[center][h3]Midgar - Zone 09[/h3]
Level 5 Goldlewis (111/50) Level 4 Sandalphon (23/40)
Karin’s [@Zoey Boey], Blazermate, Roland, and Susie’s [@Archmage MC], Geralt and Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2512[/center]

As the others set off, beginning the rooftop trek toward the obvious point of interest that was the ramshackle colony a good ways off, Goldlewis lingered near the bridge for a moment longer. Part of him wanted to wait for Sandalphon to take up her planned position to ensure that he and the others were advancing through unknown territory with the assurance of the combat coordinator’s support, but that wasn’t the real reason. 

“Never seen this part of the city before, I take it?” H’s bright yellow drone drifted over to hover a couple feet away from Goldlewis, its unblinking blue optic sensors fixed on him. “I mean, it’s understandable. Quarantine Valley…well, it’s a lot to think about, right? Nobody really wants to think about what a place like this means for us. Either in terms of Astral Plane corruption, or in terms of how we humans treat one another when the cards are down.”

For a solid couple seconds, Goldlewis didn’t say anything. H didn’t allow the unpleasant silence to linger for too long. Well, at least those should be the last guards for us to worry about,” H declared, his drone performing a high-spirited flip, “I was kind of expecting security on this side, too.” The two of them plus Geralt, who was not in any hurry to test the structural stability of the sheet-metal bridges until his allies put them through their paces, waited a few moments more, scoping out the area and plotting a route to the colony until Sandalphon reached her perch. She gave them the go-ahead, and the Seekers’ rearguard began to move. Still, despite the lack of immediate danger and the all-clear from both Sandalphon and H, Goldlewis kept a sharp eye out. His reflexes simply wouldn’t allow him to relax in a situation like this. [i]You can take the man out of the war, but you can’t take the war out of the man,[/i] he thought wryly.

Within two minutes, though, his alertness bore fruit. In a corner of a rooftop with a bunch of metal containers, tucked up and protected from the winds by perpendicular metal sheets attached to the roof’s rusted perimeter railing he spotted a red-and-black machine about the size of a dog. It lay behind a box that hid it just out of sight for the average passer-by, and every few seconds a large gash on its casing spat out a handful of orange sparks. Curious, H followed Goldlewis over, and he identified it immediately. “A busted security drone…it looks like it was working fine up until a little while ago. Hm…usually these accompany Peace Preservation officers.” He hovered a little closer. “Maybe it saw something interesting. Let’s check it out.”

Hacking into the drone, H quickly scoured its memory. After salvaging some footage, H steered his drone back toward the path everyone just came through, then put its onboard holographic projector to work. An ethereal, green, three-dimensional image of a horned woman in somewhat patchy attire, a gigantic sword with teeth like a hacksaw slung over her back, and the drone itself. As Goldlewis watched, H used his drone to recreate the events from the footage. Flanked by her drone, the guard strode down the walkway that led to this rooftop and paused on the raised platform. Then she tensed up, turned, and ran down the steps onto the rooftop to circle around a cluster of barrels and come to a stop just below the overlook where she paused originally with her hand on her sword’s hilt. “She keeps looking around,” H noted aloud as Goldlewis came to a stop behind the projection. “I guess she lost sight of whatever she was after. She sees something again, and then…that’s the last we see of her.” The image abruptly went haywire, the recreated phantoms sent topsy-turvy before vanishing altogether. “And wouldn’t you know it, the drone got wrecked at that exact same moment. Whatever went down, went down right here. The culprit doesn’t show up on camera…are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Goldlewis had been stroking his beard, trying to figure out the sequence of events. Basically anything could have happened, from a simple equipment malfunction to an attack from local malefactors, possibly even the Hermits themselves. Then again, this woman looked way too rough-and-tumble for Peace Preservation, and what would one of them be doing on the wrong side of the restricted zone, anyway? Maybe [i]she[/i] was a Hermit, her drone hacked and repurposed. If that was the case, the big question was what happened to her. Given the nature of Quarantine Valley, and the weird omissions from the recording, an obvious answer sprung to mind. “Reckon it’s a chimera abduction?”

“It’s gotta be!” H replied, getting excited. “Judging by the embedded data on the video file, it wasn’t long ago. We may not be too late to save her if we find her fast!”

Furrowing his brow, Goldlewis scanned the area. The others were already getting ahead of him, but abandoning this poor woman to her fate -a fate worse than death, incidentally- wouldn’t sit right with him. After a few moments, H located a concentrated bundle of red matter floating in the open air about twenty feet beyond a gap in the rooftop’s railing. When his drone approached, a blood-red wound split open in reality itself, a rippling crimson vortex of otherworldly energy. “A Gate!” H exclaimed. “With redshift levels as high as hers were, our guard probably saw the chimera. And decided to follow it…but it looks like it found her before she found it, and dragged her in. Oh…” He turned toward Goldlewis, his tone suddenly dejected. “But without a Legion, you can’t even see chimeras, let alone fight them.”

