[center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3] [b]Level 8[/b] Tora (75/80) and [b]Level 8[/b] Poppi (48/80) [b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky - Hollow Heights Primrose's [@Yankee], Fox's [@Dawnrider], Sectonia's [@Archmage MC] Midna's [@DracoLunaris], Yoshitsune's [@Rockin Strings], Red’s [@TheDemonHound], Laharl’s [@Dark Cloud] [b]Word Count:[/b] 951[/center] In the utter chaos of motion and sound the heroes clung as tight as they could to whatever safety they could get their hands on, be it the worryingly shaky train car interior or a desperate handhold on the outside. Poppi didn’t want to consider what might have happened if she had been in either of her other forms, which both featured their rockets on the feet rather than the back, when Yoshitsune grabbed hold of her leg for dear life. Although she could have held him for a while, he ended up crawling down beneath the train itself. Unable to see him, she could only hope he knew what he was doing. Bit by bit, she and Tora caught glimpses of the others holed up or hunkered down, especially inside the confines of the train car. It looked pretty cramped in there, but being squashed sounded a lot better than hurtling out into an unknown abyss thanks to this hellish cyclone. The wind buffeted her relentlessly, preventing her from getting a full headcount, so she focused instead on holding on. Her grip was unyielding, but the metal she held onto was starting to buckle from the stress. If she were to try to adjust her grip she could very well sail away, but doing nothing meant tearing loose sooner or later. Tora couldn’t hear her right now, nor she him, so she tried to guess what he would suggest in this situation. Her Masterpon’s familiarity with his work meant that he maintained every option available to him in his mind, so when push came to shove he had a lot at his disposal. What trick would he pull out of their shared arsenal…? After a few moments of thinking, Poppi engaged her Ice Core and promptly froze her hand to the train car. A layer of ice a few inches thick formed around the handhold to ensure that she wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. If things weren’t so dire she might have congratulated herself, but for now she needed to stay vigilant and steadfast. This upswell couldn’t last much longer. After what felt like hours, the train finally pushed through the far end of the storm, leaving behind the nightmare realm of windy emptiness. The train traveled to a safe distance before slowing to a stop. Poppi wrenched free of her ice to fly herself and Tora down to solid ground, where her Masterpon could catch his breath alongside everyone else. Even Gnorbu, evidently an upswell veteran, looked shaken. “That...was worse than usual,” he panted, trying to tame his wind-tousled mane. Nearby, a thoroughly discombobulated Necronomicon spat out Morgana before lodging herself in the sand. The cat teetered toward the rest of the group, where he reunited with Skull and Panther. “Ugh...we...we didn’t lose anyone, right?” He shook his head and looked around. “...Joker? Joker?!” “Here.” Looking way worse for wear, Joker staggered over from the back of the train in his Phantom Thief attire. He held up his hand to reveal his grappling hook, torn just above the winch. “Got sucked out of the honeypot along with Blue and Scout. Managed to hook myself on and climb up before the hook broke.” Both his voice and his eyes were grave. “The others weren’t as lucky.” Tora’s face fell. He’s been so happy to be alive he didn’t think about anyone but himself and Poppi. “No way…” The news only got worse from there. As they looked around nobody could avoid making conjectures about who they weren’t seeing, and Poppi finally completed her headcount. “Also missing Heavy and Medic…” Braum did not suppress his sob. “My comrades...of everyone from Lakeside, how could only I remain…?” A look of utter horror had possessed Gnorbu. “W-w-what? You’re telling me that four people got blown away!?” “No, no, no!” Tora piped up with as much confidence as he could scrape up. As all eyes fell on him he kept a brave face. “Scout have grapple gun too, and Medic fly now, meh. No way they fall to death. Plus, wind blowing up, so they probably just get flung out of awful storm in other direction.” Poppi nodded vigorously, doing her part to try and encourage everyone. “That good point! Poppi sure that we see them again later!” She and Tora both kept quiet about the chance that the lost getting flung into the endless metal supports beneath the surface, or getting swirled around forever, or any of the other