Lugubrious

World of Light

The City of Glass - Vandelay Campus

Level 5 Goldlewis (62/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Karin and Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Blazermate and Susie’s @Archmage MC, Geralt and Zenkichi’s @Multi_Media_Man, Pit’s @Yankee, Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double, Benedict and Partitio’s @Dark Cloud, Tora, Giovanna
Word Count: 1786

Within a few minutes, Goldlewis and the rest of the debate attendees stood out in the open air of another Midgar night. It might be smoggy or stifling in other sectors, but the City of Glass was a city of the future. Even in the periphery of its most industrial area, the air felt clear and breezy, its clear skies affording a view of the stars obstructed by the oily shimmer of the Extinction Belt that floated far above Midgar’s loftiest heights, a beautiful but deadly aurora borealis. During the course of the debate, as tension mounted and tempers flared, it had gotten pretty stuffy inside Dendemille Showcase Theater, so Goldlewis took deep breaths of the fresh air with gratitude in his heart. In this brief moment of respite he looked out over the scenery, past the attention-hogging spotlights and glitzy golden floodlights of Circuit Royal, the grand public entrance of the Vandelay Campus, and across the water of Regatta Bay.

All the cloud-white yachts and sailboats that wandered the waterways during the day now moored peacefully at their docks, like cattle brought into their stables for the night, but the City of Glass itself never slept. Enormous electronic billboards and company names writ large in eye-searing neon crowned many of its tall buildings, their glare seemingly strong enough to diminish the distant radiance of the cosmos above. Further down, light panels on many of the buildings that lined the waterfront bathed the quiet boardwalks and gentle waves in a serene pink glow, reflected by the bay and the austere glass facades that encircled it like so many mirrors to make Regatta Bay into a soft, surreal dreamscape. It was a nice night, but Goldlewis was hardly at peace. His mind still raced from everything he learned thanks to the theatrical machinations of Consul C. What this knowledge meant for Midgar -and the Seekers’ campaign as a whole- he could only imagine. Even if C spoke truly about the location of Midgar’s elusive Guardian, the veteran knew that his troubles had only just begun. He dreaded the possibility that these revelations would keep him up tonight when tomorrow promised to demand all his strength, but in order to even find out, he and the others would have to get out of here.

The prospect of navigating back through the City of Glass was one that appealed to no-one. With the added traffic it could be hours, and from the looks of it, the friction generated during the debate had brought even more of Vandelay’s security out of the woodwork. The docks and parking lot exits were swarming with company robots, not just SBR and GNR units but plenty of beefy ES units as well, some with different colors probably denoting different special equipment. Good thing the team had an ace in the hole.

“Princess Midna,” Goldlewis began, approaching the cheeky imp. “I know ya already bailed us out earlier, but if it ain’t too much trouble, I was hopin’ you could pull off that portal-makin’ trick again. We could really use an easy way outta this place, not to mention a quick an’ easy way back in case somethin’ else comes up with Vandelay.”

Thankfully, Midna agreed. Not long after, the group’s wait came to an end, as Goldlewis spotted a handful of familiar faces hurrying over. Giovanna, Sakura, Geralt, Blazermate, Pit, Tora, Benedict, and Partitio moved quickly, driven by their uncertainty at whatever fate might have befallen their friends inside the debate venue, but the sight of everyone in one piece set their hearts at ease. The two halves of Black Team reunited in a corner of the parking lot, walled in on two sides by the Greco-Roman-styled strip mall of guest facilities that served as bulwark between the public face of Vandelay Campus and its staff-only industrial factories. Though relieved to see that nothing bad happened to any more teammates today after the bomb scare, they couldn’t breathe easy just yet.

“How’d it go?” Giovanna asked her comrade breezily.

Goldlewis heaved a mighty sigh, a helpless expression on his face. “You won’t believe what happened right afterward.” The screech of tires distracted him, and to his shock he spotted an extravagant fuchsia six-wheeled convertible peeling away and zooming off into the night with none other than Consul C behind the wheel. After a moment of silence Goldlewis shook his head in resignation, his incredulity quickly turning to caution. “We’ll go over everythin’ once we get back to base. Let’s hustle before the bots start gettin’ suspicious of us hangin’ ‘round past closin’ time. C’mon!”

Though the team didn’t have enough time to be choosy, they quickly settled on a clever spot. After ducking out of sight from the security robots into a mostly walled-off lot full of dumpsters, Midna affixed her twilight portal to the underside of one of the circuit’s suspended racetracks, where no normal person would ever think to look. Using it, Midna could discreetly warp the team straight to the Seiran hideout.

Only Giovanna stayed behind. “Come back for me in five minutes,” she murmured to Midna. Once the others left, she turned to face the otherwise empty lot, a frown on her face. She closed her eyes and sniffed, and sure enough, there it was again. Ever since she met up with the rest, something strange had been happening. She’d been smelling someone, hearing someone, and seeing someone, only to repeatedly forget who it was. As her keen senses caused the process to repeat, the lingering sense of unease grew, and she’d become more and more certain that someone was tailing them. At first she assumed the use of some sort of cloaking device, but it didn’t line up. It wasn’t her senses playing tricks on her–it was her cognition itself. Upon making that realization the savvy secret agent figured it out. She was forgetting about someone the moment she became cognizant of him, but if she didn’t become cognizant of him, she didn’t forget. As long as she couldn’t assign this smell to a person, that person couldn’t be wiped from her mind. So it was that, with her eyes closed, Giovanna prepared to face an unknowable pursuer.

“I can smell you,” she said ominously. “The nose knows. Whoever you are, this is the end of the line. I heard that if you try to use this portal without Midna’s help, you’ll get stranded in some corner of the Twilight Realm, cursed to wander until you become a mindless beast. So if you want something from us, might as well speak now.” Behind her, Rei manifested, electric sparks dancing through her thick green coat as she growled at Roland. “...Or forever hold your peace.”

---

Once back in the hideout, Goldlewis finally allowed himself to relax. He stood his coffin up by the front door, loosened his tie, hung his suit jacket on the back of the same chair he used earlier, and sat down at the table. It was late -the clock in the former clinic’s kitchen read 11:03- but while he hadn’t eaten dinner, he didn’t feel terribly hungry. The others could fix themselves a bite to eat from the supplies in the pantry (granola bars, chips, jerky, and other snacks) or refrigerator (a none-too-fancy mix of cold cuts and frozen food) if they wanted, but right now the veteran needed his focus elsewhere.

Such was the import of the team’s brief conversation with C that Goldlewis sorely missed not having some sort of recording device. He’d done his best to internalize everything in the moment, but C spilled the beans fast and hard, and even a single missed detail might spell the difference between victory and defeat. As such, Goldlewis enlisted the help of Raz -and his handy-dandy notebook- to make sure that his retelling of the encounter with one of Midgar’s Consuls wanted for nothing. After going over the team’s questions and C’s answers, with special emphasis placed on the bonus reveal of Midgar’s other Consul Y, Goldlewis added one extra detail of his own.

“Y’all mighta been wonderin’ what that li’l exchange was between me and C before I asked about the Guardian,” he began. “The truth is that C, which is to say Happy Chaos, comes from the same world as me. Not too long before this whole Galeem mess got started, he staged an international incident at the White House during the G4 summit. Hijacked the whole place, holdin’ the world’s leaders hostage while puttin’ on one hell of a show. Not all that different from what happened tonight, come to think of it. The debriefin’ from that debacle shed a little light on who he really is, and it ain’t pretty.” He paused for a moment, his face deadly serious as he swallowed. “Accordin’ to the Gear Maker, he’s the Original. The man who brought magic into the world, and the strongest magician there is. As far as we know, there ain’t anythin’ he can’t do. He can manipulate the world around him, minds, bodies, magic, tech, everythin’. He’s…well, terrifyin’. The one savin’ grace is that he doesn’t care about anythin’, either. Only gettin’ people riled up to amuse himself.” He stroked his beard. “If he’s on Galeem’s side, he could very well be their greatest strength, or their greatest weakness.”

After that, the floor was open. Everyone could offer their two cents on the day’s events, try and puzzle out new conclusions from the gathered clues, or workshop a plan for tomorrow. Or, like Tora, they could just go straight to bed. The Nopon didn’t care about politics or Consuls; even the Guardian was a secondary concern to him right now. Before he could face any of that, he needed Poppi. But Tora didn’t know what to do. His attempts to combat the Logic Virus in Poppi’s arm had been utterly futile so far. He didn’t know if he should keep trying, pivot in the direction of making a new body for Poppi her consciousness could be transferred into, or ready for battle in the hopes that his allies could force the Machine leaders to restore Poppi herself. He knew only one that–that tonight, he would be on his own for the first time, and without Poppi, Tora was nothing. Utterly miserable, the young engineer wrapped himself in blankets and secluded himself in his cot, weeping until he fell asleep, his furry cheeks wet with tears.

The Under - Pizza Tower

Level 10 Nadia (216/100)
The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Ganondorf’s @Double, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Ichiban’s @Truthhurts22, Omori’s [@Majoras End], Artorias’ @Dark Cloud
Word Count: 3150

“Huh? No petting!” Nadia tried to shake off Sectonia’s antlions when they came for her just prior to her planned excursion. Bugs weren’t exactly beauticians, after all, and Nadia didn’t know how much stock she put in the swarm queen’s idea of ‘proper’ anyhow. Prim and proper might befit some prissy princess, but a puckish rogue-slash-tomboy like Ms. Fortune did things her own way. Still, it’s the thought that counts, as they say. “Uh, thanks anyway, Sec. Secky? …Toni? Ah, forget it.”

As she stepped up to the doorway labeled ‘Crust Cove’, Nadia steeled herself. She had no idea what to expect from one of Pizza Tower’s levels, and though this would hardly be the first time plunging face-first into the unknown and she had no qualms doing it, the many misadventures that had already befallen her as Purple Team’s point man told her that she’d better be ready. Despite that, she was not at all ready for what happened the moment she hopped through.

For a couple seconds straight she wound up struck blind by a dazzling light, brilliant to the point of being painful. “Meowch!” she yelped, squeezing her poor eyes shut as she reeled like a drunk, only finding stability on all fours. For once she actually found herself grateful for the bangs that had been insistently hanging over her left eye since her fusion with Kronya. When her eyes adjusted, however, she opened them and witnessed a breathtaking scene. She found herself standing on a tall, cylindrical tower of glass, emblazoned with fanciful swirls of bronze that made it look more like a giant goblet than a medieval rampart. All around her lay a gorgeous shoreline of sparkling, bubbly water, pristine sand, and lush grass. Birds -or were they flying fish?- flapped over the glinting waves in small flocks. Even more miraculously, the whole scene lay bathed in the golden rays of a glorious sunset over the open ocean.

For a few moments Nadia just sat there, enchanted. A full day and a half had passed since she last glimpsed the light of day, and she hadn’t realized just how much she missed it. She felt the sun’s warmth on her skin, and a gentle breeze toyed with her hair. It felt a lot like that incredible beach back in the Deep Blue Seaside near Limsa Lominscuttle Town, Heaven’s Edge. That much-needed, blissful afternoon wouldn’t be forgotten anytime soon. Had that doorway in Pizza Tower really transported her to some far-off, picturesque coastline in the World of Light?

Well, no. When Nadia looked a little closer, she began to notice the flaws. For starters, the horizon didn’t look right. Past a certain point, it seemed weirdly solid and stationary, and it didn’t take the feral long to realize that she was looking at the painted wall of what she ultimately determined to be a huge, cylindrical room. Here and there she spotted bits of equipment poking out of what should otherwise be solid terrain, like fans and wave generators, and she realized the sun must just be a very big, very hot light. Still, it managed to be a pretty convincing illusion, and she appreciated that. The sun and the sea were where Nadia Fortune belonged, not caves or castles. When she looked back at the door, however, she realized with a start that it seemed to have slammed shut behind her. “Huh? When did that happen?” She scratched her head, and as she looked around, her eyes landed on that sack she’d brought. “Oh, right,” she chuckled. “Almost fur-got.” She was here to get food for pizza-making, and judging by the movement on the shore and beneath the waves, she wasn’t alone. I can just get directions outta someone, she reasoned, pushing the sack into her belt. Might as well get to work.

As she went to jump, a sudden voice in her ear made her jump in a different sense. It was Primrose, and she came bearing good news. Nadia grinned. If the others found a way out, all the more reason to gather ingredients as fast as she could. Then the whole team could eat and be on their way. She tensed up, wiggled her tails, and threw herself from the top of the tower.

“Waaaaaaaahooooooooooooo!” she yowled as hurtled through the air in a daredevil high dive. Extending her arms in front of her head, she made a perfect entry with barely any splash, and swooped through the water with grace. To her surprise the water actually seemed to be carbonated, the whole indoor ocean fizzed up like one giant jacuzzi, but pleasantly cool in contrast to the warmth of the artificial sun. To Nadia, dirty, sore, and bedraggled from a rough day and equally rough night, it felt like heaven. She could finally relax, feeling clean, awake, and alive. Even better, this wasn’t just some sterile simulation; the shallows were full of life. In addition to verdant beds of seagrass and shelves of blue coral like pebble mosaics, she spotted vast schools of minuscule anchovies with scales like glittering silver coins, and loads of vivid pink shrimp making their rounds on the white sandy seabed. They, Nadia realized, must be the point of this place, both for her and Pizza Tower itself: habitat for the cultivation of the freshest possible seafood pizza toppings. Her eyes twinkled. “This is AWESOME!” she wanted to say, but bubbly sea water filled her mouth the instant she opened it, so before anything else she swam back up to the surface for a breath of fresh air.

A moment after she breached the surface and filled her lungs, though, a problem occurred to her. She couldn’t possibly catch any sealife with a burlap sack. Too much drag. With neither nets nor a fishing rod -not to mention the patience to use one- she needed a fresh idea, and after a couple seconds of treading water she dove down again to search for one.

Rather than the fish, she focused on something else she caught a glimpse of before. Trudging along the bottom of the shallows were bulbous bipeds in old-fashioned diving helmets. These Water Workers wielded shock prods, and they didn’t seem happy to see her. She raised an eyebrow at one slowly hopping toward her, then both when she realized what its weapon could do. Electricity arced through the water in an area around it as it thrust at her, but she managed to swim out of range in time. Unable to treat the little jerk to any quips underwater, she furrowed her brow and got straight to business.

She extended her legs in a perfect split and began to rotate her whole lower half like a propeller, picking up speed until she was cruising through the water at a good clip. The Water Worker readied its prod to jab at her the moment she got into range, but it did not anticipate her detaching her forearms to drill through the water like torpedoes. They swerved around the mook’s guard and pierced into its suit. Its water drained through the holes and diffused into the ocean, quickly thinning the worker out until it no longer existed, leaving an empty suit behind. Nadia gaped at it as it drifted to the sea bed. Yikes…

Her ears perked up at the sound of electricity from behind, and after quickly reattaching her forearms she twisted around to find the other three members of the Water Worker’s squad. They charged at her, nice and slowly, and Nadia fired off her arms. She punctured the two frontrunners, but that left her without anything for the last as it leaped from the seabed to close the last few meters. Think, think! she fretted internally. I’ve got to use my…oh! With a grin she launched her head, beaning the Water Worker right on the helmet with a long-range headbutt. As it stalled in the water, she grabbed its slowly sinking shock prod and shoved it through the mook’s torso, and in a burst of electricity that was that. As the shriveling suit joined the others on the sand, she looked around to see if the workers left behind any nets or anything, but they did not. With a defeated expression Nadia swam up to the surface to get some air. “Yeesh,” she gasped, still zinging from her near-electrocution. “Not much of a challenge. Barely ‘wetted’ my appetite. Thank goodness I didn’t get shocked though, otherwise…”

Wait a second. She held up her hand. Thanks to Cat-5, she could do that too! With a grin she dove back down and propelled herself to the nearest school of anchovies. When she got close, she let her veins fill with lightning and willed herself forward in a burst of energy. Almost to her surprise she blasted through the shoal as a streak of lightning, sowing destruction in her wake. After coming to a stop and making sure she was still in one piece, Nadia turned to find a wealth of stunned fish just waiting to be scooped up. Don’t mind if I do!