The veteran had already made up his mind. He by no means wanted a repeat of the night before last, but this was something he couldn’t just ignore. “Good thing I got that doohickey of yours to gimme a rough approximation. Can I still get in and out?”

“Theoretically, yes, but…”

“Then that’s what I’m fixin’ to do.” Goldlewis backed up, preparing to take a running leap. “Halo, you copy that? Whoever she is, she might be able to help us. But even if that wasn’t the case, leavin’ her to aberrate would leave a mighty bad taste in my mouth.”

“Understood.” Sandalphon directed her voice to all the Seekers in Zone 09, informing them of the latest developments that she’d witnessed from her vantage point. “Goldlewis is entering a Gate leading to the Astral Plane on the rooftop right before the one with a broken radio tower in order to rescue a civilian. Goldlewis, please keep me updated on your status.”

Without further ado, the veteran sprinted toward the edge, threw himself off the rooftop, and airdashed straight into the Gate. As he vanished The yellow drone did an agitated flip. “Ohhh boy. This is gonna be rough.” H took a deep breath and drove his proxy forward, riding the veteran’s coattails into the unknown.

This time, the transition was immediate–no hurtling through an infinite interdimensional passageway, just a quick red flash before Goldlewis was deposited on a large, uneven plateau of red-tinted obsidian emblazoned with countless golden lines that curved and meandered like rivers on a map. In the distance, beyond the sheer drops at the plateau’s edges, angular towers and monoliths hung in the air between planes of similar material that stretched all the way to the horizon, where a narrow strip of pure white affording only a partial look at a colossal, inverted black pyramid. That much Goldlewis remembered, but unlike before he could see no elaborate landscape or suspended labyrinth extending out into this alien dimension. Nothing beyond this roughly square arena, practically featureless except for some red data distortions, could be reached. Of course, that meant that both arrivals spotted their target right away.

“Ah! Look, there she is, over there! And it looks like she’s okay.” With her here in the flesh rather than an indistinct hologram, Goldlewis could get a good look at the [url=https://i.imgur.com/nIutPQv.png]abducted woman[/url] for the first time. She looked like one tough cookie, her slapped-together outfit -decked out with sophisticated climbing gear- designed for function over form. From her brown hair extended bovine ears and horns, one of them broken. She’d planted her greatsword in the ground and now lay slumped over it, seemingly hurt and half-conscious as she gasped for breath. “Well, she’s still herself, at least.” Both of them also noticed the dark crystals protruding from the right side of her exposed midriff. “For now, at least. We’d better hurry.”

Goldlewis held up a hand to his glyph as he began to move. Luckily, it seemed like Sandalphon’s miracle could reach him in here. “Come in, Halo. We found the missin’ woman. Just about to bring’ her home.”

The mountaineer spotted them as they approached, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “No way, someone actually came in after me? Somebody pinch me!” She winced in pain, holding her abdomen. Sweat dampened her skin; whatever exertion she’d just performed had worked her core muscles to the point where the lesions hurt more than her fresh wounds. “Urk…you…you are here to rescue me, right?”

“Yes ma’am,” Goldlewis set his coffin down beside her and knelt. “Hold tight now, we’ll getcha outta here in no time.”

“Then you better work fast,” the woman groaned. “‘Cause the chimeras aren’t done with me just yet.” Noises from behind Goldlewis forced him to return, but he couldn’t see anything other than a couple blots of rippling energy that quickly faded away. “Three more of ‘em,” she announced weakly, almost laughing. “Good luck, chief.”

On instinct Goldlewis took up arms, lifting his coffin as he prepared to swing. Of course, H was right. He couldn’t see hide nor hair of these monsters, and blindly swinging at them wouldn’t get him anywhere, either. “Let’s make a run for it,” H advised, piloting his drone over the woman. Four little crane arms descended from its underside to grab her around the middle and lift her into the air. “I’ve got the victim. Focus on reaching the exit!”

A little surprised to find herself hoisted so easily, the mountaineer looked down at the arena from above as H began to carry her out. “Listen up, I’ll direct you!” she called down to Goldlewis. “The first one’s chargin’! Dodge…left!” Putting his faith in the stranger, Goldlewis obeyed, barely avoiding the first chimera in time. “Now the other two, move back! Now…go, go, go!” The veteran ran back toward the gate, converging on it at the same time as H. “Wait, stop!” At the woman’s shout, Goldlewis hit the brakes, and H swerved out of the way. Unbeknownst to either of them, the first chimera had charged back toward them, predicting their path to try and cut them off. Instead it went right between them, severely overshooting. “Okay, step on it, they’re comin’!” At the signal, both threw themselves through the Gate, followed a second later by the chimeras. Remembering where he was, Goldlewis made sure to airdash back to the rooftop to avoid a deadly drop. Less than a minute after he first leaped into the Astral Plane, he skidded to a stop in the World of Light once more.

