Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.
Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.
As chaotic as the insect ambush started out, the situation ended up being pretty manageable. The centipedes, soft-shelled and not exactly difficult to hit, seemed to be relatively easy pickings if one could get past the initial fear factor. Lewa confronted each bug in turn, sometimes several at once, unceremoniously hacked them apart, and left the ropy halves to wriggle their last. With everyone's efforts combined the centipede assault didn't last long. Their wanton slaughter left the whole area stained with splashes of murky blue arthropod viscera, and without the might of a swarm to back them the handful of leftovers that survived could achieve very little. It looked like it wouldn't take much more for the otherworlders to exterminate the scuttling threat completely.
Perturbed by the whole affair, Lewa used the lull in the storm to wipe the bug gunk from the protodermis edge from his air axe. He wasn't worried about dulling his blade necessarily, or the possibility of rust, but something bothered him all the same. Even taking into account the instinctive fear response from some of the humans, the centipedes' unprovoked aggression, and dogged refusal to flee for their lives, struck him as oddly self-destructive. The rahi he knew didn't just mindlessly throw their lives away without any real chance of reward; if anything, these creatures reminded him of the bohrok, who fought, destroyed, and died for the sake of destruction alone. Maybe that was just the nature of swarms? For a beast that only existed as part of an army, perhaps the army itself superseded all else.
In his uneasiness, Lewa kept his guard up despite the relatively minor threat. He paid close attention to the strange noises that filtered through the trees, wondering just what sort of animal would be attracted rather than repelled by the sounds of conflict. He noticed one member of the team, Remilia, who hadn't put up as much of a fight, wandering off. "Wait, there could be-!"
His warning came too late to prevent her horrific discovery. A moment later, the monstrosity that the vampire unveiled charged toward the group through the foliage. The creak of its heavy exoskeleton and the clack of its mouthparts told Lewa everything he needed to know about its comparative side before he even laid eyes on it. "Incoming!" he called, whipping around in order to sprint toward the disturbance. As he ran, he whirled his axe around preemptively, stirring up a stiff wind. When the full-grown centipede finally burst from the underbrush, Lewa knew he'd made the right decision. Now this was the kind of rahi he was used to fighting. "Wind, fly!" With a swing his axe his cyclone blasted forward, tearing up grass and leaves as it whirled toward his foe. Even if the beast didn't receive the tornado's full might, it would hopefully keep the beast away from his allies, not to mention give them a clear shot by shredding the surrounding foliage. His preemptive strike bore fruit; the next moment, Mokou swooped down to strike the monster head-on, its venomous mandibles knocked away by the fierce winds. One beat later, a fiery explosion went off, exacerbated by the remnants of Lewa's tornado. Despite the substantial new danger, this looked like a promising start.
With the meeting on the upper deck of the Virgin Victory over with, Goldlewis could finally turn his thoughts away from the bigger picture and toward taking a well-earned break. His team’s chance encounter with James Shirogane left them reeling from the devastating news about Alcamoth, then inundated with information as everyone tried to fill in the gaps of their collective knowledge. Between establishing communications, investigating the sunken city, and reuniting the scattered Seekers, there would be a long road ahead of them just to reach the starting line for the next leg of this continent-spanning race. Goldlewis agreed with Sandalphon, however. No matter how much needed to be done, they could not achieve their goals while tired, hungry, and dispirited. Everyone needed some time to heal, and that time started now.
Moving at a leisurely pace, Goldlewis disembarked. The Virgin Victory was no ordinary vessel, and docking at a conventional wharf must have been quite the feat, but somehow the enormous warship floated had been moored close enough that those aboard could vault over the railing and land on the dock below–all without blocking the harbor. The wooden planks groaned in protest as the veteran’s weight crashed down on them, but they held, and after a sigh of relief Goldlewis pushed forward. The briny waters of the narrow bay lapped at the creaking, barnacle-crusted logs as he made his way toward solid ground. Though he felt Midgar looming at his back, its decrepit mass like a giant, dying beast somewhere behind him, the veteran did not look over his shoulder. Al Mamoon had been a much-needed change of scenery, but in the end it had just been more machinations and politics. After everything he’d been through, Goldlewis was glad to leave it all behind. He belonged on the front lines, fighting for what he believed in, not managing the masses from behind a desk. On to greener pastures, both figuratively and literally. With hope in his heart, the big man set foot in Port Meridian.
From here, Goldlewis could only catch glimpses of the rolling hills of farms and ranches beyond the buildings. The fresh air here was already doing him a world of good, and he longed for a peaceful stroll among the verdure. How long had it been since he breathed deep of petrichor, the rich smell of rain-soaked earth? Or stroked a horse, its hair fine and smooth beneath his palm? Or heard the contented lowing of cattle? He could feel a reservoir of childhood memories deep within, trickles leaking through the dam, threatening to burst through. Right now, though, he really wanted to sit down. He’d been on his feet all morning, and for someone his size, that tended to get old after a while. “I gotta park myself somewhere,” he said aloud, turning to the others. “Anyone want a bite to eat?”
Sandalphon had followed him from the warship, alighting much more softly upon the docks with the aid of Heavensent. Though Goldlewis tended to catch bystanders attention thanks to his sheer size, the rustic charm of his accessories offset that somewhat, but the archangel stuck out like a sore thumb just like the Virgin Victory. If her spotless white attire and strange eyes didn’t get the townsfolk whispering, her elaborate triple halo certainly did. Having never set foot beyond Midgar, though, she appreciated her new surroundings almost as much as Goldlewis did. “Please go ahead,” she told him, looking around the port. “Provided there is one, I would rather peruse the local market. I would be interested in purchasing fresh honey.”
Hearing that, and having learned about one of Sandalphon’s quirks over breakfast, Goldlewis couldn’t help but picture the archangel drinking the golden nectar straight from the jar. The thought made him smile. “That sounds mighty fine.” He looked around at the rest. “Feel free to wander ‘round folks, but keep your eyes peeled. If any o’ y’all run into trouble, call it in, and be ready to hustle back here. Understood?”
The Seekers separated, eager to make the most of their brief stay in Everdream Valley. Though the market promised fresh produce, Goldlewis wanted nothing more than to give his aching feet a rest, so he made a beeline for the nearest restaurants. He passed by a couple establishments, including the bustling Master Tavern, which was rife with wharf workers and deckhands fresh on the scene for their lunch breaks. On the way, he witnessed his own reflection in the glass facade of a storefront, and paused for a moment. Having settled into the routine of middle age, Goldlewis had changed very little over the span of many years, yet now the man staring back at him looked altogether strange. Already he knew that the spirit of Jack-8 had given him a substantial power boost, but it had also exaggerated the appearance of an already-remarkable individual. In a way he regretted changing, but now that he’d opened the floodgates, he could always course-correct. The spirit of Hank still burned in his pocket, waiting to be used. Figuring that the grizzled soldier’s normalcy would help offset his odd proportions, Goldlewis stepped into an alley and made his executive decision.
Spirit consumed: Henry “Hank” Allen The host is a bit shorter, now standing at 6’8”. His proportions are more normalized, though he’s still definitely large. His suit’s color and pattern have changed to blue-green camo, and his shirt is now black, matching his heavy combat boots and armor pads. There are now double lights on each shoulder pad, which can be toggled on and off, and black pouches on his belt. His beard is longer, and his hair now has more of a gradient from dirty blonde near the roots to white at the tips. His glasses are now more like goggles, solid black with special optics that can be flipped down over the lenses, which have five vertical red lines of varying length, roughly shaped like lips. The host’s personality is a bit less humorous and more critical. This spirit confers the Power Shield Charger, allowing his coffin to charge up a shield pulse that applies a permanent shield to an ally within 60 meters. This has a 17 second recharge, but the shield it makes is strong, protecting 50% for an ally with average health, 25% for one with high health, and 75% for one with low health. This spirit also confers the weakness Last Stand, causing the host to enter a Downed state when at <10% health. When Downed, he can barely move, his health slowly drains, and all his weapons disappear, replaced by a pitiful Holloe Pistol. This state ends and his weapons return when his health rises above 10%.
New Free Power: Shield Burst By slamming down his coffin, Goldlewis can apply a shield to all allies close to him, on a 26 second cooldown. This shield is relatively weak, protecting just 15% for an ally with average health, 7.5% for one with high health, and 30% for one with low health
When the fusion concluded, Goldlewis re-examined himself. Though his outfit had lost some of its rugged simplicity, he noted with satisfaction that he looked more like a regular person, without compromising his intimidating stature nor strength. The flip-up glasses tickled his funny bone, but they by no means ruined the ensemble. With that out of the way, he resumed his trek down the road, quickly settling on a promising destination: the Pelican Inn.
Once inside, Goldlewis found himself in a beautiful little place that radiated vintage pub charm, from its heavy curved bar and elaborate taps to the portraits, trophies, and other knicknacks all over the walls. Though he did a double take at the union jack flags hanging around, he comforted himself with the knowledge that England probably didn’t exist in this world, and seated himself at a cozy corner table where he could keep his eyes on the door. Once the waitress came by to drop off a menu, he requested a soda and got busy reading.
