[center][h3]Big Band[/h3]
Level 2 Big Band (15/20)
[b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon
Fox's [@Dawnrider], Mao's [@Potemking]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1194[/center]

As one might expect, no revelation leaped from the woodwork, but Band played as patiently as he listened. In the shade cast by the awning of the Hound Pits pub the minutes went by to the tune of cozy noontime jazz. Many citizens passed him by, some with a curious glance at the new musician putting a little soul into their lunch breaks. Every now and again someone stopped in front of him to listen, to listen like stethoscopes to a few of the beats from Big Band’s big heart. Fewer still dropped a coin or two in the metal inspector’s hat, but ever so often one fell nonetheless, the first few in silence and those afterward adding a little golden percussion as they clinked off the forerunners. Band cared more for murmurs than money, however, and needed no encouragement to validate the music that flowed through him, so used the clatter of currency in his hat as a way to pass the time.

It was after the eighth coin that something unusual caught his eye. A group of three coming from the south toward the pub. A [url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/99/4f/4a994f47724f2884059ed3ccebd350b2.jpg]young man[/url] with white hair, glasses, and a coat as red as his eyes that he wore off the shoulders led the trio, while a [url=https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/bec39620-41bb-4192-b189-31eed6fde012/dcakv4h-7c0c9581-ccc1-4fd0-b000-ac300ccc5222.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2JlYzM5NjIwLTQxYmItNDE5Mi1iMTg5LTMxZWVkNmZkZTAxMlwvZGNha3Y0aC03YzBjOTU4MS1jY2MxLTRmZDAtYjAwMC1hYzMwMGNjYzUyMjIuanBnIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Fm5l-PHoKIZtqijFwF2ZFdwKkHhCDvzlG9nkYfr--jI]woman[/url] with striking pink hair and a blue overcoat followed behind. Around the two milled a [url=https://www.citypng.com/public/uploads/preview/-21602281366ezdgkinix2.png]little girl in red[/url] with blonde hair and long ears. A strange group with no common denominator save its relative youth, Band observed. They could harbor no conceivable relationship, and even them being friends seemed rather unlikely. Yet the kid displayed no distress, which put a sock in any notion of kidnapping. As the trio passed him by, the little girl turned a face of wonderment his way, but the young man put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Klee,” he told her, purposefully not looking Band’s way. “We’re almost there.” She looked sad but allowed herself to be led off into the Hound Pits. Band knew it served as a restaurant as well as a bar, but two youngsters taking a little kid there further solidified his curiosity. He attuned his instruments to listen in.

After a few moments of recalibration, during which he made some meaningless adjustments to his saxophone for the sake of any onlookers, he started up his lowkey song once again, and started to eavesdrop. “....course stupid bird-legs had to go and kick him. What a mess,” he heard what could only be the pink-haired woman saying. “That’s what I appreciate about you, you know. Not going overboard every chance you get.”

“Whatever,” a male voice replied, belonging to the white-haired guy. “You talk about me behind my back too, whenever it’s you and Cass? And keep your voice down, will you? Don’t need anyone figuring out we know her ‘til things blow over.”

A small voice then piped up, which Band guessed came from the little girl. “Um. Mr Mao, can I have some pizza? Back home Jean would let me have some of her pizza from time to time, and it’s my favoritest thing!”

“That’d take too long.” Mao, as the detective noted his name to be, did not sound quite as harsh as he did when talking to his other companion. “We’re just here so miss bubblegum here can wet her whistle.”

“Hey, can’t a girl be thirsty?” Bubblegum protested. Although probably a nickname it worked well enough in Band’s head to identify her by. “My throat was parched from all the running!”

That seemed to annoy Mao even more. “Maybe it’d be fine if you didn’t yack so much, ever think about that?” He took a deep breath and allowed the edge to leave his voice. “Anyway, we’ll come back and have a pizza later, okay Klee? After you hide your treasure.”

“Okay!” That seemed to convince the small girl. Band played on, ruminating over the information as the trio lapsed into relative silence. His instincts told him something wasn’t right about these three after all. Mao and Bubblegum clearly didn’t get along, and only the former seemed to care much about little Klee, unless Mao was somehow in charge. It reeked of forced cooperation, a happenstance arrangement orchestrated by a third party for some purpose. All of a sudden Band felt rather like seeing what Klee’s treasure might be.

