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World of Light

Childe and Cherub

Word count: 4076 (+5)
Level: 5 - Total EXP: 241/50
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (86/140) (+1 bonus pending)

Jr’s feet crunched down into the snow a fair bit deeper than an observer would have guessed based on his size. He raised a fingertip-less gloves hand to his forehead as he looked up the tall tall mountain, hand touching the fabric of a green and orange striped bobble hat who’s, well, bobble had been removed to allow for his topknot, still pierced by Omori’s tulip hairstick, to poke out instead.

”Huh, starting us off with a big one I guess?” he assessed, before declaring ”Good! If we’re only doing four, way better this than some cookie cutting thing” before turning to see who his partner was and going ”Oh hey… Pit” after taking a little moment to remember the angel’s name.

The hesitation in the young koopa's voice did not go unnoticed by his partner.

"Don't tell me you seriously almost forgot my name! We've been in two tournaments together!" he complained.

Atop Pit's head was a brown woolen ushanka with long sides that went past his ears and hung by his chin. His laurel crown had somehow ended up on top of it, holding the hat snugly in place, and the loose white scarf he already wore over his chiton was upgraded to a larger, puffier, warmer fabric. The climbing gloves ended just where his bracers began, leaving more than half of his arms covered.

"Plus I must be kind of famous by now! You know like when they mention the greats it’s 'Mario, Samus, Link, and Pit!'"

”Ehhhhh” Jr replied, doing a little side to side hand shake before slapping him with the distinction of being ”More like Olimar tier” which was an extra slap seeing as the kid apparently didn’t have any issue recalling the tiny carrot leading space man’s name.

"What?! That's- No way!" Pit sputtered. Olimar?! Not even Donkey Kong or Kirby?! He looked like he very much wanted to argue that point but he snapped his mouth closed, let out a large huff of breath through his nose, and just shook his head.

"Okay forget about that right now! We've got a mountain to climb!" The angel flared his wings out, hopping and turning in place to face their obstacle and pointing up to its peak. "And we wanna win, right? Let's get a head start!"

”Yeah, enough standing around! Let’s show them who the superstars of this game are gonna be!” Jr cheered, turning attitude on a dime thanks to his competitive spirit, before pursuing the penguin village, and pointing towards a set of platforms leading up one side of the gully it was in and saying that ”It’s gotta be that way” before immediately scampering off in said direction.

Pit jogged alongside him, squinting up at what he could see of the path. It was more vertical than anything else, which he guessed made sense since they'd be going up a mountain. Predictably they weren't the only pair that thought to get a head start, but the boys were confident.

They quickly came upon the first of many jumps they'd have to make, a sheer rock face with a ledge leading up to then two suspended wooden platforms Junior had spotted. No problem! Pit thought.

"You guys are pretty good at jumping, right?" he asked Junior, talking about Koopas in general. "And with my wings this whole thing should be easy!"

”You know it!” the prince agreed, before pausing and correcting ”Well except Kamek” because the old Koopa was not going to be having a good time, that was for sure.

The angel easily leapt up onto the ledge, not paying much mind to the rope that attached him and his partner since he figured they both knew what they were doing. As soon as he landed he swiveled to go into the next jump immediately, and further from there. The prince effortlessly followed his lead, only a half step behind, resulting in there being plenty of slack in the rope as they made their way to the top of the little cliff face.

They arrived there just in time to see the rather absurd sight of Bowser swinging under a platform with Blazermate acting as his anchor, before the bot leapt up at the end of the swing, the momentum carrying both of them across a big gap that they couldn’t simply jump across. The other pair had gotten a head start by virtue of simply being closer to the way up, and not bickering about relevance for a bit, so the two boys had some catching up to do. Still, it also meant they could simply steal the lessons learned from those in the lead, Jr saying ”ohhh, so that’s what the rope’s for” as he got the minigame’s gimmick.

"That's pretty clever." Pit watched the proceedings with some interest, but quickly turned to Junior.

"We won't even need it though! With my wings I can make it across and hold you up at the same time, no problem!" He boldly proclaimed. Of course a moment later it hit him: everyone else ahead of them seemed to have issues with how they normally moved around. Wouldn't the same be true for him? "...but let me test it first!"

As expected, his wings seemed to be weakened. He couldn't fly in the first place, but now he couldn't even get any higher than a single leap up. Disappointed but not discouraged, they'd just have to play the game the way it was intended.

”Don’t need em huh?” jr echoed, followed by a snort of a laugh, before grabbing the tether in one hand, jabbing the thumb of the other behind him and telling pit ”jump, and i’ll get to swinging chicken”

"I'm not chicken or a chicken!" Pit retorted, flustered. But since Jr. was already in position to anchor, he did as asked and started their swinging process.

Jr just grinned at the outburst, and then proceed to show off his disproportionate strength by, rather than simply swinging the angel under him, whittling him around up and over several times before launching him up up and away right as he took a run up and a jump of his own. Besides the initial surprise, the circle throw was actually pretty fun.

After that hurdle, neither of the boys had an issue with the next couple of sections of the climb. Without outpacing each other much they jumped up, and up, and up a series of wooden scaffolds and small rocky ledges. The benefit of both of them being familiar with platforming was that they could quickly and accurately get across these areas, until ultimately having to pause at the next wide gap that required true teamwork.

”Huh, where’d papa get too?” the prince asked as they paused at the precipice, peering up ahead beyond the gap, unaware that the koopa king and his mechanical companion had just taken a tumble down the deceptively deep shaft blocking their way.

"They must be far ahead!" At least that's what Pit assumed, given the king was a veteran platformer. And his pair wouldn't be the only one ahead of them, as some smaller silhouettes were higher up the mountain. "We gotta catch up!"