Appetizers:
Bread
Marinated Mushrooms
Grilled Skewers (Chikipi or Lamball)
Soups and Salads:
Mushroom Soup
Dumud Chowder
Lettuce and Tomato Salad
Entrees:
Roast (Rushoar, Eikthyrdeer, or Reindrix)
Herb Roast (Lamball or Caprity)
Broncherry Rib Roast
Rushoar Hot Dog
Stew (Galeclaw, Eikthyrdeer or Reindrix)
Eikthyrdeer Loco Moco
Grilled Galeclaw
Mozzarina Burger (Ham or Cheese)
Mammorest Steak
Seafood:
Broiled Dumud
Kelpsea (Fried or Grilled)
Desert:
Jam-filled Bun
Cake
Pancakes
Woolipop Cotton Candy
The veteran’s confusion grew as he read over the menu. “Rushoar? Eik-thyr-deer!?” He shook his head. “No idea what these animals are.” He could only assume them to be analogs for pork, chicken, beef, and so forth. Since he could see other restaurant patrons enjoying their meals, however, and the pictures on the menu looked appetizing enough, Goldlewis decided to go with the flow for once. He put in an order for a Rushoar Hot Dog and Eikthyrdeer Loco Moco, with a side of Dumud Chowder. After that, he sank back in his chair, trying his best to relax.
After Goldlewis left, Sandalphon lingered by the docks for a moment longer. Though she by no means lied when she said that she wanted to visit the market in search of honey, something more important now concerned her. When the Seekers began to disperse to make whatever they could of the lush valley’s port town, she sought out a certain detective. As expected, she found Zenkichi and his daughter Akane joined at the hip. Thanks to Midna’s efforts, the two had been reunited, but to assume that all was well would be foolish. Since joining the team, Zenkichi had been separated from his daughter almost constantly, risking his life against some of the biggest threats the twisted city of Midgar had to offer. Sandalphon could hardly imagine what that looked like from poor Akane’s perspective, waiting alone (or in the care of total strangers) for hours and hours in anticipation of grim tidings, or the briefest of windows in which she could see her dad before he went off to risk his life once more. It hardly took a mind like Sandalphon’s to deduce that Akane’s mother was gone–a fact that made the poor girl’s situation even more crushing.
The archangel paused for a moment, observing them. To anyone else, her unblinking, dead-eyed stare, delivered from a remarkable height, would be off-putting if not downright intimidating, but she truly didn’t mean it that way. Right now, she was just trying to think of what to say. Her almost computational talent for perception and multitasking enabled her to coordinate combatants with effortless grace, tactically leveraging all available assets into a lethally efficient whole, but understanding the human heart challenged her mental faculties like nothing else. She remembered her conversation with Zenkichi from last night, about his experience with the ghost of Zone 09 and her victims, and their place within the bigger picture. He never said anything about his own child, but the way he spoke about the children spoke to great distress in his own heart.
So, while Sandalphon didn’t really know how to, she wanted to help.
For the second time that morning, she knelt down so that she could look a youth in the eyes. “Do not be afraid,” she said to Akane, her voice soft. “My name is Sandalphon. Though I have not known your father for long, I hope I can call him a friend. If possible, I would like to do the same for you.” She then stood back up to her full height, not quite as tall as her original form, but still tall enough to look down on Zenkichi. “Given recent events, everyone deserves to be at peace. But not everyone has a young child. With both of your permissions, I would like to keep you both company for a time, get to know you better, and help you both feel more at ease, if I can.”
When Bowser yelled up to the Troop’s concerned teammates that they were okay, Nadia stepped away from their caved-in hole, laughing helplessly as she rolled her eyes. After what they’d all just been through a little tumble couldn’t have been the end of the Koopa clan, but it relieved her to know that they landed safely, and it sounded like they’d stumbled into somewhere new, as well. “They really sturtled me,” she punned. “Can’t go two minutes without falling face-first into another adventure, I guess.” At this point, their nonstop hijinx really shouldn’t come as a surprise, but their knack for getting into trouble really was impressive. “Well, whatever. Everyone shellebrates in their own way, eh? Guess we’ll wait for ‘em. I sure don’t mind resting on my laurels a bit longer.”
Of course, the Temple of the Black Egg wasn’t the nicest spot to hang around in. Even without all the new decor, this here would have been solemn, spartan, and inhospitable, the air heavy with the weight of Hallownest’s history. The infection had done a real number on this place, and while the bright orange mood lighting wasn’t that bad, those renovations came packaged with disgusting tumors, stomach-churning smells, and sounds that could make the feral’s skin crawl. At least the death of the Radiance had kickstarted a clean sweep, quickly killing off the contagion and everything its mad light had possessed. After just a few minutes, the air was losing its funky foulness, which made Nadia feel a whole lot better.
As the air cleared, allowing the Seekers to catch a much-needed breather without choking on the stench of slime molds, the triumphant heroes exchanged a few words. Sectonia monopolized the conversation for a while, reviewing what little intelligence the team gleaned from F and adding her own insights, a healthy mix of verbatim repetition and far-flung speculation. Nadia didn’t dare interrupt her, instead producing the Free Lemonade from its dedicated pouch pocket. With the pitcher magically replenished, she slaked her thirst with gulp after gulp of the sugary-sweet, sensationally sour fruit juice, then gave a satisfied sigh as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. Though she tried to pay attention, Therion’s whispers made her snicker. “As long as she doesn’t make a full of herself.” She offered her fellow thief the other half of the lemonade. “Here. Half full, to go along with your earful.”
In the end, F hadn’t given them anything definitive, other than which members of the alphabet soup of villains the Seekers needed to watch out for the most. If they ruled over this world alongside Galeem, Nadia figured they’d chew through them all sooner or later, but it was something. Right after that, though, the heroes got much more poignant information: the news that Jesse would be making herself scarce. “Aw, really?” Nadia moped, crestfallen to the point that her ears drooped down. While she hadn’t bonded with Jesse as much as, say, Primrose, the redhead had been a fixture of the group, resourceful, insightful, and dependable. Nadia liked having her around, to the point that the feral missed her throughout her absence yesterday, and she was sorry to see her go for good. “Well, I could only rush forward knowing you had my back,” Nadia replied once addressed. “Stay safe out there. When we head up north, I hope we can count on you to show up ‘Jess’ in time!” She perked up in order to send Jesse on her way with a smile. “See ya!”
With all that out of the way, they could focus on what to do next, and a vacation sounded heavenly. Primrose even floated a suggestion, hot springs in a place called Gerudo Town, which would’ve sounded amazing even without Nadia’s newfound inclination for water. Hopefully she’d get to share her downtime with Ace again. That locale seemed to evoke a strong response from Ganondorf, however, and the big bruiser immediately laid claim to the area. Nadia half-listened to his explanation of Gerudo customs, her focus mostly on Chucho. The canine apparition, bless his heart, seemed to be a complete coward who faded away at the first sign of trouble, but with the action concluded he’d reappeared to beg Nadia for attention. Naturally, the feral obliged. Nothing soothed the soul like petting a pup after all, corporeal or otherwise. He lay on his back with, and as she scratched and rubbed his belly, she could feel her stress draining away. She only looked up when Ganondorf urged Primrose to hurry and guide him to Gerudo Town. “What’s the rush?” she asked, her tone relaxed. “Gotta wait for the Koopas anyway. We’ll get there when we get there. Maybe you could wait to seize power ‘til we’re done with the hot springs, in fact.”
Before Bowser and company returned, however, someone else showed his face: Osvald. “Oh, it’s you!” Nadia said, her brows shooting up in surprise. Given what happened to the others who’d been separated from the Seekers, she had feared that a similar fate had befallen Osvald. Though her first instinct was to rattle off something like ‘look who the cat dragged in’ or ‘you missed all the action’, neither felt appropriate for expressing how his unexpected survival made her feel. “...Glad you made it!”
She reported the team’s victory over the Radiance, happily sharing the good news that the heroes’ subterranean stint would be over very soon. Of course, their departure depended on the return of the Koopa Troop, and as the minutes passed by she began to wonder just what was taking them. Before too long, though, everyone’s linkpearls rang with the sound of Kamek’s voice. Nadia grinned. “Yeah, I hear you! What’s up?”
While the Troop failed to hunt down F, the news that they found Cornifer was a real pick-me-up. With all the rush yesterday, Nadia hadn’t gotten another chance to track him down, and she was glad to hear that the kindly cartographer escaped the infection as well. Kamek finished by telling the others to go ahead, and that the Troop would catch up. Nadia jumped to her feet. “Sounds good to me! Say goodbye to the Under everyone, let’s below this joint!” She took off running, only to slide to a stop after a few steps as her head swiveled a hundred and eighty degrees. “What, which way are we going?”
