging from the walker’s sides and cage, swinging their massive body part filled with flails and ensuring that any attempt at ankle biting would run the risk of being pulped.

Primrose was shocked they hadn't heard this commotion even from the other hall, though seeing as her friends were still very much in danger she didn't waste time thinking about it. Instead she went right into combat, conjuring her dark magic and sent bolts flying toward the sisters and priest. "I see you've been having fun without us."

”Yeah sure fun!” Minda yelled back while ripping up a bit of scaffolding with her shadow hand ”Don’t worry I saved plenty for you!” she shouted as she hurled a mass of wood and nails at the incoming hate cage.

As Shovel Knight charged in to undermine the Hate Cage’s giant feet, the heroes’ projectiles burst against the monstrous assembly. Dark magic and chucked scrap alike dealt a chunk of damage to both the towering demon’s legs and the Sisters who clung to the cage’s bars. The hangers-on could not defend themselves too well given the pendulous weight of the censers, and combined with the electrocution dealt to them by Midna already, their collective grip seemed to be under duress. It wouldn’t take too much more punishment for the Punished to fall.

They represented only a small piece of the overall problem, however. Thanks to its immense stride, the Hate Cage could really move, and it began to chase down Midna no matter where she flew. While that gave the Sisters a chance to bludgeon her, the real threat was the Harbinger, who could keep his flamethrower trained on the Twilight Princess constantly. Worse still, the demon’s sudden movement made it difficult for the new arrivals to aim at it, let alone catch up to it, and getting stomped was a major threat.

Not to mention the demon that gave the assembly its name. The screaming blob of flesh spat fluid the color of dried blood at the incoming knight, prompting Braum to leap to his aid, shield raising a blue force-field ahead of it that negated the shot.

“Together my friend!” the guardian cried out as he ran into the fray with the knight. The cage did not like this one bit, and started scream-crying, weeping a shower of armor debuffing bile over any melee fighters who tried to get close. Rosaria leaped back from the spray, her teeth gritted in revilement.

Up above Midna fled from the flames which were doing an excellent job of keeping her at bay, the imp lacking any real long range capability other than improvised tossing that needed time and junk at hand to perform. Fresh burns gained from her attempts to skirt around and strike the Harbinger suggested that she needed a new tact in order to overcome this obstacle, but the monsters didn’t plan to give her the time for another Dragon Dance.

Down below, Rosaria attempted a corkscrew lunge at the demon’s leg, but it stepped out of the way in the nick of time. In response the good sister unleashed her elemental skill, teleporting behind the Hate Cage and striking its ankle with a cryo-infused strike. By itself, unfortunately, that infusion wouldn’t freeze it, or even appreciably slow it down, and as the monster spat at her again she was forced to dodge away. “Does anyone have hydro?” she called. “I could freeze it to the floor!”

“Nay!” Shovel Knight replied, using his shovel blade to launch a bunch of rocks at his foes’ bodies. “Mine relics command but fire, earth, and wind!”

“Ice for me as well” Braum called out, before slamming a fist into the back of his shield with a “heyah!” and sending his own pulse of ice into the leg of the chicken walker, priming it for a stun if hit with 3 basic attacks.

”Wouldn’t be having problems up here if I did!” Midna yelled down, the attacks on the legs having given her a bit of breathing room, but also meaning that any more scrappy improvised projectiles had a large risk of raining down debris on her allies. With that in mind she moved away and started ripping up/scavenging specific parts of the environment instead of random detritus.

With the demonic cage stomping around, it's cargo lobbing some kind of disgusting attack at everyone, and it's passengers swinging away at anyone they could reach, it was hard for Primrose to dance. Whenever she started, she never got more than a few steps in before something interrupted her, whether it was dodging out of harm's way or getting clipped by something, taking small damages over time. At the moment she was relying on her magic, flinging shadow with the same kind of strategy their enemies employed - aiming at anything she thought she could hit. Whether it was helping much she didn't know, but it certainly wasn't slowing the Hate Cage down. She also didn't have any kind of water ability to offer, but when she thought about what else she could do to possibly disable it, an idea did come to mind.

"I may have something," she said. The same striker that helped her out last night, though this time they may not have the chance to wait for Yawn's effect, Hippowdon did have something else in it's arsenal. "An earthquake, if you all can get off of the ground that might trip it up."

‘Off the ground’ was music to Shovel Knight’s ears. “Say no more!” he resounded, before dashing forward in a daring maneuver. With his shovel blade he leaped into the thick of it, and with deftness landed point-down on the top of the Hate Cage’s chicken-foot to pogo high up into the air. As he soared into the Sisters’ territory he lashed out with his weapon of choice, thwacking one’s head and back until she lost her grip and dropped to the cavern floor below. The Punished hit the ground with a thump and rose in a mighty furor, only for Rosaria to springboard off her head and into the air, jumping just high enough to where she could grab hold of the demon’s cage as well. The Sister could barely screech in protest before the towering monster, indiscriminate in its wrath, unceremoniously kicked her into the lava.

Braum in comparison was no pogoer, but that was fine. The big man had never skipped leg day, and so all he needed was a mighty leap and a bit of magic drawing him to an ally’s side to boldly leap up and into the fray, increasing Rosaria’s damage resistance as he joined her in the cage hanging.

As soon as everyone was clear, Primrose summoned the Pokémon in front of her. Then she herself leapt into the air, floating by the power of her scarf.

"Hippowdon, Earthquake!" she ordered, and in response the striker let out a rumbling roar and reared up on its hind legs. When it fell back onto all fours, the impact was much greater than would be expected for a creature of its size. The ground trembled violently, splitting some of the stones that made up the convent's flooring. The tremors spread throughout the entire room, threatening to topple anything still connected to the ground and then some. As debris rained down from the ceiling, lava began to well up through the newfound cracks.

Midna pulled back as the scaffolding she had been attempting to scavenge from started collapsing, having gotten only a bit of what she wanted. Still, the length of chain would have to do, and she proceed to swing it round using her shadowhand and then hurl it horizontally at the flamer priest, mainly as a distraction and/or temporary binding to prevent him from ‘censing’ his steed of its stowaways

The chain lash turned out to be the final straw for the Hate Cage’s stability. Already worn down by its excessive burden, the attacks landed on its legs so far, and now some uninvited guests, it nearly succumbed to the sudden quake. Only some fancy footwork kept it from crashing to the ground, but struggling to keep its bizarre body upright the demon left itself vulnerable. Following Midna’s distraction, which left the Harbinger fighting to avoid falling over himself, all Braum needed to do was shift his weight in order to bring the monstrosity down–and headed straight for the pool of lava.

As his ride passed its tipping point, Shovel Knight jumped to safety, but as Rosaria gathered herself on top of the cage to do the same, disaster struck. Rather than save herself, one of the Sisters prioritized attacking, and by the time Rosaria spotted the censer swinging her way it was too late. She could only put her arm up in a vain attempt to block the massive flail, only for her bones to snap like tree branches as it sent her flying away. As the Punished plunged to their deaths Rosaria tumbled painfully along the stony rim of the lava pool, finally rolling to a stop with a gasp of pain.

Then, from the pool of lava, something rose. A head of seared, gruesome flesh, bearing a grisly mask like a giant boar’s snout, followed by the black of priestly attire. “It burns…” the Harbinger gargled as he trudged, one step at a time, from the inferno, ablaze but alive. In obvious pain, he reached up and tore off his mask, which he discarded “But my faith burns hotter still!”

Rosaria grimaced as she tried to crawl away, hoping that the monster would pursue the more obvious targets. In her attempt to escape, however, she found herself confronted by a familiar habit, and looked up to see the Sister Superior looming over her. “You…!” she gasped.

“Sister,” the monster chided. “...Where is your burn? Could it be that you…rescinded your offering, the beauty you gifted to god?” From her robe Rosaria’s tormentor produced a three-headed candlestick, its wicks of molten flame. She raised it over her head. “Fear not, wayward child. For it is not too late!”

The whip came down, with a blazing thwack, only to strike a blue barrier as the ever dependably Braum lept to the wounded Rosaria’s side with a “Braum is here!”

The sister superior seethed with rage at being denied by this oaf, but would not relent, jerking a hand to her side and forming her floating Rosary beads into a second whip. Now, with one in each hand, she began a relentless onslaught, her weapon’s tips flicking around the edges of the mundane barrier of Braum’s door itself, lashing the man as he did his damnedest to stop the strikes from reaching the downed nun.