Since he didn't want to fall behind, Pit planted his feet and pointed across the gap. "You go this time."

”Better hold on tight then!” the prince taunted, before leaping back off the platform without any fear, and proving his taunt more of a warning than anything as the little prince proved to be quite a bit heavier than his little frame suggested.

Though unexpected, the burden wasn’t too much for Pit to handle. He kept a tight hold of the rope and launched himself after Jr., then they scrambled to move on.

Immediately in front of them on the cliff was an icy wall that blocked in an even icier hollow, the same one Bowser and Blazermate had fallen down. The next platform up was at an odd angle, but between the two of them they could figure out what to do thanks to actually stopping to read the sign unlike the plummeting pair. A quick leap, wallgrab, and swing, and they were good to go, onwards and upwards

Another awkwardly placed platform awaited them after that, and above it a tall vertical shaft. Pit squinted up into it, trying to see if it went anywhere.

"Think this is a shortcut? We could hop from wall to wall and go up."

”I, uh, never really got the hang of that … but yeah let’s try it!” Jr replied with boundless enthusiasm

"It's easier than it looks," Pit assured him, which honestly wasn't really the case. Not to mention the angel himself was pretty out of practice at it. Either way, if this worked they'd cut ahead and if it didn't they'd just end up right back here, so the reward far outweighed the risk. Pit went on to quickly explain, "just kick off and up from the wall as soon as your feet hit it!"

”Yuh huh” the prince agreed, nodding along like he totally was going to be able to do this, before saying ”alright, let’s do this!” taking a step back to prepare a run up, glancing at Pit, and then once they were both prepared taking off at a sprint for a very short run up before leaping up at the wall.

Against all odds, the prince’s claws found purchase at just the right moment, and he kicked himself off the wall rising higher, prompting him to whoop in delight. Unfortunately, both of them had forgotten about the other key part of this, which was turning in the air so you could then kick off the other wall. As a result, Jr proceeded to slam shell first into the opposite wall, spikes jamming into it and leaving him hanging there, stuck.

With his partner locked in place, Pit couldn't get much higher. When the ten feet of rope pulled taut he slipped and fell down past Jr., ending up dangling in the air under him. The angel hung there silently for a moment, confused about what had happened - then he looked up and saw the koopa prince lodged in the wall. He looked ridiculous, making Pit laugh as if he didn't also look silly just dangling there.

"What happened?" he snickered, trying to swing himself and unwedge Jr. from the cliff side.

”’Just kick up and off the wall’ you said, ‘it’s easy’ you said! Well, no, it isn’t! Now help me down from here!” the prince complained, arms flailing and legs kicking fruitlessly in an attempt to free himself.

"I'm trying!" Though it would take a couple more tugs to get the koopa unstuck. "And it is easy! You're just not supposed to kick with your back!"

After some more aggressive swinging, the little dead weight Pit had was able to dislodge Jr. Naturally when he fell Pit fell too, and the two of them landed back on the ground with a yelp. Pit was quick to hop back up onto his feet, flapping his wings to blow all of the snow off of him.

"Let's try again! Unless you wanna go the other way?"

”’I can do this! I’m an olympian. Just a few more tries and I’ll get it for sure!” the prince insisted, and, true to his word, it did only take a few more tries… Which basically negated any benefit from the shortcut. Still, the boy was happy, and counted for something in some people’s books, the prince cheering ”Did you see that! That Mario isn't gonna be able to get away from me again now that I got one of his moves down!” along with a happy little jig.

The boy's cheering was infectious, leaving Pit grinning. At the end of Jr.'s dance Pit raised both of his hands for a double high five. Although there was a voice in the back of his mind that thought, should I really be happy about making Mario's life harder?

The whole thing had been a distraction from the race itself, which became apparent when the stragglers started to make their way up to where they were. The two of them got back into the game after that. Though still behind, they skipped a chunk of the map and ended up at a shallow cave which they were able to blaze through with little issue. The swinging and flinging continued until they hit the obstacle that had given most of the teams the roughest time so far: the trio of stalactites with nothing beneath them except a long fall.

Rather than slow down, Jr straight up sprinted towards the first stalactites, leaped up, and grabbed it with his claws and mitts, calling out for Pit to ”Go! Go! Go!” we gotta catch up!

Not needing to be told twice, Pit leapt and swung himself around to the other side of the first underhang. As soon as he latched on with the gloves, he called back to his partner. "I'm good! Go!"

What followed was a high stakes, high speed gauntlet beneath the ledges. For the most part it went well, even when on the last swing Pit's momentum threw him too fast into the wall and bonked against it, causing the need for a second try before they both made it and clambered up to continue on. At least with everyone immune to damage, there wasn't any chance of a concussion or something like that.

...which begged the question, if no one could get hurt, why was there blood staining the snow on top of this rock? In their haste it might have gone unnoticed, but Pit stepped right in it and suddenly his foot slipped out from under him. "Whoa!" He fell, landing on his back and forcing Jr. to stop in his tracks.

”He what’s the matter slowpoke-” the prince began to chide, only to, having been forced to stop, tilt his head in confusion at the blood in the snow ”What? Huh? How’d that get there?” before glancing up and spotting the culprit, namely a blood jetting Nadia somewhere up ahead of them. In stopping to check out the competition he saw the perhaps even more egregious example of Roxas and Midna simply strolling across some gaps.

”Whaaaaaat! No fair no fair no fair” the little prince yelled up at them.

When he stood up and saw what Jr. was looking at, Pit couldn't help but feel the same. He ran to the ledge and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, "Hey! Roxas! That's totally cheating!!"

Jr. stomped his feet and threw a tantrum before halting mid rage and going ”Wait!”

