MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

World of Light

Zenkichi Hasegawa with Sandalphon

The Avenger

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (51/70) -> Lvl 7 (54/70)

Word Count: 1,642 words

Rapport Gained: 3

While the Seekers piled out of the room housing Spirit Chamber, Zenkichi belatedly realized he'd forgotten one step of the process, shaking his head in annoyance. Can't believe I forgot to do that Striker thing. The capsule containing the Spirit he'd gotten from Kamek sat in his hands, and just as he was about to step forward to get back into the Spirit Chamber, Sandalphon beat him to the punch. He nodded as he leaned against the wall, waiting to see how she'd come out.

Geralt, meanwhile, took the time to leave the majority of his legion of Strikers in the 'dugout', resulting in only the Judicator and Monsoon being available for him to call upon until he chose to exchange them later. He did not wait to see what Sandalphon emerged as, leaving as soon as he was done with a nod to the detective.

When Sandalphon emerged from the chamber, Zenkichi's eyebrows climbed. She was actually shorter than he was now, though he knew better than to mention that directly. "Oh, man, Goldlewis would get a kick out of that." He joked, giving the archangel a small smile. "It looks good. Definitely different from your original look, but also not? I was never really a fashion guy, it's kind of hard to explain." Chuckling as he reflexively rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, he nodded. "Forgot something in the chamber, so I hung back a bit. Don't let me keep you, Sandalphon. See you at the meeting?"

Naturally, Zenkichi wasn't the only one who noticed the newfound height difference. Having previously looking down on the detective, physically if not metaphorically, Sandalphon now found herself peering upward to meet his gaze, then coolly inspecting his altered form. If anything, his changes seemed more radical than hers. One would be hard-pressed to recognize the man as Zenkichi Hasegawa with his new appearance, and Sandalphon couldn't help but wonder what his daughter would think. Regardless, she still possessed her halo, which technically gave her the edge in height.

"Thank you," the archangel told him after a moment, her pupils briefly becoming stars as she returned his slight smile. Even if she didn't mean to emote more, her increased capacity for expression would be plainly evident. "I believe you look good as well," she added, being a little more direct than her counterpart. "It feels somewhat strange to look up at you now, but I don't mind it. There's something almost...angelic about you. I can only speculate, but perhaps one of your spirits happened to be of holy origin."

She ran her hand through her hair, shifting her weight slightly. For Zenkichi, subconscious displays of awkwardness or discomfort were old hat, but this was something new for Sandalphon. "I did consider going to freshen up, but I do not mind you keeping me for a moment longer, if something concerns you. I could assist you in recovering what you lost?"

Oh, that's adorable Zenkichi thought as Sandalphon's eyes transformed into stars for a moment when she replied to him, and a little bit of blush snuck through, even on his now-darkened skin, when she complimented him directly. Conflicting memories flashed for a moment, before being blinked away at Sandalphon's comment about sensing something angelic in him.

"Could be. Can be hard to tell with the Spirits, but one of the ones I fused with definitely seemed to have something like that going on." He replied, nodding slightly. When she offered to help him find whatever he had lost, he shook his head. "Ah, not quite like that. I traded with Kamek for a Spirit, and wanted to bind it to be a summon like some of the others have. Nothing too important, but figure'd I'd get it out of the way before breaking the news to Akane that I look nothing like her father anymore."

Frowning slightly, Sandalphon nodded as she realized her misunderstanding. Still, she wasn't about to move on just yet. Though Zenkichi mentioned the dissonance in an off-handed way, she was determined not to let that slide. Her sense of humor might be highly limited, but she knew that humans didn't just make jokes to make others laugh; they also sometimes joked to mask pain or misgivings. If she couldn't help out in one way, maybe she could lend a hand in another

"I see. If you're concerned, you could always try a different methodology of spirit usage. After observing the Koopa Troop, I am confident in my ability to correctly utilize the device they referred to as 'the Snaktivator' to localize spirit mutations to certain body parts. While our objective demands that we strive for more power, I believe it prudent that we endeavor to preserve what is important to us."

Zenkichi paused for a few moments, thinking it over, before nodding softly. "That's...a good point. Kamek did a quick demonstration on it, but I guess with how hectic everything was, it didn't occur to me to ask about it. Might be a good idea to track them down and see if I can get a redo...though I'll probably do that after the meeting if I do. Thanks, Sandalphon." Smiling more fully and gratefully, he turned his head over to the Spirit Chamber again.

"Definitely still planning to bind that summon, though. As long as we don't do more than two, shouldn't affect anything, at least." He added. "I'll see you at the meeting, Sandalphon. Thanks. For everything you've done for us. For me."

The archangel bowed her head, her halo dipping slightly as she did. "You're welcome, please think nothing of it." She paused for a second, considering her phrasing. Did she want Zenkichi to think nothing of it...? After a beat, though, she straightened up and gave him a tentative wave. "Goodbye for now." Then she turned to go, headed toward the showers. Though uneventful and less efficient than Sandalphon might hope, this exchange struck her as a positive interaction, and if trivial talks like this continued she couldn't imagine herself being too displeased. Her conversations with Zenkichi, Pit, Geralt, and the others had been highlights of her journey as a Seeker thus far. Hopefully, by the time the looming meeting concluded, none of them would think less of her.

After Sandalphon was gone, Zenkichi entered the Spirit Chamber and activated it once again.

For Zenkichi

New Striker Spiritbound
Sosha
A spear-wielding dragoon with a wind affinity, fiery spirit, and short cooldown. She can attack with her polearm, performing rapid stabs or a lunging stab, or perform a high jump followed up a plunging thrust that pierces defense to deal serious damage if she managed to land it. Additionally, she can be summoned to grab and carry her host prior to a landing, which will negate fall damage.

He didn't feel very different once it was done, but he did feel something, so he wasn't terribly concerned about it. He'd have to ask the others how they did it. With his business concluded here, he left the Spirit Chamber’s room and headed to the bunk area where he’d left Akane before, shooting her a text to let her know he was on his way.

Peaking his head into the room she was in, Zenkichi called out to his daughter. ”Don’t freak out, it’s me. I fused with a couple Spirits, though, so…sorry about that. I know I look a lot different.” Stepping into the room fully, he rubbed the back of his head with his hand. ”How’s Maru?”

“Holy crap, dad, you’re dark! And tall!” Akane shot out of the sofa she was sitting on, eyes wide as she looked at her father. “I’m sure Sandalphon was happy about that.” She snarked, turning away a little and folding her arms. So much was changing, and she hated it so much. Even if this ship was kind of cool, she was starting to understand why her father buried his head in the sand a bit. This was all so much, and she couldn’t do anything to help! Unless…she used her streaming skills?

“Umm, forget about her, actually, dad. Do you remember back when we lived in Japan, how I did that Phantom Thief streaming?” She hated talking about her obsession with the Phantom Thieves with her father, or at least she used to, until he tried being a good dad again. Kind of.

”Uh, yeah, I do. Why?” He asked, ignoring the comment about Sandalphon. It couldn’t have been easy for her, so he didn’t let it bother him.

“Well, I wonder if they have anything like that here? Like, to get people to rise up and fight back! Like the Phantom Thieves did with their calling cards!” Akane’s hands where held up to her chest, determination plainly visible in her eyes.

Chuckling, Zenkichi shrugged. ”Dunno, but propaganda is pretty powerful. We could ask the Lost Numbers at the meeting if they have anything like that. If not, maybe you could put that technical know-how to use with Tora and Poppi. Help them build gadgets or program stuff.” He didn’t know exactly what went into streaming, but he knew it had to involve a bunch of tech support and troubleshooting.

“I’m not really a programmer, but I guess?” Akane shrugged. She wasn’t really the engineering type, but if it helped, it helped. “Just lemme know. And, dad? You look…I dunno, kinda weird. But like…cool, too? That’s gonna take some getting used to, so don’t go and turn into a woman like that old grumpy guy did.” Zenkichi chuckled at the mention of Geralt, shaking his head.

”Actually, he just turned back into a man a few minutes ago. We got a bunch of Spirits at the carnival and used this weird super-soldier chamber on the ship to fuse with some of them.” Zenkichi explained, thinking that at least he wouldn’t go fusing with a bunch of female Spirits and risk becoming one himself. ”You good if I head on to the strategy meeting? I can text you when it’s done and we can hang out and look around the ship or something?”

Akane actually smiled a little at that, nodding. “Sure, dad. This place is huge.” Nodding, Zenkichi left the bunkroom and made his way to Bridge for the meeting.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia & Zenkichi Hasegawa

Carnival Town -> The Avenger

Lvl 13 Geralt (123/130) -> Lvl 13 (125/130) (+3 pending)

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (49/70) -> Lvl 7 (51/70)

Word Count: 783 words

As everybody gathered and activated their Fulton devices, Geralt grimaced. She'd already been dreading this, but now that it was time to do it, nearly every part of her wanted to rebel against it. The only solace was the inevitable unconsciousness that blissfully rendered her unaware of the insanity that was this decision. Almost as soon as the fulton pulled them upwards, Geralt blacked out. Zenkichi, following in her footsteps with a gulp and a sigh, was out moments after.

When they came to, it was back aboard the Avenger. Some of the others marveled at the technological masterpiece before them, while others were more focused on the current goal: use some of these Spirits they just got! Neither Geralt nor Zenkichi were opposed to the idea, so they went along with the others without complaint. They'd be gathering for a meeting afterwards, likely to decide the Seekers' next destination(s), but for now it was off to the Spirit Chamber, whatever that was.

Fitting name, Zenkichi mused, when the group arrived at the Spirit Chamber, the strange machine at the center of it all taking most of the group's attention. He wasn't sure what Alcamoth had been like, but hearing this thing be described as like it, but 'creepy' gave him a few ideas, none of which he was sure was entirely correct. Still, as Deadman began to give his explanation, he almost agreed with her. It was a little creepy, but nonetheless extremely useful.

Both he and Geralt hummed ever so noticeably at the mention that the Lost Numbers had no Spirits, though that tracked based on what Dawn had mentioned earlier. They weren't part of Galeem's 'database' or whatever they had called it, which posed some incredibly awkward questions about the people who were a part of it. What, exactly, happened to Spirits when they faded being the first.

Putting those morbid thoughts aside, Geralt and Zenkichi took part in some quick trading before things really got underway. Geralt traded one of his capsules to the dour-looking thief, Therion, and gave one to Goldlewis with an apology, "For what happened in the fight with those Chimeras." Zenkichi, meanwhile, traded a Spirit capsule with Kamek, marking their first interaction. He still had no idea how to deal with his own knowledge about Bowser and his family, though he got the feeling Rika wasn't related to them by blood. With how Spirits worked, though, that was all it was.

