Zoey Boey

World of Light

Same Old Story - the Fifth Turn

The Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Ganondorf’s @Double, Ms. Fortune
Word Count: 2898 (+3)

Primrose's Dream II

When Primrose found herself in the same eerily quiet arena again, she already knew what was in store for her. As soon as her eyes opened her gaze found her foe, and her dagger found its way to her hand. Simeon was standing in the room's center, his arms tucked behind his back as though he'd been waiting for Primrose. When their eyes met, he smiled pleasantly.

"Unable to resist the poet's pull, the dancer returns to the stage. Even though she knows--"

The start of his monologue was cut off by a clipped cry of pain as Primrose's Vengeful Spirit blew through his body. She did not intend to entertain the man whatsoever - no speeches, no plays, false Simeon or no. She gave him only a cold stare swiftly followed by the threat of her dagger. The blade nearly sunk into his chest, caught at the last second by Simeon wrapping his hand around Primrose's wrist. Their struggle was brief. Changed as she was, Simeon could not overpower Primrose; neither could he trip her up again like the last round. He moved to disengage and draw his own weapon. He conjured his dark magic to force distance between them, but Primrose pursued. She raised an arm to haphazardly shield herself from his spell and charged forward through it.

"You're not going anywhere," she said. Her Hippowdon appeared and snatched Simeon by the leg with its Crunch attack, stopping his retreat. At the same time her Makami manifested and wrapped its long, papery body around the man's throat and sink its Double Fang into him.

"Prim...rose...!" Simeon gasped. He'd been surprised, but even hurt and choking he still looked amused. Primrose wanted to see him begging for his life, but instead it seemed like he was almost excited to see what would happen next. That she would happily let him know.

Primrose's dagger found its mark as Simeon tore the Makami from his neck. She sunk the dagger into the left side of his chest, seeking his heart. "I'm going to kill you," she told him simply, her voice low. "And when everything is over I'll kill the real you, too."

Blood gurgled out of Simeon's mouth as she twisted the blade. He smiled through it, his eyes glittering dangerously.

"Is that so? That is what your father wanted for you?" Simeon paused, wheezing as she pushed the dagger further in. Then he chuckled. "I would love to see the darkness in you, Primrose."

"You will."

Bowser Jr woke up to a mess. His body hurt, though not from the wounds from his dreams. Someone or something had kicked him while he was down, apparently, and had gotten past the idle horde of dr bones standing around where he had been laying to do so. Laying beside him were two others still sleeping, and as he glanced out at the battlefield, he saw another, Primrose, falling as well, which a strangely shimmering like glass Bowser promptly grabbed to prevent falling to the ground. Then he did his best to back up and get away while holding her, which was going to be tricky with no one to keep Robin pinned down.

There where others fighting, but they were all tied up by the two agile humanoids, be it because they where a threat, or because they were, in Ganondorf’s case, vindictively going after them due to being nuisances that they couldn’t hurt.

”Yeesh, you take a quick nap and everything goes wrong,” the prince thought to himself, before calling out ”Ganondorf! Leave that thing to Rika and back up my papa! Stop that count down!” to try and get the king of evil on a target he was better suited for.

Rika, hearing this, moved to make sure Ganondorf could safely disengage, charging up a Vault Breaker punch and then using it to lunge towards Oberon to tie him down in melee. He switched to his melee weapon in time to block the big slug with his shield, though its strength jarred him. Then while that gauntlet was rebooting, she summoned her long spear into the other one, and brought it around in a wide sweep to strike at the warframe with the sharpened spines on its spear head. Finally she summoned her knight striker, and had him either block or bash with his shield depending on what was needed. Oberon fought toe-to-toe with the both of them, the wide swings of his golden mace leaving trails of blue flame as it danced from side to side. Though he prioritized offense over defense and took the slices to prove it, he gave Rika as good as he got.

With the tactical situation cleared up a bit, Jr turned to the sleeping situation, raising an empty hand and then pausing, realizing he didn’t have his paint brush to use as a spell catalyst. He glanced around again, and spotted it laying where he had dropped it somewhere in the middle of the room.

Thinking quickly, he plucked a pokeball from his bandolier and threw it across the room, where it landed next to the brush and released Dazzle the Brionne. The pokemon glanced around the room, and then behind himself at his trainer, who called for him to ”Toss me that brush!”, an order that he quickly obeyed, popping his clown nose under it, tossing it over head onto his sea lion tail, and then using that to catapult it clear across the room and into the prince’s awaiting hand.

”Got it! Good job! Now blast the big guy!” jr called back with praise and new commands, prompting Dazzle to turn back around and to start forming and catapulting orbs of water at the papery Robin. He was joined in this by a surprise re-appearance of Kamek, who having weathered the explosive end of the insectoid curse, now returned to the fray. Having empowered his own defense to do so, he now dared to get in close, before blasting Robin with 4 short ranged lasers. Their special beams and projectiles all connected, helping out the group effort to wear the archangel down, but they didn’t quite get the results of Bowser, Nadia, Sectonia, and Primrose. Still, by getting close Kamek provoked Robin into smacking him rather than using Trick or Treat, so that was something.

While his pokemon and mentor covered his papa, Jr released his other pokemon, Mimi, and told her to ”Mimic me!” to which his minion responded with a nod of its fake head. Only then did he raise his paintbrush and cast, ”Esuna” upon the sleeping Sectonia, awakening her from slumber.

There were a number of things that kept Ganondorf on the backfoot these past several moments. Whether it was the razorflies swarming Kamek that prevented the Gerudo King from focusing on the object of his ire, the appearance of Rika giving him a surprising moment of respite, or just the sheer amount of damage the man had suffered just from being in close proximity to Oberon - let alone the actual damage the warframe’s attacks had dealt. It all left Ganondorf in what felt like a long moment of pause.

It was Junior of all people whose voice snapped him out of it. The first thing he did was re-summon his Moblin Archers and leave them there to provide cover fire for Rika and Junior. Then he finally had the wherewithal to shift his focus.

