Sandalphon considered everything that the group had discussed so far as she continued. “We have a number of missing allies still, some awaiting recovery in the Land of Adventure, others in parts unknown. We have several locations to revisit, including Markarth in the Land of Adventure, and Limsa Lominscuttle Town in the Deep Blue Seaside.” After confirming that the geoscape was, miraculously, still functional, she used it to display the World of Light in all its topographical glory, then mark regions off the map. All this aptly demonstrated the usefulness of the system Bowser had nearly destroyed. “In addition to those regions, the Seekers have quelled the Guardians in the Mushroom Kingdom, the Sandswept Sky, the Under, and the Dystopiascape. In addition, Consuls M, P, and Y are dead. That leaves seven regions that still have their Guardian and Consulate fully intact. We should discuss where to go next.” Sandalphon peered at Blazermate. “For instance, didn’t you say that the Dead Zone was destroyed? If Its Guardian is exposed, we should strike there.”

”Whoa.” Roxas mouthed as his eyes scanned around the map on display. It took a moment for him to finally spot Twilight Town, which seemed like a speck compared to the scale of places like Midgar. It was a pretty big world alright, and he’d only seen a small fraction of it so far. But something else on the map caught his eye, a peculiar city situated in the center-most northern spot. It didn’t quite register at first why this was eye-catching. At least, not until the Nobody thought about the city’s name for a moment, or rather, it’s lack thereof.

”That’s it!” Roxas suddenly exclaimed out of nowhere. His gauntleted hand was pointing directly at the City That Never Was. ”Kamek, you said earlier that the Master of Masters saw the Organization in a ‘city with no name’ right?” He asked the magikoopa but went ahead and explained further without waiting for a reply. ”That right there has to be it! There was a place called the City That Never Was in my world, and in it was the Castle That Never Was, and that castle was the Organization’s stronghold!”

Pit spoke at the same time as Roxas, making the conversation muddled as the two boys talked over each other. Pit's chiming in was in regards to his fellow angel's suggestion of taking on the Dead Zone once more. "Yeah the whole place looked like a wasteland, but there's still all that time-rain around the Dead Zone though! It makes everything it touches older, super fast."

“That’s where we come in,” a quirky old voice piped up, announcing the presence of one E. Gadd in a mechanized chair and a navy-blue cap. “We’ve been working on a way to protect a whole team of operatives from the effects of timefall, long enough for you to reach the Qliphoth tree and get inside. After recovering a surplus of chiralium crystals from Kosm’s Beach, our solution is coming along, too. We still need a little more time, a few days maybe, but after that we’ll be ready to finish off the Dead Zone in one fell swoop!” As his excitement simmered down, the little old man crossed his arms. “I should say, there’s another problem when it comes to reaching the City That Never Was. The whole region as far south as Dunwall is saturated by a strange signal we call the Transmission. It’s demonstrated an irresistible hypnotic effect on living things. So far, it has us stumped. So until then, steer clear!”

At that point, another new voice joined the conversation. “Pardon me, everyone. My name is Hope. I’m the Avenger’s onboard support AI, as well as its pilot. Thank you for not destroying my geoscape, by the way.” It paused for a beat. “On the subject of navigation, I do have some advice. Right now, with two more Guardians destroyed, Moebius is on high alert. The Consuls aren’t just shoring up their defenses, but actively searching for both us and Consul S. This includes H from the Sandswept Sky, one of the two who attacked Alcamoth, and who -like all Consuls who’ve already lost their Guardian- is free to hunt us down. And I hardly need to mention Z, who we -at great risk to everyone aboard- directly confronted above Everdream Valley. It would be wise to lay low for a few days and pursue side objectives until the hornets’ nest calms down.”

Bowser gave a slightly embarrassed cough at that, while Jr gave a quite ”wow cool” before having an idea and saying ”Oh, we should also check Peach’s” he paused briefly and made a small sad sound before pushing on and suggesting ”Peach’s castle. I had a warp painting from our base there, maybe there’s survivors who got out using it and are there now?” hopefully.

”Even if not, it might be wise to evacuate them, lest the Consuls find it,” Kamek suggested, fearing the worst where the young prince was hoping for the best.

"Evacuate them to where?" Therion pointed out. He hadn't retaken his seat after Bowser’s outburst, now standing with his tail curled around one leg. "That city's gone and if we're already sharing rooms on this ship, how many more people can it fit?"

”Unfortunately, Gerudo Town isn't an option.” Ganondorf said just to get ahead of the idea before anyone else suggested it. ”At least, not for the men anyway. The Chief made exceptions for me and those who accompany me, but only to visit when needed. But beyond that, well, the Tribe’s laws are considered absolute.”

”Well, if it's a big city you're looking for, Midgar could work. It needs to be fixed up a bit, but the Ever Crisis is over so it should be relatively peaceful. We’d just need to figure out or fix the next election.” Roland suggested, noting that most of Midgar was mostly ok, and even the backstreets of Midgar weren’t all that bad.

”But what about the electricity?” Roxas pointed out. ”The Guardian powered the whole city. With it gone, who knows how long it could take to set up a replacement system?”

”Well, my friends from the library used to work for L corp, the power company from where I’m from. I only vaguely know what went on there, but the power it produced was enough to power time machines and warp trains and have more to spare. And it was clean energy… Although I don’t know how they made so much Enkephalin.” Roland said, being a bit spotty on the details in a combination of not knowing, or leaving out a bit of the details due to not wanting to remember. He had already said some of what went on earlier anyway.

”And one of them, although I’d say she is more of an acquaintance, runs Shinra.” Roland continued, scratching his head.

”So we just hand power back over to Shinra again?” Roxas retorted. He really didn’t like the sound of that, but he unfortunately had no other alternatives to suggest. ”And there’s also Midgar’s defenses - Neuron, Psych-OSF, Public Security. They’re all in shambles because of us. How do we go about fixing that?”

”Well, technically Shinra didn’t lose any standing on ruling the city. President Shinra and Armstrong both died so by default Shinra would still be running the city right?” Roland said with his own retort. ”And as for the defenses… Most of them are still there and there are also the rebel forces and those who helped with the Ever Crisis that stayed in Midgar. I don’t know about you, but a select handful of people that took out entire departments might be better security than those departments against huge threats like the Consuls if they popped their heads back into Midgar.” Roland continued before taking a breath. ”All I’m saying. If we’re trying to hide a tree, putting it in the forest would be the best place to hide it.”

Goldlewis scratched his head. “I feel like we’re gettin’ off into the weeds here. Midgar was a hellhole held together by Shinra’s iron fist, and now that’s gone, too. Power’s gone, and everyone’s shippin’ out, last we heard.” Hopefully the exodus was going well, he thought. With the likes of Karin, Vernon, and Fubuki there the Midgar refugees were not lacking for leadership.

”Midgar wasn’t all that bad besides the Ever Crisis, to be honest…” Roland said, gloomily alluding to knowing a way worse place. To him, Midgar was a great place to live, although his standards of living were rock bottom.

”I’m gonna be honest with you, Roland, that’s…really more of an indictment of your world than it is an endorsement of Midgar. That place was…bad. And I came from a world where Konoe tried brainwashing the entire human race to end all crime.” Zenkichi said, looking a little sad to be bursting Roland’s bubble.

"We can take anyone that needs rescuing to Skyworld!" Pit cut into the argument, slapping his palms onto the table.

"We'd have to go and clear out any baddies that might be there—" Because Palutena's domain was unfortunately not the impenetrable bastion of goodness that the goddess strove for, seeing as it had been invaded a couple of times even before being sucked into the World of Light. "—but after that, Lady Palutena's temple can fit more than a whole city's worth of people!"

He went on, resolute in convincing everyone that visiting Skyworld was worthwhile. "It's high up in the sky, and if Lady Palutena is there she can protect everyone. If you guys figured out a way to stop the other Consuls from finding S, I'm sure she can figure out how to do the same thing and stop them from seeing the temple! She'll be able to help us!"

That he wanted to help her, too, and make sure she was alright didn't need to be said - it was clear in his voice. "When Midna took us up to the top of this giant mountain, we saw it. It's probably not even that far away if we can fly right there!"

”The ship certainly does solve the issue we had of how we were going to get there” Minda agreed, implicitly offering to go with him there.

”Count me in, too.” Roxas said, also agreeing.

“That’s another locale to visit, then,” Sandalphon told him with a reassuring nod. “I must confess that I wish to see it myself. If we’re going to bide our time while Bridges opens the way to the Qliphoth, it may be wise to spread our force out across several locations, keeping a low profile while gathering intelligence, additional allies, and resources. Skyworld could be one such place. I would advise against anywhere near Alcamoth or in the Land of Adventure, though.”

Relief at everyone agreeing with him, in any capacity, made Pit shoot them a huge grin. Though when Sandalphon cautioned against returning to the site of Alcamoth's destruction, Primrose hummed in disappointment. Still, she understood, and didn't put up any argument.

“I just want to visit Markarth to find Yen.” Geralt added, an edge to his voice. “I understand the caution, but I’m already having to look for Ciri. If the Land of Adventure resets and everybody from Alcamoth is still there…we’ll have lost a lot of good people. And not just my wife.”

Hope quickly addressed his concern. “We can definitely do that. We have no impression of leaving the survivors to that fate.” Geralt nodded, not having expected anybody to be suggesting that, but needing to make sure they at least made sure to stop there and rescue the survivors.

After nodding her assent, Nadia stood and leaned over the table to get a better look around the geoscape, scanning the three-dimensional map of the World of Light for any spot that interested her. “Somewhere to lay low, huh…how about there?” She tapped a little island in the ocean on the continents southwestern side. “‘Mafia Town’. I’ve dealt with plenty of mafia types, so I could probably hide out around there. Plus, it’s close enough to both Limsa and that big forest area that there’s bound to be rumors goin’ around. With port towns, you never know for ‘shore’!”

”Sounds like a hive of scum and villainy, to me.” Captain Falcon said, finally speaking up for the first time this whole meeting. ”Been a while since I’ve been in the bounty hunting game, but I bet I could rake in some good money in a place like that.”

Juri hadn’t said much, taking in all the information available to her. But if they were going to crack down on some Guardians and Illuminati wannabe freaks, Mafia Town sounded like the place Juri wanted to be. ”It sounds like it might be some sham tourist trap with a name like that. But if things really are just that obvious now, then I’m all in.” She said from her spot on the railing. Backlit, the most obvious feature of her shadow-obscured face was her dimly glowing artificial purple eye. Her declaration earned an incredulous look from her rival Nadia. The glowing eye winked in response.

”Alright, you check those places out, and then we’ll get people to wherever best for a load of toads and whoever else is still at the castle” Bowser said, before Jr added ”or both. I can hide some portal paintings between them, maybe? That way people can go back and forth?”

”What about this place here?” Roland said, looking at the map and pointing at Meridi-at-han. ”That place seems pretty central, and perhaps we could get a glimpse at that City that Never Was Roxas was talking about. Or at least gather some information if there is any to be had.”

”I suppose I’ll check out Skyworld then. If that’s going to be a main base, I should make sure it's to my beauty standards” Sectonia said with a bit of a sigh.

Her throwaway comment drew Pit's attention, and he made sure to tell her, "It was made by Lady Palutena herself, so even if it got mixed with some other places it's definitely up to snuff!" Sectonia didn’t doubt the angel, so she gave him a nod, but she was expecting to fix something up.

”Well I’mma go with Bowser. He needs all the healing he can get, the big ol’ lovable lug.” Blazermate said, although it was more for the fact Bowser let her ride on top of him and gave her an excuse to be lazy.

”I’m going back to Gerudo Town.” Ganondorf said simply. ”They’ve been in a stalemate against a bandit horde in the territory - so I’m going to help them break that stalemate.”

And what better place for a Gerudo to blend in than Gerudo Town? Primrose added privately. She went over to peer closer at the geoscape, thinking about all the options that had been given so far. Now that she'd met with the Confessor and learned what exactly she'd been capable of, Primrose didn't have any specific person or place in mind. It would be nice to find the friends from her home world, but with no place to start from, that would be difficult. Instead, she thought it best to go with somewhere that would help everyone in the long run.

"I think Roland is right," she said, nodding at the city straddling two regions. "I'll volunteer to head there as well and see what we can find out."

Goldlewis seemed to approve. “Makes sense. I’ll join y’all there, if ya don’t mind.” Arms crossed, he checked out each of the three locations in turn, noting their approximate locations. “We just about got a triangle goin’ on, so I reckon we’ll have pretty good map coverage. Long as we hold off on any big stunts that’d get the Consuls’ attention, we oughta be able to fly under their radar.”

As for Therion, he was of much the same mind as Primrose. With no specific destination in mind, he would be choosing between the options already presented. The thought of going to some place called "Skyworld" somehow didn't bother him as much as he'd thought it might, but he passed on it still. He was sort of interested in going to the castle brought up, but then again he wasn't about to steal stuff from a dead comrade's place no matter how rich they'd been. And since he didn't want to be all that close to some brainwashing "transmission" even if it didn't reach as far south as the city Roland pointed out, that left him with one choice.

"...I'll head to Mafia Town too," he said. Between a celebrity racer and two women with big personalities prone to butting heads, he questioned how much 'laying low' they'd actually do. A small, sarcastic grin worked its way onto his face when he motioned with his chin at the others headed for Mafia Town. "Someone's gotta keep them in check."

Nadia smirked at him, hands on her hips. “Heh, careful not to bite off more than you can chew.”

“I’ll be hunting down Ciri after we pick up Yen and the others. Need to pay that Vulgrim a visit, got a few Spirits he might be interested in for some info on her.” Geralt added. “It’ll be good to see some of the others from Alcamoth, as well.” He was looking forward to seeing the other survivors, though he knew it’d be bittersweet to see Lumbridge gone.

”And I’ve gotta find the others.” Zenkichi said, sighing. ”I know you got split up from Joker and them at the Metro, so who knows where they wound up.” He had a feeling they’d been more than capable of taking care of themselves, much like Geralt did with Ciri, but he still worried about their well-being. He wouldn’t be Gramps if he didn’t.

At the mention of the young Phantom Thieves, Primrose's expression softened slightly. She figured that as long as they had each other they would be okay, but even so it would be good to confirm it and give the kids a place to come back to. "Good luck," she told Zenkichi, and meant it.

“Tora sure they okay!” the nopon piped up cheerfully. “Phantom Thiefypons were very good team in desert, meh. Whatever come their way, Ren-ren and friends pull through!”

”We’ll grab everyone, drop them off and then hide out, uuuuuuh” Bowser claw trailed all across the map before tapping down on what linked like some small town or camp in the mountains that would turn out to be called Camp Whispering Rock ”here” before explaining ”Good spot to hit that forest we never went into, or whatever these big cities are up here,” referring to the Twilight Forest/Autumn Vale and the Theater of War respectively, ”once you all are done with hiding out.”

”Oh wait, my new phone!” Jr suddenly remembered, before adding ”oh and I gotta fix my car, and I wanna tinker with sis’ gauntlets and… yeah I might need to stay here till we group up again” which got a thought and then a nod of agreement from his papa.

After jotting down the last few decisions on her screen, Sandalphon’s pupils turned from loading wheels back to normal. “That’s all of the Seekers,” she announced, saving and then dismissing the magical document. “I may end up returning to the Avenger early to help provide additional support alongside the Last Numbers. Good work, everyone. The plan we’ve made covers intelligence gathering, avoiding Moebius, and recovering lost allies until we’re ready for the strike on the Dead Zone, and Illia willing we’ll have leads on the Twilight Forest and Forbidden Kingdom Guardians by then as well.” Her pupils changed to T’s. “Of course, we are still missing a number of allies.”

At that point, Commander Nelson spoke up for the first time. “We may be able to assist with that, at least. According to our findings, the CENTINELS’ very own Wonder Red went missing along with the Phantom Thieves, Ace Cadet, and Big Band during the Metro scramble we’ve come to know as ‘Rush Hour’. Once we finish repairing our equipment, we should be able to triangulate Red’s position by conducting several long-range scans for his CENTINEL-suit. With any luck, we’ll find the rest of them alongside him.”

At the mention of Ace (and to a much lesser extent Band, since he hailed from her world) Nadia’s ears perked up. Though it had been only a few days since she last saw him, it felt like much longer, and in this world separation tended to make one anxious even if one wasn’t the worrying type. “Let us know when you find ‘em, eh? Not to, uh, name any names, but I know some of us have been worried. So you better look Ace-siduously!”

Geralt chuckled, turning his head to Nadia. “Oh, Ace’ll be fine. Not sure if he’ll be more excited to see you, or the Avenger, though. Probably call it ‘Gargwasome’ or something equally painful to the ears.” He joked, shaking his head while laughing.

Grinning, Nadia crossed her arms. “Pff, he better be happy to see me! Or he’ll face my wrath…alos!”

Geralt sighed, putting his head in his hands and shaking his head. “Brought this on myself. You two and your puns. Brought it on myself.”

”That’s not even a pun. That’s just noises.” Juri said, scrolling through something on her phone.

”So that's it? We’re good?” Jr asked, glancing between the door to the room and Juri’s phone.

Sandalphon slowly stood up, her bones creaking slightly as she stretched for the first time in a while. “I believe so. Our more time-sensitive plans dictate that we fly south-southwest first, to deploy Geralt to Markarth along with a number of Fulton devices, over to Peach’s Castle to deploy the Troop, and then back to Markarth to collect everyone. From there, we should turn in for the night and begin distributing our forces tomorrow. In the meantime while traveling, we can partake of a meal, make use of other facilities, or consult with Vulgrim, should he return.”

“Got everythin’ planned out, huh?” Goldlewis exhaled deeply, trying to let himself relax a little. He looked around at the huge gathering of Seekers, survivors, and Lost Numbers. Everyone had learned a great deal during this meeting, including plenty of bad news and more than one dizzying revelation. Even so, the campaign to save the world was looking better than ever.

“....So.” Goldlewis smiled at Bracket. “What’s for dinner?”

Though a little worried about the Avenger’s deployment system, especially having experienced its rather terrifying pickup system first, Nadia wasn’t about to show weakness in front of Juri. Just having the nasty woman around would be enough of a bummer without giving her extra ammunition. It helped that the feral happened to be a virtuoso in the art of putting on a brave face. She didn’t mind the other two who’d be traveling with her to Mafia Town, at least. Captain Falcon was a new addition, but from their stint together in the Film Those Freaks minigame he seemed solid enough. In a twist of fate, the two had been tied together by a vital secret, uniting them in their efforts to make sure it stayed under wraps at all costs; that secret being the fact that both had gotten themselves ‘killed’ by stationary laser grids at the end of that minigame. Therion, meanwhile, Nadia counted as a friend. They’d proved themselves birds (or rather, cats) of a feather during their campaign through the Under. After shooting her fellow thief a cheerful smile, Nadia climbed into her hellpod, watched its lid close above her, and waited for launch with a racing heart.

Of course, isolated in the hellpod’s cramped confines, she need not worry about anyone else hearing her screams of terror and excitement when the metal deathtrap finally shot out of the Avenger’s underside, hurtling toward the earth like a speeding bullet. In the chaos of a freefall like that, only one thing was sure: the roller coaster at the New Meridian Boardwalk had nothing on this.

Miraculously, the hellpods -and their contents- survived contact with the ground, thanks to a potent combination of retro rockets and shock absorbers. Of course, Nadia’s heart was still pounding her chest by the time the pod’s lid popped off and the mechanism inside thrust her up into the morning sunlight. Once she recovered from the dazzling brilliance of the bluest sky imaginable, Nadia could breath in the refreshingly salty sea air, listen to the lap of waves against the shore, and feast her eyes on the funny little island called Mafia Town.



Located off the World of Light’s southeastern shore, at perhaps the southernmost part of the region known as the Deep Blue Seaside, Mafia Town offered a climate of tropical warmth and humidity, featuring a colorful abundance of corals off the coast and plenty of palm trees on the island itself. Very little of the island remained natural, however, as most of it seemed to be paved over and built up into a densely-packed, multi-level maritime fortress of orange mosaic tiles, stone bricks of milk-white or chocolate-brown, and roofs of dazzling silver or shingles as azure blue as the sea itself. Each layer of buildings became the ‘ground’ for the one above, creating a winding upward path from the docks and shipyards past bustling markets up through narrow lanes between tall apartment buildings with hanging laundry lines and flower boxes on their windowsills. Toward the top things evened out and opened up a bit more, offering rooftop greenbelts among fountain plazas, poolhouses, and clock towers. Even that wasn’t the limit, though. At the very top and middle of Mafia Town there appeared to be a water source of supernatural proportions, not just feeding the high-speed aqueducts and cascades and that washed down through the town’s channels to the sea, but a spiraling geyser that seemed to hold up a massive plate like a support pillar. Whatever lay atop it couldn’t be seen from down here, but like an umbrella it cast a great round shadow over Mafia Town that traveled throughout the day, offering its many residents a little reprieve from the beating sun.

Most remarkable, perhaps, were the smells. Mafia Town boasted an abundance of restaurants and eateries, and even at a time when most folks would typically be thinking about breakfast, the island’s food industry was already in full swing cooking up meals for the day. It wasn’t just the briney tang of seafood on the wind, either. The aromas of fresh baked crust from Possum Pizzeria, savory sauces from Seaside Spaghetti, and so forth all filtered their way down to the inhabitants on the breeze, tantalizing their tastebuds. There was even one restaurant that floated on the water itself, Bancho Sushi.

Of course, not everything was one hundred percent food-oriented. Even around the little seaside plaza where the Seekers slammed down, they could see a lovely flower shop and an art display. Beyond the town itself, hot air balloons and sailboats gave both sky and sea a wealth of color. A large sign by the plaza read ‘Mafia of Cooks, #1 at Everything’. This place looked lively, lovely, and a little bit silly–all of which applied to Nadia Fortune as well.

The feral couldn’t wipe a smile off her face as she took in the scenery, sea breeze, savory smells. “Mafi-awesome!” she exclaimed after a moment. “I could get used to this!”

”Hmm.” Captain Falcon murmured as he rubbed his freshly clean-shaven chin in thought. ”Doesn’t exactly strike me as the ‘hive of scum and villainy’ I thought it would be. How dangerous could this place possibly be?” His attention was drawn specifically to the Mafia of Cooks sign. So the “Mafia” this town was named for was just a gang of chefs? Suddenly he got the sinking feeling that he wouldn’t be finding nearly as much bounty hunter work here as he thought he would. Well, at least this place was promising some good meals if nothing else.

Therion would have liked nothing more than to take a few extra minutes in the pod to cool down after literally being shot out of the sky, but unfortunately the way they were designed prevented that from happening. So once he was forced up and out, he begrudgingly dragged himself over to the others. Balloons up, metal death traps down? Inhumane... he thought to himself. He had one of his fused spirits to thank for their apparent love of heights, because otherwise he probably would have had a heart attack already.