With the Spirit Chamber back up and running thanks to Nadia, and some valuable info having been granted by the Magikoopa, all they had to do was wait their turn. Geralt was looking over her capsules, thinking about what to do, while Zenkichi already had a pretty good idea.

Eventually, Geralt's turn came, and she stepped into the Spirit Chamber with a deep breath, ready to see how much she'd change.

Geralt Reset Results

Spirits Fused: Tartaglia, Flynn Scifo, Barbatos (Ardor Blossom), Shinobi (Ardor Blossom)
Spirits Defused: Harbor Water Demon
Powers Lost: Lightning Infusion, Breaching Bastion, and Bombing Flight
Weakness Lost: Big Deal

Tartaglia: This spirit confers the ability Foul Legacy: Raging Tide, which allows the host to enter a melee stance endowed with weapons of pure Hydro energy. This allows him to execute quick attacks with dual blades, or stronger attacks with a joined twinblade. All attacks in this stance apply the Wet status, and critical hits apply Riptide, which deal additional Hydro attacks when triggered. This spirit also confers the Weakness Self-imposed Self-improvement, which makes him much more inclined to choose the weapon he's least proficient with when starting a fight

Flynn Scifo: This spirit grants the ability Demon Fang, which sends a cutting shockwave along the ground to deal unaspected slash damage. This spirit also confers the weakness Disaster Chef, which automatically ruins any food he cooks, making it downright toxic to those without sufficient poison resistance

Barbatos: This spirit grants the ability Ground Shaker, a powerful stomp that unleashes a wave of heavy dark explosions forward, although it must by charged by dealing damage. This spirit also grants the Weakness Shapeshift Limit, which puts a timer on how long the host can remain in his Ardor Blossom Identity before reverting to default, incurring a cooldown before the host can become Ardor Blossom again. While this timer normally lasts 30s, taking damage decreases it according to the damage taken

Shinobi: This spirit grants the ability Shuriken Shower, which summons a rain of 14 shadow-infused ninja stars in an area, though this must be charged by dealing damage. The 14th star deals 58% more damage, and this ability also energizes the host and nearby allies, decreasing stamina usage and boosting stamina regen. This spirit also confers the Weakness Light Bane, increasing the damage taken from the light element by 25%

The host is slightly taller than normal, thought not by much. His hair is a pale strawberry blond, and his armor is now a suit of half-plate, with his legs and arms covered by leather underneath the plates on his thighs and forearms. He looks a bit more youthful, though a tinge of madness still peaks through his bright, blue eyes. From the shoulders of his gear extend two half-capes of a slightly translucent white material that is mistakable for silk when dry. Personality-wise, Geralt is a bit conflicted. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.

As LCCB Assistant Manager, the host is adorned in riot gear, wielding a riot shield and a pistol. His orange-white hair is voluminous, flowing down to his hips.

As Ardor Blossom, the host has gained a noticeable amount of size, his skin has darkened and become hardened and scaly. His armor has transformed into a heavy tan jacket with a black undershirt, and he wears orange pants beneath it. His eyes are a bright orange, while his hair has become a darker orange. In this form, Geralt has rudimentary draconic wings that can be used to lengthen his jumps and buffet enemies with wind, but not fly. He has grown large horns on either side of his head, and his hands end in vicious claws. His demeanor is more dour and quicker to anger in this form.

Stepping out of the Spirit Chamber with the Harbor Water Demon Spirit in his hands, Geralt looked at himself, gently patted himself down, and breathed a tremendous sigh of relief. "Finally, I have a...I'm a man again." He quickly corrected, not wanting to be too vulgar, especially in front of Junior. Stepping out of the way to enjoy his new identity and get used to his new armor and appearance, he looked at the other Seekers before his eyes paused on Nadia. A quick memory from the Deep Blue Seaside flashing through his mind, he gave the faintest ghost of a smile before approaching.

"Nadia. Seem to recall you having an eye on this." He simply said, holding the Spirit of the Harbor Water Demon out in offer. "I think you'd make good use of it."

As they spoke, Zenkichi stepped into the chamber, anticipation building through him.

Zenkichi Fusion

Spirits Fused: Ike and Tyrael
Ike: This spirit grants the ability Eruption, which causes blue flames to build up on the host's sword when its held with both hands facing the ground. These flames continue to intensify over the course of a couple seconds, during which the host's stance is extremely difficult to break at all, until the blaze tops out. When the sword is finally plunged down, it unleashes pillars of flame that deal heavy damage and guard break. A longer charge boosts the size, damage, and number of eruptions. This spirit also confers the Weakness Weapon Trilemma: Sword which decreases the host's accuracy against (but increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding polearms, including spears, lances, halberds, javelins, scythes, and so forth by 15%
Tyrael: This spirit grants the ability Smite, which calls down a blast of the host's primary element in an area to deal damage. It leaves behind a field that boosts allies' movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds. The field itself lasts for 6 seconds, the same as the ability's cooldown, though it still takes a chunk of SP to use. This spirit also confers the Weakness Mana Hungry, increasing the SP cost of all skills by approximately 10%

The host has gotten taller, standing at about 6 feet, 4 inches tall, in addition to gaining some visible muscle mass. His skin has darkened further, and his hair has turned a dark blue while shortening to reach his ears. His suit has been replaced with a dark blue tunic and gray pants, and he has gained some armor pieces. His shoulders are covered by pauldrons, while his forearms and shins are protected by vambraces and greaves. Personality-wise, the host has become less bound by a sense of duty to order, and more inclined to follow his own personal ideals of honor and justice.

Stepping out, Zenkichi hummed as he looked himself over. "Oh, that's a hell of a tan. Like I spent all summer in Okinawa." He joked. Overall, the appearance change wasn't too bad. He even got some armor out of it. "Oh, wait a second. Oh, I'm taller. Oh wow." Chuckling, he quickly got out of the way of the next person, running his hand through his hair. "Like, I wasn't short before, but now I am tall. I feel like an American." Looking over his other Spirit capsules, he sighed and decided that was best left for later. Maybe that Vulgrim guy would have something for him, or he could try to get the giant Bee lady to let him use that stuff to get better things from his Spirits. And fusing that vest would be useful, just so he didn't have to worry about it...

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia & Zenkichi Hasegawa

Carnival Town

Lvl 13 Geralt (116/130) +6 Collab XP -> Lvl 13 (123/130) (+1 pending)

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (45/70) +3 Collab XP -> Lvl 7 (49/70)

Word Count: 694 words

When Geralt opened her eyes again, it was back on the roulette table, with Ballyhoo getting ready to bring the Seekers into yet another game. Sandalphon, however, interrupted the magical MC, much to the surprise- and consternation- of some of the Seekers. Her quick explanation that they would be charged for the next game and any after, however, got the Seekers' immediate thanks for sparing their wallets such a horrible fate.

When the group was deposited back in the Big Top, Geralt and Zenkichi both took a moment to get their heads on straight. They'd done a lot of gaming, and a lot of teleporting, much to the Witcher's annoyance. At least, for now, it was over. Geralt stepped away from the others and took a series of deep breaths, shaking off the teleportation fatigue. Zenkichi, on the other hand, was staring at the Orb Machine that had been mentioned. It was, basically, a big old Gachapon machine that allegedly gave out Spirits. That would be useful, though Zenkichi hadn't really done anything with any Spirits so far, just fusing with that one guy, and basically crushing everything else, even Konoe. Though, he wouldn't want to fuse with Konoe anyway, either for the megalomania, the delusions of heroism, or the trauma.

While the others lined up to get Spirits, Geralt went to the barber and decided to get her hair cut and styled into a short ponytail, not unlike one she'd used herself as a man back on the Continent. While the color was a bit more vibrant now, it was not terribly different from how she'd previously styled it. "Thank you," Geralt simply offered, furnishing the cost of one token. Compared to the potential of a Spirit, a haircut felt a bit costly, but she also wasn't terribly keen on having to handle a dozen Spirits.

Zenkichi had gone straight for the outfits, grabbing a simple black suit like the one he wore normally, a policeman's uniform, a HAZMAT suit, a smart-looking bowler hat, and a cute little tiara (for Akane). He got a bag for his purchases, and then got in line to get some Spirits from the Gacha machine. "Man, a Gacha machine, huh...been a while since I played with one of these guys." He casually mused, hands in his pockets. "Reminds me of home."

Geralt had also picked up a few outfits, one a refined noble's outfit not unlike she'd been forced to wear to King Bran's funeral. It was more suited for a man, but she could make it work, assuming the Spirits she got didn't tip the scales back that way anyway. She also picked a strange-looking outfit that was described as a "Military BDU". She didn't recognize the random-looking patterns on it, but it seemed interesting enough to take. Finally, she got a more modern-looking semi-formal outfit, consisting of a button-up shirt, pants, and a charcoal gray sports jacket before joining the line to get Spirits from the Orb Machine.

As the others got their orbs and mingled, Geralt thought on what she overhead Sandalphon and Dawn talking about. Another Consul. They've really stepped up their activities against us. Can't say I blame them, with five Guardians already down. Must be worried by now. It was to be expected, she supposed, that Galeem had more agents than the seemingly uncaring Guardians. They did little beyond stay in their domains, as far as she'd seen. Though part of her dreaded the idea that they'd start acting against the Seekers alongside the Consuls. It was no matter. They'd fight them if such a thing came to pass, as they fought them already.

Finally, the pair had grabbed their six orbs each, not taking much time to examine them carefully. They could do that onboard the Avenger. While a few people complained about not standing to fight, Geralt nearly rolled her eyes. They'd all fought a Guardian today, half of them fought two Consuls, and she had a feeling the Under team likely had to deal with one, or at least their schemes, as well.

Running to live and fight another day was the smart move.

World of Light

Witch One - In the Shoppes

^{Geralt, Pit, Zenkichi, Therion, Nadia, Roland
@Yankee, @Lugubrious, @Archmage MC
Words: 2,691 (+3)}

After settling into his hiding place, Therion hadn’t expected the door of the shop to open before their ninety second time was up. He tipped his head back against the wall with a thunk when he saw both Roland and Ms. Fortune enter the potter’s house. Thankfully the latter left as soon as she realized that three would be a crowd, though Therion understood why this was her first pick, just as it had been his. The two of them seemed to have a lot in common in addition to being thieves, and that the similarities kept growing as they took in spirit fusions hadn’t escaped his notice.

Roland though, he could only guess at. He knew almost nothing about him, but from what he’d seen in the minigames so far the man was swift and dark. Maybe he was some type of rogue himself. When it was apparent he was staying put, Therion was initially annoyed - but quickly realized this was a boon for himself. Roland was disguised as a vase, the same as him, but he had gone for a “natural” spot while Therion was hidden even while disguised. The shop wasn’t that large, so if someone came in and found Roland, it was likely they’d leave without a second glance at the rest of the pots. In his little vase form Therion nudged the door so it would close again, then crouched and held still. It had been a few seconds since their time limit ended, so all that was left to do now was wait.