He then proceeded to grab a pokeball, tossed it and, in a flash of light, brought out Mimi, his mimikyu, who he told to ”Mimic that cheater!” while pointing up at the cube spawning Roxas.

Pit spun around to look at the Pokémon. "It can do that?"

The angel looked enthusiastic about the prospect. Because even as a devotee of the Goddess of Light, the paragon of goodness, Pit was not above a little cheating. Especially when other people were doing it first. To be fair, it helped that Palutena wasn't above it either.

”yeah she can!” the prince replied, as the mon promptly demonstrated her borrowed power with a waft of a tendril limb and spawned a little stair case of blocks for them to use to shorten the next gap a little bit so they could just jump instead of one that needed some tricky swinging to do.

Thoroughly impressed, Pit pumped his fist and grinned at Mimi. "Awesome! Catching up will be easy now!"

Copying Roxas' ability trivialized the next sections of the course. There was a single instance where the boys still had to swing, that being another awkwardly placed underhang, but Mimi provided a way for the now three of them to breeze across wood, stone, and snow until they barreled into the mouth of the Fishy Mines.

”Oh look. Slow moving platforms that you gotta wait to come to you. My faaaaavorite” jr complained as they watched one reel off into the distance, before glancing up and having the exact same idea as Roxas, skipping the whole first section of that by making a staircase up to just below second vertical moving platform.

He then immediately hopped up onto the little rock below, and began impatiently tapping his foot on going ”Come on, come on, come on!” and being completely blind to the rock shaking below him as he did

His partner had hopped up to join him, and it was he who seemed to realize what was about to happen. Pit blinked down at the stone they stood on curiously, noting it felt different, but when it clicked it was too late to warn Jr. Pit hopped backward at the same time the floor gave out. It sent the koopa prince tumbling down, and since he was midair at that moment Pit had no way to catch him. He still tried, furiously flapping his wings as he held onto the rope, but all that accomplished was slightly slowing their fall. The pair fell back down, though thankfully only a little below where they started.

"I hate those disappearing ground things," Pit sighed as he picked himself back up. "There's probably a ton in here."

”Ouch, so that’s what its like to be on the receiving end of those. Nasty” Jr grumbled as he rubbed the head he’d landed on, and mimi just sort of phased up out of the floor into which she’d ghosted. The mon and trainer looked at each other, and then the prince grinned, saying ”Luckly, thanks to the cheaters, we don’t have to worry about those!”

Indeed, just like Roxas had done earlier, once they got back up to the falling platform, they simply had Mimi make a more stable replacement that they could stand on while waiting for their elevator up.

Once they boarded the bucket, it brought them up to another deceptive rock - which was circumvented by Mimi once more. They jumped onto the cubes and the next moving platforms. While they rode it, Pit fidgeted in place as he was wont to do, hopping on one foot then the other in quick succession. Even following the lead pair's strategy and path, they had to wait out the elevator rides, which meant everyone ahead of them would just keep getting farther away.

"I wonder if there's a way to make these things go faster," he pondered aloud. "I could smash it with the Upperdash Arm and send it flying. If we hold on and your weird Pikachu catches us with the blocks, we could skip even more...!"

It was a pretty reckless plan though. Would they get in trouble for something like that? Nah, surely the ringmasters of the Big Top had something in place for property destruction. If it could even be destroyed, with the whole no damage thing.

”Wait for real? That sounds awesome!” Jr instantly agreed, before chanting ”Let’s do it, let’s do it, make us fly!”

Jr. being all in on that course of action dispelled any doubts Pit had. He grinned widely, peering over the side of the bucket and curled his left hand into a fist. "Okay, hold on tight! And hold the rope too!"

As already, but perhaps unwittingly, demonstrated by all of the minigame's participants, the basic laws of motion, physics, and all that good stuff was still at play. It meant that even though no one and nothing could get hurt, they could still move around mostly like normal, and allowed them to make use of the rope to swing each other in the first place. So, naturally, if enough force was applied to the elevator it should be pushed with speed relative to that force... or something. Something something momentum and friction. Pit had no clue how it worked, just that it should work. And anyone that had been hit with the Arm weapon knew it could generate a tremendous amount of force.

Taking care to account for the lack of forward movement due to the game world's rules, he made a small hop off of the platform while summoning the Upperdash Arm at the same time. He struck upward, the spinning disc slamming into the underside of the elevator and sending it screaming up along its track. With Jr. holding the tether he clung on. With no resistance other than gravity, when it reached the end of that track the elevator was dislodged, continuing to hurdle upward. Of course now that it didn't have a track, the unbalanced weight of the boys caused it to start shifting, making for an unsteady ride likely to fling its riders off if they didn't keep their grip.

Jr was, at least, having a good time, laughing and whooping as they rose up, but he didn’t just passively ride along. Instead, mana sparked through his metal tattooed arm, and out from his hand a large pole grew out to either side. Gripping this long rod, the prince tilted and turned it, keeping their balance like a tightrope walker.

Though slightly dizzy, Pit could climb up onto it properly thanks to Jr. setting it mostly straight. The angel shook his head to clear it after he did, then let out a joyous, "alright!"

They rode it as far as they could. When it started to lose momentum and its flight slowed, that was the signal for them to disembark. Otherwise it would drop fast, making it all the harder to leap off.

"Time to abandon ship!" Pit said, pointing towards what he thought were the closest platforms. There were tiny little rocks, larger fragile ones, and more elevators, but none they could reach without Mimi's aid.

Fortunately, the little mon was very used to clinging to her trainer for dear life, and this time had been no different. As Jr tossed away the rod and made to jump, she unreeled one of her arms, and wafted it forwards, creating a platform mid way between theirs and the closest solid ground.