After repeating the process a couple times, both for anchovies and shrimp, Nadia emerged from the surf with a sack filled to the brim with seafood over her shoulder. She made her way to the nearest beach chair, then plopped the bag down, followed shortly by the rest of her. A convenient towel worked to dry off her hair, though her jacket would be wet for a while. “Shockingly fun,” she joked to herself. She relaxed for a moment, enjoying the relaxing seaside peace and quiet while chewing on some raw fish as she air-dried. It wasn’t long, though, before her ear twitched, and she flipped away just in time to avoid the salvo of asparagus spears that messily punctured her chair. She landed to see a platoon of Pizza Box Goblins, and each of the squat green guys in their red boxes wielded either asparagus spears or broccoli clubs. “Avast!” the one in charge, who wielded a cannon made of celery, spat at her. “What be the meanin’ of this, lubber? The only thieves in these waters be us, the Green Pizza Pirates!”

“You’ve gotta be kitten me,” Nadia groaned. “Look, guys. It’s cool if you like veggies, but ya can’t just go killin’ everyone ya meat! Sooner or later ya might make…” Suddenly she whipped out her Bait Launcher. “A mis-steak!”

If the sight of a slab of meat plopping down at their feet affronted the goblins, the tiger that sprang into existence right by it scared them out of their wits. In the chaos that followed Nadia made her escape, her bulging bag of seafood slung over her shoulder as she ran down the beach. Only after rounding a corner did she pause for a break, putting a hand against a big, dark rock for support as she breathed. Of course, the rock then spoke to her. “Hello?”

“Yahh!” Nadia sprang back, her ears and tails rigid with fright. When she realized the big blockhead wouldn’t be going anywhere, though she relaxed. “What’re you doin’ here?”

“Just minding my own business I guess.” Despite the nice environment, he sounded emphatically unhappy.

Nadia winced, feeling like she’d ruined this poor rock’s day all of a sudden. “Uh…well. Sorry for droppin’ in then. What’s your name, pal? B-rock? S-tony?”

“...John.”

“Right. John!” Nadia clapped her hands together. “D’ya know how to get outta this beach area, John? It’s nice and all, but-”

“Just smack me and it’ll start the timer.”

Nadia grinned. “Oh great, thanks!” She smacked him, and when he fell over he promptly crumbled to nothing. Nadia blinked a few times as she watched him die, her smile fading. “...Wait, timer? John…?”

The level changed. As the sky turned redder, all the flying anchovies, pizza goblins, and other inhabitants previously ambivalent to Nadia’s presence uniformly turned to look at her. As if that wasn’t enough, John-faced portals manifested to spit out even more foes. Bizarre, terrifying clock faces were appearing everywhere. In mere moments, this tranquil seaside had become hell. “Oh…crap.” Her jaw dropped as she watched the doorway at the very top of the goblet pop open. “I have to get back up THERE!?”

All the enemies began to move, so she did too. She hoisted her sack and took off running toward the water, engaging Massachusetts’ power to skate across the surface as asparagus spears, artichoke heart cannon balls, and Gushens flew toward her. Picking up speed, she sped across the water, zigzagging left and right. The goblins on shore she left behind, but now their captain’s ship could take potshots at her. She had no idea what the ‘intended’ way to escape was, and she didn’t care to find out. A stupid idea struck her, and she altered course for the ship, watery eruptions caused by its cannonballs on the way.

When she got close enough she jumped and airdashed onto the deck, surprising and then bashing the pirates overboard with a few energetic swings from her sack. Nadia aimed upward, her veiled eye shut and her tongue out, then fired off her free hand to knock the ship’s cannon into a vertical position. Then she blasted off with a pressurized jump and landed nice and snug in the cannon, just in time for it to go off and send her soaring sky-high, leaving the flying fish in her dust. “WOOOOOOOOOO!” she screamed, as much from adrenaline as terror. As the cannonball beneath her lost momentum, she leaped off it and sailed through the air, waiting for just the right moment to use Charge one more time. She blasted down onto the goblet like a bolt from the blue, landing right in front of the door. The goblins lobbed their health foods at her, and their captain angrily waved his fist, but they fell far short, so with a smile a mile wide Nadia took a bow and jumped through the portal, not even paw-sing to collect her A-rank.

A few seconds later, she arrived in the Hub’s pizza kitchen, her sack of fresh seafood in hand. Though still a little wet, she looked cleaned-up, energized, and in high spirits. “Heya! I’m back!” she greeted everyone, including the eager Pizza Trolls. “And if you think I’m quite the catch, wait ‘til ya see THIS!” She plopped down her soaking-wet sack and opened it wide, inviting everyone feast their eyes on the bounty of the sea before everyone got busy making stuff they could feast their stomachs on, too.

Thanks to the collective efforts of everyone who went out to gather ingredients, the pizza-makers found themselves with a bounteous selection of toppings. Bowser, Kamek, and Ganondorf delivered a wealth of pork products: sausage, pepperoni, chorizo, ham, and more. Ichiban had risked life and limb to collect the most vital pizza ingredient of all, cheese. From the bizarre stony jungle known as John Gutter Therion brought a boatload of fruits, far more than could -or should- ever be piled on a pizza. Sectonia, Junior, and Rika came with a smorgasbord of sweets from the Peppibot Factory, none of which made a lick of sense to Nadia, but she didn’t plan to question it. Barnabee had gone to Gnome Forest to collect honey, but he returned with plenty of mushroom’s that he’d chopped off too. Last but not least, the feral’s own offering of anchovies and shrimp from Crust Cove. One after another the Seekers dumped their ingredients into the pizza kitchen’s Incredible Pizza Machine, and from there they could simple select what they wanted and watch the machine belch out a pizza ready for insertion into the pizza oven. While the red pizza bags wouldn’t accept anything but pizza boxes, they’d accommodate any number of boxes pizzas, so the team could afford to splurge.

Unable to bear the sight of amateurs throwing together crap pizzas, the trolls stepped in to lend a hand, offering plenty of advice about what to pair together. With their help, Nadia went with two pizzas: one with shrimp, the other with anchovies, and both with plenty of mozzarella and parmesan. Some olives, onions, garlic, and extra tomatoes would have been excellent additions, if only the Seekers had them. Unfortunately, with Rubick, Omori, and Jesse staying behind in the Hub, the team of gatherers hadn’t been at full strength. Still, there were plenty of extra ingredients, enough for everyone to share. Once she made her own, Nadia tried her hand at making the pizzas the Trolls wanted, starting with one that had pepperoni and cheese.

“Something must go!” Arno proclaimed, though he didn’t say what.

“Is that all I get?” Willa asked, disappointed, but not as much as Nadia when she didn’t get any hints for what else Willa might want.

“Something on there’s not good for me,” Shyler fretted, also not bothering to specify.

Nadia quickly gave up. Cunning schemes, clever puns, and sharp wits were her strong suit. Logic, not so much. Instead she sat herself down by the fire to finish drying off and, eeing no sense in wasting perfectly good food, chowed down on the pizza the Trolls refused. Not a normal breakfast by any means, but food was food, and she wasn’t going to complain. The only problem, she realized, was the silence. “Sheesh,” she piped up after swallowing a mouthful of pizza. “It’s like we don’t even know each other. C’mon guys, let’s liven things up a little! Ooh, why don’t we catch up on some of the crazy stuff we’ve been through? None of you were there with me in the Dead Zone, so I could probably knock your socks off with the story of…the haunted police station! WooOOooOO!” She gave a spooky wave of her fingers, then grinned and grabbed another pizza slice. “Buuut it’d be a hard act to follow, and I don’t wanna hog all the attention, so I’ll just save it for the end. So who’s up first? Any takers?” She looked around the gathering. “C’mon, don’t by shy! This is our chance to get closer as a team!”

Edinburgh MagikaPolis - Grammeowster’s Kitchen

Level 8 Big Band (99/80)
Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Red’s @TruthHurts22, Mewtwo’s @Double, Frisk’s [@Majoras End]
Word Count:

With a plan in mind, the Seekers need only wait until nightfall once more. Though they planned to do more or less the same thing as they did yesterday, the stuff that had gone down since then made the events of yesterday’s afternoon and evening seem a lifetime away. The fight between Linkle and N, the destruction of Alcamoth, and everything else that the other teams were doing wherever they’d ended up–those stuck in Edinburgh had missed it all. Yet that still only turned out to be the very tip of the iceberg when it came to their ignorance, as revealed by their run-in with the Consuls in L’s mansion. Who were L and N, really? Why were they here? How did they attain such roles and power? How much suffering had they perpetuated? How much death?

Though it felt like their organization had only just now crawled out of the woodwork, Band had already begun to get a sense of just how deeply entrenched the Consuls were in this world. There was no doubt in his mind that they would stand in the way of the Seekers’ goals, and after hearing Albedo’s account of his ill-fated voyage to Edinburgh four days ago, it seemed just as likely that L and N were the custodians of the secret weakness harbored by the Frozen Highlands’ mighty Guardian. The Consuls had to go, but the degree of power they possessed disturbed him. How nice it would be if they could really team up with Linkle to take down this terrible threat together. Red, Ace, and probably Mewtwo all saw a road to victory in that possibility, giving them the strength to fight on even after a brutal defeat at N’s hands. How unfortunate it was that only Band knew the truth. Linkle was dead, and if anything of her remained, it wouldn’t for long. If the Skullgirl wasn’t destroyed, Edinburgh -and maybe even the world- would be the price the heroes paid.

While Ace prepared his gear, refining his weapons and armor to peak condition and amassing consumables, and Red ventured back through the city in an effort to circle around the EMPD’s patrols and find out more from the Aether Resort, Band went on a journey of his own. At its core Edinburgh was a city of both magic and knowledge, and when it came to solving mysteries any detective worth his salt knew how to look for clues. To weather the coming storm, Band went in search of items and enchantments capable of making him more effective against undead, and his hunch turned out to be correct. Whether zombies, skeletons, ghouls, or even fouler monstrosities, undead seemed to be a common threat in fantastical worlds, which meant solutions for them weren’t uncommon, either. Of course, the steady rise in skeletons at night recently meant that such items were in demand, and Band couldn’t boast that much cash to begin with, but he managed to stock up on six holy water pots and purchase a Salve Amulet, inlaid with bright pink amethyst, to make his attacks fifteen percent more effective. He stopped for a cheap bite to eat at Danny Missiles on the way back, so by the time he returned from his trip, night was already beginning to fall.

The Seekers rallied together, meeting downstairs in Grammeowster’s Kitchen. With the old cook’s last few customers gone and the shop closed up for the night, they had the place to themselves. Mewtwo, Wonder Red, the Cadet, Albedo, Lucia, and himself made six, since Frisk did not show up. While her absence disappointed him to an extent, Band couldn’t really blame her. Even without formidable foes like the Consuls around, one couldn’t expect a normal person to just charge out into a night of the living dead. The power of a Skullgirl tended to grow with terrifying speed; tonight would be far worse than last night, and the team would have their work cut out for them. Better to leave such work to monster hunters, alien battlers, seasoned brawlers, genius alchemists, and ASG soldiers like himself.

“Alright, y’all,” Band began. “We’re gonna work our way toward the great pumpkin. We got a lotta city to cover, and I don’t want us splittin’ up, so we’re gonna have to go fast. There’s no tellin’ what’s out there. Not just ordinary skeletons, but policemen, mages, Pokemon too. Maybe even the Consuls. But we ain’t tryin’ to get into a rematch before we find the Skullgirl. She’s the source of the dead risin’, so chances are we’ll find her wherever there’s a skele-ton of ‘em.” He smiled as cheerfully as he could, trying to keep everyone’s spirits up. “I hope y’all rested up and rounded up some healin’, ‘cause we’re in it for the long haul.”

Lucia nodded. “I figyahed we would. So I went out and got some eneahgy drinks.” She lifted up the blue cooler bag slung over her shoulder and unzipped it to reveal nine aluminum cans. “Just say the wahd and I’ll chuck one ovah. They’ah even bettah than cuaffee in a pinch, so gulp one down and it’ll getcha healed up in a jiffy!”

“I made something as well.” Albedo withdrew a plate from his Inventory, revealing a hearty helping of his special fish dish, Woodland Dream. “You may have noticed that when my Geo powers react with other elements, they produce crystals. If you pick one up, it will give you a shield for a short while. If someone eats this, those -and any other shields- will be much stronger for five minutes. And not just for the consumer, but the whole party.”

Band whistled, impressed. “Good work, y’all.” He reached up and gingerly parted the restaurant’s blinds with a mechanical arm. Clouds over the city blocked off the moon and stars, casting a pitch-black shadow over the streets of Edinburgh. Just like last night, the magical street lamps weren’t the only things lighting up that stygian dark. Ghostly blue flames blazed in the eyes of fleshless undead as they moved through the quiet streets. The witching hour had already come. Band took a deep breath in through his nose, then out through his mouth. Whatchu nervous about? he asked himself. You’re literally made for this. Maybe his nerves were still raw from the fight with N, or he feared for the safety of his allies, or he dreaded the inevitable fight with the Skullgirl and the old wounds it would surely open. But no matter what, Benjamin Birdland wasn’t going to call it quits. “Let’s go.”

The team hit the streets. Grammeowster waved them off, urging them to stay safe, and locked the door behind them. Right away, Band noticed that things were more intense than last night, just as he expected. Before, they mostly lurked in secluded spots, with only a few shambling along the streets. Now, though, entire troops of them trudged along the sidewalks. They rummaged through trash cans and mailboxes, knocked on doors, and peered into windows. None made a sound beyond the steady rattle of their bones that accompanied their footsteps as they strode purposefully through the byways and avenues, as if on patrol. Their greater numbers, of course, elicited a greater civilian response. Glintstone Sorcerers in dark blue robes and stone masks challenged the skeleton gangs with staves in hand, casting brilliant blue pebbles, rays, and blades to destroy their foes from afar. Shadowy-faced Black Mages conjured destructive magic with their rods, destroying attackers with ice, lightning, and fire. Most impressive of all was the colorful quartet of wizards who fought with sword and sorcery, combining different elements and casting styles to great effect with various projectiles, rays, and magic mines, able to shield and heal one another.

Of course, in emerging from their homes to fight at all they were risking their lives, for their enemies were vicious. Run-of-the-mill skeletons were the most abundant, many of them wearing tattered gear and wielding weapons or magic from their own. The bones of warriors, mages, and archers, some bound in ice, lightning, or fire, attacked in groups anywhere between three to a dozen strong. Finding one with a gun was an unpleasant surprise. The living could also fear inhuman skeletons, from small fry like Dry Bones and beastmen, to bigger, scarier Stalhounds and Beasts to undead brutes like horned Gigans, armor-strapped Giants, and Horrors with bony tails and tusks. Pokemon skeletons could be found as well, all seemingly able to use the same moves they could in life.

“...Right,” Band grunted, getting into a fighting stance. “Let’s do this.”

He began to move, either sliding across the roads with his music streaming behind him, or advancing one ground-shaking stomp at a time. A well-aimed Brass Knuckle could not only close the distance, but also power through attacks, and one mighty slug from Band’s huge mechanical mitt was enough to reduce most skeletons to bone meal. When the shamblers stepped to him the detective solemnly pulverized them one at a time. He blew them away with the tube from Overblow, crushed them with cymbals, took out their legs with the organ pipes from Low Rank, and sent them packing with his dropkick, the Five Thousand Pound Slam. Blunt force and raw strength, backed up by armor from Bagpipe Blues and the damage boost from his new Salve Amulet, worked wonders. If his play attracted a crowd Giant Steps could lay out a whole bunch at once, dialing things down a notch, and when a mob of incoming skeletons were nice enough to come at him roughly single-file Band treated the whole line to Super Sonic Jazz. Propelled by blasts of sound from the giant French horn, he plowed down the street, launching the few skeletons not fortunate enough to already be splintered with a stylish flip at the end.

Things didn’t stay simple for long, though. As the Seekers got closer to what felt like the epicenter of skeleton activity, more choice specimens began to show up. At one point a whole pack of skeletal beasts jumped him at once. Unfortunately for them, Band liked nothing better than catching overconfident fools in the act. He let loose his Satchmo Solo, freezing the entire pack in the air around him. Striking up a tune on his trumpet in that stolen moment, Band played the birthday jingle, alerting the others to his position. Then he unleashed his fists, pounding the beasts’ skulls and cracking their bones until only ashes remained.