He moved his gaze over to where Robin Goodfellow appeared to be preparing some kind of spell or ritual. Whatever that was, it certainly wasn’t going to be good. He wondered for a moment if he should have assumed his true form, but was quick to dismiss the idea. He wouldn’t need it, Ganondorf decided. It would be a waste to use it on this filth.

The Gerudo King broke away from the engagement with Oberon as soon as Rika gave him the opportunity. Then he broke into a sprint directly toward Robin. All those blows he traded with Oberon had charged up his Swords of Darkness quite nicely. And now he saw what he believed was a perfect target to unleash it all on, ”Ngah!!” he grunted, hurling both swords at Robin once he was within range. That was just a feint, though. Ganondorf’s actual attack came in the form of him lifting up and then dropping back down onto Robin’s general area while channeling all his charged up darkness through his hands so that he let loose the biggest dark explosion he could muster, ”DIE!”

Jesse and Therion continued their fight with Titania. “Gotta wrap this up!” Jesse said to Therion as they put the pressure on Titania. That was a good hit from her rocks and his slashes but they needed more. Firing, she noticed the effect of Dust as her bullets went wide. Titania was trying to get going again, but fortunately, Jesse still had Energy, having saved it up as the fight got started. Jesse sidestepped the first explosive, getting caught by the edge of it. On the second one she reached out her hand, and as soon as it left the barrel of her gun she flung it right back into Titania to blow her up. That, Jesse knew, wouldn’t miss. The grenade detonated in Titania’s face, its Blast decking her with a hard knockdown.

With dwindling energy and few other options, Titania unveiled her ultimate ability. In a burst of fae magic she shrank down to a fourth of her original size, becoming a pixie in possession of permanent flight and a 50% evasion boost. In her hands she held Dex Pixia, and despite their small size, the gilded pistols were Exalted Weapons that packed one hell of a punch. At the same time six razorflies exactly as big as her appeared to run interference for her, slashing with their wings. With Razorwing engaged, Titania was the ultimate glass cannon, more than capable of slicing her attackers to ribbons if they didn’t swat her fast enough.

Therion agreed with Jesse that they had to take care of the warframe sooner rather than later. He had to assume that she was just as powerful, even shrunken down, and now that she was harder to hit and had further protection he didn't want to take any chances that she might slip through their attacks and do some serious harm. There were a couple of things he could think of to do, but with little time to actually think about them he went with the absolute best he had in his arsenal: his divine skill.

He transformed from beast to man while in motion, rolling into a kneel. The aura surrounding him fluctuated and glowed brilliantly, signaling the use of his Battle Boost. Aeber's Reckoning was unleashed swiftly - the air around him distorted for a moment and the dagger assault burst through the room, ripping through any and all of the enemies in its wide range. With their sheer volume, those knives pierced a couple of the razorflies straight through, reducing the overall distractions with appreciable haste. Only one dagger managed to hit Titania, however, and that wasn’t enough to put her down.

Hoping that would take care of the interfering razorflies at the very least, if not blasting Titania herself, Jesse pulled out her secondary Toolgun and switched it to Inflate. The Toolgun had a fast rate of fire and no recoil, so she aimed and began spamming blue beams in the deadly pixies direction. Each shot would increase Titania’s size if they connected, though Jesse no doubt made a few stones and fallen pillars behind or next to Titania a bit bigger in the process. Which Jesse then used with Launch, lifting two large disc like boulders and hurling them at Titania with all her telekinetic might. With an instantaneous travel time, the Toolgun shots’ only problem was accuracy. Small and fast, Titania was very hard to hit, and as she flew her Dex Pixia roared, pumping Therion’s hide and Jesse’s shield with lead. The volume of Toolgun shots meant that some would hit, but not enough to make the launched boulders connect. It soon became apparent that the Seekers wouldn’t win this shootout by eliminating Titania, but by surviving until her finite well of energy had run dry.

By now, despite the terrible situation at the end of the last exchange, the scales had started to tip back in the Seekers’ favor. Both warframes were otherwise engaged, leaving Robin alone, and while a barrage from some of the oppositions’ lesser damage-dealers didn’t phase it, Ganondorf’s Swords of Darkness sure did. That unholy eruption sent Robin reeling, and as it staggered backward, it knew that it couldn’t take an assault like that again. The archangel sent Ganondorf to slumberland with Fairy Dust as fast as it could, then cast Treat on itself. It got the random buff Spring-loaded, which was useful but not the windfall it needed. Still, its attackers would get what was coming to them soon enough. As the last two diamonds in Robin’s halo were filled, the whole ring of ten began to pulsate violently. If the Seekers wanted to stop its Angelic Attack, it was now or never.

Sectonia woke up thanks to Jr. And she was not having any of this thing’s crap. ”Thanks. I’m going to finish off this farce.” Sectonia said, uninjured thanks to her Chaos Shield unlike what Jr. had to deal with, and went back into the room. She had a plan for this. Sectonia summoned her Florami striker alongside some of her red Antlers to cause chaos and hide her a bit while she enacted her plan, a fully charged reality shatter on all of this. With the warframes preoccupied and a wall of minions, both her own and the other seekers, in front of her, she was going to end this in a flashy finish.

Ms Fortune’s Dream - Stage Two

The struggle quickly escalated into a vicious back-and-forth as Nadia strove to rush her archenemy down and tear her limb from artificial limb, while Dahlia worked to keep her at arm’s length. There were no lines drawn in this fight; instead it took them from one side of the underground gulag to the other in the blink of an eye, the still air filled with the thunder of gunfire and the screech of maddened voices. The Medici’s number-one hitwoman revealed a hoard of hidden weapons built into her body, from literal stilettos in her high-heeled shoes to sawblades, sawed-offs, beartraps, and even gun barrels beneath her prosthetic kneecaps.