Once with the other three he smoothed his facial features into cool indifference, but if anything now that his tail was fluffier it gave him away more easily. Since there was more fur to puff out, it was clear when it was standing on end since it nearly doubled in width. He flicked it from side to side, trying to quickly get it back to normal while he surveyed the area. He found himself agreeing with Falcon, but felt he had to point something out that had stood true for Therion's entire stint as a Seeker of Light so far.

"You'd be surprised how easy it's been to find trouble in places like this," he told the pilot.

Juri had been grinning, flattening some stray strands of hair from the drop pod's turbulent descent. ”I think those Lost Number people hate the environment.” She said. The smile faded into a disappointed frown, shoulders sagging, as she looked around.

”Places like this? It is a lousy tourist trap! She gesticulated at the ridiculous water fountain in the center of town. ”I mean what the hell is that thing?!” She paused, and then tapped her chin.

”Though, on second thought, maybe they used slaves to build all this stuff. Lots of tourist traps are pretty exploitative…could be something like that!” She rubbed her hands together. ”This place could be rotten to the core.” Having maintained a sense of enthusiasm she jogged ahead. ”Maybe there’s a black market!” Juri felt like she was pretty good at picking out shady characters, so she was on the lookout for anything seedy or suspicious. Or maybe there was a dealer or a fixer or…anything, really. She doubted one of these ‘Guardians’ would just be out and about, all nice and honest about it.

Nadia breathed deeply in through her nose, then out through her mouth. “Thanks for your ‘input’,” she told Juri, her tone measured. As pretty as this place was, she attempted to put aside her intrigue for the moment, and study Mafia Town from a more objective purr-spective. Though impressive in its own way, this island didn’t seem that big. Both Carnival Town and the Home of Tears had been easily four times this size, and Limsa Lominscuttle Town not much smaller, though this place seemed a little bigger than Gerudo Town, at least. It was hard to imagine this place hiding a whole lot of secrets, and even a half-dead streetwise alley cat like her couldn’t immediately assume that darkness lurked behind these bright colors. In a way she felt bad for Juri. Wow, she’s pretty far gone, Nadia thought. What a bleak world she must live in.

Naturally the feral couldn’t take everything here at face value either, especially given her run-ins with another mafia in the past. She would definitely need to take a trip up to that structure in the sky at some point, and thanks to Asgore she now knew that only continuous warfare could keep societies like this one alive. On the other hand, though, this already felt like a vacation. Mafia Town reminded her of Limsa in all the best ways. If the Seekers couldn’t find any objectives on the island itself, they could just wait for mission-relevant hints to wash up from the ocean. Wherever ships came to port to load or unload cargo, rumors and legends abounded. A bar in Little Innsmouth might as well have been a theater for the fantastical stories one could hear from the mouths of drunken sailors, and Nadia doubted that Mafia Town would be any different.

“So, we’ve just gotta lay low ‘til we hear from the Lost Numbers,” Nadia summarized, peering around. “No need to stick together and draw more attention, but we could still meet up once in a while to check in and go over whatever we find, I guess.” When she turned to address her teammates, she ignored Juri, figuring that the thug didn’t give a crap and would just go off doing her own thing no matter what. “Oh, we could get lunch together! How about over there?” She pointed toward a nearby restaurant with a recognizable octopus mascot, Seaside Spaghetti. “If you guys don’t find noodles pre-pasta-rous, that is. Oh, oh, and the last thing we talk about every day could be where to go for lunch tomorrow! Of course, anywhere’s good with me, long as it doesn’t cost a pretty penne!”

At the mention of money, though something occurred to her, and her eyes widened slightly. “Wait…if we’re gonna spend a week here, am I…gonna have to get a job?” Nadia groaned. “What a pain. When it comes to job skills, I cannoli do so much…” Her expression of dismay transformed into one of mischievous glee in an instant as she punned.

”I was hoping a place called ‘Mafia Town’ would give me plenty of bounty hunter work I could do.” Cap said, sounding a little disappointed. ”But now I'm not so sure. Won't know for sure until I look around some more, I guess.” He looked over at the spot Nadia pointed out and added, ”After breakfast.”

"I doubt that you don't have a week's worth of funds," Therion said, then turning to Captain Falcon. "And same goes for you." Or else what had he done with all that prize money? Surely he couldn't have been racing just for the glory.

He looked over to where Juri was going, the woman already almost out of earshot. Now she was probably broke, if he had to guess.

Therion touched a hand to his ear, intending to make sure Juri got the memo, before realizing that she wasn't connected by linkpearl like he and Ms. Fortune were. Cap wasn't either, as far as he knew, unless Primrose had distributed them at some point when he wasn't around. He let his arm drop down and held in a sigh.

"But sure, daily lunch." He agreed with Nadia's suggestion of keeping apart as well. He flicked his gaze up to the highest parts of the town. "Assuming they've got more than one inn here, we should stay in separate places too."

Nadia nodded. “Yeah, sure. Oh, and if Juri starts making trouble, don’t be afraid to kick her ass. I know I won’t!” She clapped her hands together, then rubbed her palms. “Welp. Guess we’ll get goin’ then, huh? Good luck you guys, ‘isle’ see ya ‘round!” With that, the feral turned and scampered off to explore the sunny seaside.

As for the good Captain, he would at least try to look for some bounty hunter work. But not before he made good on his intentions to have a quick bite to eat first. He walked around a bit, both wanting to get a lay of the land and to make sure he had sufficiently separated himself from the others. Keeping a low profile meant they had to keep away from each other as much as they could, after all. Of course, doing this just exposed Falcon to even more smells of food - increasing his appetite further.

”Huh.” Cap muttered when he spotted a restaurant that didn’t quite look like a lot of the others. The best way to describe this place was as a sort of “hole in the wall” type of establishment. It had little in the way of signs that made it stick out. All it actually had was a simple, red vertical sign with some kind of foreign kanji he couldn’t read printed on it in white - presumably writing out the restaurant’s name. Other than that and a small, similar horizontal sign right above the red door leading inside, there didn’t appear to be anything else denoting the place’s existence or even attempting to advertise it. Cap wondered how much business a place like this could get with such minimalist advertising. ”Well, what the heck. Let’s give it a try.” He decided as he pushed open the door and entered.

The restaurant was equally as unassuming on the inside as it was on the outside. Pretty small, small enough that just one or two people could probably run it any given time. Based on what the menu looked like, it was easy to tell that Falcon had found himself in a Chinese Restaurant of some kind.

“Welcome!” said the woman behind the bar with a smile. “Please have a seat. What can we get for you?”

Falcon skimmed the menu, thankful that it had translations for the kanji he couldn’t read. ”How about… Kanitama? And an oolong tea?” He decided after a moment of thought. A rice omelet seemed like a good choice for a breakfast.

“That’ll be 7 pons, please.” said the server, which elicited a blank stare from Captain Falcon.

”’Pons’?” Cap asked, caught off guard by the change in currency. The only money he had on hand was zenny, which he was now learning the hard way wasn’t accepted around these parts.

“Mhm.” the server confirmed.

”Ah, uh, please forgive me.” Falcon said as he went ahead and stood up. ”I just got to town and… I had no idea you used a different currency here.” He explained, now thoroughly embarrassed for having wasted the poor girl’s time.

“Oh, that’s too bad.” the girl said. “But if it’s pons you need, you could always apply for work with Crazy Eats.”

”Crazy… Eats?”

“Mhmm. They’re a food delivery service.” she explained. “They take orders from restaurants and hand deliver them to customers all over the island, with style of course. Just talk to Charlie, he’s usually around the beach.”

Cap wasn’t sure what she meant by the last part about style. He wasn’t sure how exactly one was supposed to deliver things “with style”. And while this wasn’t exactly the bounty hunter work he had been hoping for, at least it was a start. And besides, he could always try to look for bounty hunter work a little later after he earned a few pons to start with. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere, after all.

After a bit more inquiring and looking around, the F-Zero Pilot indeed eventually found himself walking around where a beach could be found. Unfortunately he neglected to get an actual description of Charlie from the girl at the chinese restaurant. But Cap wasn’t deterred, figuring someone who delivered food for a living would almost certainly look the part - wearing some kind of uniform and piloting some kind of vehicle. So how hard could it possibly be to find this Charlie person?

And as it turned out, not that hard at all. Charlie turned out to be quite a daredevil delivery boy, with his bright green hair and the fact that he rode his bicycle like some kind of stunt rider while performing his deliveries. Suddenly it made more sense what the girl meant when she said Crazy Eats delivered with style. Once he got the chance, Falcon flagged Charlie down and the rider brought his bike to a screeching halt right in front of where the Captain stood. “Aloha, what can I do you for?” He asked, presuming Falcon to be a customer.

”I’m looking for work, and I heard you could offer that.” Cap replied.

Charlie appeared to look Falcon up and down as if sizing him up. “Well, you do have the look of a daredevil down, at least.” He finally said and then added. “Alright, I’ll give you a trial run to see what you can do.” He then proceeded to explain the rules of the delivery jobs. Falcon would have to deliver orders while also performing stunts along the way. Stunts and timely deliveries both racked up points, and more points meant bigger tips and payouts. “You’ll need a bike and a phone. If you don’t have those, I can give you a loaner for each.”

”Much obliged.” Cap said, now having changed into a yellow uniform that matched the one Charlie was currently wearing. However he did insist on keeping the helmet on, to which Charlie had no objection. Once he was situated with his loaner bike and loaner phone, Falcon took off like a rocket from its launchpad. A champion-tier racer like him just so happened to be perfectly suited for a stunt-oriented job like this. Cap had no problem impressing Charlie with his trial run, and so he was hired officially as the newest delivery person for Crazy Eats.

So Falcon had a starter job now, at least. But he would of course keep an eye out for any opportunity to do some bounty hunting as well. As good as he was at this whole delivery thing, he knew bounty hunting work was where the real money was at, provided he could actually find it.

With Chucho frolicking at her heels and the sea breeze in her hair, Nadia practically skipped around Mafia Town’s outer perimeter, offering a cheerful wave or greeting to everyone in her path. Though delighted by her surroundings, she kept her head on straight and an eye out for anything that looked either particularly interesting or out of place. One thing she noticed -with a little dismay- was the presence of little green emeralds called pons, scattered around the environment. If this island was anything like Nyakuza Metro, those gems meant that the locals here wouldn’t take any other currency. “Aww, not again…” Nothing else stood out to her as an immediate cause for concern, however, and after a little wandering her roving gaze came to rest on one establishment in particular: Bancho Sushi. Even if she didn’t like sushi, she had to admit that a floating restaurant was pretty cool.

She creaked her way down the wharf, then climbed aboard. Though essentially a glorified raft kept afloat with the help of tires, Bancho Sushi was solidly built and barely rocked beneath her feet. It also looked nice, with a clean traditional wooden style supplemented by elegant cherry blossoms. Fish swam around in the holding tank, kept alive right up to the moment they were ordered to ensure the pinnacle of freshness, and on the opposite end of the long counter lounged a black-and-white cat. Nadia walked right up to it, let it sniff her, and then stroked its back, much to Chucho’s disapproval. While petting the kitty she looked around the restaurant’s interior. As one might expect it had no customers right now, but she did see a serious-looking man with black spectacles and a light blue kimono, doing some kind of prep work in the back near the fish tank. In no rush to confront her, he’d just been watching her since she arrived. Nadia gave him a wave. “Good morning! Nice place you got here. Are you Bancho?”

The sushi chef nodded stiffly. “Yes. We’re closed, though,” he said shortly, but without hostility, as if stating a matter of fact in no more words than strictly necessary. To Nadia, he didn’t seem standoffish, just somewhat reserved. “If you’re here for sushi, please come back at five.”

Probably smart to go light on the puns with this dude. Nadia treated him to one of her most pleasant smiles, though she might have just as well been smiling at a brick wall. “Oh no, I’m more interested in the place itself, see. I’m new in town, so I’m on the hunt for a job. You guys need any help here?”

Bancho looked back down at his equipment. “Depends on what you can do.” After placing a few items into a drawer, he slid it shut and leaned over the counter. “Can you prep Japanese food?”

A grimace spread across Nadia’s face as she walked over, scratching her head. Chucho stayed behind to play with the cat. “Uh…nope.”

“How’s your customer service?” Though the feral couldn’t see Bancho’s eyes, she could feel their weight.

“I mean, I’m pretty cute~” Nadia winked. “That’s all there is to it, right?”

Bancho did not look convinced. “Not necessarily. Being a good server demands finesse. And professionalism.” He paused, his brow furrowing. “You strike me as…unversed. Have you worked in this industry before?”

“N-no…” Nadia winced. “But hey, I’m lightning fast! You ever hear the phrase ‘cat-like reflexes’? That’s me all over!”

Crossing his arms, Bancho peered at her distinctive ears. “Hmm…I can see that. Tell me, miss. How are you at catching fish?”

“Fish?” Nadia glanced at the tank, then back at Bancho. She then grinned, folding her arms in a show of confidence. “Best in the business, baby!”

Bancho nodded approvingly, then stepped out from behind the counter, waving for Nadia to follow him. “At Bancho sushi, we serve only the freshest fit, caught straight from the Blue Hole ourselves. Right now, our associate Dave is our only diver. He works hard, but he isn’t what I’d call ‘fit’. With another diver, we could expand our inventory.” The two stopped in front of a small boat. In its back Nadia could see a couple scuba masks, oxygen tanks, and harpoon guns of varying quality. Bancho crossed his arms again. “That is, if you’re not afraid to get wet.”

The feral grinned. “Oh, don’t you worry about me, Mr. Bancho. With how much I love the ocean, I’m basically a catfish.” Given that she undid her Oceanid fusion, that wasn’t strictly true, but how bad could it be? “Get me in the water, and I’ll ‘maki’ you proud.”

For a few quiet seconds the two stared at each other, wordlessly. Then Bancho lifted an eyebrow. “...Huh?”

---

Juri’s idea of applying for a job was finding the nearest local criminal underworld boss and appearing in their office unannounced to offer her services. She thought it made an impression. If this ‘Mafia of Cooks’ place really was just a restaurant then that sucked, but she could always figure out a way to make money off chumps somehow. But she was hoping to get back to Fixing.

After a little snooping, she had a pretty good idea of where to go. The average mafia goon (each one hundred percent identical to the next) was neither very friendly nor articulate, but they did know where their bread was buttered and what was good for them. It quickly became clear that their headquarters lay not on the island itself, but atop the giant plate suspended overhead. Getting there was another story. The water spout was not an option, but Juri was nothing if not resourceful. Her search eventually turned up a cannon that launched her straight to the top, where she landed in front of the mafia headquarters. Juri rolled into a crouch, dusting herself off with a snicker. With only a couple guards posted, getting inside was as simple as convincing them that Juri had business with their boss, and to stand on the two buttons that opened the door. ”Idiots.” She muttered under her breath. Once inside, she found a sleazy mafia-run casino complete with a fully-loaded bar, and deeper within lay an honest-to-God throne room for the mafia boss himself.

The boss, seated on his throne, didn’t seem all that impressive at first glance. He looked shorter than his goons, though he made up the difference with a very tall toque, but he did sport a fancy jacket and mustache. To either side of him stood a statuesque bodyguard with a tommy gun, so similar in appearance that the two of them -the left black and red and the right black and white- that they could’ve easily been twins. The boss did keep a pair of giant cleavers close by, though, and his gaze was surprisingly intense as he eyed the newcomer up and down. “You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that,” he told her, his tone suspicious. “What business do you have with the Mafia?”

Juri had been thoroughly unimpressed so far, but seeing the boss, the look in his eyes, and his bodyguards have given her some hope this might not have been a complete waste of time after all. ”I go by Spider.” She said. ”I’m new in town, thought I might poke around a bit. The pizza’s okay but the security could use some work.” She said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder from where she came from.

”Anyway…” Spider set a hand on her hip and leaned forward, taking a few steps towards the throne. Probably until she provoked a reaction from the bodyguards. ”I got in here. I can probably get anywhere on this island. You need a Fixer who can get anywhere..?” She pointed at herself and grinned.

“You like Mafia pizza? Hmm…” Evidently Juri had accidentally said just the right thing. The boss narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, stroking his goatee. “A spider, eh? I can think of a few ways a spider might come in handy.” A sly smile crept across his face, and he clapped his hands together. “Very well. I’ve already got a job in mind, so let’s see what you can do. Make Mafia proud…and Mafia will make you rich.”

Juri shifted her eyes to the side. She hadn’t actually stopped to grab a bite of pizza on the way in here. ”...Yeah..!” She managed. She’d probably end up trying it later. ”That’s what I like to hear.”

”Yeesh, these are cramped” Bowser complained as he tried to squeeze himself into one of the drop pods, claws, horns and spikes catching on it not to mention his raw bulk while Kamek simply shook his head at the sight. He at least wasn’t going to have to deal with this, intending to simply teleport out of the ship once the other two were on their way. Blazermate meanwhile had a roomy pod that Kamek could easily pile into, although the teleport plans made that moot. Still, a nice comfy roomy pod for the healer.

Once loaded into their pods, the team of three needed only to wait for the Avenger to pass over their target for the technician on hand to pull the trigger and fire their hellpods from the heavens. For the sake of nostalgia -and neither risk damaging Peach’s property nor landing too close to Empty Space- they aimed for the junkyard that sprawled out on the other side of the castle’s drawbridge. After just a short weight, the hellpods slammed into the ground among the heaps of discarded metal, sending shrapnel everywhere as their shock absorbers worked their magic. Then the lids flew off the Seekers’ cans, and the mechanisms within lifted them up into the evening sunlight. After flying all the way to Markarth in the Land of Adventure, and then here, it was late in the day. Streaks of gorgeous yellow and orange painted the undersides of indigo clouds and cast long, black shadows across the Mushroom Kingdom, from the grassy highlands in the east to the mountainous swamplands in the west. To the south of the junkyard lay the Ancient Garden, the colorful and cheerful riverland favored by rabbids of all shapes and sizes, and to the north lay Peach’s Castle. Everything seemed just as the first Seekers remembered it, right down to Hat Kid’s spaceship, still floating in the moat where it crashed.

There was one difference, though, although Bowser, Kamek, and Blazermate might not realize at first. When first they forged a path through this place, it had been a hotly-contested battleground, caught in a chaotic back-and-forth tug-of-war between robots and rabbids. Even after that conflict subsided, 1-1 teemed with abundance, from the aquatic creatures of the moat to bird of the air to wandering Pokemon. Right now, though, it was quiet. Once the hellpods did their jobs, the newcomers could hear nothing but the gentle lap of water, and the whispering breeze through the grasses and leaves.



A much smaller than usual Bowser scratched his head at the lack of noise, then shrugged and began to re-enlarge himself, while Kamek appeared in a puff of smoke next to them. He, at least, did have a thought, which was ”hmmm, odd, where did those noisy rabbids get off to?”

Again bowser shrugged with disinterest and an ”Eh” followed by trying to joke ”gonna be noisy enough when we give the toads the bad news” and then just sighing forlornly, unable to muster the energy for mockery of the mushroom kingdom’s shrill voiced residents.

”I’m not sure… something just feels… off” Kamek said, before remembering Bowser Junior had mentioned short green creatures who’d taken it upon themselves to fortify the entrance of the castle. Their presence or lack would surely signal the state of things, he thought, and so he floated up in the air a bit to see if he could spot them, or, well, anyone.

”Huh… is this the upside of taking out a Guardian? The area becomes peaceful?” Blazermate said, her optimism in full display as she rode on Bowser’s shell, scanning the area and noticing the quietness of the area. Try as she might, however, her scan picked up nothing.

With nothing else to do, the Troop proceeded across the drawbridge. They found the front doors barred against intrusion, but no guards posted, and no amount of rapping -or pounding, for that matter- on the doors evoked a response. Of course, Bowser happened to have a wealth of experience when it came to breaking into Peach’s Castle, so after applying some force the three were able to get inside.

Within lay black and white checkered tiles, lavish red carpets and walls freshly painted to resemble the Mushroom Kingdom’s outdoors with rounded green hills beneath fluffy white clouds with eyes, the vaulted ceilings a deep azure blue. Most of the candelabras and sconces that provided light to the interior seemed to have burned out, so much of the light that illuminated the castle’s confines came through the stained glass windows. The most lavish window colored the evening sunlight into a facsimile of Peach herself, cast over the throne room. When the Seekers last departed, they left the throne room heavily damaged from the fight with Megadragonbowser, but between then and now the toads had done a very good job with cleanup and repairs. Only a few cracked tiles and crumbled stones remained to suggest that a massive fight went down at all, but of the castle’s denizens themselves, the newcomers could find no sign.

Any amount of searching around the ground floor would only serve to reinforce the eerie realization that the castle was empty, as if its entire population had simply up and gone.

”What's going on here? Weren’t there like lots of people here last time? This is kinda… weird…” Blazermate said, now being on Kamek’s side of all of this with how things felt off.

”Maybe they up and left already?” Bowser suggested optimistically

”We can only hope, I suppose,” his advisor replied, sadly not convinced before suggesting, ”best we check for clues then. Upstairs or down do you think, your optimisticness?”

The king scratched his chin and decided ”Basement” because ”The treasury’s down there and Wario for sure wouldn’t have left without a whole load of that gold” which would then prove he was right.

”Which one was Wario again? I assume hes a friend of yours?” Blazermate said, nodding with Bowser as she had no idea what to do besides just fly around aimlessly til they found something.

”Like Mario, except fatter and yellow” Bowser explained perhaps unhelpfully as they made their way down.

Blazermate nodded, remembering him. Although unlike the others, that's all Blazermate had to go off of.

The treasury was, as one might expect, shut tight, and its vault door proved to be much sturdier than the castle entrance. That, of course, just reinforced the notion that this castle had neither been attacked nor ransacked, leaving no obvious explanations as to why it seemed to be depopulated. By now, though, the Koopa Troop boasted a lot of power, and if they couldn’t force their way through the door or magically unlock it, they could probably smash and blast their way through solid walls until they found their own way in.

Naturally, Bowser took this option without even really considering any other. He wanted to get into the vault, it was locked, the fact that this was sort of evidence of a kind of its own never occurred to him, and so the inevitable occurred. Kamek attempted to advise caution, the king ignored him, and promptly slammed a kinetic strike module enhanced punch right into the lock on the vault door, buckling it inwards.

The mage sighed, and then promptly joined in with magically summoned fists and, following a swift volley of blows from the pair, the door was down.

Within the vault the Troop and their airborne attendant found a spectacular display of opulence, thousands of golden coins piles high like snow drifts. If any of them had been present for the arena where the final round of the fight against Vandelay’s head of finance Roquefort took place, this hoard might not have been as impressive, but the room still contained a huge amount of wealth by Mushroom Kingdom standards. Scattered among the piles of coins were other relics and valuables, the most expensive of which appeared to be a pink-topped crown with eyes, but there was only one thing present that the newcomers could call ‘priceless’:

A large, circular contraption set in the far wall, its glass face ringed with gold. Bowser and his family had seen it before, more than once in fact, but this one had one important distinction: that like Peach’s Castle itself, it was completely and utterly empty.