“Whew…” Band breathed as the dust, ash, and snow began to settle. Despite the cold, he was managing to work up something of a sweat, so he deployed a little arm to dab at his brow with a handkerchief. “Three streets down, three to go. Piece of-”

An enormous slam cut him off, blowing away his hat and handkerchief. When Band’s trench coat stopped billowing and he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a horrific monstrosity. Though bestial in shape, it towered far large than any ordinary quadruped, and to its enormous, yellowing bones huge tufts of raven-black fur still clung. The fleshless face of Darkbeast Paarl stared at him with the hideous semblance of an enormous grin as lightning danced across its bones. Not far away, a Revenant touched down, the rocket launchers affixed to its shoulders trained on new targets. Band crouched, keeping his eyes on the monsters as he felt for his hat. “Finally. Thrashin’ all that small fry was startin’ to lose its savor.” He placed his hat back on his head and tightened it in a businesslike fashion. “Bring it on!”

World of Light

For the Under this week, we've got a special chance to stock up on food before the remainder of our subterranean adventure. Feel free to tackle a Pizza Tower level either alone or in a group. Could be a chance to show off your speedy platforming prowess, sneak in a conversation with someone else while working, or perhaps settle some differences. You can work with the theme of each level as you please to add related elements as you're going through them, like challenges, scenery and enemies / workers. Or, if you're so inclined you can just summarize a run through a level or have your character abstain altogether in favor of doing something else. There's all the dough in the hub, so we don't need to worry about gathering that at least. Just rolling it so all the toppings we collect can be made into pizzas. Whatever you do, remember to get back out of the levels before Pizza Time!

World of Light

The Under - Pizza Tower

Level 10 Nadia (212/100)
The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Ganondorf’s @Double, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Ichiban’s @Truthhurts22, Omori’s [@Majoras End], Artorias’ @Dark Cloud
Word Count: 3205

It was a night like any other. Or maybe day, you could never tell down here without a clock on hand. The fashionable antique that had been sitting on the desk wasn’t working anymore, so after what felt like an eternity spent waiting in the cramped darkness, Nadia really couldn’t tell. Of course, that didn’t matter now. It was all over with. No more waiting, no more wanting, no more needing. No more sleepless nights spent longing, and no restless days spent toiling, planning, plotting, months of it, all just for this moment. And now she’d done it at last.

For a good long while, she just stood there in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out across the expanse. Few people could afford a view like this, either in terms of elevation, the amount of reinforced glass, or reconstruction costs. Certainly not her, and now she found that she couldn’t tear her gaze away. It really was an unfathomable miracle, this city in the deep. Schools of fish flocked like birds, congregating at clusters of seaweed that danced slowly in the gentle caresses of the currents. A blue whale, the greatest and most majestic animal in all the oceans, flew serenely past the window. Scarcely more than a parade float in comparison. From the rooftops of towering buildings that might’ve been called ‘skyscrapers’ anywhere else, powerful spotlights cast their brilliant rays up into the stygian depths as if to rail against the crushing blackness of a firmament that would never twinkle with distant starlight. Instead the people here gazed up at the glow of innumerable windows throughout the metropolis, not in wonderment of the unattainable cosmos, but in appreciation of the light and warmth they possessed, and in hopes of the heights they might one day attain.

It was a beautiful view. Everyone down by the seabed dreamed of becoming somebody someday, and gazing out of a window just like this one. Nadia flicked her tail restlessly Of course she’d dreamed those same dreams. Her and her whole family. Though she came from nothing, never knowing or caring for extravagance, and delighted in life’s simple pleasures, she hungered the same as they did. Others had more than enough to go around; the Fishbone Gang just wanted their fair share, and a fair share for the poor folks of Rock Bottom too. But life wasn’t fair. Greed was greed, and for daring to reach so high they’d been brought so, so low.

Nadia looked over her shoulder. Down at what was, by now, just another pile of ash. Now, they were even. Sweet, sweet revenge. And yet, despite years and years of constant practice, she couldn’t find it in herself to smile. She felt neither elation nor relief. That was the worst part. From the beginning she’d known that this wouldn’t fix anything. She never intended to do it for the sake of future victims, after all. But she’d convinced herself that this act would bring her satisfaction. Or maybe closure. Right now though, she only felt empty. Everything she’d cast aside for the sake of this moment, for what became her sole defining purpose…what now?

The door to the lounge slammed open, and she looked up, her expression blank. “She’s here!” A handful of suit-wearing goons spread out from the entrance, the barrels of their tommy guns trained on her. After them barged their ringleader, the teal-haired girl in orange, Cerebella. That hat of hers was already ready to fight. The girl paused for just a moment, stopped in her tracks by the sight of the devastation that had befallen the lounge. All the furniture and decor, from the sofas to the side tables, lay in ribbons and splinters. Ice and fire from Dahlia’s special rounds had wreaked almost as much havoc as Nadia herself, and a half-dozen ash piles remained of the Bunnies who’d tried to come between them. Funny that it’d be Cerebella. Nadia had heard just two things about her, and like all good gossip they were contradictory: that she was a good person, and that she’d do anything for Vitale. Well, she wouldn’t be here if that first one was true.

“...You actually got her,” Cerebella sounded almost impressed. “But I’m afraid this is as far as you go. Hand over the Life Gem, and I’ll get Vitale to let you go.”

Nadia sighed. So it’s like that, huh. She took one last look out the window, at the city and all its radiant lights. So much for being somebody. Then she turned to face the mobsters. By now all her new wounds were at least a little healed, which was good. She was going to need every drop. “Wow, just like that? You’re too kind~” She sharpened her claws. “Like I’d buy that. Let’s get this over with.”

The fight lasted only moments. Nadia didn’t hold back–she fought like a woman possessed, or someone with nothing to lose. The mobsters shot, stabbed, and swung at her, fighting to pry her claws from their throats, and she just kept coming. Slaughter for the slaughterers. Her rampage only came to an end when Cerebella finally managed to snatch her up, clamping her between Vice Vera’s massive palms.

Pushing back against the living weapon’s strength, Nadia laughed grimly. “You’ve got some serious guts, fightin’ me after seeing what I did to Dahlia, her bunnies, all your little friends…or maybe you’re hopin’ they softened me up? Hehe, you wish. I won’t stop until the Medici Mafia is destroyed. Every last one of ya.”

“That’s my family you’re talking about now,” Cerebella growled. “I won’t let you touch Vitale.”

Nadia grinned at her with pearl-white teeth. “Yeah? Try all you like. As long as the Life Gem’s power flows through my veins, no-one can stop me avenging the Fishbone Gang!”

“...Flows through your veins, huh?”

She began to squeeze tighter. Much tighter. Nadia grit her teeth, her eyes wide, as the walls closed in. Her attempts to fight back were in vain. A second later the giant hands slammed together, and when they opened again, almost nothing remained.

---

Nadia jerked awake with a guttural gasp. Her chest heaved as she hyperventilated, her skin slick with sweat, her nervous system in raw shock from the visceral certainty that she had been dying. To her horror she found herself bound, encased in some sort of sack, and in her panic she instinctively fought it tooth and nail, like a prey animal squeezed by a boa constrictor. After a couple furious seconds she fought her way loose, partially shredding it with her claws in the process. Only once she’d escaped confinement did her jolt of primal panic begin to subside. That awful sensation of being wadded up, then crushed to death…just a dream. A terrible, terrible dream, but no more than that. Jeez… As the thumping of her heart slowed, her breathing returned to normal, and she began to search for an answer to a very important question.

Where the hell am I? While she didn’t recognize her surroundings, she could tell that she’d wound up in some sort of tent, military green in color. When she took another look at the cloth thing she’d attacked in her terror, she was embarrassed to realize that she'd been fighting for her life against an ordinary, perfectly harmless bedroll. A bunch of her equipment lay neatly arranged on the other side of the tent, including her blade case, her boxcutter hilts, her new dagger Athame, the Bait launcher, her pouch-laden utility belt, and her jacket. That left just her top and her shorts to sleep in, which was definitely for the best. Everything else seemed to be in order, from ears to tails to toebeans. Hearing noise from outside, she crawled on all fours to the slit at the front of the tent where warm light seeped in, and after poking her head through the tent flaps Nadia got her first good look at her surroundings. Purple brick walls, roaring fireplace (the reason it felt so toasty in here no doubt), a firmly barred door, and more tents.

Ah. Now it was all coming back to her. This was the Pizza Tower’s bottom floor after all, the last thing she remembered before passing out. These tents and bedrolls were new, though. The more Nadia thought about it, the more probably it seemed that someone had been nice enough to scoop her sorry ass off the ground, get all her stuff off her, and put her to bed properly. Honestly, while someone else might see it as an invasion of privacy, that act of kindness struck Nadia as a major relief. Right now she felt sore, stiff, and hopelessly unkempt, with a bad case of bedhead turning her raven-black bob cut into an unruly wad of fluff. I must look like a disaster. She couldn’t imagine how much worse it’d be if left to sleep on solid stone, with all her equipment poking and pulling at her all night! It felt like she’d been tossing and turning, and no wonder, with a dream like that. “Ugh…” Nadia groaned, rubbing her eyes. Though the exact details of her dream were already slipping away, her unease lingered. It felt so real…

After shaking her head she ducked back inside her tent and threw her jacket on. While underground there was no reliable way to tell how much time had passed while the Seekers slept, but her gut instinct, drowsiness, and well-restedness suggested that it was some time in the morning. Seven, maybe? That meant it was a brand new day, guaranteed to be as chock-full of thrills and spills as the last. As much as Nadia hated starting another day of adventure in this state, she had to admit that she’d been pretty darn lucky to have spent the last three nights straight of her globetrotting trip in well-stocked hotels, complete with showers and complimentary breakfast. “Gonna have to get used to roughin’ it,” she told herself as she ran her claws through her hair as a makeshift comb.

Thinking of breakfast, unfortunately, made her realize just how hungry she was. She was starving. Thirsty, too–her tongue felt like sandpaper, and not in the way a cat’s tongue usually did. Nadia treated herself to a luxurious stretch, yawning like a lion, and exited her tent to greet the new day. “Good mornin’! Mornin’! Mornin’ everyone!” She made sure to greet everyone with the same cheerful smile. “Anyone got any water? I’m kinda fursty. Purrched, even.” After a few moments she came face to face with the three Pizza Trolls, who happened to be enjoying their last few leftover slices next to the warmth of the pizza oven. “Hey, guys!” she chirped. “What’s on the menu?”

Arno wasted no time in correcting her misconception. He, Willa, and Shyler didn’t make visitors pizzas; in fact, anyone seeking passage through this area needed to make pizzas for them. “If you want to get through Pizza Tower and reach the Forsaken Lands, you’re gonna have to make all three of us pizzas with only stuff we like!”

With that little nugget of wisdom came a new opportunity, however. “We are rather particular when it comes to toppings,” Willa advised the heroes. “But you’re free to make as many pizzas as you wish in order to find the right one for all of us. And the ingredients to make any pizza you could possibly imagine can be found on our magical tower’s various levels.”

Shyler nodded. “Y-you can even take ‘em with you when you go! In our special pizza boxes, pizzas never go bad or fall apart, and you can fit as many in our red pizza bags as you want!”

“Yeah, knock yourselves out,” Arno added. “They’re all open, just make sure you’re fast. Each level’s got a time limit, and trust me, you don’t wanna be in one when the timer runs out! And don’t go anywhere marked ‘Staff Only’, ‘cause boy you’ll be sorry! Now get movin’, these pizzas aren’t gonna make themselves!”

After that somewhat brusque briefing Nadia circled back around to talk with the others. “You guys catch all that?” she asked them excitedly. “Unlimited pizzas that don’t go bad? This sounds like the purr-fect chance to stock up on food for our journey! We don’t even have to make all the ingredients we get into pizza, we could just keep ‘em, or eat ‘em on the spot!” She looked over her shoulder at the trolls in case they were listening, but they were currently playing rock-paper-scissors for their last pizza slice.

While the feral spoke with the others, Barnabee approached the Pizza Trolls. “I beg your pardon. Last night I distinctly remember thee mentioning a ‘boss’ of some sort. Is he an individual of some repute?”

“Y’mean, is he a big deal? ‘Cause he’s like, the biggest!” Arno cackled. “Trust me, nobody -and I mean nobody!- messes with Pizza Face!”

“And hast thou happened to glimpse a porcelain-white mask fragment in his possession, by any chance?”

The troll looked bemused. “Uhh…maybe? T’be honest, I don’t pay that much attention to anything that isn’t pizza.” He narrowed his eyes at Barnabee. “Wink, wink!”

Barnabee nodded in gratitude, then returned to the others. Nadia joined them again after a few moments as well, having gone back together etch her belt and weaponry. Then she padded over to the Hub’s adjacent halls to get her first good look at the Pizza Tower’s available floors. The first hall featured five introductory levels, though the last one in the row appeared to be completely blocked off.

• John Gutter, a blend between underground jungle and tropical isle, with vegetation tinged as purple as the swampy water and a populace of living stone pillars, and various fruits like pineapple hanging from the trees
• Pizzascape, a medieval-themed castle of red brick, infested by Pepperoni Goblins and patrolled by Cheese Knights. Instead of weapons, its armories and wall-mounted racks contain arrays of peppers, including bell peppers, banana peppers, pepperoncini, and jalapenos
• Ancient Cheese, Pizza Tower’s cheese repository, piled high with all sorts of cheeses harvested and delivered from Crumble Cavern to be carved into building blocks and styled in the fashion of ancient Greek ruins. Home to many cheeseslimes
• Bloodsauce Dungeon, a foreboding and labyrinthine expanse of dark halls and rooms where cauldrons, vials, and even pits of red sauce, marinara, pesto, olive oil, barbeque sauce, alfredo, and buffalo sauce can be found if one can get past the monsters

In the second hall, the Seekers found western-themed levels, although the fifth and final one also seemed inaccessible.

• Oregano Desert, an arid expanse plus herbal oasis where all sorts of herbs grow in bushes, shrubs, and sprigs. Home to Buffalocusts, Egglers, Scorpeppers, and according to legend, the terrifying Mothza Supreme
• Wasteyard, a spooky underground cave full of ghosts, gabaghouls, and the burnt, shambling remains of pizzas that never got a chance at life. Being underground, roots, bulbs, and tumors can be found here in abundance, including garlic, red onions, and green onions
• Fun Farm, a lush Italian farmstead with a bumper crop of tomatoes. All sorts of poultry and beef products can be found here, from shredded chicken and eggs to ground beef and meatballs, if one can get past the giant bipedal poleaxe-wielding cows
• Fast Food Saloon, a western-style town where ranch dressing can be found in abundance, usually packing heat in the form of Ranch Shooters and a handful of banditos. There’s plenty of liquor here too, though

The third hall offered five levels collectively referred to as ‘Vacation Resort’, though two were blocked off.

• Crust Cove, a beautiful sunset seaside where the water is not only full of shrimp and anchovies, but sparkling. Black olive trees grow along its sandy shore as well. The vessel that sails its waters is crewed by green pizza goblins, wielding asparagus spears, broccoli clubs, and all sorts of things too healthy to go on pizza
• Gnome Forest, an enchanted fungal woodland filled to the brim with all kinds of tasty and flavorful mushrooms, with plenty of fungal freaks to match. Beehives can also be found littered around it, though the bees are loathe to give up the honeycombs inside
• Deep-Dish 9, an alien planet inhabited by U.F.Olives and one-eyed pickle creatures, highly protective of their flavorful, briney vegetables

Finally, the last hall also offered just three usable levels.

• The Pig City, a swine-themed urban city center where every shop is a butcher or deli, this is a one-stop shop for all essential pork products, like pepperoni, ham, prosciutto, salami, chorizo, and sausage. Just beware the wrath of the pigmen and piglin residents, only too happy to join together into an angry mob to dispose of any meat-eaters
• Peppibot Factory, a facility where raw materials are refined into a number of ingredients for dessert pizzas, including marshmallows, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, candy bars, cookie crumbles, pie filling, and more. Owing to the value of these ingredients, the machines that operate this facility are well-armed and highly aggressive
• Refrigerator-Refrigerador-Freezerator, a snowy landscape where cheap, low-quality, frozen pizzas are assembled and kept. In terms of effort needed to make a pizza this is as low as it gets, but they’re practically guaranteed to displease, and the snowmen here aren’t exactly welcoming

While she found more closed doors than she expected, as well as a number of ‘help wanted - miniboss’ signs on said doors, Nadia found herself quite spoiled for choice. Each open door offered only a sneak peek at the level’s contents, so what the Seekers would run into once inside was anyone’s guess, but if the Pizza Trolls were right about it being dangerous they’d still need to be careful. Still, with her stomach rumbling and empty the feral was more than prepared to take a risk. There were a bunch of good options, but once she caught the faint smell of seafood drifting from the level marked as ‘Crust Cove’, she realized there wasn’t much choice at all. Trying not to salivate, she grabbed a burlap sack from the nearest pile and waved to her fellow Seekers. “Alright, see you guys back here in a few minutes!” With that she jumped in and was promptly whisked away to Crust Cove, eager to rustle up some seafood. Any other enterprising Seekers would be following suit with their own chosen levels, ready to put an end to the team’s short-lived food shortage.