A few minutes later the trio left, and after they disappeared around a corner to the south the detective abruptly rose from his kickstand, surprising the woman who’d stopped to listen to him play. “‘Scuse me, sugar. I’ve got giant steps to take.” He took hold of his hat with a mechanical pincer, emptied its contents into his waiting pouch, and then replaced that hat atop his head. After a tip of its brim he was off.

With a veteran’s grace he tailed the strange trio, putting the absolute maximum distance he could afford between them and him at all times. Given his size and distinctive appearance they would absolutely be alerted if they saw him even once, but they never did. Klee’s frolicking kept the others’ attention from wandering too far. He followed them to and a little ways up Al Mammon’s main street. Just before a small building, little more than a tollhouse, by Band’s standards, they split up. Mao and Klee headed down the alley between the tollhouse and neighboring building, while Bubblegum yawned and leaped against the toll house itself in a way that barely made it look like she was guarding the alley.

Band seated himself in the shade of an open-air cafe for discretion.. “Iced tea,” he told the man behind the counter, who nodded and poured him a glass. For a  handful of minutes he reflexes, alternating between taking sips and peeps, until he spotted the trio leaving. They headed back the way they came. Band kept cool until the three disappeared from his sight, then dropped a gold piece on the counter and got to his feet. He stomped over to where the strange group separated, noting that the toll house appeared to be some type of small commissions office on the way, and went down the alley.

Sure enough, right behind the building he found some loose tiles sprinkled with dirt. He crouched down and removed the tiles, then dug at the disturbed earth with the edge of a french horn until he found a box. A quick dusting revealed letters scribbled across its top in red paint. “My treasure,” Band read aloud, and with delicate pincers he opened it. He let out a long breath that made his pipes sing. “Tsk. This little girl of mine…”

Inside the box was a bundle of bombs. Unfortunately for him, they appeared to be magical, as they sported no technology of any kind but pulsed red every now and then as they stretched and contracted slightly. Although presented with fascinating evidence he kept a lid on speculation for the time being, and considering that these magic bombs appeared to be primed to go off some time in the near future, thought instead about what to do right now.

[center][h3]Al Mamoon - Museum of Vanity[/h3]
[@Zoey Boey] [@Yankee][/center]

Nobody expected combat to begin with the bang it did, courtesy of Jesse. Two of the oni bowled over, as surprised as they were angry, when the woman pulled a couched into them from behind with potent telekinesis. The Thieves watched, impressed, as she then smashed it into the irate ogres’ fronts too, rolling them away with a few brand-new breaks and bruises in the midst of a storm of unintelligible curses. Angriest of all was somehow the untouched Tantroni, but he ran Jesse’s way when he should have been counting his blessings, since she plugged him the next moment with a handful of shots from her Service Weapon. Its bolts blasted black essence from the oni with each hit, dealing significant damage, but if anything the oni got even madder. With a lot more gumption than Jesse gave it credit for, it performed a flying punch to close the distance as she strafed sideways, and struck her arm. It didn’t really hurt, but at its cursed touch Jesse’s temper instantly flared red-hot, but it did not by any means put the two on an equal playing field.

Meanwhile, Primrose called upon her magic with a characteristic dance, strategically waiting just long enough for the bludgeoned oni to get to their feet and run up alongside the Makami and Demon Nut. Then she unleashed her dark magic, blasting all four at once, and the Thieves followed her example. Joker came down with a vertical slash through the Suspicioni’s eyes, Mona dealt a rising slash to the Makami that fluttered its entire paper-like length, and Skull pulled a shotgun from literally nowhere to pump the Demon Nut’s eye full of buckshot. His weapon’s report resounded through the room as the demon swung its muscular arms, landing a glancing blow to Skull’s shoulder. “Ow!”

“Hey, watch the gunfire! We don’t wanna pull reinforcements!” Panther warned him. The Makami lunged for and bit her but dealt only minor damage. After pushing the paper wolf away Panther pulled from her Lamia side to unleash Ominous Words. “[i]Sssuccumb to your dessspair![/i]” she intoned, and a purple wave struck the Makami that stopped it in its tracks. It sagged downward, every ounce of fight gone from its body. Mona wasted no time calling upon Zorro to whip up a concentrated whirlwind, but even after getting torn up by it the Makami didn’t resist as Mona sliced it in half with his scimitar.