The trio jumped from their impromptu vehicle and landed on the ruby cubes while the elevator they rode up on began to careen back towards the bottom of the mines. Thankfully they didn't even have to worry about it hurting anyone if it managed to crash into any teams coming up behind them. They hopped across a couple more platforms, eventually coming to a steep area with loose, shifting sand lining one side of the mine shaft. Caution signs hung all around them, but the way up wouldn't be as treacherous as it probably should have been if they kept following their cheating rivals' lead.

"Think we're getting close to the top?" Pit asked, squinting up into the dim light above them.

Jr peered up with him before shrugging arms spread out and palms up for extra emphasis on his having no ideaness ”I dunno, but this game sure ain’t mini that’s for sure”

World of Light

Stealing First II

Level 7 Therion (265/70) and Level 13 Ms Fortune (139/130)
Word Count: 3253 (+4)

Though a couple moments to catch their breath was a major relief, neither Nadia nor Therion could get too comfortable. Next to infighting, nothing would screw up their chances at winning more than overconfidence. So rather than risk re-enacting the tale of the tortoise and the hare (especially with tortoises like the Koopa Troop around) the two decided to press on after less than a minute’s rest. “Alright, let’s kick things up a notch!”

The thieves’ reprieve gave them a chance to plan out their next move, too. With a solid roof to this cave, the only way seemed to be back the way the pair came, involving a climb up to a higher elevation and then a swing back out the entrance. As much as Nadia wanted to cheese it to make up for lost time, Fiber Upper wouldn’t work with the distance and angle involved, so the two set out to do it right. Together they hopped over a pit, up the back wall, and onto the board, where Nadia hunkered down so that Therion could fling them over. Once he stuck to the wall, the feral whipped around the other side to latch on herself, only she grabbed on a little too high for her teammate to clear the bottom. “One sec, I’m adjusting.” She let go and grabbed on again about a foot down, giving Therion the necessary clearance. “Okay, go!” He swung beneath her, and she kicked off the wall to backflop into a pile of snow, safe and sound. When Therion stood and looked down, he found a fresh snow angel laid out beneath him, but Nadia quickly jumped to her feet with a grin and the two got a move on.

Another swing-jump awaited them to get across the next gap to where a penguin sat with a fishing rod lowered. With clouds floating to either side of the platform, Nadia tried not to look down as she dropped to perform the first swing. This time Therion got moving just a little late, but after smacking into the top of the wall the two managed to salvage the situation with a quick clamber. The fisherguin gave them a dubious glance as they hauled themselves up. “Should’ve been a fall,” he grumbled.

Nadia looked at him quizzically as she went by, not missing a beat. “But it’s clearly winter?”

When she saw what was next, however, she had to get serious. Just ahead hung a trio of pillars like stalactites. Using the same strategy as before, the two would have to grab and release a whopping five times. They’d need to be fast before their grip failed, and careful, too–there was no safety bowl this time, only icy slopes funneling hapless climbers toward a long fall. The feral took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. Let’s not rush this.” Her ears perked up suddenly. “Hey, we should see how long we can hold on! Let’s cling to this first wall together, then fall back here once we lose our grip.”

Though Therion wasn't the most talkative fellow and she was the one doing all of the joking, Nadia could probably tell that beyond the mild frustration of mistakes, her fellow thief wasn't having a bad time. Once they'd figured out each other's timings for the most part, stretching their muscles and skills had actually been kinda fun. But after a certain point, the higher up they got the more serious Therion started to grow. He wasn't nervous, because they'd already seen proof that they wouldn't take any damage in this place, he just really didn't want to fall. Of course there was the fact that a tumble would reset some of their progress, but more than that the awful, stomach lurching feeling of a free fall was what he wanted to avoid. So when his partner suggested testing their grip out first, Therion blinked at her in appreciative surprise.

"Good idea." He flexed his fingers, taking a step back to prepare to pounce. "On your mark."

On three the pair sprung up onto the overhang, digging in with their gloves or claws and holding fast. They stayed perched there for as long as they could. Seconds ticked by until Therion felt his grip start to slacken well before the strength in his arms did. He glanced down at the ledge they'd jumped up from, and before he lost his handhold entirely he tapped out.

"Time's up," he said, letting go. Ms. Fortune let go too, else the tether drag her down anyway, and the two of them landed back on the snow. That was the time limit they had to work inside. They allowed themselves a moment to steel their nerves.

"Ready to go for it?"

The feral cracked her knuckles, resolute. “Born ready! Three? Two. One…go!”

They moved on Ms. Fortune's countdown again so that their first jump would be close to perfect. As before she started off their vertical swings, which meant this time she'd be anchoring to the wall once more than her partner. When she latched on, Therion swung up under her, able to make it onto the other side. He gave Nadia the all clear and she wasted no time unlatching so she could swing to the next outcrop. When she was sure her grip was secure she gave the signal, and Therion let go.

Midway through his swing he could already tell that his arc was too shallow. Either he didn't have enough force, or the feral was a little too low on the underhang. He reached up for a handhold anyway, managing to catch it with one hand.

"Hold on," he called, grunting and pulling himself up properly. The window was going to be tight, but in the middle suspended over nothing they didn't have any options besides succeed for fall. As soon as he was clung on with both of his hands, he let Nadia know. "Go. You're gonna have to be quick."

Which was never a problem for her. She let go, sailing under Therion and straining his grip. As soon as he heard the all clear from her mouth he pushed himself off of the rocks, making sure he had enough power to complete his final swing in one go. He came up onto the wooden platform and anchored himself for Nadia, catching her outstretched hand as she completed her final swing as well.