The team quickly put together a plan. Assuming that an ascent back through the Chasm would be a prohibitively arduous task, the best way back would be the Stagmer-line, and the nearest station they knew of lay in the Home of Tears. “We gotta go through that awful basement again?” Nadia groaned. “Not to mention that freaky flesh-scape! The less I think about that blood river, the better!” Luckily, Kamek had suggested an alternative: Ash Lake. Without Rubick, the Hive courageous Knight, or the Troop, only Primrose knew the way both to and through it, so the Seekers set off with the dancer in the lead.
Primrose guided the others down through the Crossroads, past the spot where Nadia met Cornifer originally, away from the wooden passages that led to the Basement, and through a series of tunnels. A fork in the road took them away from the Ancestral Mound and into a large dripstone cave, its floor dotted by pools of noxious, sludgy muck and choked by foul weeds. Bus-sized Goams erupted suddenly and without warning from the earth, their spiky burr-coated shells nigh impenetrable, On the far side of the huge cavern, part of the rock face gave way to a protruding wall of wood that stretched from floor to ceiling, with several hollow roots twisting out from it to rest like primordial serpents in beds of grimy stone. Even without a strong presence from the infection, conditions here seemed worse than the last time Seekers came through. Grotesque cragspiders dragged themselves between the protruding nodules of rock, their vestigial mosquito wings abuzz as their loathsome eyes searched for prey they could roast alive with heretical flame. Even worse were the bulbous wall huggers whose engorged, protuberant masses hung just out of sight, with gossamer tendrils drifting down to snare unlucky prey. The mire horrified Nadia, grievously offending the part of her that detested stagnant, unclean waters, and once Primrose directed the team toward the enormous tree trunk she hustled over as fast as her legs could carry her.
From there, everyone could proceed through the hidden doorways and carefully descend through the twisted boughs of the great hollow, dappled by inexplicable white light shining down through the thorny briars above. The route downward was treacherous, composed entirely of winding and in some cases very thin branches. To make matters worse, a handful of mushroom people and reptilian basilisks lurked around the tree’s innards. Even for those possessed of flight, it was slow and tricky going to reach the exit at the very bottom. Nadia made ample use of the walls, sinking her claws into the aged wood as she climbed with catlike dexterity. As demanding as this trip was turning out to be, she knew that rest and relaxation lay at the journey’s end, and pushed onward. Eventually, the Seekers reached what looked like the bottom of the tree and dropped down onto a bed of moist, sandy soil. With no sign of the enormous fanged crab that rested here when last Primrose came, the team could follow the blue-green light through a large gap in the trunk, and trudge out into the biggest, most breathtaking space that the Under had to offer.
Click for music
Before them spread a vast and mystical space, maybe too expansive to even call a cavern, especially since it lacked any visible walls or ceiling. Instead it stretched away into the distance until the haze rendered all a murky bluish fog, and upward to a layer of pale green clouds. The trunks of countless other unfathomably tall trees just like the one they’d just emerged from, rising like the columns of some primeval cathedral up from tranquil dark waters through the cloud layer and into the roof beyond. That water formed an immense, glass-smooth lake, and the team stood upon a large ridged bank of sand that wound a serpentine path from this trunk toward another a half-mile or so away. Nadia marveled at the impossible vastness of its grandeur, so stark a contrast from the filthy, execrable Dripstone Cave. If the Home of Tears lay below this place, was this the source of its endless rain? No wonder the soaked-through city never went dry.
There were signs of life here, all of it just as strange and archaic as this place itself. Clams with teeth clung to the bark of the giant tree trunks beneath the surface, while in the shallows of the sand bank organisms known as ganoderma grew like underwater flowers. Googly-eyed shellfish both large and small called this place home, weathering the glares of ornery barnacles as they trawled for food alongside oblivious trilobites. All those creatures quailed at the sight of the hostile five-legged clams that stalked these forlorn shores, their enormous maws laden with the slimy skulls of their past victims. If all that inhabited the narrow sandbanks that seemed to form Ash Lake’s only land, however, one could scarcely imagine what lurked beneath the glassy, dark surface of the water. Deep down, frightful glimmers could occasionally be seen, making Nadia think twice about unnecessary water-skating. At the other end of this sank bank towered another archtree, and according to Primrose, a pipe in its vicinity would take everyone to the Home of Tears.
There was one other matter to attend to, though. Primrose had also mentioned an ‘old king’ who possessed knowledge that might help the Seekers on their journey. If he’d refused to share it until after the Guardian’s defeat, Nadia figured it must be worth their while. As the team trekked along the sand bank, they negotiated a temporary split. While the rest forged onward into the Home of Tears to attend to anything that might preclude a ride back to Dirtmouth, Primrose volunteered to meet with Asgore about whatever it was he’d kept from heroes who’d yet to prove their worth, and share whatever she learned. Nadia couldn’t suppress her curiosity. “I kinda want to hear whatever it is for myself,” she admitted, scratching her cheek. “You know what, you guys go ahead, I’ll stick with our dancer. We’ll meetcha at King’s Station afterward and share all the As-gory details.”
After exchanging what conjectures they could, the team was only too happy to move on from the morbid, malodorous carcass and press on into the woods. As they advanced, Lewa brought up the rear, keeping a careful watch both over his smaller organic acquaintances, and the forest itself. Though neither the trees nor the underbrush, nor the topography of the environment itself, had really changed, a subtle menace now pervaded the once-calm, once-beauteous area. Now that Lewa knew for sure that something foul was afoot among these trees, unknown horrors could very well lurk in every shadow, every hollow. The further the team went, the more still and strange the woods became. While the wind still filtered through the trees, and freshwater creeks trickled through leaf-choked beds, their whispers and burbles were now a solo act, unnerving in implication. No birdsong arose in harmonious response. Nothing stirred among the lichen-riddled logs, nor the mossy stones. Nature's symphony had faded away, its crucial parts too stricken with timidity to play. Whatever the culprit might be, the toa of air knew he was getting close.
Then, before Lewa even realized, the trap was sprung. Something dropped from the boughs overhead--something thick, ropy, and segmented, and alive. Sanae and Remilia's scream startled Lewa, and in an instant he'd snatched his axe from his back to ready for use. He watched as more of the serpentine beasts emerged, disturbed -or maybe excited- by the girls' shrieking. They burst forth in surprising numbers, scuttling on hundreds of spindly, stripy legs, a veritable tide of chitin armor, waving antennae, and clicking mandibles.
Lewa, however, did not immediately go on the offensive. The centipedes did not frighten him, nor even register as a threat. He could see at a glance that the little bugs lacked any natural weapons that could pierce his armor, and even if they did wield some sort of venom, it seemed very unlikely that they could reach his organic components. Instead the centipedes fascinated him, as they more than anything else he'd seen so far resembled something from his own world, thanks to their hard exoskeleton and segmented bodies. Of course, the others didn't share his curiosity. For the humans, the sight of the bugs elicited a visceral response of fear and revulsion. Before Lewa could even begin to study the creepy crawlies, the organics unleashed their magic, turning the forest into a chaotic maelstrom of fireworks. It was total pandemonium. "Mata Nui..." Lewa sighed. If these writhing, wriggling beasts endangered the others to the extent that such overwhelming force was warranted, he couldn't exactly stand around and study him. Lewa went to work, halfheartedly chopping at the centipedes. If anything, he was more worried about his allies hitting one another, or himself, for that matter. Hopefully all the commotion would convince the bugs to retreat, rather than rush headlong into their deaths.
New item obtained (via book selection): Ather Lance A technological lance, primarily gray in color, with light blue accent lighting. It can be used to lob projectiles that explode in a three-foot radius on impact, lightly damaging enemies and healing allies, all for no cost. It can also be used as a casting catalyst for support spells or miracles
As soon as Sandalphon pointed out what the Arahabaki main terminal could be used for, Goldlewis felt a great weight settle over him. From the beginning, he’d known that the satisfaction earned from his team’s victory over Tycoon would be fleeting. Though important, it formed just one incremental step in the campaign against Galeem. Yet even in all his pessimism, Goldlewis hadn’t imagined just how short-lived that hard-earned triumphant feeling would be. Learning that they’d inadvertently cut off the Midgar’s main power source and doomed it to a citywide blackout had been bad enough. Between the losses of utilities, transit, refrigeration, medical services, and communication, the Seekers could scarcely fathom the scope of the catastrophe soon to befall the city. Only a precious few hours remained before the impending disaster struck, and right now, their location in Arahabaki meant that the Seekers had a chance to warn the people.