Meanwhile Roland’s plan was… close to what Therion was thinking but not quite exactly what he’d be expecting. Roland would wait for seekers to come in, and if they didn’t discover him, he’d leave and go to their spawn tower and hide there. They’d be very unlikely to discover him there as it's rare for people to look for others in places they think are safe.

Zenkichi, meanwhile, silently awaited the inevitable arrival of one of the seekers in the Ironworks, the ambient sounds of the Halloween-themed town providing a somewhat ominous backdrop to his wait.

About a minute after the game had begun, Geralt arrived in what could be described as the mercantile area of the fictional town, nose drawing him ever closer to the hiders. Her first stop was the Weaver’s House, driven less by the pull of her nose and more by a desire to be sure. If she overlooked places because her senses didn’t draw her to them, she could easily miss the others.

The abode was stuffed to bursting with textiles and cloth, which Geralt frowned at. Most of these wouldn’t serve terribly well to hide the others, but she still did her due diligence, knocking over quilts and blankets on small shelving units, tearing tapestries off the wall, and overturning pieces of furniture. After about a minute, she moved on, satisfied that she’d torn the place up enough to dislodge any hiders that might have been around, and having found none.

Next, she entered the Ironworks, the heavy scent of iron and coal in the air, masking all but the slightest whiff of cheap cologne. Zenkichi she thought, and set about the place, searching for the Phantom Thief with ruthless efficiency. She knocked on anvils, tipped over a few cauldrons, and even stuck her sword into a dummy. When she reached a safe along the wall of the building, Zenkichi struck in a panic, shoving her aside in a moment of surprise, before she went after him. A familiar cry of ”Sukukaja!” had her biting back a curse, as the Phantom Thief suddenly picked up a burst of speed. Her feet thundered as she chased the man into the town.

“Dammit, get back here, you know I’ll catch up!” She called out, every step taking her closer.

”All I gotta do is waste enough time!” Zenkichi taunted, taking a corner and running for his proverbial life.

As they sprinted by the other shops in the merchant quarter, the players inside them moved not a centimeter.

That was fast, Therion thought to himself, listening to the pair of footsteps gradually get further away before turning and coming back around. Every second Zenkichi used up was another in his teammate's favor, so hopefully he could keep it up for a little longer. Roland meanwhile was already looking for his exit as they sprinted through. He waited a bit for Zenkichi to get further away but when he was sure eyes weren’t on him, he noticed a commotion at the spawn point and went back to his spot. Seemed like someone else had an idea similar to his, so it would be a bit before he could make his move.

Geralt’s chase with Zenkichi was quickly becoming a rushdown, so Zenkichi did whatever he could to slow Geralt down. He turned corners, climbed into the Weaver’s House when they ran passed it and tossed a rolled-up carpet Geralt’s way, and slammed the door behind him, pressing his weight against it to keep Geralt out. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten Geralt’s strength underneath her feminine physique, and she kicked the door right off its hinges, sending the Phantom Thief sprawling to the ground. He hardly had a chance to get to his knees before the Unicorn horn plunged into his back, with an ”Ah, dammit” marking his defeat.

With one down, Geralt returned to her search, though she was a bit less methodical now that Zenkichi had wasted so much time. Instead of going places her nose wasn’t directing her, she went straight to the place she could smell the most activity at: the Potter’s House. Opening the door and closing it behind her, Geralt’s smirk belied her brutal, yet effective tactic. Lifting one hand in the air, she cast the Sign of Aard and shattered about two-thirds of the pottery in the place in one fell swoop.

“Well, thats just cheating!” Roland thought. He’d need to slip out when Geralt wasn’t looking his way. Granted if she just kept doing that, doing that might be hard..

With a majority of the pottery out of the way, Geralt took a deep breath and surveyed the room. It’d be at least a few more seconds before she could even think about using another Sign again, and even that’d be pushing it. So, she grabbed the nearest vase and shoved it over into the one next to it, then spun and kicked the one that was now behind her.

The situation wasn't looking great for the two men hiding, since Geralt's magic left only a few pots standing. Naturally, the hiders disguises remained untouched, which was just about the most suspicious thing ever. Thankfully for Therion, since he was nearby the door where Geralt stood, the blast of Aard in front of her didn't hit the pottery alongside his wall. But things were still too close for comfort, especially for him, since now it looked like she was just going to break every vase in this place. And his was just about next. So Therion was of the same mind as Roland - he would escape at the first chance he got.

Unlike Roland though, Therion was putting a plan into action. And throwing Roland under the bus while he did it.

As Geralt surveyed the interior, Therion quickly flicked a dart at the pot Roland was hiding in. Technically they were on the same team, but if given the choice of course the thief was always going to prioritize himself. The clink of the dart against the ground where Roland hid would hopefully draw her attention that way instead.

Geralt’s head jerked to the side, eyes locking onto the sound of the dart hitting the ground as she carefully watched each pot. Slowly walking over, she took another deep breath and decided to go all in. It’d be a pain, but she’d dealt with worse. Once more, her hand raised, and she drew a Sign in the air, launching another blast of telekinetic force at the remaining pots on this side of the room, destroying all but one. “Found you.”

And while Geralt dealt with Roland, as her back was turned, Therion practically slithered up and out of the open window. His disguise broke as crossed the threshold into the outside, at which point he broke into a sprint. He didn't even feel bad about it.

”That little…” Roland said, making a break for it now that he was discovered. He was much faster than Zenkichi and made a run for it like Therion, although in the opposite direction. Now Geralt had to make a choice on who to go for. Although if he didn’t go after Roland, finding him by sound would be difficult as Geralt noted that as Roland moved, even if he stepped on the shattered clay pottery, no sound was made.

Geralt went for Roland, drawing the Unicorn Horn into her hands even as she called out for the other seekers to hunt Therion down while he made a break for it. She wasn’t sure if anybody was close enough to do so, but it never hurt to try. And while Roland was fast, unless he had some serious tricks up his sleeve, this would end just as it did with Zenkichi- the speed boost from continuously chasing him, combined with Geralt’s own natural speed, would inevitably overwhelm the Fixer.

Roland did have a trick though, thanks to his silent movement once he left the building he clearly moved left, with Geralt being able to see him do so. However once he was out of line of sight, he did some fancy acrobatics to hop over the doorframe and instead ran right moving a few dozen feet before finding a new prop to disguise as outside. Although this time it was just a tree, nothing fancy.

Geralt paused when she turned the corner, and Roland was nowhere to be found. She looked around for any disturbances, before sighing and taking another deep breath. The fresh scent trail Roland had left behind filled her nose, and followed it to the outside of the Potter’s House. With how recent and fresh the trail was, Geralt wasted no time in bullrushing the disguised Fixer. There weren’t enough other props nearby for her to run her lives out on, and with two lost ‘tries’ in her haste, Geralt tagged Roland after a moment. “Okay. Who’s left…” She mused, looking around and taking another deep breath to find another trail.

Therion's plan hadn't gone perfectly considering Geralt had noticed his escape, but at the very least it accomplished what he'd wanted: getting the seeker to go after someone else while he escaped. Now, while Geralt was dealing with Roland, Therion was already a few blocks away. He ducked into an alleyway, crouching and pressing his back against the wall of a building. He peeked out around it into the street.

Geralt wasn't the only seeker he had to worry about, just the closest one. He'd heard the shouting from somewhere near their starting point, so someone was likely over that way - leaving two other seekers unaccounted for. He stuck to the ground because the rooftops were just wide open space, way too easy to spot someone moving up there. On the streets, he could find cover a lot easier. Not to mention he knew that Kamek would be flying and the other one, Pit, probably was too considering he had wings.

After a moment to make sure the coast was clear, Therion moved again. He slipped down the alley and took a turn, continuing to put distance between himself and the potter's house. He went in a new direction, keeping under awnings as much as possible while he scoped out potential new hiding places. As he entered another alley, a shadow passed above him. The hairs on his neck stood up and his tail fluffed out. His senses, both naturally honed and the acquired cat-like ones, told him to run.

He dove into an evasive roll just as the shadow dropped down onto the space he'd just been in, the unicorn horn striking the cobblestone instead of its target. "Dang it!"

As Therion popped back up onto his feet, he saw Pit doing the same. Exchanging no words with the boy, Therion broke into a run away from him. Naturally Pit gave chase. Until Pit's speed boost kicked in, the thief was going to put as much distance between them as possible by leveraging his higher natural speed. Ultimately he couldn't lose Pit though, no matter how much he weaved through town, and when accidentally led them into a dead end the angel assumed the jig was up.

"There!" he said thrusting the horn at Therion's back as the thief came up to the wall in front of them. He was met with a retort, and the horn striking brick as Therion jumped up and kicked off of the wall back over Pit's head. "I don't think so."

He took off again, chucking pumpkins and various other items behind him as he ran. More than once he successfully fended off the angel's horn, causing an accidental 'mistake' for the seeker as he jabbed forward. Although Pit would have much rather had Therion take a stand like Midna had, the chase was kind of fun too - until he got a jack-o-lantern in the face. "Bwh-!"

Therion sped off the way he'd originally come from. He zipped around the side of another shop, breaking line of sight, with the intent to quickly find a hiding place and fool his pursuer. Unfortunately when he turned the corner, he ended up staring Geralt down just a few dozen feet away. She must have finished up with Roland already and doubled back!

"Crap," Therion muttered under his breath. He slid to a near-stop and turned in one fluid motion in order to flee - which is when Pit caught up, sandwiching Therion between the two seekers. The angel lunged, finally catching Therion with a poke. When the thief exploded into confetti, he heaved a sigh and flicked his tail in spectral form. The game was against the hiders from the start, so no big deal.

Pit grinned at Geralt, giving her a peace sign with his fingers. "Almost done!" He informed her before running off to continue the hunt.

“Good catch.” Geralt simply said when she saw Pit take Therion down. That distraction out of the way, she returned to her searching by way of nose. Of the three that entered the Potter’s House other than her own, only one remained: Nadia Fortune. Knowing what she was capable of, Geralt wasn’t looking forward to the search. She could have launched herself into some near-impossible to reach spot, or hidden her body parts in random locations all over the town. With only ninety seconds to hide before they started, however, the smart bet would not be to hobble halfway across town to her last spot.

Following the blood-tinged smell of wet cat, Geralt stood outside the Botanist’s House. The scent trail was heavily muddied by the earthy aromas filling this place. Opening the door, Geralt hummed. She didn’t have terribly much time. Igni could make short work of this place, though it risked Nadia being hidden in the smoke, or some actual harm.