World of Light

For the most part that sheet is okay, 'Lifeless' needs to be adapted somewhat. We can't just play characters that can't be killed. Ms Fortune's probably the closest it gets, and not only is her life-preserving ability a Power, but it's also not bottomless; she regenerates based on her current blood level, which replenishes over time or when she receives healing, and if she runs out of blood completely she can flatline. She could also theoretically be killed in other ways. There's also the WoL system of Lifelight, which is used up by gleaming characters to live. In addition, having a weakness be 'he can take damage sometimes' doesn't balance this out. So 'Lifeless' doesn't work as-is.

In addition, before playing a fourth character, I would prefer you didn't miss any weekly posting cycles with your other three characters for a bit in order to make sure you're okay with the load.

World of Light

The City of Glass - Regatta Bay

Level 5 Goldlewis (29/40)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Karin and Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Blazermate and Susie’s @Archmage MC, Geralt and Zenkichi’s @Multi_Media_Man, Pit’s @Yankee, Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double, Benedict and Partitio’s @Dark Cloud, Tora, Giovanna
Word Count: 1733

The more Goldlewis saw of Wallace’s boat, the more amazed he became. As a high-up government worker he’d been used to working and meeting important people, whether in elaborate, historic places or huge, fancy venues. Yet he’d never been one to stand on ceremony himself; it just didn’t feel right to live a life of luxury on a salary extracted from the people he endeavored to serve and protect, especially when that money could be invested into their better service and protection. In his heart, he was ever the soldier, never the statesman. Why splurge on the finest French cuisine when a double bacon cheeseburger from Danny Missiles -or hell, Dunny Missiles for that matter- did the job just fine? More than fine in most cases, actually. Still, after a quick wander through the yacht’s incredible interior Goldlewis couldn’t help admit that the high life probably had its charms.

Such an extravagance was just the latest on the long line of brand-new experiences this adventure kept delivering to Tora, but he couldn’t bring himself to be excited. Just as with the breathtaking view of the City of Glass, life’s rich tapestry of beauty and joy lost its savor without someone special to savor it with. Instead of tucking himself in the lounge to enjoy some complimentary snacks and beverages, the Nopon ignored his empty tummy and placed himself on the yacht’s forward railing. All he cared about was reaching Vandelay Campus, where the coalescence of Vandelay’s robots and CyberLife’s androids produced the summit of automaton technology. Tora’s eyes lay on that obscenely massive ‘V’, full of grim resolve. He would use everything he could get his wings on to bring her back.

While Sakura toured the boat with Wallace to fulfill her end of the bargain, taking snapshot after snapshot of the man in an expressionless, neutral pose in front of his various possessions, the other Seekers gradually trickled in. Some of the others spent their brief reprieve on a deeper dive into the ethics of proposed actions in the current context. It seemed to Goldlewis like these heroes wanted to both get the mission done and do the right thing, but in his experience, those two conditions didn’t always mix. There was never a clean, ‘correct’ solution, only trade-offs. Zenkichi probably knew as well as anyone that you could never please everyone, but Goldlewis knew firsthand the kind of crushing weight that accompanied hard decisions when you were accountable to millions. Midna had a very real point: there was no guarantee that Galeem’s defeat would result in universal restoration. And even if there was, relying on that to wash one’s hands of all the consequences of one’s misdeeds. To bear the burden of such consequences, one needed the strongest shoulders imaginable, and the iron will necessary to make those hard decisions. That was where Goldlewis Dickinson came in–to bear that weight, so that nobody else would have to. For now though, the Seekers could avail themselves of the lucky opportunity that Mr. Limestein provided.

Speaking of, the man’s rather stoic photo op was coming to an end. He had his last photo taken in front of a grand piano, and after examining the picture he nodded in approval. “Good...this is a great photo. As a matter of fact, I have done a lot of research on music. I have enjoyed classic songs such as "Still Alive" and "My Heart Feels No Pain" more than twenty times. If my future friend happens to be interested in music, maybe we can book a whole concert hall and listen to an orchestra together. I'll pay for all that, of course.”

When Susie posed him a question, he fixed her with a thoroughly nonplussed expression. “At the moment, my sole occupations are the pursuit of novel entertainment, and my goal of obtaining a true friend.” Utterly nonplussed by the robot’s attempt to be personable, he saw no further need to humor her with a response, but after a moment he scratched his chin. “That said, this does strike me as just the sort of idle conversation I might indulge in with such a friend. Are you perhaps a psychoanalysis android? Alright, I’ll give this a shot. Let’s workshop a back-and-forth exchange once we get underway. After all this time, I am rather numb to the sights around here, after all.”

He then turned his attention to the wisdom Sakura imparted to him. “You are very correct. I could not accept any ‘friend’ attracted solely by my riches or reputation. Friendships of utility are not true friendships. And given my status, it's inappropriate for me to chat with strangers out on the street.” When she mentioned shared interests, he nodded in agreement. “Precisely. These photos will help demonstrate my interests, so that anyone who shares them can instantly recognize what an excellent friend I would make.” She lost him when her train of thought veered back toward fighting, though. “I am no ruffian, miss, and I must insist that you and your friends refrain from any action that might damage my yacht. They do not come cheap, you know.”

Soon everyone was aboard, with Roxas the last one on courtesy of his detour to a sushi bar, and the boat set sail across Regatta Bay. While Wallace claimed to have learned how to control it himself, since he originally figured doing so might make for a fun pastime, he set the yacht to autopilot. Then he met with Susie to begin their conversation session. “Alright, let us simulate a typical conversation. What was it you asked…what do I do? Hm. Well, I have a couple of properties in the Administrative District that require maintenance. I have to pay taxes for them. But I'm far too lazy to rent them out — I mean, time is money! Besides, they're full of priceless relics.”

Goldlewis, watching from the sidelines, raised his eyebrows. “You’re into ancient relics, mister?”

Not exactly,” Wallace admitted. “I just like to own them. For example, a while back Lord Simon told me he obtained a particularly rare gold watch, said to be a relic left behind by Midgar’s previous Administration. How could I miss out on such a rarity! So I offered him three houses for it.” He shrugged, then continued without giving Susie a chance to speak. “I also own an antique car that I’ve kept in pristine condition for years with some help from my twenty-person maintenance team. And a few days ago, I spent a small sum of money — as much as the price of a few antique vases. I requested for someone to fetch a cyberpet from the Sector 04 undercity. Unfortunately...once it was assembled, it was nothing special. As for the people who come from below, all they talk about is policies, money, and business. There is absolutely nothing I can talk to them about. How painfully mundane!” The conversation continued like this for some time, and Susie got very little out of it.

After a good while spent sailing at a leisurely pace across the waters of the Sector 06 plate, the yacht drew close to Vandelay Campus. Its iconic tower had been gargantuan from a distance, but from up close it loomed even larger. Sure, it didn’t exactly compare to the sheer height of Split Mountain, or the vastness of the Sandswept Sky, but this was a man-made edifice. It didn’t just make Tora feel small; it made him feel unimportant. Compared to the rest of the City of Glass, these facilities and factories were both a lot more colorful and rough around the edges, but the public-facing offices and the grand atrium were as spotless and sparkling as could be. Their destination lay between the main building and an exorbitant outdoor concert stage: the illustrious Dendenmille Showcase Theater, with its rich red facade and impressive domes.

The public entrance to the Vandelay Campus took the form of a large area that accommodated all forms of transportation from cars to watercraft to aircraft, known as Circuit Royal. After steering past a number of other boats, Wallace’s craft pulled up at the docks so that the Seekers could disembark. With no intention of attending the debate himself, their pretentious benefactor bid them farewell, then left them in the company of a huge amount of people making their way to the same destination. It wasn’t just residents of the City of Glass; travelers from all eight of Midgar’s plates had come to attend the final debate of the presidential race that would define their city’s future. Blimps, airships, and helicopters seemed to be the exception to the City of Glass rule of ‘no interplate traffic’, and quite the variety could be found around the port. No wonder the Sector 06 Hublink had been so busy, crowded, and well-defended! Security seemed even stronger here, not necessarily any tighter, but a lot more numerous. With this being the birthplace of the Vandelay robots, it made sense that there would be a lot of them here. And somewhere, in all of this hubbub, were the presidential candidates themselves, each with their own hand-picked retinues of capable guards.

Goldlewis took a deep breath. “Well, we’re here. Thanks to these press passes, we’re gonna get front-row seats.” He stroked his whiskers. “Or, six of us will, at least. The rest of y’all need to figure somethin’ out if ya wanna watch first-hand. That said, I’m sure the debate’s gonna be plastered all over every TV in the whole doggone city, so you can put your feet up at a restaurant or somethin’ just as easy.”

“Tora not care about big argument, meh,” Tora piped up. “Want guided tour of robot factory. That something big company do, yes?”

The veteran scrunched his brows together. “I reckon they oughta, but you shouldn’t go off on your own, son…”

Once the team made the final selection and juggled around the press passes, the lucky few could proceed toward Dendemille Showcase Theater to be seated, while the rest needed to look elsewhere. The vast and varied Vandelay Campus was like its own self-contained city, though, so there was plenty to see and do even without entering any restricted zones, and about an hour to do it before the main event.

Escaping the Home of Tears

Level 10 Nadia (208/100)
The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Ganondorf’s @Double, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Ichiban’s @Truthhurts22, Artorias’ @Dark Cloud
Word Count: 3743

Peals of uproarious, manic laughter rang out from the tentacled pirate Barbary as her Octobombs detonated one after another, their plumes of billowing flame a bright, harsh light against the gloom of the Home of Tears. Entire swathes of its monstrous citizenry either hurtled into the water, propelled by the explosions’ concussive force, or leaped in on their own to quench the fire when Barbary’s destruction set them ablaze. Sophie’s potions sowed almost as much havoc, their sorcerous splashes instantly afflicting all those unlucky enough to be caught in them with blindness, slowness, poison, and fatigue. Though not as fast off the blocks as the others, Solon managed to outdo them both in terms of pure havoc. As the heroes fled, hounded by gangs of pursuers, his relentless casts of Miasma Δ quickly blanketed the circular plaza with clouds of thick, venomous gas to swallow up any who failed to get clear in time. Once caught in that noxious smog, it would only be a matter of time until even the strongest combatants succumbed, their throats and lungs agonizingly thick with malefic chemicals.

Whether her allies made it out of the mayhem or not, Nadia didn’t dare look behind her just yet. Courtesy of the Koopas’ quick thinking and varied abilities, an avenue of escape had opened up just when it looked like the Seekers were about to be swallowed up by the horde, so right now nobody’s safety concerned her quite as much as her own, and she needed to move.. Thanks to F’s terrifying mind control, the cityfolk were literally seeing red, and the hunt was on. Those that could took to the waterways, the paper boats on their endless journey, or private watercraft. The rest crowded along the water’s edge on both sides, taking potshots from the bridges and islands of the Collection or the southern jetties of the Amusement Park on the right. With a cacophony of vengeful yells, battle cries, incantations, and called-out attacks at her back. She skated across the surface of the city’s southeastern waterway in a zigzag pattern, dodging arrows, spells, hurled objects, and a couple citizens who threw themselves from the railings in hopes of taking the feral with them into the drink. At one point a grenade plopped down into the river behind her and blew up a moment later, sending up a spout of water, but the resulting wave only helped speed Nadia on her way. With most of the enemies focused on the Koopa Troop, she quickly outpaced the swimmers and sailors with Massachusetts’ incredible nautical mobility, putting some distance between herself and the action. Her stores of adrenaline were starting to run dry, though, and realizing she desperately needed a moment, she cruised towards a rock protruding from the water a safe distance from land.

Nadia plopped down on the outcrop, her breath ragged in her throat as she fought to catch her breath in the pouring rain. The fatigue, aches, and stress of a whole day’s near-constant exertion all weighed her down, and her heart pounded in her chest. If not for her nap at Habbo Hotel and that much-needed reprieve at the Terminal cafe, she reasoned that she might’ve been done for. Of course, Nadia knew she wasn’t out of the woods just yet. After rolling over she scanned the waterway in a sitting position, on the lookout for the Koopa Troop and their great white whale, but when she spotted them her heart sank. She’d assumed that with that kind of firepower Bowser’s gang would be able to handle being the center of attention, but it looked like they’d gotten a lot more than they bargained for. The Mermaid Corps had caught up to Rika’s ghastly cetacean and started stabbing, and enemy watercraft closed in on all sides. A magic shield went up around it, and as the paper boats converged the whale submerged, but its future was anything but certain. Unfortunately, before Nadia could see any more the water erupted in front of her.

Her eyes went wide as the purple dinosaur from below lunged towards her like a crocodile, fangs bared and a ferocious axe brandished. There was no time to pressurize her blood for a Fiber Upper. Moving instinctively, the feral rolled backward into a handspring, and as she vaulted onto the water the head of Susie’s axe came down on the stone. Instead of obliterating her target it cracked the rock in half, and as Nadia slid backward across the water’s surface the two locked eyes, lips curled and teeth bared. Without saying a word, both took action. Nadia pressurized her arms, and a pink flame sparked at the end of Susie’s axe. At the same exact time both unleashed their might, the feral with a blood-propelled right-arm rocket punch and the dinosaur with a blazing arrow of Rude-elemental damage. The next second both attacks hurtled past their foes’ faces, coming within centimeters of a critical headshot. Susie, however, snapped her jaws shut on Nadia’s outstretched muscle fiber, eliciting a pained “YOWCH!”

With a grin Susie yanked the limb with her mouth, trying to reel Nadia in like a fish on the line, but the cat burglar detached the cords and cannoned off her other arm. Puzzled as to why the limb suddenly went slack, Susie took her opponent’s palm strike straight to the nose, and as the dinosaur reeled Nadia closed her hand to clamp down on Susie’s snout. “Just call me a pepper…” From there the feral just retracted her arm to zip straight across the water to Susie and start up a combo. “‘Cause I’m jalapeño business!” Her two-hit Flip Flop kick led straight into a One-two Pun-isher and finally a good old-fashioned Limber Up to pop Susie into the air. Then Nadia went low, mustered her strength, poured a whole lot of blood into a copied right arm, and finally launched her fist skyward in a jaw-dropping uppercut. “Honorable…DISCHARGE!” When the punch connected, she blasted it out in a geyser of blood to add even more oomph, and Susie sailed into the air, her eyes and mouth wide open. Nadia’s right arm fell from her jaws and socketed neatly back into place, held up in a fist-pump of victory, and a moment later Susie splashed down into the water a couple dozen feet away.

Nadia chuckled, feeling a little light-headed, and turned her attention back toward the others. The Troop had resurfaced on the other side of the citizens’ flotilla, but the exercise left their whale thoroughly boarded. Guess I’m safe on my own, she thought with a sigh. Our only chance is together. As if on queue, a wicked cry made her ears perk up, and she turned to see Lord Raptor flying at her through the air with Death Hurricane, his limbs whirling like helicopter blades. “Whoa!” She put up her guard to block it, and after landing Raptor immediately threw her; his claws closed around Nadia’s shoulders and he extended his ribs like fangs to pierce her torso again and again before slamming her down. He went in for the meaty and got a Fiber Upper for his troubles–this time Nadia was ready. Before she could capitalize on her reversal, though, she spotted Hsien-ko skywalking in. The Jianshi extended a chain from her sleeve to grapple to a point in space, then swung beneath it, her arm windmilling in a vertical circle with claws outstretched. Nadia made her decision and got the hell out of there, skating away from the rocky outcrop as fast as her sealegs could take her, with the two undead in pursuit.

