Location:The City of Glass - Vandelay Campus Attendees: Susie, Raz, Goldlewis, Zenkichi, Roxas, Midna, Karin Viewers: Blazermate, Tora, Giovanna, Geralt, Sakura, Pit, Benedict, Partitio Word Count: 2617 (+3)
Once the argument about the candidates’ intentions for Psych-OSF concluded, with Shinra staring silent, venomous daggers at anyone who looked at him askance and Armstrong wearing an infuriatingly self-assured smirk, Udo opened the floor on the debate’s third question.
“Continuing in the same vein, gentlemen. As you well know, the Ever Crisis has wreaked havoc on Midgar since its founding. In addition to widespread destruction, it has claimed countless lives over the years, both those of civilians and of soldiers fighting to keep the people safe. Still, despite a high mortality rate and lower approval ratings than ever, both Psych-OSF and DespoRHado continue to field soldiers in massive numbers. How do you plan to reduce casualties going forward? Mr. President, you’re up first.”
Shinra straightened his tie. “First, allow me to set the record straight on some statistics. While Psych-OSF does have a high turnover rate, it is not due to casualties in the line of duty. As psychics fighting a psychic threat, the Scarlet Guardians often experience heavy mental stress. To this end Suoh offers numerous high-end medical and psychiatric facilities, but Psych-OSF has one other benefit: the option of honorable discharge at any point in one’s career as a soldier. This gives anyone who wishes the option to simply retire from active duty, and many do. Better to live to fight another day. This benefit also continuously attracts new recruits who might otherwise be reluctant to commit. It’s a win-win situation, plain and simple. And as the Psych-OSF grows in number, they also grow in strength. Thanks to the Struggle Arms System, every last individual is a drop in the ocean, and a rising tide raises all ships. Soon the collective psychic power will outmatch the threat of the Others, and not long after, the Machines and Aberrations as well.”
Nothing Shinra said really sparked suspicion from Raz, though he might’ve been a tad too naive in his hope that people would realize Scarlet Guardians going missing and not retiring. Either way, Shinra doing something weird within the organization’s ranks wasn’t news to them. So he decided to level his telepathy at Armstrong for this round of the debate.
Armstrong put his hands on his podium. “Not being affiliated with DespoRHado myself, I cannot claim knowledge of the organization’s inner workings. However, during my time in Sector 08, I have continuously observed DespoRHado reaching out to the poor and disenfranchised, not just of Detroit, but of the whole city. They create jobs, offer purpose, and give people a chance to fight for what they believe in. Not just on the front lines, either, but in logistics, support, and other such vital departments. While this has ensured that the forgotten people of Midgar have somewhere to belong, DespoRHado is also fast approaching the reality of a fully-automated fighting force, with Unmanned Gears and androids on the battlefield to phase out any need to risk human lives. Soon, there will be no casualties in the war against the robots–just machines fighting Machines.”
Need to be ready…won’t be easy…bigger and better…damn Vandelay…muscle in on our turf…mess with the bull…
Udo nodded, a smile on his face as if he appreciated slightly more professional answers. “With your opening statements concluded, you may now rebut your opponent.”
“Gladly.” Shinra turned his icy-cold glare on Armstrong, who gave him an amused look in return. “My opponent has said that DespoRHado gives opportunities to the poor. He makes it sound like charity. The truth is that, desperate for reinforcements, your friends in DespoRHado snap them up. They snatch the homeless from the streets, and entrap the sick, the crippled, and those with nowhere else to turn with the debt of ‘free’ medical treatment and cybernetic augmentation, forcing them to fight and die to repay them, forced to viciously compete against their fellow cyborgs in the hopes of one day seeing their families again. Using debt to turn people into fighting machines, some of them no more than child soldiers…it’s sick, twisted, and barbaric!”
The crowd broke out into a fresh round of whispers and murmurs, stronger than before. Armstrong’s guards seemed uneasy, though Sundowner looked nonplussed. For a moment the Senator stood with his mouth slightly ajar, but then he curled his lip, his brows furrowed dangerously.
“This is an absurd strawman. With enough misrepresentation and reductivism, anything would sound bad. How, might I ask, are you getting such a crystal-clear view of the undercity streets from your ivory tower? Arguing by fallacy isn’t a good look for you, Mr. President!” Armstrong crossed his arms, an ugly smile spreading across his face. “But it doesn’t look half as bad as Project Advent. Spearheaded by your very own Research and Development Division. Surely people have been wondering how Psych-OSF keeps managing to find so many psychics to refill their ranks?” He cast his gaze around the suddenly-hushed room. “Well, I’ll tell you. They don’t find them. They make them. From ordinary citizens who want power, or feel excluded by Psych-OSF’s psionic-only rule, using the illegal art of Spirit Fusion!” He allowed that to sink in a moment before expounding. “First they used the Psifish, but eventually they discarded them into Seiran’s reservoir, dooming the undercity’s lower levels in the process. Why? Because they found something better!” He raised his hands. “That is the secret behind Psych-OSF’s new forces, the P-Types…or should I say ‘Psychic Types’, made from the fusion of human and Pokemon to create the perfect, obedient soldiers!”
In the uproar that followed, Shinra really raised his voice for the first time. “This is a preposterous outrage!” he snapped at Armstrong. “Lies, slander! Where’s your source?”
“My source?” Armstrong snickered. “Well, I didn’t just make it the fuck up. It’s straight from whistleblowers on the inside!"
For almost a minute straight the Dendemille Showcase Theater was in a tumult as the debate administrators and Vandelat security tried to restore order. Both candidates' security guards were on their feet, each daring the other to take action first. Seeing the first bit of ‘action’ of this debate, Roland pulled his hands out of his pockets, revealing his black gloves but made no other moves. Penance, who looked horrified -whether at the current situation, the allegations against Shinra, or both- quickly moved to calm her side down. Almost begrudgingly, Sundowner did the same, urging his cyborgs to give it a rest–all without ever rising from his languid slouch in his own seat. All the while Raz fought to listen in on Armstrong’s mind, and what he managed to pick up on surprised him. White as sheet…probably true…cat’s out of the bag…forced to act…gotta hand it to that blue guy…tipping me off…but how the hell…insider knowledge? After a few tense moments order was restored, and the moderator had some harsh words.
"Gentlemen, this is your last warning," Udo told them sternly. "Tensions are high and everyone's on edge. I don't care what either of you heard; it is unbecoming and irresponsible to fan the flames with such unsubstantiated mudslinging. Stick to the facts, or this debate will come to a premature end."
"... Right, right," Armstrong said. "We'll get into that kind of stuff later."
Shinra huffed, taking a deep breath. "Let's get on with it, then."
Letting out a deep breath, Goldlewis wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "Ho-ly smokes. This is a madhouse," he murmured. "It's like satire or somethin'. Can't help but wonder though. If either of 'em were tellin' the truth, things'd be bad enough. Worst case scenario is both." None of his fellow attendees had been part of the original Detroit detachment, so they wouldn't know about DespoRHado. Psych-OSF, though… "I gotta bad Feelin' about this. What Armstrong said about P-types…I was wonderin' why so many soldiers had weird features. It lines up a li'l too well."
”Pokemon?” Roxas asked with a whisper, ”I don’t remember seeing any Pokemon in Suoh, much less any with psychic powers.”
”We know the bit about treating the psi-fish as cattle for slaughter and then dumping them is true, and it looks like we have now the answer as to why. The results of fusions with those are a lot more obvious after all” Taro was certainly a demonstration of that. She also hoped the man was doing alright.
”Wait, goddesses, the capture squad we saw! The one that took away that psychic pokemon…” Midna whispered, mostly to herself, as she realized said pokemon was now almost certainly dead, and becoming even more alarmed as she realized ”-and what about Bede? With them making those illegal, they might have arrested him and taken his away to-” but leaving the worst unsaid
”Didn’t that Raiden fellow tell us about how DespoRHado was a lot shadier than it seemed? Considering they are all Galeemed and Raiden wasn’t. Could that be related? Although with the OSF using fusions… that seemed obvious, but at least we know what they were using now. I didn’t think spirit fusion was this illegal though, if it even put Shinra on the back foot… ” Susie said, processing the information they had all just heard. She wasn't discounting any of this, especially as those in their group who were part of the OSF had seen that procedure firsthand.
”Wait, how do they know about Spirits, anyway?”” Roxas suddenly asked, the question directed toward Goldlewis, ”I didn’t know anything about them until after I was freed from Galeem. I always figured that was just something that’s hidden by his influence. So how do these people know about them if they’re still under that influence?”
Goldlewis could only shrug. In fairness, this boy didn’t seem all that perceptive. “You sure you didn’t just…not notice ‘em? There’s so much supernatural stuff around that li’l vanishin’ lights probably didn’t even register. Gotta know what to look for, son.”
”They know enough about spirits to have banned them. They aren’t invisible, they can be learned about if explained. Either it’s someone distant to us who just happened to be free of Galeem, or more likely, a Consul or something to that effect.” Karin said.
”They must have a presence in this city, somewhere.” Karin mused.
Unfortunately, Goldlewis could neither confirm or deny this. “‘Fraid I never heard of anythin’ called a Consul,” he whispered back. “I know fusion’s illegal, and ownin’ spirits in general too. Do y’all remember what happened while we were fightin’ alongside the OSF, though? After the fightin’, they made sure to collect all the spirits. So the OSF knows enough to use ‘em to power up their troops.” He’d come to the same realization as Midna. That poor stray Pokemon had probably fled from its cruel fate as fusion fodder. But if that was the case, it had to have come from somewhere. His eyebrows suddenly went up. “This fusion’s gotta be happenin’ in Suoh. But the question is, where?”