Meanwhile above them came a rage and frustration filled battlecry ”Why won’t you die!” as Midna came literally screaming out of the sky head first with a massive shadowhand baled up into a first following in her wake, wound up into a meteoric punch that she attempted to deliver to the Harbinger as he emerged from the pool of lava.

A torrent of flame met her advance, and the acrid smell of burnt hair filled the fire sanctum. “Midnaaa!” Shovel Knight shouted as he charged in to occupy the Harbinger’s attention. “Leaveth this unholy vicar to us! Save the captives!”

Primrose alighted close behind, and called out her agreement to Midna. "He's right, make sure they're safe!" As far as she could tell, they were almost there. They would be successful so long as they could escape alive with Laharl, his friend, and Rosaria. To that end Primrose conjured the Black Flame Orb. She cast it the Harbinger's way to try and give Shovel Knight an opening before she turned her attention on the Mother Superior. "Braum, push forward," she said, preparing a dance to raise his attack power and give him the extra edge he may need in order to do it. With space, she could go to Rosaria's side and assist more directly.

“Hyeah, back with you!” Braum shouted as he followed her instructions, surging forwards to try and ram the Superior back and give the human ladies the space they needed. With a little more breathing room afforded to Rosaria, she again attempted to get to some semblance of safety, not that much could be found in this place. Primrose went to the woman, trying to haul her up by her good arm to get out of immediate danger before attempting a healing spell.

The impish lady meanwhile was somewhat on fire, and also wasn’t going to argue with their orders to leave the unkillable man to them, what with her having crashed down to roll around on the ground to put the worst of it out. The shadowhand she’d thrust ahead had spared her incineration, but it still hurt and she was going to need new unburnt clothes after this.

Still, there was nothing like almost being roasted alive to remind you of your priorities, and hers had and should always have been the prisoners. ”On it!” she shouted as she pulled herself up off the ground, ordered her already detached Vibrava to provide covering fire for the team, the dragonfly like pokemon buzzing to and fro and shooting beams of dragonbreath down at the fiery man, and then legged it towards the back of the room and the cages held therein. The moment she approached the captives, however, several of the nearby cages began to rattle, their metal lengths clattering together as the skeletons inside stirred to life. Down dropped a handful of Agonofinis, demons formed from mistreated remains and the lingering hatred and malice that animated them, as the final opponents to ba the Twilight Princess’s path.

”Oh come on!”

That left only Shovel Knight against the Harbinger, and their brief clash did not go well. Forced back by a swath of flame, and practically cooking inside his suit, the warrior panted as he clutched his shovel blade tight. Around him were scattered several of his weapons. The Harbinger walked toward him slowly, as savoring the smell of burnt flesh. “Any last words?” he asked. “Now is your final chance to repent, before you die.”

In reply Shovel Knight unleashed his Mobile Gear as a makeshift battering ram, but its straight line of travel made it easy for even the rather plodding Harbinger to avoid. Two chaos spheres bounced forth, but in the wide-open space of the fire sanctum they found nothing to bounce off of, and Shovel Knight’s adversary shrugged them off. “...Then burn, for Father Theodore!”

He unleashed a stream of flames, and in a flash Shovel Knight was consumed. Mercilessly the monster held down his weapon’s trigger, until he was well and truly satisfied. Then, hearing the clanking of the Agonofinis, he turned to cross the room toward Midna, leaving the inferno behind him. The moment he turned away, however, Shovel Knight stepped from the blaze, protected by the power of the Phase Locket He looked toward Midna, who had less than thirty seconds before the Harbinger reached her, and his other friends fighting the Sister Superior and a couple reinforcements. Though he now had the element of surprise, indecision plagued him. Who needed his help most badly?

It was a question made difficult to focus on by the sound of skullpericingly loud growling, barking and tortured screaming coming from somewhere else in the convent.

”I don't have time for this you stupid stalfos!” Midna was shouting at the cage skeletons defending the prisoners. As they came at her she summoning up her own frost covered chilfos to stride forwards and body block the enemy skeletons, the 2 sets of undead more or less armed with weapons that could not hurt the other.

Midna however, did have the perfect kind of weapon, the princess pulling the Clubba Club, a massive spiked mace that she could only wield using her shadow hand, out of the twilight realm. Then she hoisted the wrecking ball over her head and joined the fray, bringing her last (non suicidal) weapon to bear in a massive skelletons smashing overhead swing on the one cage of bones not in a wailing contest with a chilfos.

Across from them, the two women could hear the cacophony outside as well - it was hard not to when the noise was only growing louder. Fearing the worst that reinforcements were close at hand, the dancer turned to her allies with the newest one leaning against her for support.

"Help Midna and free them," Primrose bid the Knight, seeing his indecision. "We can... try and make a retreat before more show up."

He nodded and took off running. While Midna could handle the Agonofinis, she didn’t realize at all that the inflammable juggernaut would soon be upon her. Shovel Knight had just one chance to fell this monster. But how? Would a shovel drop to the head be enough? Could he even be assured of landing it? If he failed to hit his mark, the Phase Locket wouldn’t protect him a second time. As he approached the Harbinger from behind, Shovel Knight searched for any possible weakness–anything he could take advantage of with his only surprise attack. Though from ye olde times, he was no simpleton, and his stay in Alcamoth gave him a loose grasp of the difference between magic and technology. The Harbinger’s cleansing flames came not from a wand, but a contraption. From here he could see that his enemy’s weapon seemed to be connected via a tube to the large container on his back. That, Shovel Knight realized, must be where the monster kept all of his fire! If only the flame could be let out…

Shovel Knight equipped the Propeller Dagger and span it up as he continued to charge, ignoring the terrific noise still building outside the fire sanctum. After aiming as best he could, he unleashed the whirlwind blade and flew the rest of the way. He thrust his blade into the Harbinger’s gas tank, but the metal did not give way easily. Instead, its curved surface deflected the dagger’s point to the side, which promptly sank into the monster’s flesh. “What!?” he snarled, wrenching his head around to look, much to Shovel Knight’s surprise. Purely by accident, however, the rotors of his Propeller Dagger ground against the tank again and again like sawblades, their impressive durability dealing continuous damage. “How are you…!!!”

As the Harbinger reeled in surprise that Shovel Knight somehow survived his immolation, the gas tank gave way, and the whole thing exploded in a concussive blast of fire. Shovel Knight hurtled away, half-conscious, while the detonation knocked the clergyman to his knees. “NO!” he roared. “My fire will never be quenched!”

The chaos didn’t stop there. One of the walls not far from Braum, Primrose, and Rosaria suddenly burst apart in a storm of dust and debris to admit a hellsent torture-mobile, a mobile rack that gleefully stretched, burned, and fumigated its captive only to drown out their screams with the roar of its infernal engine. Sudden and horrific in appearance, it blitzed across the floor, driving like an utter maniac while a battle nun and a trio of hooded initiates clung to its side, and swerved around Braum to careen into both Primrose and Rosaria side-on.

As it careened towards them the trio of hooded amazons extended their hands, causing dark ethereal vines to sprout around the pair of women which grasped their bodies to hold them still, and their minds to fill them with despair.

It was the worst kind of ambush that could have possibly happened, one that none of them could have anticipated. Thoroughly unprepared to deal with a nun intent on vehicular manslaughter and her cronies, Primrose and Rosaria were trapped before they could even think of getting out of the way. The speeding car smashed into the two of them, and while unable to move thanks to the vines, it further pushed them until they were right back where they started. The car crashed into the stone ridge encircling the lava pit, painfully pinning the girls between the heated rock and the pointed metal of the vehicle, whether it's burning exhaust pipes or the teeth growing on the outside of it. The harsh collision sent one of the initiates flying but the others held on, jeering at their victims and preparing to disembark the Screamwagon in order to wreck more havoc on the others.

Primrose gasped and coughed, tasting blood in her mouth. Though she could hardly move, she still struggled with all of her might for the good that it did her. She only managed to make worse the wounds on her body. Besides the dark bruising that was already forming, lacerations spilled her blood onto the floor. Each attempt to free herself deepened the cuts, until all she could do was curse and wiggle in place. Beside her, Rosaria was also having a hard time. With one arm broken she had no chance of trying to shove the vehicle away enough to get out even if she weren't bound and bleeding. Still she managed to rip her good arm free, and she summoned her weapon to her hand. With one last act of defiance she thrust the spear-tip forward using all of the strength she had left, impaling it straight through the head of one of the remaining initiates. He died too quickly for any death throes, body melting into ashes. Rosaria's spear clattered to the ground after that. Exhausted, she fell against the car when the amazon's tendrils loosened and disappeared after his death. She turned her head to meet Primrose's eyes.