”Uuhhh…. If the clock empties, does everyone just… poof?” Blazermate said, confused.

”I was under the impression that being unstoried means that people no longer need to fuel themselves with death but…” Kamek replied now very uncertain if that was the case

”I hope that this was a Consul doing shenanigans instead of the flame clock thing… Didn’t Sectonia say something about learning about them? Uuh…. we might need to do that.” Blazermate said, clearly confused and unsure what was worse, the clock ticking down and killing everyone, or a Consul thing.

”It’s fine. Probably one of those, what they called, coincidence things. Definitely” Bowser insisted, before thinking and saying, ”we should take it with us” eliciting a ”what?!” from Kamek

”I mean if people wanna learn about this thing then having one would help” he explained simply, before stomping over and ripping it out of the wall. Of course, this took a while and a lot of effort, exhausting much of the strength the Koopa King had left from an already tiresome day.

In the wake of the Troop’s discovery, an electronic tone pinged off the treasury’s walls. Blazermate’s scanner had picked up a living thing at last, and though the signal was patchy down here, the origin seemed to be on the castle’s second floor, near -possibly outside- the royal bedroom, if Bowser’s (or more likely, Kamek’s) memory served.

”Hey guys… theres someone upstairs.”

”That’s good. Or bad. Or something” Bowser rolled around opinion wise, before saying for them to ”grab the good stuff and let's check that out” because it would be a waste to leave it simply laying around now wouldn’t it?

The king, of course, had his hands full with the oversized and magic resistant clock which he now had to roll up the stairs, but Kamek at least blasted some artifacts with shrinking magic and stuffed them into pockets before hurrying after his king to ascend up towards the royal bedroom. Blazermate carried what she could, including the funny looking crown, but unlike Kamek her pockets were pretty limited.

Using Blazermate’s signal as a sort of dowsing rod, the three made their way up through the castle and closer to the source. It led them to the royal bedroom, left pristine and undisturbed since the day the princess departed on a grand adventure of her very own. A fine coating of dust lay across the furniture. Opposite the main door lay a set of French doors, cracked open just enough that the wind could play at the curtains. Through the glass and shifting veil the Seekers could see a balcony more like a widow’s walk that overlooked the Mushroom Kingdom. A lone female figure stood there, clad in intricate rose gold armor that caught the fading light of the sunset quite brilliantly. A low blonde ponytail hung behind her as she stood, gloved hands on the bone-white railing. She seemed to be waiting.

The flame clock was left leaning against the wall as the king approached, clawed hands gripping each french door and pushing them wide open, the wind setting the curtains fluttering to either side of him stepped across the threshold and into the light.

For a moment after the doors’ hinges stopped creaking, only the wind could be heard. Then the strange woman began to speak, her voice low and flat.

“I had…a bad dream,” she confessed. “Many a night, I would awaken from a dream of dying. Of being slaughtered. Not unusual, I know. Not in this world. Most people forget these dreams as soon as they wake. But they’re real. Bloody stains left by past…deaths. For most, that’s all you get. The only proof that you ever existed…a memory, passed down into someone else’s skull. But…”

The women turned. A rose gold mask hid her face, though her sapphire blue eyes shone through. In the middle of her breastplate, a red X shone, a lemniscate-shaped core at its center. “Not so with Moebius. When you become Moebius…it all comes rushing back. Every joy. Every agony. Every insignificant end.” A hollow, rattling laugh escaped her. “I never once achieved anything. Never became my own person. The archetypal damsel with an empty title. No purpose. No volition. No story…of my own.”

She held a hand to her head. “And to top it all off, the worst end by far. You couldn’t imagine…what it was like. My brain…was screaming…and screaming…” She closed her eyes, wincing. “My head...still hurts. But it’s much better now. It all is. Because I’m free. Finally free.”

Slowly, she opened her eyes, then looked up at Bowser. “So. Here we are. Back where it started again. We weren’t friends. Nor were we enemies. But you and I are linked. What’s one without the other? So…I wanted to talk. I was wrong, you know. About the world. I mean, it is awful. Full of suffering. We deserve better than that. But that’s life. And that’s all any of us…will ever get. So when I ask you, please…” The woman raised her arm and pressed a button on the side of her mask. It deconstructed into light, revealing a familiar face.

“Hear me out.”

Blazermate, at the mention of Moebius stepped behind Bowser and began giving him an overheal. ”Uh… I guess?” Blazermate said, using Bowser as something to hide behind as she leaned over to take a look at this Consul with… Peach’s face? Ok, this was getting super messed up now. But she was going to get ready for a fight since that's all she's seen from these Consuls. Granted… a Consul of Peach? What…? Was this a face stealer or….?

Bowser simply looked shocked, confused, and befuddled as he tried to process what was in front of him, and so simply nodded, while Kamek sighed at all the implications of all this.

The position of Consul P had, it seemed, very quickly been refilled.

P leaned against the railing, relieved, her body language completely lacking in both energy and hostility. At a certain point, Blazermate’s combat readiness would just seem embarrassing. After a moment, P continued speaking. “Listen. If you’ve ever heard anything about a ‘past life’ or ‘reincarnation’, you have to forget it. That wasn’t you. That wasn’t even ‘Bowser’. There is a true ‘Bowser’ out there somewhere, but not here, in the World of Light. The only you is the ‘you’ that exists right now. This world is nothing but a single stolen moment, the Endless Now, one split second strung out into eternity. By Moebius. If it ends, you…all of us, that’s it. We’ll cease to be. And if, somehow, the Bowser that’s out there continues, it won’t be you. Or anyone.”

She sighed, staring up at the sunset sky. “Unlike me, the Seekers have many heroes. They aren’t afraid to die if it means a brighter tomorrow for others. They don’t know that it’s meaningless. Nothing of us, any of us, will endure. But we don’t have to die, or disappear. We deserve to live. We have to seize the lives we’ve got. “ She narrowed her eyes, looking at Bowser. “So, I have something important to tell you. What you do with this knowledge is up to you.”

She crossed her arms. “In Esaka, the Tiered City, in the Forbidden Kingdom, you will find Moebius B. She wields a very sharp blade, and her specialty is lightning. But not even a very sharp blade can cut everything, and all lightning dies when it reaches the ground. Kill her, and as you die, call for me. I can make you Moebius. Just like C did for me. The new Consul B. We can take over Moebius, clean out the deadwood, and replace them with good people who can turn the World of Light into a better place. I promise you, a thousand year voyage guided by compassion. That is how we can live.” Her voice dropped to an urgent whisper. “The only way we can live. Forever, in this stolen moment we’ve been given.”

”Or, we beat Galeem and things stop repeating and theres no need for any of this. ” Blazermate said, pointing out their mission.

Despite the confusion now, of all times, of all people, Peach, P, whoever she thought herself as, was speaking his language ”You know that’s not a bad plan”

”For an amateur”

”I’ve been there, I’ve done that, and it’ll work riiiiiiight up until wherever next batch of seekers who get strong enough start taking out Consuls and then we’re toast” he told her, speaking from his, and as far as he was concerned they were his, years of experience ”You don’t get anywhere playing second fiddle and by someone else’s rules, other than stabbed in the front by heroes, or stabbed in the back in some power games”

”so here is what we are going to do instead. We take down the Consuls who stand in our way, we take down the guardians, we take down those organization chumps, we take down Ganondorf and everyone like him, and then we take down galeem” he declared, before leaning in and adding the cherry on top ”and then we take its power for ourselves”

”Our world, our rules, our Endless Now and forever, with no one above us making the rules, no below who can stop us” declared boldly with a raised fist, before adding, more softly ”and no clocks, or ten year life spans stealing everyone who’s not part of an alphabet gimmick away”

There could, after all, only be one B, and there were two candidates for that in the castle right now.

P hesitated, her expression pained. “Moebius is Galeem’s power,” she told him. “A drawing cannot change what’s on the page. Only the drawer can, and Moebius is its pen. If Galeem is defeated, the world stops turning. The paper is left alone to crumple, tear, and blow away in the wind. Game over.” She paused. “...Only Moebius can change things. Once we’re in power, the old guard destroyed and replaced, we can make life better. Get rid of the clocks, the ten years, the wars. That’s the best we can do.” She turned her brow upward, pleading. “So. Please?”

Bowser frowned, pausing to chew the words over, which Kamek took as an opportunity to act on the thoughts he had had while his kind had been acting on his passions

”If I might interject, your majesties?” he asked with the air of someone asking it rhetorically, ”But I must ask how you know these truths about Galeem’s reality, and, perhaps more importantly, how trustworthy you find the source of the information?”

Wincing, P held her hand to her head again. “C. The Consul who made me…Moebius. Or…well, it was him who made the offer. And I made my choice. In his world, he was ‘cursed’ with absolute knowledge…and in this one, his Moebius power, Script, expands that knowledge to all worlds. He doesn’t care about winning or losing, living or dying. He’s only it for the drama.” She chuckled dryly. “So…just as you can trust a snake to bite, or a scorpion to sting, I trust him. To tell a truth that makes things more ‘interesting’.” P glanced at the koopas with a dubious look. “Maybe you don’t believe a Consul. But who do you believe? The Organization, who just wants to rewrite the world with Kingdom Hearts…?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Ah…my head hurts. It’s been…such a long day.”

”Ah, the ‘Happy Chaos’ fellow. We know of him,” Kamek said, before glancing at Blazermate who’d actually encountered him and asking and asking ”Does that fit?”

”Oh no, it goes much further than that. He was super crazy. He took control of the debate between the two leaders of Midgar, made them sweat it out for no reason, then we fought him during the guardian fight and he’d just take hits and ‘replace’ himself with another version of himself with no regard to his own well being. Then he just… left. He was weird and crazy but I doubt he knows everything. He did say big book nerd things though.” Blazermate said, recounting her time with Consul C.

Bowser meanwhile was more concerned about the Princess, saying ”Wow hey, no need to figure this all out now. Come back with me, we can have dinner, and no one needs to know about your plan except us, yeah?” which did somewhat rely on the medabot’s agreement with that.

“Back?” P’s brows scrunched together. “Back where? Did you find somewhere to stay?”

”Sire!” Kamek interjected so urgently that for once Bowser actually listened. Well. enough to argue about it anyway.

”What? It’s Peach” he insisted, before pointing out ”besides, didn't some of the others say there was already a Consul helping out?”

”Well, let me ask a question first.” Blazermate said, still suspicious. ”Where is everyone. All the toads and the others who were chilling here in the castle and helping. Bowser was adamant that one of them wouldn’t leave something behind, but it was left behind. So where did they all go.”

P raised her arms helplessly. “How should I know? I’ve been gone for a week. When I returned today, it was already empty.” She shook her head. “I've said all that I can. I don't need to stand here and be interrogated. You have no idea what I went through. What it was like.” Wincing, she turned away and strode down the balcony. “Please consider what I said. This is the only life you've got. Even after all that you've done to me, I don't want you to throw it away.” She looked over her shoulder, frowning. “Maybe Mario would understand.”

Blazermate’s expression didn’t change much, something still felt off to her. Peach wasn’t like this before, so something happened but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

”Mario wouldn’t help you take over the world, he’d be all ‘wahoo that’sa not’a like my princess at’a all’ or something” Bowser replied with contempt for his rival, while Kamek, a touch more pragmatic, simply asked ”what will you do now? You said his conflictedness would have to call you, so I assume you will not be sticking around?”

”Hey, no, wait a minute that can’t be safe, going out there all on your own” Bowser insisted, taking a step after her, hand half raised in a way that made it clear he didn’t know if he wanted to try and stop her with it or to offer it to her.

P shook her head. “I'll be fine. I've got to figure out this new life of mine. Mostly, I just need to rest.” She crossed her arms, a wry smile on her face. “But should danger arise, don't worry. I won't lose to anyone. Nobody's captive, and nobody's damsel, ever again.”

While Kamek mulled over if this change in Peach’s attitude was a logical result of having played that role for so much longer, and with such raised stakes and no confidence in a victory she might have had in her pre-Galeem life, the king did no such thing. He thought only with his heart.

And it belonged to Peach. Perhaps now more than ever.

The conflicted hand tilted not up into a grasping claw, because be it for different reasons, he was not he was ones was either, but fully down into an offered hand as he said ”Then take me with you, and I’ll make sure of it.”

Blazermate leaned to whisper to Kamek, saying. ”So uh… We both agree Peach is like, mind controlled by whatever C did to her and Bowser is too blinded to notice that right? They have the power to mind control people…”

”Hard to say, but I do not like this” the mage replied, because he could see how she would have gotten here, but he could not say if she had indeed done so on her own.

After giving the whisperers a withering glance, P turned an expression of concern toward the Koopa King. A hint of amusement crept across her features as well, though. “Heh…you’re just the same old Bowser. It’s…heartwarming, in a way. Though, I’m really not much like the Peach you knew anymore. After everything that’s happened, all rushing back at once, I’m…damaged. Things won’t be like before. They can’t. I even became Moebius, the enemy we opposed all that time.” Given how little P knew of Moebius over the last week, that could only mean that this wasn’t her first rodeo. “But I haven’t betrayed you, or anyone, a-and I don’t want to. We deserve to live. To be happy. That’s all I want.” After a moment, she cracked a weary smile. “If you’re really willing to join me…well, I guess I’ll have you.”

Bowser smiled back, all teeth, while behind him Kamek ran his finger and thumb across his brow, but knowing very much that he wasn’t going to logic his king out of this instead went to tug at the other strings of his heart ”Think of your children, your fatherlyness. We can hardly leave them with the seekers if we are to break with their path now, it would simply not be safe”

”Eh, they’re tough,” Bowser insisted, which would have been rather callus had he not added that ”and beside, they’ll have you”

”Absolutely not!” the mage bit back, much to the shock of his king , before insisting ”I will not have you running on your own with this… this…!” as visions of all the terrible fates that might befall Bowser wracked his mind.

He panted, then breathed deep and turned to Peach and said ”Your majesty, I implore you, return with us, in secret if you must, and rest at, in, well, the ship we came here on. Not only does that make things simple for us, but aboard said ship is Consul S, who has surrendered to the Seekers, and might very well be a great source of information upon the path you wish to tread, for supposedly he attempted a variation of it themselves”

”Worst comes to worst, I have something that can hold Bowser for a bit.” Blazermate said quietly to Kamek, being on his side of the whole situation.

P’s eyes narrowed. “A ship?” After a moment, she shook her head urgently, however much aching that caused her. “I can’t,” she hissed, her voice low. “Look. When I woke up, it was in a dark theater. In front of me, I saw…a recording of my own death. Not just in Midgar, either. Other deaths. Other lives.” The consul paused. “Moebius has some way of watching. Now that I’m one of them, they can see me too. While I’m sure they’d be thrilled if I led them right to you…I told you, I don’t want to betray anyone. It’s not safe for me to come.” She stepped away, turning as if to run.

”Oh, I get it. Shes been kidnapped by the consuls like those shady government suit guys do. Shes got a permanent wire. So it's either join the Consuls, or beat all of them to free her. Now that makes more sense.” Blazermate said, getting an ‘ah ha’ moment.

”I do not understand the metaphor, but that does sound like a very difficult position to run a coup from” Kamek noted, prompting Bowser to interject that ”Which is why we’re gonna stick with her”

Kamek sighed, and then echoed with resignation ”Yes, which is why we will do that” before saying that ”well I suppose all that is left is an explanation that does not raise suspicion, or at least keeps the heat of the young master and mistress” and turning to Blazermate and saying ”and for you to deliver it”

”You guys do know what I mean about shady government guys right? Ask Roland or Zenkichi, they seem to be one of those types or know way more about them than I do. Short of it is, I doubt we’ll ever see Bowser again. Well, not like his lovable big boss self anyway…” Blazermate said, making sure this is what they wanted. She then got another idea, saying. ”Besides, if we wanna know how those flame clocks work, we’ll need Bowser to carry it back.”

”Hey, have some more faith in me, would ya?” Bowser balked at this notion that he’d ever not be himself. Despite, of course, standing just above where another much meaner him had been ruling only a few days ago

”We’ll be fine” Kamek assured her, before pointing out that ”and as for the clock, we simply need to move it somewhere it can be brought back the same way you will be” referring to the fulton balloons.

”Yeah yeah hang on” Bowser said, before going back for and then rolling the clock out onto the balcony while Kamek asked P ”ah, any risk involved with the seekers having one of these?”

The consul shrugged, her expression unsure. “I’m…well, new at this, but…probably not?”

”Well… Kamek will be with you and he's smart so… I guess it’ll be ok? Just don’t turn on your friends, ok? I don’t think Jr. and Rika would take that well.” Blazermate said, conflicted but her methods of ‘stopping’ this wouldn’t work if Bowser really wanted to go. ”Speaking of, what do I tell them?” Blazermate said.

”Uh, hmmmm” Bowser replied with a scratch of his chin

”It is perhaps simplest to stick as much to the truth as possible, and simply leave out the whole grand scheme of taking over the world? We are still on the same side, but Peach would give away the seeker’s location should she rejoin, and thus his enamoredness and I shall be sticking with her to help her face whatever the other Consuls intend to throw her way” Kamek suggested, before adding that ”and, indeed, that it is best we get moving as soon as possible lest they come investigate this meeting”

”Well uh, I’d probably best get everything back to the others then… Someone needs to tell them all what happened here.” Blazermate said, clearly not comfortable with the situation but resigning herself to doing what she had to.

”You’ll need these then” the mage responded, stepping in close and surreptitiously transferring his fulton balloons to the medabot.

While the mage focused on their past, his king looked to the future, asking ”So, where to princess?”

P looked overwhelmed. “I need to rest for tonight. Tomorrow…I don’t know. This region still has both its Consuls, so…I’ll need to go somewhere else. Wherever there’s an…an opening. To build my kingdom, for the first time.”

After the meeting broke off, and people started slitting off, Jr was one of the first and most urgent to bail on the situation. He slipped out of his seat, hauled Dazzle over the shoulder (the one Mimi wasn’t occupying) from where the sea lion pokemon had been sitting in his lap, and then set off on his quest to get his new phone, Peeka floating along above him, and Rika casually keeping stride with his much shorter legs. Knowing exactly where the Koopa Prince was heading, Roxas hurried out of the crowded Common Room after him so he could lead him to where he was going.

Their destination? The workplace of the ship's very own resident pokemon professor; Professor Koa!

It was more or less a straight shot to where the Professor’s lab was located. They just needed to exit the Common Room into the nearby lift that they would then take all the way down to the second most bottom level, and viola, they were there! ”Professor?” Roxas called once he and Jr had entered the research lab. This elicited a casually dressed man to pop up from the pile of research material he was studying. Koa was not at all dressed like one would expect a scientist to dress. He had a typical lab coat, but that was worn over a black tank top and blue shorts, plus sandals on the man’s feet. Without that lab coat he’d be dressed like someone vacationing on a tropical island somewhere.

“Ah, Alola, Roxas!” Professor Koa responded with a warm smile. He got up to greet the newly minted Pokemon Trainer but was quick to notice the friend accompanying him. And more specifically, the Pokemon he was essentially carrying. “Another Trainer? Wonderful, Alola to you too, young Trainer. My name is Koa, I head the research department here on the Avenger, but I also study Pokemon for a living.” He said, already even leaning in to look more closely at the Brionne and Mimikyu Jr was carrying. But appeared to pay special attention to the Ghost Pokemon floating just above him.

”Hey there, you the guy with the phones?” jr asked ever so bluntly, before after half a beat adding ”Oh, yeah, and I’m Bowser Junior” and then pointing to each of his mon and introducing them as ”Peeka, Mimi, and Dazzle-” before adding regarding the last ”-who is going to go on the floor now because I am gonna have to rethink carrying you about” and then depositing the ghost tailed sea lion on the ground.

He dusted his hands off and then half turned to gesture back back at the ship girl who’d posted herself by the door to introduce her as well, saying ”and this is my sister Rika”

The ship girl who’s eyes had been roaming around the room flicked back to them with a ”mmm?” before she proved that she had been paying attention when she said ”Alo..la? To you too” to the professor, trying out a mimicry of his greeting for herself.

“Phones…?” Asked the Professor with a confused look on his face.

”He wants to ask you for a Rotom Phone.” Roxas clarified.

“Ah, that.” Professor Koa said and then smiled warmly. “Since we hardly get any Pokemon Trainers aboard the Avenger, I wasn’t exactly keeping a stockpile of them.” He explained, his tone apologetic as he rubbed his hand against the back of his neck.

”Awww what, come oooon urrrgh” Jr whined in frustration, before huffing that it was ”just my luck”

“But don’t lose hope, just yet.” the Professor quickly said and then added, “We’ve got the means to produce more thanks to Dr. Yu.”

”Dr. Yu?”

“She’s a technical engineer.” Koa explained. “All she needs to do is reverse-engineer an existing Rotom Phone and she’ll be able to figure out how to make more.” he said but had to also add, “There’s just one small detail we need to worry about. You see, the Rotom Phones get their name because they are phones that are possessed by the Ghost Pokemon known as Rotom. Dr. Yu can make the phone, but it’ll need a Rotom to possess it in order for it to become a full Rotom Phone.

”It's possessed by a ghost?”jr echoled, before going all starry eyed as he said ”Oh wow that’s amazing!” before pausing, sighing, and predicting ”but let me guess, you don’t have any of those either”

“Now now, simmer down.” Professor Koa requested. “I did have a couple of Rotoms in my lab to help with my research so we can use one of them. The trouble is, they can be very tricky and just love to bounce around between appliances and other electronic devices. But as long as you have a way to sniff them out, you should be able to round them up simply enough.”

”Hmmmmm” jr intoned tapping a foot in a thoughtful pose, before snapping his fingers and saying ”what better ways to catch a ghost than with another ghost!”

”Mimi! Peeka! Go find them for me!” he commanded, prompting both to tilt their heads at him as if to ask ‘ok but how?’

”Uh, um, I dunno? Use your like, ghost senses to detect them or something?” he tried, resulting in Peeka head tilting so far she ended up upside down.

Roxas instead consulted his Pokedex. ”Says here that Rotom is a Ghost type AND an Electric type. So maybe instead of a Ghost we need…” Roxas glanced down at Scamp, who by now had plopped down for a sit to be more comfortable. ”How about it, Scamp? Think you can help us track them down?” he asked, which prompted a ‘bow-wark’ from the Yamper.

“Won’t know until you try.” Professor Koa said encouragingly. “Try letting him get a whiff of your Rotom Phone, Roxas, maybe he can get the scent of Rotom from the one possessing your phone?”

”Well, Scamp?” Roxas asked, trying to hold the phone close to the Pokemon’s nose. ”You smell anything?” Scamp sniffed the phone several times, and for a moment it didn’t look like he was going to get anything from it. But then suddenly he hopped up with an excited ‘bow-wark’ and bolted off somewhere. ”Looks like he's onto something!” Roxas said as he hurried after his partner Pokemon.

”Alright! Let’s go!” Jr called out to his mons, rushing out the door. Then rushing back in to grab Dazzle only for Rika to helpfully pick up the beached mon up in one massive mechanical hand.