Instead, she went back to her previous tried-and-true method: Aard. Clay shattered with the telekinetic burst of force, sending dirt and leaves all over the house. A table splintered against the wall, bags of soil bursting under the pressure and spilling their contents. “Know you’re in here.” Geralt muttered, knocking over one of the remaining pots, part of a leg falling out. “Wonder if this’ll work.” She mused, poking the leg with the Unicorn horn.

With a puff of confetti, Nadia was eliminated from the game. “Huh. Honestly wasn’t sure, but it makes sense. Would hardly be fair to have to get every part, or just one specific one to get her.” Shrugging, Geralt stepped out of the Botanist’s House and closed her eyes.

World of Light

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Carnival Town

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (44/70) -> Lvl 7 (45/70)

Word Count: 449 words

It wasn't much longer before Zenkichi's taxi finally gave up the ghost, slowing to a stop about a quarter of the way from his next destination, and he sighed. "Dang. Well, can't imagine I did too bad." His supposition was answered immediately, as the moment his run officially ended, so too did the minigame.

Appearing back on the roulette wheel, Zenkichi hummed. "Wait, does that mean I came in-woah, oh boy!" He stepped rapidly away from Nadia and Juri continuing their fight, idly noticing Midna fighting a Ganondorf not too far away either. Another Ganondorf was on the roulette wheel, pointedly not fighting Midna, so...he had no idea what that was about but was willing to chalk it up to magical shenanigans, especially when the one Midna was fighting shattered once she got a good hit on it. Okay, that was weird...and oh, guess Nadia was going for the Friend Heart, but why'd she start before the game ended? Did she forget we can't hurt each other?

Musings aside, Zenkichi was pleasantly surprised to find out that the last game they'd be playing was a modified version of hide and seek. Though, this version seemed...somewhat violent, with the seekers having to stab the hiders with a 'unicorn horn.' Cutesy as that was, some part of Zenkichi wondered if the stabbing part would hurt or not. He didn't have much time to think on it before they found themselves in a spooky little town. It reminded him of stuff he'd seen from American media about Halloween, and even at a few parties in Japan in the last few years. "Huh, that's kinda cute." He chuckled, looking around and finding Sandalphon, Ganondorf, Juri slinking off to hide right off the bat, and the others. It looked like Geralt, Pit, and the two members of Bowser's crew that weren't Bowser himself, or Junior, would be hunting.

"Oh, we're in trouble." He mentioned to the others who were still around. "Geralt's job is basically hunting stuff down, and when we were in Midgar, he tracked a lady through a battlefield by scent alone. We're gonna need really good hiding spots if we wanna avoid her." The seriousness of his warning aside, Zenkichi had a small smile on his face as he ran off from the others, making a beeline for the Ironworks. Looking around at all the options available to him, Zenkichi quickly used his Mimic Tear to disguise as a large safe, nestling himself in what he figured was a fairly good spot. With only a minute and a half total time, he would rather pick and spot that might work than be caught unawares.

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia & Zenkichi Hasegawa

Carnival Town

Lvl 13 Geralt (115/130) -> Lvl 13 (116/130) (+1 pending)

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (43/70) -> Lvl 7 (44/70)

Word Count: 719 words

Geralt crashed into another car, still not having fully internalized how traffic worked, and her fare threw his hands up and shoved the door open, storming out of the vehicle without paying. She groaned, looking around for a new fare and making her way to the green zone to pick up a new person. Hopefully, this one wouldn't need to go so far. 'Take me to Catbird Grove!' The woman demanded, and Geralt nodded, looking to see what direction that was. It wasn't too far from where they were at, but it wasn't particularly close, either. Further still, she didn't have a whole lot of time left, having taken so long to get a hang of controlling a vehicle. So, she put her foot to the accelerator, and they were off.

A patch of Junior's goop was in the road, and Geralt groaned when she realized there was no way around it without wasting even more time. "Oh, that kid..." she grumbled as the taxi drove over the goop, and for a few moments, completely lost traction, sliding forward without any response to Geralt's attempts to control the car. After those few moments, however, the tires caught the road, and despite a little fish-tailing, Geralt managed to get her fare to their destination with seconds to spare. Unfortunately, those seconds were not enough to reach the next fare, and the vehicle sputtered and halted, leaving Geralt eliminated from the game. "Well...that was miserable." She groaned, before shrugging and exiting the taxi. "Might as well have a look around while those lunatics have at it."

One of said lunatics, Zenkichi, was still having the time of his life, though once he started seeing the other Seekers, things got a little too hectic. He got caught by Nadia on her rampage of crashing into as many of the Seekers as she could find, and between Bowser's massive vehicle and Junior's goop, it was hard not to get knocked a little off track by the Koopa Troop. Zenkichi had one thing most of the other Seekers didn't have, even if they knew how to drive cars: City driving experience. Sure, he didn't drive any crazy places like New York City (he'd heard dreadful rumors of traffic in that accursed place, and not even he would be willing to brave it), but Tokyo was one of the most densely-populated cities in the world, and he made it through just fine. Avoiding the nearly suburban traffic of Grapital City, in comparison, was a piece of cake.

'Take me to Payback Square!' 'I need to go to the Grapital Building!' 'Jobber Flats!' 'Bold Coast!' Passengers called out their demands, and Zenkichi dutifully met them. He cut down on the stunts after the first few rough landings, instead focusing on just getting people to their places, though if he saw a perfectly-placed ramp truck, he couldn't say no to it. It was like being an action movie hero, launching into the air and crashing back to the earth.

He laughed, driving along to get this fare to their destination, when he passed Roxas and Sandalphon sitting down for a chat. He slowed to a crawl as he did, honking quickly and giving the pair a quick wave before jetting back off. At one point, he saw the catgirl, Nadia, fighting with Juri, and sped up to get well out of their way. Far be it from him to butt into a catfight. Nooooo, thank you!

Geralt, meanwhile, was wandering around Catbird Grove, just enjoying the small park, there, when she decided to take a seat in the grass and try to meditate. It had been a while since she'd had the time to do so, and even with the distant sounds of engines, horns, and chaos, she found her mind slowing, until only one thought occupied it: Ciri. The face of her daughter, the long scar on her cheek, and she sighed. There was so much going on, and Geralt felt no closer to finding her than she was when she was first awoken from Galeem's curse. As her eyes opened, and she rose, Geralt swore a silent oath. "I will find you, Ciri, and I will free you from Galeem. And when the time comes, we'll stop it together. It's not my story. It's yours."

World of Light

Geralt of Rivia & Zenkichi Hasegawa

Carnival Town

Lvl 13 Geralt (97/130) +3 +3 +5 +5 Collab XP -> Lvl 13 (115/130) (+1 pending)

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (23/70) +4 +4 +4 +6 Collab XP -> Lvl 7 (43/70)

Word Count: 838 words

Both Zenkichi and Geralt were pleasantly surprised with their results. Geralt wasn't terribly surprised her, Junior, Midna and Goldlewis didn't pull off a victory, especially given the frosty reception their video got at the beginning. Zenkichi, on the other hand, celebrated a bit, happy to have trusted Juri to direct their film, and he waved to the woman and said as much. "I'd like to thank our wonderful director, Juri, for this award!" He joked, mimicking the style of an American celebrity receiving an award. "But seriously, thanks. I don't think I could've done half as good a job behind the camera."

Rewards and thanks out of the way, all there was to it was to wait to see what was next. When Ballyhoo announced the name of the game, something tickled in the back of Zenkichi's brain. That was...strangely familiar, but not quite right. Almost like a sense of deja vu when you knew that what you were experiencing couldn't have happened before. The explanation only furthered the feeling, but without much time to think on it, they were transported to the next game.

---

"Oh my god it's Crazy Taxi. Wow, I haven't played that game in years. Since college, I guess." Zenkichi sighed at the memory, half-drunkenly playing with his friends on the coveted Dreamcast, yelling at the current player to distract them and try to get the best score. Good times.

Hopping into the taxi, he chuckled a little and shook his head. "Man, this isn't even fair. I bet most of these guys had never even seen a car until a few days ago. I'm gonna smoke 'em." He knew that a local famous racer was around, but other than that, he wasn't afraid of the competition in the slightest.

On another island, Geralt stared at the vehicle in disbelief. Shaking her head, she quickly climbed inside and took a seat. Her eyes widened at the sheer number of displays staring at her, but looking around quickly found her an instructional booklet entitled 'KOOKY CABBIES FOR DUMBIES'. Glaring at the insulting pamphlet, she nonetheless opened it and started scanning for ways to operate this thing. "Turn the key and hold? These things use keys, huh? Simple enough, I suppose." Searching for, and easily finding, the key to the ignition, she turned it, cringing a little as the engine started rumbling. "Okay, now...right pedal accelerates, left brakes. Easy enough. And the wheel steers. Stop at the marks to pick up fares, then bring them to the indicated positions. Let's try this, then." She was resigned to her inevitable fate, but would at least attempt to partake.

Pushing her right foot down on the accelerator, Geralt lurched as the taxi's tires squealed, launching her directly into a palm tree as she attempted to correct course. She grunted at the impact, before frowning. She was stuck. Quickly grabbing the pamphlet, she started flipping through it viciously.

Zenkichi, meanwhile, had picked up a medium fare and was already well on his way. He wove in and out of traffic, though the unrealistic physics of the Kooky Cab took some getting used to. Still, he was having a blast, hooting and hollering as he launched the car off the 'ramp' of a vehicle-transporting truck, just like the movies. His fare let out an enthusiastic 'O-kay!' to signify that he landed the jump right. Oh, man, was this nostalgic! After a short, hectic drive, Zenkichi drifted into the drop-off zone, already looking for the next fare. He barely registered his fare shoot up, the customer offering a tip for 'speedy service.' Nodding gratefully, he decided to go for a real challenge: a red fare. He was going for gold here, and if it didn't work out, he still already had six chips between his win and the first mini-game, so he was pretty okay with that.

This fare, unfortunately, didn't want to go very far, and Zenkichi held back a groan. This was practically gonna be a waste of time. Still, he did what he was here to do, and put the pedal to the metal, crashing into a car that was zooming by in his blind spot. His fare berated him, but Zenkichi just shook his head and focused on the road. It was just a game, and the other car recovered quickly and drove off as well.

Geralt, having finally figured out the gear shift, put her cab in reverse and lightly tapped the accelerator, inching away from the palm tree with a groan. She turned the wheel to the side to extricate herself from the position she was in, slowly freeing her vehicle before looking for somebody to drive. Finding a passenger with a green marker, she shifted back into drive and approached them, going just a little too slow. When she finally stopped, the passenger strode up to the car and got in, asking to be driven to the other side of town.