She reached the entrance to Crumble Cavern just after the Koopa Troop did. Just as with the passages to the Womb and King’s Station, this entrance featured a semicircular stone platform on each side of the cave wall, so she leaped up from the water to race across it. In a blink, she’d exited the deluge of the Home of Tears and entered into the merciful dryness of the cheese-filled megacave. Running behind Rika’s whale, she watched as it used its momentum and slick underside to slide across the stone with everyone atop it, then fly off the opposite side over a yawning abyss. Nadia’s eyes widened, but there was no turning back now, so she buckled down for the final sprint. “This not a gouda ideaaaaaaa!” A terrifying moment later the whale slammed down on the cheesy cliff on the gorge’s far side, sending crumbs spiraling down into the dark, and Nadia touched down beside it. Thanks to her new paws she landed better than ever, but her momentum sent her into a roll and she wound up on her back, which meant an uncomfortable smack against her blade case. “...Gah!” she grunted as she gasped for breath, wanting nothing more than to lay there for another few hours, but the Seekers’ pursuers had other plans. Bowser’s yell got her attention, and after sitting up Nadia saw cityfolk amassing on the stone platform above the waterfall. Bowser was right; there was no time to lose. “Yeah, ricotta get goin’!” With a groan she got to her feet and took off running across the cheesescape. Soon the caves and tunnels echoed with the sounds of a half-dozen battles.

Under better circumstances Nadia would have liked to stop and marvel at this place. The cheese was breathtaking, and not just in a metaphorical sense–the smell was almost overpowering. Beneath her feet, the ground felt spongy and even a little bouncy. Dozens of varieties littered the landscape like different kinds of stone in all sorts of formations, a smorgasbord of colors, textures, and aromas. With bloodthirsty monsters on her heels, though, she’d have to stop and admire the scenery some other time. On the far side of the cavern lay the team’s destination, but getting there -and getting rid of her unwanted company- would be a problem. Between the river and the gorge most of the cityfolk had given up their chase, but that left the Home of Tears’ strongest warriors. A quick look over her shoulder after swatting aside Cheeseslimes confirmed both Hsien-ko and Raptor in pursuit. When she leaped and airdashed over a pit full of cheese wedge spikes, Raptor airdashed after her by whipping his legs around, and Hsien-ko swung over. “Ugh. Curd you two give it a rest?” When she sliced up a Gabaghoul and then slid underneath a low-hanging cheese archway with Cat Slide, the zombie morphed his lower half to perform a bizarre crouch-walk, and the jiangshi simply blinked to the other side. “Oh, brie-lliant.” Even when she approached the cavern wall and sunk in her claws to wall-run a couple hundred feet over a massive ravine, her pursuers kept up, Hsien-ko with another skywalk and Raptor with a freakish teleport that involved summoning some sort of demon to swallow him up and then spit him out from the ground on the other side.

“...Cheese Louise,” the feral laughed breathlessly, frustrated. She just didn’t have the gas to keep this up. After a longing stare at Pizza Tower, her eyes landed on a gigantic swiss cheese wheel just a short ways off, and the gears in her mind began to turn. “Guess we’ll finish this the old-fashioned way.” As the zombies closed in she took off, sprinting into one of the swiss wheel’s holes. She ran and climbed through the twists and turns of its tunnels, and though the undead followed they quickly lost sight of her in the maze. When the two eventually climbed out through a hole in the very top of the wheel, they found Nadia waiting for them in what looked like a giant, circular arena of cheese.

“What took ya so long? Feelin’ bleu?” Nadia grinned at the pair as they approached, Raptor at a saunter and Hsien-ko with slow hops, head lolling creepily. With Pizza Tower in the background and the chase concluded, the showdown was about to begin. Their eyes lingered for a moment on the spare blades haphazardly plunged into the creamy-white surface of the swiss, then the case at Nadia’s feet. “Y’know, I can’t say I’m cheesed to meetcha. This isn’t your fault. But there’s no other way,” the feral told as she stood firm, her boxcutters in hand. “So let’s cut to the chase. Your fon-doom approaches!”

In reply, the zombies charged. Raptor messily morphed his right forearm into a freakish chainsaw, as long as he was tall. The way this guy moved, the way he fought, reminded Nadia of herself, albeit to a much greater extent. There was no way he felt pain, and therein lay her strategy. As he ran in swinging, two Copycats burst up from the holes where they’d been lying in wait. They pounced on him from the sides, grabbed hold, and sank their claws in. Together they made him stumble and fall directly onto one of the extra blades, piercing him through the stomach. Both Hsien-ko and Nadia rushed toward him, but the feral arrived first to drive both her boxcutters into him to hold him in place. Pulling the triggers detached the blades and left Raptor triple-nailed to the cheese, giving Nadia a chance to fight one-on-one.

Grimacing, Hsien-ko swung her sleeve, flinging a handful of basketball-sized spiked metal spheres her Nadia’s way. She blocked them, reabsorbed her Copycats, and ran toward her foe. On the way she passed by and attached two new blades, clicking them into place. She stopped short to avoid a giant claw slash, then leaped for a jump-in only to take a strike from Hsien-ko’s claws, extended diagonally on chains. As she fell her foe hopped forward, and by the time she rose Hsien-ko had leaped into the air to come down on her with Zanpa, her claws spinning beneath her like a grinder. Never one to block, Nadia dashed forward to cross beneath her opponent, then spun around with her Cat Scratch series, made longer and stronger by her boxcutters. “One! Two!” For the final hit she flipped forward to bounce Hsien-ko off the ground with her El Gato axe kick. “Wreck-a your face!”

Nadia used this brief window to create a Copycat, and when Hsien-ko hit the cheese, she sent it low with Cat Slide. The jiangshi blocked low on wakeup, smashed the doppelganger flat with her claws, and when her foe hurled her boxcutter blades, she produced a huge gong to reflect her projectiles right back at her. Taken by surprise, the feral took a slice to the ribs and the bicep. “Agh!” she cried, her severed arm falling to the ground in a spurt of blood. “You munster!” Hsien-ko blinked in to capitalize only to run straight into Nadia’s disjointed knee. “Gotcha!” she cackled, extending her head on a cord of muscle to smash into Hsien-ko’s like a flail. The zombie’s backward stumble came to an end as the reformed Copycat hit her from behind with Shove Off, pushing her back into Nadia, who launched herself sideways with her lower half spinning to unleash a vertical windmill kick. She landed in a split and reattached her arms as her clone made Ear Piercing its last hurrah, allowing her to finish off with a double-bladed Gol-fur Swing.

Just when Nadia managed to send Hsien-ko flying, though, Raptor finally worked his way off his blades. He ran up and jumped in on her with Loudness Screw, twisting his whole bottom half into a bone-tipped coil of flesh. Naturally Nadia challenged him, lashing out with a series of slashes, but she found out she wasn’t the only one with a guard cancel when he beefed out of blockstun with the killer guitar riff Death Phrase, backed by the one-eyed monstrosity she caught a glimpse of before. The soundwave stunned her, and the horror promptly launched Raptor forward for a body-slam that knocked her down. To add insult to injury, he then jumped and danced on her with Skull Javelin, letting out high-pitched laughter as he stomped one foot after the other. Enraged, Nadia let out all her frustration in one big burst. “RAAAAAWWRRR!” When Raptor regained his feet he immediately took one of Nadia’s flung blades to his chest. As an angry Nadia barreled toward him, she unwittingly used Charge, becoming a streaking bolt of electricity that burst through Raptor to reform behind him. As he reeled, she blinked, coming to grips with what happened. “Shock?” The zombie wheeled around with a massive guitar swing, but it passed harmlessly between her as she bifurcated her midsection. Then she struck in turn, this time with Battery. “And awe!” Right after her flourishing blade strikes came a two-burst aftershock. With a groan Raptor lashed out in return, jutting out his own elbow as a bone lance, but Nadia beat it out with Hand in Hand and popped off her own head for a Furnado Drill to seal the deal. “A bit off the top!”

Raptor fell flat on his back and lay there for a moment, but when he finally dragged himself to his feet, Hsien-ko was standing beside him. Though both had taken some decent damage, they stood together for a last ditch effort. Meanwhile, Nadia swayed drunkenly, barely standing. She didn’t fight in a way that conserved energy, and now she’d just about run out. Her blood reserves were too low for any more Copycats, too. I can do this. I can do this! It took a conscious effort to keep smiling as she clicked in a new blade from the ground. “Hey…any chance we could call this a draw? I’m basically dead on my feet…not as much as you two, but still…”

Raptor chuckled and snapped his fingers, a rainbow glow overtaking his body. Teeth erupted from the cheese beneath Nadia, and as she froze in terror thanks to her phobia, the zombie’s monstrous companion arose to chomp her into a ball. It spat her into Raptor’s waiting hands, and after dribbling her twice the monster morphed into a bizarre basketball hoop, allowing Raptor to finish off his incredible Hell Dunk. Though Nadia turned back to normal after that, her troubles were only just beginning; Hsien-ko unleashed Tenrai Ha, raining down spiked balls from the sky on top of her. Though she tried to block while on the ground, in the end she lay there flat-out, on the verge of blacking out. The undead approached and stood over her, ready to finish her off.

“Oww. You got me,” she groaned. “But I got…one last…Idea…”

Her striker manifested over her, dwarfing both zombies in size. As they stood there, shocked, the monstrosity shot out its seven tongues to bind the two and bash their heads together. That left them stunned just long enough for Nadia to get to her knees, dig in her claws, face them with the power building in her left eye. “River-carvin’...” Spending every bar of Tension she had, Nadia blasted the two with a thick beam of pure, unadulterated Hydro. “RAPIDS!” The magical torrent washed both Lord Raptor and Hsien-ko all the way across the swiss cheese arena. They disappeared over the side, and after a moment Nadia slumped down. “Damn I’m good,” she gasped, the instant before she smacked face-first into the swiss.

A few minutes later she stirred, already in better shape thanks to her regeneration, but more tired than she could ever remember being. After getting to her feet she lurched to the edge of the swiss wheel closest to the Pizza Tower, collecting her boxcutters, her blade case, and her loose blades on the way, then slid down the side. Just a little farther to go.

When she finally climbed the last cheese hill and reached the tower’s doors, she found most of the others already there, and the doors wide open. “Oh, hey,” she said dazedly, pausing for a moment to lean against the door on the way in. She looked pretty beat-up. “We made it…thank goodness.” Once everyone staggered inside, they could close and bar the doors behind them.

The bottom floor of the Pizza Tower seemed to be some sort of lobby. There were five adjoining halls labeled ‘Tower Lobby’, ‘Western District’, ‘Vacation Resort’, ‘Slum’, and ‘Staff Only’, each of which promised to connect to five or so specific floors of the tower. For now though, those doors -and the tower itself- seemed to be closed for the night. Sconces on the walls blazed softly, and in one corner a huge pizza oven kept the place dry and very warm. While the sudden intrusion of well-armed outsiders had roused the three attendants from their slumber, but the stump-like Pizza Trolls didn’t seem to care. “W-well, the levels up above are pretty dangerous, but nothing happens down here,” Shyler, the nicest of the three, explained. “When you’re feeling better, you can visit any of the levels, and bring all the toppins you gather back here. Then you can make all the pizzas you want with our oven. Especially if you give us some! Oh, pizza…” Though lost in dreamland for a minute whilst thinking about pizzas, he quickly refocused. “O-oh, and you can stay and rest here in the Hub if you like. I’m sure the boss wouldn’t mind. Nobody messes with the Pizza Tower, after all! Hehe…”

By the time Sectonia (or her ‘minions’) unpacked her new Deluxe Camping Set, with its spacious tents and cozy bedrolls, Nadia was already sound asleep.

Persona ~ Alone at Sea (PERSONA WITH A BOAT 𓊝)

Imogen Reed

Even for two highly experienced professional detectives of appreciable skill, finding one particular name from the list ended up posing a fair bit more challenge than they accepted, not because Imogen Reed took any particular pains to obscure her location, but because nobody seemed to possess a single, solitary clue as to where in the world she might be. Of course, Nathan and Harris obtained her schedule and room number from the faculty as a matter of course, just as they did with the others, in order to aid their investigation, but in an unlucky turn of events her schedule just so happened to be free for most of the morning. When they entered her dormitory they found her room empty, if rather disheveled. There weren’t a lot of clues to be had there, as her drawers mostly contained papers for schoolwork or snacks, but the lack of shoes, phone, laptop, or bag suggested that she happened to be out.

It was when the duo approached Imogen’s neighbors that they got their first taste of their target’s elusiveness. The other young women in the room’s vicinity possessed only the vaguest sense of the student living adjacent to them, seldom seen and never spoken to. Forget whereabouts–even the mention of Imogen’s name drew blank stares. One girl even admitted that she thought that room was unoccupied. Soon the detectives were on their way, first visiting the professor of the prior class on Imogen’s agenda, and then the one she’d be attending later today. Neither could claim any knowledge of her whereabouts, nor her activities in general in order to provide a hint as to where she might spend her time between classes. The students from those classes proved even less helpful, only a few cognizant of Imogen’s presence in their class, and even they couldn’t be completely sure that she’d attended today, or even yesterday for that matter. It didn’t even seem like Imogen was shy or anxious, just completely forgettable. Only one detail kept resurfacing: that she always wore a drab green coat. In the end, Nathan in particular actually ended up feeling pretty bad for the girl. Harris couldn’t say the same; in fact, he couldn’t completely dismiss the somewhat paranoid notion that Imogen was covering her tracks on purpose, after all.

While making their way through the general study hall for the third time since the start of their search, Harris idly cast his eyes around the area again, just to be sure. This was beginning to feel like a wild goose chase, and it was trying his patience. His eyes happened to rest on a lone figure sitting at a table in the middle of the area, and with a jolt he took a double take. Light brown hair, black glasses, checkered beanie, and a drab green coat…it had to be her. When did she get here, he wondered. Surely the two of them hadn’t passed her by without realizing twice? She was right out in the open, for Pete’s sake. He nudged Nathan with his elbow and tilted his head in Imogen’s direction, but after a moment of looking his partner gave him an inquisitive glance. Shaking his head, he made his way over with Nathan in tow, who to his credit managed to come to the same realization only a few steps into the short trip.

Together they stopped at the table, quietly whispering between themselves about how to do this, since Imogen appeared to be sound asleep. She lay slouched in her chair at the table, a huge amount of homework arrayed out before her, including a textbook, a couple worksheets, a page of notes, and another of references. Imogen herself didn’t look too good. Her hair seemed a little unkempt, and the bags beneath her eyes were pretty dark. Despite the impressive number of students cramming into this hall to work, nobody else occupied Imogen’s table, so after Harris pulled out one of the other chairs and sat down, he cleared his throat. “Pardon me, miss?”

Imogen stirred instantly, awakening with a sharp inhalation of breath. She blinked blearily as the initial panic died down, regarding the detectives with a wary, almost fearful expression. “H-huh? Ah, ‘scuse me, uh…yes?”

“Are you Imogen Reed?”

“Y..yes.” After composing herself, Imogen straightened up and adopted a polite neutral expression, the sort one might expect from a bank teller. “Oh…did I nod off? Sorry, I’ve just been sleepin’ terrible lately. Is…there somethin’ wrong, sirs?”

“You’re not in trouble or anything. We just wanted to ask you a few questions,” Harris told her, his voice even. “Just a minute or two of your time, and we’ll be on your way.”

The girl nodded, so he continued. “We’re looking for a student named Sofia Wright. Does that name sound familiar to you?”

He scarcely needed to finish that second question though; the instant he said that name, Imogen reacted. Her tells were slight, but obvious to anyone with entry-level experience in this sort of field. She’d slightly opened her mouth and widened her eyes, as well as instinctively taken a deeper-than-usual breath. She didn’t just know the name. It held some sort of import for her. Still, she furnished the detective with a reply out of courtesy. “Yes, I’ve met her.”

“How do you know her?” Nathan asked.

“Well…” Imogen licked her lips, which for some reason felt oddly dry. “Right after school started, she tried gettin’ a bunch of random freshmen together to make nice. Some sort of program I expect. Didn’t work out though, none of us really wanted anythin’ to do with it. Ya can’t force stuff like that, y’know?”

Nathan crossed his arms, nodding. “Right, right, the semester started a couple weeks ago, didn’t it. But what about last week, Miss Reed? Did you see Miss Wright again?”

Uh oh. Imogen swallowed. These men were getting closer to that day. The day when her whole world flipped upside down, and though nothing changed, everything changed. Every night since then she’d lain awake in her bed, the images and events from that impossible island replaying again and again in her mind. She’d hoped that it was all a dream, that Sophie was fine and just living her life out in the campus somewhere, but now these men were here telling her that Sophie really was gone. But what could she tell them in return? The truth would make her sound insane. In truth, she felt a little insane. Things hadn’t exactly been hunky-dory prior to her little dip, and since then it felt like something had been gnawing at her. She found herself showering more than once per day, washing her face more often than ever, but her mind would not rest, and the itch would not go away. Several times now she’d found herself back at the docks, more than once in the dead of night. Just staring at the water. Unable to do away with the realization that there was something else out there. Once she met Verity there. She hadn’t said anything to her, and really, they didn’t need to say a word. Maybe she felt it too–the sensation of walls crumbling down, and the rising urge to peer beyond them.