”Thanks sis!” he told her, the pair trading thumbs up before racing out the room after the Nobody and his Yamper, and Peeka who was casually drifting along behind the leading pair

And so the great Rotom Chase began. Scamp bounded his way around the ship until he eventually led the boys and Rika to the upper levels where all the different living quarters were. And that meant there were lots of different rooms with varying electrical appliances or devices for a Rotom to be hiding in. Roxas didn’t really like the idea of snooping around in other people’s rooms, but what else could he and Jr do if one of the Rotom just happened to be hiding in one of them? Luckily for them, the Rotom that Yamper was leading them toward was not in one of the private rooms.

Instead it happened to be possessing one of the washing machines found in the laundry room. And when Scamp barked at the machine, the Pokemon in question popped right out of it. But because it had been possessing a washing machine, the Rotom in question had taken on the form of Wash Rotom - giving it a shape that resembled a washing machine in addition to making it an Electric/Water type. But this wasn’t the only one. Another Rotom also popped out, this time from a nearby electric fan - giving it the fan-shaped Fan Rotom form as well as making it an Electric/Flying type.

Rika, seeing threats , promptly held her free hand out and summoned her spear into it, only for Jr to race up and after her with a ”Wait wait wait!” before declaring it was ”Pokemon battle time” rather than regular ruble time. He then thrust a finger forwards and commanded ”Go, Peeka” prompting his Flutter Mane to float down from above and in-between the children and the pokemon to square off against the haunted appliances.

”You too, Scamp! Let’s take ‘em on!” Roxas joined in, with Scamp hopping into a position with a bow wark, trying to sound fierce but not really succeeding given how inherently cute and adorable an electric puppy dog generally is. But regardless, he was ready for battle too. Now, if Roxas were a more experienced trainer, he would have known that both of these Rotoms lacked their usual Ghost typing due to the forms they were currently in. But Roxas was not a very experienced trainer yet, and so he still assumed they were Ghost types and gave his command accordingly. ”Scamp, use Bite on the fan-shaped one!” The Yamper barked in confirmation and lunged for the attack. But the attack didn’t look like it was as effective as Roxas was expecting.

”Blast the washing-machine-one with, uh, whatever you got from the tentacle eyeball thing Peeka!” Jr called out, prompting the mon to look confused for a moment, then to focus and then finally to recoil back as a pair of dark purple orbs were fired from its necklace eye.

The pair of shots slammed into the machine mimicking mon, and then split, each orb blasting off at a right angle in either direction, one narrowly missing the fan Rotom before both slammed into and scorched the walls of the room

”Oops”

Meanwhile, the Fan Rotom fired back with an Air Slash aimed directly at Scamp. The move connected, but luckily Scamp’s electric typing allowed it to resist the damage and shrug it off for the most part. But that didn’t compare to what the Wash Rotom did. It seemed to charge up or inhale a moment before spewing out a torrent of water aiming to blast Peeka with a powerful Hydro Pump.

The mon got out a “flu-” before the torrent of high pressure water washed the floating mon away, sending her blasting out into the corridor and into a wall. Fortunately as a ghost she went through said wall. Unfortunately as a ghost she ended up outside the ship and only narrowly managed to swoop back onboard. Either way she was out of the fight.

”uhhhhh” Jr entoned as he just stared back at where his mon had gone before snapping back into the fight ”ok but, right the washing machine’s water, duh, obviously”

He knew how to deal with that, calling out ”Go! Mimi! Give it an electro ball!” and prompting the mimikyu to leap from his shoulder while she charged up a ball of electricity in one claw, which she then hurled towards the wash-rom upon landing.

Roxas had a similar thought about the Fan Rotom. It using Air Slash must have meant it was a flying type. ”Go Scamp, use Spark!” The Yamper barked and bounded and rammed into the Fan Rotom while charged up with electricity. It may not have been super effective, but it seemed to be hitting harder than Bite did. And meanwhile, Jr had similar luck with the Wash Rotom. Electro Ball wasn’t super effective, but it appeared to do decent damage. And it also didn’t cause any structural damage, either.

”Yeesh, what type even are these guys?” Jr asked, to which Rika, currently leaning against a wall at the back of the room with her spear in one hand and Dazzle still in the other, replied by asking ”maybe the phone will tell you?”

”Uh,” Roxas fumbled with his Rotom Phone to find the results. ”The washing machine one is Electric/Water, and… the Fan one is Electric/Flying.” He said but then added. ”We’ll just have power through this, Scamp. Use Spark again!” Yamper lunged to the side to dodge an incoming Air Slash before he charged forward with another electrified Spark attack. It was about as effective as before. Clearly this wasn’t going to be a battle of type advantages, but instead revolve around who could outlast the other.

”Mimi use- ah! look out!” Jr called as the wash started spinning up its spin cycle. A moment later the hatch popped open, and another hydropump came blasting out. Forewarned by her trainer however, Mimi leaped out of the way and into one of the washing machines, using it as cover, getting only shaken up as the machine was hammered by the flow rather than also being blasted away.

”You good?” “mi!” ”OK! Now copy cat that move and blast the fan!” jr commanded after verifying that his mon was good. There was a brief pause as Mimi imitated the move, and then a moment later she and the regular washing machine she was in did their best impression of wash rotom by blasting out of it with a hydropump of their own, this one aimed squarely at the fan rotom. The attack landed, dealing a strong bit of damage though obviously not as strong as the Wash Rotom’s attack due to Mimi not being a Water type.

Roxas decided this was a good chance to pile on some extra damage to the Fan Rotom, ”Hit it with another Spark, Scamp!” He called out, prompting the Yamper to ram into the soaked ‘mon while electrified, boosting the amount of damage the attack dealt. The Rotom in question was practically overwhelmed having two attacks come at it so rapidly. After the Spark did its trick, Roxas grabbed an empty Poke Ball from his bag’s ball pocket and threw it at the weakened ghost Pokemon. The ball hit and opened up to pull the Fan Rotom inside and then began to wiggle. Once. Twice. Click.

”Gotcha!” Roxas cheered. ”One more to go!” Now it was two against one. As powerful as those hydro pumps were, the Wash Rotom would be running out of PP for them pretty soon, especially if it had to start firing them off at two separate opponents.

”Alright!” Jr cheered before pivoting around to face the wash rotom ”Now let’s fish this, because I’ve got something I’ve wanted to try!”

With that he held his paintbrush staff forwards, hand shaking as he built up mana in it, saying ”Mimi, take this power and-” before thrusting th staff up into the air, sending a burst of magic arching up through the air and down into his pokemon who’d hopped out of the washing machine ”show me what you can do with it!”

As the power suffused the little mon her eyes flashed like stars before her true form lunged for the wash rotom, tendrils wrapping it up and dragging it under the disguise that expanded to fit the washing machine. Once it was trapped in there, the specter within with delivered at dustcloud punchup before spitting out again, barely clinging to consciousness.

A perfect state for it to be bonked on the head by a pokeball and also captured by the prince.

The whole ordeal was a mix of horrifying and cutely silly, a vibe not helped by Roxas’ rotom phone helpful informing them that the Z-move that had just been used was called “let’s snuggle forever”

”What’s a ‘Z-move’?” Roxas wondered aloud to himself. Probably something to look up later. For now, they had to get back to the lab.

When they returned, they found the professor was no longer alone. With him, bent over a workbench, was a creature that would have looked mostly like an aline known as a sectoid had they not been covered head to toe in garments. Quite literally, as between surgical gloves, thick boots, a lab coat, a colorful patterned hooded shawl over neck and head, face mask across their mouth and welding goggles over their eyes, not an inch of skin was exposed to the open air.

Sparks flashed in the eyes of the figures goggles as she worked on soldered way on an open back of a phone, before she handed the tool she was using off to a lab coat and goggle wearing Audino that was acting as an assistant, and was handed the back of the phone case in turn.

They glanced up from their work, and then, in a voice that raspy yet still distinctly feminine, said “ahhhh, excellent timing, I feel you return in triumph” which was an odd turn of phrase, before introducing herself as “I am Dr Yu, the ships technological and biological researcher, and up until recently, also the person running the proving grounds. The latter is a roll I was quite happy to hand off to that lovely Tora fellow so that I can focus on studying all the technologies that have been poured into this great melting pot of the world I was created in”

“Still, as he is not yet set up, and this ‘procedure’ is quite the novel one, I am still the one handling the creation of the professor’s rotom phones” as she set down the phone into a stand and plugged it in to a cable that lead to a mish mash of circuit board and occult rituals circles that looked to be the perfect size to sit a pokeball in the middle. She tinkered with the set up a little while the Audino ran a long charging cable from it to the massive reactor powering the ship that for some reason was in the same room as the laboratory.

“If you would place it here, I can begin in just a few moments” she requested, tapping on the workbench counter rather than offering a palm to receive it from hand to hand, prompting Jr to toddle on over to do just that. When placed, the Rotom inside sensed the new device it could enter and traveled to it along the charging cable that was plugged into the phone. Then after a brief flash, the previously ordinary looking phone had transformed a bit. It gained what looked like a red outer casing with little swirly-shaped tails on each vertical end, plus a pair of googly Rotom eyes appeared on the back of said phone case.

“And there you have it.” Professor Koa announced, “Your very own newly minted Rotom Phone!” he said with a ‘ta-da!’ style gesture. “It can make calls, send messages, take pictures, and of course access the Pokedex App to help you identify Pokemon you encounter and provide you useful observations about their moves and abilities. And if red’s not your color, I’ve got a few different style cases you can choose from to switch it to if you want.”

”You do? Cool let me see” the prince replied, hurrying over to take a look, before turning and calling back ”and thanks doc!”

”Oh, we caught the other Rotom too, Professor.” said Roxas while Jr was choosing his phone case. He held its Poke Ball out for the Professor to take, but instead Koa just held up and hand and shook his head.

“Why don’t you go ahead and keep it with you for a while?” He suggested. “These Rotoms were probably running around because they were getting bored being cooped up in the lab all the time. So I’m sure it’ll do them both good to be able to get out and see the world some more.”

”Really?”

“I’m sure. Besides, Pokemon only allow themselves to be caught when they meet a trainer they feel they can trust. So obviously this little guy found something to like about you.”



”Oh, right. That was kinda my last ball so can I have it-” Jr said in the background, before going ”oh” at the totaled ball.

Before he could even turn to ask, Dr Yu informed him that “I reverse engineered the technology quite some time ago, so workshop already has the schematics to produce more if you can get them the materials they need” heading off any requests to get her to make replacements, before saying that “but if you have anything new and novel for me to take a look at I’d be delighted to learn how it ticks”

”Not unless there’s something you can do with my mask or my gauntlets?” Roxas asked, holding up his hands to show the modules in his gauntlets that produced the RockGun and StepSword respectively. And also retrieving the silver jackal mask out of his backpack. ”Of course, I’d prefer they not get totaled in the process. I kind of need those for my missions.”

“Not to worry, I am very meticulous when it comes to making sure I can put back together what I take apart in-order to research it” the doctor replied.

”I think I’ll have to do that some other time. I’ve got other preparations I need to get to for now.”

”We’ve got a ton of stuff you could look at, so we’ll stick around, right sis?” Jr said, getting a thumbs up of agreement from Rika

With that decision made, it looked like they’d be going their separate ways. But before Roxas left the lab, Professor Koa offered them one more bit of advice. “By the way you two, my own number is already registered on your phones in case you need to call me for advice or to rate your Pokedex Completion.” he said but then also added, “I suggest you register each others’ number as well, that way you can call or message each other even if you’re far apart on separate teams.”

”Good idea.” Roxas said, his own silver-cased Rotom Phone popping out of his back and floating just in front of him, as if waiting for another phone to connect to.

”Oh yeah cool we should totally do that” Jr agreed, popping out his light green one in turn which floated out to complete the connection. The two phones then automatically exchanged contact numbers on their own thanks to the Rotoms possessing them and then floated back into the possession of their respective owners.

”I guess the Rotoms are able to make the phones control their own functions, don’t they?”

“Indeed they do. Makes them very convenient and user friendly as a bonus.”

”Given that they can do that, do you think they” jr was saying, before addressing the phone itself ”or rather you, could float up and take a picture of us?” prompting it to bob up and down and then over into the air prime group photo taking distance, before bobbing back and forth in a ‘wherever you are ready’ kinda way.

Roxas struck a pose, holding up his right hand in a ‘V-for-victory’ gesture while resting his other hand on his hip, ”Cheese!” he said while grinning up at the camera. Beside him jr did a fist pump, and a moment later there was a flash as the phone took a picture of the two trainers and all of their pokemon together to commemorate their little adventure together. The phone even sent a copy of the photo over to Roxas’ phone as well.

With dinner finished, both Geralt and Zenkichi found themselves heading towards the Spirit Chamber once more, determined to find those they had lost. Their paths only crossed near the Infirmary, and with a simple nod to one another, they continued to their destination, Spirits ready to trade.

Entering the Chamber, they looked to the corner that had been pointed out as Vulgrim’s domain and approached. They saw that they weren’t alone here, but instead of the old coroner Deadman, the spirit chamber was home to the very demon they sought. In the corner of the room redecorated into a makeshift fortune teller’s lair with the aid of tapestries, baubles. and cushions lounged a demon that could only be Vulgrim, a specimen of appreciable stature with huge horns, vestigial wings bound in bandages, tinkling trinkets, and a noseless, skull-like face full of enormous teeth and poison-green eyes. When he spoke, he did so in an evil-sounding drawl, chewing the scenery with every turn of phrase. “Well, hello there. I only just now got back, and I already have visitors, hm? As luck would have it, though, I’m already open for business.” He tented his claws, his fleshless face a skeletal smirk at the two men. “So, what can I do you for you gentlemen this fine evening?”

“We’re looking for someone. Or, I am. He’s looking for a few people.” Geralt responded, eyeing the demon somewhat warily. “Take it that would make you Vulgrim?” The Witcher inquired for clarification. “Geralt of Rivia. I’m looking for a woman by the name of Ciri. Ashen hair, has a scar across her eye. Her full name is Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, if that is of any help to you.” His tone was measured but not suspicious. He figured that more detail was better.

”Zenkichi Hasegawa.” Zenkichi introduced himself as well. ”I’m looking for a group of kids, call themselves the Phantom Thieves of Heart. If that’s too vague, their leader goes by Joker. I can tell you his real name if you need it. But only you. Sorry, Geralt, but they take that stuff really seriously. Already blew the lid on my identity, but I don’t wanna betray their trust.” Geralt shrugged, entirely unbothered by the exclusion.

Vulgrim gave the two a condescending, almost admonishing look. “Well, isn’t that nice…everybody’s looking for something, as they say.” He gave a shrug and rolled his eyes. “Even me. Something small, colorful, and very, very tasty. Oh, if only there was someone out there who could trade me for something like that…”

Rolling his eyes, Geralt removed the capsule containing the last Spirit he hadn’t traded away or fused with, and opened it to reveal the Spirit within. “Hope this is enough.”

For a moment Vulgrim peered around, as if trying to find the rest of Geralt’s offerings. Then he grumbled. “Hmmm…soul for a soul, eh? I’m used to more…‘lavish’ offerings.” He glanced over at one of the Spirit Chamber’s furnishings, a conspicuously empty operating table. “Now that was a feast. Haven’t eaten like that in ages…though there’s always room for more.” The demon returned his sly gaze to Geralt. “If your daughter means anything to you, she ought to fetch a high price, mmm?”

Eyes narrowing, Geralt sighed. “Could turn a few Strikers back into Spirits, I suppose. Haven’t used a few of them much. Wonder what kind of deal I’m making here, though…” His tone turned somewhat accusatory towards the end, but he shrugged. “Fine. Give me a minute.” He stalked over to the Spirit Chamber and entered it, while Zenkichi stood there awkwardly.

”I got, like, three Spirits I can give you. So hopefully that’s enough when he’s done.” Zenkichi awkwardly added, standing there while the Spirit Chamber did its work. ”But I’ll let him go first.”

When the Spirit Chamber was finished unbinding the PT Imp pack and Panther Caruso’s Strikers, Geralt exited with them in hand, bringing his total deal up to three Spirits for Vulgrim. “Alright, Vulgrim. Three Spirits for you.” His eyes were a little harder now, though he said nothing more to the demon.

“Hmmmmm…” Vulgrim made a show of thoughtful waffling, cradling his bony chin in his claws. After a moment, though, he relented. “Oh, alright. No use fleecing a man who’s already put down his bottom dollar.” Opening his maw, the demon sucked up the spirits like a vacuum cleaner, then licked his chops with a serpent’s tongue. “Mm, not bad. There were some young ones in there, heheh. As for your dear little Ciri…” He leaned back on his cushions, a smug air about him. “She’s alive. But out of her element. Stuck in a realm of neon lights and broken dreams…Night City. Also known as…Sector 04. Until recently, of course, when the death of a certain Guardian plunged that place into permanent night.” He waved a hand dismissively. “And from there, well…nowhere to go but ‘up’. Though I can’t imagine she’s gotten far.”

Geralt closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Of course. Of course they missed her in Midgar. And Night City? From what little he remembered, it sounded like a terrible place. “Zenkichi, you lived in Midgar. What was Night City like?”

Zenkichi, for his part, kept his cringing to a minimum. ”To be honest with you, Geralt…not good. It’s a dangerous place that even Turks don’t hang around in unless they have specific business to deal with. The gangs are vicious, well-armed, and they live every day knowing it could easily be their last. A lot of them are okay with that, as long as they can leave a mark on the world. I never understood it. But I’m sure she’s alright. Never heard you say anything but praise for her.” Geralt groaned a little, but nodded.

“She can take care of herself, but…it’s still not exactly ideal to have to go right back to Midgar and look through its most dangerous sector to find her, or wherever everybody wound up.” Shaking his head, Geralt turned back to Vulgrim. “Thank you. Good luck, Zenkichi.” And with that, he left to head to the bunks and figure out a plan.

”So, that leaves us, then. Like I said, I’m looking for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and if they’re not together, more specifically, their leader Joker.” For the information, he offered the Spirits of Cecilia, Diana, and Yuanwu.

After devouring his offering, Vulgrim interlaced his fingers and considered Zenkichi carefully. “Your little friends have been busy. They’ve been hiding out in the Forbidden Kingdom. In Shinjuku, right under the nose of one Consul J, steadily growing their numbers…as well as J’s headache. And just today, why, I heard the strangest thing. That the lady Consul herself received a special message–a calling card, of all things. Whatever is the World of Light coming to?”

Nodding, Zenkichi breathed a little sigh of relief, before frowning. ”Going after a Consul directly. That’s about what I’d expect from those kids. Bold…alright. Thanks, then. Even if that just opens up a whole new can of worms…” Waving over his shoulder as he left, Zenkichi pondered the new information. Forbidden Kingdom. I’ll have to head to the Bridge to see exactly where that is, then figure out how to track them down. Couldn’t make this easy, huh Joker?

When he reached the Bridge, Zenkichi headed straight for the Geoscape, looking over the holographic projection of the World of Light. ”Alright, so…how the heck does this thing work?” He muttered, looking around for the Forbidden Kingdom. He found it in the northern part of the World of Light, between the Frozen Highlands and the Dystopiascape. From a high level it appeared to be a blend of temperate forest, wetlands, plains, and mountains, and it bore a handful of names of a style the man could recognize as Japanese or Chinese.

Okay, Hidden Kingdom, in Shinjuku…there. Zenkichi thought, pointing to the spot on the map and sighing. It wasn’t far from Midgar, all things considered, but it was far enough away that they’d never have run into each other without Vulgrim’s help. He was surprised to see a place from Earth on the map, somewhat, but more surprising was the giant hole that was Japan. He remembered Goldlewis seeming surprised he was from there, but…to see it here, without the distraction of a conversation about what came next?

It rattled him. Hard. What would he tell Akane? Did he tell Akane? There wasn’t really a reason to, as it wasn’t even the Japan they knew. If it came up, he’d mention it, he supposed. For now, it was time to settle down and think of his next move.

Stepping out of the Hellpod with a muffled groan, Geralt looked up at the stone city before him. He’d landed a short ways outside the walls of Markarth, trying not to draw too much attention to himself given that two Consuls had fought here not too long ago. And he wasn’t alone. Having bumped into him on the Avenger, Roxas asked if he could tag along. He hadn’t had much chance to really search for any of his own missing friends, and thought he could at least look and see if any of them might have been in Markarth by chance. If the Hellpod was discovered later, that might put the people of Markarth on the chopping block.

But the citizens of Markarth were already there, and they had people to rescue. Gathering as many fulton packs as they could strap to their back, they trudged to the outer gates of the city. Both Seekers were quickly welcomed inside, and set out to the first tavern they saw, looking around for any sign of one of the survivors of Alcamoth. A bright green hat stood out among the patrons, and Geralt nodded, approaching the man. “Luigi.”

The overall-adorned man jumped a little in surprise, then turned around with relief and unmasked joy on his face, the Witcher’s voice unmistakable, even if his visage had changed. “Geralt! It’s-a terrible! Alcamoth…it’s…it’s…it’s-a gone!” Luigi was trembling as he reported the news, but Geralt simply nodded, letting out a small, sad smile.

As for Roxas, he didn’t speak up just yet. Instead he scanned the room, hoping beyond hope to spot a familiar face. But he didn’t see anyone.

“We know. But I’m back, and I brought a lot of friends. But we don’t have a lot of time, we need to leave, and we need everybody. Yen, you, anybody else that survived the Consuls’ attack. You’re the first one I found here. And I need your help to get everybody in one spot and to put these on,” He said as he handed Luigi a Fulton package. “I can explain more when we’re all together, but those will bring you to our ship. Technology I don’t understand. But more importantly…where’s Yen staying?”

Luigi took in all the information with rapt attention, nodding repeatedly to show he was taking it all in. He looked a little surprised at Geralt’s final - or was it his first? - request. But still he nodded his head, beckoning Geralt to follow. “She’s been-a staying with most of-a the others. We rented out-a big house and are a-paying for it by doing jobs around town, a-helping with m-monsters and other hero work!” He puffed up a little by the end of his explanation, before sighing. “I just wish Mario and the others were still here…”

Geralt noddied, giving Luigi a pat on the shoulder. “I know, Luigi. We’re all doing our best to honor them and everybody else we’ve lost. Vandham, Dante, and some others also survived and found us with our new allies. I know they’ll be glad to see you all.” Luigi nodded in response, spirits somewhat bolstered by knowing that others had survived the attack beyond those he had come here with.

With all that said, the trio traveled to a somewhat large home built into the mountainside. It was sparsely decorated outside, but that didn’t mean much when they entered and found quite a bit of space. “Everybody! The Seekers are a-back! Geralt says-a they have a ship for us!” Luigi called out to cheers. Wario let out a boisterous laugh, while Dedede gave a thumbs up and Max Howard raised a fist in triumph. “We don’t-a have much time, though, he says. They’re a-leaving soon.”