sobering possibilities. “So, does that mean we oughta go look for ‘em?” Skull asked. Joker turned back to take in the miles and miles of desert surrounding Hollow Heights in every direction. “That could take a very long time, even assuming they did make it out.” Though he had more on his mind, including a recommended option, he stopped himself from saying anything else. That let the question hang in the air for everyone: what were they going to do? Were they going to spend time searching for the lost? For how long? The desert heat beat down on their backs, and Al Mamoon was still a shimmering blur in the distance. Tora kept quiet as he thought. He knew that a hero would never leave a friend behind, but were those that were gone his friends? Could they even look inside Hollow Heights, or in the seemingly infinite girder-ridden space below the desert? Was the mission more important? Tora felt terrible about the notion of leaving allies behind, especially considering how he’d feel if the shoe were on the other foot. But what could they really do? Questions swirled around the heroes as hard and as fast as the desert storm. [center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3] [b]Level 3[/b] Nadia (21/30) [b]Location:[/b] Black Bay Blazermate's [@Archmage MC], Bowser's [@DracoLunaris], Ace Cadet's [@Yankee], Hat Kid's [@Dawnrider], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey], Frog's [@Dark Cloud] [b]Word Count:[/b] 1823[/center] Nadia didn’t so much see as feel the destruction that befell Shippy, when a shockwave of raw force peppered by shattered remnants of wood and metal bulled into her, and out of pure instinct she threw herself into a headlong dive away from the danger. Rather than slide beneath the surface she smacked into it, partially repelled by whatever it was that kept her float, and lay there against its chill for a brief moment before she scrambled to pick herself up. She was afraid to see what became of the living vessel, but she looked nevertheless, and found to her relief that only the rearmost portion of it was missing. She spotted Frog, Blazermate, Sakura, and the others, all rattled by the near-death experience but still alive. Only when the street fighter called out a familiar name, unknown suffix notwithstanding, did Nadia realize someone was gone. As Sakura searched from above the feral guided herself over the waves to the stern, but she found no trace of the former pirate either. Not even his spirit. Another tragic loss burned Nadia’s guts, but Frog was right; she and her friends couldn’t afford to spend time grieving with their lives still on the line. Whether stunned by the underwater pressure wave or fallen back to avoid friendly fire, the Abyssals had relented for a moment, but now the remainder of those hurled at Shippy by the Harbor Princess circled the drifting vessel like vultures. She watched Peach run for the edge of the deck, calling, “It’s time to go! Until the ship’s operational, we have to push, or we’re sitting ducks!” The others recovered from their shell-shock to jump into action. Blazermate basted Shippy with her medibeam, reconstructing the stern bit by bit. Nadia noticed with a start that the boat’s healing was outdoing incoming damage. [i]About time, jeez![/i] While Peach and Nadia headed for the back, Link swerved around Shippy’s front in order to toss some extra healing up to the figurehead. He managed to focus her enough to reach out for his thrown potion, then gulp it down. A small section of the lower stern regenerated all at once, and the new shipgirls put their backs against it. Together they started unloading into the water directly behind Shippy, using the recoil to push the faltering vessel through the water. The method to their madness revealed itself when their fusillade not only took care of opportunistic Abyssals but also got Shippy moving toward the inlet in the bay shore. Still, they had only been at it for a moment before the Cadet, sporting a flashy new hairdo, hopped down onto the water full of burning passion. He announced his intention to put down the monstrous threat once and for all and then sped off into the ongoing battle, straight for where the Harbor Demon struggled to collect herself. Nadia released her hold on Shippy. “What are you doing?” Peach shouted as she strained against the keel. “Shippy’s not...ready yet!” Nadia leaned forward and skated away, yelling, “I can’t let him face her alone!” If Peach replied, she was already too far away to hear it. With a few of Kamek’s minions in tow as additional support, she made a beeline for the fighting. When the battle of Black Bay began, the