“...Yes,” she replied after a moment. The truth, but not the whole truth, she told herself. “Sophie tried to get us together again. Some sort of hazin’ ritual that involves jumpin’ in the water. I said no, you’re mental, we’ll freeze our arses off. She went in, and I went home. No idea what happened after that.” Scrunching her brows together, she looked between the detectives. “Did she end up drownin’? Dyin’ o’ hypothermia or somethin’?”

Nathan shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

“What my partner MEANS to say,” Harris interjected, “Is that we’re not ruling anything out. But I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about.” He reached over and quickly scribbled on one of Imogen’s papers, then stood up. He’d given her a number, along with the epithet Detective Diego Harris. “If anything else comes to mind, or you see Miss Wright again, please let us know. We may have more questions for you later.”

He and Nathan went on their way, talking in low tones. Imogen sank down into her chair, her heating thumping in her chest. Who were those two? Were they cops? Did they suspect her? Well, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Sophie had been the one to drag her into this mess. The consequences of her actions were on her. Unfortunately, despite her best attempts to persuade herself, Imogen still felt guilty. And scared. And very, very tired. My first nap in days, and the bloody cops show up to ruin it, she thought ruefully. When was all this going to be over…?

World of Light

Alright, for this week the post in the Under is an important one! In no uncertain terms, the involved characters must escape the Home of Tears, possibly fighting off all the characters we've gotten to know and love while here, and make our way through the cheesy Crumble Cavern in order to reach safety at the Pizza Tower. If your character does not escape within the next week, the consequences will be dire. Good luck everyone!

World of Light

The City of Glass - Regatta Bay

Level 5 Goldlewis (26/40)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Karin and Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Blazermate and Susi’s @Archmage MC, Geralt and Zenkichi’s @Multi_Media_Man, Pit’s @Yankee, Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double, Benedict and Partitio’s @Dark Cloud, Tora, Giovanna
Word Count: 939

For Goldlewis

New Power:
BURST
While in hitstun of any kind, which is to say being hit by anything. Goldlewis can unleash a short-range blast of pure vital energy with several important properties. It instantly stops his movement, it instantly recovers him to an upright position, and while it deals no damage, it also launches any foes struck by the wave a good distance away, even in the middle of their attacks. Goldlewis can also do this in neutral, at which point it becomes a Gold Burst, and if he hits an enemy with a Gold Burst his tension meter instantly fills. In return for all this, Burst takes a while to recharge, especially if it doesn’t hit an enemy. It also leaves him extremely vulnerable if he doesn’t hit an enemy, either by whiffing it or being predicted, since a Burst can be blocked

If there was one thing new new arrivals could agree on, it was that the City of Glass certainly looked incredible, for better or worse. Whether that spoke to the marvels of human ingenuity or the extent of human avarice was matter left up to personal interpretation. Goldlewis didn’t think too much about it. To him, iniquity came part and parcel with human nature. There was no easy solution; the system was something far greater than any one man, no matter how powerful. After all this time, Goldlewis knew that fact all too well. All he could do was his best, each and every day until his last, trying to make the world a better place. Of course, compared to the social, economic, and political landscape of Midgar, hewn as it was from countless worlds, he almost found himself missing the American government. And that was really saying something.

Sighing, he returned his attention to the City of Glass. For all its magnificence, its beauty was an austere one, distant and cold. Neither he nor the other Seekers felt welcome here, and with an important event just a few hours away the Seekers couldn’t let their focus wander from the task at hand. After the new arrivals’ initial amazement wore off, and they expressed all their admirations and criticisms a suitable distance from the nearest camera clusters, everyone tackled the current problem: getting to the Dendenmille Showcase Theater on the Vandelay Campus. Goldlewis could pretty much guarantee that renting a vehicle to make use of the well-kept roads here was impossible for outsiders, if rental services existed at all, and public transport meant extra scrutiny, so there wasn’t an easy answer. Everyone put their heads together, though, and quickly churned out a few ideas.

Midna offered to repeat the teleportation trick they used to enter Sector 06 in the first place. The sheer difference in terms of scale made things different, however, and instead of going with a group of eight that could look out for one another the Twilight Princess would have to go alone deep into the heart of unfamiliar territory. Could those teleporters even be moved once built? Goldlewis had no idea. “Seein’ as we’re strangers ‘round these parts, I’d prefer that we stick together,” he said. “I reckon we ain’t even scratched the surface of the security this place’s got. I like your thinkin’, miss, but we oughta work as a team.” His brow furrowed as Midna made more suggestions. “A…disguise? With all due respect, this ain’t the doggone Loony Tunes. Unless you’re some kind o’ shapeshifter and even better at fakin’ IDs than Mr. H, they’ll suss you out in a heartbeat.” Her final idea left him scratching his neck, his lips pursed “With how much these boats cost, I’d be mighty surprised if one of the rich folks ‘round here’d give a ride to Shinra himself. A has-been like me’s got about as much clout as Delaware in the House of Representatives.”

Zenkichi pointed out that an actual operative like himself or Benedict might have more luck in the lawful seizure department, but even that possibility was shaky, and as he himself pointed out, risky. If the former Turks started throwing names or departments around, it would make things a lot easier for anyone looking for them. When Geralt casually mentioned mind controlling someone, Goldlewis shared Zenkichi’s astonishment. “Hell of an ace to keep up your sleeve, partner,” the big man remarked. From the way the Witcher described it, his Axii sign sounded just about perfect for the job. Being able to bypass negotiation and subterfuge altogether would keep things simple and clean, and if the target would leave with no concrete memories of the incident, this approach was also attractively discreet. There was just one problem. “Sounds like it’d work well,” he admitted, narrowing his eyes as he mulled the idea over. “But…ethically speakin’, I dunno. It don’t feel right. We are workin’ to save everyone, sure, and sometimes sacrifices need to be made, but still...” It was a classic case of ‘does the end justify the means’. Even with the mother of all ends on the table, he didn’t want to leave a bad taste in his mouth. At the same time, they weren’t planning to kill or rob anyone. The Seekers’ mission concerned the fate of all worlds, and only God knew what it would take to see it through. He knew, possibly better than anyone here, that being in charge meant making hard decisions.

“We don’t wanna hurt anyone, fellas But think for a second about what’s at stake,” he told Partitio and Benedict, who seemed firmly against anything that might be considered morally or legally dubious. “The big picture. Savin’ every soul from all the worlds Galeem brought low. All this crap…” He looked around at the awe-inspiring City of Glass, its skyline and its inland sea, with all its people and all their stuff. “It ain’t real. ‘When the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.’ We’re workin’ to put everythin’ back how it should be. Petty li’l things ain’t more important than that.”

Pit made an innocent and well-intentioned suggestion, and Goldlewis wished he could say he approved. “Simple as it sounds, sometimes askin’ opens up a can o’ worms just by itself. If we ask the wrong person, or say the wrong thing, we could arouse suspicion.” His warning about solicitations went unheeded, however, as Sakura went to do exactly that. Goldlewis laughed wryly and heaved himself up from the bench where he’d seated himself. “Bless your heart.”

He hustled off to go see her, and while most of the group trailed behind, Raz piped up with an interesting observation that Giovanna took a moment to consider. “Might just be a coincidence,” she pointed out after a moment, more or less ignoring what he said about there being no coincidences. “With stuff from every world, there’s bound to be some overlap, ‘specially since it seems like we all speak the same language?” Out of all the coincidences she’d seen in the World of Light, that one was a doozy. Unless there was something smoothing things out behind the scenes? Tabling that thought for later, she pointed out, “Cyberlife is a gigantic, legitimate corporation. Well, legitimate as they get, I mean. But I haven’t even heard of Supernatural Life, and I’ve gotten around.” She shrugged. “Sounds like some weird, shady stuff that Hojo would be into.” The poor little guy seemed pretty upset by the ordeal with Peach, and understandably so. When it came to words of comfort, though, Giovanna wasn’t an expert. So rather than say something that might come across as insensitive, she didn’t even try.

With Geralt’s plan in his back pocket, and most of the group hanging back by the entrance to the docks, Goldlewis went with Tora -who’d floated the idea of using a boat in the first place- to accompany Sakura on her mission to find a selfless millionaire. The first person she spoke to glanced at her for a moment, knitted her brows together in confusion, and then went away without saying anything. Some humored her with a response, while others refused with varying levels of politeness; one just laughed at her. A couple pointed out the bridges spanning the river between the metropolitan coastlines on both sides of the plate, not realizing that she actually wanted to go to the very end of the river to reach the Vandelay Campus rather than across it.

After over a half-dozen tries, however, she met a very particular man. His short brown hair was neatly combed, he wore thick-rimmed, rectangular glasses, and he flaunted unusual but expensive-looking attire that looked somewhere between a suit and a robe, tastefully off-white. He stood there with his hands on his hips, and before she could say anything to him, she spoke. “Young lady, I’ve never seen you before.”

Sakura's mouth was already open to speak when he pre-interrupted her. "Um. Okay! Well, pleased to meet you, then!" She said. She did her bow as she had done to everyone else.

He nodded in return. "I am Wallace Cambridge Limestein. I am the 25th head of the Limestein family. Pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

She peered up at him. "My name's Kasugano Sakura, uh, first child-”

“Good!" Wallace cut in. "I'd say we're now fairly acquainted. Remember, if you ever need someone in the City of Glass to get something done, just come to me.” He gave her a curt, matter-of-fact nod. “By the way, if you find anything or anyone interesting, let me know too. Life is all about having fun! Money is no issue, curiosity fuels me.” Sighing deeply, he looked around Regatta Bay. “Ahh, what a fine day it is... Is there anything that you want to know?”

Sakura nodded back eagerly, already liking Wallace. "Yeah, okay! I will, and... I will!" She exclaimed. "Yes there is! I- I was wondering if you had a boat we could use, we need to get across that river." She pointed across the way. "Or if not, you could point us in the direction of a ferry?" She asked. "And by 'we' I mean me and that group of weirdos over there!" She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the Seekers, smiling with wide eyes.

"Hmm..." Wallace frowned, thinking. He looked over at Sakura's group of weirdos, then back at her. "You all seem rather...hm, well-traveled. Well, perhaps we could make a deal. I wasn't actually planning to go anywhere in particular today. I wouldn't object to a quick trip. But you must do something for me in return."

Sakura grinned, wiggling her fists a bit, excited that she got someone. "Okay! What is it?" She asked.

“Well, then I'll just get to the point. As you know, when you're well-off to a certain degree, simple material possessions aren't as stimulating anymore. I need to fill the void in my life by other means.” He crossed his arms, shaking his head. “What is there in life that is worth pursuing? For a very long time, I've been asking myself this question. And then one day, the answer came to me when I was meditating alone.” He nodded decisively. “That's right. The thing I am looking for is a friend. I, Wallace Cambridge Limestein, have never had a true friend in my life. And that must be changed!” More clinically than wistfully, he glanced out at the pedestrians walking along the waterfront, then back at Sakura. “I would pay anything to acquire this thing they call a ‘friend’.”

By the look on her face, Sakura didn't expect him to say that! "Well, yeah! Everybody needs a friend, Mr. Limestein!" She proclaimed genuinely. "B-but, you don't get true friends by paying money. You get friends by...um..." She trailed off. "Uhh..." Her mind was going blank here. "Well, it's not by giving them money. It's not that." She said.

"Well, that makes sense..." Wallace mused. "If 'friends' were things, then I could just buy them with money. What I need is a way to make friends. I've thought about it, and with my reputation, I will be degrading myself if I just ask anyone on the street to be my friend. So I had a great idea: photos. My strategy is to capture my most glamorous moments in photos so that any passerby will be wowed and want to become my friends. Young lady, please answer me honestly: how are your photography skills?”

Sakura made a face at his idea but didn't want to shoot it down right away, because she had just come up with an answer she was fine with. "I'm- okay!" She answered, voice breaking a bit. She had taken quite a few pictures in her world travels, be it of places or Ryu.

"And that idea might work, because the best way to make friends is to just be yourself and see who likes you!" She nodded.

Pleased, Wallace nodded. "That will do. With my charisma and photogenic face, the photo will come out great even if the photographer is not an expert. Well, there's no time like the present. Let's start now. Come aboard and take pictures of me, we'll start on my yacht's upper deck lounge. Be sure to get my priceless relics in the background. Depending on how the photos turn out, I may want some on my other boat as well."

The two stepped aboard and proceeded into the boat’s interior. Goldlewis just stood there as if struck by a flashbang, taken utterly aback by this remarkably pretentious man. Still, the fact that Sakura was getting along with him was all that mattered. He looked back the way he came, caught Geralt’s gaze, and gestured toward the boat with his head before climbing aboard.

Meanwhile, Susie’s efforts to turn up information on the city’s leading corporations bore fruit. Just a little exposure to information media quickly left her inundated with news stories, articles, and even podcasts. The dealings of the sector’s top companies, and the coming and goings of their top players, seemed to be the subject of much public interest. Headlines like ‘Massive Merger Shakes Midgar Tech Market!’, ‘Things Looking Shaky for Detroit’, ‘Meet the Future of Midgar’s War on the Machines’, “Night City CEOs Assure Investors There’s No Need to Fear’, ‘Vandelay Technologies CEO Kale Vandelay Speaks Out About CyberLife Acquisition’, ‘Shinra Investing in Vandelay’s Future’, ‘Vandelay Financial Department Reports Record Earnings!’, ‘Is DespoRHado on the Way Out?’, ‘Memorize: the Company Everyone’s Forgotten’, ’Is This the End for the Gears?’ and ‘Everything You Need to Know about Project Armstrong’ all jumped out at her. She quickly managed to assemble an idea of current events in the tech world, along with a couple revelations. At some point CyberLife and Vandelay Technologies had been different companies, but now they were one and the same under Kale Vandelay. Just about everywhere Susie looked she saw his face, and as if Lady Luck weren’t smiling on the man enough already, the Administration seemed to be pretty happy with the direction of his company as well, even if the merger seemed to cast a dark shadow on the future of Detroit’s robotics industry and the PMC intrinsically tied to it. All of a sudden, the dynamics at play in Midgar were beginning to click.

Home of Tears

Level 10 Nadia (204/100)
The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Ganondorf’s @Double, Omori's @Majoras End, Rubick’s @Scarifar, Ichiban’s @Truthhurts22, Artorias’ @Dark Cloud
Word Count: 2365

As ever, the waters lapped gently at shell and stone, moved not by wind but by the wakes of paper sailboats as they cruised ceaselessly along the canals. Some windows blazed with light and warmth; others peered down, their gaze glassy and dead-eyed at the city from towers like silent sentinels, streaked with tears. And the deluge poured down on bugs and beasts alike. Everything looked the same, felt the same, and yet things were very different. Behind the scenes there had been a huge shift, not just for the Home of Tears, but the World of Light itself, and the lone figure who stood in Fountain Central beneath the pouring rain regretted that he hadn’t seen it.

“So, they actually did it?” The little fellow crossed his arms, staring up at the huge statue that stood atop the fountain’s central plinth. Though similar-looking at first blush to the Consul depicted there, especially with their shared taste in futuristic suits, there were a few key differences. He was taller, skinnier, and naturally, still alive. As he watched, green vines emerged from the ground at the statue’s feet and snaked across its body. “Looks like I really missed out. I’ll have to ‘thank’ that Organization brat later…” He shrugged dismissively. “How long’s it been since any heroes actually took down a Moebius? Course…out of all of us, it had to be you, P. Sniveling, snot-nosed, literal…IDIOT!” With an annoyed grunt the boy closed his fist. The vines wrapped around the statue squeezed tight, shattering the whole thing into a couple dozen pieces. As the dust settled, the boy teleported up in a purple flash, planted his boot against the fallen statue’s head, and kicked it into the water. “Still. Guess I’ve gotta hand it to ol’ long-ears. These heroes might be the real deal after all. Which means…”

He turned his face upward. His mask, shaped like a smiling sunflower, streamed with rain. A glowing red lemniscate appeared in his right eye, casting light up into the dripping dark. Over the City of Tears, the massive symbol blazed upon the cavern ceiling.

“...This is gonna be fun.”

---

In quick succession Nadia, Rubick, Artorias, and Jesse burst from the entrance to King’s Station, all running, warping, plodding, or floating as best they could. Thoroughly waterlogged and more tired than ever thanks to their eye-opening run-in with the unearthly denizens of the derelict railway depot, they only came to a stop at the edge of the stone wharf that jutted out into the city’s lake, where they waited for another paper boat to make its rounds.