This was going to be a long game...

World of Light

Film Those Freaks - Juri’s Still Out I

Zenkichi’s @Multi_Media_Man, Ganondorf’s @Double, Juri’s @Zoey Boey, Level 7 Sandalphon (31/70)
Word Count: 3381 (+4)

Out of the four assembled, the first to take initiative toward their shared goal turned out to be the stranger. Not visibly perturbed by Juri’s lack of manners, Sandalphon observed as the woman sauntered over and procured the camera. The way she handled the device suggested a level of familiarity, which Juri then backed up by claiming leadership over the little group. Though that made for a bold assertion, undermined somewhat by her dismissiveness toward Sandalphon. It was true the archangel didn’t hail from a technological world, but she had learned a great deal during her time in Midgar, definitely enough to form a basic understanding of the task at hand. She chose not to belabor the point, however. Instead she kept quiet to give Juri a chance to prove herself, and the martial artist quickly explained her confidence.

Apparently Juri had found a great deal of success on an analogous social media platform in the past, meaning she had plenty of experience with making quality videos. Without giving the others a chance to interject, she proceeded to demonstrate her know-how by recording a quick but effective introduction for the video to come. When she realized she was being filmed, Sandalphon stiffened up with widened eyes, not at all sure how to act. Of course, it was over just a moment later, and Juri followed up by sharing an important tidbit of information. While Sandalphon didn’t plan to engage in vulgarity regardless, and Juri’s liberal indulgence in it would take a little getting used to, she nodded in sagacious appreciation at the trade secret. Faced with this demonstration, the archangel couldn’t help but be impressed; Juri had shown she meant business and already knocked out an important part of the content process, all while conserving crucial seconds. With her in charge, the team’s chances of doing well in this competition seemed very good.

“In that case, we’ll be in your capable hands. For as long as we cooperate, your wish is my command.” Sandalphon bowed her head in pre-emptive thanks, her effulgent golden-rimmed halo dipping slightly. “We are fortunate to have you, Juri.” The archangel had not missed her newest acquaintance’s name-drop during her self-aggrandizement.

In sharp contrast to Juri, Ganondorf remained stoically silent for the time being. And also in sharp contrast to Sandalphon, he didn’t look as welcoming to the vulgar girl as she was. But he voiced no opinion on the matter either, having little to no grasp on the concept of videos, let alone something as modern as an internet video platform like this “SpookTube”.

Juri kicked the dirt and tilted her head. ”Damn straight, Sandy. That’s what I like to hear!”

Zenkichi shared Sandalphon’s relief at being partnered, both because she was somebody that he recognized, but also because it was her specifically. He gave her a smile, which then greeted the other two members of his team. He wasn’t quite as uneasy around Ganondorf now, but the large man was still somewhat intimidating by merit of size alone. Juri, on the other hand…she had an energy about her that gave Zenkichi pause. She immediately took the reins, and while he was fairly certain neither himself nor Sandalphon had any experience in video-making (beyond some home videos of himself, Aoi, and Akane), part of that rubbed him the wrong way.

Her pegging him for a cop, almost immediately at that, made him hum a bit. There was definitely more to this punk than met the eyes, then. He shrugged as she told them to be quiet while she filmed their intro, and when she was done, had his own reply. ”Alright, I’ll play ball. If any of you guys need it, I can probably spare a defense or speed buff, but not much more. It’s already been a crazy day, and I don’t wanna burn myself out before we’re done.”

”Hey! Don’t forget, this has to be scary. No one’s going to be interested in ‘defense buffs.’ Someone’s gotta get mauled for the camera.” Juri said. As she did, the shop screen caught her attention.

Zenkichi ignored her complete disregard for his offer of assistance, following her attention to the screen.

"Hmph." Ganondorf grunted, crossing his arms over his chest, "How frightening could these so-called “freaks” actually be?" He questioned before gesturing to himself, "And none shall believe an intimidating figure like I could be realistically frightened by whatever is down there." It seemed once again he was going to be at a severe disadvantage. And it was starting to annoy him.

”The hell is all this.” Juri muttered, tapping the screen. ”We can buy shit.” She said. She began scanning through the items, mashing all the buttons with her finger to see as many as possible, often having to double back because she didn’t see enough the first time.

”I mean…I guess a better mic or flashlight would be a good idea. I’ve seen old movies with bad audio quality, and…I dunno, it takes away from the experience when it sounds like they’re a hundred feet away from the camera.” He mused. ”Don’t think any of us are rolling in coins, though…”

Sandalphon shook her head. “I’ve earned only one token so far, though in all honesty, even saying that I ‘earned’ it is something of a stretch.” Juri had scrolled through the items with such a manic energy that she got in her own way and made Sandalphon wonder if it might be a bit performative. Luckily, the archangel had managed to scan everything on offer. The selection led to a little self-reflection on what she could personally offer the team instead. “My halo should provide ample light should we encounter darkness,” she brought up, glancing upward. The radiance of the three rings and their trailing cords tended to be lost in the daytime, but they would shine bright in the gloom. “That could very well increase my likelihood of being targeted, but in a roundabout way even that may benefit our efforts.”

She conjured a divine screen at her fingertips, scanning her teammates. “It would behoove us all to incorporate you both into my network,” the archangel told Ganondorf and Juri. “This would permit us to communicate over long distances, and ensure that the camera can hear all of us, as well.” She nodded at Zenkichi. “The two of us are already connected.”

"As you wish." Ganondorf responded curtly. "Hm, me, working with angels…" He further commented, as the irony of this was indeed not lost on him.

Sandalphon moved in to perform the right, the pupils of her unblinking eyes turned to inverted triangles. When standing next to the warlord, she wasn’t much shorter than him. “Then please allow me.” She held her palm by his cheek for a moment, creating a small golden glyph about an inch from his helmet that shone before disappearing. “There. Simply hold your pointer and middle fingers at the spot to engage the link, and repeat this action to disengage it.” Then she stepped back toward Zenkichi, waiting for Juri’s consent -or lack thereof- before she took further action.

Juri was obviously suspicious, narrowing her eyes. ”I don’t fuck with any brain shit. Is that just a magic radio?” She asked. ”Better tell me the truth. I’m not messing around on this.”

“Technically, it is a miracle,” Sandalphon clarified, though she didn’t plan to bore the irritable girl with the details. “But that is a decently apt analogy. It has no effect whatsoever on the mind. Of course, you need not opt in if the idea discomforts you. It is merely a prudent convenience.” On a battlefield with lives at stake proper communication was not optional, but for now at least, it wasn’t strictly necessary–just sensible. Still, the idea of her being more resistant to this suggestion than an avatar of darkness held a vague sense of amusement for Sandalphon.

”Forget it. I don’t care enough about winning this stupid game to let you perform any ‘miracles’ on me. Besides, I’m excommunicated.” Juri said. Sandalphon merely looked away.

”And besides besides, you guys shouldn’t be doing anything off camera. So that means sticking by me at all times. Never outside screaming distance.” Juri said.

”If we’ve got no ‘token’ or whatever, we should just get this show on the road. This place gives me the creeps.” She frowned, glancing around at the picturesque landscape. She shuddered and stuck out her tongue, before heading over to the diving bell. With one glance at Zenkichi to make sure he was ready, Sandalphon followed the team’s self-proclaimed leader toward the vessel. Inside, a choice awaited them: the Factory, the Cruise Ship, or the Tunnels.

"Hmph, speak for thyself. Thou hast no token because this is thy first game." Ganondorf corrected, "But we each hath been awarded one for playing the previous game." He elaborated, but also similarly chose to ignore the shopping kiosk in favor of entering the bell straight away. "But I hath no interest in giving up my only token for some meager upgrade that shall only be useful for the duration of this single game. I would instead save my tokens for the prizes I shall actually be able to keep and use."

Juri breathed out a laugh, amused. ”Why doth thou assume I give a shit? I’ve got tokens, dude. Hold onto ‘em if you want. Maybe you can get a gumball.” She said, looking over the options.

”Factory, cruise ship, tunnels…” Juri mused aloud. ”I like the cruise ship. Worst case scenario I can just climb around on the outside like a spider.”

That would be impressive, especially with a camera, Sandalphon thought. Having no preferences on which destination to visit herself, she went ahead and selected the cruise ship. Once someone closed the diving bell’s main door, all that remained was to crank the main lever and begin the vessel’s descent to the Old World. “Shall I do the honors?” she asked, giving one of the others the chance to kickstart the adventure if so desired.

”Aye.” Ganondorf said with a nod of his head.

Juri leaned up against the wall and crossed her arms. ”Sure, Sandy, let’s rock this rustbucket.”

Zenkichi nodded, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come. ”Go for it.”

The archangel pulled the lever, and with a sharp jerk, the team’s journey into the unknown began.

---

For some time the diving bell just descended uneventfully, the only sound the harsh but rhythmic metallic clank of the massive chain in motion, dulled by the vessel’s think hull. Without any windows to peer through, its occupants were blind to the world outside, but Sandalphon didn’t need to see out there to realize that Juri had been right about one thing. If their destination really did lay underwater, a sunken cruise ship in the benthic depths of some ocean, they would have felt the diving bell’s impact against the water’s surface. She could only imagine, given the crew’s starting point and hints about darkness, that they were descending from the sky islands through a cloud layer so thick that no light reached the world below. Luckily, she and the others didn’t have to wait and wonder for long. They could feel the diving bell slow down, then finally stop, its landing almost hard enough to knock Sandalphon down. For a brief moment the archangel flailed, unsteady.

Zenkichi immediately reacted, carefully grabbing a hold of Sandalphon’s arm to steady her, his own stance far steadier. ”You alright there?” He asked with a concerned smile.

A second passed before she seemed to find her voice. “Yes, thank you.”

When the vessel’s door creaked open, the upper deck of a cruise ship stretched out before them, albeit one cast completely in shades of murky gray. Everything from the walls to the floor to the tables and deck chairs appeared to be of the same exact material, almost like paper. Orbs of pure white light floated in seemingly random spots, divorced of any support or housing, but beyond the radius of their light it was terribly dark. Everyone could at least see the outlines of the ship itself so as to not blindly blunder off an edge, but on the other side of those railings lay only an infinite black void.

To Sandalphon, that emptiness looked far deeper and darker than even space. Some part of her -probably the part gained from Parvati and Leanne- felt a twinge of fear at that boundless darkness. If no floor lay beneath it in this simulated wonderworld, one could conceivably fall forever. She knew that she could teleport up to either Zenkichi or Ganondorf, though, and she found solace in the light of her halo. Once she exited the warmly-lit diving bell and strode down its ramp, her halo’s yellow glow provided a brilliant, unmistakable beacon in the darkness. The team had been lowered onto the cruise ship’s upper deck, but another open deck lay a short jump away, one floor down. In the other direction stood a doorway, and though it looked similarly dark inside, Sandalphon could see what resembled a bar and a set of stairs in the light of a ghostly orb.