”I can find and tail one of their capture squads, have them bring me right to whatever compound they use” Midna said, and it was no mere offer.
Karin raised an eyebrow at Goldlewis. ”No one’s told you? The Consuls are, from what I gather, the direct servants of Galeem. They go by single letter names.” She explained.
”I wonder if they have an interest in this election. Or in elections past…hm. Well, I suppose this would be the first one, wouldn’t it.” Karin mused. Goldlewis looked at her as though she were crazy, but said nothing.
Zenkichi frowned and leaned forward in his seat, hands resting in front of his face. What are you doing, Shinra? If DespoRHado is doing all that, it's happening under your watch. It's like you're serving up every ball for Armstrong to knock out of the park… He didn't say anything just yet, though. It was entirely possible that Armstrong was just better at capitalizing on Shinra's mistakes. Armstrong wasn't fooling anybody with that 'I'm not affiliated with DesporHado' line, either. What Goldlewis said about OSF troops taking Spirits didn't strike him as odd, though this new accusation threatened to contextualize that in a more sinister light.
In Penguin Sniper, Pit blinked in surprise at all of the accusations the men on TV were spitting at each other - though they came across as facts to him, as he didn't even consider that they might be lying.
"They've been going behind everyone's backs and hurting people this whole time?" He half-whispered, half-yelled. Perhaps that sort of thing was assumed by the more pessimistic types, but it was only now that Pit was starting to really understand why the city was the way that it was. Taking advantage of the poor, the powerless, even kids... it all painted Midgar in an even grimmer light. Was Neuron the same way? And even with methods like this, were any of them even making a dent in the Ever Crisis?
This whole time the former Turk had been listening quietly and watching the debate from the television, when the winged boy spoke up he gave him a sideways glance pushing his spectacles up the bridge of his nose "Unfortunately that is the way the world works." the old strategist said simply, before returning his attention to the screen.
Giovanna looked over at him from her game of darts, her eyebrow raised. “I mean, society can be pretty messed up sometimes, but I’m pretty sure this is way worse than usual.” She threw her last dart of the set and managed to hit her first bullseye of the game–only for the bounty of points to drop her and Sakura’s score down below zero. Damn. When playing 301, the goal was for the two players to earn enough points to reduce their score to zero exactly, which meant their first game was a loss. She sighed, shrugging. Projectiles just weren’t her strong suit. “Well, if it’s all true, anyway. Kind of weird they’re both suddenly spouting off such serious accusations. If the public had any inkling of that kind of stuff, there’d be riots in the streets.”
Partitio however shared the view of the way things worked as something that needed to change, these damned people in charge were nothing but lowdown scoundrels "People like them ain't know nothing bout' a hard days work or eating crumbs. That really gets my goat." the merchant muttered to himself his knuckles turned white as he balled them up.
Geralt's claws tapped against the wood, a frown on his face. "Did you notice that?" He mumbled. "They really thought they were about to break out into a fight…and if they did…." He left the horrific inevitability of that for the others to figure out.
Even in a state like this, and with people he could scarcely care less about, Tora couldn’t just shake off the idea of wanton bloodshed. “...Tora sure hope not.”
”Its almost like… do they know what they’re under? That happens sometimes, but… yeah its rare..” Blazermate said, thinking considering what everyone else said.
"Doubt it, but if someone who was in the know wanted to cause chaos inside Midgar's borders, civil war would be an awfully convenient way to do it. Especially when every fight ends in a bloodbath." Geralt was perhaps being needlessly conspiratorial here, but he wasn't sure things were adding up.
Susie thought to herself as she had gathered what info she could. This Kale Vandelay seemed to be trying to take over the tech sector from what she could gather as you would as a mega corporation head. Controlling the media on top of that to put himself in the limelight... it is interesting to think of. Was he trying to become the face of the city then expand outwards, take over the city itself, or was someone using him as a puppet with their hands in even more dark places? Well, all of these were thoughts to keep in mind as she caught up with the others boarding a boat that would take them over the lake, thanks to Sakura being a friendly person. Probably something those in this sector of the city rarely saw. Still, she doubted she'd find anything regarding a connection to the ever crisis or their missing allies and that was the case. She'd have to keep an eye out for these suspected connections in this part of the city. Not even the most careful, paranoid companies could keep their secrets fully hidden if one knew where to look.
Blazermate meanwhile really didn't have too much to add to anything going on at the moment. It was cool to learn that Geralt could mind control people if needed, patting him on the back and saying. "Do what works if it works and helps. Could get us a lot, and I mean a lot of information if used on the right person. Maybe we can find information about Poppi and Peach if used right." With her opinion stated about that whole issue, Blazermate waited for everyone to get on the boat, casualty flying besides it as she got a slightly better view of the lake. Susie was one of the last ones on, preferring to sail instead of fly unlike Blazermate. Seeing as they were on the boat with someone who was part of this section of the city, Susie asked Wallace "So Wallace. What is it you do here? I assume with a lineage as vast as yours, it must be something interesting." Susie said, turning up the charm.
Level 10 Sectonia (holding 4 level up) - (68/100) Location: The Under - Home of Tears Word Count: Less than 750
Hungry from the horrible auction house ordeal, Sectonia stopped at a local eatery to grab some fruits and honey. One good thing about being in a primarily bug town, they had food for a queen bee such as herself in many many places. As she was munching on her snack, much like the others, she saw the icon in the sky. Unlike a few others though, she wasn't sure what it meant, but it would be best to investigate.
Her other allies had the same idea, as a great many of them gathered in the fountain square to see the other Consul of this area, Consul F, being the originator of this mark. Much like what she saw before, this Consul was quite sadistic and... frustrating would be the proper word. Spouting expository about how he was so much stronger than Consul P, and other useless stuff. Although Sectonia did notice a running theme with these Consuls, they all seemed to 'play' rather than actually do anything worthwhile with their 'power'.
And to showcase this power, he did 'something' to turn the entire town against Sectonia and her allies. Sectonia could only guess this was related to that 'clock' that was mentioned earlier, but now wasn't the time to ponder on that as this was quite a really bad situation. Bowser had an idea for an escape route, toting his 'experience' in this matter; something that Sectonia doubted he noticed made him look really bad to boast about. Still, it came in useful now as he had Rika make a water transport for everyone so they could escape easier.
"First that petulant child, then that horrid auction house, now this while we are weary from sleep..." Sectonia said, extremely annoyed at the emergence of Consul F. Every time this one has shown up, its always when the team was compromised. And whats worse, he was trying to turn her new annexed kingdom against her! If this wasn't such an awful situation, she would teach this consul some manners like she did the last one. And as she was going to rule this kingdom, killing all of its inhabitants would make for a poor ruler, so there wasn't much to it.
"I suppose its best to flee." Sectonia said, summoning her full entourage of antillions to offer some sort of distraction for all the mind controlled townspeople, looking to subdue rather than hurt. (With any that spawn nearby Consul F to 'accidentally' hit him with their attacks.) She then cast her Slow on what townspeople she could, knowing a few of them would be trouble if they caught up too fast, before making her way with the rest of the group on this 'whale'. At least she didn't take up any space as she was a flyer, but that also made her another large target. She could at least shield their getaway shipgirl with a Chaos Shield, as that seemed to be where most of the attacks were going to. She could keep attempting to Slow any of the townspeople that got close, making them unable to catch up and making their escape faster.
And while the whale was the main target, Sectonia made herself out to be another target for a few of them, including a one IGV they had helped not half a day earlier with his plans. Sectonia knew to keep out of the range of his time sells, but that didn't mean he didn't have long range magic he could throw at her. Him and a few of the other magic users, seeing an easy target of Sectonia, hurled their damaging spells at her. Thanks to her pipe of insight though, she had a vast amount of magic resistance so she could take this punishment, but it wasn't very enjoyable.
Being a flyer who could debuff their pursuers though, Sectonia assisted many of the others to get down the river into the next part of the under, the Crumble Caverns. A food inspired place that might be either good or bad.... either way a weird smell permeated the area regardless.
Blazermate's plan worked, teleporting everyone in. In hindsight, seeing as everyone was teleporting in, Susie probably didn't need to take a pass, but she was going to use it now that she had entered the city of glass. While Goldlewis had some difficulty at the checkpoint, being robots, Blazermate and Susie had to go through a different scanner. Blazermate didn't really care about being X rayed, as this was standard practice for medabots, but Susie was not happy at all. Still, she just kept that this happened in mind, and would just upcharge whatever city official she ran into next that needed some HWC tech.
Upon reaching the city itself, Blazermate got to work with Giovanna to get the teleporter up and get everyone inside, While susie took that opportunity to flag up a nearby information terminal to learn about the area. Specifically she was looking for any news on the major robot corporations in the area as according to Giovanna and Goldlewis, this was where many of them were stationed. She'd also look for other opportunities, but that was her main goal.