"I'm not making it out of this one." She said it as a matter of fact. Though her expression was pained and angry, she knew there would be no magic pink heart to save her this time.

"Yes you are," Primrose rasped stubbornly. Trapped as she was, she couldn't even reach out to comfort the other woman. Rosaria let out a dark chuckle, and then collapsed entirely. She, too, began to fade to ash. The dancer watched with wide eyes, her mind reeling. It looked to be the end of Primrose as well, as the red-clad battle nun stepped close to her with a cruel imitation of a smile on her zipper mouth. Primrose managed to rip her eyes away from Rosaria's spirit, fixing the nun with a glare that burned bright with hostility.

"This is what comes of unruly behavior!" The monster chastised. She raised her claws and slashed, snuffing out the flame.

”Goddesses damn it no!” come a devastated cry from Midna, as the two women fell and a set of three echos of Rosaria’s despair rose from their ashes.

The horrified princess had scattered the skeletons and at last fulfilled her task. A near catatonic Laharl supported by his arm draped over her shoulder, and, by his side, a freshly freed and healed angel called Flonne looked just aghast as the princess. Then her resolve hardened and she swooped up into the air on a small pair of feathered wings that sudden enlarged into a grand glowing set that bathed the foes who had struck down with divine light that smothered that of the infernal fires of the room for just a moment.

“Your dark deeds and wicked masters are nothing before the power of love!”

The awe inspiring and fueled power of the angel scattered the dark worshipers from the grave of the nun and the dancer, the spirits of despair withering and dissipating almost as soon as they had arisen. So too did the divine radiance inspire Shovel Knight, who rose, smoldering but still kicking, to his feet. And within this blessed light of love, another miracle.

Primrose rose again. She was still injured, but she was alive - and now freed from the dark vines of their foes she wrenched herself out of the wreckage. She stood on shaky feet and wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. So yet another power had returned to her. As glad as she was to have her Encore, the relief it brought paled in comparison to how angry she was. The situation never should have progressed far enough to trigger it in the first place. She passed her gaze over the few remaining enemies, the harried Braum, the weakened Shovel Knight, and noted that Midna had managed to free Laharl and the girl. They could regroup and leave now... or they could finish the job and make sure no one would ever be trapped in this horrible place again.

To that end Primrose produced the spirit of the valiant jailbird from Gerudo Town, and then picked up the spirit of the kind nun who had helped them. You are getting out of here, even if it's as part of me. She pressed them both into her chest. From within light burst forth, and a stunning transformation took place.



Emerging from the light stronger than ever was a much changed Primrose - and she wasted no time in going on the offensive. She rounded on the vehicle that had smashed into her and drove her fist into the fleshy part that held its huge demonic eyeballs.

"Shut up," she snarled to the Screamer bound to the car, just before conjuring the Black Flame Orb in the hand buried inside. She could tell that the spell was weaker than last she cast it, but that was no matter. She used up three of her battle point boosts that had accumulated during the fight to strengthen it, and the orb grew in size while consuming the car itself. When it erupted at the apex of it's growth, it was with the last agonized wails of the demon as the screamwagon exploded into smithereens, raining wreckage and ash, vaporizing its entirely innocent torture victim in the process.

The dancer turned to the battle nun and the two initiates around her. She prepared to finish them, and was joined by the Shovel Knight who bounded over to her side. "They're on the backfoot!" He said, to which Primrose nodded. The nun they faced off with let out a battle cry, and the lot of enemies rushed toward them while summoning ethereal spears. Primrose wreathed the wide-range spell Night Ode, while the Knight produced a hollowed and decorated horn. He brought the item to his helmet's opening and blew at the same time that Primrose's spell activated, and between the both of them they were reduced to dust.

The nun glanced to and from the pair of falling spirits of her minions, and then quickly did an about turn and tried to skedaddle to the approaching sister superior’s side for protection/support.

“Not so fast, knave!” Shovel Knight cried. Shovel Blade in hand, he charged after the monsters. The Sister Superior stepped forward and lashed out with her magma whip, its three blazing lengths sweeping across the igneous rock toward the shovalier. In response he let loose a Throwing Anchor, and the whips caught on and wrapped around it mid-flight. They melted into the metal, but couldn’t melt through, and the heavy metal hit the cavern floor with the whips pinned under its weight. “Now, mine lady!” Shovel Knight called to Primrose. “Let us dispatch these villains, for good and all!”

The transformed dancer couldn't agree more. She caught up after the Shovel Knight's charge and glanced at him, would have met his eyes if they showed through his helmet, but he could that she was on the same page even though she didn't respond aloud. With the Sister Superior's whips trapped at the moment and her focus on the enemy in front of her, Primrose extended her arm forward toward the robed woman. In a blink she apparated behind the nun with dagger in hand to deliver a strike from newly inherited ability. The steel sunk into the flesh of the sister's back, dark magic seeping into the wound and swirling about to do further damage.

The monstrous sister wailed and struggled, trying to reach her arms behind her to get at her assailant. The battle nun beside them wailed too - but her scream was made to debilitate. Loud and piercing, Primrose winced in pain even as she kept a firm hold on her blade and twisted it deeper.

By that point, Shovel Knight was closing in. He planned to help Primrose finish off her backstabbed target before the monsters could turn the tables on her, but the Battle Nun’s shriek drew his ire. Gritting his teeth, he pushed through the disorientation to take the spindly monstrosity on. With her vitals too far out of reach, he swung instead for her legs, aiming a mighty two-handed hack at her knee. The brutal blow broke through, bringing the demon down to her knees. Her maw opened wide for a point-blank screech, but Shovel Knight walloped her right in the guts with a one-two punch from his Dust Knuckles. “Saith no MORE!” he cried, and his uppercut pummeled the monster’s jaw, smashing out her ugly teeth. In a spray of blood she toppled over backward, and the knight went for the Sister Superior. He threw out a decapitating chop, but the Punished grabbed at his edge, and the blade stopped less than halfway through, buried in both her neck and her hands. To her left, the Battle Nun stirred, raising her claws to slash at Primrose. This was it: the final act, with the empowered dancer center-stage.

Spotting the movement, she wrenched the dagger out of the sister's back, eliciting a gurgling cry from her as she continued to struggle against the knight's steel. The dancer rounded on the nun, meeting her claws with the steel of her own blade. Before, the nun's physical strength would have easily overpowered Primrose - but now, with two powerful women making up part of her being, Primrose met the monster evenly. Then, began to overpower her. With a violent shove Primrose pushed the battle nun back. She held one arm straight out towards it as it stumbled. Fire came to her splayed fingers, a first glowing orange and then consumed by shadow. Although she couldn't Boost this spell, it was more than enough for the nun's weakened state. The Black Flame Orb flew from caster to target, exploding against the nun's chest as she ignited. Screams of pain preceded her burning completely away to ash.

While the battle nun was being reduced to cinders, Primrose stowed her dagger and once again focused on the Sister Superior. Locked in deadly stalemate as she was with the Shovel Knight, it was all to simple for the dancer to come around and grab her. One hand wrapped itself around the sister's right wrist, the other took a tight hold of hair and habit. She ripped the sister's hand away from the blade, letting it press a little deeper.

"What... do you think... you are doing?!" the sister hissed and spat, trying in vain to get free of the situation. Primrose said not a word, merely steeled her expression and forced the sister's head forward roughly. The knight's weapon sunk in deep, cutting through the Punished's fingers and most of her neck. It wasn't a clean slice, and her head still hung on by several tendons, but the gruesome scene would be nothing but dust soon enough. With a final, guttural shout Shovel Knight wrenched his weapon free, and the deed was done.

Behind them, Braum, Flonne and the Vibrava had leapt to the defense of Midna, and, more importantly, the too-wounded-to-move Laharl draped across her shoulder as the harbinger closed in on them. The glacial guardian landed, shield raised with an “away with you!” While the Vibrava hit the ground behind them, little glowing cracks appeared below it, which then faded, only to be suddenly mirrored by cracks underneath the approaching unstoppable priest from which a pillering explosion of earthpower erupted.

Meanwhile the angel landed daintily between shieldman and princess, before performing a little pirouette from which hearts shot out radially, healing Braum and Minda to full while Laharl merely stirred slightly awake.

With a mighty effort the Harbinger regained his feet, even more scarred than before and ragged of breath. He could see the burns and lacerations upon his foes fade away, while his own wounds were worse than ever. Still, he would not -could not- relent. “May his will…” he grunted. “...Not mine, be done!” Wielding his now-inert flamethrower like a cleaver, he began his final approach.