H flew after him, the mountaineer held safely in his drone’s tethers, but the chimeras weren’t so fortunate. They toppled out of the portal and plummeted all the way down toward the city streets. “Haha, they fell!” The woman exulted, her vindictive glee quickly turning to anguish as H laid her down. “Oof, ow…”

H, meanwhile, was practically overjoyed. “Amazing! We all made it out without aberration. In fact, I’m barely detecting any redshift in you at all, Mr. Dickinson. Less than one percent.”

“Thank God.” While Goldlewis couldn’t enjoy the sight of the chimeras falling to their deaths (assuming that they could even die of fall damage) he could watch as the Gate disappeared from view a moment later. “Huh. Is it gone?”

“No,” H replied sadly. “It’s ‘off’, but it’s still there. We’d need a Legion, or at least a Neuron member with an x-baton, to close it for good.”

“Good luck with any of that. That one’s hardly the first, and it won’t be the last.” The mountaineer lifted herself into a sitting position. “Down here, there’s nobody but the Hermits to look out for us,” she told them wryly. “Though I can’t exactly say that with you around. Not many people out there who’d jump into a Gate to save some stranger. I thought my delivery streak had finally come to an end. You must be crazy.” She smiled. “Thanks.”

Goldlewis nodded. “You’re welcome.”

Over the Seekers’ communication network, Sandalphon relayed the duo’s success. “Looks like the situation is resolved and under control. Please proceed with the mission.”

“If I might ask, how were you fighting those things?” H asked, hovering a little closer to the Astral Plane survivor. When it came to what happened, he’d managed to put two and two together. “Even if you can touch them, those things are inhumanly strong. Plus…well, if you could already see them even before being taken, it’s honestly a miracle you haven’t turned.”

The woman sighed as she weighed her options. She seemed reluctant to answer the question, but after a brief moment her principles won out. “Eh…it’s kind of a secret, but since you saved me, I guess I owe you. I’m a messenger, and sometimes I work with the Hermits. They don’t want their messages gettin’ lost in transit, so they gave me a little bonus a while back. That’s about it.”

“About that…” Goldlewis crossed his arms, his face apologetic. “I wish I could say we helped out purely outta the kindness of our hearts, but we just so happen to be lookin’ for the Hermits. If you could help us, we’d sure appreciate it.”

She looked unsure. After a second or two, H picked up the slack. “We don’t want you getting in hot water or anything, of course. We just want to get in touch with the people really trying to make a difference around here. The current state of affairs can’t continue, and the only way things get better is to fight. This is Goldlewis Dickinson, former Secretary of Defense. If you’ve heard that name, you know he’s been a man of the people all his life. And I’m Hal Clark.” At the reveal, Goldlewis raised his eyebrows, but he kept quiet as Hal continued. “So, miss messenger, if you could even point us in the right direction, we’ll call it even.”

Though the woman thought for another second more, it seemed to Goldlewis like Hal said the right things. “Call me Wind Chimes,” she said, lifting her hand so that Goldlewis could pull her onto her feet. “I haven’t heard of you, Mr. Dickinson, but you guys seem decent. I’m not a Hermit, mind you, but I’ll see what I can do.”

[hr]

Meanwhile, near the rooftop colony, the other Seekers’ progress had come to a halt when they found a fortified gate and attendant gatekeepers barring their path. The obstruction, combined with their collective desire not to stir the pot more than strictly necessary, bade them take a look at their surroundings. Geralt in particular didn’t need to look far in order to find a person of interest. He found one wearing a ratty, hooded orange coat, dark pants, and yellow galoshes. The irate outcast was practically begging for someone to get him started, and as soon as the Witcher tactically offered himself up for the man to vent to, Geralt got everything he wanted and then some.

“What the hell are YOU looking at?” the outcast fumed. “Mind your own business!” When he got a good look at Geralt, however, his attitude adjusted with lightning speed. “Dammit, uhh…I, I mean, can you believe this? All I did was step out here for one second to pick up my laundry after it fell off the line. But the Hermits said no-one gets into Sector V, and those bozos at the front gate won’t listen to a word I say.” He looked up past the rusty girder scaffolding where the loafing man sat to an elevated walkway that ran along the colony’s outside wall, one end within jumping distance of the roof of the shack by the loafer’s respite. “If I could just get up to the roof, I could get back home. What a pain in the ass. They COULD let me back through the gate–wouldn’t have been a problem with the last guy they had leading the Hermits.”

In the opposite direction further past this spot, across a narrow makeshift walkway above part of the trash-littered rooftop where a bunch of red matter sat, the dingy camp lookout tower stood. Luckily for the Seekers, the lookout hadn’t raised any sort of alarm yet despite the appearance of so many notable newcomers, but if one headed over or looked down from on high they could see that the man responsible appeared to be badly injured. He lay at the foot of the tower itself next to a stack of boxes and a barrel fire, and if anyone approached him he’d call out for help.