"Oh Wow, this place is shiny!" Blazermate said, noting all the glimmering lights and everything everywhere. Unlike Susie, she didn't really have much of a goal in mind, instead just taking in the sights as they moved through the city to their destination. Susie, having gotten the information she could, even though she was one of the first people in, ended up being one of the last ones to progress towards their goal. But gathering information wasn't a slow process, so it made sense. As for what she thought of the city, Susie could tell it was a high end place and that there would be some opportunities here if she played her cards right. Now if this was an actual glass city was to be seen, as that could have its own amount of issues.
Central hub: Smash City Alcamoth Accessible locations: Peach’s castle Limsa Lominscuttle Town Lumbridge Twilight Town Kosm’s Beach
Sectonia, seeing Rubick’s staff, nodded at his explanation of what it was, the grand magus having accompanied them to the cafe. ””Ah, I see. It seems that staff is indeed powerful. but... Sectonia then took a second look at it, and found that its magic wouldn’t work for her, kamek, or anyone else. ”It seems this powerful magic is yours and yours alone. I suppose its because you made it yourself? Well, next time we run into a strong foe, lets see what this staff can do shall we?” Sectonia concluded.
With all the treats where eaten, and planning all sorted, Bowser and Kamek stood up from the table, stretched a bit, and then announced that they were going to go offload all of P’s stuff somehow.
”Don’t really know where though” Bowser admitted, prompting Kamek to ask ”I don’t suppose any of you have had a chance to do any shopping or selling yet, that might lead you to holding the knowledge we seek?” before he directed his be-spectacled gaze at queen Sectonia and saying ”I think you mentioned having some ideas?”
”When I was touring the town earlier, I saw a few places where we could deal with this stuff. Perhaps the local auction house or the pawn shop? Although I doubt the pawn shop will have all that much money. The rest… perhaps the guard captain would know what to do with it?” Sectonia said.
”Seeing if there is an auction house does sound wise, we can likely work out what is and is not worth selling there as well, which would be a plus” Kamek replied, and then, after getting a nod from the king, they set about trying to find one of those.
Their hunt, which involved asking a bunch of strangers till they found someone who knew what they were looking for, lead them to the Collection once more, and specifically to a tall spiky building. The outside did not look much like an auction house, and the addition of a few burly orcs and goblins crackling with barely controlled power seemingly hanging around standing guard did not really change that appearance either.
However once they entered inside, they were presented with a staff made up of a few more smartly dressed goblins, who took one look at the pile of miniaturized treasures the queen’s ants where hauling in and collectively agreed to boot this up the ladder.
As a result the group where presented with a very suit wearing orc who introduced himself with “Auctioneer Chugrall, at your service” and a short bow before asking “To what do we owe you the pleasure? If you are looking to buy, you can see the list of items that are due to go up for auction on the left there”
He indicated to one side where a glass case contained a few items such as vials of canned knowledge capable of downloading recorded information straight into a person’s brain (the filled exorbitant expensive (and also oddly, did not say which knowledge they contained), the empty less so), a deluxe camping set, with a bunch of bedrolls, firestarting materials, cookware, et cetera. Essential for long-term expeditions underground, as well as a number of aesthetically pleasing but otherwise useless items. A small crowd of well to do monsters who were pursuing these options, though with each passing moment more would turn their gaze away from that and towards the strangers in town’s mighty haul.
Chugrall, naturally, also had his eyes all over the miniaturized bounty as he continued his explanation of the “and if you are looking to sell, I and the rest of the staff will gladly aid you in the process of appraisal, paperwork and so on and so forth needed to go through with that” he gestured back at the counter to the right where the goblins were watching with interest.
“If I might drop the professionalism for a moment, I do hope you are here to sell. Never have I seen such an interesting collection. All of it ever so small and yet clearly, there is much of value to be seen within” he admitted his own interest
”I am afraid I will have to disappoint you somewhat in that, Auctioneer Chugrall, as these items are simply shrunk down so that they may be transported more easily” Kamek explained, before demonstrating this upon a portrait of a wizard hat wearing skeleton titled Rare Enchantment, resizing it to its meter tall size. It was an act that caused the monocle the ork had put on in preparation to examine the objects to pop right back off
“My word” he said, rather amazed, before clearing his throat and reclaiming some of his professional demeanor as he asked “Well then, ah, will you be putting some of this … vast collection up for auction?” glancing between them before settling on looking at the crown wearing Sectonia, the orc now guessing that said piece of regalia was not just for show.
”Some items, yes. Some, no. Although from your expression, I assume you know which ones we are interested in selling.” Sectonia said, giving a not too subtle hint that the high value stuff they had, mostly the art pieces and the like, were on the table to be auctioned off. The lower value items however, such as the toys and such, which the auction house was probably not that interested in anyway, were not. ”I expect it will be a good showing. Worth plenty of profit for the lot of us.”
Sectonia’s plan was to sell off the expensive items; items that nobles could afford without much issue and were probably their item, while giving those who weren't as well off their items back for free for their loyalty. Most nobles were far, far too aloof to notice what they were buying in her experience. Those that weren’t, often were more frugal. Meanwhile those that aren’t as well off were often far more attached to their possessions and would be far more likely to notice, and appreciate, having their possessions back and with that, loyalty.
“That will make things simpler for everyone I’m sure” Chugrall nodded in agreement, likely having come to the same assessment that, now that the novelty of smallness was off the table, certain items had gone up in value, and others far far down.
“We will be more than happy to assist you in identifying what meets the standards of our auction house, though do not worry, you seem to have plenty of items that fit the bill” he glanced back and gave some of the other employees a quick nod, prompting them to guide Kamek and the Queen’s minions to a side of the desk where they began the process of examining the unshrunk items.
“While they are working away, ma’am, let me explain how our establishment works, as I take it you are new to its usage? I am quite certain I would be aware if someone as yourself were a frequent visitor, which is something I certainly hope you will become” Chugrall said, as he guided them over to the counter next to the ones used for appraisal.
“Now then, here at this establishment, we do not trade in mere gold, Geo or souls, but purest palladium coins, minted by this very organization. It is a currency denoting status, prestige, and class, and the only way to acquire the finest treasures in the city” the orc explained grandiosity, as he showed them a set coins emblazoned with the letters D,I and V whose intricate design simply oozed either sophistication or pointless extravagance, depending on your perspective.
“We do, of course, facilitate exchange lesser currencies for palladium, but the best way to acquire them, as you have premonitionantly realized, is to put items up for auction” he told them, in a rather blatant attempt at flattery, before he tried to slip in the terms and conditions hot on the heels of the buttering up
“Now naturally, we do charge for the use of our knowledge, talent, and facilities, but that will be a trifling amount to that which you are sure to earn from the sale of your collection” he unrolled a rather lengthy bit of parchment and added nonchalantly that “terms and conditions do apply, but if you would simply sign here, here, and here” he indicated to a few lines with a quill tipped with red ink before offering the writing implement to her “and we can have your items on sale at our next event”
Sectonia wasn’t surprised this place was a bit… shady with its business practices. Such was the way of those who would take money from nobles; it was best to squeeze them for every bit of gold you could muster, she supposed. Still, she made sure to read the contract to see what she was signing onto, as it wouldn’t do to have her sign away on something she wasn’t sure of. Still, contracts were quite dull, and it wasn’t really her area of expertise, so it did take her some time.
What concerned her was this whole ‘extra currency’ thing, from what she could tell, it was just something that would let them skim even more from her potential sales, And as she read this… contract…well, considering this place was run by consul P, she wasn’t surprised it fostered such things. Things like “We have exclusive rights…” and varios nickel and dime schemes… at least it seemed to only be about the stuff set on auction, instead of anything worse. It seemed like they might not make that much profit at the end of the day, but perhaps they could find a decent item here, perhaps? With the contract read and signed, it was off to trying to sell the larger items.
“Thank you Ma’am” Chugrall said with a nod as he took the contract.
Bowser had tried to read it with her, but had given up about two lines in and was instead found over with the various items along with Kamek and the goblin staff, who were looking it all over.
“Now then, lets see how we are doing with the appraisals shall we” the orc said as he stepped over to join his colleagues, the implicit question getting quite the interesting answer of “We’re having an easy time boss, half this stuff’s been on sale here before looks like” coming from a goblin sat next to a pile of documents which, if glanced at, did indeed record various sales of items that had then, presumably, been stolen by P.
His name certainly wasn’t on any of the lists of buyers, that was for sure, neither were those of his now equally dead minions.
“we know there’ll be demand for a bunch of this too as a result, but we might need to put the starting bit down a little bit seeing as its repeats?” the goblin suggested, while Chugrall thought about for a moment and then corrected him by amending “No, set it higher, at least for the ones we know are going to be popular given their last showing”
“Ahhh, smart. Guess that’s why the Auctionmaster made you the boss, boss” the goblin replied, either genuinely impressed or skilled enough at being a suck up to make it sound so. It certainly got a nod of approval from the orc before he addressed the queen again, asking “If I may be so bold as to enquire, where did you acquire this remarkable collection?”
Sectonia had prepared herself for this question, considering if it got out that Consul P had been defeated before she could instate a new regent lord, chaos would descend on the city and they couldn't have that. ”Ah yes. We found many of these items down in the garbage dump underneath one of the giant towers of the city. Whoever had them before probably threw them out in boredom.” Sectonia said, playing on what she knew of interacting with Consul P. The guy was quite the simpleton at the end of the day after all. She then glanced at Kamek giving him a subtle idea of ‘back up this story’ from her glance.