“Here, let me” Flonne said as she took over the task of supporting the murmuring awakened Laharl from Midna, freeing the princess up to help finish the fight. As the angel focused on helping her friend, Midna darted forwards to the side of Braum’s door shield as the guardian took the brunt of the Harbinger’s final assault, retaliating as best he could with a far lesser icy blast.

Once at his side turned and used maglev to slide out from the cover of the tower shield and then grasped out with a shadowhand to grip the broken flamethrower. If it held she used dragon claw tipped toes to get a sudden grip and leap headlong into the fray, more purple draconian claws flaring on her fingers as she delivered quick slashes with the aim of adding to the brawler’s concussive blows rather than do major damage.

On her third strike frost bloomed across the harbinger as Braum’s skill reached its peak and stunned it. She took that moment to get even closer flaring and releasing a dark energy field right on top of the brute, bringing her Vibrava swooping in from the opposite side insectoid jaws bared to crunch the life out of the monster’s throat while her own stun took hold.

Though for a moment the Harbinger held his own in terms of raw strength, and kept enough wits about him to take action other than fruitlessly beat on Braum’s shield, the combination of special effects proved to be too much. Stunned and reeling, the dark priest took a withering barrage of attacks that ended with the jaws of a giant bug piercing his neck. There was only one problem: the Vibrava lacked the bite force to snap the spine. When it went to simply rip his throat out, however, it found that the Harbinger’s powerful hands had locked around its head, holding it in place as they squeezed to crush the insect first.

”No!” Midna screamed with fear and fury as used the a shadowhand to ram the harbinger with his own broken flamethrower right into his guts, impaling him with extreme prejudice, a yet even that hadn’t the force to cleave through the spine either.

”Just die already!” she demanded, pulling the other bottle of dwarven rotgut from the twilight ream, shoving its neck into the broken feeding tube of the backpack fueled falmer, and then pulling the trigger, filling the harbinger’s insides with wholly unwelcome mana fueled flames. Then, as a final nail in the coffin, Braums stepped up, swinging his shield like a battering ram and smashed the edge into the other end of the flamer, driving it the rest of the way through the boozed cooked ruins of its guts and into the spine, serving it at last.

A guttural gasp rattled from the monster’s scoured lungs as he sank to his knees. “I’ve failed you…” he gargled, his head lolling downward as he burned away to ash. “Father…Theodore…” As his final words drifted away his body fell apart, leaving only the spirit behind as a grim reminder of the incendiary juggernaut.

Midna declined the opportunity to get in a final word, and instead lifted up her arms and caught the crippled form of her vibrava, ignoring its spikes digging into her flesh as she turned, offering a ”Thanks!” to Braum as she rushed back to Flonne’s side and begged/demanded she ”Heal it, quick!”

The angel certainly had her work cut out for her in that department, but, at last, the battle was over, though not without its cost.

Or so they thought. Furious cries echoed through the Convent; its walls were alive with the umbrage of the Punished, who evidently number far more than the attendants of the fire sanctum’s sacrificial ritual. Already wounded, burned, and gasping for breath, Shovel Knight balked at the commotion. “Zounds! Unless mine ears deceive me, we shall be seeing even more foes erelong! Now that we haveth the prisoners, we must quit this place, post-haste!”

”Grab some spirits that might be useful and then all we need to do is get to the entrance and we can teleport off this mountain,” Midna said, as if the distance from was going to be a cake walk. Considering the way out was still covered in cooling oil things were likely going to be nasty right out the gate.

Primrose took over the task of carrying the still-recovering Laharl while Flonne worked her magic, though pressed close to the dancer's chest he seemed pained for a different reason and passed right out again. The angel girl moved from the Vibrava to the rest of her rescuers, spreading her healing as much as she could without burning herself out. They all still had to run, after all.

"I'd sooner burn the whole place to the ground," Primrose said following Midna's suggestion. She was loath to leave any of the evil cult still standing, but one look at the haggard crew around her and the demon boy clutched in her arms told her that they needed to go so they could fight another day. With a rueful sigh she shifted the weight in her arms to take any last minute spoils before they prepared to run. And continue to fight, if need be. "There were no other prisoners, right?"

"No," Flonne answered. "There was a man, a good and valiant priest who tried to overcome their evil, but he... he's already gone."

Primrose nodded, solemn, and looked between the members of their group. "Then ready when you are."

Midna cursed under her breath upon learning they had been too late. Not that they could have known, of course, but still. Another loss. Still, they had to keep moving, and in Midna and the first in line for healing Vibrava’s case, that movement was used to gather up the spoils of battle (spirits and 2 dropped whips) while the rest were seen too. Plus the princess also retrieved the longsword she had dropped at some point in the fight. The knives she had also lost however had been reduced to molten slag when the monster they were embedded in had had a (non lethal) dip in the magma. While she went about this, Shovel Knight quickly repossessed his Mobile Gear and the Propeller Dagger thrown from his hand in the explosion of the Harbinger’s fuel tank.

“Let us retrace our steps, since that path brought us hence with but minor resistance!” he called. As enemies began to pour in the molten staircase and a couple other entrances to the fire sanctum, he began to run.

”Cover us” Midna commanded her both her Chilfos strikers and the trio of amazonian initiates she had impulsively added to that roster, the line of summoned minions forming an impromptu spear wall that blocked the bottom of the stairs they were racing up once the rear guard (in this case a backpedaling Braum catching retaliatory soul spear tosses on his shield). Binding dark vines lashed out from the ground at the initiate striker’s command, further ensnaring the front runners of their pursuit while Midna raced ahead to help clear the way forwards with longsword and shadow hand.

With the last of their energy the party made their escape. Though dangerous, the Sisters of the Charred Visage were not fast, and even the handful that appeared in the team’s way could be avoided without too much trouble. The Percherónes kept up with their leaps, but could be dodged, blocked, or swatted aside. As they neared the exit, however, they found the exit hall blocked by a duo of Sisters and their large, very dangerous-looking pet. Wreathed in flame and clad in golden armor, the vaguely crocodilian angel Fairness gnashed its massive jaws, eager to crush and incinerate anything that got too close.

Rather than charge straight at the blockade, Flonne pointed to a gilded stairwell nearby. “Up there! One of the burning rooms, it should be empty and it leads to an outer balcony!”

“As thou saith!” Shovel Knight cried, quickly changing directions. The party hurtled up the stairs, dropping some ice and fire to fill the way behind them, and burst up through what they realized was a hidden trapdoor leading to a long, solemn chamber. They raced through the mausoleum corridor past hooded statues, only turning to look for a moment as they went by a barred window that offered a haunting view of preserved saintly remains.



As Flonne pointed out, the ‘burning room’ also featured a few basins of boiling olive oil, where the faces of the penitent could be destroyed in an act of holy self-sacrifice. Not far beyond, the promised balcony was open to the cruel elements, allowing the frozen and burning to embrace, as it was said, in communion. With a chorus of roars and screams at their backs, the team made for the emergency exit.

"Should we jump?" Primrose asked as they ran toward the balcony. Some of them could fly, the others would need a cushion if they went that route. "Braum, your shield...?"

“Does not exactly make for soft landing,” Braum was saying when Minda piped with ”Wait… hey that’s what we came here for in the first place!” upon seeing all the oil.

Ignoring the look she got from the far more important prisoner who’s rescue had merely been a coincidence, the princess wasted precious seconds scurrying over, withdrawing the golden thimble from the Twilight Realm, and scooping a snifter of the boiling oil into the cold gold.

As Punished flooded up the stairs and burst through the trapdoor, Midna made for the balcony, where the others had by necessity come to a quick decision. Even if falling from the third story hurt, getting overrun by the monsters would hurt far more. They leaped from the edge, aiming for the thick drifts of snow in the center of the cloister outside. Though bitterly cold the snow helped break the fall, and as Flonne hurried to repair the damage, the party made their escape from the Convent of the Charred Visage. Just beyond lay the Twilight Princess’ portal, and once she got everyone to make contact with her, she warped the whole party away in an inverse deluge of black particles.

With the ambush hitting its stride Wonder Red strategized quickly. The civilians' safety was paramount to his own at the moment, and while he and his compatriots could dispatch the melee advances easy, they were under the most threat by the enemies firing from cover. Without a proper team of Wonderful Ones to support him, he'd have to get creative.

Leaping into the air, Red landed on top of one of the decrepit cars sitting by the encampment's entrance. He grabbed it from above with his Unite Morph, lifting himself up in the process, and 'revved' the car, rolling it back and forwards on its rusted rims. Then, like a kid playing with a toy truck, he sent it careening ahead! And just as he let go he unmorphed, setting the borrowed Antlions atop the car as it barreled through the Ash Devils rushing towards them. The Antlions, collected so close together, sparked any Root their makeshift ride got close to and fried any bullet that wizzed past them, like a mobile electrical field.