Without saying anything, she turned to look at Juri, ready to take her cues. Her bright green power-symbol eyes said lead the way.

Juri glanced around outside. ”Woah. Wicked cool.” She admired this place. It was way cooler than the kiddy crap up top. So toxic you couldn’t even breathe? Awesome. She blew her hair up and it settled back into place underneath her big dumb helmet she hated.

”Alright. Cop and Sandy go first.” She pointed at the two of them. ”Big guy, you watch my back.” She said. Clearly, Juri enjoyed bossing people around. But she wanted to win, so she wasn’t going to get them to do something stupid. Unless it was really, really funny. Then maybe.

”If there’s anything scary, it’ll be down those stairs. Let’s go!” She took a second to get an establishing shot of the view from the inside of the open diving bell, establishing the upper floor and the staircase they were heading down.

"Tch." Was Ganondorf’s only response. Having to play bodyguard for this vulgar woman was certainly not on his list of things he wanted to do. But at the same time he offered no objections nor suggestions of his own. Maybe he just wanted to get this game over with? It was impossible to tell. He did, however, hold his right hand and clenched it into a fist. This triggered the glow of the Triforce that said hand was branded with and that glow served as a potential source of light for this dark sunken ship. He supposed the ship had to be haunted in some way, but didn’t look particularly concerned by that. The Warlord clearly had plenty of experience dealing with demons and spirits. He doubted anything they ran into down here would be all that different.

Heeding Juri’s instructions, Sandalphon advanced at the forefront of the group, taking measured steps in a long, careful stride. Each click of her heels against the floor rang out through the stillness, threatening to alert unknown horrors to her presence. Given her undiminishable light, however, the archangel could only make peace with the eventuality of attracting monsters, and be ready for when it happened. As she proceeded toward the stairs, she watched for any sign of movement, reasoning that anything aside from them had to be an enemy. This went double once she stepped into the interior where an ambush could come from any angle. With every step, the glow of her halo sent the shadows into a frenzied dance, but for now the only contours she could see belonged to tables, chairs, bottles, glasses, and ashtrays. Sandalphon was so focused on the corners and shadows that she failed to look up.

“...Ah!” Right in front of the stairwell, something wrenched her upward with terrifying speed and strength. Freakiest of all was the fact that whatever it was seemed to have a grasp on her halo, and by virtue of some unseen connection, that dragged Sandalphon into the air as well. As she rose, stunned, with her neck at a hangman’s angle, the light of her halo revealed her captor: a starfish-like creature attached to the ceiling, its color and texture indistinguishable from the surrounding material. Sandalphon struggled as she swung, vainly grasping for the monster that now had her in its grasp.

Juri turned the camera on and swung it upward to focus on Sandalphon. She hit the record button, but she wouldn’t spend too much time on this. Just a basic jumpscare, not that scary. ”Woah, oh my God! Woah! What is that?! It’s got Sandy!” She feigned, grinning.

Having followed just behind Sandalphon, Zenkichi bit back a curse as Sandalphon was yanked upwards, but the thing didn’t seem to be hurting her too badly. For the sake of the video, he didn’t immediately summon his pistols and start shooting, but instead looked around for something to throw at it. Quickly spotting a sturdy-looking bottle on a table, he rushed over and grabbed the makeshift projectile and hurled it at the starfish-looking thing to try and get it to drop her. ”I’ve got you!”” He cried, only having to ham it up a little.

Zenkichi’s not-so-magic missile worked like a charm. The moment it struck the starfish, it released its captive, though maybe its inability to get its circular mouth around the archangel’s three-ringed halo played a part. Sandalphon slowed her fall as she neared the ground, then drifted away from the danger zone, landing softly a second later. She turned, rubbing her neck, with stress marks in her pupils. Falling for a trap like that did not please her, especially once a second look confirmed the presence of (questionably real) bones scattered beneath the predator. “Lesson learned,” she remarked, her tone hard but quiet. When she glanced at Zenkichi, though, her irritation died down. “Good thinking. I am in your debt.”

Zenkichi just shrugged, waving off the thanks. ”Nothin’ to it. I’ve got your back.”

“Looking more closely, I can just barely make out some sort of dangling appendage. Highly transparent,” Sandalphon observed. She then looked around the room, counting her blessings as she realized just how bad the arrival of a second monster would have been during the disturbance. She summoned her Aether Lance. “I experienced enough strangulation to lower the hit point counter displayed in my helmet,” she reported as she healed herself, noting that this didn’t effect her assigned ‘hit points’. “I will endeavor to be more careful.”

”Would that not defeat the purpose of why we are here?” Ganondorf inquired, still so far being largely uninterested in all of this. ”We are meant to be frightened of these… things, not to defeat them.” What he said was logical but his tone and expression told a different story. Namely that he wasn’t especially enthusiastic. But he was still right, regardless.

”I mean, that’s true, but once we get the footage of ‘em…not much reason to keep them around once the camera’s off,, right? Unless we want to do some stupid horror movie cliche where we’re running away from something else and stumble into the trap, making it all dramatic and us look like careless idiots while we get our brains munched on or something.” Zenkichi had some genre-savviness to draw upon, though he didn’t entirely disagree with Ganondorf, either.

Juri had long turned the camera off. ”Nah, Sandy’s right. That was good for one. But that won’t keep being scary. That thing didn’t even get you by the neck. It’s just some stupid starfish. I can’t think of a less intimidating animal. It’s no spider, that’s for sure. We gotta avoid the lame-ass shit.” She said. She looked to keep walking, but used her body language to indicate Sandalphon and Zenkichi should still be going first.

The archangel nodded, and began to head toward the stairs leading deeper into the cruise ship. This time, however, she kept her staff at the ready. Zenkichi followed just a step behind, eyes scanning in figure-eights to make sure he didn’t miss any obvious signs this time around.

World of Light

The Witcher & The Warlord II

Word Count: 2,393
EXP: +3
Rapport: Ganondorf/Geralt (+3)

Unfortunately Ganondorf and Geralt weren’t making very good time in the mine. These blasted moving platforms were making Ganondorf’s jumps even harder than they already were. But they were at least beginning to make a headway when the warlord heard faint shouting coming from above. In fact the shouting sounded like it was rapidly getting closer. And in moments he saw the flailing forms of Roland and Captain Falcon drop down right by the platform he and Geralt were standing on. Evidently they must’ve missed some jump further up ahead and now suffered the consequences of it.

This made him grumble a bit, "Why do I have a sinking feeling that is going to be us in a few minutes?" He asked with a shake of his head before changing the subject, "This supposed to be a mine of some sort, yes?" He inquired and then added, "What do you suppose they were mining for? Iron? Or copper, perhaps?" It wasn’t the most thrilling topic of conversation, but at least it was helping to keep him from having to think about the more frustrating aspects of this minigame.

Geralt watched Roland and Captain Falcon fall right past them, frowning a little. “Might very well be, especially if it gets more complicated the further up we go.” She had a feeling that’d be the case, as the moving platforms represented a paradigm shift, which she doubted would end there. When he asked about the mine itself, however, Geralt wasn’t so sure. “Could be a number of things. Metals, precious gems, clay, salt. They might even get a few different things from here.” Without seeing any carts or wagons of spoils, she simply couldn’t tell just from the way the mine was built. She knew many things, but this was not one of them.

The most concerning part, Geralt thought as they moved ever upwards, were the strange crumbling sections of rock that seemed to magically regenerate after a few moments. Of course, if they didn’t come back it would render the game nigh-impossible for all but the first pair to advance past them, but it was still so strange to see. “Seen magic used for a lot of things, but this place might be the strangest.” She admitted. Even if these platforms were moved by technology, the dimensional travel, protections, and restrictions placed on them reeked of magic. Her medallion was gently humming against her chest, and had been since they got here.

Ganondorf himself would have also reeked with magic, especially his Triforce of Power, being the divine artifact of power that it was. At any rate, the pair continued their slow ascent through the mines. When the crumbling blocks began to appear they indicated to Ganondorf that not even the platforms themselves were going to be entirely safe to stand on at all times like they had been up to this point. "Lovely." He commented upon first seeing them.

"What shall be next?" He wondered, "Platforms that spring to life and attack us, mayhaps?"

“Please don’t say that.” Geralt mumbled. If things got that annoying, she had no idea what she’d do. “This is all bad enough as it is.” She had little concern for trying to beat any other teams at this point, but any more than this would be too much like Witcher training all over again. There wasn’t much to it except to keep going, though when they found a section of numerous extremely small crumbling platforms above them as they stood atop a moving one, she sighed. “No room for error, at all.” She sighed. “Let me know when you’re ready, because there’s no stopping once we’re off this platform.”

”Hmm…” Ganondorf hesitated slightly, mostly to get his bearings and to prepare himself for what was almost certainly going to be a near-disaster. But in the end he nodded and said, ”...Now!” And then he jumped. It went well up until one particular jump in which they didn’t quite make it all the way. But they did manage to cling to the side of the block much like they had done for the overhangs in previous sections. And it was here that they discovered that the blocks would only crumble when someone was standing on top of them. But clinging to the side like this? They didn’t seem to show any sign of crumbling down.

”So that is the trick, is it?” Ganondorf inquired. This seemed to indicate that the optimal course of action was to stay on the sides as long as they were able to in order to delay when the blocks would start to crumble. And it was then he spotted a moving platform and was finally able to make out the objects it was carrying along its tracked path. ”Fish?” He asked suddenly. ”The mine is for… fish?”

“What.” Was all Geralt’s deadpan voice returned with. How…did one mine for fish?! Were there underground lakes that they fished from? She decided, as she often did in the World of Light, not to dwell on this strange facet of this world. What was important was figuring out what to do next. “We need to move.” Geralt followed up with, well aware of the limitations of their current situation. Staying here forever would result in falling. “I’ll swing, just hold on.” She said, letting go and trusting Ganondorf to hang on as she swung back and forth a couple of times, before her momentum carried her high enough for her to twist and grab the other side of the rock.

“Now!” She called out to Ganondorf, to signal him to let go and swing.

The Warlord did just that. Between the momentum and his own imposing strength, they were often able to make impressively long jumps this way. And this wasn’t all that different. It certainly made reaching those precariously placed crumbling blocks much more doable than if he was trying to do this alone. Alone… he supposed that was the entire point of this little game - teamwork. It wasn’t exactly something he had a lot of experience in. Although he had been getting a bit more practice at it since joining the Seekers. Though he had still yet to call any of them his friend. Of course, that sentiment was pretty often echoed, especially by the other royals. The truth was, Ganondorf was simply given little in the way of actual chances to really bond with anyone. And he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that, either.