”Well, ‘garbage dump’ gives a more filthy description of where we located them than what it actually was, I assure you they were and are in pristine condition, but yes, it seems their former owner no longer had any use for these items” Kamek agreed, catching on just fine, before adding that it was ”a shame really, but fortunately we where, hmmm, tipped off and were able to recover these objects, and with your help I am sure we can get them into more worthy hands, yes?”
“I see” Chugrall replied, his tone giving away that he had mentally downgraded his perception of their pedigree a fair amount as a result of learning about this dumpster diving. He seemed to be going along with it, however, until a fearful look flashed across his face as he fully understood the implications. It was swiftly smoothed away and replaced with professionalism, but he did then lean in to clandestinely ask “are you quite sure there will be no … consequences for this? I simply cannot help facilitate you if a certain … individual would take offense to the sale of these items”
”Not at all.” Sectonia and kamek said in near unison, although with very different inflections.
”He did toss them out, so how would he recognize them?” Sectonia said.
”I’m sure he’ll never think about them again” Kamek agreed
”Well, yeah, course he won’t because he’s-” Bowser began to say, not getting what they were doing at all with their lies and half truths about the nature of how they had claimed the treasure horde.
”Very flighty. You know how unpredictable he is.” Sectonia said, cutting off Bowser before he let slip with his big mouth the truth of what happened with consul P.
”Indeed, and the less that is said about him the better” Kamek agreed, speaking rather blatantly to Bowser while saying this. He still looked confused, but managed to take the hint at least.
Chugrall was, understandably, just a touch suspicious of this, but as he glanced between the growing pile of treasures and the trio representing the trouble said treasures might bring, he seemed to come to a decision “We will need to ensure that the auction is, hmm, discrete, to ensure that everything goes smoothly, and there will be a token fee for that, but otherwise I believe we can indeed go ahead with the sales”
Greed, it seemed, had won out. Now only time would tell how well it went.
Time told rather soon, in fact, as once they were coming to an end of sorting the items into piles of auction and not, a familiar looking blue robed and wizard hatted skeleton came through the door of the auction house, followed by a siren of the mermaid guard. The aquatic officer moved by swimming along in a magical current floating around her, and had a massive sword sheathed at her side, though she seemed not at all prepared to draw it, and instead was doing her best to not look annoyed.
The skeleton glanced around, got a nod from one of the other proprietors of the house who had, along with a fair few others been keeping an eye on proceedings, and then stormed towards the trio while crying out “That’s them officer! Those are the curs who have my painting!”
“So you have been saying” the nameless officer who would much rather be dealing with one of the two low level invasions of the city replied, before adding that “you’ve yet to say how you know this”
“Isn’t obvious! The painting is of me!” the sorcerer known as Tim declared as he stopped right beside the portrait of, well, himself, that was currently sitting among their treasures and gestured to it with both hands.
Hearing the commotion and seeing the presence of one of the town guard alongside an irate proprietor, one of the goblins rushed to go grab the orc who would be processing all of these current actions. As Tim the sorcerer was trying and failing to get the attention of the town guard to get ‘his’ painting back from the auction, the Orc stepped up. “Ahem, what seems to be the problem here?” “That picture is mine! It's a picture of me!” Tim said before the officer could even begin to muster a response, clearly showing she didn’t want to be here. Knowing where some of these items came from, it wasn’t impossible for this to be true, but he wasn’t going to let this get in the way of profits.
“Now now, a picture of you doesn’t make it yours good sir. It could be yours if you win the auction however. A giant picture of yourself drawn by a local artisan would be quite the prize.” the orc said, speaking as if this wasn’t the first time something like this happened.
“Oh no no, don’t you dare try and sell me back what was stolen from me” the skeleton replied “I don’t know how these nobodies got it out of the hands of that brat, but I want it back. It is my property. Mine. I could find you the artist if you insist, but you” he pointed at the siren officer “should have a police report that I submitted when it was taken”
“Yeah, no we throw those out” she told the seething skeleton, clarifying that “Anything the little guy does is de facto legal after all, what with him being an absolutist dictator and everything. Technically I should be reporting that this was stolen from him, probably”
There was a moment of silence as everyone held their breath, before she realized they were terrified that she might actually mean that.
“Not that I’m going to. Obviously. None of you are gonna say that I looked the other way, and I’m not gonna say anything about this. Deal?” she offered; a deal that was quickly taken by all. Nobody was on P’s side, and no one wanted to draw his ire either.
That moment of unity quickly passed however, as Tim cycled them all the way back around to “but it is my painting still, and however these miscreants got their hands on it, the right thing to do would be to return the people's property to them!” an insistence that was clearly self motivated, but it still did have some support, before he went on “besides, I won’t be paying whatever price you set out of spite, and who else is going to want a painting of me anyway, hmmm?”
Seeing an opportunity, Sectonia took note of the situation. ”Ahem, well… Currency and payment come in all shapes and forms. We did find this portrait of yourself, if you are not interested in paying in money, what else could you offer us? Seeing as you seem to have some form of clout, being able to get in here and all, what else could you offer us?” Sectonia said. The orc began to protest, but Sectonia silenced him with a finger, giving him a ‘some things can be worth more than gold.’ look, seeing what opportunity this could give her and the rest of the group.
The skeleton looked about to launch into another triad on spite, so Kamek helpful offered an addendum along the same theme of ”Think of it as a finders fee”
Tim ground his teeth, and then decided “Hmmmf, well, I suppose” before removing his Wizard hat and saying “Seeing as you are a monster of magic, here” before putting it atop Kamek’s robed head.
”Now wait a mom - oh. Hmmm. I do believe this is enhancing my magic somehow”
“5% flat, and 10% increased hit thanks to it making a set with your robes” he explained, before saying “now can I have my painting, thank you? I need to go home and enchant a new hat. My head feels cold already”
Looking at the hat to make sure it was of quality, Sectonia shrugged. ”Toss in the ability to use your enchanting services for a good price and I suppose that will do.” Sectonia said, noting that with her token smelter, she could turn these hats into slight buffs for everyone who used magic. ”I know a few people who would be interested in such services.” Sectonia said, implying that Tim could possibly even make a slight profit from this deal.
“They’re meant to be for personal use but … maybe” Tim tacitly replied, before picking out and offering them a business card for his services, which seemed to be related more to blasting things with magic than merchandising, but it would do for her purposes.
“Well, now that that is sorted” Chugrall replied, reproachfully as one of the items he had been looking forwards to profiting from was handed away, right before someone else spoke up along the very same lines with “I do say, excuse me, I believe that I won that very vase at this very auction house, surly you have the paperwork?”
Seeing how they were going to handle this, Kamek moved to try and broker a mutually beneficial deal, when a strong hand rested on his shoulder
“I should note that your assistant signed a contract, and I can hardly have you simply give everything away after we looked it over now can I? Lest you end up in the house’s debt as a result” the orc told him sternly, as some of the armed help tightened their grip on their weapons incase this got ugly one way or the other “So I suggest you make sure you have something to sell after all this charity”
”Ah, well now, there is no need for that sort of language, I’m sure we have, ah, something”
”Yeah. We have this hat Rika got from her own efforts, no one is gonna come claim that” Bowser informed them helpful, as he pulled out the solid gold and shining with glossy wealth Sparkle Time Cheese Hat the ship girl had gotten from crushing the spirit of a humble cheese slime.
The orc took one monocle popping look at the object, and the issue was settled.
Sectonia also gave the orc a bit of consoling advice. ”And if we make more deals like with Tim there, you’ll have access to normally unavailable services. Services that could net you some interesting profits later down the road.” But she did concede that situations such as what happened with Tim were rare.
There did end up being a few however, as word got around both of the source of the items, and of the deal they had made to return them. A few genuine requests with evidence of ownership where made, mixed in with attempts at scamming resulted, but a lot of the time it was hard to genuinely prove that an item belonged to a specific person (the loss of the reports which could have proved this got the siren a fair amount of grief that she patently refused to take), as most were not so blatant as to be portraits of their owner.
There was plenty of time for this, because as it turned out, simply showing up with a bunch of stuff did not prompt an auction, and instead they had to wait for the evening to roll around. Much to her annoyance, Sectonia had to wait. Bower got bored after an hour in and, based on a suggestion of his advisor, the King left with pockets stuffed with miniaturized toys and with said advisor in tow, leaving the queen to deal with the rest of the affair.
On the plus side, this also meant she had complete control over what they could use the earnings they acquired from the auction to bid on other items in that very same auction, with their goods not being the only ones on offer after all. Although as time went on and the auctions started, Bowser having left out of boredom, Sectonia would find her items weren’t on auction at this time.
There were only 3 items up for sale at this time that Sectonia had even any interest in. CAnned knowledge, an item that granted dubious knowledge and could be used to share knowledge between people, although it was for a price that Sectonia thought wasn’t all that useful of an item. Sure it would make explaining the whole spirit thing easier, but that didn’t take much time at all anyway.
The second item however she found interesting, a camping set that would make dealing with the wilderness much better. She wasn’t about to go slumming it in uncharted wilderness, and considering this world was vast, she figured at some point they’d have to camp out. It was easy to use and above all was magical. Or as the auctioneer said. “And this is the Deluxe Camping Set. Comfortable bedrolls, Interdiction Torches to help keep away critters, a sophisticated tinderbox, cooking equipment like a spit and a crock pot, a water filter, and even a couple tents. Essential for long-term expeditions most anywhere, especially underground.” What got Sectonia interested is that due to its magical nature, it could size itself to whoever needed to use it.