It was a bumpy ride, between the car's neglected state, the uneven terrain, and the impacts of their enemies, but the strength of Red's Morph allowed it to continue on past the ambush, eventually upending over a deep trench, scattering Antlions everywhere. Everywhere, as it happened, behind what the ranged Root were using as cover.

As the enemy gunmen dealt and were dealt with by the Antlions and Sectonia's efforts, Red immediately went back on attack. He worked in tandem with Scout, delivering the final blow to any Ash Devil not felled by his gunfire, and soon the road to the gate was littered with bark and weapons. The only remaining problem for them now was the Hulk, finally entering the fray once more. Capitalizing on Scout's distraction Wonder Red jumped over the Hulk, delivering two swift jabs to the back and top of its head, injuring and dazing it enough for the other two adventurers to finish the job. Not quite enough to keep himself from getting hurt, though, as the Hulk lashed out with its cleaver, so big compared to Red that it more clubbed him off to the side, face first into the encampment's metal walls.

Luckily by that point the fight was largely won. The Hulk went down after the concentrated effort of the two adventurers, and what stragglers were left had enough sense to retreat now that their numbers were so low. Wonder Red looked a little worse for wear - his gauntlets scratched, bullet holes in his scarf, and a jagged cracked in the middle of his mask revealing pulsing blue circuitry - but he turned down any offer of healing supplies once they made sure everyone was inside safely.

"Excellent work, everyone," he said to not just Sectonia and Scout but also to the fighters that fended the attack off too. At least, the ones not tending to the wounded. They weren't very receptive to the praise, however, and Red didn't push the point. He turned to his partners. "We should get moving. There's not much else we can do to help here. We should make a note to inform Alcamoth about this location, too. They might be able to provide better help for the people here."

As they left for the train station, Red took a slight detour, weaving around the trenches to where the first monster had been. It had been caught by the sniper early on, and so Red decided to acquire its spirit for himself...



Joining back up with the others, Red asked Sectonia, "Now that we're out of combat, what did you learn from the Moogle?"

---

Rather than stand around debating their path forward, Jesse went to go ask some locals for directions. That was a pretty smart move. Raz stayed at the crossroads with Therion, surveying the different ways to go a bit more.

"What's mana?" Raz eventually asked, looking up at the unfriendly thief, not that Raz could look at him any other way. "You mentioned it back on the train. Is that a kind of energy you use to do your powers?" Raz didn't know a lot about things outside of his psychic frame of reference, so he settled on vagueness to get through most of these conversations. A 'power' is a 'power' regardless of which universe you lived in, right?

"If you want, I can also tell you what kinda stuff I can do," he offered, "it's easier to trust each other if we're open about that, isn't it?" He summoned his levitation ball, used his TK to grab and wiggle the signpost around, and blasted part of the rock wall with a Psi blast. "That's all I can do at the moment." He de-levitated. "All my other psychic abilities are still... locked? Missing? I'm not really sure how it works. Oh! And I also have my mind reading back, too! It's not as easy like back home, but..."

Finally, he reached into his knapsack and pulled out his Psycho Portal, which just looked like a tiny door. "And there's this," Raz said, holding it up with pomp. "This is a Psycho Portal. It's what Psychonauts use to project into people's minds. I haven't gotten it to work in this weird mix-up world, though." He looked at it thoughtfully, turning it around, then glanced up at Therion. "Would you be willing to let me... try, on somebody not under Galeem's influence..."

It was around then that Jesse returned, with information. Raz nodded, looking back at the signpost. "Yeeeah, I'm usually all for a good climb, but after everything with the mountain, I wouldn't mind an easier ride, ahah."

The longer Bede was in this town, the weirder and weirder things got. After encounters with several weird creatures, they soon entered a forest. At least, what Bede thought was a forest. It wasn’t like any forest he had ever seen. The sky was striped, and some of the trees had eyes on them. Everything was not the color it was supposed to be.

Even among the sea of strangeness, they found Tora right away. He was being led by an Elgyem. Finally! Something familiar, at least for Bede. The young Pokémon Trainer smirked. “Ooh, I know what that is. That’s a Pokémon. It’s an Elgyem. I’ve seen them a few times in Galar. They have strong Psychic powers. Some people believe they are not from this world, but I find that hard to believe. I don’t know what it wants with your friend. I suggest you two stand back. As an expert Pokémon trainer, I have this situation under control.” He sent out his Hatenna. “Hatenna, use Disarming Voice!”

Hatenna jumped foward and opened her mouth, releasing a beam of pink soundwaves surrounded by hearts and musical notes from it at the Elgyem.

The attack startled, and knocked the Psychic type back. Of course, the cerebral Pokémon was not happy about being attacked, and retaliated by teleporting close to Hattena, and firing a beam of Psychic energy at point blank range. A point blank Psybeam hurt the Hatenna, but since Psychics usually resisted other Psychics, the Hatenna was able to shake it off.

Bede was not impressed. “Really? Is that the best you can do? How sad. My dear Hatenna resists Psychic attacks. Hatenna use Round!”

Hatenna let out another high pitched screech, causing the Elgyem to hold it’s ears in pain. Did Elgyem even have ears? Whatever, they had to hear sounds somehow. While the Elgyem was distracted, Bede pulled out a Pokeball, and threw it at the Elgyem.

The ball opened up, and sucked the Elgyem inside. Then the ball shook. One click, two click, three clicks, and then the ball hummed. Bede was now the proud owner of an Elgyem.

Bede picked up the ball, and proudly flipped his hair. “And that’s how you do it.” That Elgyem was kind of cute… And it could be great if it had the guidance of an amazing trainer like Bede.

He then walked up to Tora. “What about you? Are you alright?”

Sakura happily skipped by Cadet’s side, very pleased with their fight. It went very well. Both fighters learned a lot and were growing in skill, and she felt like she had really cemented Ace as one of her friends. Plus, again…it didn’t help that she won. Which is why she couldn’t help but smile, amused, as they rendezvoused with the fuming heiress, Karin Kanzuki.

”Uh oh…” Sakura said, setting a hand on her hip. ”Geez, Karin. I’m sorry you l-”

”Not another word, commoner!” Karin interjected, cheeks red. ”I did not lose. My victory was as complete as it was skillful. As clever as yours are lucky. So shut up this very moment before blow that happy little grin right off your chapped lips.” She threatened, jabbing Sakura with a gloved finger.

Sakura put a hand up to her lips. ”Chapped..?” She asked quietly. She tapped them gingerly. ”W-well..,uh…anyway. If you won, why are you so mad?”

”Mad! Hah! Who's mad?! HAHAHA!” She shouted out a cackle that made it sound like Sakura meant ‘crazy’ when she said ‘mad’, not ‘angry.’ ”An arrogant smug little wizard could never get under my thick yet perfectly moisturized skin. No, my young Sakura-san, I am riding the high of perfect victory, as usual.” Karin swiped her hand through the air like she was cutting any alternative viewpoints in half with a knife.

”...Right. You mean Mister Rubick?” Sakura asked, curious, blowing right past all of Karin’s nonsense.

”Yes, I mean Mister Rubick. You saw what he did to you at the restaurant. Copied your technique like it made him special! Well, Karin Kanzuki cannot be copied. Karin Kanzuki never falls for the same trick twice. Karin Kanzuki-...can choose to talk in the third person if she so chooses!” She said defensively at Sakura’s raised eyebrow.


”The point is- that cowardly arrogant bastard picked an arena where he could just use his telekinesis to toss me off, as if that counted as a victory in any meaningful way, shape, or form. The audacity! I demanded a rematch and he was foolish enough to accept, for naturally I exposed him as the fraud he was the instant I knew of his trick. Then he forfeit before I even got to hit him!” Karin vented to her friend Sakura.


”Well…I mean…rules are rules. Sounds like you two tied.” Sakura said.

”We did not tie! My victory was complete and total! His was merely- circumstantial! And once I knew his trick, my victory was assured!” Karin protested.

”But you-” Sakura began.

”But nothing! You may be happy to lick the heels of others to make friends, but Karin Kanzuki has pride! I’ll not be making peace with that magician. That noodle-armed, bug-eyed charlatan. Instead, I am plotting revenge.” She rubbed her hands together.

”But Karin!” Sakura said, alarmed. ”You’re on the same team! You need to work together!”