Therion's breathing was harsh after the brush with failure, but he actually grinned at Nadia once she was on her feet.

"Nice job."

His partner’s breathing was a little shaky. “That was freaking scary!” she admitted, but when she saw Therion smile she couldn’t help but return the favor. “But we rocked it. Let’s keep it up!”

They didn't take much time to celebrate, both of them eager to keep their lead. They went up onto the next platform and the top of the rocks they'd just hung from, moving over ice and snow (Nadia shedding blood once more) to yet another large gap. There were chunks of rocks to grab onto like there usually were, only this time they were much, much smaller.

In even worse news, though, the long sightline revealed one of the other pairs -Roland and Captain Falcon- just as they disappeared from view into a distant mineshaft. “What? No way!” Nadia’s ears drooped in dismay. “How’d they get so far ahead? We’ve been doing great!” Sure, they’d slipped once or twice, but they’d never screwed up big-time. Had those two really not made a single mistake? When she saw Captain Falcon boosting around with fiery dashes, though, she got her answer: they were cheating too. The next moment she also saw Midna and Roxas, abusing their powers much more blatantly. “Well that sucks,” she moped. Until now she’d assumed that she and Therion were in the lead, but apparently they’d been so far behind that they didn’t even notice other pairs ahead of them. Well, at least she didn’t feel bad about her own exploits anymore.

“It’s ‘snow’ big deal,” Nadia decided, focusing on the task at hand. The spot she and Therion needed to land on was little more than an outcrop, but the two of them could do it. Once more the two prepared to swing, Nadia serving as the anchor. A couple seconds later, the two flung themselves toward their tiny destination. Both touched down–but it was there that things went sour. In her haste not to skid through the snow and off the ledge’s other side, Nadia backpedaled too much and fell backward, while Therion did slide off the front. The next instant they stopped cold, the rope that connected them stretched taut across the top of the block. Of course, Nadia’s greater weight began to tip the scales, and the thief found himself suddenly dragged upward as his partner flailed for purchase.

Therion released his held breath. That was a close one. His reprieve lasted barely half a second before the two of them were in danger of falling yet again. They had to reverse this fast. He twisted when he was close enough to the stone, bracing his feet against it and taking hold of the rope. Then he pulled, practically standing perpendicular to the block's side as he struggled to get Nadia back on the ground. "Stop squirming!"

It was a near disaster, but finally he was able to get her high enough that she could grab the side, climb back on top and reel Therion in too.

After composing themselves, the two pushed forward in a quick series of jumps. Nadia imagined herself skipping across stepping stones in a river, and at the end the two reached yet another hanging wall. “Just go!” The two leaped together, using their momentum to reach the surface. While Nadia held on, Therion swung below, and the two reached the other side without issue. The next step, though, left Nadia incredulous; it was a board scarcely wider than her own foot, a single plank that stood between progress and ruination. In the end it just took a normal jump, but it left the feral’s heart pounding. A couple hops and a quick sprint brought the pair to the mouth of a tunnel, reinforced with supports like a mineshaft. “In here?” They plunged into the passageway, and it quickly opened up into a large, dark cave, its chilly gloom interspersed by burning lamps and wooden bowls that moved along chainlike rails, ferrying loads of frozen fish mined from the ice to and fro.

“This is fun,” Nadia remarked, taking off her head to get a better look at the Fishy Mines. She could see another pit below, and a way up on the other side. If ridden, those conveyors would demand another level of timing. Looking up, though, she could see a chute leading upward above them too. “Branching paths?” she wondered aloud, examining the ledges opposite her and the boards above her with her hands on her hips. “Well, we can cheese this one just like I did earlier,” she observed, crouching down. “Let’s do it!”

A hyper-extended Fiber Upper, executed just as Therion jumped, snapped her high enough that she could grab hold of the platform, and the two could climb up the cavity. When they jumped up onto a blocky protrusion to wait for another fish bucket to descend, however, their foothold began to crumble beneath them. “Aw, nuts.”

Luckily it was just a short fall, and they’d learned a valuable lesson. Plus, that cracked block reformed, meaning the two could go again. It took just a moment to repeat their stunt and ride the bucket upward, where they needed to quickly spring off more crumbling blocks to land on a horizontal conveyor, but at that point the cavern opened up in enough directions that Nadia stopped cold. “...Not sure where to go from here, to be honest,” she said, squatting. There were at least two ways upward, and a possible connection to another mobile bucket. When Therion looked her way, he found one of the fish already in her mouth. Her brows furrowed together when she discovered its rubbery consistency, and she turned her face away to spit it out. “Arti-fish-al.”

Therion didn't comment, not keen to encourage more of Nadia's eccentricities. He stood looking at each option as their platform moved, his tail swishing back and forth. Immediately he discounted the other bucket, since it wouldn't bring them up. If anything it would just take them to another area where they'd have to choose between a few paths. That left the western route, with an underhang and some planks, or the eastern route with an underhang and empty air between it and the next small ledge.

"That way seems easier," he said, pointing out the former route. Then he looked back toward the other as the bucket they were on started going back that way. "But let's go with this one. If it's harder, it must be faster."

And at this point, even while making a few mistakes their coordination had improved so much that he was confident they could pull it off.

Nadia nodded in approval at his plan. “Sure.” Before doing anything, though, she took another moment to scope the route out. “That looks like a crumbler,” she observed, pointing at the block next to the underhang. After another moment, her eyes went wide. “Wait!” She turned to her partner, smiling from ear to ear. “We can’t hurt each other, right? What if I use Fiber Upper to kick you into the air, then snap up so we can grab on?”

