[center][h3][color=darkgreen]Linkle[/color] and [color=red]Cuphead[/color] and Geralt of Rivia[/h3][/center] [center][color=darkgreen][b] Level 7[/b][/color] - (15/70) + 3, [color=red]Level 1[/color] (6/10) + 3, Level 4 (30/40) +3 [/center] [center]Word Count: 2957 Location: Devil's Casino (Under New Management) [/center] [@Lugubrious][@ProPro][@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN] [hr] Linkle had never seen one of the pre-war whatevers the Courier spoke of as he marched off to get patched up by Blazermate, and for that she felt a pang of jealousy. The closest thing she had to compare these strange stretchy squashing people to was the color. Not in how they made her feel, even seeing something like Cuphead effortless lift off and tip his own head to her hadn’t been anything other than delightful and amazing, but in how unreal they were. The way Pirouletta had moved during their fight, the way King Dice’s face had contorted despite seeming solid, the way this boy in front of her was able to change the shape of his eyes, sometimes they were less like people and more like water bound up into shapes. She kind of loved it. “Thanks for the help.” she said to Cuphead, walking over to one of the tables the robot had flipped over in its rampage against [i]The Power[/i] , its cards and chips scattered all over the floor around, and righted it with one hand. “I’m Linkle. I’ve never really questioned somebody before, but...he was just so weird. And then he just up and left.” She grabbed one of the high backed chairs and slid it to the table, patting the red cushion while looking at Cuphead expectantly before plopping Pirouletta onto the plush green center of the table. On the ground cucoos circled like sharks. Linkle herself leaned down, elbows on the tables. “All right Miss Pirouletta. Tell me everything you know about your boss.” To say Geralt was surprised by the recent developments would be an understatement. He simply couldn’t have expected any of what happened. He was still fumbling around in the dark, and by the time he’d gotten himself up and dusted himself off, new developments were still happening. The reinforcements, the other dark-robed person of seemingly great power, and the fact that apparently this group of misfit heroes was even bigger. Oh joy, more people to be a royal pain in his ass. At least they couldn’t be worse than Dandelion. Geralt followed Linkle, figuring he could at least be of help for an interrogation. It certainly wouldn’t be the first one he’d done, as well. He stood before their prey and crossed his arms. “Don’t forget the little details, either.” He said with a sneer. Peach drew up alongside him, quietly menacing in her own way. The little gizmo looked thoroughly unhappy. With all of these people around, there didn’t seem to be any chance of non-cooperation. Any of them could probably wallop her soundly, most likely without even using their abilities, and she knew that Cuphead could from firsthand experience. So her choice of action seemed pretty obvious. “After big light explosion, casino and islands still here, same as before. But pretty soon new people come, all sorts we never see before. Boss was thrilled, and Devil too, but then come storm. I never see what happen outside, but I hear lightning, chaos, horrible shrieks. Devil go out to deal with it, but all that comes back is spirit, carried by boss. Things get back to normal, but boss sad and angry. After time he disappear, gone for while, then he come back in black coat. After that he only come sometimes, and he always acted different, trying to be like before. Seemed like he had new job. Instead casino run by manager, who only come by once to leave lackey in charge. Manager never say name, but lackey is called Moneybags. Probably at hotel.” Cuphead listened while bopping his head up and down in his seat. Once she finished, he thought over the words. [color=red]”Golly, if someone walloped the devil hard enough to make him a spirit, I can imagine why Dice would have a case of the moody blues! I don’t know nuthin’ ‘bout no storm though. Muggy and I live waaaaay on the other end of Inkwell Isle. Never heard of this Moneybags goon neither.”[/color] As if on cue the doors to the devil’s casino burst open again, pushing back a couple of the patrons on their way out, whose number by now had dwindled almost to zero. “Oh, the humanity! Everything’s in terrible disarray! The absolute state of it…!” he cried. Portly but well-dressed, he appeared to be some sort of animal-person, maybe a bear. With an outraged and indignant look on his face the [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/0/00/Moneybags_Reignited.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20181117040718]suited fellow[/url] bustled over to the largest gathering of newcomers, which included the interrogation committee, Peach, and the Houndmaster nearby. “I say! Who in blazes are you all? What is the meaning of this disaster?” He stared, wide-eyed, at the hole in the ceiling and the general movement through it. “And what happened to my poor casino?!” Linkle looked up as the talking bear burst through the door, not really impressed. Talking bears got less impressive after the first one. “King Dice did it.” she said, pointing down at Pirouletta. “Ask her.” Moneybags looked confused. All his indignity had nowhere to go. “King Dice? The old manager? That scoundrel! I’ll give him a piece of my mind!” As prompted, he asked Pirouletta, bending down to shake his fist at her. “Is he here?” Pirouletta shook her head. “No. He went away.” “Blast!” Thoroughly irritated, Moneybags looked around. “This place will take a fortune to fix up. And how am I supposed to