”That’s just it, my naive friend. During the course of our battles, I’ll save his pathetic life so many times, he’ll have no choice but to accept my superiority!” She grinned a familiar, villainous villainess grin.

”Oh, uh…okay, I guess.” Sakura scratched her head. That wasn’t so bad. At least she wasn’t trying to take over high schools anymore. Or hosting a gigantic free-for-all fighting tournament with Sakura’s entire hometown as the arena.

”Well. My fight with Ace was actually pretty-” Sakura began.

Karin held up a finger. ”My sincerest apologies, my dear Sakura, but this story may have to wait. I hear a commotion. Do you?” Karin asked, raising an eyebrow. It took a moment for Sakura’s unsharpened, commoner ears to pick up on the noise, but eventually she did.

”That- that is weird. Did someone forget you aren’t supposed to fight outside the fighting spots?”

The two of them began to head towards the reception area where they first arrived. It took them some time to get there, given the massive scale of the building. It was fortunate the acoustics were so good. Once they did, they saw the aftermath of a huge battle. Unconscious and half-conscious bodies were flung about the place! Sakura gasped, but when she saw no signs of dust or spirits, she let out a sigh of relief. Karin cupped her chin and strode forward to get a closer look.

The street fighters looked over at the two overly dressed newcomers, who seemed to be the cause of the commotion. Seemed like they were intent on challenging anyone in their way. The teams that were designed to ambush newcomers under Galeem’s influence actually lost! Sakura couldn’t believe it. Karin, meanwhile, eyed the man in red and the woman in white. They seemed like worthy challengers. But someone else had already taken her spot. One of their own, a Seeker, seemed as if she wanted to take on both invaders by herself. Quite a bold declaration of skill considering the ten or more defeated fighters in the lobby.

Sakura seemed pretty excited. Kamek was tending to the wounded, and Street Fighters beat the snot out of each other all the time, so she was pretty sure everyone would be just fine once they had some rest. ”Winner stays on, okay! I want to fight next.” She grinned.

”Or, you know…I know you guys just did a 2v10, but 2v1 isn’t fair, either. Maybe we could just split into two 1v1’s instead and-” She rambled as she began walking close to the fray.

Now it was Karin’s turn to be the Straight Man of the relationship. She set a hand on her shoulder and pulled her back. ”Miss Sakura, I am not quite sure this is that type of fight. Remember they are under the influence of Galeem.”

”Oh. Haha. Right.” Sakura blushed, grinning apologetically as a bead of sweat ran down the side of her face. Karin pulled her back.

”Still. Should our bold huntress fail in her endeavor, I call dibs on the handsome fellow with the cool sword.” Karin added with a quick smile.

”Aw, man!” Sakura pouted, crossing her arms.

When Junior’s suggestion of a speedy withdrawal from the rooftop drifted over to her, Nadia didn’t respond right away. Sure, the raindrops felt a little chilly up here, and the same thought did occur to her, but she felt no real hurry. In fact, she figured she could stay up here a while longer, if she wanted. Idly she wondered if she could attribute it to the Oceanid, but the water really did bother her much, be it raining from the sky or breaking gently against the shore before her, so long as it was pure. And what could be purer than clear, fresh rain?

The feral took a long, deep breath and turned her face upward, eyes closed, feeling the droplets splash against her face. It felt nice. In recent memory, the only other time it’d been raining had been back on Carcass Isle, beneath the eternal stormy sky of the Bottomless Sea, and that had been miserable. Its pelting sting had been an active detriment while fighting in the violated fishing hamlet, not something that could be enjoyed, but just one more thing to contend with in that wretched, diseased place. The memory made Nadia shiver, and she turned her face down from the sky. As she wiped the water from her eyes and brushed her hair behind her ears, she glanced at the others up with her on the roof. While Bella and Rika, as natives of the Bottomless Sea themselves, probably didn’t care about getting wet, Nadia’s dawdling meant that Junior would get rained on as he waited to take the spider lift back down. Although, since the elevator shaft opened to the sky, Nadia wondered if there would be any relief from the rain on the way down, anyway.

That left just Hatty, who Nadia found after a quick look around, seated on the railing that overlooked Alcamoth’s front with her umbrella open. She jogged over, splashing with each footfall, and leaned on the balustrade beside the little girl to look out over the Eryth Sea once more. For a couple moments they just rested there, taking in the peaceful scene beneath a rainy sky. Down below, Alcamoth Park shone through the domed glass roof of the forward atrium, the rich greens of its fields and trees softly lit by the greenish-blue floor lights that filled the place. Nadia’s knuckles still felt a little sore from all the punches she’d landed Junior’s clown car, although she didn’t mind, since each hit meant she’d dialed in her aim a little better. By the end of the climb up here, she felt pretty good about them, even if her fists stung a little. Maybe she could try out her pawttle rockets in her next fight.

When she looked over at Hatty, the little girl didn’t seem to be admiring the view. Instead she squinted down at Eryth Sea itself, her umbrella rested on her shoulder, as if mentally calculating the distances and angles. To the average person the machinations of her mind might have been an enigma, but Nadia could make a solid guess as to what Hatty might be thinking, largely because -in a very Ms Fortune turn of events- she’d had the same crazy idea herself.

“Water ya thinkin’? Not plannin’ to jump, are ya?” she asked the kid, raising an eyebrow. Hatty rubbed her chin like a sagacious philosopher, then shrugged. “I mean, I know that umbrella of yours can break falls, and normally I’d be right there with ya, ‘cause a high dive from here’d be one for the history books. but we’re reeeeeally high up. Literally sky-high.” Nadia flicked her ear as a big drop happened to land right inside it. “Plus, the rain’s makin’ it kinda hard to see. Why don’t we try another time? Maybe with a pair o’ chutes, nyeheh.”

Hatty thought for a moment longer about the death-defying stunt, then sighed and shrugged, as if to say oh well. With a chuckle Nadia scooped Hatty off the railing, and with the kid in the same bridal carry Ace had used on her, the feral jogged back toward the elevator shaft. By now it was really starting to pour, enough to tempt Junior and Bella to improvise with their heavy machinery as makeshift shelter. Once everyone got on board, the lift began to retrace its eight-legged steps, carrying the sightseers all the way back down.

Luckily, it took less time to go down than up, since the spider-legs just needed to control the platform’s fall rather than haul it and its passengers upward. Nadia’s prediction about getting rained on the whole time even turned out to be wrong, since a pair of reinforced bay doors closed shut over the shaft once the elevator went down far enough. By the time the platform came to a rest back in the middle of the parapet cafe at the end of the descent, everyone was pretty much dry again.

Hatty, who’d jumped out of Nadia’s arms basically the instant she set foot on the lift up top, ran a few steps in one direction and then stopped, looking around. “Where to now?” Nadia asked, but the kid thought of an answer, she didn’t say. “Well, I was hopin’ we might get a Moogle on the way down sayin’ we’re headed out, but either way we’ll be goin’ pretty soon.” The feral crossed her arms as she leaned against one of the shaft’s support struts. “You’re comin’ with us, right kid?”

Her little friend removed her hat, then after only a moment’s hesitation, shook her head. Nadia’s heart sank a little. “Oh. Well, that’s cool! I mean, that’s fine. You probably wanna find more of those hourglasses of yours, right?” Hatty gave a nod, sad but resolute. “Well, we’ll miss ya out there. You too, Bell. Both of you stay safe, and have some fun, alright?” Nadia put her feelings aside to smile, and patted Hatty on the head. “You’re a good kid. Gooder than me when I was your age, that’s fur sure! See ya ‘round!”

Hatty nodded and put her hat back on. Once the others gave their farewells she turned, ran toward the edge of the parapet, and dove off. When Nadia went over, she peered down just in time to see the kid break her fall with her umbrella just above the ground floor, then scamper off through the park to the Limsa warp. Would she be alright on her own? Nadia hoped so. More than that she couldn’t say for sure–she could only reason that Hatty was one uncommonly brave and strong little girl, and that the World of Light had better watch out.

After a moment Nadia sighed. Saying a farewell like this was bittersweet, but it was better than nothing. She found herself wishing that she had a moment like this with Link, Mirage, Delsin, Frog, or the shipgirls like Chao Ho, as briefly as she’d known them. She knew she couldn’t entertain these wistful thoughts forever, though. This world seemed to be full of remarkable people, and there would be countless more meetings and partings. She needed to fix her eyes on the road ahead, and those who would walk it with her.

“Goodbye.”