Of course, they really had no choice. Even if they -and the city itself- had been set up for failure, they heroes needed to take some semblance of responsibility via immediate action. The only real decisions to make were what to say to the people, and who would say it. Though Goldlewis understood why the others might look to him, he balked at the opportunity, reticent almost to the point of outright refusal. “I heard all kinds o’ politicians and all kinds o’ speeches in my day. All kinds of folks with big plans on how to lead America forward,” he said flatly. “But that ain’t me, no sir. No matter how many stars they pinned on me, I’m just a soldier in the end.” He shook his head. “It ain’t that I don’t care, mind you. In fact, I reckon it’s the opposite. I take the lives of my men mighty serious. Out there in the trenches, ain’t nothin’ more important. Those lives weighed on me like nothin’ else. Their deaths…” Goldlewis swallowed. “Even more so. And now, we’re talkin’ hundreds of thousands of people. I ain’t the right man to call the shots for all those lives. My shoulders ain’t broad enough to carry that weight.”
Despite his size, Goldlewis almost seemed crushed, bent over like someone forced to carry a heavy burden. Compared to him Sandalphon seemed a lot more composed, but she appeared no more eager to make the all-important announcement. “While I could report on the facts of the matter, and will if necessary, doing so is admittedly not my preference. I am only just now beginning to awaken to my emotions, to the warmth of humanity. Right now, I don’t have the words to reassure, or calm, or unify, or inspire. If we are to salvage this situation, the people need someone like them. Not a heartless angel.”
The Seekers discussed the situation, and what to do about it, for a few minutes. Susie wanted to take over Midgar for herself, and Roland mentioned someone who could solve the power crisis, but the idea of any administration fixing things at this point seemed far-fetched, not to mention doomed. The team’s victory over the Guardian hadn’t put an end to the Ever Crisis, but with the Machines and the Shinra Administration gone, the people could flee the Others, the Chimeras, and all the cruelty that Midgar embodied, from corruption and oppression to inequality and crime. Karin’s assessment rang true. Held captive by the Ever Crisis and maintained by the Consuls, the metropolis had been the perfect system for grinding countless lives into dust, and it was time to bring this cycle of suffering to an end. In a bold move, Karin volunteered not just to deliver the speech, but to stay behind and do her best to personally lead the people of Midgar to a brighter tomorrow.
Sakura quickly signed on, and Goldlewis found himself nodding in appreciation. The two were an excellent duo. They possessed not just strength of body, but strength of character, mental fortitude, and unwavering determination. For Karin in particular, her mental acuity and forceful personality made her uniquely suited for an undertaking of this scale. “Good on ya, kids,” he told her, his face and tone of utmost seriousness. “We’ll miss ya somethin’ fierce, but I figure you’re makin’ the right decision. I haven’t known ya for long, but after seein’ ya in action, it seems to me like there ain’t anythin’ you can’t do once you set your mind to it.”
As she considered the plan of action, Sandalphon unknowingly let a trace of her sadness slip through in the shape of a slight frown. Imagining the hardship in store for Midgar’s people brought her great pain, and she wanted to help, but from a purely logical perspective her skillset would be far better used for the Seekers’ continued support than managing the mass exodus. At the same time, though, it wasn’t like she couldn’t do anything. “Miss Kanzuki. I urge you to seek out the Lateran Church in Sector 01, Piltover. I worked for them for a long time, and Pope Yvangelista XI is as wise as he is kind. They are well-equipped for crisis relief in terms of resources and experience, and their Apostolic Knights can be trusted to ensure safety. At the same time, I will share with you my authority over YoRHa. The androids’ prime directive is the good of humanity. I hope they will be of use. Given the substantial number of key Psych-OSF figures present for the final defense against the Machines, there is a high probability of securing their help as well. I recommend contacting Fubuki Spring while psynet is still online.”
Even if Karin and Sakura would be the only Seekers staying behind they would not be going it alone.
With the extra information out of the way, Karin could enter the terminal and begin her address. Goldlewis waited with bated breath, soaking in her every word. Right now, psynet was broadcasting the young woman’s speech from Arahabaki to every vision screen, TV station, and psionic in Midgar. The pressure must be immense, yet Karin appeared to be the very picture of perfection, never once misspeaking or even hesitating. Her composure was nothing short of inspiring, and the sensibility of her suggestions reassured even him.
Her speech also revealed one important detail to him and Sandalphon both: that the destruction of Tycoon somehow freed everyone in the city from Galeem’s influence, inviting pandemonium as the populace realized that this place -their very lives- weren’t at all what they believed. Hopefully, Sandalphon thought, Karin’s outreach would be enough. It would have to be. As the heiress wrapped up, the archangel added to Karin’s message of hope with a hopeful prayer of her own.
Then the speech was over. Untold thousands of people out there had heard those words, and if the entire populace didn’t know who Karin Kanzuki was now, they would learn soon. The Seekers couldn’t mull over her message or its ramifications, though; they had places to be. As Midna prepared to take her teammates to their various destinations, Sakura had just enough time to give her goodbyes.
When she spoke to Goldlewis and Giovanna, the two gave one another a dubious side-eye. “Well thanks, but this is probably where the two of us part ways,” Gio said. “The other old man’s gonna need someone to sort out his pills and stuff. I’d feel bad if he went and fell down the stairs or something, you know?”
Goldlewis smirked, putting his hands on his hips. “Leavin’ all the real work to me, eh? Why ain’t I surprised?” He waved a hand at Giovanna. “Go on then, git. If you end up causin’ problems for Miss Kanzuki, I’ll tan your hide.”
“I don’t think it gets any tanner,” the secret agent joked, dashing forward. Before Goldlewis knew what hit him, Giovanna had hugged him around the middle. “Try not to die out there, old fart.”
Chuckling, the big man tousled her hair. “Heh. Well, if you insist.”
By then, Sakura had reached Sandalphon and humbled her with her compliments. The archangel bowed. “You are too kind. Please take care, and if you need me, know that I am only a call away. There is no distance so far that I cannot reach you.”
When Pit mentioned Peach, Sandalphon said nothing, but her eyes turned to loading bars. Through Karen’s broadcast last night had been her first exposure to the idea of metamorphosis, and she hadn’t been privy to the discussions surrounding Peach or the Supernatural Life Research Facility, this new information allowed her to make certain inferences about the Others fielded by the Seiran Garrison during Midgar’s defense. Later, the archangel reasoned, she could speak with the others about everything that had happened. For now she held her tongue.
Once everyone said their farewells, Midna could begin the task of transporting everyone. She took Karin, Sakura, Giovanna, and Zenkichi to the SOU headquarters, then after a short delay returned with Zenkichi and Akane. Then everyone else could proceed to their next destination, one by one.
Everdream Valley - Port Meridian
For the Seekers, of course, their next destination was a function of what they planned to do next. After half a week spent in Midgar, embroiled in constant and nerve-wracking conflict against monsters and machinations of all kinds, it went without saying that everyone needed a break from the action and some comfortable distance from the most complicated, hotly-contested locale in the World of Light. In terms of Midna’s portal network, that left them only a couple options. More than half of her portals linked to other parts of the city, and of the other four, three let out back in the Sandswept Sky. Among those, two were non-starters, and though the team could do worse than Tostarena Town, the allure of possible allies drove them to visit the Virgin Victory. Of course, that begged the question: where was the Virgin Victory?
One by one, Midna deposited the Seekers in the airship’s engine room. Not knowing what to expect, Goldlewis couldn’t help but be impressed. Even in a place where function ought to rule over form, everything was sleek, shiny, and futuristic. Being an interior chamber, the room had no windows to see out of, but just a moment after Goldlewis arrived he realized that this ship must be at sea. The subtle rocking of the structure beneath his feet said as much. “Huh.” Between his time in the Dystopiascape and the Sandswept Sky, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d so much as laid eyes on an actual body of water, other than the despicable Seiran reservoir. There seemed to be no engineers here maintaining the place, and when he poked his head into the hall he saw no crew members in either direction. Curious, and even somewhat eager, he cleared the way for the next arrival by moseying toward the door to find his way through the vessel to wherever he could see the sea for himself. It took a little trial and error, but after a few minutes spent officiously sauntering about, the veteran finally stumbled upon the upper deck.
The Virgin Victory currently floated at the end of a wharf belonging to a large port town. Though originally old-fashioned in appearance, the town gave off the impression of extensive modification, turning its once-humble waterfront into a much more massive, more modern shipping dock. Likewise, while many of the more historical buildings had been preserved, the place also featured a number of newer, more industrial buildings, including a fertilizer plant, a husbandry center, a hydroponics lab, greenhouses, and immense granaries. Judging by the sun, it must be close to noon.
Beyond the town buildings and imported palms lay rolling hills blanketed by agriculture, from rustic farmsteads to sprawling acreages. Immense fields of golden wheat, orange pumpkins, verdant leaves, and towering corn stretched all the way to the neighboring mountain range, and various animals were much in abundance. Plenty of round sheep, fowl, and bees could be seen in the ranches, as well as two kinds of cows: those with no snouts, and those with huge snouts. While strange pink farmers appeared to be the primary workforce, various creatures seemed to be working the fields as well, including flowery sprites as planters, penguins as waterers, depressed cats as harvesters, and so forth. All told, the lush valley of plenty made such a stark contrast to Midgar that Goldlewis just stood there, staring, for a few seconds.