As Joker pulled his knife from the disintegrating corpse of the Suspicioni he summoned Arsene to kick its buddy away, but the wily ogre used the weight of its head to dodge out of the way and sock Joker in the guts. “Guh!”

“Nahah! Didn’t like that one, didja?” the Contrarioni taunted.

An impulse rose within Joker’s gorge, as undeniable as vomit, and he couldn’t help but let it out. “I liked it plenty,” he heard himself say. “Arsene!” His Persona went low and punched high in a dizzying uppercut that sent the oni into the air. As it came down Arsene let fly a powerful roundhouse kick that shot the little demon right over Primrose’s head and into the wall behind her where it smacked into one of the Madarame banners and plopped to the ground.

“Nice one, Joker!” Panther called.

Once again he felt himself claim the opposite. “That wasn’t anywhere close to ‘good’,” he told her.

“Uh, okay?” Rather than consider that any further, Panther went to help Skull with the Demon Nut. Though the demon was strong, the boy could take a hit or two, and was using his speed to batter his hard-shelled foe with relentless swings from his pipe. “Dance, Carmen!” At her bidding her own Persona appeared to throw a blazing fireball at the nut and roast it alive. 

While it flailed, Skull took his chance to jump forward and stomp on its shell. He reeled back for a full-power overhead swing. “Batter up! Hyah!” With a mighty [i]crack[/i] his pipe caved in the front part of the shell, and the monster opened wide. Rather than try to finish it off himself he stepped out of the way to let Panther shoot a fireball of her own into its mouth and torch its innard for good. The demon began to dissolve, and the two thieves shared a high five.

Joker and Mona came over, and provided that both Jesse and Primrose finished the oni they’d been dealt, the team reunited after the brief scuffle. “That went pretty well, huh?” Mona grinned.

“Not even a little,” Joker admonished him, before clapping a hand over his own mouth. Now everyone was looking at him, and it made him want to die inside.

“What are you talking about? You’re being really weird all of a sudden. Did one of them brainwash you or something?”

“No, I’m not!” Joker insisted, pointing toward the ashes of the oni Primrose took care of. “That one must have done something to me.”

Mona rolled his giant eyes. “Hold on a minute. Zorro, use Me Patra!”

“I won’t, let’s go.” Joker declared, but he stayed still, red with embarrassment. As the cat’s Persona cured him, he shook his head, grimacing. “Yuck. That’s a nasty curse.”

Skull nudged him in the ribs. “Hey, at least it was just a curse! Some people just contradict everyone naturally. Ain’t that right, Mona?”

“Uh, no? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Now fully recovered, Joker steered the conversation back on track again. Luckily the party-wide Me Patra cured the Tantroni’s curse on Jesse as well, leaving her as temperate as ever, and Joker looked to her for a hand. “These usually just swivel open. Can we have you no-collide them whenever we go through?” he asked, allowing her to lead the way through the vent.

A short time later, the group reached the next room. They found the vent exit right behind a bench that prevented the grate from being opened, but no-collide worked just as well on the furniture as it did the metal cover. The team emerged to come across a large square room with walls dominated by giant paintings of nature. This apparently necessitated extra security, and the entire room was divided into nine equal subsections by rows of lasers higher than anyone could jump, with just about a foot of clearance between each laser as well as the bottom laser and the floor. Four guards patrolled the room clockwise, walking right through the lasers that promised to zap or at the very least detect anyone without the total immunity they seemingly enjoyed. As for hiding places, Joker could only see benches scattered along the edges and plant pots closer to the center, both of which would stretch his team’s hiding ability. He did notice one other detail, however, and in a whispered voice he relayed it to the others.

“We can go inside those paintings,” he told Primrose and Jesse. He pointed to the wall on the right. Each one depicted a scene of a desert, while those on the left showed a forest, and the far wall an ocean. Corner subsections each featured two, one for each wall that met there. “We’ll be able to move through to any of the same theme.” His gaze narrowed at an employee-access door on the far side. “That’s our goal. Problem is, there’s no painting in the far middle. Lasers in the way. And the guards could probably see us jumping in and out of the paintings.” If only, he reflected, he had his grappling hook. Nevertheless a few ideas swirled in his mind, but he wondered if Jesse might be able to come up with anything using the Tool Gun.