Her ultimatum issued, Dante lowered her weapon and began to walk forward, and her opponent did the same. From several hundred feet away she stared the surly Sol Badguy down, who returned her gaze with a humorless glare, his eyes shaded by his headband. His fingers tightened around the grip of the Outrage as he drew nearer, step by step. At about twenty feet apart they stopped, both seemingly relaxed and waiting as if for some kind of signal. Dante showed off her pearly whites with a carefree smile, daring Sol to make the first move, while the gear just glowered, waiting for her to make good on her challenge. Their standoff seemed to drag on and on, tension building among both the combatants and the onlookers.

Neither acknowledged the presence of Bowser, Kamek, or Kamek’s clones, as if they made no difference despite the Koopa King’s typical bluster. In the course of looking after the fallen, the witch came to realize that their overall condition wasn’t as bad as it first appeared. They’d been beaten up, in some cases pretty badly, but not fatally wounded. Some even limped or staggered away from the imminent fight on their own, trusting in Alcamoth’s strongest mercenary to do what they could not. With that crisis out of the way, all eyes turned back to Dante and Sol.

Mankind knew that they could not change society.

So instead of reflecting on themselves, they blamed the beasts.

Heaven or hell.



Though the two barely moved, the air around them wasn’t still. It almost seemed to thrum with energy as the two took long, measured breaths to fill and empty their lungs, pumping blood through their bodies that coursed with incredible power. It was easy to imagine sparks flying between them as they took a fraction of one another’s measure, never breaking their taunting or stoic facades. “...You’d better go all out,” Sol told her. “Right from the start.”

“Heheheh,” Dante snickered, her laughter clear and bright, and her eyes alight with anticipation. “After you.”

The next instant both attacked at the same time. Dante carved upward with her High Time launcher, while Sol let loose his ballistic far slash. A tremendous impact reverberated through the Great Hall as the blows traded, popping Sol into the air while Dante tumbled backward with an upset stomach. She rolled back to her feet while her opponent picked himself up, and with her Devil Sword in a reverse grip scraped across the tile with two Drives and a blistering Overdrive to send three slash waves Sol’s way. He blocked the first, dodged the second, then launched upward and over the finale with his teeth and fist clenched. “Bandit…” Like a meteorite he blazed downward. “Bringer!”

“Trickster!” As Sol struck the ground in a fiery explosion, Dante vanished and appeared above him with Air Trick, then fell upon him with Helm Splitter. “Alright!” She bit into her appetizer with four consecutive slashes, ending in a revolving thrust that became the vertically spinning Shredder, followed by Prop going the other way, and finally a finishing Stinger. Sol grunted as the thrust knocked him away, and as he stood a volley of demonic gunfire flew his way. “Yahoo!” Dante sang, hammering her handguns’ triggers with both hands. Her opponent started to run in an arc around her, his madcap sprint low to the ground, but she adjusted both her aim and her shooting poses to keep up, strafing as she did. After a couple shots Sol decided he could just power through and swept toward Dante with Night Raid Vortex, moving so low to the ground that he went under her gunfire. Rather then keep at it Dante began to charge, and when her foe’s jaw dropper erupted toward her, she cartwheeled backward before delivering a point-blank, double-barreled charge shot. “Jackpot!”

Sol staggered, but he kept his footing, his teeth bared in a snarl. “Projectiles are BULLSHIT!” he announced as he bulled forward. His mighty chop slammed into Dante’s attempt to block, and as his attacks forced her to backpedal the trickster realized with some surprise that her adversary’s physical strength might even outstrip her own. Sol struck with hit after tooth-rattling hit, some high, some low, and the moment he delayed a swing in order to catch an ill-conceived counterattack, Dante teleported above and behind him in a red flash. She hoped to catch him unawares with another Helm Splitter, but the bounty hunter turned on a dime and met her descent with Volcanic Viper, shrugging off her drop slash and blasting her from the sky.

He ran in to capitalize on the knockdown, but Dante flipped back up and changed stances. “Royal Guard!” Sol applied pressure again, but this time his enemy deflected his hits with expert parries from her bare hands. He clicked his tongue and tried again, mixing up his strikes, but whether high or low Dante knocked them all aside.

“Hmph!” he spat, crackling with orange energy as he charged his Dust. “Let’s see you parry THIS!”

For a moment Dante planned to, but at the last second she decided otherwise, and ducked backward just in time to avoid an infernal launcher by a matter of centimeters. Her swerve flowed into a counterattack, and with a straight palm strike released all the damage she’d absorbed straight into Sol’s ribs. His air exploded from his lungs as he crumpled, and Dante grinned. “If ya think that took your breath away, get ready for this! Gunslinger” While Sol fought for breath she donned a white hat, manifested a little ghostlike companion, and started to dance. With a flourish she whirled the hat around her, hitting and applying one to Sol in the process, before she popped Sol into the air with High Time. The ghost belted out a coordinated attack with a volley of red orbs, juggling Sol long enough for Dante to pummel him with a punishing blast from Coyote shotgun, then again long enough for her to roll forward and Cut in Front for a second blast. For the finale Dante unleashed Man in the Red, surrounding herself in a tumultuous cloud of red orbs that buffeted Sol as she sprinted into him, then finally launched forward with him in tow.

“Damn!” Sol wheezed, getting up into a crouch only to find Dante already on him, switched into Swordmaster to embroil him in her Dance Macabre. He gritted his teeth and blocked with everything he had, defending himself against four strikes canceled into a lightning-fast Million Stab and then canceled again into Crazy Dance. Dante stabbed her sword into the ground, gripped it by the hilt, and then whirled around it with a revolutionary flurry of kicks. All that momentum went into a heft revolving slash, then another, and finally a gigantic baseball swing to bring down the house.

Except that Sol used Faultless Defense to push her back on the second-to-last hit, causing the baseball swing to whiff completely. As it carved through the air Dante’s wide eyes met Sol’s for just a moment, and found them filled with glee. “...Finally!”



COUNTER! Dante’s mouth flew open in pain and surprise as Sol’s far slash slammed into her stomach. He followed up with a one-two up-and-out wallop that would’ve sent her tumbling away if he didn’t Roman Cancel it, blitzing after her in a burst of red energy. His high kick lifted her high enough for a ”Gunflame!” to explode beneath her, enabling another high kick followed by a Vortex. At that point Sol hopped up to follow her, striking with his air dust.

While that knocked her back, Dante’s flight was short-lived, and to her shock she bounced off an invisible barrier behind her. “W-what!?” She tumbled right back toward Sol, who looped into another air dust, and then on the second wallbounce, finally finished off with a clean hit Volcanic Viper. With a somewhat uncharacteristic cry Dante plowed straight through the unseen barrier and soared across the hall. She landed hard between an astonished Euden and Mym, and just a brief moment later Sol landed in front of them.

“Guess the first round’s mine,” he smirked.

The prince unsheathed his sword and the dragon unveiled her spear, but Dante flipped to her feet. “Hey, hey!” she called, wiping a trace of blood from her lip with a smile. “Thought I said to hold it? We were just startin’ to have some fun!”

“We’ll stand a better chance if we work together!” Euden insisted.

“Piss off, kid!” Sol barked at him. “Can’t you see the adults are talkin’?”

Mym bristled. “How dare you insult my darling! I’ll have you know…”

Sol flipped her off, then shared it with Geralt and the other onlookers too. “Have this!”

“Don’t be a stick in the mud, you two! This party’s just gettin’ started!” Dante told them, and before they could say otherwise, she charged ahead. “Quicksilver!”



While for a moment it looked as though Poppi planned to rocket-propel herself on over and give the psychic-type a taste of her Alpha form’s claymore, the artificial blade wasn’t so impetuous that she ignored the local Pokemon expert. Bede not only recognized the strange creature currently bamboozling her Masterpon but offered some trivia on it. Of course, the information he shared only served to make Poppi regard the Elgyem as even more of a threat, but she took it to mean that he did harbor enough pertinent knowledge about the creature to make good on his offer to handle things. Though her expression did not turn any less hostile, she relaxed somewhat, resting her spiritborne greatsword on her shoulder. “Masterpon in friend Bede’s care,” she told him, stepping aside to let him strut his stuff. Hopefully he knew what he was doing, but if things went south, she could always fall back on her original plan.

He produced a small, round, bicolor device that Poppi recognized as a Pokeball from the brief time in which she attempted to train a Pokemon of her own. Unfortunately she just lacked the time or experience needed to take care of it, resulting in the release of that particular Croagunk to the wild, but from that stint she’d gotten a crash course of the bare essentials alongside the Courier and Junior. The creature that Bede called forth was new to her, with its pastel blue-pink coloration and funny little sleeping cap, but she did realize what its trainer planned to do with it. “So, this going to be Pokemon battle,” she observed. “Good luck!”