Each new trick set Nadia back in her relentless and unforgiving, a painful thorn in her side. In her numb anger, however, the feral barely even felt it. Thanks to Dahlia, she barely felt anything anymore; she was not the same cat burglar she’d been when Black Dahlia butchered her. Though that experience literally tore her to pieces, she’d come back stronger, and her travels through the World of Light had only made her more powerful since then. The ability to rely on others had been one of this world’s greatest gifts, but with nobody else stuck in this dream alongside her, her fusions served her just as well. Rhodeia’s Hydro Mimicry meant that she was never quite alone, able to gang up on Dahlia and hem her in, while Massachusetts’ rigging turned the blood she spilled into even greater mobility and firepower. Cat-5 gave her the shock factor she needed to close the distance on Dahlia whenever she teleported away, Kronya fueled her slashes with extra lethality, and Kanna lent her a tiger’s savage strength.

No matter how many elemental slugs or hidden blades wounded her, Nadia chased Dahlia down, opened her up, and made it count. Soon the gulag’s floor was littered with broken or discarded weapons, splatters of blood, and shreds of the assassin’s outfit. The writing was on the wall when the feral’s tiger claws carved off Dahlia’s gun arm, but when she baited out an Infinity Burst, the fight seemed well and truly over. Nadia finished her opponent off with an air combo that ended in a New Moon-triggering Feral Edge that plunged her boxcutter -and Dahlia- into the floor.

Then there was silence. Backing off Dahlia’s body, Nadia stumbled woozily. She closed her eyes, letting out her breath. But when a familiar chk-chk reached her ears, they shot open in time to see the fire shot before it exploded against her, flinging her away in a burst of steam. “Gyaaaah!” When she hit the ground, she looked up to see Dahlia rising from where she’d fallen, slowly, jerkily. Unnaturally. “What!? How!?”

“Hee hee, poor widdle kitty cat,” the assassin cooed, smirking behind her veil. “Did you really think you got rid of me? You’ll never be over me, as long as you live.” She lifted up her gun arm, somehow reattached and in mint condition, then loaded it with Another Round. “And since you can’t die, I guess that’ll be…forever!”

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 30/100
Karin Level 7: 01/70
Location: Arabahaki
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 31/100
Karin Level 7: 02/70

”Thank you, Sandalphon-san!” Sakura said before popping a muffin into her mouth. Karin was self-reflective, pondering the battle to come. One way or the other, she knew they didn’t have much time. That they had a night of rest was a blessing in and of itself.

And their morning would indeed be cut short, as after the Seekers reunited, there was troubling news.

Sakura scratched her head. ”Thanks for the heads up, um, Xatow-san.” Sakura said to the lady in black. Really, she had nothing but good to neutral experiences with their mysterious benefactors. Though they seemed shady and cynical, they hadn’t betrayed them or anything. Maybe it was the way they had a tendency to act all mysterious and superior even though they weren’t actually doing any fighting, just standing around and watching and occasionally giving the Seekers intel. But, they were on even more of a timetable than they were before. Midgar was under attack by the villain, and to stop their plan they had to do what they were going to do, but, even faster.

”Alright, well, I wasn’t planning on standing around playing with a yoyo, anyway. I’m ready.” Sakura said, punching her palm. ”Let’s get the show on the road!” Thus, Sakura was one of the first people through the teleporter after a clap on the back from Karin.

Karin lingered, noting Roxas’ angered reaction. Whatever history he had with this organization, it wasn’t pleasant. Karin wasn’t entirely sure if she could trust them either, but being outwardly hostile had no benefits either. Fortunately, Roxas just wanted to give her a piece of his mind, which was more than fair. ”You know, Miss Xatow, a small amount of manners and sympathy can go a long way in diplomacy. We need each other, do we not?” She stepped through the portal.

On the other side, she regarded the large room. ”Impressive.”

”Right?” Sakura said. ”But it can’t be that big. I heard an echo. I bet we can find what we’re looking for no problem. It’s just, uh, all the security we’ll have to avoid, probably.” Sakura said.

Karin briefly turned her attention to Roxas. ”There’s nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism, Mister Roxas.” She said. ”As long as your emotions aren’t clouding your judgment.”

”...And personally, I have no idea how to go about the business of repairing cosmic disorder.” She admitted. ”But if you believe that we would be just trading one tyrant for another, then we best be wary and prepared to continue the battle after our work with Galeem is done, yes?” Karin asked.

”Or perhaps prepare to build a new future, here, in a world that we make godless.” She muttered thoughtfully, casting her eyes upward to where the city of Midgar pressed down upon them.

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 30/100
Karin Level 7: 01/70
Location: Suoh
Word Count: 541
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 31/100
Karin Level 7: 02/70

Back from Split Mountain or from battle, Sakura and Karin were both fairly tired and in want of some rest before the big day tomorrow. Still, Sakura threw her arms around Karin and the heiress obliged her hug.

”Karin! Things have been so crazy. I wish we would stop splitting up so much!” Sakura exclaimed.

”I simply believe it’s the most economical use of our roles as long as splitting up is needed. Like avoiding putting healers on the same team.” Karin said.

”Yeah, yeah, whatever, but after we’re done here we’re not splitting up anymore.” Sakura said. ”What did you see?”

”No small amount of corruption and failure.” Karin said sourly. She was sitting on a couch, one leg crossed over the other. ”The city’s power structure is rotten to the core. It’s driven people mad.”

”Right?! What the heck! I saw a scary hospital, and it turns out the scary hospital guy works with the people in charge! And we have a massive bounty on our heads now.” Sakura said.

”Indeed. Fortunately I can’t imagine it will stick after we’re done here.” Karin said.

”Well, we Friend Hearted some people who were high up the ranks, so hopefully that’ll clear things up, too.” Sakura scratched her head.

Karin sat, thoughtfully for a moment. ”What will happen here after we defeat the guardian?”

”There’s a big ‘goosh’ of energy, and everyone around is free of Galeem’s influence.” Sakura explained.

”Everyone in Midgard. Mass enlightenment. Things will change, but I can’t imagine they will change as fast as we would like.” Karin said, staring off into the middle distance. ”Sakura, it’s all well and good to blitz through this town, destroy the Guardian, and leave. The Seekers are needed here. But people have lived entire lives within Midgar. Don’t we have a responsibility to help?” Karin said. She leaned back.