[center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3]
[b]Level 4[/b] Nadia (38/40)
[b]Location:[/b] Bottomless Sea
Blazermate's [@Archmage MC], Bowser's [@DracoLunaris], Ace Cadet's [@Yankee], Hat Kid's [@Dawnrider], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey], Frog's [@Dark Cloud], Mirage’s [@Potemking], Mr. L’s [@ModeGone]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2610[/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/nEWHJpi.png[/img][/center]

As the prismatic lightshow faded and the dreary, storm-clouded shadow took back over, a transformed Bella was left to blink a few times and shake off the light dizziness that accompanied the change. She noticed that it took a bit more strength to lift her arm, on account of the large gauntlet that now covered it, so that she could run her fingers through the pale yellow, spiral ringlet that lay on her bare shoulder. A moment later she noticed with a start just how much of her now lay bare and how much she now had [i]to[/i] bare. “Eep!” She squeaked, hurrying to cover her midriff and chest, which her new gauntlets managed handily. 

Nadia couldn’t help but giggle at her bashfulness, although she knew it wasn’t exactly fair of her, being so desensitized to such a state owing to her own manner of garb. She watched Bella redden as Sakura approached, noting the cute dynamic they seemed to have. Still blushing, the Water Princess tried to compose herself and answer the question. “Um...a little, um, exposed. But…” Tentatively Bella took a step forward, and then another. When she set her feet down her knees did not wobble and her legs held firm. Even if she would need a few moments to come to grips with her new sense of balance, she could walk, and the realization brought a joyous smile to her face. “I’m stable! I can move on land! That means...I can be a hero with you guys! Aaaah!” The Abyssal squealed in delight and sized Sakura in a full-bodied hug, squeezing the smaller woman from side to side. Only after a moment did she seem to realize where her auto-pilot had taken her and turn beet red. “Oh! Pardon, pardon!” She released Sakura and scooted back, covering her face in her massive mitts while her leviathan tail scraped back and forth across the deck like a dog’s.

As adorable as the exchange was, Nadia turned her attention away and back to the matter at hand. The last of the Guests disappeared into the nightmare vessel that represented one option, while the hallway behind her led to the other. Although for the moment no consensus had been reached regarding which path to take, everyone seemed in agreement that whichever future lay before them, Shippy was not in it. Nadia added her own agreement to the others’. “Yeah, poor Shippy’s suffered enough. No ifs, ands, or butts a-boat it. I’m sure Briney wants to see her too.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let her know.” Peach confirmed, then headed out across the dock, with her parasol a dainty but appreciated shelter against the rain. She got as close to the spray-spattered edge as she dared before waving to Shippy. “Hey! After talking about our options, we think you deserve a break, and should probably make your way back to Limsa! Please be careful on your way back!”

The figurehead of the living vessel nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. I can’t wait to see the Captain again. Thank you all for protecting me as best you could, and good luck on the road ahead.” She pulled away from the sealab’s landing pad and took off. In only a few moments Shippy was on her way toward clearer skies and safer waters.

Peach jogged back toward the Sealab’s structure. As she approached, the screen blinked on again, showing the gathered heroes the metallic visage of Tyl Regor once more. “Still lurking at my threshold?” the scientist intoned, seemingly incredulous. “And here I thought you would have decided already, to get out of the rain if nothing else. My offer, after all, was more than fair. If I didn’t know better, I might think you were talking behind my back…hm?”

Suddenly he turned away in response to something offscreen, something that made his relaxed manner go rigid. “Wait, it’s coming [i]now[/i]~?” he exclaimed, his voice a little muffled by its direction. “Are you sure!? Then we’ve little choice. Close the bulkheads!”

Just a moment after he gave the command, an alarm went off in the sealab interior, and giant metal plates started to slide together over the elevator shaft. At the same time the front door received an override and began to close as well, alongside reinforced plates. Regor turned to face the Blue Team members once again. “Sorry ladies and gentlemen, today just got a little too interesting for my blood. Now everyone, out of the pool! Unless you fancy being trapped!”