While he took in the pastoral landscape, Sandalphon swept past him. Pragmatic as ever, she managed to put aside the lovely view when she noticed someone on the Virgin Victory’s deck, a short old man with a huge beard, goggles, and snow-white hair shaped into a sensational question mark. Though lounging on a deck chair with a cooler close at hand, he was more than perceptive enough to notice the statuesque archangel as she approached, followed by the rest of Sandalphon’s entourage as they emerged from the airship’s bowels. His gaze held for a moment on the newcomer’s glowing halo, then drifted down to her unusual eyes. “Well, howdy, ma’am. What can I do you for?”
“Good morning. Please excuse our sudden entrance.” Sandalphon gave him a polite nod of her head. “My name is Sandalphon. I met the contingent of Seekers who made their way to Midgar, and offered my full support. This morning we engaged and defeated the Guardian hidden deep beneath the city. We just arrived here, thanks to Princess Midna. I understand that the Virgin Victory and its crew are allies of the cause.”
Having been sipping his drink when he heard the news, the old man spit performed a comical spit take. “Defeated a guardian? Well, I’ll be darned! We got word from Bridges y’all made it to Midgar alright, but it’s been radio silence since then, and what with the whole Alcamoth situation we we fearin’ the worst. But it looks like y’all pulled it off! The others’ll be happier than hogs in mud to hear it, we sure needed some good news.” He practically bounced out of his chair in excitement, offering Sandalphon his hand. “Oh, where’re my manners? The name’s James, James Shirogane. This here bucket o’ bolts is my invention.”
The archangel knelt down to shake the inventor’s hand. “My pleasure. You must be an ingenious inventor indeed to have created such an incredible vessel.”
Her hospitality seemed to tickle the man. “Aw, shucks. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
“May I ask where we are?” asked as she stood to her full height.
“O’ course!” Followed slowly by Sandalphon, Shirogane scuttled over to the railing and swept his hand across the western scenery. “This here’s Port Meridian, and beyond is Everdream Valley. It’s pretty much Midgar’s breakbasket, growin’ all kinds o’ crops an’ shippin’ ‘em to the city.”
He directed her gaze back eastward, and through the atmospheric haze Sandalphon realized that she could see Midgar’s distant outline. Its immense bulk darkened the horizon, and not even from this far away could it ever seem small and insignificant. “We’re closer than I expected,” she murmured.
“It’s a real nice place, all things considered. Atmosphere’s tense today ‘cause we got word Midgar’s bein’ invaded, but it’s s’posed to be pretty peaceful ‘round these parts. Machines ain’t ever made their way out here, I guess.” He crossed his arms. “If y’all just beat another Guardian, I reckon you’re downright pooped. Why not head down into town and take it easy for a spell? We ain’t ready to fly just yet on account o’ the tussle we got into on the way here, but we’re gettin’ close. Once my lunch break’s over we’ll be in business before ya know it!”
Sandalphon nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Shirogane. That sounds like a good plan. I’ll let the others know.”
“You’re welcome, take it easy out there! I’ll call Laurence and Alice, let ‘em know what’s goin’ on. And if ya see that lizard-tailed punk in yella, tell ‘er to get ‘er sorry butt back here on the double! Them bathrooms ain’t gonna fix themselves!”
“...Understood.” Sandalphon hurried back to her allies, then shared what she learned, along with Shirogane’s proposal. After what everyone had been through, they certainly deserved a little time to rest easy.
F’s appearance resulted in immediate hostility from Nadia Fortune, her teeth bared and her ears flattened as she hissed. By this point, his many crimes against the Seekers hardly bore repeating; his repeated attempts on the lives of Nadia and her friends, not to mention his many acts of wanton cruelty, had more than earned him a kill-on-sight order in her book. The needless execution of the Hollow Knight, who the Radiance’s demise might have freed at last, formed only the latest crime on his long, long list of charges.
All the same, the feral kept a hold of herself just long enough for the Consul to start blubbering out pleas and excuses, which stunned her completely. Though some part of her (probably Kronya) took a certain sadistic, gleeful pleasure in his pathetic petition, she mostly just got angrier and angrier as the vile child rattled off the least convincing lies possible, then finally dropped all pretenses and begged for his life. “You’re kidding. Right? I knew this guy was an oddball, but I didn’t realize he was so odd-acious!” When she looked at her friends, she saw Primrose even more eager to pay F back for his evil deeds than her. It took Therion to talk the dancer down, reasoning that F could be of some use. Nadia shook her head, indignant to the point of bewilderment. Even if his enemies didn’t execute him straight away, in what universe did this blithering idiot think that he’d come away from this with the Seekers’ forgiveness? “You little…how dare…ugggh, give me a break.” Utterly unable to articulate, or even properly express, the scorn she felt in this moment, she settled for sidling around the Consul to make sure he’d be surrounded and unable to get away. Her friends could handle F’s denigration.
Newly infused with the spirit of the Guardian F failed to protect, and radiant with newfound power, Sectonia made for quite the intimidating figure. She seemed understandably doubtful, but she kept her emotions in check and posed the Consul several questions. Primrose followed up with one of her own, practically inviting F to spell out justification for his own downfall. Ganondorf offered no addendums, but in the hopes of keeping F in line did what he did best: being a menace. While most of the team kept a relatively level head, Bowser and his kin stepped up to season their pointed inquiries with some richly-deserved verbal abuse. All the while, Nadia stood at the ready, her claws sharpened and her muscles coiled as she prepared to pounce. From the looks of it, she wasn’t the only one ready to end things, either. Primrose’s pyromancy flame still smoldered in the palm of her hand, and the cat burglar’s keen eyes could see Jesse up to something as well, her expression downright murderous. As much as Nadia hated killing, she felt about the same right now. If F tried something, or started to teleport again, his goose would be well and truly cooked. When Junior demanded money, though, Nadia still found it in her to laugh. “Yeah,” she chimed in. “Come on, spit it out. You’re paying up one way or another!”
For a few seconds the Consul just stood there beneath the deluge of questions and belittlements. After a moment, he came to some sort of realization, then relaxed somewhat. He stood very still, his hands held up in surrender, the eyes of his sun-shaped mask dark. “The Flame Clocks…” he muttered, his tone serious. “They tell the time. How much time is left. Time’s always ticking, eh? Heeheehee. If you’re in our little ‘life service’, then you’re on the clock. Take someone’s life, and their time is yours.” He paused, still motionless. “P…well, he made a bet, didn’t he? That one life was all he needed, and that he could beat you without losing it. Didn’t pay off, did they? Heeheehee…”
He seemed to consider Sectonia’s third question for a moment. “Leader…? Not really. If you want to know who’s a big shot, probably D or Z. But if I were you, I’d be scared of A. Go after him, and you’d better be ready to pay the price.”
Primrose’s question made him laugh. “Heeheehee! What do I get? Silly! Just, you know. Everything. Forever. A toy box the size of a universe, and it’s mine.”
His undisguised megalomania made Nadia give the others a weary look, as if asking can we take care of this creep already?
Junior and Rika asked more questions, but F seemed to ignore them. When he spoke again, his voice sounded louder but oddly muffled, as if issuing up from the ground around them.
“You know, I misjudged you guys.”
At the break in the act, Jesse whipped out her Service Weapon and fired. Her Pierce shot blasted straight through F’s mask, shattering it into fragments. There was no viscera, however; the Consul’s helmet was empty. The force of the shot caused the suit of armor to fall over backward, revealing a round hole in the underside of one boot, as well as a fleeting glimpse of something green as it disappeared into the earth. Nadia slid to a stop where the Consul had stood, looking around in bewilderment. “What the ‘F’, how’d he…?”
“Sheesh. You all coulda killed me, you know. That was probably your best chance too, I don’t know what came over me. But you couldn’t do it, huh? Even a couple so-called villains. Well, I’m not afraid. You idiots really haven’t learned a thing. In this world it’s kill, or be killed,” he chided, as if talking to a misbehaving child. “Y’know, it’s funny. You’ve been happily slaughtering everything in your way so far, just to see what happens next. And bad things just keep happening, huh? Yet you chose to spare me, like that'll change a thing. You know, this world’s really nothing like mine, but it’s so, so interesting, isn’t it? I guess this is all just to say…thanks for enabling me!” He paused, snickering. “Well, bye for now. Keep at it, I guess. Keep shooting for that happy ending. Just know that I’ll be there to take it all away! Ha ha ha!” F’s laughter echoed through the Temple of the Black Egg, shrilly inhuman, until the last echo faded away.
Nadia facepalmed, groaning. “What a dick.” Beyond tired of the scumbag's maddening antics, and worn out in general thanks to all the fighting, the feral let her head hang backward as she closed her eyes. “I don’t get all that psychobabble that nutjob was spouting, but I guess we’ll be seeing him again. Hopefully it’ll be a good long while though. F that guy.” She elected not to give her thoughts on humoring the Consul, instead sitting down with her head resting in her lap as her tails swished behind her. “So, where to now?”