Abyssals had fanned out to occupy about eighty percent of the available space, but the Navy had turned the tides to leave them with only the twenty percent closest to the twin strongholds. Of course, that meant that the fighting here was both the thickest and the most desperate, and it took all of Nadia’s concentration to navigate through the raging firefight across roiling waves with a pounding heart. An emerging Abyssal nearly caught her off guard, but before it could sink its teeth in a railgun shot from the Atomos disintegrated it, and Nadia threw Bella a thumbs-up.She kept her eyes focused on Cadet’s bright scarlet hair as her guide as she ducked under cannon fire and leaped over breaching monsters, all the way to the mouth of Kwolok Harbor. Before the two reached it, something flew in from above. Nadia gasped as she recognized the Helmaroc King from earlier, dismissed as the Atomos team’s problem during the troubles earlier and promptly forgotten. Now it careened toward the Harbor Demon with Geralt on its back. “Yes!” she breathed, glad for more help. Nadia dodged around an Abyssal that looked like a pile of turrets and looked up again just in time to see the Witcher hurl some bombs down at the giant woman, although he seemed to be having problems of his own. No matter how many feathers he tugged, the bird couldn’t seem to right itself. His explosives struck the Harbor Demon’s head with enough force to stagger her and break her horn, and a moment later the floundering Helmaroc slammed into the great disk atop her weapons platform. “Geralt!” Nadia cried, but she couldn’t see what became of him. However, the bird’s impact span the cannons out of whack, and the incoming heroes couldn’t throw away the chance given to them. They moved in. A big Abyssal came at the Cadet from either side, their pincer attack snapping shut just shy but effectively blocking Nadia’s way. With a sharp inhale she jumped into the air and let loose jets of blood to dash right over. She almost fumbled the landing, but managed to recover in a spray of seawater. “Hah!” She was doing it--they were doing it! Just ahead loomed the Harbor Demon, even more terrifyingly huge in person, but with her mutilated arms occupied with defense against the Junior clone and continued bombardment from the Navy, she was wide open. The Cadet must have thought the same thing, and raced in for the kill, but Nadia noticed that the weapons platform behind their foe didn’t seem much worse for wear. As the crane arms came around, Nadia realized that her friend didn’t see them, and willed herself forward as fast as she could. In a fountain of blood and cannon fire she launched into the air, and from the flying feral shot a web of muscle fibers. Before the crane hooks could gut Cadet like a fish Nadia flew past one and then the other, snaring them in her muscles. With a quick yank she brought them together in a knot, then came to a stop hanging from the tangle a few feet above the water’s surface. Behind her the surprised Abyssal stared downward, defenseless. If the Cadet planned to bury that longsword in the huge woman’s vitals, he’d need to get a little higher. “Here! I’ll boost you!” Nadia yelled. Her impromptu platform gave the Monster Hunter just the elevation he needed. Though the Harbor Demon had some armor around her neck and midriff, it left her chest wide open, and in the moment afforded him the Cadet fearlessly plunged his dark blade straight down the middle. The Abyssal shrieked and thrashed, but her riotous strength bled away through the fatal wound, and began to turn to ash. Even the gigantic weapons platform behind her buckled and broke down, a part of her to the end. Nadia dropped as the cranes dissolved, splashing down on the ocean’s surface. On the water nearby floated the demon’s spirit, her [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/kancolle/images/5/51/Harbour_Water_Demon_Full.png]visage[/url] encapsulated within, but the feral left the prize for the Cadet and focused on retracting her muscles instead. All around Kwolok Harbor, the Abyssals had fallen into a confused lull, and the Navy wasted no time exterminating them. Their malaise was a lucky turn for Geralt, who had been thrown into the water after his bird crashed down. One [url=https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/w/images/thumb/b/ba/Minneapolis.png/1024px-Minneapolis.png]shipgirl[/url] recognized him and pulled him from the water before offering him a piggyback ride back to Shippy, evidently quite confident in her strength. As her chest heaved Nadia watched Heinrich cruise in, a wide smile on her face despite