As Ganondorf grabbed the other side of the rock, Geralt felt the rope slacken, signaling her to let go of her side and swing. She saw their next goal, a small wooden platform to which she could swing, and swing she did. One more pass gave her the momentum she needed to go up and onto the platform, from which she called back to Ganondorf, “I can pull you up from here.”

Once the Gerudo King was up with her, Geralt turned her attention further above them. “Couple of quick jumps, then we have to make sure we time it right, or we’re going way back down.” Should she have spoken that possibility into existence? Probably not, but they needed to be prepared. No half-assing this next series of jumps. If they screwed it up, they’d be losing quite a bit of progress if they didn’t manage to luckily land on one of the platforms just below them.

The first jump went smoothly, with no time pressure to make them falter. The second required a moment of thought, after which the pair leapt, experience giving them an idea of what timing worked best for the pair. The third jump, however, with the moving platform sliding rapidly closer to them, would be the moment of triumph or failure. Geralt jumped as the platform neared the end of its path, but barely mistimed just how long it would stay at the end, and felt gravity take hold of her a moment later.

Ganondorf, on the other hand, didn’t fare quite as badly. His taller form gave him a longer reach to grab the edge of the moving platform before it was too late. But of course, now he was just hanging there with Geralt dangling just below. The Gerudo King was thankfully not lacking in strength, so he was certain his grip wouldn’t loosen anytime soon. But he still wanted to get out of this position as soon as possible. And so he began the process of pulling his heavy body up onto the platform. It was by no means quick, but he still pulled himself up in the end. Then he anchored down and began to pull the rope tethering him to Geralt in order to pull her up as well.

“Thanks.” Geralt calmly stated as she got to her feet on the moving platform. It had taken them a bit to get up, during which she noticed Zenkichi and one of the girls from Yellow Team up above them. “Huh, expected them to be further up. Must’ve taken a nasty fall at some point and not noticed them.” She commented, before looking for their path forward. They’d have to jump from the fractured stone block to the wall, then swing around it, and from there swing onto the wooden platform before they’d be able to stop. And from there, it was just another swing to another moving platform, this one going vertically.

“Just have to get the timing right…” Geralt mumbled, mentally drawing the path as the platform they were on slid back and forth on its track, taking a stance. “Ready when you are.” She confirmed, legs bending in preparation of the jump.

The Warlord bent his own knees and said, ”Jump!” when he thought the timing looked good enough. They swung around the wall with success. And by all accounts even the swing to the wooden platform went well. At least it should have. Midway there they both felt something like wind pulling them downward. And whatever this was it was enough to make them miss grabbing onto the wooden platform and resulted in them plummeting down. It was a pretty far fall too. Once Ganondorf had finally gotten back to his feet he was able to spot the source of the sudden wind that had messed them up, and he gave an angry scowl.

”Curse that blasted, overgrown lizard!” Ganondorf barked in reference to Bowser, ”What doth he even have to gain from this? He is as far behind as the rest of us!” The Gerudo King had half a mind to start making his way toward the Koopa and wipe whatever grin he was no doubt sporting off of his face.

“Sounds like boss is just a sore loser.” Geralt said, rolling her eyes. “Or he figures if he drags the rest of us down to his level, it gives him a better chance to get in the lead.” She looked between Ganondorf, Bowser, and the way back up. “Not the first time I’ve dealt with one of those, and it won’t be the last. Way I see it, we can go try and shove a cork down his throat, or we can wait until he gets bored. We try and go back up, he’s just going to do it again.” Perhaps a pessimistic approach, but Geralt had long since given up any illusions of victory.

"Hmm…" The Gerudo thought for a bit. "Well, I don’t believe we were in a position to win the race." He finally said. "And that being so… perhaps we might as well see what kind of payback we can take from him?" Ganondorf, too, had long since given up on any delusions of actually winning this race. And so the idea of getting back at the big sore loser was seeming more and more appealing to him.

Geralt thought on the idea for a few moments. She, personally, didn’t actually have anything against Bowser aside from his delusions of grandeur. She wasn’t sure that he was entirely serious about how great and evil he was, but she supposed this was fairly ‘mean’, at least. Ruining the experience for the rest of the Seekers because he wanted to do better was definitely not the kind of thing one of the other do-gooders in the Seekers would do, that was for sure. “Might as well. He just wasted all of our time.”

That got a smirk from the Warlord. "Then let us teach him the punishment for interfering with everyone else." And so the two at this point had effectively changed routes and made their way toward where the Koopa King in question was. Since it was obvious no one this far behind was going to win, the two gave up on reaching the end and were now a bit more interested in getting some payback before the game ended.

"There you are!" Ganondorf barked out when he spotted Bowser’s enlarged form. He looked like he was done inhaling for now and was even shrinking back down to his usual size as a result of his adviser halting the spell. Ganondorf lunged for the Koopa with a roar as soon as he and Geralt had gotten close enough and Warlock Punched him as hard as he could… doing absolutely zero damage due to the rules of the minigame. "Do thou hast any idea how much of our time was wasted because of thee?"

Momentum, however, was still a thing, and so the king skidded back just a bit as he kept shrinking. He grunted, shook his head, and then had the audacity to smile and say ”How about you tell me so I know how much I can laugh at your expense” as he put up his dukes for a punchup, with Ganondorf essentially doing the same. The two kings then just traded punch after punch. Naturally, they did no damage to one another, but they didn’t seem to be letting that stop them. This was probably one of the rare times where the two could just take their frustrations out on one another… and of course no one would be hurt.

Just what happened between those two while we were split up? Geralt wondered, while awkwardly trying to reposition and give Ganondorf enough room to fight with.

World of Light

Speed Demons

Word Count: 3,425 words
EXP: +4
Rapport: Primrose/Zenkichi +4

Being transported into a new plane of existence would always be a strange and slightly unnerving experience, no matter how many times Primrose went through it. Seeing as it wasn’t even the first time that day that it had happened to her though, she recovered fairly quickly.

‘Connected Climbing Chaos’ was going to be their first event, and it was really all in the name. Ballyhoo was nice enough to elaborate further before their location was changed once more, with the mountain they’d be climbing towering over them.

A large gray knitted band fit over Primrose’s head at an angle, protecting her ears and forehead from the chill but leaving her hair and the rest of her face uncovered. A matching pair of knitted leg warmers covered the area from her ankles to her knees, putting her bare thighs into contrast whenever her dress shifted enough to expose them. She glanced down at the climbing gloves on her hands before finding the rope tied around her waist and tracking its length to one of the more unassuming and plain looking men from the city team.

The brief introduction earlier painted Zenkichi to be on the more friendly side, but even so Primrose couldn’t help but think with some irony about being tethered to a man, physically this time. Hopefully he didn’t catch the sharp, wry smile on her face before it quickly morphed into a much more pleasant expression.

"Zen-ki-chi," she said, putting emphasis on the syllables of his name. "My name is Primrose, if you didn’t catch it earlier. I’m not sure how well I’ll do at this kind of game. I’ll be in your hands~"

Looking around the mountainous area they’d been teleported to, Zenkichi completely missed the look on Primrose’s face, a small shock of disappointment running through him that he hadn’t been tethered to a different woman, but it was replaced with a small smile and a nod.

”Ah, don’t worry about it. With some of the other guys we’ve got, I was definitely not gonna be doing too hot, myself. Let’s just do what we can and maybe it’ll be fun.” And maybe it wouldn’t destroy his knees, but something involving lots of climbing was probably going to wreak havoc on this old man.

Content with not placing very highly, the two of them set off on an almost leisurely pace. Their first obstacle was barely one at all, merely a pair of platforms to be jumped upon, but the series of jumps after looked a bit more daunting. And just looking at the rope holding the two together showed Zenkichi that this was going to require some technique. ”Yeah, that rope is definitely not long enough for us to go one by one…” He said, frowning a little.

"And it looks like they did something to my floating scarf, so no taking the easy way out," Primrose said, picking at the shimmery white material. The runes that allowed its wearer to fly had all dimmed as if they'd already been spent.

They engaged in some people watching, gathering information as other pairs tried, failed, and tried again to get across the long jump until they made it. Some had more unique ways of getting to the other side, but one way seemed to be the most straightforward and successful method: leveraging each other's weight and momentum to swing partners across almost at once. Primrose looked at Zenkichi.

"Want to give it a try?"

Watching the gap, Zenkichi pondered the best way to make use of their tether, before coming up with an idea and nodding. ”I think I've got it.” He replied, before stepping backwards and hopping off the platform.

Primrose took a slightly wider stance to better support the man's weight. Thankfully she wasn't partnered with any of the larger members of the group, else she might have trouble. As it was, the dancer was a little stronger than she looked and kept on her feet while holding tight to the tether. While Zenkichi swung, Primrose looked between him, the platform's edge, and their intended destination. Understanding what to do was different than actually pulling it off, so she braced herself for the feel of the rope's pull in order to time her own jump.

Zenkichi whirled under the platform and forward, the momentum of his fall pulling him in a circle and towards the front of the platform. His stomach lifted a bit, but he grit his teeth and trusted Primrose to time the jump properly, though if they messed this up the fall wouldn’t be terribly harsh, at least.

The rope tying the two of them together kept its slack and both were sailing the small distance to the rock face on the other side of the snow filled pit. With the benefit of seeing the practice of others' for their first time trying the swing and fling technique Primrose and Zenkichi did pretty well. As the second jumper, Primrose didn't quite clear the gap entirely, but she stuck to the cliff with the aid of the climbing gloves until her partner reeled her in.

They could see part of how the course continued from there. It went diagonally up at a steeper angle than the path they'd just come from, but it didn't look like there would be another wide gap for a little while. It would still take coordination to continue the climb, but it was doable. They began to make their way up, taking the time to pause or go at the same time while they jogged to each jump. Above and below them they could hear shouts and thumps of fallen pairs who were taking a less slow and steady approach.

"Let me know if you'd like to pick up our pace," Primrose said casually as they came upon the next place they'd have to swing. "I have something for that."

”I wouldn't say no to that. It's funny, I've actually got a speed buff spell we could've used, but I'm not sure I can summon Valjean in this place.” Zenkichi paused, thinking. Could he summon Valjean? Sukukaja would be useful here…

A moment later, Zenkichi transformed into his Phantom Thief attire, and behind him, a spectral figure appeared before slowly fading into invisibility. ”So yeah, that's Valjean. My Persona. Lets me do a bunch of cool stuff. Just wanted to check if I could still get him in here. You said you had something we could use?”