Geralt nodded in confirmation. “Our new allies have a powerful airship that they call the Avenger. Capable of hiding itself from plain sight. But the Consuls are after them, so they have to move often. I need your help getting the survivors from Alcamoth together so that we can all leave at once.”

”How many of you are there?” Roxas asked, finally speaking up. So far he only counted three other than Luigi. He just hoped he and Geralt had brought enough fultons with them.

“There are a-twelve of us in total.” Luigi dutifully reported.

”So that means there’s eight others we need to find. Any idea where they are right now?”

“Sora and Ashley were a-helping at the blacksmith’s shop. Olimar was in the fields with his pikmin a-harvesting crops. Yennefer and V are working in the hall with the Jarl, helping him as temporary advisors. Euden and Mym went out to hunt some monsters a few hours ago, so they’re either a-coming back soon, or stopping at the Jarl’s hall to report that they’re-a finished before coming back! Oh, and our new friend Y’shtola’s at the library!” Luigi rattled off each survivor’s location like he could see them himself, nodding. “At least, that’s-a what I think they were doing?” He added nervously.

“Come on, Luigi, have some faith in yourself!” Maximilian Howard laughed, slapping the nervous deuteragonist on the back. “That’s about the gist of it, so let’s all get going and get the others. I’m sure your Yen will be happy to see you, Geralt!” The captain teased, laughing happily before heading for a bag of belongings. “Grab your things, folks. It’s time to get going!”

”I’ll…” Roxas said with some hesitation in his voice. ”I’ll go hit up the blacksmith! And see if those three you mentioned are there!” he suddenly blurted out and took off running before anyone could even stop him. There’s no way, right? No way that could be him! Here, of all places? The Nobody’s mind was racing. He’d been hoping to find some of the friends he knew, but this particular friend was the last one he ever expected to find.

---

He actually didn’t even know where the blacksmith was. Roxas had to hurriedly ask for directions in the middle of his frantic sprint through Markarth. But he learned it was in a lower section of the city, right next to a place called Cidhna Mine - and that was an easy enough landmark to spot. When he finally did see the blacksmith in question, Roxas scanned it intently. And there, using fire spells to keep the forge fire good and hot, was Sora. It really was him! Roxas had so many things he wanted to ask his other half, but that needed to wait. There was something more urgent to do right now.



”Sora!” Roxas called out as he jogged forward. The keyblade wielder in question stopped what he was doing and looked in Roxas’ direction with surprise. He’d recognized the voice but had a look of confusion on his face when he actually saw Roxas, due to how different the latter looked because of his spirits.

And then he lit up with recognition. “Roxas!” Sora suddenly shouted and practically tackled his Nobody to ground in glee. “What are YOU doing here?”

”What am I doing here?” Roxas said with a cheerful laugh, ”What about you? You up and disappeared on us after we got out of the Keyblade Graveyard. Is this where you’ve been?”

“That, well, uh…” Sora stammered as the two boys laughed together.

”We have to talk later, Sora.” Roxas said, trying to get serious again - albeit that was hard to do around Sora and his infectious laugh. ”Luigi said there were some others with you here in the blacksmith. I need you to get them for me. Geralt and I came to get everyone out of here.”

“Really? We’re leaving?” asked Sora.

”Yep. And we gotta make it fast, before any Consuls come back around.”

“Got it.” Sora said, not needing any other explanations.

---

After a frantic period of running around and gathering the other survivors of the attack on Alcamoth (and a new friend gained along the way), the group gathered with everything they could carry outside the city.

“Alright, everyone. You’ll use these harnesses to bring yourselves up to board the Avenger. It should be hovering above us still, invisible. We’ll be brought in and we can all have a party or a reunion in there, but for now we have to move.” Geralt, by way of demonstration, put the harness on and pulled the ripcord, activating the Fulton. “This is the hard part.” He sighed, before a massive burst of g-forces knocked him unconscious and brought him up into the sky. And then Roxas followed suit, followed by everyone else after that.

In the northern reaches of the World of Light, further still than the Forbidden Kingdom that lay between the frigid winterlands or Midgar’s wartorn valley, lay a wild and untamed borderland of jungles and giants that only ended where the mind-numbing Transmission began, giving way to the bleak dereliction of the pale city’s hinterlands. There, beyond the Forbidden Kingdom’s fields of rolling gold and temperate forests sprawled the arid Tyrannian Plateau, home to mammoth monsters of prehistoric origin, and untamed tropical forests sustained by the faintest aftershocks of the monsoons that pounded the Garbage Wastes.

Of course, even in a wilderness such as this, bastions of civilization still stood, and none stood taller than the acropolis city of Meridi-at-han. Equal parts fortified citadel and flourishing city-state, it towered above the land of jungles and rivers atop its central mesa, connected to a handful of outlying spires by bridges of astonishing scale. The city’s colorful buildings dared to rise even higher, stacked atop one another like a child’s building blocks, and over it all reigned the grand pink parapets of the Palace of the Sun, from which the Satrap and his Sun-Court ruled. After being denied access to the elevators and instead climbing up the interminable staircase from the port at the river’s edge, newcomers could pass beneath the hot and piercing gaze of the all-seeing eye that adorned the city’s main gate, and step into a fragrant haze of sweet incense and acrid smoke. Within lay dense, noisy, and colorful market streets, alive with the shouts of merchants and lively melodies accented by the patter of dancers’ feet that, like the silken tapestries that hung overhead, swayed to the rhythm of the winds.

After losing track of time in the city’s bustling heart, a visitor could climb higher to the balconies and hanging gardens of the upper district, where they could be enchanted by the movement of countless kites that schooled and darted like so many fish, and the flight of pink flamigos over the sparkling waters.

Of course, for all its wonders, the city had its fair share of troubles. In addition to the criminal activity, its people contended with woefully frequent incursions from raiders and hostile creatures that came by land and air alike. Life in place like this, even by World of Light standards, would never be easy. Still, Meridi-at-han possessed an unassailable splendor, and it was that glory that captivated the Seekers the moment they rose from their hellpods near the base of the nigh-ceaseless stairs.

“Damn,” Goldlewis summed up, one hand on his hip while he used the other to shield his eyes from the morning sun. “I mean, it ain’t as big as Midgar, but it looks a helluva lot prettier, huh?” He chuckled. “Here’s hopin’ its half as nice on the inside.” Wherever plenty of people congregated, conflict would surely follow, but even after a lifetime of acute familiarity with just about everything that was wrong with America, he still believed in the Land of the Free–the dream of America the Beautiful. If he could believe in that, he could believe in Meridi-at-han. Being better than Midgar was a pretty low bar, anyway.

Looking up at all the stairs, Goldlewis winced. Back in the Sandswept Sky, he’d bowed out of the mountain-climbing expedition, in part because his ponderous build did not lend itself to such Herculean feats of cardiovascular exercise. Today though, he had no choice. It wasn’t like the team could have dropped their hellpods right into the city, after all, so he would need to make this ascent the old fashioned way. And even getting to the top wasn’t the end; there began the daunting task of establishing a foothold in this new and unfamiliar region. Given its position at the crossroads between several regions, Meridi-at-han was too valuable of a strategic asset for the Seekers to leave it unattended, but digging in here would be no easy feat. For Goldlewis the coming days would take a lot of thinking on his feet–provided that he could still stand after all these stairs. The veteran took a deep breath and sighed, steeling himself for the climb. “Boy howdy. This is gonna be a rough one.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not even really sure what happened.” Sora admitted to Roxas. The two were sitting in the room that was to be shared by Roxas and Pit, with the latter still out and about which left the two Keybearers on their own. Of course, nearby, Scamp was curled up and taking an evening nap. And then there was Shocker, who was just aimlessly floating around and looking at things with curiosity. Maybe he was thinking about possessing an object? Hard to say, but the Rotom was not the main focus here.

Instead, the main focus was Roxas effectively grilling Sora about what had happened to him. The last time anyone had seen Sora was when he literally vanished into thin air in front of everyone while they were all celebrating their victory at the Keyblade Graveyard. Sora’s closest friends had been frantically looking for him ever since. Riku was getting help from Leon’s group to investigate data left behind by the Organization, while Kairi had been working with Ansem and Ienzo to search her own dreams and memories for clues. Even Aqua and her two friends from the Land of Departure had volunteered to venture back into the Realm of Darkness to help with the search.

“The Xehanort from the past had been warning me about paying the price for overdoing it with the Power of Waking. So at that point I just sort of accepted that that was what he meant.” Sora explained, not sounding sure of what he was saying. “And the next thing I remember, I’m here in this world instead.”

”That part was Galeem’s doing.” Roxas said. ”It’s a pretty similar story for me. One day I’m in Twilight Town with Axel, Xion, Hayner and the others. And then suddenly I feel like I’m waking up for the first time in a Twilight Town that I barely recognized, and the others are nowhere to be found.”

“Wait, they’re gone?” Sora suddenly asked, “All of them?”

”All of them.”

“So you went looking for ‘em…” Sora said, able to surmise the rest of the story on his own, “...and that’s how you found the Seekers and eventually, me! Right?”

”More like they found me.” Roxas admitted. ”But you’re spot on, otherwise.”

“What made you so quick to join them?” Sora asked. “I always figured you were a lot more cautious than me.”

”Mostly because they mentioned I dressed like the Organization.” Roxas said. ”So I knew I had to stick with this group and investigate them for myself.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” Sora said, nodding his head. And then the implications finally sunk in after a short delay. “Wait, what? The Organization? Here?”

”You mean you hadn’t heard?”

“Sorry. We’ve been kind of… out of reach for a while. So I guess I sort of missed that news.”

”Well, it gets even worse than that.” said Roxas before he finally dropped the real bombshell. ”Xehanort’s behind them.”

“No way!” Sora said, now suddenly starting to actually be serious for a change. “After all the trouble we went through to beat him for good? But why?”

”What do you mean, ‘Why’?” Roxas questioned. ”It’s Xehanort, remember? Obviously he wants to take another crack at his Kingdom Hearts plan.”

“It’s just that, it seemed like he was actually done for good when I beat him.” Sora said. “Don’t you remember? Eraqus was the one who finally convinced him to stand down and give up. So why would he be going right back to his old ways?”

”Does that really matter?” asked Roxas, being surprisingly cold about this. ”I doubt Xehanort ever actually regretted anything he did. I’ll bet the only thing he was ever actually sorry for was that he lost.” Clearly Roxas wasn’t nearly as willing to forgive people as Sora was.

“I mean, maybe you’re right.” Sora admitted. “But what if there’s more to this than just that?”

”Either way, we can’t just sit back and not do something about it.” Roxas asserted. And with this, Sora could definitely agree. ”By the way, Sora. Do you know anyone called the Master of Masters?”

“Master of… Masters?” Sora asked with a scrunched up facial expression, “Nope. Never heard of them. Why? Who is that?”

”I don’t know yet, I’ve never met him myself.” said Roxas, ”But the Seekers told me about him. They said he’s a Keyblade Master who wears a black coat like the Organization does, and apparently he knows a lot about this world and other things because of something called the ‘Gazing Eye’. I was hoping that was something you might have heard about before.”

“First I’m hearing any of this.” Sora replied apologetically. Then he got an idea and checked through the journal entries in his gummiphone in case there was something in there about this Master of Masters guy, “Nope, sorry. Not even my gummiphone has anything on that guy.”



”It was worth a try.” Roxas reassured him, ”We’ll just have to meet this guy and ask him ourselves, right?”

“Sure.” Sora agreed, “And look for any of our other friends that came to this world, too!”

”Yeah, them too.” Roxas agreed. For the first time since he joined up with the Seekers, Roxas was finally not alone. Not that he had ever actually been alone, but he had been feeling pretty down about not seeing anyone else from his own world, so now he was obviously feeling a lot better about all this. And the fact that he found Sora, of all people! Riku and Kairi would flip when they heard. ”Thanks, Sora.” Roxas finally said. ”I was right back then, you know? You really do make a pretty good Other.”

“You make a pretty good Nobody, yourself.” Sora replied. “Wouldn’t trade you for anything.”

Given the altitude of the Avenger’s target, this deployment went much more quickly than the drops to Carnival Town, Markarth, and Peach’s Castle. Perked up by her extra-strong morning coffee, Sandalphon withstood the bumpy ride down as best she could, but even the stolid archangel could not steel herself for what she saw when her bullet-like hellpod hit the ground. When its lid popped off, blindingly brilliant sunlight flooded in, and as Sandalphon recoiled from its radiance the floor panel beneath her automatically lifted her up into the day’s warmth. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and when they did she could begin to behold the stunning beauty of Skyworld at dawn, in all its glory.

Floating high above the Sandswept Sky’s eastern coast, Skyworld took the form of a gargantuan array of interconnected sky islands, sprawled out both horizontally and vertically, their mountainous landmasses of pale stone contrasted against the rich yellows and oranges of lush, perennially autumnal foliage. A number of the islands featured a more natural appearance, with pools of pristine water, golden grasses, and placid herbivores interspersed among their untouched deciduous sentinels. Most, however, featured at least some semblance of deliberate masonry, and many of the largest islands featured architectural achievements of astonishing size and grandeur. Holy spires, breathtaking cathedrals, and lovely temples could be found all over, surrounded by elaborate monuments and serving as the centerpieces of angelic colonies of a uniform Greco-Roman style. Over everything towered several minor erdtrees, the most massive of which could be found on the centermost and largest sky island of all, Eden, surrounded by concentric rings of idyllic waterfall terraces. As divine as it all looked, especially that immense tree with its luminous leaves, this was no perfect paradise. Its many fortified bastions, ramparts, and winged soldiers spoke of plentiful turmoil, and nowhere seemed more active than the acropolis stronghold of Palutena’s Temple, sheltered beneath the wings of the goddess of light herself.

The reason for Skyworld’s standing army became clear after a little more searching. Not all of the archipelago’s islands were autumnal parks or angelic townships. In sharp contrast, some of them -on the far side opposite Eden and Palutena’s Temple- were stained pitch-black and sickly yellow-green, infested and overgrown by some form of inky, oozy corruption with a tendency to form crystalline deposits and eye-like growths. From here it was hard to make out the details, but even at a distance it inspired a strong aversion in anything healthy and/or holy. No doubt the denizens of this airborne realm kept those islands as isolated and quarantined as possible, on guard against possible vectors of infection around the clock.

Sandalphon looked around. She and the other Seekers had dropped into the middle of a small forested island at a high altitude, which she had to thank for the good view she’d gotten of Skyworld itself. Both Eden and Palutena’s Temple weren’t all that far off. Everything about this place appealed to the archangel’s aesthetic sense immensely, and it was hard to suppress her excitement as she absorbed the awe-inspiring scenery. Given her typical nonchalance, Sandalphon was practically giddy. “It would be a shame to rush through this place,” she remarked to the others. “Though we’re here to find Palutena, let us not disregard Skyworld’s wondrous beauty in the process.”

"Heheh, it is pretty great isn't it?" Pit stood with his hands at hips and his wings spread proudly. He breathed the air in deeply, beaming at his friends and companions before looking out over the various islands again and throwing his hands up, open and wide. "Welcome to Skyworld! This is where me, the Centurions, and Lady Palutena live. And Pittoo sometimes, but since he joined up with Viridi he hasn't really visited."

Pit took in the whole of Skyworld, everything that it had been combined with, what was different and what was still the same. His gaze lingered on Palutena's Temple, his home, more than once. There were a lot more islands, though many of them didn't look out of place at all. Bridges connected some, others were free floating. Compared to the eternal summer usually found in the realm, it now appeared to be autumn, which was an interesting change. He noted the legions of Palutena's Army, the army he was captain of, flitting around in the distance, as well as the corroded islands they had fortified against. He squinted at these corrupted spaces, finding some had a disturbing resemblance to the Chaos Kin, but from here he couldn't be sure. Is this what they've been dealing with up here? Lady Palutena was too busy with the army to reach out to me? the young angel thought. He was still worried over the goddess, but just being back in Skyworld alleviated a lot of his fears.

"It's not exactly the same though. Hmm... honestly, I kinda like some of the changes," he said, his eyes tracing the trunk of the largest erdtree. After a moment, and another glance at the temple, he finally tore his attention away from the area and put it back on the other Seekers.

"We can island hop! Plus I want to get a closer look at what that dark stuff is. It can't be good."

”Yes, look, definitely a thing I can do right now,” Midna replied, a hand raised to try and shield her eyes from the sun, the combination of helmet, mask, and literal blindfold apparently not doing much to protect the twilight princess’ dark adapted sight. Her desert adapted flygon, despite its twilight-ification, meanwhile, was more than happy to sun itself by her side while it waited to take her to the skies.

”Hmmm. I suppose we should’ve expected some kind of battleground here as well… I suppose if we need to island hop I can carry one of you non fliers.” Sectonia said, looking at the situation before her. She’d prefer more flowers and less architecture, perhaps more gemstones, but Pit was right, this place wasn’t half bad.

Luckily for Roxas, he still had his Jackal mask which he could wear to shield his eyes from the sun for the most part. [gold=gold]”So this is like a land of angels?”[/color] Roxas asked. It did seem pretty appropriate that angels would inhabit a kingdom of floating sky islands way up in the clouds like this. Something about this also reminded him a lot of a place that existed in his own world too, but since Roxas had never personally visited that place he couldn’t completely confirm the similarities.

Since Midna was taller than him now, Pit couldn't do much to provide her with extra shade (if it would have even helped). Which was a shame since she wouldn't be able to really appreciate the area. They had to get her some sunglasses. At Roxas' question he looked at the other boy, started to nod, and then turned to shaking his head... and then paused and nodded again.

"It probably is now? I mean, back home I'm the only angel that lives here. Lady Palutena mentioned the Centurions aren't really, and she doesn't count 'cause she's a goddess. Sandalphon was the first actual angel I've met besides me!" He looked back out towards the main island. "I wonder what other kinds of angels are here now!"

While her new surroundings interested her the most, Sandalphon kept an eye on her allies as well. Pit seemed to be full of energy and pride, eager to show off this aerial archipelago and its wonders despite the drastic departures from the Skyworld he knew and loved. If he were a tour guide, then she, Roxas, and Sectonia were certainly the tourists. The same couldn’t be said for Midna, whose natural loathing of light had not, unfortunately, been mitigated by her many fusions. Inwardly, Sandalphon both wondered why she chose to come here and lauded her tenacity for doing so. Weighing Midna’s discomfort against her own desire to explore, and keeping in mind the possibility that surprise visitors might not be welcome in high-security areas, the archangel quickly calculated a route through the sky islands. Among the members of this group, only Sectonia could fly freely, but the rest could at least slow-fall or long jump, which opened up a lot of paths. “Let’s be off, then. We’ll have ample time for admiration in transit.”

Just as Pit said, the Seekers began to island hop. Though Sandalphon prescribed a reasonably efficient route toward Palutena’s Temple for Midna’s sake, it would be difficult for any trip through Skyworld to not be scenic. The high-altitude wind practically sang through the trees decked out in fall colors, and each sculpture they passed seemed more impressive than the next. Various creatures could be found all over, especially in the untouched autumn woods, including curious egg-shaped paissa, mischievous gaelicats, two-faced remlits, eerie seraphaces, and moody bansheep. As the newcomers marched up and down well-worn stone stairs, past pillars, and through ancient archways, they could scarcely ignore the patrols of the well-armed angels that Pit had been so curious about. Every squad featured at least one formidable Feathershield, each one possessed of brawn as grand as his sterling silver armor and towering greatshield polished to a mirror sheen. In their company one could find a handful of gallant Featherswords, keen Featherbows, and slight Featherstaffs, all wearing either helmets or silvery masks. Rarer but more impressive still were the elites, the Storm Wardens with wings of light and heavy cannons, as well as the Champions so heavily armed and armored that they might as well have been holy mechs. Though vigilant as they flew about, these angels did not regard the newcomers with hostility, especially once they got a good look at Sandalphon’s remarkable triple halo and Pit’s own white-feathered wings. Instead they treated the newcomers with courtesy, nodding politely as they flapped past. Somewhat relieved, Sandalphon continued to keep up with her energetic young charge as well as she could as the team drew closer to Palutena’s Temple.

”So, you said your lady Palutena is a goddess, yes?” Midna asked Pit, casually, and then gave a touch too much away by adding ”as in an actual goddess?” with just a hint of need before controlling for that and asking ”what’s she like?”

"Oh man, where do I start?" he replied without looking over at Midna, starry eyed gaze fixed on the unfamiliar angelic soldiers and the next island they'd have to hop down to. He probably would have launched into the same speech he gave Sandalphon about her the day before, if no one had cut him off.

”Hmph, if her beauty doesn’t eclipse or even come close to mine, I’ll be very disappointed.” Sectonia said, having power that rivaled the gods or so she thought, and then having absorbed the power of one just recently. Although to her it was more about beauty. ”Although so far, things have been… fine. I could see places to work on, but so far things are acceptable.”

"Acceptable" was high praise coming from the Queen of Floralia, but it was overridden by her first comment, at least in Pit's ears. He whirled around to face Sectonia, pale pink color spreading on his cheeks. "It definitely does! Lady Palutena is perfect! She's—whoa!"

Moving backward, Pit nearly slipped from the edge of the floating rock they were on. He caught himself before falling, pushing off the side and spreading his wings to glide down to the nearest island. When he landed he huffed, then waited for the others to swoop down and join him. Once everyone met Lady Palutena, they would understand how wonderful she was. And it would be soon, hopefully. The thought was energizing Pit, but he reigned it in as best he could, and once the others joined him again he gave Midna a serious answer.

"Lady Palutena is the Goddess of Light. She's awesome - strong, smart and kind. You'll like her! Just, maybe don't look directly at her halo."

Sectonia gave a bit of a chuckle at hearing that. She had just absorbed a light goddess herself. ”Hm… that's interesting. I do hope she doesn’t dislike our princess here like the Guardian of the Under would.” Sectonia mused. ”She targeted Ganondorf quite often…”

Not quite sure of the logical connection behind Sectonia’s thought process, Sandalphon focused on the road ahead, as well as the person of interest who the quartet would find at the end. “It sounds like Palutena and I will get along. Although I often assume directorial duties in combat operations, my role is primarily dictated by necessity, due to my talents in logistics, communication, and calculation. I would offer no reservations about ceding the role to someone who’s similarly capable but also displays true leadership qualities, such as the charisma to inspire strength and loyalty in the troops.” After brushing back a few strands of hair teased out of place by the wind, Sandalphon slipped her hands in her pockets as she continued on. “Objectively speaking, somebody like me could be replaced with a sufficiently powerful computer. Someone like this Palutena, however, sounds irreplaceable.”

”Then she might be just what we need” Midna concluded based on all this, even if her desire was more for a hand wise and true enough to be trusted to hold Galeem’s power than specifically a leader to dictate how to claim it. She Seekers were no nation or army, and they were held together by a shared interest and shared foe, rather than any kind of loyalty to any sort of leader after all.