Being in the doorway already, Nadia dodged out of the way of the closing doors and back into the rain with a yowl. Peach hurried out of danger as well, calling, “We can’t all make it inside! Come on!” Spurred on by the knowledge that something was coming, unknown but terrifying enough to put the Sealab into a state of emergency, everyone gathered together in the center of the circular dock with eyes in every direction. After a couple seconds Nadia spotted something that left her with little doubt: a number of enormous red lights that gleamed through the low clouds and rain, growing more intense as their owner got closer and closer. Closer inspection of their movement, however, suggested that they must not actually be that close--instead, the source must be much, much bigger than it appeared at first. A horrible, bone-rattling groaning noise, like the shifting of titanic machinery, swept across the Sealab, and Nadia’s ears flattened against her head in fear.

In the end, she never saw exactly what it was. Nadia only ever caught a glimpse of a [url=https://cdn.supersoluce.com/file/docs/docid_558152fb8f152ff66f000002/elemid_4ee9fac00a2fe93e0e000014/thumb_1490198000-1.jpg]mountain of dark metal[/url] that made the Sealab’s upper portion look like a toy in comparison, followed by a wave of golden energy that surged outward from the colossus’ body. She was powerless to stop it, but when it struck her it left her surprised, for it exhibited no effect on her body. The same could not be said for the Sealab. At the wave’s touch its lights, systems, and even beacon blinked out. So did all of Blue Team’s electronics, everything with circuitry, including the Atomos and Blazermate herself. The whole area was plunged into darkness, except for a singular source of light: the open mouth of the Maw. Somehow, the accursed vessel was immune to whatever it was that so effectively knocked out all sophisticated technology. Peach screamed at the top of her lungs to be heard over the steely bellow that shook her crew to the core. “The Maw! We gotta take shelter, get to the Maw!”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Nadia ran like her heels had wings, kicking up water with every stride even as her feet scarcely touched the ground. She hurtled up the Maw’s gangplank a moment before it began to retract, forcing the whole party to double-time it to get inside. Bella put her newly strengthened legs to work by sprinting up the ramp, and by the time Peach got there she needed to jump to get onto it as it pulled higher. Only grabbing Blazermate and saving the Atomos (via Kamek’s shrinkage and Bowser’s strength) gave anyone pause as they ran for their lives. Once up the gangplank there lay a short metal catwalk with railings that led straight ahead, and one by one the heroes barreled down its length and threw themselves through the light at the end.

“Oof!” Nadia landed on a slippery wooden floor streaked with rainwater. For once she hadn’t managed to land on her feet, having not known what to expect of the Maw’s interior. The spotlight that faced out through the doors had just about blinded her on the way in, and now that she was past it it cast the rest of the room in darkness. As best she could tell she now sat in some sort of parlor. Portraits lined the walls overlooking plush red sofas of an antiquated style, interspersed with little wooden tables bearing vases, flowerpots, and stoppered jugs. Square lanterns that gave off only a soft yellow glow hung over a long, floral patterned rug that led from one door to the other at the parlor’s far end, beneath a balcony on the floor above. It was a paper screen door oddly enough, the kind that slid open. She found neither hide nor hair of any Guests, but presumed they went through that door. Overall it seemed nice, at least for now, as the Maw’s hideous reputation lay at the very forefront of her mind.

As the last of Blue Team hastened aboard the Maw’s giant mouth slammed shut and the spotlight turned off, leaving nothing but darkness behind them. Nadia got to her feet, hackles raised and wary. The whole vessel began to move, both down and away from the Sealab and the unknown titan alike. She tensed up as the lights flickered, only to inwardly chide herself at being so fidgety. [i]There’s enough to be scared of without jumping at shadows.[/i] she thought as her eyes wandered toward the second floor balcony. Then she froze as she realized there was a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/littlenightmares/images/2/2d/The-Lady-3.png]person[/url] there who had not been there before.

Bella gasped as she noticed too, which was enough for everyone to take note. From the balcony a slender woman in a dark brown kimono stood stock-still, her done-up black hair atop a white porcelain mask. Creepy, Nadia observed, and not a good sign of things to come. Though Peach instinctively reached for her boomshot, she composed herself to call up to the unknown figure. “Who are you? Are you the master of the Maw?”

For a moment it looked like her words brooked no reaction. Then, with a dignified slowness, the woman nodded her head once.