Primrose had stepped away from him in order to prepare for a dance, but she put that on hold since the surprise revelation.

"Persona?"

The way Primrose said the one word, it was that she was surprised Zenkichi had such a thing rather than being confused about what it was. So he was from the same world as Ann, Alibaba, and their friends? No, more than that, his outfit change indicated something else...

"You're one of the Phantom Thieves?" she asked. She wasn't sure, since he seemed much older than they were. Perhaps he was a mentor figure of some sort?

Zenkichi’s guard rose when Primrose asked him if he was one of the Phantom Thieves. Staring into her eyes, he let out a breath and relaxed. ”I am. The latest addition to the team, but back in our world we worked together to take down a corrupt businessman and the AI program he was trying to use to control the world. I guess you were on that other team with them before you all got split up?” He asked, concern evident in his voice for his allies.

That he was their latest edition, instead of the mentor Primrose figured, was an amusing detail. Still, hearing the worry Zenkichi held in his voice for the kids made Primrose soften somewhat. She hadn't been hostile to him, instead keeping up her more friendly facade around the man since he was still basically a stranger, but the genuine concern he showed for the Phantom Thieves went a long way to endearing himself with the dancer - though unbeknownst to him entirely.

"I was," she replied. "They've been looking for their lost friends. We managed to find two of them before we parted ways, but there are still some out there, somewhere." Alibaba's other half, Sakura, came to mind. Primrose shook her head slightly, then flashed Zenkichi a small, warmer smile than before. "I like to think I got to know some of them pretty well. If you're a part of their group, I'm sure they'll be delighted to see you when we manage to meet again."

Zenkichi smiled a little at the thought. ”Yeah, I kinda miss those kids. And it’d be good to know they’re doing alright in here, what with everything going on…” Trying not to let everything that happened in Midgar get to him, he nodded. ”And I think I heard Joker made one of the freakin’ Guardians into a Persona?” Somehow, that just fit that kid so well.

"Oh yes," she said, recalling the Red Eye's defeat and absorption quite well. It was probably the best outcome.

Eventually they really had to get going if they didn't want to end up last. So on that note Primrose bid Zenkichi to mind the rope between them as she took her starting pose.

"The Panther Dance," she purred, beginning to flow into the motions of her performance. It was a smooth, quick-footed dance that increased the speed of whomever she performed it for, which was only Zenkichi at the moment in order not to spread the effects to all of her allies, on the off chance every other pair was suddenly boosted. Of course she'd have to buff herself as well in order to keep up with him, but with practiced step she could move from the end of the first dance into the start of the second seamlessly as though it was a single dance.

When it was finished she glanced at partner. "How's that?"

Zenkichi’s eyebrows were raised at the dance, and at the very noticeable effect that it had on him, making him feel lighter, not unlike Sukukaja did. ”Dang, that’s actually pretty good. I just remembered that my speed-boosting spell can only affect one person at a time, though. Still, was worth a thought.” He mused as he looked towards the next obstacle, another rather long jump that would likely require them to swing underneath the platform.

His partner chuckled. "I've something for that too, if you're so inclined." She supposed if it resulted in accidentally giving the others a speed buff too, it wouldn't be the worst since collectively she and Zenkichi would have two.

”I mean, it’s worth a shot, I guess. Valjean!” Summoning his Persona once more, Valjean appeared in a burst of blue flames, raising his chains above him. ”This one only lasts a minute, though, so once you’re done, we better get a move on!” He warned.

Primrose nodded, and went right into the steps of the more sensual Sealticge's Seduction. This dance was as potent as it was provocative, and once she was finished she let her audience of one know so he could cast his spell.

”Sukukaja!” Zenkichi cried, another burst of energy flowing through him. As advertised, the energy poured not just through him, but into Primrose as well, spreading its effects.

Zenkichi wasted no time in dropping below and swinging, and this time, they cleared the jump easily with the benefit of both their boosted speed and a bit of practice from earlier. ”Now that’s what I’m talkin about!” He cheered.

Primrose joined him not a moment later, jumping when he was at the apex of his arc. She didn't voice her thoughts aloud like he did, though it was clear she too was having fun with their newfound speed.

Together they made short work of the next couple of sections, though not without several close calls. The increase in speed was exhilarating, but also made traversing the mountain more treacherous. The ice and snow didn't help that fact, and just when the unlikely duo had actually managed to pass a couple other pairs the danger of going too fast hit them. After another successful swing, Primrose landed on one of the small floating rocks but promptly slid off, her momentum sending her slipping forward over the side of it. She let out a soft "oh" in place of a gasp, about to go into free fall and take Zenkichi with her.

Zenkichi, right behind Primrose, watched the Dancer slide right off the edge of the rock and managed to get out a panicked ”Oh shi-” before he went right over the edge with her, flailing in mortal terror, watching the ground get closer and closer until they landed with an unceremonious thump, Zenkichi breathing heavily before realizing he was still alive. ”Oh, right, the hat guy said damage was disabled, didn’t he…?” The Phantom Thief mused, scratching the back of his neck. ”That was still terrifying though. Let’s, uh…not do that again.”

Standing up, he offered a hand to Primrose, sighing. ”And there goes all that lead that we got there, though I guess that’s what we get for trying to rush through it so much. Ah, oh well. It was still pretty fun until the whole ‘falling to your not-death’ thing.” A bit on the optimistic side, but he hadn’t expected to have ever really been in the lead in the first place, so it wasn’t much of a loss to him.

Primrose gingerly took his hand and let him help her to her feet. Dusting herself off she glanced up from where they’d fallen. "It was fun," she agreed. Also with the fact that maybe two speed buffs was too much. ”And I suppose there's nothing more we can do than go again."

”All there is to it, yeah.” Zenkichi agreed, turning back to the climb ahead of them. It’d be quite a bit of work to get back to where they were, but having already done it once, they had a fairly good idea of what would work and what would land them in the snow. On the way back up, without the exhilaration of their enhanced speed, however, Zenkichi noticed something…odd. There were streaks of blood in the snow, though when he stopped to look at them, the volume reminded him that the other team of Seekers did have somebody who could disassemble their body on a whim. ”Well, that’s not gross at all.” He nevertheless complained.

"Courtesy of Ms. Fortune, I'm sure." Primrose knew she was partnered with Therion, and having gotten to know both thieves (whether in her home world or here) she certainly didn't put it past either of them to set up some kind of trap.

Stepping over and around the blood, a small grimace on his face, Zenkichi jumped to the next platform and prepared to swing once more. ”So, how did things go on your end? Aside from getting the job done, that is. Midgar was…a bit of a mess. Always has been, at least as far back as my memory living there goes.”

"I've heard some about it from Midna already. As for the Under..." she trailed off, not very keen on going into detail about what they'd seen and done after already chatting about it a little with the Twilight Princess and Queen of Floralia. A byproduct of her pause was the slightly dramatic effect it created, but rather than leave Zenkichi in suspense she gave a simple answer. "...it was unpleasant. Hopefully it improves now that the source of its plague is gone."

And, because she just couldn't help herself apparently, she asked after a moment's hesitation, "...how far back do you remember? You've been in that place, Midgar, the entire time?"

Zenkichi paused at the question, stopping to really think. ”It’s…really fuzzy and vague. I know I’ve lived there for a few years, but trying to remember how long, it just…doesn’t work. I don’t know if my memories are even real, or if Galeem just created a facsimile of my life in Japan and replaced a bunch of places in my head. But I can remember at least two or three years of living in Midgar. That much I know for sure.” It was sort of existentially terrifying, knowing that at least some of his life was either false, or an implanted copy of a memory from the life he lived before Galeem.

He tried not to let it bother him, though his face betrayed some of that discomfort. ”I…haven’t really thought much about what that means, to be honest. I’m trying not to.” It was freaky to think about, really. They had plenty more climbing to do, which Zenkichi gestured towards, careful not to get too lost in conversation. When things got intense, he made sure not to distract Primrose, or himself. But when they found another series of short jumps, he added one more thing.

”What’s weirdest about it is that I’m basically trying to unscrew up my relationship with Akane again. My daughter,” he added quickly, ”Because boy, was I a rotten father for a while both times around after Aoi died…Ah, sorry, that got heavy all of a sudden.” He backpedaled quickly, knowing how weird it could get when he got reminiscey.

The dancer mentally filed away Zenkichi's timeline. The big mystery of it all, or part of it anyway, had already been revealed to her - but she still felt it important to keep track of how far back people could remember. For her, it was a scant few weeks. She didn't reply, especially since her partner hadn't asked, content for now to listen to Zenkichi tell part of his story as they gradually climbed back up the mountain.

The next piece of information he volunteered came as a surprise. Not only did Zenkichi have a daughter, but she was with him. He'd said "trying" - present tense. Primrose didn't say anything for a few moments, full of conflicting feelings as she was. Figuring that Zenkichi's apology might mean he thought she was uncomfortable with the conversation, she was quick to tell him, "it's fine."

A daughter, hm? she thought. In her opinion, Zenkichi was much too forthcoming with things like that. If he told the wrong person, it could put her in danger. Moreover though, the relationship between father and daughter had always been something of a sore spot for her. She didn't know Zenkichi well enough to dispute his comment about being a rotten father; but even if it was true and the man was trying to make amends, then Akane probably didn't know how lucky she had it that he was still in her life.

Eventually, after some awkward silence, Primrose offered him some advice. "...the best thing you can do, I think, is let her know you're there for her. And, then, be there for her."

Zenkichi paused, nodding. ”I think, for now, that’s probably the best thing I can do. She’s hanging out with her new pet on the ship we came in on now, sounded like she thought a carnival was too old-fashioned for her. Gotta admit, compared to an invisible flying ship the size of a small town, she’s probably right, but…am I really that old?” He complained rhetorically. His knees could tell him that he was.

At this point though, the conversation really was distracting Primrose and slowing them down. If they wanted to even complete the course, they'd have to pick up the pace. "Well, let's get going."

They hunkered down for a few more swings, focusing on cooperation instead of speed. Steadily making up for their lost time, they arrived at the mines.

As they crossed the threshold into the mines, Zenkichi breathed a sigh of relief. It was a little warmer in here, though as he looked ahead and noticed platforms moving, his relief turned into mortification. ”Ah. I see it’s only going to get worse.”

The way forward did seem daunting. They'd gotten a pretty good workout so far, exercising some muscles seldom used (at least on the dancer's part), so Primrose would be fine bowing out at this point. Then again, maybe that was against the spirit of the game. She took her time catching her breath at least, glancing down to see how far a fall would send them.

"Taking our time has worked so far. " Hopefully it would work the rest of the way too.