”...yeah?” Sakura said with a squint. ”But I’m still not sure what will really happen once we defeat Galeem. I’m hoping we can all go home, somehow.”

”In the meantime, people may need our help. And what if the change isn’t instant? The Seekers haven’t been fighting like none of this matters. We haven’t been ruthless, willing to kill whoever gets in our way because it will all be erased. Galeem’s world is still a world, and it still needs protection. And Galeem isn’t willing to do it.” Karin leaned forward, locking her fingers together.

”What do you mean by all this, Karin?” Sakura asked, scooting closer.

”I’m just saying…the crusade doesn’t need to be endless. It’s not as simple as planting a flag on the tallest tower and moving on. There are things that need attending too. Here, in Midgar. And I have to check back in Limsa.” Her orange eyes met Sakura’s. ”Your parents. If they’re out there, they might be here, don’t you think?”

Sakura looked away, pursing her lips. ”M-maybe.” She observed her clenched fist. ”But first things first. We’ve done all this to find a way to the Guardian. We have to face it down. Tomorrow. Let’s get some rest, okay?” Sakura said, rising back to standing.

”Right. Of course. The wisdom of the present. We set out tomorrow.” Karin said with a little smile.

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 30/100
Location: Split Mountain
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 31/100

”You’re not an intruder, Luka-san.” Sakura had reassured him. ”I’ve only been in here like, one time, anyway. We’re all just a bunch of randos who’re all working towards the same goal, so you fit right in.”

Once on the mountain top, looking up at the stars with Midna, Sakura lay on her back and folded her hands on top of her belly.

”You can’t see the stars in Midgar.” Sakura noted distantly.

At some point, more tired than she realized, Sakura’s eyes slowly closed and she drifted off into a light nap.

Karin Level 7: 00/70
Location: Neuron HQ
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 7: 01/70 lebel up

---

Well, it seemed like the problem was taking care of itself. If Karin was in charge, she would recommend seeing this through and destroying whoever survived. But the Seekers were doing a full retreat and there was nothing to be done, since there was no one in charge. With a huff, Karin followed behind in the retreat.

The escape wasn’t terribly difficult for Karin, so she elected to make it more difficult by staying behind and making sure no one lost their step. With her speed and grapple hook she could navigate quite efficiently, though it required the entirety of her focus. Especially to glance in front to make sure no one had fallen. On the off chance they got unlucky, she could be there to ensure they didn’t lag behind for long.

Young Justice

The Incorrigible Iceburn!

Interactions
The Team

---

Once again, Iceburn's costume had changed to 'suit' the occasion. Her hair included. Oh did Pei love her temporary hair dye. Now the short cut ontop of her head was a vibrant shade of orange. Her outfit itself was back to the usual black and bold pink costume, though the most notable change was the extra thick waterproof boots. But her top was still a body-hugging sleeveless belly showing top made out of some durable-adjacent material. Orange hair, black and pink outfit, and showing plenty of her unusual light blue skin. "This," She would say if asked, "Is my Attack Hair."

Iceburn sat in the middle. Thankfully her hair was short enough that even as it was whipped around in the wind, it didn't get in her eyes. "You wanna stop backseat boating, Cora?" She asked, amused.

Iceburn leaned back, draping her arms onto the side of the boat and shut her eyes, listening to Daphne give confusing instructions to Viktor. Maybe it was because there was so much communication already, or maybe it was because of the weather, but Iceburn wasn't as talkative as usual. The only talking she did while she had her eyes closed and head tilted back was trying to sound out the word 'bug spray' backwards. "Yars...yar- yarps...yarps bug. Yarps gub. Pfft, hehe." Quietly to herself. "Sounds like someone Obi-Wan would order drinks from. Yarps Gub."

The heat wasn't exactly pleasant for someone who ran as cold as Iceburn did, but ironically the humidity did help. The water was thick in the air, it gave her more to draw from. As for the mosquitos that plagued Vincent so, well, Iceburn wasn't exactly suffering free either. But she was emitting a slight mist that seemed to drive the buggers off a little, and she was of course wearing bug spray. Still, Iceburn frowned as she looked on her left shoulder and saw a signature red bump.

"Well, I definitely like the plan that involves Talos and I flying way above all these bugs." Iceburn admitted with a grin. She did find it a little amusing that Vincent, and Stormcaller were trying to make sure that Nymph knew she was in charge. Even Viktor made sure to ask for objections. That struck Iceburn as something of a paradox, but a cute one. It was sweet of them. But Nymph didn't really strike Iceburn as the leader type. She was soft-spoken, timid, and probably didn't even want to be leader in the first place. But Iceburn was a team player, so she didn't voice these thoughts aloud and didn't make them obvious with her body language. Though every once in a while someone might catch her looking at the back of Daphne's head with a good-humored look of pity.

Iceburn leaned forward, focusing up."I'm ready to look as long as it takes. We have a few hours until sundown, after that we'll have to skedaddle on home. Hopefully it doesn't take that long. I can't believe they are dumping chemicals into the Everglades of all places. There's gotta be a corrupt park ranger somewhere letting this go under the radar. Maybe threatening to feed that guy to alligators is how Batman found the general location of this base in the first place." Pei said. Talking a lot. So much for that. But she did have a pretty good streak going, for a while.

"It's kind of weird to imagine Batman in Florida." Iceburn tapped her chin. "Where would he pose? Does Florida not have any local superheroes? Did they all get eaten by alligators? There's a small chance we run into a talking superhero alligator who defends the swamps from evil. These Captain Planet villain lookin' ass dumping chemicals into the Everglades. How low can you get?" Iceburn shook her head.

Then she cleared her throat. "A-anyway. Ready to fly when you are." She smacked Vincent lightly on the shoulder.

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 59/60
Location: Neuron HQ
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 7: 00/70 lebel up

---

Karin smiled coolly and nodded with satisfaction as the Penance problem was taken care of, not feeling bad about the whole thing in any way at all. Penance is now in perfect health and free of any mind control. A net positive in every conceivable way.