the bloody wound on her cheek. “Now that’s what I like to see! I knew the Admiral made the right call, I…!” “NOOOOOO!” She was cut off by a shriek of frightful rancor and a burst of water. From below the water burst a pure white globe, a few dozen feet in diameter. A web of black cracks spread across its surface, and it broke open to reveal the [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/kancolle/images/a/a1/Midway_Princess_Full.png]Midway Princess[/url], eyes alight with wrath. Though not as big as the Harbor Demon she would have still towered above the average man at eight or nine feet tall, and she brandished runways like dual claymores. “You killed my sister! I’ll slaughter you!” she screamed. “You may try!” Heinrich wiped blood from her cheek and grinned. She looked at Nadia and the Cadet. “Alright, you’ve done enough, so scram! Leave this one to me...” Her shark opened wide to let loose a mechanical screech, then surged forward to face the Midway Princess head-on. Nadia fled as gunfire and bombers filled the air. [hr] Back on the ship, Bowser and an unfamiliar girl had arrived to take two more spirits off Peach’s hands. She gave them alongside an entreaty to help her push the ship toward the shore, at least until Blazermate finished her repairs. [center][hider=For Bowser]Notable Spirit Consumed: [url=https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/w/images/a/ae/Trento.png][b]Trento[/b][/url] The host has gotten smaller and slimmer by a decent margin, with notably longer legs. His hair has gotten longer and turned into a red-lavender gradient. He’s now wearing a long white coat with a green interior and decorative epaulettes, is bands colored green, red, and gold, and he has both white gloves and tight-fitting black boots. The host’s personality has gotten more peppy and helpful, with a dash of sweetness. This spirit confers the Power [b]Ship Shaped Type H[/b], granting heavy rigging that’s melded with his shell in an odd way. Each organic rigging arm is now a fourth of the shell, and on each is a double-barreled cannon emplacement that resembles the cannons previously on his shoulders, albeit longer and thinner, and with the Tentacruel beaks as cannon tippers rather than the cannons themselves. All four emplacements have mini-turrets on them, which fire conventional if very small shells. If locked together, the four rigging arms lock together in the shape of his shell. This rigging cannot be unequipped, and allows the host to move across the surface of water at low speed. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Soft Machine[/b], making the host actually heavier than before, increasing the effort needed to move and thus overall stamina consumption, especially when trying to go quickly[/hider] [hider=For Rika]Notable Spirit Consumed: [url=https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/w/images/e/e4/Mikuma.png][b]Mikuma[/b][/url] The host’s spiky dark blue hair has gotten longer and more flowing with pronounced streaks of white, with a single bun in the back on top of her hair. Her skin tone is no longer Abyssal pale. From the right side of her forehead extends a conical, flesh-colored horn. Her padded black jacket is now undone, and rests over a white halter top and elegant white sleeves. Her skirt is shorter and the blades are smaller. She also has white stockings and red ship-shaped sandals. One of her gauntlets has become a heavy Brachydios-head rifle with an underslung blade. Her personality has gotten more quiet and obliging. This spirit confers the Power [b]Ship Shaped[/b], giving a set of rigging in the form of two arms that terminate in hull-blades, with a tri-barrel cannon emplacement on each elbow. As long as the rigging is equipped, the host can skate across the surface of water. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Little Sister[/b], making her more susceptible to intimidation and mental attacks.[/hider][/center] With or without their help Peach put all her strength into her mission, and by the time Shippy had been healed enough to go under her own power, the vessel was already clear of the fighting. A few minutes later, Shippy had made it to the blockaded inlet. Compared to what the heroes had just been through, this level of opposition did not impress. It was essentially just a bridge over the river’s mouth with some black iron reinforcement, a few Abyssals in attendance, and some [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/5/59/Sahagin-FFIX.jpg]trident-wielding sahagin[/url] as backup. The armaments aboard both the Atomos and a repaired Shippy were more than enough to blow open