The third item was a flute that, when played, summoned some cute red blobby bug that seemed to just do its own thing before leaving. Considering the low asking price, Sectonia wasn’t too impressed with what was essentially a ‘pet’ summoning flute. At least not now. And with that the auctions were concluded. Thinking she would get a bit of a buffer from her auction sales to offset the cost of this item, Sectonia bid and bought the camping set, costing her 1000 geo. Well, it would’ve been 1000 geo, but as she would find later on when the auction house came to claim its prize from her, it ended up costing her 1150 geo due to the ‘exchange rate’ of the auction house funny bucks. She was NOT happy about this when the auction was over, as she and the koopas assumed that their items would soften the blow of buying things here at the auction, not that they’d pull THIS. She made a note to burn this place to the ground if the returns from the items they listed were pitiable…
Still, with this aggravating ordeal done, Sectonia moved to meet with the rest of the groups to figure out where to go next.
Blazeramte and Susie listened to their respected situations, Blazermate learning a bit more about how weird the city was, while Susie was mostly having suspicions confirmed. Now, why the city leaders would be turning their citizens into these ever crisis things.... is a question if they were. Blazermate wasn't as sure as Susie on this theory, as Blazermate couldn't figure out why they were doing this while Susie just guessed it was some form of population control. A flawed concept, but it was something often done by incompetent corporate ladders.
Still, their next goal was clear; the sector 6 hub. Upon getting there, both robot girls were impressed with the looks, although for vastly different reasons. It was about time that Susie came about technology that was worth her time to observe, being one of the ones that was all for taking one of the 6 passes. Blazermate meanwhile thought on what had been told to her, with the other group needing a way through. This got her an idea. Taking Goldlewis aside, Blazermate said. "If we just need to get past this checkpoint thing. I could make a teleporter. Put one side here, the other side somewhere in sector 6, and everyone can easily bypass this checkpoint if thats what you need us to do?" If that was the case, Blazermate would take the second pass. Although she'd need some guidance on where to put the other teleporter end.
Level 10 Sectonia (holding 4 level up) - (57/100) Location: City of Tears Word Count: Less than 750
Being one of the first up, Sectonia ran into Rubick who seemed to have been as affected as she and the others had been with Consul P's meddling. Having missed the fight, he voiced his greivences, with Sectonia only being able to dull his temper. "Apparently time was of the essence. There is a much more powerful Consul left if that eases your concerns. This one acted more like a rowdy evil child than an actual threat. Still, as you can no doubt tell, his power was very real." Sectonia said, gesturing at her cup of coffee and the bug bites all over Rubick. "Being able to modify time without repercussions was quite the power, even if he only played childish tricks with it.". Sectonia then went to explain to the grand magus what had transpired.
"Speaking of your detour, were you successful in making that staff you were looking forward to?" Sectonia asked Rubick, seeing as she had given him some poultry funds for said staff. She was interested to see why he was so excited to make it, well, before he had run ill of the side effects of Consul P fighting the other seekers that is. If it was as powerful as he let on, she would fund a staff of her own. She hadn't found anything better weapon wise than what her own kingdom had made yet. A point of pride or pity, Sectonia wasn't sure which.
Level 4 Susie - (39/40) - (Holding 1 level up) Location: Sector 7 Slums Word Count: Less than 750
Heading over to mop up the rest of the robots, Susie used her transporter to fly ahead of the robots left behind. With her efforts to take down the fliers, there wasn't much left to intercept her ability to fly over the band of robots and take up a defensive position with the rest of the fighters of the sector 7 slums. Now that she wasn't on a cliffside, her electric rockets were able to pass through some of the oncoming robots before exploding. While not doing the damage of other elements to a single foe, the AoE ability and semi pierce of her electrical rockets as well as a much more favorable piercing angle, allowed her to lay on more damage than a single non elemental rocket. She couldn't really use the cow mangler rockets as she had to defend herself with her business suit hands from the oncoming fire from whatever robots could reach her, but overall her strategy was more to chip and chunk down the robot hordes so only the strongest ones that could close the gap would be left.
And with the makeshift defenses of the sector 7 slum residents adding their own bits of chip damage and her allies dealing with robots their own ways, there wasn't much left by the time they engaged Susie proper. Taking on the robots that engaged in melee, Susie used a bit from what she learned observing her allies during the big horde battle, using a few of their moves to toss the robots about that engaged her or countering them with her own moves to land devastating melee hits. And with the last of the robots dealt with by either her, her allies, or the slum defenses, the battle was over.
Joining the scrappers in seeing if there was anything worthwhile, Susie looked about for things she could use for her own tech, or spirits, whatever was left over. She wasn't really expecting much, but if she could make herself a new kind of weapon or upgrade for her business suit she'd take it. Something that'd let her handle herself better in combat against bigger foes or stronger skilled foes would be best. She'd find that most of the good stuff would actually be with Isaac as she joined the rest of the group at the forward command center, taking up Isaac's offer, but in more of terms of stuff she could use to improve her own mechanical devices in combination with what she managed to pick up from the wreckage.
Later on, those that had gone after Poppi however returned without success having been picked up by a chopper. "So... what happened?" Susie asked, as Tora was unwilling to talk, she had to ask the others.
Level 10 Sectonia (holding 4 level up) - (56/100) Location: City of Tears Word Count: Less than 750
Sectonia, much like the other seekers who were afflicted by Consul P's childish antics weren't looking their best and brightest. A tired expression on her face as her antillions and Kamek's group moved all the loot out of the tower, having checked the loot for anything worthwhile in the magical department. Upon meeting the others Sectonia said. "Such a childish fool... vindictive to the last it seemed.". Having made the finishing blow and the vast majority of the group not aware of what transpired, she said. "I suppose after we've had some sort of rest I can explain what happened. His death wasn't like the others we've seen here. It was much more... permanent." Sectonia alluded to, wearily grabbing her Rapier from the pile of stuff Nadia had found, having Barnabee's dry reaction to her pun. At least when tired, she didn't skip a beat, that had to be admired at least. Looking down at her sword, it was covered in all sorts of grotesque bits and liquids with the queen saying. "...Vindictive to the last..."
Heading back to the hotel, Sectonia grabbed a coffee before heading to her room. Not wanting to sleep the whole day away and ruin her schedule, Sectonia drank a little bit of the caffeinated drink before crashing on the bed. A trick that could make restless nights at least bearable if given some time, and an hour later the coffee awoke Sectonia. While not well rested, she felt it, or at least enough to manage the rest of the day. Drinking the last of her coffee and fixing herself up so she looked proper; including cleaning her sword using the showerhead due to its relative size, she made her way back down into the lobby to catch whoever she could. With her new windfall of money, she could browse the shops again.
Level 11 Blazermate (Holding 2 level up) - (105/110) Location: Big Other fight. Word Count: Less than 750
Blazermate, having almost no diea what was going on anymore, just did her medical duties on some auto pilot as she watched the jumble of events, arguments, and abilities that went on until the Peach other was taken by someone by the name of Karen who Goldlewis was very weary of. Considering how Goldlewis let the situation go, with big names being tossed around and a vague promise; and threat, of them being able to fix Peach and what would happen if they interfered, Blazermate didn't have much to offer. She did keep in mind who this person was though, in case they met again under worse circumstances.
Healing the rest of the team as they made their way back to HQ, which was a fairly quick affair, Blazermate hovered in silence with the rest of them until everyone had settled back at HQ and those that wanted snacks had gotten them. When that was all done, she said. "OK, who was that, what did they do, and what was that vague threat that had you so concerned? What is going on here?" Blazermate said, hopefully saying what everyone else was thinking.
While the main team proceeded ‘up’ toward Gallo Tower’s massive clock face, the other three headed ‘down’, into the tower’s depths. There were fewer creepy Mecha-Porkies in this direction, and the great hallway seemed rather empty on the whole save for the standard fairly nice, old-fashioned furnishings. The farther Gallo, Kamek, Junior, and Ichiban went, however, the more infrequent the sputtering braziers became, and the lower the ambient light. Pretty soon it would be almost completely dark, and with the gathering gloom came a faint though increasing feeling of dread.
Wisely, Gallo stopped for a moment to take a brazier to carry with him on the descent, not knowing about -or perhaps not wanting to rely on- any light sources his new allies might have to offer. Ichiban, taking his cue, pulled out his smartphone and pointed it ahead, its bright flashlight illuminating further than Gallo’s torch. Ichiban’s Galeem-infused eyes still glowed in the dark, a dull red that bathed his face a little too ominously. Gallo also broke the silence at length to shed a little more light, not on the murky corridor, but on his plans. “I will tell you now the exact nature of my strategy,” he announced. “So that we might all cooperate more effectively. My signature weapon, the ace up my sleeve, is the Clock Lancet.” From the ether he conjured what looked like an ornamental dagger, silver and blue. “It possesses the power to completely halt the flow of time for any being it strikes. I intend to use this to ensure that P cannot reach the Absolutely Safe Capsule once he arrives. This effect lasts but a fleeting moment, however, and it fires of its own accord in a clockwise manner around my person. As such, to keep the brat under its spell, I must also circle him in a clockwise manner, positioning myself in the opposite direction of the Lancet. Neither of us wants an accidental obstruction to leave one of you frozen in time and the Consul free to escape, yes?”