When the black hole came, Karin grit her teeth and shot her grapple hook down at the ground as soon as possible, slamming into the roof but not getting sucked all the way into the mixer around it, her entire body floating in the air for the duration.

After it was over, they had a new foe to deal with, massive, corrupted Jena, while their true enemy escaped. Jena, Karin concluded, had to be the most incompetent person on the face of the World of Light. ”How dreadful for the human race that buffoons like you continue to fail upward.” Karin said, rolling her shoulders.

Whenever the creature came her way, Karin would jump out of the way and then come down on any outstretched limbs, looking to damage its fingers and wrists with combos before grapple hooking away to nearby floating debris. Karin used her unusual mobility to be a persistent yet hard to reach threat.

World of Light

Sakura Level 10: 29/100
Location: Suoh
Word Count:
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance--- Sakura Level 10: 30/100

“Holy crap…” Sakura said, peering into the massive space. ”This is a computer?! How many bits do you think it has? 64 or 32?” She asks, jokingly.

Sakura spent a bit of time wandering around, distancing herself from the group by a small bit. “ECHO!” She shouts, cupping her hands around her mouth just to get a feel for how big this place actually was. Not infinite, because an echo did come back. A security camera, however, did pan her ways.

”O tto!” Sakura flailed and hid behind cover. “Ehehe…that was stupid. My bad. I just didn’t see anybody so I figured.” Sakura reddened. To be fair, it did seem like they had gotten by all the people security, now it was just the automatic stuff.

“Let’s go.” Sakura said, taking Midna’s hand and keeping her eyes open to watch herself get teleported.

“Wow, that’s so amazing, Midna-san. I don’t know what we’d do without you. I guess you and Blazermate-san should never be on the same team so both can use teleporters, huh?” She asked.

Sakura glanced around the place. “Yeah, seriously!” She sat down, feeling truly safe and unbothered for the first time in a while. “Phew…”

The street fighter wasn’t as concerned. “It’s probably fine. We’re doing our thing.”

When Midna offered up a chance to get out of this place, Sakura was more than obliged. “Aha! Sounds awesome!” She clapped her hands together. She left a quick note:

Midna-san teleported us for a quick break. See you soon!

Once there, Sakura blinked, taking in another massive vista. The World of Light was full to the brim of absolutely bonkers huge places. The night, however, was pleasnt, if chilly. Sakura waved at the massive bird thingy, imagining the fantastic circumstances in which it was freed. She smiled, clearly pleased at the idea of seeing tangible good the Seekers had done, even if she wasn’t involved. At the very least this bird was getting to mind its own business, free of control and forced conflict forever more.

“That crap can’t be good for your lungs. That’s the worst pollution I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been to Beijing.” Sakura said with a sigh, scratching her head. Though, it might just be clouds. It was hard to tell. She looked up at the sky above and saw the stars, foreign stars, of a distant planet. The twisted moon caused her to tilt her head.

“It’s kinda cool looking though, right?” She asked. Maybe it was just the novelty of seeing a different moon so up close.

“I wonder if those stars are even real. Everything is so mashed up together here. But the universe is so unbelievably big, I have a hard time imagining we’re in a real one. There would be so many other worlds out there…why would all the Guardians be on this one if there were more?” Sakura asked.

“I dunno. It just seems fake to me. No way Galeem could steal the entire universe like that.” She said, looking up at the sky. “I bet if you could fly up there you’d see they’re just really bright lights just on the far side of the moons and other planets up there.”

World of Light

Karin Level 6: 58/60
Location: Neuron HQ
Word Count: short
Points Gained: 1
New EXP Balance---

Karin Level 6: 59/60

---

Karin felt like she had picked her targets poorly- even with Sandalphon and Goldlewis helping Geralt and her, Penance was an immovable tank. But slow. Very slow. If someone had high ranged damage output, they could just stay out of range and shoot Penance down, forcing her on the offensive despite her immense tanking ability. Instead, the implicit threat of the rest of the battle happening while they waited Penance out forced Geralt, Goldlewis, and Karin to take Penance on exactly how she wanted them too. Someone like Susie would have been a better fit for this battle.

Too late, now! The bout had to be finished as soon as possible. Karin jumped over the radiating thorns. ”How can you possibly enjoy fighting like this?” She asked Penance.

”You simply stand there and spam the same cheap spell over and over again! It’s completely brainless, anyone could do it!” Karin complained.

That was when, finally, Geralt and Goldlewis wore through and Penance was left vulnerable. Relatively, anyway. Despite being tired and exhausted, she committed fully to defense, blocking the trio’s dogpile attacks as she was forced backwards. Karin took the lead and snatched her wrist, crashing into Penance with her shoulder and throwing her a large distance away. Karin had higher mobility than the other two, and she zipped up on Penance as the judge rolled to her feet.

Karin and Penance made eye contact as Karin approached, and the moment seemed to stretch. Karin was low and forward in her dash, her arms tight and held to her body like knives.

In a matter of moments, the battle reached its conclusion. Penance swung at Karin and she flipped over, landing behind Penance, side-stepping to avoid a crushing follow up. She stepped in to capture Penance’s arm and interpose her free arm against Penance’s shield, before slamming her elbow into Penance’s jaw. The judge jerked backwards and Karin delivered a swift barrage of kicks, sending the exhausted and defeated Penance sliding along the ground to land near Goldlewis and Geralt.

Karin stood up straight with a breath, lowering her palms in a calming stance. ”I suppose I can give you more credit than that.” Karin admitted now that it was over.

World of Light

Level 8: 010/80
Word Count: shor
Location: Mercy Dream
Points Gained: 1
NEW EXP balance--- Level 8: 11/80

---

—

Jesse nudged Ganondorf on the shoulder, reaching up a bit to do so. Ganondorf, of course, was taller than her, though Jesse wasn’t exactly short herself standing at 5 feet, 10 inches. “We made it. Couldn’t have done it without you, Ganondorf.” She was happy to hear Nadia had greeted them.