run it with a...a hole in the ceiling?” The Houndmaster walked over. “You are not supposed to run it. Gneidxick...or Dice, or the Guildmaster, or whoever he is, is a wanted criminal. He appears to have absconded, but until such time as we have searched the premises this establishment’s operation is halted.” Moneybags leered at the smaller man. “Who are you supposed to be, who can tell me how to run my casino?” “The sherriff of Lumbridge,” the Houndmaster said, crossing his arms. His wolfhound padded over, baring her teeth at Moneybags. “Are you at odds with the law, Mr. Moneybags?” “Police?” The bear leaned back, looking alarmed. “Er, no! Not at all! Everything perfectly legal here, yes sir.” With obvious fear he glanced at the wolfhound. “Nice...doggy?” “In that case, once we confirm that this institution represents no illegality, nor threat to Lumbridge or its denizens, its operation may resume. You may even discover your business fomented by this unnatural connection.” “‘Fomented’, eh?” Moneybags weighed his options, clearly swayed by the possibility of more profits. “Well then, by all means, search away. You shall have my full support. Perhaps I could negotiate some help to deal with this mess.” He took another look around and for the first time noticed the robot pillaging his casino floor. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “Hey, you! Stop that!” He ran a few steps before having to stop, huffing wildly. Instead he shook his fist at the robot. “That’s...my...property!” “Is it?” Linkle asked, looking around to the others as the bear ran off. “I mean, it’d be the manager's stuff right?” Gaige-Tron stopped in its single-wheeled tracks as the well dressed bear started yelling at it. “Uuuuh….” a few poker chips fell to the floor, then it quickly stuffed some in its chest cavity. “These are being taken for the investigation!” The robot then wheeled off in a hurry. Cuphead couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. “That’s…! Uuuuugh.” Moneybags groaned, realizing that he couldn’t object without contradicting what he said earlier. He sighed and turned towards Linkle. “Well, my employer’s not here right now, is he? We never signed any contracts. I just went along with him to get my foot in the door. If I sow the seeds, I eat the bread.” He patted his chest, looking proud. “Besides, he was beyond arrogant. Always strutting around in that checkered suit, surrounded by suck-ups, going on about this and that. Any man with a lick of sense would strike out on his own.” [color=red]”Golly gee, that sure sounds like King Dice alright!”[/color] Cuphead added, punching his open palm. [color=red]”A real class act! The bee’s knees of sleaze! Are you folks sure he was behaving strange?”[/color] He looked more at Pirouletta for confirmation. Pirouletta looked at him like he was stupid. “Da. Fat man says checker suit. Boss wears purple, always.” “Why, you…! Have some respect!” Cuphead gasped, his arms flailing around like limp noodles, completely devoid of bones, and his straw turning into an exclamation point. [color=red]”Why I outta!”[/color] he pulled off the glove on his left hand (revealing his hand to be a slightly smaller glove) and slapped the casino goon across the face with it before putting it back on. [color=red]”She’s right though… King Dice ALWAYS wears purple!”[/color] Linkle thought for a moment, frowning. “I was sure the new manager would have been a lady.”“ At least, that’s what she’d guessed considering who the others said had come and taken him away. “If King Dice was always such a bad guy then what I found weird about him isn’t [i]too[/i] weird I guess, but still.” She looked Pirouletta right in the eye. “This might seem like a strange question, but did you notice King Dice’s eyes ever change colors? Or, did he ever give anything like a heart to you and your friends?” Confused, Pirouletta shook her head. “Boss eyes...uh, green. Never give us heart.” “Did he ever do anything else to you guys? Something that seemed weird to you?” Linkle continued. “Anything at all.” “Er…” The strange line of questioning clearly confounded the dancer, but after a moment something did seem to occur to her. “One time, after he come back there was blackout in casino. Most of us sleeping when it happened, but we all get weird dreams. But nothing happen after.” Of all the things that had been said, [i]that[/i] caught Geralt’s attention. Sudden infliction of strange dreams? He could work with that. Cutting in, he questioned the dancer. “Did you all have the same dream? What happened in it?” “Yeah.” Linkle said, nodding eagerly. She knew about this from the Legends. “Dreams can be super important.” [color=red]”I once dreamed that I was a water bottle,”[/color] Cuphead cut in, offering essentially nothing of value. Pirouletta ignored him. “Dream was...dark. Just darkness. But there was something in the dark. Big. Everywhere. Moving. Could not tell what it was.” She shuddered. “Hmm.” Geralt mused. That was both helpful and unhelpful at the same time. “Nothing else? Just...darkness, moving around, everywhere? Not even a pinprick of light?” Pirouletta shook her head. “Some colors in the dark, here and there, but no light. Mostly...pink?” Linkle, for the first time, thought back to the wave of darkness that had swept out of Peach’s castle and seemingly freed everyone it touched. It didn’t seem right, everything she’d ever heard was fighting against the idea, but could this darkness be some kind of positive thing? The thought of pink being mixed into it, the same color as a certain friend shaped little savior, only made that impression stronger. “That might have been it. The one that brought everyone here is the lord