Flurries of falling leaves blew overhead and scraped softly across the ground as the team proceeded over an arched stone bridge. The closer they got to Palutena’s Temple, the more built up these islands were, to the point where they became less like free-floating masses and more like supports for the structures built atop them. At this point, most of the angel soldiers the newcomers encountered appeared to either be on guard duty, preparing to deploy, or returning from assignment. Though wary of the unfamiliar faces, they behaved no less cordially than the patrols encountered earlier; evidently Sandalphon’s halo did a lot of talking. It wasn’t long before the Seekers’ road brought them to a heavily fortified gate that barred the way to the temple grounds, where they found a Feathershield captain running drills. Boasting a remarkably burly physique but unusually small wings, the man noticed the strangers immediately, and turned away from his soldiers with a stern, stony face.

“Peace be with you,” he greeted in a flat but proper English accent. “You must be new here. On behalf of Skyworld’s angels, welcome. I am Fodoquia, a humble blade of the Father and soldier of Palutena’s Army. If you please, state your names, affiliations, and business here at the seat of Skyworld’s power.”

The Archangel bowed her head respectfully. “Peace be with you, Fodoquia. I am Sandalphon, servant of the goddess Illia. Though I lack wings in this form, I too am an angel, as is young Pit here.” She gestured toward her companion. “And these are Midna, Roxas, and Sectonia, our friends and comrades. Though I understand her to be a busy woman, we seek to meet with Lady Palutena.”

“Illia?” A much deeper voice rang out as another formidable angel descended from the top of the gate on great white wings. He stood even taller than Fodoquia, and made for a striking sight in heavy gold-and-white armor. Though bald-headed, he sported a white goatee, and a symbol on his forehead that shone with inner light. This angel was ever bit a no-nonsense professional as his counterpart, and after he alighted he and Fodoquia on either side of the gate made for an imposing pair of gate guards indeed. “Never heard of her,” he declared, crossing his arms.

Sandalphon shifted her weight slightly. “Long ago, she made the first-ever pact with a dragon, in this case the Holywyrm Elysium. Their divine accord quelled the conflict between man and dragon to create the foundation of society across Grastaea. Though she is worshiped as a goddess and the progenitor of the Illian Church, which I serve as the leader of a peacekeeping group called the Apostles. I must confess that she is not a creator deity like many that I’ve learned of during my time in this World of Light, making her more akin to a saint, and by the time I came to be she was long gone.” She tilted her head slightly, her pupils becoming inverted triangles. “So, perhaps you might understand why I am eager to meet a ‘goddess’ in the flesh.”

The angel nodded his head. “Well said. I do understand your curiosity, and share it. Though all angels like myself revere the Creator, or Father as some call him, we have yet to see him face to face. I am Nathaniel, soldier of the Hellguard and direct subordinate to Uriel, who stands alongside Lady Palutena to safeguard Skyworld from evil. If you would be so kind as to wait, I will send word that you request an audience.”

At that moment, though, a third angel descended from the sky, her long straight-cut blonde hair flowing in the wind. Unlike the other two, her wings and armor featured a more cybernetic technological appearance, and she seemed less like a soldier. “You big dummies!” she called out as she landed, a teasing smile on her face. “All this dithering about beliefs and protocols. Did the name ‘Pit’ mean nothing to you!?” As Fodoquia and Nathaniel exchanged a confused glance, the lady angel planted her palm against her face. “Ugh, unbelievable.” She then turned a smile at Pit, winking. “Sorry about all that. You and your friends should come with me!” Turning on a dime toward her compatriots, her voice became harsh again. “Hurry up and open the gates!”

Fodoquia cleared his throat, lips pursed, and called up to the soldiers on the wall. “...Open the gates.”

"That's more like it," Pit grinned. In all honesty he was a little starstruck to see so many angels, so it was a good thing that Sandalphon had taken charge of the introduction. That the soldiers hadn't recognized him wasn't a shock, but things were set straight without him even having to say anything! It was a relief that even after merging with some other army he still held his rank.

A moment later the gates opened wide, admitted the Seekers to Palutena’s Temple with the lady angel as their guide. “My name is Celia,” she introduced herself. “Don’t mind those stuffy soldiers. We’ve been expecting you, a certain someone in particular. Better not keep her waiting~” She beckoned the newcomers to follow her, then took off, flying fast and low through the temple grounds.

”Convenient” Midna noted, before dismissing her draconic escort, tensing, and then taking off at a jog after their fast flying guide, calling back ”let’s not keep her waiting.”

”She’s a goddess right?” Roxas replied. ”And the Avenger’s a big ship, so… it can’t be that weird if she saw us coming… right?”

"Of course not! She can see pretty much everything!"

Sectonia observed the chatter and she didn’t really say much of anything as the others had this well in hand. And she was learning quite a bit by just watching. Well, it was interesting, but also a bit concerning, that Pit outranked all these angels with how boyish he was. But then that led to more thoughts and overall she’d need to still see Palutena, but Sectonia was interested now.

”Wonder why those other Angels didn’t know you.” Roxas said to Pit as they were escorted. ”Shouldn’t they have been told to be on the lookout for your return or something?”

”Factionalism, maybe?” Midna suggested, as she wondered what it must be like to act in the name of an absent god when a real one was right there. ”Maybe there’s some disagreement or rift between these followers of the ‘Father’ and those who serve Lady Palutena?”

”Makes sense…. These Consuls are stirring up conflict everywhere even if they themselves aren’t here. And the world itself causes conflict as well, so conflict among factions would mesh well with what we know.” Sectonia said, agreeing with Midna.

Sandalphon considered the situation. “Or perhaps they were given a physical description that is no longer applicable.”

”A mix of both perhaps.”

”Maybe,” Roxas said. ”but that doesn't explain why they didn't at least recognize his name.”

"They were definitely newbies, but whatever it was it's fine now," Pit said, shrugging the whole thing off. After all, there was only one person that he cared about recognizing him right now. In anticipation he sped up even more to catch up with Celia, eyes on the familiar rising temple.

"It hasn't been that long, right?" To him it didn't feel like it, but in light of everything they'd learned yesterday he couldn't be sure. He hoped that Lady Palutena hadn't been stressed and looking for him at least. "Are you part of her army too, Celia? Has she been doing okay? ...and are you a robot angel?"

After crossing a handful of bridges and climbing a lot of stairs, the group was getting close to Palutena’s Temple, and their pace began to slow somewhat. When Pit took the chance to talk to her, Celia replied with a cheeky smile. “Oh no, wrong on both accounts I’m afraid~. I’m more of a…well, spy, heehee. While the others flap around with their heads in the clouds, I keep my ear to the ground for juicy secrets. I’m pretty good, too. Lady Palutena trusted me to keep an eye out for her favorite little angel, after all~” She giggled. “And no, I’m not a robot. Whatever gave you that idea?”

Her wings of course, but by that time the six had reached the temple’s grand main entrance, so the conversation came to an end. With a nod from Celia, the angel guards on duty threw wide the doors to admit the newcomers into Palutena’s Temple. Sandalphon composed herself and followed the two inside at a more dignified pace than the hyper-excited Pit, ready to meet his goddess.

The temple was constructed in much the same way as the rest of Skyworld, but being its seat of power the area was polished and immaculate. Pools and streams of crystal blue water decorated the temple, along with some features new to Pit like stained glass fixtures. Emboldened by it looking mostly the same he led the group deeper in, his flapping wings urging them to go faster even if he didn't say it aloud. It wasn't far from the entrance that they came upon a wide open room with a doorway on two other sides, just as pristine as the rest of the temple. Tall marble columns stood along each wall of cool colored tile mosaics, holding up a high tiered ceiling with a glass window at the top letting plenty of sunlight in. Beautiful fabric drapes covered the far walls behind the room's only real feature: a large, marble double staircase with a raised landing. At the top of it, a floating cherub spoke with a slender woman clothed in white robes and gold accessories. She held a gold and lapis staff taller than she was in one hand, a reflective buckler shield strapped to her other arm. Silken green hair cascaded down her back, topped by an elegant laurel crown, and at the back of her head, a radiant blue winged halo shone. Though human in appearance, her very presence seemed so much larger. There was no doubt about who this woman was even if Pit hadn't called out to her, his voice full of mixed emotion.

"Lady Palutena!"

She turned, giving everyone a full view of the illustrious Goddess of Light. She didn't seem surprised; rather her expression was serene and welcoming, as befitting a divine being... and then she smiled widely, clearly as elated to see her loyal angel as he was to see her.

"Pit!" Palutena ceased her conversation and stepped off of the landing, floating down to the floor. At the same time Pit had all but sprinted the extra distance and flung himself towards her. She caught the angel in her arms, sharing a hug with him before stepping back and ruffling his hair affectionately. "It's about time you got here."

"I know, I know! I'm sorry Lady Palutena. I was busy with world saving stuff, and I couldn't exactly get back up here on my own you know."

The two of them grinned at each other. Although looking up at her, Pit could see that her emerald green eyes were covered by the sunset red film denoted by the Gleaming, just like the rest of the angels they'd passed. He had hoped that somehow she would already have been freed, but since she hadn't contacted him he knew that wouldn't be the case. It was probably what caused the interference in the first place.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, um, nothing. It just... feels really good to be back here and see you again, Lady Palutena."

The goddess wasn't fooled, but she let it slide so that she could turn her attention to the four people Pit had brought along with him. There was a flicker of something similar to recognition in her gaze as she looked at them, like she had some second hand knowledge about some of the group, but she didn't assume anything - instead gesturing to the Seekers and glancing down at Pit. "New friends of yours?"

"Yup!" He happily introduced each person in turn this time, pointing them out as he went. "This is Roxas, Princess Midna, Queen Sectonia, and Sandalphon, an angel of the goddess Illia!"

Palutena smiled warmly, nodding a greeting at the group. "It's nice to meet you."

Despite her divine bearing, up close she seemed more down to earth than what the newcomers might have expected.

Roxas seemed to instinctively straighten up his posture. A habit he no doubt inherited from Sora - would often do the same thing when interacting with Master Yen Sid or the King. ”It’s nice to meet you too, Lady Palutena. I’ve never seen a place like this before. The islands up here all look beautiful.”

Since setting foot in here, Sandalphon maintained her composure, her stride deliberately slow and her manner stiffly proper. Only her eyes moved quickly, absorbing everything in sight. The moment that her gaze landed on Palutena, she studied the goddess intently, practically transfixed. In a surprising turn of events, Palutena looked human, much more so than even Sandalphon herself. Her white robes and golden ornaments gave her an appearance of purity and regality, though perhaps most incredible was her hair–having hair that long and perfect, without a tangle or muss in sight, was a supernatural feat in and of itself. Sandalphon also admired Palutena’s halo, though maybe ‘halo’ was the wrong word. ‘Corona’, perhaps? If angels possessed halos, it made sense that a goddess would shine with something even more glorious. Though she hadn’t known what to expect, Pit’s deity really wasn’t what the archangel expected. Then again, she barely had any idea what her own goddess should look like, let alone someone else’s. Sandalphon decided that she was honored to meet this woman, a harmony of human and heavenly virtues.

“The pleasure is mine,” she declared after Roxas, her pupils briefly becoming upward carets.

Sectonia observed this so-called ‘Goddess of Light’, and her initial observation was that she wasn’t impressive. But if anything, this new world proved that even the most unassuming could be dangerous. ”I see that the angels are fighting some sort of evil corruption in the sky here. Care to explain the situation?” If they were going to somehow use this place as a base, there was a lot that had to be done here to ensure the safety of those who resided here.

Minda meanwhile had the divinity of the goddess the least shattered by her humanity, mainly because she could barely see it. The glowing radiance hovering behind the goddess left her more silhouette than anything in the twilight princess’ eyes. Given that trying to shield them from it would have been pretty disrespectful, she mostly had to grin and bear the glare, thankful that the helmet prevented people seeing her squinting, which made Sectonia’s tactless attitude pretty frustrating to her, prompting her to sarcastically snip that the queen’s question was ”very diplomatic”

”Hm? Pit has said he's the commander of her royal guards is he not? He has said as much. Unless they have some kind of other relationship?” Sectonia quipped back. This was something she suspected a bit as things have been unfolding. Besides, she doubted a gleaming goddess would think about anything but war at this moment.

Midna’s quip and Sectonia’s defensiveness cut in just when Palutena was poised to respond, but judging by her serene expression and faint smile of amusement the goddess didn’t seem too bothered. “Neither situation is complicated,” she assured the royals. “The Gloom is simply a manifestation of evil. A weed in the Garden, and like all weeds a little trimming now and again.” She smirked just a tiny bit, evidently pleased with herself for her wordplay, though even Sandalphon had a hard time detecting it. When she looked at Pit, though, the goddess was all smiles. “Pit is indeed my commander, but in his absence I’ve had to lean on a couple others. Like Uriel, the commander of the Hellguard. She’s quite capable, too…but no substitute for my most loyal retainer.”

At that point, Sandalphon spoke up. “Lady Palutena,” she began, using the same title and deferential tone that Palutena’s soldiers did. “While I cannot speak for Pit, given that his place seems to be at your side, the rest of us hope to stay in Skyworld for a time, and freely travel its breadth, if you’ll permit us. A day or two for myself, but longer for the others. “In exchange, we are willing to lend our strength to your army and combat the Gloom. Though your forces clearly boast both strength and numbers, not to mention a capable leader, it appears that this corruption has been difficult to wholly expunge.” She said and meant it matter-of-factly, not at all to challenge anyone’s abilities, but the archangel was cognizant that her words could be taken that way. “When it comes to hunting down high-priority, high-risk targets, our organization has an excellent track record. You will not find us lacking.”

”Indeed. Our group managed to end a century long plague afflicting the underground. Something… fairly similar to what you're dealing with here, come to think of it.” That did lead to the question, Sectonia had the Radiance within her, as disgusting as it could be, could she control the gloom and send it against their enemies?

The less said about the other team’s mission the better meanwhile, which inevitably meant that Midna opened her mouth to say that ”We also fought all sorts of horrible corruption in Midgar, so we’ve got a wide range of experience when it comes to different kinds of evils, be they otherworldly or all too grounded.”

All the self-advertising elicited a titter from the goddess of light. “My, I can see that Pit’s found some friends who’re almost as eager to help as he is.” She nodded, then made a sweeping motion with her arm as if delivering a pronouncement. “Very well. Any friend of Pit’s is a friend of mine, after all, and who am I to decline a generous offer from friends in need? Celia here can find you a place to stay. Once you’re settled, I’ll be eager to accompany you to the front and see just what you can do.”

Sandalphon bowed her head. “Thank you, Lady Palutena. You will not regret it.”

“Right this way then~” Celia turned to lead the Seekers back out, and in quick succession all the newcomers went to follow her. Only Sandalphon lingered, her eyes locked with Palutena’s for a moment longer. No matter what she said, the archangel knew that the goddess couldn’t truly be an ally until Galeem’s corruption was gone from her eyes. After another moment, Sandalphon turned without a word and accompanied the others back out into Skyworld’s radiant light.

After the meeting was over, Ganondorf barely touched his meal. There was a lot to mull over and consider, and he couldn’t help but feel like he should be doing something more productive than just eating. So after he picked at his plate a while, he excused himself and got up. He said he was full even though his plate was only half eaten. It wasn’t hard to figure out that Ganondorf was antsy to get his own affairs in order before he inevitably returned alone to Gerudo Town. And the first order of business was to have a little chat with a certain “guest” aboard the ship.

Ganondorf made his way toward where he was told the isolation ward was. He left the Common Room through the Bridge next door. After that, he took the left down two levels, where it stopped in front of the entrance to the Isolation Ward. Beyond this wall was one of the people Ganondorf had come to despise so much. He knew he needed to be careful about how he conducted himself here. Intimidation and idle threats were likely not going to get him what he wanted - not from a Consul, anyway. And besides, if what Pit said about the Consul wanting to help them was even remotely true, then in all likelihood the warlord could get the information he needed by simply asking. Well, he was soon about to be the judge of that. With one more breath, Ganondorf stepped forward and through the door into the ward.

Inside he found the guard whom he presumed was Asbestos, ”Is he still here?” The Gerudo asked her, referring to the one and only prisoner aboard the ship. While waiting for a response, Ganondorf scanned the holding rooms within the ward. As expected, they were all unoccupied - save for one.The Savra girl, whose shift was almost over by this point, gave the newcomer an irritated look and pointed him toward the prisoner’s cell before resuming the game on her phone. When Ganondorf followed her directions, he could see a tall, thin figure resting in the darkness of his cell, his position meditative. There was no mistaking the style of his armor or cape, even if the warlord had never seen this particular helmet before. This must be S, the Consul who had supposedly given up on immortality and sided against his fellows, if that idealistic young angel was to be believed.

”Consul.” Was the closest thing to a greeting that Ganondorf could offer after approaching the cell. But he did reach up and take the helmet off of his head. Mostly he wanted to look this man in the face, even if the latter chose not to reciprocate. ”I won’t waste your time with pleasantries and false pretenses. I’ve learned a thing or two about your kind and how they operate. But now I need to know what really makes Moebius tick. And you’re going to tell me.” He said flatly. Clearly he wasn’t offering much of anything in the way of friendship like Pit had done earlier. Ganondorf was instead all business. And he even took a seat in a nearby chair - proof that he was willing to sit in here for however long he needed to learn what he wanted to know.

S stirred, his lightless eyes opening to size Ganondorf up. “I’m rather fond of pleasantries myself, and I have nothing but time to waste with them. But as I gather that you’ve had a long day, I’ll not stretch this out needlessly.” He leaned back against the wall, hands clasped in his lap. “What is it that you wish to know?”

”The clocks.” Ganondorf answered. ”We already know they act as the source of long life for you. And that you fuel them with the lives of people en masse.” he said but then added, ”If Moebius’ own words are to be believed, those clocks are indestructible and the Consuls themselves free to reap the benefits, unchecked, in perpetuity.” But the look on Ganondorf’s face clearly showed that he didn’t believe that entirely. Or at the very least that there was more to it than just that. ”The point is, the Consuls need those clocks. So I’m going to destroy them.”

A knowing nod from S suggested that the Consul knew what Ganondorf was getting at. “A wise plan of action. Unfortunately, you’ll find that you’re unable to so much as scratch the Flame Clocks, if you haven’t already. That holds true for practically everyone…save the Lost Numbers.” S crossed his arms. “Perhaps that alone is enough to clue you in, but I’ll remove the ambiguity. The Clocks are part of the system. As ‘olden life’, from before the World of Light, you are a product of the system, and bound by it. Only those born outside the system, beings who by all accounts do not exist, can damage the Clocks.”

S shrugged. “Of course, many Lost Numbers lack the requisite strength or courage to put that privilege to use. There is one other way, though. Just as Lost Numbers are ‘new life’, born of a special union, there is another kind of union–one that would grant that privilege not to your progeny, but you yourself. Though it requires an even stronger bond.” Sighing, S leaned back. “Unfortunately, I know precious little of this phenomenon. During my stint in the World of Light, I never attained such rapport with another. But be wary, for this is not an exclusive right for you heroes. Moebius can Interlink, too.”

”Inter… link?” Ganondorf repeated. He was initially perplexed by such a term. But the implications were clear enough to him. ”I doubt there is anyone in this World of Light who would ever have that kind of trust in a man like me.” Ganondorf finally said. Admitting such a flaw in his overall person was quite the rarity. But for such a foe as powerful as Moebius and Galeem, well, some level of self-awareness was clearly going to be necessary. ”But you say the Lost Numbers have the power as well. So perhaps all that is needed is to make them aware of that. Surely at least one of them will be willing to take on the task if they knew what it could accomplish?”

But this wasn’t the only thing about the clocks Ganondorf wanted to learn. ”A King in the Under tried to warn us against this plan of action. Said it could negatively affect the people they are linked to. But I’m not so sure about that. The destruction of the Guardians releases a pulse that destories people in the immediate surrounding area. Tell me, am I right in thinking that the same principle applies to the Flame Clocks as well?”

“Tis likely,” S told him. “Though I have not witnessed such a rare occurrence myself, the Clocks are as shackles, and breaking them should set their captives free.” He paused, his eyes somewhat amused. “I had not thought that the King of Evil would be one to self-deprecate. Surely, if he set his mind to it, a conqueror of nations could conquer one solitary heart.”

”If conquering a heart were really so simple, then conquering nations would never be so violent and bloody.” Ganondorf offered as a rebuttal. He was about to leave, but then remembered where it was he was going to go and who he would inevitably have to deal with there. And he figured since he was here, he might as well try to glean some insight about her. ”One last thing before I go. Tell me about Consul X.” He asked. He presumed S would be well aware of what location Consul X governed over and thus why Ganondorf would be singling her out from the remaining Consuls.

The prisoner narrowed his eyes. “X…” He shook his head. “Do understand that we Moebius aren’t the most sociable coworkers. At best the duos act the part of chess players, sportingly pitting their colonies against one another. For most, though, other Moebius aren’t allies as much as mere seats to be filled, their interaction limited to squabbling and sabotage. M and I feuded with particular bitterness, as did H and X, Consuls of the Sandswept Sky. She rules the southern and northern reaches, and to her credit she seemed better than most. Do not be deceived, however. Our kind are all of a piece.”

That answer was a bit disappointing, Ganondorf having hoped to learn a weakness or something. But it sounded like S didn’t know his fellow Consul very well. But then he mentioned the Consuls being seen as seats to be filled. Something about that didn’t sit right with the warlord, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Probably better not to dwell on such a detail. ”Then I’ll just have to observe Consul X for myself, then.” He finally said, standing from his chair and putting his helmet back on. But before he could exit through the door, Ganondorf paused in order to say one last thing to S. ”Moebius will soon learn that they chose the wrong G.”

---

Once he was back out onto the lift, Ganondorf used it to go one level down. Immediately below the Isolation Ward was the Spirit Chamber. He’d been here before already, but there was a bit of business he still needed to attend to here. And that business involved demon merchant, Vulgrim. Unlike before, he had finally returned and was ready to do business with anyone who had spirits to offer him. Ganondorf approached the demon without fear or hesitation. He took out the two capsules in his possession and put them on the table as his offering.

”Spirits for information. That is the business you deal in, correct?” Ganondorf asked him, though it was more of a rhetorical question as he already knew the answer. ”Unlike many of the others, you’ll find that I have far less qualms about using the souls of the dead as currency. There are two questions I would ask. Can you tell me anything about a power called ‘Interlink’? And the second, do you know the location of a being called Twinrova, also sometimes known as Kotake and Koume?”

Vulgrim eyed the meager offering, his eyes narrow. Having just received three apiece for one question each from Geralt and Zenkichi, two spirits for two questions did not please him. “Interlink…?” He pronounced the word in an extended drawl, as if reading a foreign term for the first time. “Doesn’t ring a bell. If it’s something to do with Moebius, I’m afraid that I steer well clear of them. They don’t take kindly to folks running around without light in their eyes, after all. So sorry.”