“Our reward, a big, shitty, spooky prison full of who knows what. Out of the fire, and into the differently colored fire.” Jesse remarked. Good one. She thought sarcastically to herself. She leaned over the railing and got a good look at the massive complex. Many of the floors seemed open for a person capable of flight to access without much difficulty. The boss could realistically be anywhere within this place. If Jesse had to take a guess, though, the chances were it was deeper within the complex, on the bottom floor. The Seekers had already done some work on dealing with the monstrous inhabitants.

Suddenly Bowser appears, battling Mind Flayers and disrupting Jesse from her butterfly watching. At the same time, somewhere, Sectonia seemed like she was in a bit of a pickle. While she’d probably be fine, she wouldn’t be able to succeed in her goal of getting the treasure.

“You can help the Koopas, I’ll go with your, er, minions, to help the Queen Bee.” Jesse said. “I’m sure you’re sick of me by now, anyway.” She said with a cheeky smirk. “I’ll meet up with you after we’re done!”

Jesse began following the sound of conflict and the Moblins, since they seemed to know where they were going. As she traveled, she looked across the gap and saw a group of Chop Goblins carrying the chest away. From the chest, new Chop Goblins popped out every second and scattered to presumably where Sectonia was. She could hear high-pitched, aggressive voices. "Chop chop! Chop chop!" The goblins said as they emerged.

“Holy shit. That’s going to get out of control real fast.” Jesse said to the Moblins, who lined up at the railing and began throwing spears across the way.

Jesse switched to Grip and began popping the Chop Goblins in their big heads, turning a few to dust. When she had killed one of them holding up the chest, she leapt into the air and began to Levitate over the large fall. She reached out with her hand to pull it towards her with Launch. It wrenched out of one Goblins hand, flattening him against the railing and decapitating him as it passed over.

Jesse watched as another pair popped out and plummeted three layers to their deaths. She reached into her jacket to produce the Tool Gun. Fine manipulation of a heavy object was difficult, and the Chop Goblins popped out to the side of the chest on Jesse’s right. One of them plummeted, but another managed to jump far enough to cling to the fence she was nearby. The Moblins stabbed it through the gaps in the fence, killing it and preventing it from causing her any trouble.

Jesse attached several balloons to the back of the chest, so that it slowly began to float upwards while the opening faced downwards. Then she floated back over and clung into the railing, her Levitation running out before she could float back over.

If all went well, the chest would begin to float up while any Chop Goblins that came through were faced with an immediate death drop. It would eventually float towards the ceiling of Layer One. They emerged, they fell, they splatted. It was a grim existence.

But Jesse couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd sight. “Chop chop? More like 'drop, drop,' amiright?” She said to the Moblins on the other side of the fence with a grin. If she had known they were called Chop Goblins, the pun might, might, have had a slight chance of being funnier.

“Yeah, no? Maybe?” She asked, not getting much of a response from Ganon’s creatures. “Do you guys speak English?”

World of Light

Shinra Building Complex - the Daycare

Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Pit’s @Yankee, Luka
Word Count: 3,282 (+4 exp)

The "daycare" sure was bizarre. Everyone had followed Luka in, either unwilling to split up or just as curious about it.

”So I was really hoping that this would just be a Daycare for the important people working past this security checkpoint but looks like that was pretty foolish of me” Minda broke the silence to comment on the cycling ring they were looking at. ”I mean what even is this? They’re rotating eggs?” she asked before hissing with annoyance as the center of the room flashed brightly, blinding her to whatever was going on in there.

"Hey, they're holding Pokéballs!" Pit pointed out, finger indicating the line of people queuing into the center room. As he said it, he seemed confused. Weren't Pokémon outlawed in Midgar? "And that light kind of looks like... wait..."

After a beat to put two and two together, Pit's eyes widened and he whipped around to face the other three. "You think this could be where they make the P-Types...?! It's practically right out in the open, I was expecting some kind of secret lab or something!"

Luka looked aghast. “If that’s true…well, I’d shudder to think of the implications. Things might be a lot different than we thought.” His face tightened as he squinted past the cyclists toward the Daycare’s center structure, trying to make out more details. “I know we’re short on time, and not in great shape for any more fights, but do you think we should check it out?”

Sakura shrugged nervously. She had ducked behind a nearby desk. ”I mean, it’s pretty creepy. But aren’t we kinda screwed if we get caught?” She asked. ”There’s dozens of people in here.”

That had not escaped Luka’s notice, but he seemed less afraid than one might think. “The question is, how many of them are combatants. I don’t see any weapons out there. Just eggs.” He put one hand to his chin. “With all the eggs around, plus equipment or other stuff precious to their operation, just the threat of us wrecking the place might be enough that we could get in and out unscathed.” Luka looked up at the others. “Your call.”

Pit couldn't say the lack of weaponry meant there were no fighters around, after all if they really were fusing with Pokémon then they'd be able to shoot lightning, fire, and all kinds of other things. But Luka made a good point that the powers that be may not want to risk damaging the daycare in a fight. More than that, though...

"We definitely have to check it out!" Pit said, fighting to keep his voice down. "What if they're fusing people against their will? We can't just leave them. Plus they're killing a bunch of cute little baby Pokémon!"

”Even if they can’t risk fighting back, they can still raise the alarm” Midna pointed out, but not to shut things down ”So I suggest we go in there like we’re meant to be there. If we’re luck these people won’t have had time to have heard we’re enemies of the state yet.”

After a moment spent thinking, Luka nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Even if this place creates the P-types that join Psych-OSF, it seems more like a Shinra deal than an OSF one. Chances are they didn’t receive orders from the brass.”

With the majority in favor, the team got moving. They strolled into the Daycare at a measured pace, making no attempt at stealth. Even if they had, the outer track of this room was well-lit and lacked hiding places, especially given the number of bikers essentially on high-speed patrol. In fact, when the Seekers crossed paths with the cyclists, they barely acknowledged the newcomers’ presence. They just steered around to give them a wide berth so as not to endanger anyone; clearly, they were already doing everything their jobs required of them. A short time later, everyone reached the entrance to the Daycare’s center structure. With no doors in the way, everyone inside could see everyone outside and vice versa, but if the people in line for fusion looked nervous, it wasn’t because of the Seekers. Luka guessed that didn’t know how things were run around here either, and that they amounted to little more than patients at a doctor’s office.