Once in the clear, Nadia doubled over at the waterfront, panting and grateful for the pure downpour that washed the cold sweat from her skin and cleared her head. When she swiveled her head back around to look, she was relieved to see no eldritch abominations crawling their way out of the flooded ruin behind her. As scary as their very sudden encounter with the Nowhere Monarch had been, it looked like the unlikely quartet had gotten away scott-free. Nadia still felt bad for inadvertently getting the others into all this trouble, especially Rubick and Jesse since they got nothing to show for it, but if they didn’t seem inclined to give her a hard time she certainly wasn’t going to. Life was too short and full of surprises for beating herself up. Once a paper boat arrived, the Seekers piled on, and the slow ride back into the Home of Tears began.

“I might be more catlike than be-fur, but boy am I dog-tired,” Nadia chuckled after a minute or so. She lay flat-out on the boat’s surface, not even caring if the rain soaked her right to the bone. “Starvin’, too. What I wouldn’t give for a good stirfry right now…” While laying there with her eyes closed, thinking of the places in town where she could get a nice hot meal before hitting the hay for real, she suddenly became aware of a red glow on her eyelids. She blinked them open and sat up, her mouth slightly agape as she beheld a massive glowing infinity sign. After a moment she exchanged a look with Rubick. Having fought alongside her yesterday morning against the scallywags of the Sea of Serendipity, he knew that symbol as well as she did. “That sign…a Consul!” No matter which way you sliced it, this was a beacon, seemingly projected from the beating heart of the city: Fountain Central. But who was doing this? Was it S again? Had P somehow survived after all? Or was it someone else?

She didn’t like the looks of this one bit, and in fact she wanted nothing more than to ignore the spotlight in favor of her own creature comforts, but as a Seeker Nadia knew she couldn’t turn a blind eye. The actual heroes amongst the Seekers sure wouldn’t, at any rate. If her teammates planned to investigate, she couldn’t abandon them. “I hate to say it, but we’ve gotta check it out. Right?” Even if the other three went to disembark, Nadia resolved to stay the course as the paper boat’s route brought it closer and closer to the city center.

When it finally reached the Fountain Central docks, Nadia jumped from the boat to the pier, landing even more effortlessly than usual. Weird as they were, these new legs made her feel more limber than ever. After a full night’s sleep, I’ll be unstoppable, she mused. No time for introspection now, though; she hurried up the stairs to the raised circular plaza. Right away she noticed that a few other Seekers were already here, having noticed the giant lemniscate in the ‘sky’ while out and about and made tracks to this location. That included the Knight and Barnabee, who nodded to the new arrivals. “Well met, lass. But afore we engage in pleasantries, turn thy gaze yonder!”

Following his direction, Nadia spotted something strange where the statue once stood atop the fountain: a big pink ball covered in layers of junk collected from around the plaza, including the pieces of the statue itself. Atop it stood a diminutive figure in an all-too-familiar uniform. She recognized his helmet in an instant–she’d seen it sneering down at her from above in the moment when the Seekers’ descent into the Chasm became a terrifying freefall. “You!”

“Me.” The Consul tittered. “I’m sure you’re just itching to get some revenge, but as I told the others, I’m not here to fight. In fact, I promise not to harm a single hair on any of you heroes’ heads. All I wanna do…is talk. And I’ll teleport away if you refuse~ So let’s wait until everyone’s here, ‘kay? I know just how exhausting it is to repeat stuff, believe you me!”

Nadia didn’t know if she could fight another Consul in this state, especially one with powers comparable to P’s. Dimly she remembered Kamek describing some strange phenomenon this flower-faced Consul used against him, but the specifics escaped her. Saying nothing for a change, she crouched down and waited the minute or two it took everyone to arrive.

Soon enough, the Consul began to speak. “Well. That’s pretty much all of you, right? A couple fresh faces, too! Gotta say, you’ve been busy. Kicking butt, taking names, making friends. And even killing off a Consul, whew!” He gave an impressed whistle. “Boy howdy, that is NOT something that happens every day, friends! Sure, P was an embarrassment of a Consul, a total moron, and the weakest one by, like, A LOT.” He spread his arms as wide as his eyes to show just how much ‘a lot’ was. “...Buuut that’s neither here nor there. All I’m trying to say, thank you. Not just for doing me a favor, but for being you. For being different! Hehehehe…” As he laughed, his eye began to glow, the lemniscate within clear to see. “And now I know you’re different, I’m gonna be watching real closely. I’m gonna enjoy watching you…squirm.”

Suddenly, Nadia noticed movement. Something was approaching Fountain Central via all four bridges. At first they looked like big, solid, dark masses. All she could see through the rainy darkness were vividly glowing motes of red light. As it drew closer, she realized that they were crowds. Monsters were packed shoulder to shoulder like sardines as they walked across the bridges, four convergent parades. Some of them seemed agitated, or spoke a word, but they all shared two common features. Firstly, whether left or right, all of them possessed a single glowing red eye, just like the Consul’s albeit without the infinity symbol. Lastly, they were armed to the teeth, each and everyone one of them.

“As for me? Well. For starters, my name is F.” The consul grinned. “But you can call me the big bad boss. Boo!”

The crowds spilled from the bridges onto the corners of the fountain plaza, where they stopped, and a few individuals stepped forward. From the Royal Quarter came a towering robotic butler, a one-wheeled machine with a microphone, a wizened sorcerer in crimson robes, and the illustrious Iguana Gallo Valetto. From Downtown came a hopping vampire, a guitar-wielding punk zombie, an undead king, and a squat skeletal blacksmith holding his hammer. From the Collection came the Mermaid Corps Captain in full battle attire, a green-furred witch wielding a gnarled wand, the amorphous monstrosity Endogeny, and a tired woman with a huge grenade launcher. Finally, from the Amusement Park came an evil-looking skeleton clown, a white-bearded centaur archer, and a dynamic duo of brotherly butchers. After another moment a gigantic tentacled pirate burst up from the water to complete the contingent from the Amusement Park, octobombs at the ready. Nadia gulped, her heart sinking.

“Enemy…” the people of the Home of Tears chanted. “Enemy. Enemy. ENEMY!”

For all his typical bravado, Barnabee was quaking. “What…what manner of devilry is this!?”

“I promised I wouldn’t hurt you…” the Consul reiterated. “But I sure didn’t say anything about them! I’ll see you at the end of your journey, so try not to die! And remember: in this world, it’s kill…or be killed!” F teleported away, and all at once the sixteen combatants attacked.

What followed was chaos. Nadia and the others instantly found themselves beset on all sides. Grenades, and arrows filled the air, energy spears erupted from the ground, bombs and spiked bombs rained down from above, and bruisers charged through the fray. The second Nadia dodged a bull rush from Chad and Gram, Igos du Ikana took a swing at her, and when she leaped above the brawl she ran into Hsien-ko walking on the air to smash her back down with a giant claw slash. Ottomo fought like a dancer, his immense limbs whirling around with unexpected style and force. Gallo strove to catch his foes in the time-stopping rays of his Clock Lancet. Sophie hurled magic potions. In their blind rush to kill the Seekers the cityfolk hurt one another as much as if not more than their targets, leading to swathes of in-fighting.

“This is really bad!” Nadia screeched as she pulled an arrow from her thigh, panicking. Not far away, the Knight blasted a few monsters into the drink with Vengeful Spirit, and Barnabee reluctantly wielded his blazing sword against his fellow bugs. The Seekers were in no condition to fight this, and even if they were, these people were obviously being controlled against their will somehow. She’d just seen those two zombies on a date at the Terminal. And how could she bring herself to hurt Bob? “We’ve gotta get the hell outta here!”

Bowser came to the rescue. ”Alright listen up, I’m in charge here, I’ve got seniority, and what we’re gonna do is this!” Bowser shouted, taking charge of the situation, primarily by ordering the people he know he could rely on and hoping that would give enough momentum to follow suit ”Rika, make a whale, Jr, heal Rika, Kamek, make the whale really big because we are sailing out of here!” That got him a chorus of “on it”’s from his kin, and in swift succession an oversized Moby Dick had splashed down into the water on the side that led to Crumble Cavern, onto which Bower leaped with a vitality draining Rika in one arm and an enlargement spell channeling Kamek in the others. Jr flew close behind, raising up his paintbrush and setting to work using his restorative magics to fix Rika right back up. ”All aboard, and make it snappy!” Bowser roared an order at the others. ”Because we are blowing this joint!”

Hope reignited, Barnabee joined the charge. “Huzzzzzzzah!” he bellowed.

Nadia followed suit, running and leaping from the pandemonium onto the Koopa Troop’s whale. She immediately slid down its slippery side and into the water, or more accurately, onto it. After all, she was still part Shipgirl. Immediately the crowd of enemies, elites included, all turned their focus on the whale. Projectiles, explosives, and magic rained down, while hordes of small-time undead, beasts, and demons tried to jump onto the whale itself. Even Barbary began smashing through one of the bridges in order to get to it. The heroes had no choice but to flee at top speed, hoping that everyone could catch a ride or escape under their own power. Teeth gritted, Nadia skated in toward a purple dinosaur hacking at the whale’s tail, grabbed her by the hair, and hurled her into the water. As the Seekers got moving their foes did not relent, either shooting from afar, flying after them, or even jumping in the water to swim. When the paper boats on this side got close enough, dozens of monsters piled on at once and set sail in pursuit.

As fast as it could, the whale bore the Seekers to the entrance of Crumble Cavern, where they disembarked and ran inside, leaving the Home of Tears behind. In front of them lay a huge network of caves made almost entirely of cheese, full of precarious tilting platforms, spiked wedges, giant cheese wheels, and other obstacles, not to mention a whole host of cheese or mouse-themed monsters from Skritt and Ratlings atop Ratslugs to cheese slimes and gabaghouls. At the very end of the caverns lay the entrance to a great stone tower, sitting snugly atop a giant hill of gouda and built up into the cave roof itself. Behind her, Nadia could hear the sounds of the enemy army in pursuit. With the last of their energy, the Seekers needed to lose their pursuers and make it to the shelter of that distant tower.

Edinburgh MagikaPolis - Grammeowster’s Kitchen

Level 8 Big Band (99/80)
Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Red’s @TruthHurts22, Mewtwo’s @Double, Frisk’s @Majoras End
Word Count: 1498

First, Band felt the jostling. For reasons he couldn’t explain, he found himself subjected to continuous, herky-jerky shaking, bumped and bounced around rather uncomfortably on a hard surface. Then he became aware of the rumble, the grinding sound of crude wheels on hard ground, undercut by a constant and inexplicable meowing. Then his eyes opened, his vision going from black to white in an instant. He blinked up at the cloudy winter sky, the crisp arctic wind fresh on his cheeks. His surroundings were in motion; tall buildings meandered their way steadily downward. At least, they did for a couple seconds. Just when the detective was beginning to get his senses back and acclimatize to this very abrupt shift in circumstances, the Felyne Rescue Squad upended their cart and dumped him on the ground.

“Aaaaagh, nuts,” he grumbled, picking himself off his stomach with the aid of mechanical arms. With a bemused look raised he watched the team rush off and abruptly poof out of existence, prompting him to shake his head. He sat up and looked around, quickly identifying where he’d ended up. Just a few feet away lay the front door of Grammeowster’s Kitchen, just as he and the others left it that morning. Speaking of–Red and Mewtwo were also here, lying on the sidewalk around him. As Band took in his surroundings, the door to the restaurant swung open, revealing an unlikely quartet: Frisk, Lucia, Albedo, and somehow, Ace. Consul N, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen, and the Aether Resort was far away. Too far for him to turn up his foes’ whereabouts with a quick search.

Band breathed a sigh of relief. The memories of what happened were fresh on his mind. He didn’t understand how it happened -a frustratingly common occurrence as of late- but everyone was safe, without even a scratch to share amongst them, and he wasn’t about to question that. It was a victory snatched from the very jaws of defeat.

“Can you stand?” Albedo asked simply, his tone sharp and concise.

“...Yeah. I feel fine.” Band stood, then helped Mewtwo and Red up if they needed it.

The alchemist took a deep breath. “I’m glad to see you’re all okay. The Ace Cadet informed me that you were defeated by Edinburgh’s Consul N.”

Band chuckled wryly. “Rub it in, why doncha.” He looked out over the city in the direction of its massive central structure. North of it lay the Aether Resort and N, no doubt frustrated that his foes had somehow managed to slip through his fingers at the last possible moment. “But I don’t see it that way. Long as we’re still standin’, we can learn from our mistakes, and come back stronger. C’mon y’all, let’s duck inside before someone spots us.” With wary glances over their shoulders, the Seekers returned to the safety of the restaurant interior.

Once back in the upstairs room of the building, each with a cup of revitalizing tea in hand courtesy of the kindly old Grammeowster herself, the Seekers spread out around the main table. Those left out of the supposed reconnaissance mission were itching to know more, and in a professional fashion Band relayed everything he’d seen and experienced: L’s arrival, her speech, their happenstance meeting with Mewtwo, their decision to storm the Aether Resort, and everything that followed. His account of what the team found inside L’s mansion chilled everyone who heard it. Even the inexpressive Albedo looked rather grim when Band described the massive collection of Pokemon -and humans- frozen on display. Much to his chagrin the detective couldn’t accurately recall every last detail the two Consuls gave, but nothing carried as much immediate importance as the monologue that Red goaded N into giving them in the moments where his victory seemed assured. Of course, between the man’s vagaries and self-aggrandizing exaggerations it was almost impossible to parse out just what he meant, but Band did his best, and Albedo soaked in every last detail.

When he finished, Lucia rubbed her neck, a conflicted look on her face. “Aw, man. I feel awful I wasn’t theah ta help, but at the same time, I got no clue what I even coulda done.” She gave a helpless shrug. “Whatevah that Latency powah is, it sounds freakin’ unbeatable.”

“Sure felt that way in the moment,” Band supplied glumly. “It was all too much goin’ on at once. All these years a detective, and I couldn’t figure out a damn thing.”

Albedo, however, crossed his arms. “I don’t think it’s unbeatable. Certainly, the power to ‘obliterate time’, as N described it, is incredibly powerful. Yet that power does seemingly have its limitations, as well as one fatal flaw.” At this, Band raised a bushy eyebrow, and Albedo soon continued. “Think about it. It doesn’t sound like he stopped time, because when the ten seconds you mentioned were up, you were all in different places. Red’s sword…and Mewtwo’s orb. Even your arms.” He nodded at Band. “It was like your actions played out, but you weren’t aware of them. Yet according to your story, N said that ‘he alone could act’ in the time he erased. But if he could do that, why did he shoot you afterward, and not during?”

Band sipped his tea. “Hmm…that’s a good point. He had us right in the palm of his hands. Think he can’t attack during the time he erases?”

“That’s just a hypothesis. It could just as easily be that he chose not to for the sake of toying with you. Which brings me to my second point.” Albedo looked around at the whole group. “You described him using his power a little throughout the fight, just to nudge things in his favor. But you still managed to hit him a few times. That leaves one fatal flaw in his ability: the wielder. Which is to say, human error.” As he spoke he wrote in his notebook, keeping track of every tidbit of relevant information. “Power is only as strong as one who wields it. You managed to catch him off guard several times, or exploit his egotistical, sadistic, showboating behavior. There are few weaknesses as disastrous as overconfidence.” He snapped his book shut. “When you meet again, it may not be possible to overcome the magic. But you may be able to overcome the man.”

After a moment, Band smiled. “I like your attitude, kid. If brute force ain’t an option, we can analyze our foe and turn his own flaws against him. After all that smirkin’, I’m itchin’ for a rematch already.” With his health fully restored by the process of being carted, he felt physically up to it, and with a few extra allies at his back another showdown looked a lot more palatable. Still…Latency was a terrifying power. It would take all the Seekers’ wits to push the scales back in their favor.

“Fighting the Consuls may indeed be inevitable,” Albedo surmised. “The destruction of Alcamoth is no doubt only the latest in the long list of evils they should be made to answer for. Moreover…after thinking about what L said on the boat ride to Alcamoth, I believe that Edinburgh’s Consuls are the only ones who know the weakness of the Guardian of the Frozen Highlands.”

Band’s eyebrows went up, and he whistled. “Even better.”

“On the othah hand, based on whatcha told us, it sounds like L escaped,” Lucia pointed out. “If they got a way ta heal back up, takin’ ‘em down’s gonna be a helluva lot hahdah.”