"Seriously?" he asked, dubious. But with damage disabled and a floor just below the conveyors to catch them if they fell, Therion couldn’t find any grounds for refusal. Though not for a lack of trying.

They got into position, and once the bucket advanced they launched into action. A spring-powered kick hurled Therion right into the wall, which he grabbed just in time as the slack ran out and Nadia shot up after him. From there, he just needed to let go again, regain his grip strength, and swing over to the board with a caution sign, where he could pull Nadia up. Easier said than done, but having done it a few times already he pulled it off without a hitch. One more tandem toss through the open space to a vertical hauler, and the pair settled in for a short ride.

Just then, though, a most unsettling yell made Nadia jump. She looked up to see two flailing shapes, one black and one blue, plummeting down through the main mineshaft. After missing every possible foothold, they shot by -less than two feet away from the feral’s face- and plunged down toward the bottom of the cave. “Yes!” Nadia grinned as she looked down, knowing the two would be fine. “Have fun at the bottom, fellas!” she called down. “Make sure you stick the Ro-landing!”

Now she and Therion had a good shot at second place, as long as they could avoid making the same mistakes. The section above them, full of cracked blocks, looked awfully tricky. The two proceeded with caution, quickly discovering that while the cubes would crumble if stepped on, they wouldn’t when one of them clung to the side. Together the thieves moved fast, straining their muscles to the point of soreness as they faced fragile blocks, several tiny planks, and a treacherously stubby overhang. When Therion’s first jump fell just short and Nadia’s foot hold began to give way, she opted to jump back to the safety of a fish bucket, kicking several into the void as she caught her partner’s weight. Once she pulled him up and the block disappeared, the two could try again. They didn’t need to worry about perfection–just salvaging their mistakes.

From there they reached a fast-moving conveyor, then climbed up a series of blocks they needed to grab onto, swing away from, and then jump across. The higher they got, the brighter and more open the cavern got, tinted an icy pale green by the reflected daylight from outside. At a fork in the path, they followed the sign pointing northwest through a small cavern. When Nadia tried landing on a cube and then jumping again before it crumbled, her jump fell short and they both nearly slid down another chute. “Urgh,” she groaned, backing away from the edge. She looked up at their destination, then at Therion. These caves were getting brighter, but they showed no sign of stopping just yet. “This is getting ridiculous. Maybe another quick break after this…?”

At some point Therion had lost his beanie entirely. He took in a few deep breaths, stretching and massaging one arm before swapping to the other.

"We have to be getting close to the end," he said. Or else how could this really be called "mini?" "...but, yeah. We'll find a better spot to break, and once we catch our breaths we'll sprint for the finish."

Now that those guys, Roland and Falcon, had fallen down into the depths of the mine, he couldn't imagine there was anyone else ahead of them besides Midna's pair. Seeing as those two had practically circumvented the entire obstacle course, it would be rough beating them for first. However that didn't mean he didn't want to try.

He cut Nadia a sly glance. "...at the same time, we'll have to figure out a way to deal with the front runners." He could think of a couple ways, and he suspected Ms. Fortune could think up a few more. Before any of that though, the next section awaited them. "Ready?"

Nadia cracked her neck from side to side. “Ready.”

They pushed forward again, this time clinging to the side of the fragile stone foothold. As usual the duo had Nadia lead, so that at the end she'd be able to haul the lighter Therion up instead of the other way around. She clung on at the same time her partner swung up to grasp the other side, then performed a swing herself with his go-ahead to bring them both to the next platform. They leapt over the icy gap in tandem, continuing their sprint across the flat rock. Ahead of them were more straightaways leading to simple jumps... which wouldn't fool the thieves. Between the both of them, they could tell that the paths were likely to crumble away. But if speed was required to get through this part, they had it in spades.

"Keep going until we're on stable ground." They dashed across the first part, though the low clearance between it and the next unsynced their pace. Therion could feel the rock shifting too quickly under his feet, but fueled by adrenaline and pure desire to avoid falling, he pushed himself to catch up with Nadia and together they leapt up onto the next couple of ledges, stopping not at the next solid rock but one higher, where a penguin frozen in an ice crystal stood.

Nadia let out her breath in a big puff of mist as she slowed to a stop. “Alright.” She sat down, trying to regain some stamina. If someone else popped up, maybe she and Therion could push them back down, but hopefully they’d have a moment to rest undisturbed. Her eyes lay on the frozen penguin. “As demonstrated by our friend here…” The feral smirked. “It’s a good spot to chill.”

World of Light

Therion & Pit

Level: 5 - Total EXP: 236/50
Level: 7 - Total EXP: 256/70
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 1111 (+2 exp)
Location: Carnival Town, Sandswept Sky

After spending days in The Under, going through the cat-majority metro, and ending up in a town full of walking skeletons and cacti all while being with a group half made of monsters, suddenly adding a bunch of humans (and one robot) to the ensemble seemed almost novel. Though some might have extra limbs, or a horn or a halo, they were pretty much all fundamentally human. Even so, Therion didn't feel any more or less comfortable with such a big group. At least he knew that everyone was on the same side.

The same thought, about everyone being on the same side, emboldened Pit. He already knew that Bowser and his family were part of the crew, but seeing that they'd picked up Ganondorf while underground was both good (?) news and kind of funny. The funny part being that it brought the whole Subspace thing to mind, which just meant the villains were not only working together again, but also they'd teamed up against a greater threat. Again. The good part being Pit knew how strong Ganondorf was, and it was always nice to see a fellow Smasher... though when your whole thing is being "the ultimate evil that can't be killed," it kind of puts into question whether it was a good idea to have him on your side. And like with Bowser, at one time Pit might have been nervous around the King of Evil - especially when he was disconnected to Lady Palutena. But the past was the past, and right now Ganondorf was one of the good guys!