After the organics who knew one another exchanged some dialog, Remilia remembered her present company and graciously introduced Lewa to the newcomers, offering them his own name in kind. The toa bowed his head, her polite gesture very much appreciated. He didn't extend his hand to shake, since the practice didn't exist among his people, and he didn't offer a fist bump since he reserved such camaraderie for his brothers and sister, but he nevertheless tried to return her politeness in kind. "Friends of Remilia's are friends of mine."
With its numbers bolstered by the new arrivals, the group could continue traipsing through the woods in search of problems and solutions alike. Though he couldn't possibly know what he or the others might find out here, Lewa kept his guard up and a sharp eye out. The culprit behind the wounded earthmane boar's piteous condition could be near, and whatever could inflict such grievous injury on such a majestic beast could definitely threaten the beleaguered villagers, if not the members of this posse themselves. Lewa did not know just how right he was, however, until the group discovered another boar. This one turned out to be not only dead, but also savagely mauled and left in an grotesquely advanced state of decomposition. Though unfamiliar with this world's biology, Lewa thought that this looked like a clear sign of predation. "We may be getting closer to the real problem," he hypothesized, not aware that the timeframe of decay meant that the predator could already be long gone. That made the question of what it was more important, and if Youmou had no idea, how could he?
Yeah, that's pretty much good to go then. We discussed an entry point, but the fact of the matter is that currently, it could easily be two weeks or three weeks before we reach Carnival Town. You could wait to start as Falcon until then, or maybe warm yourself up with some solo stuff if you're so inclined, and I could help naturally.
Personality: Falcon is confident, self-assured, and bold. He's always eager and driven to compete and prove himself, whether as a bounty hunter or on the race track. During interviews, he's known to maintain a calm and professional attitude. He's grateful for the fan-following he built up over his career and is always happy to greet a fan and sign autographs. He even tends to be cordial to his rivals, encouraging them to push their limits and challenge him anytime they feel confident enough. And he can also be quite the heroic sort, quick to save or protect a life if he has the means to do so.
Douglas Jay Falcon was originally a bounty hunter from Port Town. As a hunter, Falcon's record was impeccable which had earned him fame and infamy even before he became an F-Zero Pilot. As for why Falcon joined the F-Zero races, no one really knows. Even his identity is a closely guarded secret, as Falcon is never seen without his helmet and visor on. However, it can be assumed that he joined the races simply as another means to compete and push himself to his limits.
During his career as a racer, Falcon has met many friends and rivals - the most infamous of those being Samurai Goroh as well as Falcon's own evil clone known only as Blood Falcon. The latter was created by Black Shadow after he stole some of Falcon's DNA while he was hospitalized after a huge crash incident during an F-Zero race. In addition, some vital parts were also stolen from Falcon's machine - the Blue Falcon - during this time in order to serve as the basis for Blood Falcon's F-Zero machine - the Blood Hawk.
Thankfully for Falcon, he made a full recovery and entered the grand prix with a brand new Blue Falcon where he eventually came out on top as its champion. Craving another title, Falcon returned one year later to compete in the next F-Zero Grand Prix. However, he mysteriously vanished before those races started. He was in fact whisked away where he found himself competing in fighting tournaments against heroes and villains alike from other worlds, being what others would now call the "Original Smashers".
Like all the Smashers, Captain Falcon stood among their ranks when Galeem appeared and launched his attacks. And like all the rest, Falcon was defeated and placed under the light god's influence. Within the World of Light, Captain Falcon essentially resumed his career as a racer. He's stayed mostly in and around Hammerhead in the Paved Wilderness. But a new race held elsewhere has spurred him into traveling over into the Sandswept Sky to Carnival Town.
Specialty: Speed and Close Range (brawling)
Level: 1 Experience: 0/10
Powers:
Falcon Style: Captain Falcon's personal self-made fighting style. It incorporates quick and agile movement into lightning fast fiery strikes. Notable techniques include the Falcon Dive (in he grapples an enemy midair and generates a small explosion that launches them downward while also launching himself further upward), Rapter Boost (a forward rush attack in which he strikes with a flame-imbued uppercut generally leading to them being launched upward), Knee of Justice (a lightning-infused knee smash), the Heel of Shame (a downward kick with both heels that sends a midair target slamming back down onto the ground), and Falcon Kick (a flame-wrapped kick that either sends him sliding forward on the ground or flying diagonally downward if used in the air). But his strongest technique is the infamous Falcon Punch, a punch that is launched after a short wind-up in order to deal a devastating blow. It can be imbued with either fire or lightning.
Strengths:
Top Tier Pilot: As he is the winner of multiple races and at least one Grand Prix, Falcon's racing and piloting skills are obviously top tier.
Fast: Falcon can sprint and strike at blistering speed.
Toughness: He obviously has a degree of durability to him, considering his body can withstand the backlash force of his Falcon Punch without any injuries or discomfort.
Weaknesses:
Close Range: Falcon's attacks are all with his fists, putting him at a distinct disadvantage against ranged fighters.
Wind-Up: Some of his attacks require short wind-ups to hit with full strength, most notably the Falcon Punch.
Showmanship: Falcon has an unfortunate habit of calling out the names of some of his attacks as he uses them. It makes for good showmanship, but it also runs the risk of enemies learning to predict his attacks if a fight drags on long enough for them to catch on.
Blaster Pistol (Falcon's sidearm, that he hardly ever uses, preferring his manly fists over guns.)
Blue Falcon (Captain Falcon's state-of-the-art F-Zero machine, used solely for racing.)
Falcon Flyer (Captain Falcon's midsize galactic cruiser, equipped with an on-board computer that allows Falcon to summon it remotely. Used for travel and transporting the Blue Falcon.)
With such a simple and renowned character there's not a lot to criticize. However, I must ask that we remove the Falcon Flyer. Coming with something like the Blue Falcon is already something of an anomaly in terms of free stuff, and having the means to just fly anywhere already pulls out all the stops.
For a moment, Sandalphon’s gaze lingered on the crumbling corpse of what many would have considered the most powerful man in Midgar. Though a soldier first and foremost, both in occupation and in attitude, Karen Travers had been made into a celebrity throughout the entire metropolis, and yet for all his fame she knew no more about the man himself than she did Nox. Whether lurking in the Valley of Ruin or serving the public, both had harbored secret plans fueled by grand machinations, so ambitious that they demanded the reversal of time itself. But why? What tragedies could have necessitated such an incredible step? The same went for Mephisto and, to a lesser extent, Samuel Rodriguez. Ultimately, it didn’t matter one way or the other, but in a way that only added to her feeling of vague melancholy.
As an archangel, an instrument of divinity, Sandalphon could not hesitate when it came to meting out justice. That did not mean she had to do so unthinkingly, however. Neither could she gloss over the intense battle with a moment of cordial levity, as Goldlewis and Giovanna did. They’d all seen plenty of death, she knew. For humans, be they soldiers or assassins, desensitization sets in after a while. But not for her. Life was a glorious gift, and Sandalphon would never take it lightly.
For now, though, her struggle was far from over. As much as they needed a breather, the Seekers who eliminated Karen were quickly forced to address the elephant in the room: Tycoon. Susie had been doing her best to tank its assault for a while now, but without any means of forcing aggro, her presence had been incidental at best. That left it up to her allies to make real progress, and to his credit Zenkichi had been doing an amazing job. Once Mephisto met his end, Roxas and Pit lent their aid. The more progress they made, however, the more the Guardian let loose, unleashing spell after spell addressed to ‘whom it may concern’. With enormous AoEs going off left and right, the others couldn’t sit back even if they wanted to. Goldlewis, Giovanna, Sandalphon, Sakura, Karin, Midna, Roland, Blazermate, and Geralt joined in to finish the fight.
Right away, a torrent of bullets pounded the Guardian from the chaingun mounted on Midna’s warthog. Staying at long range minimized the risk of friendly fire, and made it easier to see (as well as avoid) Tycoon’s delayed lasers, so Goldlewis joined in with his Skyfish minigun. Hadokens aside, Sakura, Karin, and Giovanna had a harder time contributing, but Geralt could put her stunning new identity to work with a majestic artillery barrage of fireballs that left Tycoon burning. Even so, Sandalphon gave her comrade a run for her money. Tycoon didn’t move much, which meant that the archangel could brutalize its head with her Eye of Sol, limited only by how much she could reload–and Tycoon’s own spells. It cleverly delayed its own Magitek Crossrays to coincide with the detonation of its Artificial Gravity, obliging the Seekers to take great care when they repositioned. At one point, it cast a spell that conjured a sort of crystal above everyone’s heads, as well as rings around them. When she saw that these harbingers moved along with her teammates, Sandalphon turned her mind to mitigation. “Spread out. Don’t let the circles overlap.” When the spell finally went off, everyone took guaranteed damage, but the archangel was ready with Angelic Wings to keep everyone in top condition.