[hider=Optional Dialog: Injured Lookout]
“I’m so glad you showed up…” the poor fellow groaned, hope shining in his pain-wracked eyes. “Can you help me out? I fell from the watchtower and busted my hip up real bad. Got anything that might help patch me up some?”

Once healed, he offered his heartfelt gratitude. “Thanks, pal. You’re one of the good ones. Makes it feel like this place is worth keepin’ watch over.” Gingerly he got to his feet. “Whew, I really owe you one. Here, let me repay you with this.” By way of thanks, the lookout offered a Gunner Drone. Though not of the highest quality, it could be activated to help supply a little extra firepower, even if it’d be completely spent after about a minute.

After handing it over, the lookout scratched his stubbly cheek. “Hmm? Hey, you’re not from around here, are you? Keepin’ watch outside of Sector V as long as I have, you learn how to tell when someone’s from this side of the wall or not. If you came all the way here, you probably wanna see more of Sector V than the outside fence, yeah? You seem trustworthy, so I’ll fill you in. There’s a back way in toward the right, just climb onto the walkway, run across the air duct, and drop down. A word of advice, though. The law’s not quite as potent here as it is out where you’re from. Watch your step.”[/hider]

A high vantage point gave Sandalphon, Blazermate, and Susie a chance both to see into Sector V, and identify a handful of supply crates scattered throughout the area, all tucked away off the beaten path. While the robots could reach whatever ones they saw, Sandalphon began to relay their locations to the rest of the team. If the robots wanted all the items for themselves they’d need to call Sandalphon to get her to stop somehow; otherwise everyone else would learn of the crates.

[center][h3]Suoh - Beacon Mental Hospital, the Brainframe[/h3]
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Sakura’s [@Zoey Boey], Pit’s [@Yankee], Roxas’ [@Double], Luka, Gemma[/center]

Pit’s quick action stopped Sina before she could freeze the water over and embed Luka below it’s surface. As she tumbled away, a hefty blow from the Upperdash Arm shattered both ice and tub, the latter much to Brain Drain’s chagrin, freeing the young captain from his brief but terrifying captivity. He filled his lungs with a gasp as he hit the floor, soaking wet. Even if he had the breath to spare, words could not describe the mixture of surprise, anger, and betrayal that shocked him more deeply than the cold ever could; he was truly at a loss. Luckily, Pit put out an urgent request for additional information, and with two words Sakura confirmed everything they needed to know. Regardless of the circumstances, it seemed like Luka’s squadmates had it out for not just him, but everyone here.

At least that left the rogue duo sorely outnumbered, but with Luka recovering and Roxas seemingly overwhelmed, only Pit stood ready to challenge Sina right now. The young woman upended another tub, covering the floor around her in water that she could glaciate on a moment’s notice. Then she steadied herself in a kneeling position in her advantageous terrain and took aim with her arm, firing both blasts of freezing ice and singular piercing icicles as the situation demanded. That wasn’t all, though. Making use of her partner’s power through SAS, she could use Seismokinesis to create splashes in the water that could be frozen into spikes or barriers for offense and defense. No matter the odds, Sina would go down fighting.

Painwheel’s murderous rage found an impediment in the form of Midna once the Twilight Princess inserted herself into the fighting. With her in the way, the berserker couldn’t tear Dexio limb from limb like she planned. For a moment she glared at Midna, wondering whose side she was on as she tried to make her way around the annoying obstacle, but her own frustration plus Brain Drain’s urge to not waste her Hatred Install quickly caused her to boil over. “OUT OF MY WAY!” Extending her cord, she realigned her Buer Drive’s blades into a claw and brought it down on the shaft of Midna’s treespear with unadulterated strength, strong enough to wrench it from the Seeker’s grip. Then she jumped into the air and spun up her blades in fan mode to helicopter forward, forcing Midna to take quick and decisive action to keep Painwheel out of the others’ fray.

Of course, that meant starting one of her own as she triggered Galeem’s influence. “RaaAAAAaaagh!” After being knocked down, Painwheel sprang to her feet, her veins bulging as black blood surged through them. Propelled by her synthetic Gae Bolga parasite, a spread shot of spiky darts [url=https://i.imgur.com/rSkM1e6.png]burst[/url] from her arm in a spray of blood, flying up and then down toward Midna in an arc. Painwheel quickly threw herself after them, spinning her blades like a wheel beside her with [url=https://i.imgur.com/aAiY57O.png]Pinion Dash[/url] to rip across the floor and into Midna like a living sawblade. From their her assault would consist of wild contortions plus Gae Bolga blood spikes interspersed with frightfully fast command grabs that would punish the Twilight Princess for complacently blocking.