If only we could have kept everybody with us, he thought, as the addition of new members brought to attention the disappearance of old ones. But people came and went, and there was no use for negativity, especially right now. Once everyone talked enough at decided to head to the giant circus tent, Pit ran ahead toward the front of the group.

When Midna came over to reconnect with Primrose and Sectonia while the group made their way to the big top, Therion picked up his pace in order to let the three of them converse on their own. There were conversations of all kinds going on around him, but the thief was content not to participate in any of them. He maintained that he didn't really know these people; it was enough that he was with them and willing to do this game-based team building. He was actually pretty good at games - darts and cards and things of that nature. Although he couldn't help but think that given the venue, the hosts, and the lack of actual explanation that these games weren't going to be the kind he was used to.

As Ballyhoo disappeared behind the curtain, Therion made this observation aloud. "No one's explained what a 'mini' game even is."

Maybe someone was explaining it somewhere on the other side of the room, but with the large group in the loud, jovial atmosphere Therion hadn't heard it. Since he had found himself toward the front of said group going in, he was around some of the more eager members who were all too happy to explain.

"It's a game within a game!" Pit said, turning to give Therion his attention after marveling at the inside of the place. "Like when you're playing a fighting game and there's suddenly a crypt maze, or when they add fishing into a game for no reason."

Therion stared at him blankly, clearly not grasping the explanation. The angel didn't seem to notice though, as he went on. "It feels like its been a while since I've played any! Oh, but... hm... how exactly is it gonna work if we aren't already playing a game?"

Pit's expression morphed into a thoughtful one. He tucked his fist under his chin, considering if there was maybe an arcade behind those curtains or if the minigames would be more like the stuff they used to do between exhibition matches as Smash tournaments. If they had Target Smash he was so gonna win.

Taking the chance to slip out of the boy's attention radius, Therion moved to the outside edge of the group. There he could better see the prize counters, and nothing really drew his notice besides the giant sphere. Ballyhoo had described it as getting "character orbs," but now that he was close enough Therion could see that inside were spirits. Or what really looked like spirits. He blinked in surprise.

The implications of this are kinda grim, he thought. Of course it seemed normal for everyone still gleaming, but it meant someone must have been filling this daily with the remains of the deceased. Maybe the minigames were actually some kind of death game, and losers get put in the machine? That would be seriously macabre. He was already feeling less enthusiastic about this whole thing.

Pit either hadn't noticed or didn't care that the weird cat guy he explained minigames to had moved somewhere else. He was just excited to play with everyone. This kind of reward after last few hard days was sure to be a blast, and after everyone relaxed they could go back to the Avenger, catch up more, and then he'd convince everyone to plot a course to Skyworld. Good things were ahead for the Seekers - and much sooner than expected, because yet another surprise made himself known. Captain Falcon announced his presence and his intent, making Pit swivel to look at him with wide eyes. Seriously, just how many strokes of good luck could happen in one day?!

The man strode boldly through the curtains to follow after Ballyhoo, and the only reason Pit didn't go right after him was because he wanted to stick with the group. It wasn't like he was going anywhere, plus when he head Roxas ask about the man, Pit felt the need to add on to Ganondorf's explanation.

"He's also a famous racer!" he said, coming up on Roxas' other side. "You should see an F-Zero race sometime, they go crazy fast. Maybe they have them here if Captain Falcon is here!"

The angel did agree with Ganondorf though, they definitely had to recruit him! The sooner the better, though maybe they could save the whole friend heart thing for after the games were done. It would be unfair if they shattered the pilot's world view in the middle of competing.

Eager to get started, Pit hopped up above the crowd and stayed airborne for as long as his wing flapping allowed. "Is everybody ready? Come on, let's play!" he said, practically holding the curtain open for everyone once he landed.

What Are You Listening To?

World of Light

^{____________________________________________________}
Level: 10 - Total EXP: 212/100 ------ Level: 7 - Total EXP: 254/70
𝙱𝙿 ●●●●● ---------------------------- 𝙱𝙿 ●●●●●
Word Count: 1574 (+3 exp)
Location: Carnival Town, Sandswept Sky

Though whether the high energy of the town would infect their gloomiest and grouchiest Seekers remained to be seen, the rest were having a nice time just looking around and taking in the vibe. Of course, suddenly stepping into a city-wide party with so many avenues of entertainment available to them, it was hard to know where to start. So when Ms. Fortune bid everyone to follow her, the Travelers were quick to oblige. This seemed like the kind of place it would be easy to get lost in, what with all of the colors and crowds. Luckily they could just follow the largest members of their group, and if even they were obscured by the various shapes of people around they could always get a glimpse of Ms. Fortune and a few others bouncing around up above. Primrose and Therion themselves stuck to the ground, the latter trailing a little behind. He wanted to get a feel for the area and its streets just in case there was a sudden stampede of people after them. It had happened twice in the last few days, first at the Metro and then in the Home of Tears, so it wasn't impossible to think it might happen again. He was sure to get ahead of the parade though, turning back once to watch the procession and its giant skeleton curiously. Primrose stuck behind the Koopa King, letting him drive a wedge through the crowd that she could easily follow. All the while keeping an eye out for any koopalings or the man Ganondorf had described to them.

Eventually they'd made it to the city's center, where their acting tour guide pointed out the floating rings of colorful fire. From outside the plaza the rings didn't seem all that special when compared to many other sights the world had to offer, but once stepping beneath them there was an instant change that plunged the colorful daylight into high contrast purple. It was quite the breath taking change, and it was only within the boundary of the plaza and the ring overhead. The flame clock inside of the ring's center was not as welcomed a surprise though.