“Yeah…L said somethin’ about a Flame Clock. You know anythin’ that fits that description?” the detective asked.

The policewoman removed her cap to scratch her head. “Clock…? Edinburgh’s got a whole loada clock towahs. If it’s real impoahtant, though…maybe it’s the big one way up at the top o’ the pumpkin’s hat?” She went over to and looked out the window. From here, all anyone could see of Edinburgh’s absurdly huge central structure were the pumpkin itself and the underside of its hat’s gear-shaped brim. “Ya gotta go way fah out from the city centah to see it, but it burns bright yellow at night. Don’t even tell the time, just fills up like the miles pah houah gauge on a dashboahd.”

“No way in hell we’re makin’ it up there in time,” Band grumbled.

“If I may, I do have a suggestion,” Albedo began. “I think we should focus all our efforts on finding Linkle. If she could fight N on even footing, we will be at a considerable advantage if we manage to join back up with her.”

The Skullgirl. A pit formed in Band’s stomach, but after a moment he swallowed and nodded his head. “I agree. Tonight after dark, we’ll find her.” Until then, however, the Seekers would need to bide their time. By Band’s best guess it was about three o’ clock. Five hours until the hunt begins.

World of Light

Sector 06 Hublink

Level 4 Goldlewis (64/40)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Karin and Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Blazermate and Susi’s @Archmage MC, Geralt and Zenkichi’s @Multi_Media_Man, Pit’s @Yankee, Raz’s @Truthhurts22, Roxas’ @Double, Benedict and Partitio’s @Dark Cloud, Tora, Giovanna
Word Count: 2507

More or less as expected, the Seekers’ reunion was a terse one. Pretty much nobody had much of anything friendly to say, even in greeting. Goldlewis was no stranger to nonchalant professionalism -the curt nod he exchanged with Giovanna was proof enough- but this reception seemed almost frosty. No doubt the loss of two of the group’s longest-serving members was a factor, and the veteran couldn’t blame them, but at the same time he hoped that wasn’t the extent of it. Considering the stakes at play here, it would be a miracle if there weren’t more losses before this campaign was through. Goldlewis hated it as much as anyone, but he understood it–such was the nature of war. More likely, the reason lay with the time spent apart. It had only been about half a day since the two subgroups first parted, even if everything that transpired during that time made it feel like three months. Still, a team was only as good as its communication.

Once the Seekers got down to the task at hand, though a solid suggestion came from an unlikely source. “That’s a mighty fine idea,” Goldlewis told Blazermate. While the team had gone over to a small lounge area after seeing the checkpoint and the sight of such a large group casually deterred passers-by, he still kept his voice down to make sure none of the security bots could listen in. “In fact, I’d go so far as to call that idea a hole in one. You’ve got my vote. Let’s work together to find a good spot for both ends on both sides.” He surrendered one of the press passes to her gladly. Unlike Susie, who’d foisted the responsibility of solving this conundrum on everyone else while offering nothing in return by taking a pass, this Medabot was earning her keep.

Midna offered a suggestion of her own once Blazermate and Goldlewis finished talking, and though prudent in its own right her idea ended up being a little redundant. Remembering the portal she placed in the hideout, he stroked his whiskers, thinking. “I reckon tech stands out less than magic,” he mused. “Let’s save ‘em for now. I betcha six ways to Sunday they’ll come in handy later on.” The Twilight Princess then brought something else up that the veteran hadn’t considered. Suddenly a little self-conscious, he looked down at his apparel with a frown. “My suit fits the bill, but after bustin’ my butt all mornin’ it’s sure seen better days. If we see an outfitter I oughta pay ‘em a visit.” He looked around at the others, examining their own appearances. Partitio’s garb might’ve been fine if he hadn’t rolled up his sleeves and gotten his hands dirty outside the city. Sakura and Raz still wore their Psych-OSF uniforms. Even those like Benedict and Karin who were well-dressed didn’t exactly ‘look the part’, Midna said. At least Giovanna looked presentable, having gotten the chance to change after the battle at HQ. Wait…that’s it! Goldlewis snapped his fingers. “The spare button-ups back at the office! They ain’t fancy or nothin’, but any metropolis worth a damn is drownin’ in white-collar workers. Y’all can blend right in.” Normally returning to the SOU headquarters would be an impossible detour at this juncture, but with Midna on the team, nothing was impossible.

Zenkichi recommended that Goldlewis take a pass, and he nodded in agreement. “I’m with ya on that one. I was thinkin’ ‘bout it anyhow so I could help Blazermate hunt down a good spot for her teleporter. Folks may recognize my face, but no-one’s got a reason to be lookin’ for me. Unlike you, Mr. Hasegawa…” He narrowed his eyes at Zenkichi, not accusatory, but concerned. “If I were you, I’d lean towards keepin’ a low profile.” Benedict echoed the same sentiment.

When Sakura gave vent to her annoyance, Goldlewis almost let out a wry, humorless laugh. Giovanna actually smiled. “You’ve got a lot to learn about the world, kid,” she chuckled. Even if it turned out she wasn’t much older than Sakura, the girl’s naivete made her feel positively mature in comparison. Her companion was right to focus on the matter at hand; the teleporter should wrap this obstacle up in a nice neat package. A grappling hook, huh? That, Giovanna hadn’t expected from Karin. Sounded like a nice thing to have.

Goldlewis found himself wearing a genuine smile, though, when Partitio introduced himself. Though he positively dwarfed the other man, and their backgrounds could scarcely be more different, the veteran felt like he’d happened upon a kindred spirit. “Howdy. And that’s Dickinson,” he corrected, reaching out his hand to shake. “Goldlewis Dickinson. And likewise. You joined up just a couple hours ago, right? Glad to have ya along for the ride, partner.”

With the meeting over with a plan of action decided upon, there wasn’t anything else to it but to do it. First, the team found a secluded spot in the parking garage nearby to build the teleporter entrance, which everyone without a pass would hang around. If Midna created a portal back to SOU headquarters, they could do whatever they needed there as well. Then Goldlewis, Giovanna, Susie, Blazermate, Karin, and Partitio would end up taking the six press passes and head back into the Hublink, though they weren’t the only ones queuing up at the security checkpoint. Midna tagged along in the group’s collective shadow, while a very glum Tora waddled along at Giovanna’s side, his hammer and toolkit stashed safely within the extradimensional space in the veteran’s coffin. After taking off their shoes -if they had them- and putting their things on the conveyor through the X-ray machine, they proceeded through the metal detector. Laden with metal accessories from cow skulls to horseshoes, Goldlewis had to take off his jacket, both belts, his gloves, and even his tie, and he still got subjected to a pat-down by a somewhat nervous-looking SBR unit. Grumbling, he put everything back on and collected his coffin as fast as he could. Giovanna, meanwhile, got stopped as she tried to go through security with Tora.

“Hey,” the SBR unit said as it stood in front of her, narrowing his optics at the Nopon. “What’s this?”

Giovanna maintained a completely straight face. “This…is my emotional support Nopon. You know, like a service dog?”

“Irony of statement have profound sting for Tora,” the morose engineer muttered beneath his breath.

The SBR unit looked down. “Did it just talk?”

“Uh, no. Are you stupid?” Giovanna nudged Tora with her foot, then patted him on the head.

The SBR unit crossed its arms, an annoyed look on its face. “Emotional support, huh? What’s it for?”

“You’re not legally allowed to ask that question,” Giovanna told him sharply. “And I’m not legally obligated to answer. Patient confidentiality.”

After a moment, the SBR’s composure broke, and it stepped aside looking sheepish. “Uh…right. Sorry ma’am. Carry on.”

One look at the group’s press passes seemed to be enough to convince the robots here that they were approved for entry, even without a fully-functioning GridLink. Once on the other side of the checkpoint, the Seekers moved quickly through the rest of the Hublink. As Goldlewis pointed out, there was no rush to find a spot for the teleporter exit that might get compromised, so together the eight boarded an outbound monorail. Soon the doors slid shut and the train began to pick up speed, quickly leaving the Hublink station behind and zooming out into the City of Glass.

The moment the view opened up in front of the train, Goldlewis couldn’t help but be impressed. In the wake of the rainstorms of that morning, the rays of sunlight piercing the clouds had opened up into whole swathes of radiant sunshine, and all of Sector 06 glittered beneath it. For starters, it boasted a unique feature no other plate had: a body of water, running all the way from the tip of the pizza slice to the ‘crust’. In fact the Hublink hung out over it, so the minute the trail left the station it was flying along a tall, single-rail bridge above the blue. This was made possible, in turn, by the defining feature of the Sector 06 undercity, Deep-Paris, it being a solid block of earth all the way from ground level to the plate with the underground slums inside it. Taking up about a third of the plate’s total surface area, the body of water wound around as a huge river as the plate itself expanded, culminating in a bay near the plate’s far end.

Occupying the lion’s share of Sector 06’s solid ground seemed to be the City of Glass proper. The view of it from here, witnessed by countless newcomers over Midgar’s lifetime, was no less striking for the Seekers than it had been for their predecessors. It was a metropolis of towering buildings, quite possibly the tallest in Midgar save the skyline-dominating Shinra Building itself, and every one of them stood proud in spotless, marble-white majesty, clothed and crowned with vast arrays of reflective crystalline glass. Tastefully sparse, geometric splotches of primary color could be glimpsed here and there in its different districts, but on the whole the place radiated an atmosphere of unadulterated ‘purity’.

On the flipside, across the water lay the other one-third of the City of Glass, a vast and colorful campus of sprawling factories and offices beneath the watchful dominion of the second-biggest skyscraper in Midgar, shaped like a colossal ‘V’ rising out of an enormous glass globe. Those who had spotted it on the helicopter ride to Sector 07 or any of the car rides since -and it was hard to miss- could finally see it in all its glory.

Goldlewis whistled. “Boggles the doggone mind,” he said, describing the view succinctly. Tora stared at the scenery, unmoved. Sure, it was pretty, but to him it just felt like a waste. This was an experience he should have shared with Poppi. After a few seconds, Goldlewis continued. “Dendenmille Showcase Theater oughta be somewhere ‘round the base of that big ol’ V, so that’s where we’re headed.”

Well before getting there, however, the monorail pulled into and stopped at another station. After making their way out, the Seekers found themselves at the waterfront overlooking Regatta Bay. Even one of the most remote parts of the City of Glass, well removed from its beating heart, was the richest-looking part of Midgar any of the newcomers had seen so far. State-of-the-art luxury sailboats and multi-level yachts -some with onboard pools- were moored at the piers by the dozens, all pure white except for the stripes and stripes of singular colors, and many more were already sailing around the bay to make the most of the afternoon sunshine. All menial tasks, from emptying trash cans to sweeping and polishing the ghost-white walkways, were accomplished by androids. There were a lot of security robots scattered around, too.

Plenty of fancy-looking people could be found milling around or attending to some manner of business, all buried in their phones and laptops as they sat in open-air cafes and restaurants. As Tora watched, four dwarves -evidently drunk already- in fine if somewhat disheveled suits skipped by, arm in arm, chanting, “We’re rich! We’re rich!” It wasn’t just formal or office wear around here, though; there was also elaborate, futuristic techwear. That produced a whole host of different looks: lady in an iridescent parka sort of thing that looked too fancy to be a raincoat, a beanie-wearer with a transparent plastic jacket, a man with green shades and even greener lipstick, and a pink-haired fellow who happened to be casting a judgmental look toward the Seekers, and more. Suddenly, Goldlewis didn’t feel quite so confident about the quality of his suit. He could only imagine what Pit, Roxas, and the others felt like. Luckily, there were plenty of boutiques around, too. The only obstacle to obtaining anything that anyone might want would be the price–which Goldlewis could only guess would be egregious.

Tora approached the railing at the water’s edge and laid his wings on it. He listened to the lap of the water against the piers, and the whisper of the wind. His eyes drifted across the bay, all the way down to the other side of the plate where Vandelay Campus lay. Among its its vast and varied edifices loomed one building in particular, not anywhere near as tall as that V but noticeable nonetheless: the Cyberlife Tower. Detroit might be the home of industry, and Night City the home of cybernetics, but this was doubtless the home of robotics. If there was anywhere he could achieve his goals, it had to be here.

“Alright, enough gawking,” Giovanna piped up after a few moments. “Let’s hurry up and find somewhere to put the teleporter already.”

This task was easier said than done. In terms of surveillance cameras, the City of Glass gave Suoh a run for its money; there were clusters of them everywhere. But Giovanna, pragmatic as ever, soon found a place where even their gaze couldn’t reach: a public restroom. She and Blazermate went inside to wait for the occupants to leave, while Goldlewis and anyone else remained outside to discourage others from entering, though luckily this area wasn’t experiencing a glut of pedestrians anyway. In short order the teleporter was constructed, and everyone else could warp through and then file out of the restroom one at a time. Before too long, Geralt, Zenkichi, Benedict, Pit, and Roxas had all joined the others to marvel at the breathtaking City of Glass.

“Alright!” Goldlewis echoed Giovanna from earlier. “Now we’re all back together, there's just two problems. Gettin’ to Vandelay Campus over there, and not raisin’ any kind o’ ruckus while we’re at it.” At this point, it was almost four o’ clock. That meant five hours to cross the City of Glass, and accomplish whatever else the Seekers wanted or needed along the way.

Tora had wandered back over to the water’s edge. He could think of no better way for the team to reach their destination than by boat. “...Maybe friends convince boatypon to give ride,” he offered sullenly. With all the people around the piers, there had to be at least one well-to-do waverider the team could solicit help from. Whether or not there’d be a price to pay, though, was anyone’s guess.

World of Light

Since it's been a couple weeks since the defeat of Consul P and we are not leaving the Home of Tears yet, I figured it might be a good idea to draft some quests (available via any commissions board found in the city) that members of Purple Team could use to occupy their time. Take a look:

Home of Tears Commissions

• Flukewarm Reception - The loathsome Fluke clan has always eked out a living in the bowels of the Royal Waterways, parasitizing the Home of Tears and its people for food. Left alone for so long, they've been multiplying unchecked, and are now spilling out of the sewers in greater numbers to infest city buildings and endanger its people. The City Mermaid Corps needs someone able to reach and open the Royal Sluice to flush them out so we can clean up the rest. Extra reward offered for each proof of Fluke slain - First Officer Lobster Siren, CMC
• Beyond One's Station - There have been several reported cases of missing travelers in King's Station recently. As much as Chief Undine wants to handle it herself, there's too much going on for us to dispatch a force there based on rumor. However, if a small team can thoroughly investigate it and report on the danger, we would be willing to compensate you for your time - First Officer Lobster Siren, CMC
• Bank Run MMDXIII - As always, we're recruiting for the weekly Bank Run. Untold riches await, so long as you can brave its dangers--and stay one step ahead of your competition! Keep in mind that you owe us 25% of everything you collect, but the rest is yours to keep. Stay alert for Ultra Greed, Goldo Golderson, and Fafnir as usual, and remember: if the teller asks, we're there to resolve the security breach! - Mammon, Avarice Holdings LLC
• Help Urgently Cnided - Rain hasn't been the only thing falling from Ash Lake recently. An entire swarm of Cnideria got sucked down through the cracks in the lakebed and rained down all over the Collection today! They're big, gooey, and very toxic; a single stung can induce enough torpor to knock someone out, so the outdoor market is in chaos. The CMC plans to dispose of them, but I need as much toxin as I can get for my potions and medicines! Gather as many as possible without knocking yourself out, and I'll reward you with magic spells, items, and elixirs - Sophie the Witch
• Cheesed to Meet You - Our workforce in Crumble Caverns is understaffed and we're unable to meet quotas. We're looking for additional contractors for procurement and protection of High-Quality Cheese - Mr Pinch
• Meat: We'll Beat it Together - We still need volunteers to help deal with the flesh that's starting growing through the cavern wall from the Womb lately. It'll be easy, barring any unexpected parasites, but tedious. Compensation based on hours labored. BBQ will be provided, and for the last time, the rumors that we're feeding you 'wall meat' are baseless and unfounded - Foreman Luggs
• Project Evening - Both of my usual helpers called in sick today. Given my duties at the clinic during the day, there are just too many children for me to handle at the Orphanage in the evening all by myself. I need help to take care of them, even just one more pair of hands would do. This involves basic lessons, keeping them company, dinnertime, playtime, and bedtime. Volunteers would need to be good with kids, cannot be too scary-looking, and cannot be humans. I don't have much, but I'll repay you however I can - Dr. Natasha