Despite Dexio’s solid frame, Sakura managed to knock him over with her strong flying kicks, halting his seismic beatdown. The lab’s structural integrity might not be nearing the breaking point just yet, but the damage had been accumulating quickly. As he scrambled to get to his feet again the street fighter closed in to pressure him on wakeup. Though clearly brainwashed in some way, the young man hadn’t taken complete leave of his senses, and he quickly shelved his demolition to refocus on his assailant. He defended himself, first blocking and then fighting back, and as the two traded blows Gemma closed in to analyze the situation before lending a hand. Dexio fought with reach, solid defense, and power, his big swings packing a respectable amount of strength even compared to Sakura. He only really lacked speed and technique. Though a new soldier and therefore fresh from several months of basic braining minimum, he scrapped more like a brutish brawler than a well-honed cadet, lacking the efficiency and precision cultivated by countless hours of harsh drills and stringent supervision. It struck Gemma as strange; where had Dexio gotten the power that rendered skill obsolete?

Over the course of a handful of exchanges, Sakura managed to land a few confirms, but her opponent was stubborn, never taking to the air with a risky jump. He refused to be pushed around and backed into a corner, both protecting himself and taking the fight to her whenever possible. Though he didn’t match her either in terms of skill or statistics, Sakura was holding back, and against a former ally -with another’s fate in worrisome limbo- she wasn’t in the right mind. In her nervousness she’d made an assumption that the rest of Beacon’s bottom floor wasn’t precariously positioned over Seiran’s reservoir, like this chamber and the Doctor’s operating room were, but Dexio didn’t give her the chance to find that out. After just another moment, he took her by surprise by using the SAS to borrow Sina’s power. Cryonic power covered his arms, causing his strikes against Sakura -as well as hers against his guard- to build up freezing ice.

At that point, Gemma stepped in. “Sakura! Don’t forget to use SAS!” Setting the example, he tapped into Hanabi’s Pyromancy, coating his gloves in psychic fire, and bulled into the fight. He knocked Dexio away, then ducked while his opponent threw out a wild backhand smash with his left as he steadied himself. Dexio got his right arm in the way in time to intercept what would’ve been a heavy gut punch, but Gemma followed it up with a left-hand uppercut to the underside of his foe’s cestus, opening him up. Rather than capitalize, he used his other hand to guard his head against Dexio’s desperate hook. His unexpected strength kept Gemma in blockstun for longer than he would’ve thought, allowing Dexio to keep him locked down with a right cross, then slide him backward with a kick. With a grunt he slammed his foot down, sending out a seismic wave, but Gemma deftly dropped down to block it low.

There was a brief pause as the two stared one another down through the steam given off by the collision of fire and ice. Then they clashed again, moving and trading blows like heavyweight boxers. Dexio kept going for knockout swings, but Gemma weathered them and laid into his opponent’s arms, damaging his weapons and burning away his ice. After a couple moments Dexio offense faltered, his cryomancy exhausted, and Gemma powered through the next haymaker to seize him with a clinch hold straight into a takedown. Dexio hit the ground hard, but the next second he blipped away, reappearing a few meters away from either opponent.

Luka recognized teleportation when he saw it. “He’s using my power! Hurry and sever your connections!” Just as he finished, Dexio teleported right in front of him to try and shut him up with a two-fisted slam, but Luka was faster. He dodged backward and lifted his Weight Hammer for a counterattack. His opponent blocked on reflex, only for Luka to teleport behind him and take his legs out with a low swung. Knocked off his feet, he could do nothing to stop his captain warping back in front of him and launching him like a golf ball across the room. 

Dexio recovered and slid to a stop, breathing heavily. Without hesitation he reached up and yanked the cord protruding from his collar, causing his hood to flip up onto his head. His face disappeared into darkness, and red triangles formed a masquerade pattern in the middle. Simultaneously Sina did the same, her pattern identical. “Brain Drive!” Gemma warned the others. “Get ready for round two!” With Brain Drive engaged, both fighters gained stat boosts across the board and more frequent usage of their powers. 

[center][h3]The Under - Kingdom’s Edge[/h3]
Level 12 Nadia (62/120)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Rubick’s [@Scarifar], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2705[/center]

After they paid their respects to the Hive Knight, honoring his indefatigable gallantry and loyalty, everyone turned their attention to the spoils of war earned in the course of their short-lived campaign throughout these amber halls. In addition to the treasures they found in this throne room and the personal effects that both the usurper and reclaimer left behind, the Koopa Troop unveiled a hoard of extra loot seized from their vanquished opponents. Though she’d originally planned to loaf about while the others went about their business, the feral couldn’t just pass up a bevy of items when they were free to a good home, and she walked over to take a look.