And then, before she and the others even knew it, the fight was over. Roxas unleashed a dazzling shower of light pillars, outdoing even Sandalphon in heavenly radiance. After the boy’s Magic Hour, Tycoon’s time was up. The reverse-engineered god went limp with a resounding, mechanical groan, falling apart with the mesmerizing calamity of a demolished building. As the Guardian faltered, the whole reactor shook, as if responding to its death throes. All around the walls, the enormous magical portals, windows that offered tantalizing views of myriad realms, began to shrink. Their closure violently severed the pipes, pumps, cables, and other machines built into the portals’ housing. An eruption reaction of sparks, explosions, and Mako leaks ensued. For a moment Sandalphon feared that the damage might cause a chain reaction that engulfed this whole place in a destructive fugue, but nothing so dramatic happened. The fuses blew, the failsafes kicked in, and the downward spiral quickly devolved into a controlled descent. While the damage looked irreversible, the system probably wouldn’t fail until its fuel reserves ran dry. Probably.
Once it became clear that the whole place wasn’t going to blow and lead to an elaborate escape sequence, Giovanna let out a sigh and crossed her hands behind her head. “Welp. Another one bites the dust.”
Her casual attitude impressed Goldlewis greatly, given how exhausted he was. By now, the Seekers had defeated the Arahabaki response teams, three bosses in their own right, the long descent through Deep Ground, the horde of Akira clones, Moebius Y, Travers’ Time Travellers, and Tycoon itself. They might be in good health thanks to Sandalphon and Blazermate, but all those fights back to back had taken their toll. As he caught his breath, Goldlewis looked relieved, but not happy, and not just because of his fatigue.
“What I don’t get is…” he began, undoing his new shotgauntlets so he could deposit them into his coffin. “What in sam hill does this all have to do with the Ever Crisis? ‘Find the source’, that’s what Miss Xatow said. But that thing wasn’t an Other, or a doggone chimera, despite all that hogwash Y pulled. So what’s the deal?”
He looked to Sandalphon for answers, and he was right to do so. The archangel had been thinking since the moment she arrived, and now, with her pupils in the shape of spinning loading symbols, she felt confident enough to give voice to her ruminations. “After the reports from the battle outside Midgar, I believe the Guardian was unaffiliated with the Machines as well. Nox’s designs on it confirm as much. So I posit that its allegiance, if it can be called that, is to Midgar itself. The Administration, and to the Consuls.” The archangel paused. “Furthermore, I believe it is the ‘source’, but not of the Ever Crisis.” She leaned on her gunstaff, scanning the reactor’s interior. “Consider the debate the night before last. Shinra said something, innocuous at the time, that may have a high degree of relevance now. When addressing the threat posed by so-called terrorist groups like Avalanche, he said that Mako energy has no impact on the environment, and gave the existence of the flourishing Valley of Ruin and Kunad Highway as proof. Indeed, those regions possessed enough life energy Nox made stealing it his declaration of war.”
Sandalphon conjured a handful of screens, depicting the environment around Midgar before and after Nox, various Mako reactors around the city, as well as the Cornice itself. “The news reports from the Avalanche attack on Mako Reactor 01 indicated no destruction or power loss as a result. So in truth, most if not all of the Mako reactors lie dormant. But this place is clearly a reactor, and very much in use.” She gestured at the Seekers’ surroundings. “Nox alleged that Tycoon possesses power over time, which it demonstrated after a fashion. It was clearly sustaining those portals somehow. And consider the machines around them.” Their loading concluded, her pupils reverted to power symbols as she nodded her head. “I believe that the Administration was using this machine to siphon Mako from other places, if not other times, in order to fuel Midgar while keeping up the appearance of sustainability.”
A moment passed before Giovanna said something. “Huh,” she chirped, not sounding particularly interested. “And with the Guardian gone…”
“A citywide blackout,” Sandalphon confirmed. “Possibly even before nightfall.”
Goldlewis heaved a big sigh. He’d been trundling around as Sandalphon spoke, examining the machines arrayed around the reactor, but in the end he only made one discovery: another one of those teleport pads, near the arena’s connecting bridge and activated after the Guardian’s defeat. “Guess we better get movin’ then.” He turned and waved at the others. “Reckon this’ll take us back out?”
Giovanna trooped over. “It’d be impressive if there was anywhere further in that it could take us,” she snarked. “Hopefully it works better than the last one.”
After taking a generous drink from her canteen of coffee, Sandalphon screwed the cap back on. “If this is the facility’s bottom, then anywhere else is better,” she reasoned, clicking toward the two on jet-black high heels. “Let’s go.”
The destination that awaited the Seekers on the other side proved to be better than Goldlewis would have thought, but worse than he hoped. Rather than the Shinra Building, or even the open air, he and the others found themselves in the colossal, foggy expanse of Arahabaki. Things up here looked just as the Seekers left them, except for the warning lights and intermittent alarm tones throughout the place. When he saw where the team ended up, Goldlewis harrumphed. “Bah. Guess we’ve got more hikin’ to do.” Slowly, his eye slid over toward Midna. “Unless you got any more o’ them portals in your back pocket, miss. Though I don’t know where in Midgar we’d go, knowin’ what we do.”
Sandalphon narrowed her eyes. The teleporter had brought them to the threshold of Deep Ground, where Karen used Truman Zanotto’s disembodied brain to open the way to the Guardian. “This may be a blessing in disguise,” she told the others, eying a very elaborate, full-body terminal attached to Arahabaki’s central column. “Unless I’m mistaken, this should be the interface with Arahabaki itself, where Travers made his announcement to all of Midgar.” She turned to the others. “We may be able to use it to do the same. Though it was not our intention, our actions will leave all of Midgar powerless. Warning the populace would be the responsible thing to do.” She shrugged. “And if anyone has anything else you’d like to tell every citizen, that would be within your rights as well.”
New Power: Railcannon Fabrication Provided with schematics by Goldlewis’ fusion with Jack-8, his UMA is now capable of constructing a railcannon with an internal energy source and a high-power thruster at the back. If Goldlewis is at low health, it can fire out a heavy laser that explodes on impact. If he’s in Heat, it can be used in the ‘Meteor Raid’ Heat Smash, in which it’s called down to blow up on a foe Goldlewis knocked down. If used for a Rage Art or Heat Smash a new one has to be fabricated, which takes so long that only one can be made per ‘round’ of combat. Otherwise, it can only be used to fly short distances, or fire small railgun slugs
New Power: Headquarter Support Request Allows Sandalphon to manifest a laser targeting device that can be used to designate an area. After a brief delay, a cluster bomb will be dropped on the area that deals pretty good damage, and inflicts the following debuffs: attack down 10%, elemental resist down 30%, status resist down 30%, and damage taken up 10%, all for 20 seconds. This functions as a skill and must be recharged by attacking; it cannot be used while shapeshifted
As she and her teammates sped toward their final showdown, streaking through the starlight sky of a dusky dreamscape, Nadia’s heart pounded in her chest. Her blood pumped through her veins. Once this was all over, she knew, all the fatigue of battling the infected, the Hollow Knight, and now the Radiance would catch up with her in one fell swoop, but as long as her adrenaline held out the catgirl felt like she could take on anything. Then again, the Guardian of the Underground quickly demonstrated that vanquishing it would take everything Nadia had.
Even the very first attacks from Absolute Radiance set the tone for this new phase of the fight. Starting with the rays of light, every one of her projectiles proved to be much trickier than before. Nadia veered away from the first laser and almost plowed right into a second, taken aback at the lack of delay between shots. When she misjudged another dodge a couple seconds later, the scorching lightbeam ripped a cry of pain from her throat as it floored her, body and mind alike seared by contact with the Radiance’s godlike emanations. She sprang up a moment later, freshly motivated to be more careful, but what came next wasn’t much better.
Obscene quantities of silver swordblades hurled through the air in perfectly level planes and grids, leaving so little space between them that Nadia couldn’t always solve the pattern like before. Enormous, Seeker-seeking orbs left precious little room for escape, until the feral realized that she needed to dodge toward them rather than away. This unusual battlefield atop the Magikrab’s train offered very little room to move to begin with, but fields of razor-sharp spikes limited it even further, and they made for a brutal combination with sweeping light pillars. Nadia found herself forced to jump out over the spikes, then airdash back to safety just to avoid those brilliant pillars. For a good while, her feet barely touched the ground, and 2,700 Pounds of Justice sure didn’t make all that airtime any easier. And throughout all this time, she couldn’t strike back at the Radiance even if she got the opportunity.
As frustrating as this felt, the cat burglar kept a tight rein on her emotions. She couldn’t let frustration bog her down. She and her teammates had an ace in the hole, after all: the Koopa Troop. Working together, they’d set up one hell of an opening gambit at the front of the train, and despite the Radiance’s complete and utter pollution of the dreamscape’s airspace with projectiles, the train was still gaining on her. They just needed to hold out until they caught up. So Nadia weathered the storm alongside her companions. Scrapes, gashes, and burns piled up, even with the buffs from the Kamek clones, but the feral knew she could grin and bear it. Finally, after what felt like forever but was in truth only about thirty seconds, the incredible train caught up with the fleeing Radiance. Though still technically flying at incredible speeds, it now seemed to float just ahead and in front of the engine, and the Seekers could reach it at last.