After a smirking chuckle, Vulgrim eyed the two spirits, then looked up at Ganondorf. “Twinrova, though…weeeell, I’m in a half-decent mood, so maybe I’ll offer you a little discount. One monster to another, heheh.” He tented his claws, turning his rictus grin on the Gerudo warlord. “Those witches are working their magic on the western seaboard, last I heard. Helping themselves to the strange and warped magical reagents of the Far Far Range and the bloodsucker-riddled Courtyard. Far from home, and in dangerous territory…let’s hope their magic is up to snuff, hmm?”

”Very enlightening.” Ganondorf responded. Not only did he learn the whereabouts of his adopted mothers, but he also learned that Vulgrim could not - or would not - provide knowledge pertaining to Moebius. Something he would do well to keep in mind for any future transactions. ”You say you steer clear of Moebius. But is that rule of yours absolute? Or could you be persuaded to bend it in the future? I know all too well the value of maintaining a certain… relationship to those who offer magical services. And I would pay quite well for it with whatever bounty I bring back with me from my future endeavors.”

Although the suggestion irritated Vulgrim somewhat considering what Ganondorf’s idea of generosity had been so far, his annoyance quickly gave way to greed. Of course, without any skin on his face to emote with, it all looked like a toothy sneer. “Well, everyone has their price, as they say,” he declared, wiggling his talons to illustrate his point. “Feed my hunger…and I’ll feed your curiosity.”

”Those were the last of my spirits for the time being.” Ganondorf said, but he did offer a sneer of his own. ”But I’ve made quite the habit out of collecting them. So as long as you’re willing to give me a reason to continue doing so, then I see no reason not to help you sate that hunger of yours. I look forward to doing further business with you, Vulgrim.”

And with that, Ganondorf left the Spirit Chamber. The only thing left to do now was to return to the Common Room. By this time most of the people had left, which was fine by him. It meant he could quickly get a turn to use that map table device. He had to fiddle with it before remembering how it worked but after that he was looking at a map of the World of Light. As much of it that the Avenger had charted, anyway. He stared at it a solid minute or two before he finally spotted what he was looking for. The Far Far Range and The Courtyard were just on the eastern side of the mountain range that covered The Under, barely north-northwest of The Chasm which he knew would lead to Dirtmouth.

”Had they really only been a stone’s throw away from me this entire time?” Ganondorf wondered aloud to himself. If Vulgrim’s word was to be trusted, then the answer was yes. Would he have had reason to lie? Perhaps, perhaps not. The only way Ganondorf would ever know for sure was to go there and look for himself. Something he would have to plan for in the future.

And now he had concluded the rest of his business for the day, so it was time for a long awaited rest. He retired to his room a bit early that night, a room he discovered he would be sharing with Therion. Well, so long as the thief kept his nimble fingers to himself, then the Warlord would have no qualms with sharing a room. For the time being, Ganondorf was alone. Therion had not yet concluded his business or perhaps was simply not tired enough to retire yet.

But this did give Ganondorf a bit of time to think over the things he’d learned. And now he had to decide whether to share any of that with the others. Honestly he had no real reason to conceal the information. But he was aware that a few of the Seekers wouldn’t agree with his plan to destroy the Flame Clocks. But did that mean they would try to stop him? For the time being, Ganondorf reached up to squeeze his linkpearl, a decision being made.

”Chief Riju?” He said, trying to get in touch with his intended recipient, ”It is Ganondorf. I’ll be returning home to Gerudo Town for a few days starting tomorrow. So I’ll be able to help you with your bandit horde problem in earnest. I’ve also learned how we might be able to destroy the Flame Clock, and… I believe I may have learned where my mothers are. If we can return them home, they’ll be of great use to us.”

---

The next morning, the King of Evil emerged from his hellpod after it successfully dropped from The Avenger. When he did, he found himself near the familiar oasis situated a distance away from the familiar walls of Gerudo Town. He wasted no time in beginning the walk across the dune to the front gates of his ancestral home.

While his three counterparts sought employment to blend in and pass time, legal or otherwise, Therion did no such thing. He had plenty of money, and even some pons left over from the Metro, but even if he was flat broke he would just steal whatever he needed. He was a thief after all, despite his current stint as a member of the 'world saving hero' club.

So for said thief, the first order of business was to scope the island out. He made his way to the city's highest point that wasn't on top of a giant geyser of water, and after a lap around the uppermost part of Mafia Town he made his way back down again over tiled roofs and stone stairs. He had a few loose goals for the first day: get a general lay of the area, and find out where on the island most people arrived to. The reason for the former was obvious, and as for the latter... that would be where he hung around the most.

Therion's method of information gathering was old school, but he preferred to think of it as tried and true. The problem was the whole island was absolutely saturated with food places: cafes, dives, pubs, specialty shops and general restaurants. If he was going to post up and become a regular at one of these establishments, it would have to be one on the water. Close to the largest port, preferably filled with people both coming and going. Sailors and travelers often loved to talk, he knew from experience. When he identified the busiest looking docks he kept their location in mind, completing more of his city walk-through before making his way there.

Mafia Town was... an interesting place. It sort of reminded Therion of the islands they'd played the taxi mini-game on, but much smaller and way more food-oriented. It was weird to have so many different places on one small island, but he had seen much, much weirder.

At the seaside, Therion kept as far from the water as he could while he toured the port. Just like he'd seen with the rest of the city, there were all kinds of restaurants competing with each other. There were also ships of all kinds, large or small, commercial or private, importing the ingredients said restaurants needed. This place must go through a ton.

Though he could smell the prep work of all the kitchens around, it was still early enough that many of them weren't open yet. This included the taverns too, naturally. So he just took everything in, committing the layout to memory. Taking note of which chefs cursed at each other on the street as they passed, which directions the sailors headed after disembarking, which places had a line at the door and which seemed best to avoid going forward. In a lot of ways it was like his normal heist routine - arrive in a new place on a rumor, keep his head down, ingratiate himself to the local barkeep, pick up more recent rumors, find the target, then get on with it. The thought didn't comfort him whatsoever, though.

Eventually he'd gone from one end of the port to the other. He had his initial choices in mind, and a few ways he figured it could get on the right people's good sides. He paused in his wandering, looking like just another tourist as he stretched. Alright, he thought to himself, time for another pass through.




"A word?"

With the meeting’s adjournment people filed out of the bridge to spread out over the Avenger’s interior, following Sandalphon’s suggestions or seeking some other way to pass time. Primrose was still processing the news of Alcamoth’s destruction, but on the outside she appeared to be perfectly calm… and besides, it wasn’t for that reason that she hung back in the room. She lingered, until almost everyone had left, and then she swept into the archangel’s vision - standing partially between her and the door.

"Sandalphon… was it?"

The meeting’s host came to a stop, her power-symbol pupils resting on Primrose. This discussion had been a heavy one, exerting an almost physical weight on everyone involved, and with her capacity for emotions amplified by her recent fusions, Sandalphon wanted some time to decompress. She hadn’t been in a great rush to leave, but even if this dancer gave no sign of rudeness or aggression, the way she interposed herself in Sandalphon’s path made her intentions clear. In truth, the archangel would have been more surprised if nobody ended up confronting her about something or another, and she’d already resolved to meet anyone who came to her head-on. “Correct,” she replied, lifting her chin up as she clasped her hands behind her back. Though Primrose had regained much of her old self, the Amazon she fused with in Gerudo Town had been such an outlier that even now she stood at an even height with the archangel. Sandalphon stared, unblinking, and readied herself for what the dancer would say next.

"I don't mean to keep you long. I just figured... there must be some things you didn't want to speak of publicly." Seeing as Sandalphon was an ally if not yet a friend, Primrose didn't plan to treat the archangel like one of her marks. Not completely, anyway. She folded her arms and smiled disarmingly. And figuring that neither one of them wanted to drag this out any more than necessary, she cut to the chase. "When Nadia asked you if there was any other bad news... why did you lie about it?"

At the accusation, Sandalphon’s pupils immediately changed to hyphens. “Its somewhat worrying that you could tell,” she admitted, sliding her hands into her pockets. “I did not intend to deceive anyone. I consciously omitted information that I judged to be irrelevant to our current operations, only capable of further diminishing our force’s morale.” After pausing for a moment, her pupils returned to normal. “I can tell you if you wish. It will only serve to weigh you down, but perhaps for you, not knowing is the worse fate of all.”

Primrose's smile turned a little sharper. "And perhaps you'd be right."

Sandalphon's thought process seemed to be the same as Asgore's had been. Primrose understood where she was coming from, just like she'd understood why the old king had withheld the information he had. After all, the fact that everyone on the planet would endlessly repeat their lives, simply starting over when they died nearly without exception was a heavy thing to drop on someone. Primrose couldn't imagine what it was that Sandalphon was withholding, but she didn't think it would be any worse than that.

"If you don't want me to share it, whatever it is, with anyone else... then I won't. But I need to know."

“As you wish.” The archangel tilted her head down and sideways, a slightly dour on her expression as she regarded Primrose with pupils shaped like square brackets. “In addition to the ‘storied’ state, those spawned in this world are stamped with an additional preventative measure against the enactment of meaningful change. If you’ve ever encountered the term ‘built-in obsolescence’, you can think of it like that. In this world, we are shackled with a maximum lifespan of just ten years, and when our expiration date arrives, there’s nothing that anyone can do.”

Though the term Sandalphon mentioned was foreign, Primrose understood what she meant quite well. So this was the means of creating a truly repetitive loop, with none of the world's non-natural inhabitants growing older or wiser. A hard time limit, after which their souls would expire. With this new information slotting into the bigger picture, it brought to mind something that Asgore had asked them. If the spirits in their bodies were just data on a timer, pulled into this world from another, then... how was she supposed to know if she was the original her?

Primrose's breath caught in her throat, but she composed herself quickly. Besides the existential questions this compounded, there was also the issue of the time frame itself. Ten years. To something like an angel, she was sure that amount of time was nothing, like the blink of an eye. But even for mere mortals like herself, it was worrisome. The Seekers had made amazingly quick progress so far, but if they faced actual opposition now their campaign was sure to slow... and even a decade might not be enough time. It had taken the dancer ten whole years to make any progress on her own quest for revenge - and now to take on the world in the same amount of time?

"..." Primrose shifted to leaning against the door frame, squeezing her hands into fists and taking a moment to mull the information over. Then she looked back to Sandalphon, rolling her shoulder against the metal to give the archangel space to leave.

"I understand," she told the other woman. "There's really nothing more to say." Because ultimately it changed nothing. But it re-contextualized the mission for her, a little. She couldn't say she was glad to know this, but as she'd said, she'd needed to know.

Even if what Primrose said was true, Sandalphon felt obliged to say something. “I’m sorry,” she told the dancer, the tiniest bit of regret making itself evident on her marble features.

"For the future, you may want to practice your deception," was how Primrose replied. Though the smile that had completely disappeared with the news of the time limit did not quite return, the corners of the Primrose's mouth quirked upward slightly. "I might not have been the only one who noticed. You've a tell, this... grimace. Like you're not used to using your face." The way Sandalphon's pupils changed shape gave some things away about her as well, but they were much harder to read at a glance.

Sandalphon nodded without a word. While she expected her fusions with humans to come with a toll, she couldn’t have anticipated or prepared herself for such a subtle change as this. Still, now that she knew, she could try to address the matter. Suppressing her emotions had been effortless, but now it would take some effort, in the rare occasions where it was necessary. Of course, that went for the turmoil all this bad news inspired in her, as well. She could not let despair creep in. If she couldn’t keep the darkness at bay, the archangel already planned to use the Respec Machine to remove her human spirits. For now, though, she would grapple with whatever problems came with being more human. After all, this new side of her was what allowed her to empathize with the people she was charged to protect, that being the very thing she wanted all along.

When Sandalphon stepped forward, as if to walk through the door, she laid a gentle hand on Primrose’s shoulder. After a reassuring squeeze, and an unspoken consolation, the archangel went on her way.

"...gods," Primrose murmured when she was alone, placing her fingers to her forehead and rubbing it gently. Ten years. Hopefully they could pull it off. She was sure that many of the Seekers wouldn't fret such information, but she wasn't one of them. After a few moments of mulling it over, something else occurred to her - something the angel boy had mentioned about the weather in the Dead Zone: 'It makes everything it touches older, super fast.'

Another thing to worry about, the dancer thought to herself. Besides being outright killed in battle, any sort of time manipulation might also spell certain doom for them.

She didn't spend more than a few minutes thinking about it before she swept out of the Bridge, heading for Avenger's storage and then her room. She would eventually come to find out that she would be rooming with Midna, which was just fine with her. For now, she was alone. She sat on her bed, spreading out the few simple things she'd gotten from the stockpile: a nightgown, and a journal and pen. The quartermaster had explained that the writing implement was like a quill with the ink built into it. She popped the book open and began to write, a short chronicle of all she remembered since 'waking up' taking shape on the pages.

---

The morning saw Primrose redressed, refreshed, and hurtling down to land in a metal canister. Dawn had given the first time hellpod users a rundown, but there was no being prepared for that. Still, as frazzled as she felt during the trip down as soon as the pod hit the ground and released her Primrose looked the picture of calm. She flipped her braid over her shoulder, turning her sharp eyes on the area they landed in.

Meridi-at-han. The view was breath-taking, and the city itself was beautiful too. Though she could tell it wasn't a paradise by any means, Primrose already felt more comfortable here than in the high tech Avenger or the dark cities of the Under. She breathed in the smoky scents, smiling slightly. She hadn't known what to expect after volunteering to come here, but she thought she made a good choice.

Goldlewis put the group's thoughts into words. Well, one word, but it was fitting. She looked over at him, and Roland as well. With just the three of them, it shouldn't be too much of an issue to keep their heads down and steer clear of the Consuls. Whether they could do that and make any progress on the whereabouts of new Guardians or the like remained to be seen. Not bothering to hide her amusement at the American's comment, she turned and started up the stairs herself.

Once the five struck a deal in the dead of night, they could begin to put their freshly-laid plans into action. Though alone and adrift in a dangerous city, surrounded by enemies and without any semblance of support, this ragtag group of ex-cops, adventurers, and potential calamities had finally identified a promising path to victory–or at least, progress. Of course, getting there wouldn’t be easy, and they couldn’t afford to be impatient. Their plan relied on the dangerous blend of egomania and complacency that characterized the Consuls’ rule, and if they demonstrated that their target was in very real danger without finishing the job, Moebius L could very well vanish without a trace, hiding herself anywhere within the World of Light. If this isolated cell of Seekers meant to pull this off, their execution -in both senses of the word- would have to be perfect.

For a few days, the five laid low, frequently splitting up. With the Edinburgh MagicaPolis Police Department and the Consuls’ other stooges on the hunt, they needed to keep a sharp eye out. Big Band’s experience with law enforcement, particularly unsavory and corrupt officers like the ones fielded by Chief Irons, gave him a leg up on their patterns and habits, while Lucia’s defection from that same force gave the Seekers the knowledge they needed to stay one step ahead. Meanwhile, Linkle carefully leveraged her power as the Skullgirl to fill the wintry nights with patrolling skeletons, keeping the enemy forces occupied and restless. Her group needed three things: Consul N to lose interest, a way to the Flame Clock at the top of Edinburgh’s monolithic central tower, and a dark night on which to make their way back to the floating Aether Resort to confront the ice-cold collector L once and for all.

In the meantime, everyone strove to befriend Linkle as best they could. The infectious positivity of the friendly Ace Cadet kept everyone in high spirits, of course, and Albedo -the Skullgirl’s companion ever since Snowdin- seldom left her side. Lucia walked and talked with Linkle often, her dry humor often tickling Linkle’s funny bone. Even Big Band, constantly wary and suspicious of the monster in the Seekers’ midst, tried to lend a hand. Whether out of fear or genuine pity and concern, he accepted a fatherly role in the group. For all that had happened to her, after all, Linkle was still just a kid, and she didn’t deserve to be alone.

Finally, the night came. Unable to locate his quarry, N had seemingly turned his attention elsewhere for a couple days now, no doubt to entertain himself with more nightmarish experiments and inventions. Heavy clouds blanketed the sky, and no light shone through from the ghoulish, corroded moon. Biting winds blew flecks of snow through the cold streets, and if they didn’t chase pedestrians indoors, the wandering skeletons did. The warm light of magical devices and mundane fires shone from inside most everywhere except the Aether Resort, alight with the sterile white glow of electric bulbs as it sat atop its still black lake.

Then light shone from the depths, an unnatural bright blue, first like the flicker of fireflies, and then a flood. It shimmered and cavorted like something alive, but in truth was anything but: a strange, ghostly fire, cold and inextinguishable. Beneath the black water bubbled up the fleshless bones of countless humans and creatures, straining upward from some nameless realm of nightmares into the chilly air of the waking world. The dead were rising.

Once the alarm rang out across the still water, the Aether Foundation’s security force mobilized as fast as possible. Its members scrambled out into the night equipped not just with their Pokemon partners, but futuristic arms and armor, their sleek purple a total contrast with the Foundation’s minimalistic white. They rushed to the edges of the Aether Resort to find themselves beset on all sides by skeletal foes, some of them identifiable as those of Pokemon–the organization’s sins had returned to haunt them. Soon the scene became a colorful light show as energy weapons and elemental moves were brought to bear to fight back the pale flame of the undead tide. In all the chaos, the defenders could not spare their attention for the one area not under attack: the mansion at the very back of the floating fortress. That meant that three individuals, using the skeletons beneath the water as stepping stones, were able to reach their objective undetected.

Since the multi-story windows of the mansion’s spacious and opulent ballroom opened straight to the rearward balcony, the trio could climb up and break into their final destination directly. It didn’t matter whether or not their target was here right now; if she wasn’t she would be soon. Once the last sounds of shattered and crunching glass faded away, the three stepped inside. Lucia went first, followed by the Skullgirl, then finally the alchemist Albedo. This room was cold, maybe even colder than the night outside, and eerily quiet. Even the smallest footstep echoed through the empty space. Out of the three, none had been here before, but they knew what to expect thanks to the others who’d managed to raid this place before and escape N’s Latency with their lives. Along the walls stood countless frozen statues of all kinds, carefully collected and arranged for safekeeping. Some of them, the Seekers knew, were L’s own children. Yet none could explain why there seemed to be several instances of each one, and none wanted to know how such a thing could be. This place was more of a gallery than a ballroom, and had probably never hosted a single dance—until tonight.

Lucia inhaled deeply, her breath misting in the frigid air, and she looked back at her companions. Albedo looked almost as still and emotionless as a statue himself, his exhalations barely misting, and Linkle only drew breath by force of habit. No warmth remained within her, but even still, her pale face betrayed the horror this scene inspired within her. “Ya ready?” the detective asked.

Albedo was. He had cataloged the room with his first and second glances in preparation for what was to come. Without further resources or support the plan they'd developed was only the best they could do, but they had a fair chance of success. Especially with Linkle here. Even so, none of them could afford to be distracted. They could save their outrage for later, because for now any slip up from lack of focus could cost them. When he spoke, his voice only loud enough to be audible over the distant din of battle outside, it was to bring focus back to the task at hand.

"We've come up with a strategy and enacted it," he said. "All that's left is to follow through."

He was right. As distasteful as their task was, none of them could back down now. Lucia nodded to the others, and without further conversation, the three went to work. They spread out across the dead-quiet ballroom, headed for its three sides. Lucia came to stop just beneath one of the frozen specimens, a quadrupedal saurian of impressive size, its body adorned with huge palm leaves and dangling fruits all encrusted in ice. As real as it and the rest of the statues looked, as if they would spring to life at the first sign of thaw, the three knew the bitter truth: that these were nothing but frozen ashes, with nothing preserved of the living things that L collected except their shape. For someone with no regard for the lives of others, perhaps that was enough. But if even the Skullgirl shuddered when she saw this sorry scene, there was nothing among these pale imitations worth saving.

Lucia turned sideways, setting one foot behind her. Then she quickly dragged that back foot forward across the floor, turning in the same direction. “Bahning!” Sparks flew, and as she popped her leg up, a fireball ignited that lofted into the air, its blazing reflection brilliant in the polished floors and icy masses. When she pivoted, she brought her other leg up in a snap kick to strike the fireball and launch it into the frozen pokemon’s head, destroying it in a blast of dirty slush. “Rrrraaaaaaah!” Teeth gritted, the former officer launched a series of fiery kicks, working her way through the body, until only fragments remained.

Albedo went to work as well, summoning his blade from the ether. He struck with just the sword, saving his elemental energy for what they knew was to come. He made each strike efficient, cutting through the thinnest parts toward the bases that the statues would topple over and shatter themselves. Those that couldn't be destroyed so easily he concentrated more on, charging his swing to unleash three slashes in the space of one. His sword bit through the frozen ash of quadrupeds with fin-like heads and humans alike, while Albedo himself remained stone-faced and pragmatic in his destruction. They were all coming down one way or another, so he aimed to make quick work of this phase.

On the other side of the ballroom, Linkle was doing the same. It would be easy to wreak havoc with her Skullgirl powers, but everyone had agreed that she needed to avoid relying on the Skull Heart as much as possible. Besides, her crossbows worked just as well. Her bolts struck with enough impact to send hairline fractures across each statue, so it never took more than a flurry or two to shatter them. Still, she expedited the demolition with her bomb arrows, quickly obliterating a handful of figures at a time. Everyone’s efforts quickly paid off; within the first few seconds, alarms began to sound, triggered by the pressure plates beneath the statues once relieved of the weights that held them down.

Security arrived quickly, but not quickly enough. By the time the first few responders reached the scene, the Consul’s collection lay in ruins. The soldiers -a tall thin man, a medium wide man, and a short woman, all in high-tech night ops suits- were struck dumb for a moment when they witnessed the devastation. “Oh hell, L’s gonna be pissed!” the woman groaned.

“Wait. Sarge, that’s the Skullgirl!” the wide man exclaimed, pointing at Linkle, who sighed. Between her pale, ghostly visage, skeletal limbs, and blue-flame hair, it was pretty obvious, in all fairness. “We need reinforcements!”

“We have ‘em, Cadet!” The woman replied by throwing down a blue crystal sphere. In a flash of light, a spiky blue creature appeared, with arms almost as long as it was tall tipped with enormous claws. As she pumped her shotgun, the others sent out their partners: a living iceberg for the Cadet, and a helmeted beast for the silent Lieutenant, who readied their assault rifle and machine pistols, respectively. “Let’s clean this up before Madam Consul gets here.”

Lucia raised her dukes, cracking a grin. It sounded like their target was on the way, so a little warm-up was just what they needed. “Gimme yuh best shuat!” With an explosive flare, she took off running to close the distance.

“Live!” Ahead of her, one of Albedo's Solar Isotomas came into being where its field would reach the security personnel, its Transient Blossoms waiting to bloom and burst against them each time they took damage. It was too early to really know for sure, but the alchemist's first judgment was that this was a well balanced team: a trio of offensive, defensive, and mixed animals partnered with the guards themselves all using different types of firearms. Although the Consul's guard shouldn't be underestimated, it also went without saying that the Seekers should dispatch them as quickly as possible.