Neither Bede nor his partner needed her encouragement. The ‘battle’ with the wild Elgyem lasted less than a minute, with a total of three moves exchanged before Bede chucked a fresh Pokeball at the supernatural critter and trapped it within. While the captive Elgyem struggled for its freedom, its resistance seemed to be futile, for after just a couple weak thrashes the ball went still.

“Meh-meh?” Tora blinked the glaze from his eyes, rubbed them with his little hands, then gave a vigorous shake of his head. “What happen?” His wondering eyes fell on Bede as the Pokemon trainer approached, asking about his condition. “Tora think so, meh. One minute Tora see funny lighty-lights inside little house, but when go look, suddenly feel like big sleepypon.” He looked between Bede and Poppi as she came over, equal parts confused and mortified. “Next thing Tora know, out in strange forest where everything green like Bobbile Brog.”

Poppi crouched next to him, her eyes wide with concern as she looked at her Masterpon from different angles. Not sure what to make of it, Tora just stared back until she reached out and started squishing his head. “Masterpon sure brain is okay? Bede say Elgyem have strong psychic power.”

“Tora brain just fine, thanks! Enormous as ever!” Tora protested, although it was hard for him to hide his satisfaction at receiving what amounted to a scalp massage. After a moment Poppi let off, nudging him in the side with a slight gesture to Bede, and Tora cleared his throat. “Thank you for rescue!” the Nopon told the trainer. “Friend Bede is good friend!”

Vandham laughed, crossing his arms. “Sounds like you know a thing or to about Pokemon, kid. Sorted that li’l bugger out right quick. Maybe you oughta stick with us after this, when all the train business is said an’ done. You’ll ‘ave plenty o’ chances to fight an’ travel, I tell ya that.”

“Maybe save pitch for later?” Tora asked, wincing. “Not that Tora disagree, but if all done here, we should move to next spot, meh. All these color hurt Tora eyes.”

The big man nodded. “Sure, sure, we’ll talk it over later. I’m itchin’ to get a move on myself, ‘fore anythin’ else happens. Somethin’ funky in the air, might be.”

“Sound like plan to Poppi!”

After turning their backs on the sensational Sensorium, the four carefully made their way back through Radlandia in a tight-knit group, doing their best to ignore the distractions and sidestep the skateboarders. That last part turned out to be a little tougher than one might expect for Tora, who was so used to defense over evasion that when a boarder sped his way he actually tried to block rather than dodge him, which required Poppi to snatch him out of the way. Somehow they all managed to reach the train station in one piece, although it turned out it would be another five minutes or so before the next train arrived.

“While we wait, why not tell us about self?” Tora asked Bede after the squad seated themselves on some benches. “Tora want get know everyone better, so can call ‘friend’ for real-reals!”

His companion also seemed interested. “Poppi want know about Pokemon too, if not too much bother. Others in group also have them, and Poppi dabble for time, but it too much.” She poked Tora in the stomach. “Have hands full taking care of Masterpon!”

Tora shrugged. “With what we go through, it all we can do to take care of eachother, sometimes!”

The conversation didn’t last too long, and after a little more waiting the next Metro train arrived, heralded by the resounding meow of the giant tabby that pulled it. Everyone piled in, with Vandham last in since he needed to stoop to get inside the subway car. Dutifully the doors slid closed, and the train got underway. Where its next destination might be Tora couldn’t guess, other than that seastack city out in the bay, but if Radlandia was any indication his next port of call on the Blue Line would probably be on the water as well.

---

This time when the darkness faded, radiant sunlight flooded through the subway car’s windows, so bright and clear that Tora could see every smudge on the glass. This did not stop him pressing his face against the window as the train rattled one of the city’s many elevated tracks, revealing a sprawling hillside city of marble white among rich green jungle, its sloped, narrow streets reaching all the way down to the sparkling waters of the southern cove. A flotilla of schooners and trawlers plied that bay, dragging in shoals of fish to feed the ravenous fish markets, while higher up the manmade Wind Corridor provided the vast port with power, with handfuls of Gazuma buzzing around the tubes.

All too quickly the view vanished, blocked by the buildings that hemmed in the train track, and the cat pulled into the station. Tora, Poppi, and Vandham disembarked and headed over to the nearby balcony, drinking in the atmosphere. After their visit to Radlandia, the relative normalcy of this maritime metropolis was a welcome change, and though not exactly idyllic the place was nothing if not grand. Plus, this particular spot already seemed to be high up, and with clear skies overhead Poppi predicted a nominal reception from Alcamoth.

She turned to the others as the train rolled off. “Okay, Poppi walk just over there and make call. Please do not get lost.”

Tora gave a nonchalant shrug as he waddled over to the nearby store to check it out. “If Poppi insist!”

Vandham just smiled, gave her a salute, and went after Tora to keep an eye on him. As he turned though, his smile faded, and he kept a sharp eye on his surroundings, too. Though this city might look like a seaside paradise at first glance, something told the mercenary leader that there was more to the place than met the eye. It felt real in a way that Radlandia did not, and reality can be cruel.

While Poppi got in touch with a Moogle, Bede might become aware of a persistent whine around the train station, originating from an apartment building across the street that appeared to be quarantined. A faint odor helped guide his eyes to some of the windows higher up, where big, black bloodflies buzzed around their papery nests, lustrous as rubies. A closer inspection might reveal the sounds of moans and weeping from within.



Departure back through Queen’s Station took Jesse, Raz, and Therion to the next leg of their journey through the underground, and this time, rather than a somber affair carved from stone and decorated with dead shells, their train deposited them in a rather unremarkable subway platform. When the doors opened here a bunch of passengers filtered both in and out, creating a lot more activity than the trio saw in the realm of bugs right from the start. None appeared to be insectoid in nature either, although at the same time, the ratio of nonhumans present did seem rather high. After the assortment of strange environments they witnessed around Queen’s Station the new arrivals could only venture a guess at what they might find here, but with no other options than to climb the stairs (or escalator) up and out of the station, it wouldn’t be long until they found out.



At the top of the ascent they found a sprawling cavern of dark stone and cyan-blue water, bathed in the glow of bioluminescent fungal trees. Their ghostly effulgence shone down on ancient ruins and all manner of creatures, but over by this wall of the cave in particular plenty of warm yellow lamps lined the pathway that led up to the fabulous MTT Resort. Its presence probably made a number of those coming and going along this route its patrons, and the excited ambient chatter of guests eager for a luxurious stay or embittered by their departure backed that up. While a few other buildings stood along this curved upward road, most of them at least partially recessed into the wall, the Resort at its end towered over all of them, and one really couldn’t swing a stick without hitting some sort of advertisement for it. They all talked about healthy mineral pools, reinvigorating hot springs, fascinating wildlife, and all sorts of other amenities only a five-star resort like MTT could offer. Through the mists of Blackreach, the visitors could make out the vague outlines of a hallowed and nameless city, ominous with its long windows of crimson stained glass.



After leaving the others behind to lick their wounds and mourn the dead, the Scout, Sectonia, and Red made their way to the next location. Having gotten a lot more excitement than they bargained for in Haven, which turned out to be really dangerous down at the ruined city’s ground level, everyone hoped that their next stop would be a much simpler one. Get in, ring up a Moogle, and get out, without as few hostile death squads as could be managed. It took a while for the train to make its way through the void to the Mint Line’s second destination, but not so long that when the orange-gold rays of dusk suddenly flooded through the windows, the three weren’t taken by surprise.

“Wot?” the Scout wondered, baffled but not at a loss for words. “It’s still mornin’, right? Why’s it look like the sun’s fixin’ t’go down, all’ve a-sudden?”

The others could offer no answer. They got off the train with no company but one another’s, and made their way through a spacious but quiet station, so wide-open and empty other than the benches for commuters to wait in and some potted plants that when the Metro cat took the train away, the new arrivals could hear their footfalls echo through the place. It made the Scout a little uneasy, as if he’d set foot in a ghost town, and after the attack in Haven he wasn’t about to take his hand off his assault rifle. When he and the other two got outside, however, they emerged into a sleepy city on the perpetual edge of dawn, full of people just going about their business without any signs of fear or unrest. At the bottom of the hill, on the opposite side of the colorful Market Street that wound down the hill like a giant ribbon, lay a small harbor on the edge of an ocean that reached the eastern horizon. Across the water to the northwest, meanwhile, lay a distant and mountainous coast. The three had wound up in a special place, outwardly rather ordinary, but more important than any of them realized.