a path, and after a quick scuffle Blue Team was headed upriver. With the takedown of the Harbor Demon accomplished, Nadia reached Shippy shortly after the vessel cleared the beach and climbed aboard, more for rest than out of necessity. Her new rigging folded up into a helpfully compact form on both hips, and she flopped down on the ship’s bow. For a while she just lay there on her back, trying to quell the chaos that had taken hold of her as she stared up at a clear blue sky. Around the ship lay pristine beauty, a world of vivid pink plants awash in blue light. It was such a brutal contrast to the nightmare of smoke, teeth, and death that she only just escaped that she just about suffered from whiplash. So fresh were the scars on her mind that she doubted that they would ever leave her, but even if she couldn’t be at peace, she could be still. She could feel the pulse of the forest, and take in its wonderful air. She was still alive. [center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBeN_O1mF0M][img]https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/025/248/759/large/oleg-leshiy-shekhovtsov-ori-lagoonshotsa.jpg?1585161989[/img][/url][/center] [center][h3]Edge of the Blue - Luma Pools[/h3] [@Potemking][/center] Elliot’s sudden outburst grabbed the attention of the orangutan as he sat atop his branch, who peered down at the human with a quizzical look. He glanced between the man surrounded by peels and the half-bunch of bananas still in his grasp, connecting the two at his own pace. The intelligence with which he associated the unhappy man with his food, not to mention the fact that he wore clothes, hinted that the orangutan had more brains than Elliot gave him credit for. After a few moments, the ape began to descend. He moved without urgency, but clambered between branches with ease thanks to his long arms. The trip ended up taking almost awkwardly long, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Once he reached the ground, the thoroughly harmless orangutan hauled himself over to Elliot, split his banana bunch in half, and handed the disgruntled vacationer the fruits he assumed he wanted. For some reason it seemed there existed a kinship between ape and man. With his lips construed in a way that might have been a smile the easygoing orangutan went over to Elliot’s cozy patch of sun and laid down, legs crossed. There was plenty of space for the funny-looking brothers to enjoy themselves together. Luckily, neither the shouting nor the ensuing cultural exchange disturbed the Ukazeer and her buoyant offspring, who remained at ease on the far side of the lake. [center][h3]Snowdin – Survive Bar[/h3] [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center] In one corner of Snowdin lay [url=https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/011/098/612/large/simon-magnan-eastern-night-006.jpg?1527839045]Eastern Motel[/url], its somewhat shabby appearance helped a lot by the snow that so permeated the area. With his corgi under one arm Albedo led the way there, crunching through the darkness one last time for the night. The receptionists behind the counter, a pair of [url=https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/179/Clark_and_Stanley.png]portly monsters[/url] in thick-rimmed glasses, did not bat an eye at the alchemist when he entered but looked up in alarm when the Skullgirl followed him inside. “Whoa, whoa, hey there a minute, Mr. Albedo,” the green one said in a nasally voice. “Who’s this? Friend of yours? I’m getting a bad feeling.” “Yeah!” the other one agreed, nodding emphatically. “A really bad feeling!” Albedo tilted his head. “Oh? What makes you say that, Clark?” Clark twiddled his thumbs. “Uh…well, it’s just a feeling. We’ve been through so many misadventures...” “So, so many…” “We just know when something bad’s about to happen. This awful, sinking feeling.” He shuddered. “Like when you’re on a rollercoaster and about to drop.” “Oh, I hated that coaster…” Albedo shook his head. “Sounds like paranoia. How many bad things have happened to you two since you arrived in this town.” “Uh…” the two creatures said together, looking between one another and scratching their heads in unison. “And besides, this young lady saved my life today. She’s as trustworthy as they come. Just look at that smile.” He glanced toward Linkle, seeking her cooperation, although his face also said [i]sorry about these guys.