”Is this one of those, rendered invulnerable while frozen in time effects or not? Because if not, it should be child's play to give him a double dose of sleep magic and darts from range. After that I can summon Sectonia and have her mind control him, which she can apparently do now” Kamek said, still against the whole child killing thing, and also very interested in what they could learn from a compliant Consul.
The scholar wrinkled his nose. “Not invulnerable. But be wary. A Consul may not be so easily overcome by trifling gimmicks.”
Ichiban made a noise halfway between an ‘ehhhh’ and an ‘uhhhh’, a mix of hesitation and confusion. ”Thing’s still a knife though, right? And your plan is to like, stab it in P and keep it there?” Ichiban drew his flashlight around their surroundings, brief glances at the decor, the walls and the ceiling, before landing on Gallo, almost like it was following Ichiban’s gaze.
”Can I ask,” Ichiban asked, ”what is it Consul P did exactly? I get the gist of it all, him bein’ some leader abusin’ his power, but what kinda stuff did he do? Embezzle funds? Off a guy?”
“‘Do’?” Gallo sputtered for a moment, as if P’s crimes numbered so many that giving voice to all of them at once might make him explode. “P…is a feckless egomaniac on a power trip of absurd proportions. He is a murderous sadist. Others’ lives mean nothing to him. Less than nothing! He treats all this world’s people as if they were his own personal servants. For any who dare displease him, the consequences are dire.” Gallo paused for a moment to peer into an especially dark shadow in which he thought he saw movement. “...Take for instance his infamous ‘field trips’. Should he happen to be in a mood, he leaves the tower to stroll through the Home of Tears. Everyone in his path must shower him with praise and do whatever he asks of them. If not, something horrible instantly befalls them. Should he be feeling especially unappreciated, he may command his bed to tear the poor soul limb from limb right there.” Gallo clenched his teeth, boiling over with anger. “Oh, how it galls me! The very nerve to reduce the prodigious Iguana Gallo Valetto to a mere sniveling sycophant! Oh, I’ll have that swine’s head!”
”Sounds to me like you’re just not a good subordinate,” Ichiban said without snark, or the forethought that he might be poking the hornet’s nest. ”Look, not sayin’ this P guy is all that great, but most of what’cha said is typical boss stuff. Commanding respect and makin’ it clear what happens when it ain’t given. I’d say that maybe the really nasty stuff P did made ya hate ‘im, but from how you talk, seems like you weren’t a team player from the start.”
That certainly had the two Koopas glancing at each other, before Kamek offered his own perspective
”If I might, that sounds like, well, bad boss behavior, and I’m not even speaking in the nebulous terms of good and evil, it is simply poor. Fear is the incompetent leader’s manner of inspiring loyalty, as Gallo rather aptly demonstrates. A true leader has the love and admiration of his minions, such that they would gladly jump through fire or into the deepest ocean, should he command it. If he does right by them and treats them with respect, they will return that respect a thousand fold, where as a bad boss will find himself alone, friendless and washed up on a beach” he glanced at Jr at the end of his little summary, which resulted in the prince replying ”Yeah yeah I learned that lesson already”
Specifically he had learned it on that not so metaphorical beach.
”It does sometimes bear repeating young master” he replied cattily (”Hey!”) before adjusting his spectacles and suggesting that ”I do hate to say it, but I don’t think your boss was a particularly good one either Mr Ichiban. My condolences”
”What?” Ichiban’s flashlight beam flicked from Gallo to Kamek, shining right in the lizard wizard’s face. ”No way, my boss, he’s the greatest! Helped me shape up when I was a dumb kid and gave me a place in life. I’d do anything for ‘im.” Quiet for a moment, Ichiban’s light wandered about the place again, like it was signifying his moment of thinking. After the moment passed he sighed.
”Guess not everyone can be like Arakawa,” he admitted, mostly to himself than the others. ”But this P guy, well, he kinda sounds like that dumb kid I was talkin’ about. Uh, me,” he clarified. ”Some brat throwing around respect he hasn’t earned. Only he’s in charge of things. All I’m sayin’ is, he sounds like a boss who doesn’t know how to be one, not some insane murderer or whatever. And comin’ from you…” He leveled the flashlight on Gallo yet again. ”Sorry if I don’t take everything y’say for the truth. You’ve been at this guy’s throat since we met you.”
Gallo opened his mouth to respond, but at that very moment the Consul’s first time walk took hold. The near-lethal effects of a hearty meal laced with rat poison struck everyone but Gallo in an instant and without warning, causing massive internal damage. For a moment the alarming change in his allies left Gallo in a state of alarm, but he had the misfortune of knowing what it was. “Damn that brat! This is P’s power!” he exploded. “I don’t know how it’s reaching you here, but oftentimes even completely unrelated people suffer from the fallout of P’s curses!” Believing the three to be lost, he prepared to leave them behind and charge into the darkness toward the Consul’s hideout, the flame lighting his path. Within the span of a few minutes, plastic jabs in the feet and a smorgasbord of bug bites and stings would befall the three as well.
Had Gallo given them more than a moment, he would have found this party far better equipped to handle the time shenanigans than the main group, as was aptly demonstrated when Jr shakily raised up his staff sized paintbrush and cast ”Esuna!” to cleanse first himself, then Kamek, and finally Ichiban of the poison, before using ”Medica!” to heal all three of them at once.
”What the heck was that!” Jr demanded to know once he was off of (what would turn out to be only the first round of) emergency healing duty.
”I… have no idea” Kamek replied, as he sent the wisps he had been using as a light source out to check their surroundings for a source of the attack, none could be found. That only left the logic that they were, somehow, collateral damage from the main fight going on upstairs, just as Gallo had said (though it had been quite hard to pay attention to the specifics what with the poisoning).
”Some sort of … sympathetic magic? Or some kind of very wide reaching spell? But why was Gallo not affected” the mage asked, looking at this from the entirely wrong angle at first.
”And why’d he bail on us like that right away. I had that” Jr asked, pointing after where the man had run off too.
Ichiban, having caught himself just barely from falling flat on his face, groaned in the aftershock of relieved pain. Kinda bittersweet, in a way. ”Geez…” He rubbed his stomach, the main source of the debilitating pain they just experienced. While he didn’t have a direct explanation, Ichiban was closer to the mark than you’d think. ”Felt like… urgh, bad food.” He fished around in his pockets, producing a handful of bite-sized muffins. ”I’ve been out on the street before, and sometimes food y’think’s safe been poisoned to deal with rats.” With a sad sigh Ichiban turned his hand, letting the muffins fall onto the floor.
”It’d explain why he didn’t have anything happen to ‘im,” Ichiban continued, gesturing to where Gallo disappeared with his flashlight. ”You two okay to keep goin’? We should hurry and catch up with him before we get lost.” Marching on ahead into the darkness, Ichiban continued to dig out the various breakfast foods he stashed that morning, littering the path behind them with poisoned pastries.
”Poisoned our food? But ho-” Kamek asked, before releasing ”Ahhh, time travel” as if such a thing was merely a thing he had not considered rather than something fantastical, before agreeing ”and yes, best we catch up with Gallo” before taking to the air again on his broom, having landed when the poisoning stuck.
”Yeah, I’m good, and I’ll be good to keep us going if he hits us again” Jr agreed. Then he had a thought and quickly released both his pokemon from their pokeballs to cure them of their own poisoned breakfast, before rolling forwards at a swiffer pace with both Mimi and Dazzle now along for the ride.
Though the nasty effects of a couple other time warps befell the Seekers as they continued their descent, they kept up a good pace, and it wasn’t long before the flicker of torchlight could be seen through the gloom up ahead. So too could they hear the telltale sounds of combat. With the same question on everyone’s minds, they hurried the rest of the way, wondering if P had already appeared. When they maneuvered around a stand-alone section of wall, however, they found not the young Consul but a bizarre monstrosity melded together from multiple bodies, with a single scarlet-haired human protruding from the massive wad of organs. While the fleshy mass moved very sluggishly, the torso wielded a blue-glowing Holy Wand with startling aptitude, unleashing a brilliant torrent of magic projectiles that careened toward Gallo like a meteor shower, putting the scholar on the run. “Leda!” Gallo barked. “My patience grows thin. I do not wish do harm you, but if I must…!”
The monster made no noise, and its arcane bombardment continued.
”Well … that’s gross” Jr said as he peeked his head round the corner to see what was going on
”What even is that thing..?” Ichiban asked, leaning around the corner above Bowser Jr and Kamek, like a goddamn comedy skit. It might’ve been a genuine question, as Ichiban’s Galeem infused eyes searched the scene for anything familiar to latch onto.
”Mmmm” Kamek had to agree, before noting that ”However it seems like our not so reliable friend does not want to kill this one. I suppose we could indulge him?” he suggested, glancing at Jr, who took a few moments to take the hint
”Oh, right” he said once he got it, before pointing his staff around the corner at the lady part of the meatball and casting ”Repose!”
Jr. began to aid Gallo, and as he did Ichiban straightened up. ”Time to get serious.” He raised his phone and tapped its screen. His fingers were a blur with how fast he was navigating its apps, and after a moment of intense button-pressing, Ichiban slammed his finger down for the final press. ”There!”
With a flash of colorful light that engulfed Ichiban, his attire changed to that of his Hero job. He brandished a weapon now too, a rusty metal baseball bat with barbed wire bunched up near the end. ”I may not like the guy much but we can’t jus’ let him get beat up,” he said, resting his bat on his shoulder. ”You two comin’ with or staying back here for support?”