Right on cue, the Troop went to work. They bombarded the Radiance with iron spikes (giving her a taste of her own medicine), special shots that helped make her overwhelming output a little more manageable, and an unhealthy amount of darkness. Just as Kamek hoped, his clones’ dark beams worked wonders, and with the dark magic from both Sectonia and Primrose added in, the Seekers dished out a big helping of the Radiance’s least favorite food. Once the Troop doled out all the punishment their opening had to offer they disengaged in dramatic fashion. After that, it was Nadia’s turn. The cover provided by Sectonia tempted her, but without any reliable means of long-ranged attack, she wasn’t going to get anywhere by hunkering down. Moving in, she threaded the needle through the blizzard of swords. By diving forward like a pouncing predator, ears and tails tucked back, she could squeeze through the walls of evenly-spaced blades with just inches to spare at best, and a few fresh slices at worst. But what were a couple cuts to the likes of her? When much bigger attacks flew her way, Nadia busted out some emergency maneuvers. She could launch herself way up high with jets of pressurized blood, then use Charge to zip back down before she lost her inertia, gaining some ground in the process.
It wasn’t long before Nadia reached the front of the train, singed, scarred, and very eager to exact repayment. Again and again, she dodged one of the Radiance’s attacks, jumped up to land a quick air combo, then backed off before her foe could blast her. Now that she was here, blocking on the ground wasn’t the worst option, but if she got caught and forced to block in the air she would be pushed back into the blender. This wasn’t easy; even just being this close to the Radiance seemed to passively scorch her. It felt like a bad sunburn, offsetting her regeneration from the Life Gem. This was a ruthless game of give and take, but at least Nadia wasn’t alone. Despite his slow speed and unwieldy size, Ganondorf had reached the Guardian as well, and he used everything at his disposal to make the Radiance hurt. Still, there was no telling who’d win this war of attrition–until the Seekers’ resident warlord made one crucial call.
After mustering up all the strength he had for a magnificent Warlock Punch that knocked the Radiance downward, Ganondorf coordinated with the conductor to drive the train itself directly into their foe. Taken by surprise by the clever maneuver, the Guardian found herself unable to fly, and therefore, pinned against the train. All of a sudden, Nadia could see the Radiance eye to eye. Sure, her beams of light could now blaze across the entire length of the train, but now hitting her would be a breeze. “Hell yeah, Big G!” she cheered, dashing forward as the Radiance’s bullet hell resumed. “You got me all full of en-dorf-ins!”
From there, though, it only got better. At Ganondorf’s bidding, Magikrab steered the train back down toward the abyss, throwing off the Guardian’s aim in the process. Nadia threw herself into a Cat Slide down the sloped roof of the train, hopping the gaps between cars, one hardened claw held behind her to steer in a shower of sparks. A moment later the locomotive leveled out, dragging the Radiance through the surface of the abyss as it chugged along the surface. Immediately, serrated tentacles and limbs still more horrible reached out from the churning, writhing darkness to slash and saw into the Radiance as she passed, trying to drag her down.
Full of glee, Nadia closed the last bit of distance, and the sight of Primrose’s amped-up Moonlight Waltz blowing up in the Radiance’s face only elated her further. She and Ganondorf unleashed a close-combat beatdown, joined by anyone else to managed to make the journey. As the pummeling mounted, the Guardian became less and less able to fight back. “Hope you don’t mind me callin’ you a light snack,” she taunted, flipping into the air with a spurt of blood to bring down a transformed leg in a Fluffy Soft empowered axe kick–El Tigre. “‘Cause you’re about to dim sum!” As if that wasn’t enough, her mighty kick slash triggered New Moon, becoming a silver arc that left the Radiance reeling.
In the end, though, it wasn’t any of the Seekers that finished off the Radiance. As they beat her down, the train slowed up, and the writhing Abyss below could get a better grip. Tentacles lashed around her, and claws dug into her body, grasping tighter and piercing deeper. By the time the train came to a stop, the Guardian wasn’t pinned to the front of the train any longer, but any chance of escape was long gone. The hands of some nameless horror reached from the stygian blackness and gouged at her face, ripping it open so that its brethren could squeeze her light out. Nadia watched, more than a little horrified, as the Void dragged the Radiance down, motes of light flooding from the hole where her face had been. Unable to fight back, unable to flee, the entity began to scream. Her cries became shorter and more frantic, resounding through the dreamscape like the peals of some otherworldly bell, until with a final wrench the darkness dragged her under. A handful of light motes burst up from beneath, carrying with them the dazzling boss spirit of the Radiance, which alighted softly on the train engine’s roof.
With her passing, the dream world dimmed yet further, becoming knight. The clouds began to sweep in, burying the Void beneath them as the darkness receded, satiated. High overhead, the stars had ceased to move, but they hung over the Seekers in all their splendor. Nadia sagged down to the roof of the train, panting as her adrenaline faded. “It’s over,” she gasped, looking around at the others. “Right?”
“Seems that way.” Magikrab crawled up onto the roof, staring at the Seekers with his one red eye. “In a way, it’s kind of like the archangels. As long as someone’s around to remember her, she might not be gone for good. But she’s gone for now, and that’s what matters. The infection will follow suit.” After thinking for a moment, he gave the heroes who’d vanquished the Radiance a bow. “The Stagmer-line is grateful. Thank you for your help. If you meet the other archangels, I doubt they’ll be very friendly, but the lines will always be open to you.”
The idea that Robin Goodfellow’s brethren might still try to kill her got a chuckle out of Nadia. “Oh. Well. It’s something, I guess.”
Magikrab turned, staring off into the night. “With the Radiance gone, the dreams of the Underground are back where they belong. With the dreamers. Theirs to give shape, and theirs to make real, if they can.” He paused. “You’ll be going soon, I guess. But if you get a chance, come back and visit. Dreams…are a wonderful thing.”
With that, the unreal world faded away.
Party: Bowser, Bowser Jr, Kamek, Rika, Sectonia, Ms Fortune, Jesse, Primrose, Therion, Ganondorf Boss Reward: Free Level Upgrade, Radiance Spirit
The Seekers reappeared inside the Black Egg in a massive burst of dream particles, the effulgent motes fading away as quickly as they appeared. Already, the atmosphere here seemed less heavy, not quite as laden with death and decay. All around, the glowing threads and pustules of orange mold had begun to turn gray, fossilizing en masse. Fortunately for them, the inhabitants of the Under, and possibly the whole world, it really did look like the death of the Radiance meant the end of the infection. But even more importantly, the prize the Seekers seized from the dreamscape hadn’t evaporated when they reentered the waking world. The Guardian’s spirit remained, painfully bright. Just as with Geralt and the spirit of the Orphan of Kos, the time had come for the Seekers to seal it, inside of one of them.
Nadia quickly realized that the Seekers weren’t alone. Her ears swiveled toward a gasping sound, and when she looked she found the Hollow Knight, doubled over near the back of the Black Egg’s interior. It seemed to be in bad shape, heavily wounded, but it gave no signs of hostility. A huge amount of noxious orange ichor had poured from its haunted eyes, leaving nothing but absolute blackness behind. It reminded Nadia of the squirming void in the dream, and she shivered. As she stared at the Hollow Knight, though, she wondered. With the dying of the light that screamed out from the afflicted one’s eyes, had it, too, been freed?
The next moment, however, a ring of white bullets appeared around the Hollow Knight. Before Nadia really processed what was going on, the bullets collapsed inward, striking the corrupted vessel. With a jolt, the Hollow Knight crumpled and died, disintegrating into ash.
A purple flash went off next to the dissolving corpse, and Consul F appeared amidst the particles.
“See? I never betrayed you! It was all a trick, see? I was waiting to kill him for you! You just needed the resolve to destroy the infection. Someone to push you forward! Those others, they were dead anyway. Not my fault! I don’t even care about the Guardians, or Galeem. I'm helpful, I can be useful to you. Keep the others off your back, you know? I promise I won't get in your way. I can help... I can... I can…”
F fell to his knees, his hands clasped. Beneath his sun-shaped mask, his eyes were wide with terror. “Please don't kill me.”
Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.
Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Current GM of World of Light. When it comes to writing, there's nothing I love more than imagination, engagement, and commitment. I'm always open to talk, suggestion, criticism, and collaboration. While I try to be as obliging, helpful, and courteous as possible, I have very little sympathy for ghosts, and anyone who'd like to string me along. Straightforwardness is all I ask for.<br><br>Looking for more personal details? I'm just some dude from the American south; software development is my job but games, writing, and trying to help others enjoy life are my passions. Been RPing for over a decade, starting waaaay back with humble beginnings on the Spore forum, so I know a thing or two, though I won't pretend to be an expert. If you're down for some fun, let's make something spectacular together.</div>
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