[/i] After a moment, the receptionists sighed. “Oh...alright,” Clark conceded, bowing his head. “Sorry miss, I guess we’re just a little nervous about anything new. We can put you in the room next door to your friend here.” He slid some keys across the counter, then held his palm up. “That’ll be forty dollars.” “Four tens!” Stanley piped up again. “Count ‘em!” Albedo raised his hand. “Just add it to my total. I’ll get some more food for you tomorrow.” “Ooh, I can’t wait!” Clark practically salivated. “Good night then, you two!” Albedo inclined his head toward Linkle in a polite bow. “Sweet dreams.” He led the way to the rooms, and disappeared inside his own. Linkle had been allotted a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/detroit-become-human/images/7/72/Eastern_Motel_7.jpg]modest accommodation[/url] all her own, fully kitted out with all the modern facilities that someone from a medieval era could ever realize they wanted. [hr] Come morning, a look through the windows of Eastern Motel gave a good view of the light snowfall over Snowdin Town. Grateful that it wasn’t heavy enough to present a major impedance to the day’s activities, whatever they might be, Albedo looked away from the window and down at the corgi sitting beside him. The couch in the motel lobby was both wide and comfortable, and its location by the fireplace made it sought-after by man and dog alike. He scratched behind the dog’s ears and waited. When Linkle arrived, he inclined his head again, just as he did the night before. “Good morning.” He took a sip from the mug of steamy dark liquid held in his right hand. “This is called coffee,” he explained. “Like certain kinds of tea it can make you feel more energized, although even more so than that. Evidently it comes from ground beans rather than leaves. It does taste awful, but cream and sugar can help.” He motioned toward a little station on the receptionists’ counter, where Stanley was brewing himself a fresh cup even as the alchemist spoke. There were little paper packets labeled ‘SUGAR’ in all capitales, and tiny plastic containers with lids that could be peeled off. “I hope you rested well,” Albedo said. [center][h3]Edge of the Blue - Atlantis Temple[/h3] [@Zavazggg][/center] “Welcome!” A voice sounded out as soon as Sephiroth stepped inside the pleasantly cool building. A look to the left revealed none other than a [url=https://64.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_pftxe0u8dN1rrftcdo1_1538244936_cover.jpg]snail with a mustache[/url] on a stool behind the counter. “A new face I see!” he observed. “We’re oh-so-happy to have you visit the beautiful Temple of Atlantis, where our motto is ‘Water you waiting for?’! Hohoho! Here is your complimentary stamp card.” He pushed a sheet of paper over the counter toward Sephiroth. “Allow me to explain. We have a variety of rides and minigames available for your enjoyment. You can fill in your stamp card by trying out each one, and by achieving good times or high scores! Afterward, just visit our Redemption Center over there…” he pointed to an opposite counter, where a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/mario/images/6/60/Female_Bublainian.JPG]lady snail[/url] gave a polite wave. “To receive your rewards. For each row of stamps you earn while here you’ll be eligible for a Gold Prize, and if you fill in your whole Stamp Card our fabulous Platinum Prize will be yours!” He clapped his hands together wistfully, as if the Platinum Prize were his very own coveted dream. His stalk eyes quickly took in Sephiroth’s appearance, including how filthy she was. “Oh, if you forgot your swimsuit, we have a small boutique past the Redemption Center where you can borrow one, but if you earn a Gold Prize you can exchange it to keep the suit. There are showers, too. Anyway, Atlantis Team hopes you will enjoy your time and cherish the memories you make here today!” After that barrage of information, Sephiroth could get a good look at the interior of the place, and there was quite the variety across several floors. There appeared to be pools with diving boards, a lazy river, various slides including some rather extreme ones, a lily pad obstacle course, climbing walls connecting the floors, tiny boats with water guns by a shooting gallery, and much more. The whole place was lavishly decorated to resemble the edifice of some ancient seabed civilization, with glinting tile and myriad shells most everywhere she looked. There were also a number of guests of all shapes and sizes, some of whom were definitely not human, and the swordswoman’s keen eye spotted what appeared to be a security/lifeguard force of [url=https://progameguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/fortnite-outfit-atlantean-fishstick-816x853.jpg]armored fish[/url] here and there, their equipment not immediately apparent.