Without raising any aggression or alarms so far, the team could enter and scope out the central chamber. In truth, it really did look like a doctor’s office, at least in part. On one side of the aisle, four operating chairs surrounded by medical instruments machines were spaced out evenly, and against the wall was a smaller chamber about four times the size of a phone booth, elevator off the ground and featuring a sort of spigot that made it look almost like a giant gumball machine, albeit with pitch black walls and a door instead of glass. On the other side of the room, the walls were lined with a number of large cells, stacked up all the way to the ceiling with walkways around each row, accessible by personal lift. These ones featured darkened glass that the newcomers couldn’t see through, as well as a pipe system leading toward a handful of hoppers, each of which contained several eggs. There were four PCs arranged in this part, and in the center stood a big desk covered in papers, ledgers, and computer screens. Nobody was sitting there currently; instead, the doctor was helping a subject into a chair. The subject looked young, with short dark hair, and to Midna at least he looked just a tiny bit familiar. Once seated comfortably, he offered the pokeball in his hand to the scientist, and right after he accepted it he happened to see that the Seekers had arrived.

“Good evening,” he greeted them, his voice calm and affable. He was a pale man, with slicked-back platinum blonde hair accentuated by a very long cowlick, half blue and half red, that wound around his head almost like a halo. He wore glasses, gloves, and a long white lab coat with blue and red triangle patterns scattered across it. In addition to being somewhat barrel-chested, he had large, fluffy, bulky white wings on his back. All in all, while he looked every bit a professional scientist, he was also unmistakably avian -or perhaps even angelic- in appearance. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure. My name is Colress. What can I do for you?”

”Ilia” the princess lied with a tone of casual authority she had never used with the Seekers, one which despite this seemed both well practiced and trained. She deliberately flicking her Flygon tail behind her to draw a glance of attention to her fused nature as she continued ”My associates wanted some reassurances that everything you are doing here is-” she paused, flexing her fingers as she made a show of search for the right words, before concluding ”-for the greater good”

The smiling scientist pursed his lips, his eyebrows raised slightly. There was a trace of laughter in his eyes as he discreetly glanced at Luka, who was trying not to wince.

Sakura stood up straight with her hands at her side, hoping the uniform she wore lended their whole group a little more respectability and believability. ”That’s right.” She said. ”...They’re with the Board of Ethics.” Sakura added, taking a moment to search for the right words.

“Interesting. I wasn't aware of any such entity. I do tend to absorb myself in my work, though, so who knows,” Colress replied after a moment, his manner and tone unruffled. “If that's your sole concern, then, well, yes. Without the shadow of a doubt.” After sliding the pokeball into his pocket, he crossed his arms, his expression still one of polite neutrality. “I’ll admit that isn't a very informative answer, though. A single word isn't liable to convince, well, anyone. Is there anything else the, ah, ‘Board’ would like to ask? I'm quite happy to speak candidly, you know.”

”We do have a tendency to be forgotten in such a large organization, so no offense taken” Midna replied, seamlessly playing along with Sakura’s addition to the combination of joke and ruse, before agreeing ”and yes, it will take more than that. You could start by talking us through your process. From the outside looking in you’ve got a pretty unorthodox looking set up in here, so some clarification would be appreciated to clear up any possible misunderstandings”

Still looking amused, Colress complied. “Well then, I must be sure to do the best I can. Let's see…” He put his hand to his chin, thinking about a way to describe the operation simply but effectively. “In brief, this is a clinic where the supernatural animals known as Pokemon are cohabitated, bred, raised to adulthood, and then harvested for their spirits. These spirits are then used in transfusions for people like young Souta here to grant them various abilities.” He tousled the nervous-looking boy's head in order to help calm him down.

He then turned his attention back to the newcomers, his expression curious. “I understand how this may seem distasteful. However, have you considered the meat industry? How much beef, chicken, fish, and pork it takes to sustain a city like Midgar? If you never see it firsthand it's easy to ignore, but every burger and filet is an animal that died so that we could live. As per the same regulations, we ensure that every animal is completely unconscious so that none suffer.”

Colress crossed his arms. “There's also the medical industry. How many millions of lives have been saved by medicines developed through animal testing?” Glancing over toward the patients in line with a sympathetic look, he continued. “And consider Midgar itself. A city fraught with constant danger. Laden with institutions few can trust. If the life of one animal can give you the power to protect your home, your family…not to mention the ability to access Psynet, I believe it's a worthwhile trade.” He nodded toward Midna’s tail. “Wouldn't you agree?”

Alright, so they weren't killing baby Pokémon, and Colress made a good point. Pit wasn't at all sure about the level of a Pokémon's sentience (in his experience some were and some weren't?), so the thought to bring that up didn't cross his mind at all. What Colress hadn't addressed so far was the people element to the operation here.

The group's pretense was flimsy, and though at first Pit tried to keep up with it by crossing his arms, doing his best to appear authoritative, and letting the others do the talking, now he gave that pretense up.

"What about him?" he said, gesturing to the boy named Souta, then to the line of people at large. "What about them?

"Having a Pokémon and fusing is illegal, but you've got both going on right here! And civilians fighting Others is illegal too, so it's practically like forcing people to join!"

He turned away from Colress, facing the people yet to have fused. "Is that something you all signed up for? On your own, or because you didn't feel like you had a choice?"

Put on the spot, the queued patients looked uncomfortable, which allowed Colress to step in. “Why don’t we answer your questions in order? It’s true that it’s illegal for citizens to own psychic-type Pokemon or perform fusion themselves. Why do you think that is?” His questioning gaze seemed to invite Pit to slow his roll and think. “It’s because of the inherent risk. In the city, psychic-type Pokemon will suffer because of ambient psynet overload, and either shut down or go berserk. As for fusion, what do you think would happen if ordinary people could obtain potentially unlimited power through murder?”