Right after the sleep spell took effect, Gallo inadvertently ruined it, his Clock Lancet already summoned to pause Leda’s onslaught and slow down his accrual of damage. The small amount of damage it did, however, proved more than enough to rouse the monstrosity. Once back in action, the magical deluge continued, but rather than fly at the newcomers it focused one hundred percent on the closest target, that being Gallo himself, who’d also by now noticed the new arrivals. “Are you well?” he called over, surprised that they’d shrugged off the poison just like that. “Then help me, and be quick about it! We cannot allow this has-been to keep us from our target!” With a final glance at the great vault door on the other side of the area, which seemed to constitute the end of the vertical corridor, he called upon the Ars Gouda tome. Dust Elementals sprang from its pages to attack for him, the possibility of a nonviolent solution thrown to the wind.
”Got it!” Ichiban rushed to the scrap, twirling his bat around his hand. He didn’t have a plan of attack, but hopefully between the dust sprites, Gallo, and Junior and Kamek, Ichiban whacking away at it would at least distract it.
”Huh?” Jr said, confused as to why his spell hadn’t work
”Ah, looks like the blade negates sleep. Inconvenient, but good to know” Kamek noted, this lesson being one better learned now than with P. Then he swooped out into the fray, chanting out ”Rise rise, undying bones, and draw her fire!” and summoning a horde of dry bones, and then sending the perpetually reanimating undead koopas forwards to swarm beneath Leda and become the closest thing to her.
Jr followed suit, giving Gallo a practical demonstration as to how they had survived via casting ”Cure!” on the man, while he commanded Dazzle to serenade the flesh ball with his disarming voice, and for Mimi to mimic him and do the same, the mon’s twin beams of pink soundwaves dealing emotional rather than physical damage.
While their minions attacked or distracted, both fliers focused on avoiding danger, and moving towards the way forwards.
Luckily for the team, they had just the right tools for the job. While impressive in its sheer quality, Leda’s magic proved unerringly systematic in how it functioned. As long as the Seekers could keep some minions close by their target, they needed only worry about stray projectiles that missed their mark, and with plenty of minions to spare they could keep up the offense even in the dark. Ichiban’s battering proved especially effective, and it wasn’t long before the meat mass crumbled.
“Tidily done,” Gallo admitted, straightening his robe. After a firsthand demonstration of both combative and medical aptitude like that, he felt no further need to doubt them in any capacity save their intentions. “Now, let us proceed.”
The vault at the corridor’s terminus proved to be locked, but as the former master of Gallo Tower, the sorcerer still held all the keys. It took a little grappling with the mechanism, which included mundane mechanism, Agarthan technology, and magic all in one, but soon enough the vault swung open. All around them the pitch-black of the tower’s depths suddenly gave way to a tantalizing golden luster, and when the team set foot inside they could see why.
This wasn’t just Consul P’s hideout, but his glittering hoard. Piles of trinkets and baubles, gold coins, statuettes, heirlooms, artworks, furnishings, and favorite toys just about blanketing the place. It was the opulent secret stash of a feckless plunderer who had never been told ‘no’, at least not twice. At the back of the room, nestled among the valuables, rested the orb-shaped Absolutely Safe Capsule--already closed.
”Is that it? Are we too late?” Kamek asked, drifting over the piles of treasure to inspect the closed capsule, fearing that its sealed state meant that P had already retreated inside. However, when he peered through the glass porthole, he found the capsule empty.
Ichiban, having to resist the urge to go looting through the piles of stuff Consul P had in here, wandered over to the safety capsule and gave it a couple taps with his bat. ”Maybe he just ain’t here yet? We’re early?”
”Guess we got time to plan” Jr noted as he drifted over, before asking ”So is he going to have to open the door then?” as he examined the pod for the way inside.
Gallo shook his head. “No, as I mentioned he is capable of teleportation. He will most likely attempt to place himself inside the moment he realized his saferoom has been compromised.” The scholar positioned himself with his back to the south wall, the position he judged to be the most likely arrival point at his twelve o’ clock.
”Oh right. Guess that’s also assuming he doesn't go right into it from wherever” Jr replied, putting out something of a worst case scenario in the process, before thinking for a moment and then turning to his mentor to ask ”Wait, so Kamek, do you think you can?” to which the mage replied with a nod.
The mage drifted back a bit, still with a view of the open window, before twirling his wand around in his hand and vanishing in a puff of smoke.
“Wait-” Gallo held out his hand, but it was too late. Kamek reappeared inside the Absolutely Safe Capsule. It was roomy inside, but devoid of any features. Nothing seemed to happen upon his arrival. After a moment, Gallo withdrew his hand. “Oh. I didn’t think that would work.” He rubbed his chin. “It’s supposed to be warded. Perhaps it’s not all the Agarthans cracked it up to be.”
At that very moment, brilliant purple particles began to coalesce from the Ether, and in a flash an entity appeared amongst the Seekers. But it wasn’t P, at least not exactly. This newcomer was much bigger than a man, demonic in aspect, but clearly inorganic, with a lemniscate-marked core whirring in his chest. His only similarities to P were the rough shape of his head and his rotundity, though nobody in the room save Gallo had any basis for comparison anyway, and Gallo nearly had a heart attack upon seeing this guy. “He’s here!” the scholar shrieked.
“Whuh!?” the Moebius gasped, his voice distorted and his mouth hanging open. “You? What’re you doing here!?” He spotted Ichiban and Junior too, then clenched his fists. “This is MY room!” he yelled, stamping his feet hard enough to shake the room and send gold coins skittering down their piles to the floor. “GET OUT!”
Gallo charged toward him, activating his Clock Lancet as he got into range, but P had already jumped into the air. He descended with a gigantic ground pound that sent every last object in the room flying, turning the entire place to chaos in a second.
As the Moebius fell Jr rose up into the air to avoid any kind of shockwave, only for the propelled objects to be launched up into the air after him, forcing the boy to grab the wheel and steer with all his skill to avoid being destabilized and knocked back out of the sky.
”Mimi, Dazzle, blast that thing!” he commanded as he did this, prompting his two pokemon to shoot back, Dazzle with a bubble propelled water gun blast, and Mimi with an electro ball a few moments later.
The water gun did little more than splash P, although with the electric follow-up he did get jolted for a brief moment. “Agh!” he grumbled. “I’m too tired for this!” He scooped up a giant mitt of coins, then hurled them in the general direction of Junior and his Pokemon like golden slingstones, forcing them all to duck for cover inside the clown car, which was itself battered back by the multiple small impacts.
Groaning and bruised from the fall, Gallo hauled himself into a sitting position. Thanks to that ground pound his Clock Lancet had missed, and now it was firing off in its uncontrollable rotation around him. He scrabbled to his feet to start circling around to the right, giving the Lancet a better shot at hitting P sooner as it ticked around clockwise. Despite hitting P full-on with his Clock Lancet, it didn’t seem to work, and P decked him with a slobberknocker of a right hook.
”This thing ain’t no kid, man!” Ichiban shot at Gallo, having been knocked clear under a tidal wave of action figures. Those things were made of hard plastic; in other words, that hurt. Ichiban fixed Moebius P with a glare that twisted his face in rage, a look that was downright menacing, and way more intense than anyone’d expect from how goofy he was before.
”That means I don’t gotta worry about hurting it!!” Spurred into fury, Ichiban swung his bat in a low arc, batting a handful of army men and buff wrestler toys towards P, dashing after them with his bat raised, ready to lay the beatdown on this big pig monster. P met him halfway, happily bringing his giant fists and rending claws to bear against ichiban in a vicious one-on-one.
Some, such as Bowser, might have argued about how just because a kid looked like a monster, it did not mean they weren't still a kid. It was an argument Kamek might have echoed, however, he was not in the fight. Nor, in-fact, was he in the pod any more either. No instead he had teleported outside of the room entirely, and there out was working his magics.
The first result of said magics arrived at just that moment in the form of a giant bee queen whom P had already met, and who had a rather different reason for avoiding resorting to murder than the rest of those present.
Appearing out of the same pink portal with heart shaped runes that she used to summon antlions, Queen Sectonia appeared in front of Kamek, having been summoned by the koopa mage. ”I suppose we had better get started then. Considering his size however, holding him still for the control to take effect will be tricky.” Sectonia said, a look of tiredness on her face but still determined to show this ‘boy’ some discipline. She was ready to summon her striker who was a master of mind control when the opportunity arose, as was part of her plan.
”Not to worry, I have a plan for that” Kamek informed her as he followed her in upon the result of the other spell he had been casting, namely a cockatrice mount. As soon as he was back in the room, he used it to blast the monstrous P with its petrifying glare … only for this to have no noticeable effect.
”Huh?” the mage intoned, confused, only for Jr to see what the plan was, misjudge why it had failed (range) and try his own, swooping in and casting ”Holy!” to blast the Consul with an explosion of white magic, only for this to not work either.
”What? Why didn’t that stop him?”
P twisted around toward the offending reptiles. “Huh? Was that supposed to hurt?” he taunted them with a leer. When he saw Sectonia again, however, he hung his head with a heavy, groaning sigh. “Uggggh.” Ichiban took the chance to blindside him! Coming up around P’s side, he pulled off another underswing, essentially using his bat like a golf club to whallop the piggish monster in its piggish snout. He stumbled backward, arms flailing as he regained his balance. “Ow, you TURD! You know what? I’m too tired for this. I don’t wanna play with any of you losers any more.” Purple particles began to coalesce around him as he prepared to teleport. “I’ll swat you stupid little gnats for good right after I have a nice long nap!”