She rummaged through the stuff carefully, not wanting to accidentally trigger any more weird effects. Most of it didn’t interest her except in its possible sell value, such as the acorns, magic runes, and snail armor. While she wouldn’t turn down a couple good-looking rings, their arcane abilities made them a much better fit for Rubick, so Nadia elected not to challenge the mysterious mage’s claim. Since she already owned plenty of weapons and couldn’t really use polearms or strength weapons anyway, she narrowed her choices down to just two items. She liked the look of the rugged combat boots, especially since the strangest part of her new appearance had to be the sneakers with the fronts cut off. While she could sort of understand the logic, seeing as her opera gloves and thighhighs both featured cuts around her scars, her new shoes just didn’t work. “I’ll give these a try. No offense to that Banjo guy, but I’ve had enough of bear feet.” After pulling the half-sneakers off and slipping into the Mantreads, she gave a satisfied purr. They might not be the most stylish or ladylike, but they felt pretty nice, and she’d definitely be happy not going barefoot in places like the Womb again. Besides, sometimes it just felt good to stomp around. 

Other than that, the cat burglar only took interest in one other offering: the lava eel. Its strong smell made Nadia hungry, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten in hours. Surely it had to be lunchtime by now. Luckily, the lava-dwelling fish had been cooked to perfection, and it certainly wouldn’t keep if the team kept carrying it around, so she might as well take it off their hands. Nadia made quick work of the eel, chowing down in a matter of seconds before licking her lips. “Ooh, I love the spiciness! You could even say that’s a-moray.”

Sectonia stepped up to the plate to use the Orb of Undoing next, followed by Therion. After seeing what happened to Nadia, they both made careful, slight adjustments, ending up only a little different from before. The feral almost found herself missing Chibi Therion, but she knew that if their roles were reversed she’d have done the exact same thing. Sectonia went on to fuse with the usurper, and Nadia crossed her arms as she looked the queen over. “You really earned your stripes in that fight, huh?” she asked, grinning. “Well, I’ll try and keep the bee puns to a minimum. At a certain point they’re just too beeasy. Heehee.”

[center][hider=For Therion]Obtained:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/oU4lfV5.png]Zombie Bullets[/url][/b]
[i]An artifact that gives a 25% chance to refund the ammunition used to launch a projectile if the projectile misses. The projectile ‘misses’ if it doesn’t hit an enemy, even if the target was not an enemy. This only works for finite ammunition[/i][/hider]

[hider=For Rubick]Obtained: [url=https://i.imgur.com/vTKRIy6.png][b]Spell Tome: Annoying Bee[/b][/url] [i]A thin tome that instructs in the use of a cantrip from the Illusion school. The spell targets one enemy within 25 feet and inflicts 'Distracted by an Annoying Bee', which hinders the target's ability to concentrate (whether for the sake of spells, technical moves, or complicated tasks) for ten seconds and deals minor unavoidable damage. At levels 5, 11, and 17, the damage is doubled[/i] [url=https://i.imgur.com/bYTKkpc.png][b]Iskal Hunter Band[/b][/url] [i]In the Iskal, you will be free from distraction and find focus in the infinite. Reduces all spread by 40%, increasing the accuracy of projectiles[/i][/hider][/center]

After that, the main issue wasn’t what to do next, since everyone knew their current goal, but where to go. “Wherever there’s more bosses to fight, I guess,” Nadia told Rubick. Rika suggested asking the local bee population, while Bowser and Sectonia took it a step further, wanting a hero’s welcome and a hand in the Hive’s new government, respectively. Therion mentioned the team’s map, but even before she reached into one of her belt pouches to confirm her suspicions, Nadia had her doubts. “Uh, I don’t think it gets any bigger unless we buy a new part of the map.” Sure enough, to her disappointment the map only went as far as the Home of Tears. “Yeah, looks like it,” she sighed, folding the map to put it away. “Guess we’ve gotta find a way out the old fashioned way.” She glanced at the royals. “For the record though, the Hive isn’t really…ya know, our problem?”

When everyone left the royal hollow, they found no sign of wasps in the Hive. They seemed to have cleared out wholesale, buzzing for the hills, but in their wake they still left a queendom in shambles. Though freed from their oppressors, many of the bees seemed to be at a loss. Their social structure and their very way of life had been decimated by the wasp occupation, and even picking up the pieces seemed nigh-impossible to them. Clearly they were in no position to sing Bowser’s praise or heed a new political consultant. From their inquiries the Seekers did learn one thing, though: this hidden kingdom harbored no other entrances or exits. This was as far as they could go, which meant they needed to go back the way they came.

Eventually, the Seekers managed to retrace the steps they’d taken to reach the Hive and make their way back out of its lustrous golden depths. As they ascended through the tunnels the amber walls and waxy hexes gradually gave way to sedimentary rock and rich, dark soil. While the crimson creeper vines they disturbed on the way down had long since snaked back out to their full lengths, just a little coordination meant that they could be sent packing without any more bloodshed courtesy of their fanglike thorns.