To that end Albedo moved up as well, spreading out from Lucia and Linkle with the Cinnabar Spindle raised and ready to strike. The Isotoma's Geo energy was poised to Crystallize, and he prepared himself to take hold of a crystal it would produce as soon as possible. If there would be a lot of Cryo flung around the shields would be invaluable, though after fighting together with the women more than once, he wouldn't need to remind them of it.

With Albedo and his Isotoma as backup, Lucia felt further emboldened. On the surface her team might seem outnumbered and outgunned, but numbers weren’t everything, and during her time in Edinburgh she’d learned that all summonable creatures had a weakness or two. If these three were as icy as they looked, then luck really was on her side. All her team needed was to split them up. As ‘Sarge’ and her Cryolinx approached, the trainer trailing the much larger Pal, Lucia swerved to put the aggressive beast in between her and her opponent’s shotgun, then draw them away. “Ovah heah! C’mahn, C’mahn!” While the Cryolinx launched an icicle at her, she avoided it with ease, then regained her speed by launching into her command run, Gun Smoke. From there a Rough Chase shoulder barge closed the distance to deliver a body check to the Pal’s center mass.

The Cryolinx gave a surprised grunt, then a ferocious snarl as it tried to strike back. But at such a close range, its enormous arms needed too much time and space to wind up, allowing Lucia to press her advantage. “Fiyahcrackah!” she exclaimed, flipping up her heel to strike her target’s gut with a plume of flame. As expected, it reeled from the fiery strike, so Lucia followed up. “Flippah!” A heavy Flipper Shot forced a stagger as the beast’s fur smoldered, threatening to ignore. Finally, as the Cryolinx lifted its claws, Lucia fearlessly stood her ground and unleashed one more technique. “It’s ovah!” Her flying spin kick, an EX Fire Spinner, knocking her foe away as it burst into flame. The next second, Albedo’s Solar Isotoma struck it with a tremor of Geo energy, causing a Crystalize reaction that left a shard of elemental energy floating just off the floor.

By that time, the Pal’s tamer had circled around. With an itchy trigger finger, she let off a shotgun blast a little too early, making Lucia jump as the pellets whizzed past her. “HEY!” She charged as Sarge took aim, grabbed the Crystalize shard, then leaped at the last moment to perform her V-skill Arrest Heel, a jumping axe kick. The shield saved her bacon as Sarge fired off a quick but well-aimed blast shot, and after landing that jump-in Lucia proceeded with a quick three-hit combo punctuated by another quake from the Isotoma. When the shotgun clattered to the floor, Lucia grabbed it. Her opponent got up in time to see her Cryolinx take a blast that left it down for the count, then stare down the barrel of her own weapon. “That’s uall ya got? Fuhgeddaboudit!” She lashed out with the butt of the shotgun and clubbed Sarge in the head, dropping her to the floor alongside her unlucky partner.

Albedo's chosen opponent was the Diveberg and man who had yet to say a word. Compared to the walking wall of ice his sword would fare better against the bipedal creature, but it wasn't the Diveberg that Albedo set his immediate sights on. Without his burst ready, the alchemist's range was limited - so he dashed toward the Lieutenant, intending to eliminate the advantage that the tall guard's pistols gave him.

Both the Lieutenant and his Diveberg noticed the approach, and the beast summoned an undertow current to drive Albedo back. In the presence of ice, water wasn't unexpected, and since Albedo had anticipated an attack his evasive maneuver brought him to one side of the pair. The Lieutenant leveled both of his pistols at the intruder, but by that point Albedo closed the distance with a sword thrust which almost seemed to leave a glittery trail in the air. The sword struck the Lieutenant's shoulder, drawing a pained hiss from him. Diverberg was on him the next moment, this time shooting forward headfirst. Albedo met the icebreaker with his weapon, catching the beast's helmet with the flat of his blade. He held his free hand against the other side of his sword, stabilizing his guard to hold his ground while the Diveberg tried to drive forward.

He felt frigid cold radiating from the metal into his arms, but he didn't plan to draw this out longer than needed. When he noticed the Lieutenant taking aim again from the corner of his eye Albedo abandoned the contest with the Diveberg, turning the sword to leave a shallow slash on the creature as he whirled to avoid the controlled spray of bullets. Albedo dashed forward with his blade ready for another quick strike, but this time the Lieutenant finally found his voice.

"Diveberg, do it!" he ordered, and the beast turned and raised a wall of ice between the two men. Albedo's Spindle clanged off of the ice.

As I suspected, he thought. With luck, being able to use both offensive and defensive abilities meant that the beast excelled at neither. He already noted that the wall had a considerable crack running through it after being struck. There was another flaw in the wall, namely in how it was raised. It might have protected the Lieutenant from Albedo, but it also protected Albedo from him.

As the Solar Isotoma went off and scattered the elemental crystals, Albedo grabbed one and made the most of his time. Diveberg came at him with another icy headbutt while the alchemist put his blade to work. He took the glancing blow and swung, cutting the beast down with multiple slashes. At that time, the Lieutenant had realized his mistake with the elemental wall, and rather than go around he blasted through it with his gun. The chunk of bullets against the ice alerted his opponent to the attack early, letting him know to duck. Albedo swiped his sword low across both of the man's shins when the wall went down, then slashed upward inside of his guard. The blade drew a bloody line up the man's torso and he fell backward, losing his grip as he did. Albedo wasted no time kicking the weapons across the room.

By contrast, things went a lot more simply for Linkle. While the Cadet expected to outgun his opponent with his assault rifle, the impossible output of Linkle’s crossbows matched him bullet for bolt, and her bomb bolts worked almost as well on the soldier’s Avalugg as they did the frozen statues. Neither ranged weapon offered a lot of stopping power, but Linkle’s advantages quickly became clear: she was much more nimble than her attacker, and her aim was better. Thanks to her run-and-gun strategy the damage quickly piled up for the ponderous pair, while the Skullgirl’s acrobatics kept her health high, and even when sprayed with bullets or Avalugg’s icicles her undead body took less punishment than it should have. The shootout came to an end when the Cadet’s magazine ran dry, and his weapon clicked empty. He cursed and took cover behind his pokemon to reload, leaving his Avalugg alone against the Skullgirl.

Without delay Linkle unleashed her Musou Attack, a bombastic AoE blowout that caught both pokemon and trainer in its blast, and when the smoke cleared both were down for the count.

Though she finished first, all three dispatched their opponents within quick succession, and the cacophony of combat ceded to the alarm’s incessant blare. Lucia and the others released the tension in their bodies, taking a quick breather, but they did not let their guards down. This battle was far from over.

Suddenly the alarms shut off, leaving the ballroom dead silent. Then, the loud, echoed click of high heels reached the trio through the mansion’s main corridor. A narrow silhouette appeared behind the glass of the double doors, though it quickly began to expand. The next second, a terrific noise resounded through the ballroom as the doors were smashed inward, reduced to shards of glass and wood by the strength of a mighty mosquito, the four-legged beast’s bulging muscles glowing a vivid red in the darkness. Lucia and Albedo both dodged backward from the startling explosion of shrapnel, while Linkle stood firm, unimpressed and impassive.

As the Buzzwole straightened up from its massive blow, its master stepped into the room. Though Consul L’s build differed a lot from that of her colleague N, her armored suit looked virtually identical, minus the shape of her helmet. Its adornments resembled flat ribbons, wound together in wings and spirals like a modern art piece. Though it hid her face, there was no disguising the raw fury in her eyes.

“What. Have. You. DONE!” She screeched. “My private collection! My sweet beasts, my precious babies, painstakingly collected over so many lifetimes! You…imbeciles! You troglodytes! You savages! HOW! COULD! YOUUUUU!”

As she screamed, fists raised, the space behind her distorted, and an Ultra Wormhole tore open through the fabric of reality. Unnatural, otherworldly energy poured through it, a dazzling display of noisy darkness and light, as if some far-flung dimension were howling alongside her. Then, as abruptly as it appeared, the wormhole vanished. L tried to control her breathing, brushing her hands across her outfit as if trying to smooth it out.

“Hah…hah…no matter. I suppose…that there are always more where they came from. Remaking my collection will keep me busy for a while. I have all eternity, after all. But you…”



From Ultra Space she summoned three beasts: the electric Xurkitree, the mammoth Guzzlord, and the stony Stakataka. “You three don’t have long at all. In this life -and in every life- I will exterminate you. And you won’t even know why. So I hope you cherish these last few moments, awash in the beauteous glory of Ultra Space!” Consul L extended her finger. “SLAUGHTER THEM!”

Albedo tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword during the Consuls outburst of rage. So far, everything was going according to plan. Now they had to make sure it would stay that way. The Solar Isotoma had faded out before L arrived, but by his estimation he would be able to summon another one in three... two...

The Ultra Beasts moved as soon as L gave the order. While the writing mass of cables anchored itself to the ground and began gathering a concerning amount of electricity in what must have been its head, the wide mouthed behemoth lurched forward and slammed its two longer arms down towards the heroes. At the same time, the Stakataka stood firm and began firing pieces of itself out like machine gun fire, threatening to punch holes into anyone that evaded Guzzlord's opening move.

Albedo preferred to take his chances with the rock blast. He dove out of the impact zone as Guzzlord's toothy limbs came down. His low stance saved him from only the first few projectiles, which he saw now were akin to solid, high speed bricks. He countered as many as possible with his blade, blocking where he could and smashing others to lessen the blow just before they hit. His eyes flickered around the battlefield, seeking a more advantageous position to use his elemental skill as soon as he'd weathered the attack.

After its initial strike, Guzzlord might have continued to hound the alchemist if not for Linkle’s timely intervention. A barrage of crossbow bolts zipped through the air to pepper the giant beast, many flying down its cavernous maw to lodge not in its scaly black hide but its more sensitive tongue and inner-mouth. It let out a bellowing scream, the volume and force of the sound wildly disproportionate to the damage it had suffered, before turning its focus on the Skullgirl. Of course, that gave Lucia a chance to catch it unawares. After closing the distance with Rough Chase, she launched upward with EX Tornado Spinner. Her goal was the monster’s head, but it was much too high up for her to reach, so she settled for a fiery body blow.

As soon as he had an opening, Albedo moved. There. He flung his arm up, fingers splayed towards the ceiling as he zeroed in his chosen space before he slammed his palm to the floor. He cast the Isotoma where it could Crystalize with the Xurkitree's electro, and where it was close enough that his Burst would benefit from its blossoming.

"Now, the moment of birth...!" Albedo banished his sword for a moment in order to call up a surge of bright yellow crystals. They erupted from the ground, spreading out in a semi-circle in front of him to threaten the Consul and her pets.

L stepped back as a handful of purple electro crystals dropped around Xurkitree. Though she instinctively recoiled from the challenge like a civilian who’d never seen live combat, her manner was one of smirking disbelief. Though Albedo had managed to get past Guzzlord, that massive menace now isolated him from his allies, and he stood alone against the Consul with two of her Ultra Beasts. “You must have a deathwish,” she taunted, crossing her arms as both Xurkitree and Stakataka took aim with a bombardment of lightning and stone.

“Hyah!” As Guzzlord pivoted around in a massive tail swipe, Lucia vaulted over its spiked club, then landed in a headlong sprint without missing a beat. Closing in on the opposition, she skidded to a stop, the friction of her shoes against the ground creating fiery sparks. The detective turned her momentum into a blazing Flipper Shot that lobbed a fireball toward Stakataka, which burst against its stone-brick exterior. It did almost no damage, but it didn’t need to–it just needed to take the gleaming beast’s attention and turn it toward herself. Stakataka obliged, and Lucia took off running in an attempt to put L between herself and her attacker, turning the dull-witted beast’s bombardment against its master.

Meanwhile, Linkle stood firm against Guzzlord and its deafening howls, unfazed. As nightmarish as this monstrosity was, a behemoth of claws and fangs whose eldritch gullet offered a one-way trip to oblivion, she’d seen worse. After exhausting her crossbow bolts, the Skullgirl reflexively began to reload, but thought better of it and put them away. “So, you’re fine playing with fire,” she muttered, noting how the monster shrugged off Lucia’s flames. The half-skulls in her irises shone with a blood-ruby radiance. “How about ice?”

Guzzlord brought down a fanged limb in a mighty Hammer Arm smash. Linkle dashed backward with the effortless smoothness of an ice skater, freezing the floor beneath her feet, and in her wake she left a bed of icicle spikes. Her enemy promptly impaled its maw upon them, eliciting another scream as the super-effective damage did its thing. Linkle smiled dryly. “Thought so.” As Guzzlord opened its maw to unleash a Sludge Bomb, she launched forward, leaping onto the top of the wounded tentacle. She then raced up its length, her spiked footfalls encrusting the beast’s hide in ice with every step. When the Sludge Bomb flew her way, she stood firm with arms extended, her sheer cold freezing the poison solid before it could make contact. With an elegant pirouette, she spun and flung the frozen mass at Guzzlord’s upper lip. It recoiled, and without further ado, Linkle leaped up to bring both heels down on the frozen limb with a mighty stomp.

A sickening crunch echoed through the ballroom as it snapped, freeing the Ultra Beast to stumble backward as it writhed in pain. She landed beside the detached limb, grasped it like a giant frozen mallet, and began to drag it around in a circle to build up speed. Finally, without even a sound of effort, the Skullgirl flung the limb in a frosty Hammer Arm of her own. The dual ice-fighting attack struck the dark-dragon like a freight train, bowling the rotund monster over onto its side. As it struggled, unable to right itself, Linkle entered Focus Mode and skated forward to nail Guzzlord’s head with a frigid Weak Point Smash, freezing it solid with an absolute zero thrust kick before unleashing a dive kick that blasted her through her target and out the other side in a spray of blood-red diamond dust.

“What!?” L yelped, shocked by the sight of her Ultra Beast’s death. “Who the hell are you?”

An intense, thunderous CRACK split the air as Xurkitree completed its charging and let loose an explosive Zap Cannon. Though extremely fast, its windup was easy to read, allowing Albedo enough time to get out of the lightning's deadly path while it punched through the gallery's wall. The bright flashes of its electric head reflected off the ice and broken glass, scattering light all over the room as the Xurkitree moved in as soon as its attack had missed, crackling limbs reaching out towards its opponent.

Lucia coming to take half of the heat off of him wasn't strictly within Albedo's expectations, but it was much appreciated. Albedo did not in fact have a death wish, so he treated this battle the same as any other: weighing the potential outcomes of each of his actions against each other to determine what would be a better move, especially to further their goal. The result of his Tectonic Tide had given him more information to work with, and he flicked his gaze from the Consul to the Xurkitree coming at him.

The earlier wave of Geo energy seemed to have dealt a significant blow to the electric Ultra Beast, more than expected if its reeling reaction was any indication, which did not go unnoticed by Albedo. If it had some kind of weakness to his Geo element, that was a boon that had to be put to the test. He parried its Thunder Punch with a high stance block and twisted, weaving around the creature in order to take and make use of the Electro shards forming. Xurkitree lashed out at the same time that it turned, coiling both of its arms together and slamming them toward Albedo as a Power Whip. He quickly rolled out of the way, the whip shattering the tile and concrete below it upon making contact with the ground instead. As the Xurkitree pulled its arms back Albedo followed, lunging with a stab that sank into its middle.

Bom. A Transient Blossom burst in the air beside Xurkitree, staggering it. Albedo drew his sword across its wiry body again, triggering another blossom's bloom. The alchemist sliced it as many times as he could get away with, his blade work focused on landing any kind of cut that could deal even minimal damage to the beast so that his Isotoma could do most of the work. Xurkitree screeched, drawing its limbs in close and giving it the appearance of a spiky tipped pole. Then its head pulsed, unleashing a Shockwave. Albedo raised his sword in defense even as the purple shield around him absorbed most of the damage. The wave of electricity forced him backward and gave the Xurkitree space to splay out its limbs again and force electricity through them into the ground until it levitated high off of the ground, using its Magnet Rise.

It came too little, too late for the Ultra Beast. While it gathered yet more lightning, Albedo met it in the air with the help of his Isotoma, plunging his blade into the space between its head and the trunk of its limbs. Though immune to the resulting Bloom that occurred, after the damage it had already taken the simple stab was enough to finish the Xurkitree off. Albedo twisted his sword and heard something sever inside of the beast; it blinked brightly then crumbled to dust at the same time as the Geo platform, dropping Albedo back to the ground.

As he hit the floor, Linkle slid to a stop alongside him, the cold that radiated off her intense enough to react with Albedo’s Geo energy and form Cryo crystals. Off in the background, Lucia didn’t seem to be having much luck against Stakataka, but at least she was keeping it busy. “Don’t wahrry about me!” she yelled, her voice hoarse as she panted. “Hurry up and kick ‘er ass!”

L, meanwhile, regarded them both with wide eyes, aghast, as she backpedaled. Linke turned her head toward her companion. “You good?”

The alchemist smiled slightly. “If anything, I should be asking you.”

“I’m good,” Linkle asserted with a chipper tone of voice as she reloaded her crossbows. “Let’s get this wrapped up.”

L glowered at her. “Fools. This fight has barely gotten started.” With a snap of her fingers the Consul tore open three more Ultra Wormholes. From the first descended a sprightly jester, its bizarre, colorful body covered in clownish frills and topped by a detached ball for a head. The second new beast was enormous, a titan of metal bamboo shoots and steel cloth that blazed with inner light. Finally, L’s favorite joined the party: the brolic mosquito with rippling crimson muscles. As Blacephalon and Celesteela advanced, Buzzwole remained behind, posing like a strongman. First with the back double biceps pose, then the side chest pose, it radiated waves of vital energy as it boosted its physical attack with Bulk Up. “Destroy as many Ultra Beasts as you want. My power, Import, means I can always bring more.”

“Good.” Linkle’s remark and uncharacteristically nasty smile confused L for a brief moment. Then the hulking carcass of Guzzlord behind her, yet to dissolve, began to shudder, and after a moment cold blue flames burst from its neck like a roaring bonfire. With a vast, hollow groan, the undead Ultra Beast began to get to its feet. L stared at Linkle in horror, all of a sudden seeing the Skullgirl in a brand new light as she added, “Keep ‘em coming.”

At L’s command, all three Ultra Beasts attacked in a frenzy. Buzzwole hurled itself forward with its right arm at the ready, and though Linkle tried to block, the sheer force of its mighty Dynamic Punch sent her flying across the ballroom. As she struggled to rise, confused, Celesteela gathered energy into an orb of silvery light that it then fired at Linkle, only for her new minion to body-block it. The two titans proceeded to clash, Heavy Slam against Heavy Slam, while Buzzwole buzzed over to pursue Linkle. At the same time, the fast and nimble Blacephalon thrust its arms forward, sending a huge plume of fire at Albedo to Incinerate him.

An evasive maneuver put Albedo to one side of it. Pyro was another element that would crystallize, which rallied him to go on the offensive. He struck with a series of swift slashes though the beast danced around them, its disconnected head rolling around one its collar to avoid damage. Blacephalon hopped backward, conjuring a few sinister, bluish white flames. It flicked the Will-o-Wisps, sending them floating toward Albedo. Intent on not giving the monster room to breathe, the alchemist rushed through the flickering lights and ignited with flame. The burn weakened his attack, allowing his foe to shrug off his slash, blast him back with a Shadow Ball, then start dancing to build up colorful energies.

Eyes narrowed, Albedo thought quickly. “Burst forth.” He conjured a Solar Isotoma behind him, triggering its Geo energy himself in order to Crystalize his burn away. After collecting the Pyro crystal to gain a shield, he dashed backward onto his construct, which he used to fly into the air just in time. Blacephalon hurled its own head with its signature move, Mind Blown, and when it hit the ground it detonated in a massive cluster-bomb of pink, white, and blue fireworks. Albedo had planned to drop on his foe with a plunge attack, but the blast was big enough to hurl him through the air. The next second he hit the ballroom floor hard, injured more by the fall than the explosion thanks to his shield, but closer to the Consul than before. L noticed this, and despite being alone, stalked toward him, oddly confident.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed his stunt, though. For all her fiery spirit, Lucia hadn’t been doing too hot against Stakataka, since her strikes did little damage and getting close enough to land them put her in range of the beast’s crushing strength. When Blacephalon’s Mind Blown went off, however, she looked over in time to see Albedo hit the ground near L. She immediately assumed this to be part of an intentional gambit in order to cut the head off the snake, taking advantage of L’s overcommitment against Linkle, but with the Consul in front of him and the Blacephalon coming up behind, the alchemist couldn’t do it alone.

Lucia turned back not a moment too soon, just barely managing to avoid Stakataka’s Take Down. “Buzz oahff!” She put all her strength into a powerful kick, not at the beast’ body, but at one of its legs. Its bricks went flying from the blow, and with its balance threatened, the monster decided to roll with it and flatten Lucia by falling on her with Iron Head. Instead blue energy surrounded her as she performed a V-shift, her eyes gleaming white. After practically phasing through the deadly blow, she turned and sprinted away from the fallen Ultra Beast, making a beeline for L. Legs pumping, Lucia closed the distance and threw herself into the Consul with a Rough Chase tackle.

“Ugh!” L stumbled a few steps before landing on all fours. Then, furious, she whipped around and cast her hand out. In an instant the tiny Ultra Beast hidden in her palm as a trump card darted out and slashed Lucia from hip to temple. Blood sprayed, and the detective fell clutching her left eye. The next instant, Albedo’s Cinnabar Spindle pierced L’s back, protruding through her stomach into the floor. “Aaaaagh!” she cried, gripping the blade. Though clearly in pain, she was far from finished, and turned her head toward him. “Did you really think…that’d kill me?” she growled through gritted teeth. “Kartana!”

At her bidding the paper beast began to slash Albedo, putting his high natural defense to the test. The alchemist refused to budge, however, holding tight his sword to keep L pinned in place. Even as the lacerations mounted, he refused to give in. “Die already!” The Consul shrieked. “Why won’t you-!”

A dazzling orb of pink, white, and blue answered her question as it sailed her way on a collision course with Albedo’s back. L stared at her Blacephalon’s head dumbly, her eyes growing wide, and the next second the head exploded.

In the spectacular fireworks display of destruction that ensued, both Albedo and L were flung a good hundred feet. They both rolled to a stop, smoking, but after a moment, the Consul began to rise. She groaned, holding her stomach, and glared toward her fallen attackers, then at the fierce battle between Linkle and her Ultra Beasts. “Impudent, blithering idiots,” she hissed. “Congratulations on throwing your lives away for nothing. A little visit to the Flame Clock, and this whole sordid affair will be nothing but a memory.” With that the Consul departed, teleporting away in a burst of purple light.

Albedo’s eyes slid open. Though badly injured by the blast, he was still alive–for now. Neither he nor Lucia were in any condition to fight, and the Ultra Beasts that L left behind would be keen to finish them off. Their lives lay in Linkle’s hands, and the fate of L lay in those of Big Band, Ace Cadet, and Wonder Red, laying in wait at the Flame Clock for the Consul’s arrival. Whatever happened to him now, the rest was up to them.