Gallo slammed his fist on the ground. “No!”
The Moebius warped into the Absolutely Safe Capsule, and promptly set off every Dark Mine Kamek had laid in there at once. No sound escaped from within the protective sphere, but through the glass the gathered Seekers could see a maelstrom of crushing force, rippling dark magic, and pain. Faced with such brutal punishment, P did the only thing he could do: teleport back out. He reappeared in the vault with a bloodcurdling shriek, made even worse by the inhuman reverb to his voice, and collapsed onto the ground in bad shape.
“Aaaaagh!” he blubbered, beside himself with agony. “Y-you haven’t won! You can’t stop me! I’ll still get away. And then I’ll be back for you once I’m healed up, you hear me!? I’ll drain the lifelight of the whole city if I have to! I’ll kill you, kill you, kill you all!”
He began to teleport again, the same purple particles appearing. By now though, Gallo was back on his feet, and from a little pouch he pulled a shining hourglass. “Looks like it’s up to you,” he growled through gritted teeth as he hurled the timepiece. “Shmuetax!”
On impact the hourglass did not smash, but it did stop P in his tracks as a pitch-black line seemed to cleave through reality itself, including the Consul. When it burst a second later, the whole room cleanly split in half along the line, and P along with it. “AAAAAAAAAGH!” he howled, cut diagonally in half through the middle, with only half a torso, a quarter of a left arm, and three quarters of a right arm to his name. Yet still he lived, and as he writhed the purple reactor in his chest went into an unstable overdrive. As it whirred, giving off purple sparks, P’s limbs and lower half began to regrow. Once the pain diminished enough to focus, he’d be teleporting again.
Sectonia doubted at this point that her plan of mind controlling Consul P. wouldn’t work, so she went with her backup plan. While Kamek and Jr. were adamant about not killing, there wasn’t anything for it at this point as Sectonia pulled out her remaining sword and blinked next to Consul P. In the same motion of her blink, as Moebius P was recovering, Sectonia stabbed the unstable reactor in his chest with her massive sword before doing a sideways slice at it, and on the backswing, aiming for the Moebius’ head itself.
The head wound ultimately didn’t matter, but the same couldn’t be said for the core. Once Sectonia pierced it through, P’s howls began to turn hollow. He flailed and thrashed and wriggled, but with his core broken he couldn’t regenerate what he’d lost, and from the reactor leaked a flood of bright, blood-red motes. “You can’t, you can’t, you can’t do this to meeeeeeeeee!” he blubbered, his struggle quickly growing weaker. “I’m Moebius…Moebius! I’m s’posed to be…infiniiiiiiiiiiite…” His body began to dissolve, not into ash, but into light. In just a moment he was gone, and not even a spirit remained.
“Hah!” Gallo snorted without delay. After scooping up the hourglass where it had fallen and dusting it off, he sneered at the spot where P had vanished. If he could have, he would have gladly kicked the Consul’s body for a few seconds. Maybe even a few minutes. “Like that, you little snot! I’ll see you in hell!” With that, he turned to the others. “Well done, all of you! This is a blow struck not just for the Home of Tears, not just for the Under, but for me…Iguana Gallo Valetto! I am in your debt, and since I cannot stand to be in anyone’s debt, the contents of this room are yours for the taking. More than equitable compensation, I should think?”
Summoning the sword that Consul P. had ‘given her’ as a mock gesture, Sectonia tossed down the inflatable balloon sword upon what should’ve been his ashes. ”A fitting end for such an ugly being.” She then relaxed a bit of her tension as the fight had ended, falling very low to the ground before recovering. Taking Gallo’s word about his debt, Sectonia offered an additional condition. ”That is fine. I would also like to annex this kingdom into my own. Considering it will need a new leader, I don’t see why one of the existing leaders of the kingdom shouldn’t take that mantle. And it seems there is only one left in such a position. How curious… ” Sectonia mused. ”Having this kingdom be under the banner of Floralia, with you as its reagent lord, would benefit us both. I doubt I’ll be around much to manage this kingdom anyway, and the people would prefer someone they know instead of someone they don’t to lead them. What do you say Gallo?”
Gallo blinked, taken by surprise by her offer. “I am no ruler, and I care not a whit about it in the first place,” he told her frankly. “Instituting a functional form of government in the Home of Tears would be far too much hassle anyway. To continue my research in MY tower, and delve ever deeper into the secrets of magic, is all I want.”
”Fair enough. I see no reason why that can’t continue.Unraveling the secrets of the universe is quite a goal after all.” Sectonia said, having the notion of “easy come, easy go” on her face. Still, they’d need to find someone to run this place… Wait, didn’t Kamek mention some sort of exiled ruler when Consul P took over? She would need to ask the koopa mage about that. Although Sectonia hadn’t met the man herself, so she would be taking a shot in the dark with them.
”Speaking of secrets of the universe… I wonder how Consul P did what he did? IT seems whatever the case, the downside of his power was complete annihilation upon his defeat.” Sectonia said, looking over the fight they had all just fought. The power to change time without causing a causality problem was quite strong indeed. She then mused. ”Is this going to be a common thing with all Consuls? Power over incredible forces, at the cost of their very being?”
There was a lull for a moment after the battle, where Ichiban stood over the spot Moebius P vanished from, shoulders rising and falling as he took sharp, deep breaths. The adrenaline of the fight wore off… at least, that’s how he was justifying it, unaware of the influence that made him jump into the battle. ”Huh… ahh, so, we… won?” He asked, scratching his head. ”What happened to P? Did the kid send some lackey in to deal with us?”
”Hmm?” Sectonia said as Itchiban said something odd. She then remembered he was still Galeemed. Considering he wouldn’t be of much help in a state like that and her overall good mood, she pulled out a friend heart, blinked behind Ichiban, and thrust it into him, taking advantage of his confusion. ”Can’t have this be an issue later.” Sectonia said nonchalantly.
”Wh–” Ichiban turned, raising his bat to shield himself, out of instinct really, though it didn’t stop the mystical Friend Heart from reaching him. He stumbled backwards as if it had been a real hit, and the red light faded from his eyes. ”...what the hell?” Ichiban looked around the room again, at Gallo, Jr and Kamek, Sectonia, eyes wide as he visibly processed all the new information rushing to his head.
After a moment that lasted for as long as it would be funny to, Ichiban shouted, ”What’s going on here?!” His hand snapped to the Koopa pair with a point. ”Why’s there a freaking turtle in a clown car, a little wizard, and a-” Ichiban swung his finger to Sectonia now, ”a huge-ass bee floatin’ here?! And that, that thing…”
He looked down to where P had just been, tapping the floor with the end of his bat, like he was searching for a trapdoor. ”What was that? It looked like a big pig monster, did I really fight that thing? If that was this P kid, then…” Other bits of information clicked in his head, mostly the robotic doppelgangers of P they had seen up to this point, and a few broken ones strewn around this bratty hoard.
”P? Is that like, part of his name?” He continued, more confused than angry now, the question aimed at Gallo. ”Wait, those Ganondorf and Bowser lookin’ dudes… now this P kid… did I just beat up a video game character?!”
”Ah, his majesty is not going to like this” the mage said upon hearing his king’s name, both him and Jr having been too caught off guard by their plan not working to really weigh in one way or the other with how to end the situation. Given that P had threatened to effectively doom the city however, he supposed in the end what had to be done had been done without his input.
As for the actual question, Kamek’s answer was ”I’ve no idea what you are on about I am afraid. However I am sure you are going through a lot, getting your memories back and all that, so take your time, and we can discuss it as we leave. I think we could all do with a rest after a night like tonight … or a morning I suppose?”
”Mmm,” jr agreed, his tone not really giving away anything about how he felt about this.
”As for our reward … well, our loot plus Gallo’s share … if your majesty would be so kind as to provide some extra helpers, I can shrink it all down to a more manageable size” Kamek went on, making a mental note to sit down with the boy and address things once they were out of the tower, before he turned his wand on the treasure and began shrinking it down to a more carryable size. There was nothing better to do with her antillions, so she summoned some to help lug the loot out. It was a fair amount.
Level 11 Blazermate (Holding 2 level up) - (104/110) Location: Big Other fight. Word Count: Less than 750
Blazermate didn't have to worry as much about the big Other, as its attacks were lumbering, or affected the ground, both tings she could avoid by just keeping her distance. Unlike the others though, she wasn't really doing too much damage with this other destroying the created sentry gun before it even got beyond level 1. This would end up being a good thing though, as it was said that this Other was a transformed Peach. "Wait, this is Peach? I don't know if I can cure something like this all that easy. Wasn't there something about redshift or something?" Blazermate said, a bit concerned. Well, at least she knew that if this thing started to get low, if they had a plan that didn't involve killing this other, they could at least keep it contained. "Does... anyone have a plan of what we're supposed to do here? I don't know if attacking it is the solution?"
Sakura was then pinged on Blazermate's scan as she had gotten hit pretty hard. With some heals and a revive, it wasn't difficult to get Sakura off the ground, especially with Karin keeping the Other's attention. Still, the two would be needing heals to tank this thing while everyone figured out a way to fix the situation. Blazermate could probably uber soon, but she doubted that'd even do anything.
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