Furthermore, a different perspective brought one other secret to light: followed all the way back to their origin point, each creeper coiled up in a little burrow around a root core. Just a couple hits to the core proved sufficient to destroy each vine at the source. As such, the team could prune the invasive species from the Arboretum’s garden, and for that the Water Lily Siren was exceedingly grateful. From the remains of the creeper vines and a few choice specimens around her greenhouse the larger-than-life dryad fashioned a [url=https://i.imgur.com/d2JH2E3.png]special charm[/url] for her new friends. “Here!” she beamed, offering it. “I call it ‘Thorns of Agony’. I’ve woven them together, but those mean little vines are still alive, and they still really hurt! If something hurts you when you’re wearing it, they’ll be in for a nasty surprise!”

Not too long afterward, everyone emerged into Holograd, bathed in the everpresent radiance of the distant Lightroot once more. It was a far cry from being outside, but Nadia would take it for now. The sooner she got a breath of fresh air though, the better. There were no rules stating that the Seekers needed to finish off the Under’s Guardian before they revisited the surface world, after all. That line of thinking got her wondering about where to go next. Getting a little chilly, Nadia zipped up her jacket and then stood with her arms crossed, staring around at the ruined Termite Capitol as she thought. Grand as it had been, the hidden realm of honey had been a dead end, not just for the Hive Knight’s quest but the Seekers’ voyage as well. Try as she might, the feral couldn’t think of any ways forward except the Stagmer-line Station in Falldown Mall. Sure, there might be other routes that connected to this massive, misty cavern other than Pizza Tower, but even if she could find an exit she wouldn’t know where it led. “Better to have some goal in mind than bumble around, blind as bats,” she murmured. If only her map included these forsaken lands at the kingdom’s edge. “Guess I should’ve kept an eye out for that Cornifer guy. Oh well, surely there’s no [i]possible[/i] way he just happened to find his way out here and set up shop nearbyyy~”

She perked up her ears and put a hand up to one dramatically, waiting with her mouth ajar for the faintest hint of any familiar humming that might be wafting through the fallen city’s streets. She turned her head this way and that, her ears twitching and turning, but after a few moments her shoulders sagged down. “Aw. Guess it’d be askin’ a li’l bit much. Wouldn’t want to put the cart-ographer before the horse, heehee.”

“Oooooooooooooooi!”

“Nyuh!?” Somehow taken by surprise, Nadia swiveled her head in the source of the echoed voice, scanning the nearby rooftops. Movement brought her gaze to one a few buildings away, and the feral watched as a short, stubby, darkly-clothed figure -only a couple feet all- parkoured across the domed red shingles. The stranger sprinted, hopped, and slid until she threw herself from one of the domes with a headlong leap. Nadia’s eyebrows shot up, wondering if the kid would be okay, but the little girl landed softly on the ground on her belly, and bounded forward with a front flip onto her feet to land with her arms outstretched as if to say [i]tada[/i]!

Now that she got a better look at the stranger in that long black coat, her face completely veiled within the hood, a spark of recognition flickered to life in Nadia’s mind. “You…” She extended an accusatory finger, her brows scrunched together in a guarded glare. “You’re from the same group as the guy that stole Linkle when she became the Skullgirl!” A lot had happened in the last five days, but still, how could she have almost forgotten?

“Wot?” The hooded girl scratched her head, seemingly puzzled. Although what really puzzled Nadia was how she meant to scratch anything through both thick gloves and a hood–was she just acting? “Oo’s that?. Look, miss, we’re always up to somethin’ or another. They don’t tell me diddly-squat, and I’d ‘ave to be mental to keep tabs on everythin’ those blokes are doin’. Doin’ to help you lot, I might add. Didja ever wonder ‘ow that stuffy git Gallo knew to ask ya for help? Well, ‘cause I told ‘im to, didn’t I? And guess wot: it’s your lucky day, ‘cause I’m back to give ya all another helpin’ hand. So gather ‘round, will ya, ‘cause we don’t got all day!”

Though still a little suspicious of this girl, Nadia decided that she seemed important, and she decided to hear her out. Once everyone was ready, the Organization XIII member took a seat on top of an old barrel and continued.

“Well then, I take it you lot got everythin’ nice and tidied up down in the Hive? ‘Ow many’s that, four, five? The little mask bits, I mean.” All together, the fragments from Silitha, It Lives, Asgore, Pizza Head, and Rumor Honeybottoms made five. “Five! Nice job that, eh mates? Four to go, and the Black Egg’s yours to open, innit? But wot d’you suppose you’ll find in there?”