He crossed his arms. “Think of it like a gun. If anyone could get a gun without any kind of official process whatsoever, and then use it to easily obtain more guns, it would be anarchy. By strictly controlling fusion, we limit who can get a gun, how many one can get, and also establish records so that if anyone misuses their gun, we know exactly who it was and can take action.” He shrugged. “It’s natural that those who wish to protect Midgar by joining Psych-OSF would want power to do so, but recruitment is by no means required.” Nodding at the patients, he reached his conclusion. “Everyone here is here because they want this. If they feel like they didn’t have a choice, it’s not because we’re forcing them, but because it is a terribly cruel world we live in. One where everyone needs a little help to survive.”

"Urk..." Pit wasn't good with dealing with rhetoric. He struggled for a response, but Midna stepped in for him.

”That sounds very logical and thought out, which does raise the question as to why all this was a secret in the first place? Given the total moral catastrophe that the previous version of this project was, you have to understand that the board is just a little skeptical that the justification you now need to give public is all there is too it” Midna, whos tongue hurt from biting it, now relaxed her jaw to responded to the sales pitch they’d just been given, before asking ”For one but are people aware of all the side effects? The way fusion changes not just the body but also the mind, and as well as the way that fusion always comes with negative effects as well as positive ones? For two, there is the issue that Midgar is only a small part of this cruelly crafted world. Will non-citizens entering the city for the first time be able to apply for this if they have fused before arrival? The same goes for those who arrive with psychic pokemon companions, are they seized, detained, and processed?”

A lot of the references to things like animal testing, factory farming and gun control had gone way over her head, but the issues she had brought up, oh she was very intimately familiar with them.

Sakura just stood there, arms at her side, watching the discussion unfold. Suppressing her nervousness, she still thought that this was a bad idea. Maybe she was just being cynical for once, but this Colress guy didn’t look like he bought their disguise at all. She gripped at the legs of her pants. ”You Board of Ethics people sure ask a lot of questions.” She said. As for her thoughts about what Colress said, it all sounded about right to her, but what did she know? They were here to place down a sneaky teleporter and now there were witnesses to them coming in here.

Her remark seemed to bring a smile to the scientist’s face. “Why, you took the words right out of my mouth, young lady,” Colress said breathlessly, holding his hands up in a helpless manner. “That was such a barrage, I can scarcely even begin to respond. I’m all for a friendly debate, but is the ‘Board’ more invested in asking questions, or receiving answers?” His tone was jocular. “A verbal firefight is liable to sow needless confusion and panic, and I’m no orator.”

Colress sighed wearily, putting a hand to his head with a pained expression. “You know, this brings to mind a certain group of animal rights activists. Extremely uninformed, especially about the big picture, yet more than happy to rock the boat at every turn. Could you imagine if such people were to infiltrate a restricted area like this, posing as Shinra employees? Why, I’d have to ask them for their IDs.” He shook his head, as if to say perish the thought. “To see the world in black and white like that…I’m almost envious.”

After shaking his head, the scientist produced the pokeball he’d pocketed earlier. “I’ve enjoyed this ‘meeting of the minds’, but it’s been a long day. We have just a few more treatments before we’re done, and I’d rather not keep these folks here any longer than need be. Nor bother them needlessly. If you have any other questions, please direct them to my boss, Professor Hojo. Now, if you don’t mind leaving me to my work…” Colress smiled. “I certainly don’t mind leaving you to yours.”

At this, a somewhat nervous Luka stepped forward and spoke up. “We understand, Dr. Colress. We’ll leave you to it, thank you for your time.” He tentatively reached up to take Midna by the hand and gently pull her back in the direction of the exit.

She let herself be pulled away, Midna simply had a last word it seemed, and it was one that had nothing to do with ethics and that was simply that ”Not to worry, I’m sure we’ll have words with him soon enough” before striding away, tail swishing behind her. Then she paused, and half turned to ask ”But I’ll leave you with this: who would win in a fight, a soldier with some of a pokemon's power, or a soldier and a pokemon who fight side by side?” before continuing without waiting for an answer.

Once they'd all left, Pit let out a heavy breath. He seemed agitated, but uncertain.

"Aw man, what should we do?" he wondered aloud, shifting from foot to foot. "You think they're all really volunteers in there? But we know they're using the P-Types for evil, so we could... shut it down? But..." Pit looked up at the tower, so close by now. He sensed the hesitation Sakura had been giving off since they spotted the place, on top of the lies Midna had told to avoid a straight up confrontation, so maybe going gung-ho would be stupid if it meant they were caught before getting to Arahabaki. But leaving it alone felt wrong too, on behalf of both the people and Pokémon involved.

"Argh, what should we do?!" he repeated, vigorously scratching his head with both hands while trying to force the answer to manifest in front of him. His golden laurel ended up a little lopsided, and remained silent.

Luka looked conflicted. “Right now, we should focus on Arahabaki and the Guardian. They’re our primary concern. If we should be doing anything about Colress, it should be counting ourselves fortunate we ran into someone who cares more about his work than about us.”

Sakura nodded. ”Seriously.” Sakura said. ”We’re so close to the home stretch, Pit-kun.” She was very eager to face the Guardian. The idea of screwing it up at the last second was a stone in her stomach.

Pit closed his mouth tightly, biting back the "buts" he could think of. It was times like this when he was unsure of what the best course of action was that he was most thankful to have his friends and allies' voices in his ear, since he didn't have Palutena's. One quick internal struggle later and the angel sighed. "You guys are right. Beating the Guardian will help everyone, and we can... always come back and make sure everyone's alright after that!"

”We also know what the head of the snake is called now, and Professor Hojo sure seems to have a lot of bodies we’d be able to deal with in one fell swoop if we have that word with him” Midna pointed out with a flex of a briefly clawed hand.

As the Seekers left the Daycare, a bright surge of prismatic light from the facility’s central chamber prompted Luka to look back over his shoulder one last time, his misgivings clear on his face, before he closed the door behind him.