It wasn't the last of the day's surprises though, as everyone's attention was draw to the sky where a group of uniform objects were falling down from the sky. It didn't seem like a natural phenomenon to Primrose, but besides that she had no idea what it could be. Something normal for the area? Some kind of action taken by a Consul, given there was a flame clock right above them? Therion shared the sentiment that it could be bad news, as did Ganondorf, but they all agreed to investigate. It would be nice if it ended up being something harmless, but if it wasn't then the sooner they knew, the better.

---

Word Count: 1574 (+3 exp)
Level: 5 - Total EXP: 234/50
Location: Carnival Town, Sandswept Sky

In the end Pit didn't end up making it up to the bridge. His method of taking the time to look into every little area and hallway he passed instead of head directly to a destination slowed him down considerably. Neither did he find the vessel's jail or anything that resembled one before Dawn's voice came through speakers around the Avenger, letting everyone know to meet back up - they were quickly approaching Carnival Town. Though still pretty curious what kind of prisoner was being kept on the ship, Pit spun on his heel and headed back the way he'd come when he heard the announcement. It wasn't like said prisoner was going anywhere anytime soon.

The angel spotted familiar faces on his way back down and joined up with the Seekers currently congregating in the deployment bay. While they waited for everyone to assemble, Pit mentioned the Spirit Chamber and its demonic shop keep to anyone who would listen. "There were all kinds of machines and runes and stuff," he said, going on to vaguely describe the central pod. "And then that Vulgrim guy said he trades items and 'secrets.' About the world. But he only takes spirits. Which I'm pretty sure he eats by the way."

If anyone were to visit it and actually get something from Vulgrim, Pit would be curious to know what. That would be something for later though, just added to the big pile of stuff "for later." For now, once everyone was ready, Dawn explained how the Lost Numbers usually got to and from the Avenger: the Fulton and Hellpods.

Honestly neither of them were too different from what Pit usually experienced back in Angel Land. When he was under the effects of the Power of Flight, his course was charted out for him ahead of time. He was basically yanked around by Lady Palutena (or on the rare occasion Viridi) while in the sky. As for plummeting inside the 'death traps' as Goldlewis put it, well, "I dunno, it sounds kind of fun."

Way better than plummeting without a big metal case to safely ride in at least. To make sure it actually was safe, Sandalphon volunteered to go first - and as soon as she was fired Pit turned his eyes on the view of the pod rapidly descending toward the ground. After she made it, and her report, the archangel teleported right back for another go. So it was safe - and it must have actually been fun too. And since more fun awaited them on the ground, Pit stepped right up to get in a pod himself.

---

By the time the Seekers already on the ground arrived to the scene of impact, they found a group of people already emerged from their pods. And those that had been in said pods found themselves quickly greeted with friendly, familiar faces. For the most part.

Primrose and Therion hardly recognized any of the Seekers that had been part of the other team. For one, none of them (save Midna, who didn't appear to be with them at first) had been on the 'yellow' team that had traversed the Sandswept Sky with them. For two, any they had briefly met at Twilight Town had gone through some big changes, except for the winged boy who appeared the same but neither of them knew very well. There was no time to treat them warily however, because those who did recognize each other called out immediately.

As usual, Bowser was unmistakable. His silhouette alone was pretty famous, so even the changes to his face didn't keep him from being recognized. The same was true for the other Koopas, though to a lesser extent. It was pretty fair to guess that a mini-Bowser could only be the Koopa prince though. At the same time that Blazermate flew over to the king, Pit noticed them and flitted forward.

"It's Bowser! And Bowser Jr.!" he exclaimed. And with them was their grandpa, that girl (who Bowser then introduced as his daughter), the two humans... wait, two humans, two cat people? Sectonia...

"Halo! Pretty much everybody we told you about before is right here!" Pit said, knowing Sandalphon would hear him even if she wasn't around at the moment. Wow, how lucky were they today?! Finding the Victory, the Lost Numbers (though technically that group had found them), and now the rest of the Seekers? All after two successful boss battles, since it seemed the other team had prevailed as well.

Primrose caught on quickly. "The other group of us," she said, echoing Roxas' correct assessment. She folded her arms, both she and Therion studying the faces and forms of the newcomers and veterans of the other team to re-familiarize themselves with them. The thief shoved his hands into his pockets, his feline ears flicking at all the noise.

There were introductions and re-introductions, and swapping war stories. Pit happily gave his spiel about being a goddess' bodyguard, while Primrose and Therion kept it simple with just their names and some cordial enough greetings. For anyone that had known Pit, they'd find he hadn't changed at all. The same couldn't be said for the Orsterrans, though they were still recognizable. Primrose had shrunk and lost some muscle mass but retained her looks. The outfit she wore was well tailored and fit her perfectly. She was still very much human looking, and a beautiful one at that. Therion had more noticeable changes, being that he now sported cat ears and a tail. His skin, too, had a blueish hue to it and he appeared to have lost weight enough that his bones were nearly visible in some places. Both of his eyes, and his facial scar, were now visible - though his eyes had a glassy, milky sheen over them.

Around that time Midna and Ganondorf showed back up. Seeing the former, Primrose perked up and nodded at the princess. It was nice to see her safe and sound, in any form. At the later, Pit's eyes widened when recognition hit him after a few moments, distracting him enough not to ask more about Jr.'s comment about Omori. "Oh man, is that...? Ganondorf?!"

Hopefully working on the good guy's side. Since no one on the 'purple' team batted an eye at him, he probably was.

While catching up was all well and good, there was the question of just where all of the other Seekers had come from. Therion squinted up at the sky, though he didn't see anything but a cloud or two. "Where'd you all even come from?" he asked.