She held up her hands with a shrug as she looked around for an answer. “I’ll give ya a hint. It en’t the Guardian. At least, not exactly. All that’s in there’s a poor sod called the Hollow Knight. Chosen by the Pale King ages ago to seal the Guardian away, but that didn’t work out so good, and killin’ ‘im won’t work. If you lot crack open the Black Egg before you’re good an’ ready, all you’ll do is release the Infection on the entire Underground full-force. Little bits’ve been leakin’ for a while now, sure, but if it all goes at once? You and everythin’ else down ‘ere can kiss your bums goodbye. What you lot need is a way to reach the Guardian where she lurks–the Hollow Knight’s dreams. And for that, you’ll need somethin’ very special.”

The girl pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket. “I wish I could say it’d be as easy as gettin’ the Dream Nail from the Moss Tribe Seer, but even if you lot got it all powered up, it’d only work for one person. So your next best bet is this.” She held up the paper for everyone to see, revealing a [url=https://i.imgur.com/G41dZZy.png]strange staff[/url] bound with thread and adorned with silvery crescents that shone coldly like winter moons, which she then passed to the Seekers. “The Dreamcatcher. If you lot wanna kill the Guardian and get us all that much closer to a world without Galeem, you’ll be needin’ this little doodad. You’ll find it in Mercy Dreams, an old prison where the Miracle blurs the line between dreams an’ reality. And as luck would ‘ave it, gettin’ there’s pretty easy. All ya gotta do is go…” She lifted her index finger. 

“Up?” Nadia stared skyward, through the misty cliffs and floating islands to where the lightroot blazed far, far above. She remembered a handful of what looked like bodies raining down from on high before when she made her way down that morning. “Ya mean, it’s [i]above[/i] this cavern? How’s that easy, there’s no way to get up there!”

She got the impression that beneath her hood, the Organization kid was grinning. “That’s where you’re wrong, mate! You just don’t know it is all. Don’t know much of anythin’ I expect. Take that there for instance. Ever seen it before?” She pointed to a random stone tile that lay alongside this Holograd city street. About two feet square, it bore a [url=https://i.imgur.com/EjT3hsX.png]spiral symbol[/url] on its cracked surface.

Nadia narrowed her eyes, thinking. “Uh. Don’t think so, no.”

“Heh, heheh…course you ‘ave, you just don’t remember ‘cause it don’t mean anythin’ to ya. Don’t believe me? Just keep an eye out.” Chuckling, the girl pushed herself off of her makeshift chair to jog down the avenue a short ways, heading toward a long-abandoned flowerbed full of yellowed weeds. In it stood a little [url=https://i.imgur.com/NYDe5Qk.png]pinwheel[/url] styled after a four-leaf clover. “Yeah, there’s secrets all over the shop, long as ya know where to look.” Holding out her hand, the child summoned a [url=https://i.imgur.com/64Qybp1.png]strange sword[/url] that she pointed at the pinwheel. “Aero!”

A bright green wind spell flew from the keyblade’s tip and struck the pinwheel. Instantly a powerful updraft flooded through the windless cave, buffeting Nadia’s hair, ears, and tails. In the surge of magic, a whole host of miniature cloudbanks formed floating in the air all the way up from the red domes of Holograd past the sky islands to the cavern’s highest reaches. As Nadia stared, blinking in amazement, one of the nearby buildings popped open. From the door scuttled a strange, four-legged creature that resembled an upturned yellow bullet with a protuberant, horn-shaped snout. It leaped onto and bounced off the awning of an abandoned market stall like a trampoline, and once it sailed up to the lowest clouds, it began to bounce off them too, climbing higher and higher. Far above, near where the Lightroot grew from the pitted ceiling, a stone promontory made for a likely destination.

“Bam!” The Organization girl grinned, her voice smug. “Where there’s will, there’s a way, eh?”

If Nadia was being honest, it looked like a whole lot of fun. “Huh, and here I was wonderin’ about where to go for lunch. Didn’t realize the answer was a windmeal!” She grinned, glancing from the spinning pinwheel to the black-coated kid. Maybe they really were here to help. “With this, reachin’ the roof’s gonna be a breeze!”

“Innit?” The short stranger crossed her arms. “Once you reach the top, it’s just a little way through the Crypt and past Hollow Bough, and boom, you’re in business.”

“Wait, what?” Nadia went to turn her bewildered expression on the Organization member. She half-expected her to vanish away in the Organization’s customary manner, but no, she was just standing there with her arms crossed, waiting to watch the Seekers make the ascent. The way she stared back at Nadia seemed to say [i]what do you mean, ‘what do you mean’?[/i]. Part of the feral wondered if she ought to be asking this black-coated stranger anything, but she nothing came to mind, so Nadia refocused on the [url=https://i.imgur.com/RlMh5NY.png]daunting climb[/url] ahead of her. As she looked upward, the critter she saw before missed a jump and fell, quickly plummeting down until it happened to catch another cloud only a few dozen feet off the ground and save itself from a gruesome death, at which point it started the climb anew. Nadia took a deep breath. “This is gonna be a long day.”