of light, so maybe dark is good? Dark has helped us out before.” She growled, shaking her head. “No, I still don’t get why he attacked us then.” Moneybags laughed as though Linkle said something silly. “Pff, hohoho! Not a chance. Money is good, not dark.” The Houndmaster looked a lot more serious. He spoke from experience. “I cannot say. A creeping gloom can be every bit as maleficent as a baleful luminosity. The dream she speaks of...a vision of an eldritch abyss. It is most worrisome.” “I’d agree, but it free-,” Linkle stopped, looking around the table. Cuphead, Moneybags, the Sheriff, they were just like Din. Even if she explained they wouldn't get it. The only ones that would understand were Geralt and Pirouletta. “Maybe I’m thinking too hard. Ummm, do you have any idea why your boss would go and get a job as guildmaster? Actually,” she looked up at the Sheriff. “How long was he the guildmaster for? How did he get the job?” The Houndmaster scratched his dog. “I arrived after he did, in actuality. It was my belief that he was with Lumbridge since its early days. Several months, at least. As for how, I suppose he just wanted the job. Demand always outpaces supply in Lumbridge, and the Guildmarm required aid.” Linkle stared at the man. What the man had said hadn’t been very helpful, save for pretty much confirming what King Dice’s new job had been. A single word he’d used, though, threw her for a loop. “Months?” She asked, more to herself than anyone else. That was way longer than it felt like she’d been in this world. She’d never really given it much thought, she’d just assumed that this whole thing was fairly recent on account that she could remember at most three and a half days. What in Hylia’s name had she been up to for [i]months?[/i] “Uhhhh...I can’t think of anything else to ask.” She said slowly, trying to take her mind off that. “Anybody else have anything?” The Houndmaster exhaled. “No. Regrettably this did not yield any revelations. Regardless I am pleased that force went unneeded.” [color=red]”Most of this is going over my head.”[/color] Cuphead’s, well, cup head popped off and did a flip before landing back in place. [color=red]”But golly gee, I’m super keen to be getting that mean ol’ King Dice back. He may be an untrustworthy weasel, but he’s our weasel by gum! I’ll stick with ya as long as I can help!”[/color] Peach nodded to him. “We’ll be happy to have you.” She then panned over the group in general. “Things just got a little more complicated. It looks like there’s another major faction at work, one with some sort of affinity for darkness. One member, Gneidxick, established himself in an important position in the Land of Adventure’s only permanent fixture. There’s someone named King Dice, who he seemed to be trying to impersonate. He attacked us, but it seems like he did it as part of an act, pretending to be King Dice. Someone else from his faction appeared and stopped him, berating him for doing so. It seems like the darkness is somehow linked to freeing people from Galeem’s influence, which makes sense…” she squinted. “Sort of...given what the Master of Masters said about Galeem’s light binding hearts.” Moneybags looked flabbergasted. “Goodness. I haven’t the slightest what you’re going on about, but it seems highly convoluted.” Linkle just nodded. “One more thing to keep a lookout for.” She needed one of those wrist things like the Courier had to keep track of all the things she had to look out for. She never thought she’d have enough to need a list. “Yeah,” Peach said, rubbing her temples. “I bet it’s only going to get weirder.” [color=darkorange]”Hey toots, recognize me? I wouldn’t be offended if you said no on account of how I’M A FREAKING TREE NOW! So if you would be so kind, please GET THIS TREE OUT OF ME!”[/color] The princess noticed, and closed her eyes for a moment. She took a deep breath, as if trying to keep herself from losing it. “Yeah, alright.” Shrugging apologetically at the others, she reached down and jammed her hand into Daxter’s chest. When she pulled it out, he shrunk in a burst of multicolored light and became his old self. The Ent spirit she placed in Jak’s waiting, eager hand. [center][hider=For Jak]You have Acquired: [b]Sporebloom[/b] A mode for the Morphgun that turns it into a shotgun that pumps out high-power, short-range bursts of rot. It does not have to be reloaded between each shot, and has 21 shots total, requiring a lot of Red Eco to be replenished. It comes equipped with the Spore Shot mod, which builds up a ‘super’ as the gun inflicts damage that can be spent to unleash an arcing glob that creates a cloud of gas in an area that inflicts Root Rot. Any built-up ‘‘super’ is lost if the Morphgun’s mode is switched[/hider][/center] It wasn’t a moment after the spirit had been wrenched from the little weasel and he was no longer more tumbleweed than mammal that Linkle had scooped him up and hugged him to her chest. Her hands had been full when she’d seen Donnie. Blazermate had been too far away. Daxter was close enough to grab and small enough to lift. “I’m so happy you guys are all alright. You must have run into some really weird stuff out there if you’re turning into ghosts and plants.” If she was being honest, she’d assumed the worst when the pair had suddenly flown down. At least until Jak turned back to normal. Geralt mostly followed along with Peach’s summary of events, but he got stuck on something towards the end. “Wait a second,” He called out, “who’s this Galeem? What’s he doing to people?” “You remember that bright light you saw just before you appeared in this world? That was Galeem.” Linkle answered, pointing one finger up. “It’s the sun here.” “What.”