Peach swallowed. So this was the person in charge of the ominous vessel that demanded human tithes. This woman certainly gave off an unnatural air already. She wondered if the others would just start attacking, and though she felt the same urge herself she held out a hand to tell them to hold their fire. If this person meant them no harm, and could get them across the Bottomless Sea, it was worth thinking twice about trying to kill her. And didn’t her team just learn not to pick fights in this dangerous place? No matter if the nightmare in question was big or small. They had to see the pragmatism in it, at least for now; justice could wait until later. Peach found her voice. “Pardon our intrusion. We seek passage to the eye of the storm,” she said, only just now wondering for the first time if whatever that titanic thing outside was had actually been the region boss. If the guardian was just the biggest thing around, she had a hard time imagining that it was anything else, but she hoped not nonetheless. “Is...is that alright? We won’t be a bother,” she said weakly, speaking on behalf of the group’s more volatile members.

The Lady remained silent. Nadia thought her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, but a moment later the woman raised her sleeves. Spindly fingers extended from within, and the feral heard the soft clap of hands.

Below her, the paper door slid open wide. Whatever Nadia might have expected, it wasn’t this. Two demonic creatures with the lower halves of snakes slithered through into the main room. The [url=https://abload.de/img/2018022308030505-e27ellruy.jpg]monsters[/url] fanned out to either side of the door at a peaceful pace, their hands clasped together innocently, and in the lamplight the heroes got a better look at them. They sported crocodilian flesh, necklaces of threaded skulls, and elaborate hoods. Within the darkness of the hoods were concentric red diamonds in perpetual motion, shrinking toward a single central point. Only after a moment did Nadia realize that she couldn't avert her gaze from the mesmerizing display within one demon’s hood. Panic welled within her as she tried to move, only to find her muscles sluggish and unresponsive. Her sudden energy ebbed away; she felt sleepy, and the others faded from her view. “We’re getting…” she garbled in a daze. “Hypno...tized…” Any moment she felt as if she’d hit the deck, down for the count. But that thought filled her with rage. After all she’d been through, how the hell could she go out like this? With all her strength she dug her teeth into her lip, trying to keep herself awake with the pain.

For a moment she was fighting it, pulling herself back from the brink. Her fingers balled into fists, and she took a step forward. Then the hypnotic diamonds were replaced by beams of scarlet power, blasting each and every member of Blue Team. A strange feeling overtook her, like being immersed in an unknown liquid, and all the fight left her body. The floor fell away beneath her and she began to fall Nadia’s senses were overloaded. She could make sense of nothing. Everything faded to black.

[hr]

How much time went by she couldn’t tell. In the darkness she didn’t move, or think, or dream. She only awoke to the some clatter nearby with a flinch, and groaned as she nestled deeper into her pillow. “Agh, ten more minutes, c’mon…” She settled in with a sigh, ready to nod off again. Then her eyes snapped open.

“Whah!?” she sat bolt upright, rubbing her eyes. As the bleariness cleared, she found herself smack dab in the middle of a big bed in a huge, dome-shaped room. Beyond where she sat she saw books, tables, chairs, pillows, shoes, and other personal objects and furniture of every stripe, heaped around the strange chamber like a giant junkyard of household items, with no visible floor. How far down it went she couldn’t fathom. How she got here she could only begin to recall. “I was...falling? ...Dang, good thing I landed here.” She rubbed her head and scowled as she remembered the demons. “Yowch. These people ain’t kitten around. At least I’m still alive.”

When she checked to make sure, however, she quickly found that something was wrong. Her outfit was different. Her arms, her legs, her everything--it was all short. The cuts in her arms were gone. “What the!?” She leaped to her feet but didn’t rise much. In a state of shocked disbelief she looked herself over, arriving at an indisputable conclusion. “I’m a goddamn kid!” she yowled at an embarrassingly high pitch. “I’m a tot! I’m tiny!” She wore a ratty pint-size t-shirt and shorts, just the sort of refuse that a homeless alleycat couldn’t say ‘no’ to. Nadia held both hands to her head, distraught. “Is this pun-ishment for all my childish jokes!? What the hell!”

“Ms Fortune? Is that you?”

Nadia whipped her head in the direction of the noise. She spotted another child stuck beneath a few cushions, a tiny girl with orange eyes, white skin, white hair, and an equally snow-white dress. A metal creature little bigger than an actual snake reached out from her back, trying to pull her free. “Oh, gosh. You too, Bella? At least it ain’t just me. Hold on!” Pushing aside her predicament, Nadia scampered over to help. She started pushing and pulling on the cushions and quickly found that she had only a four-year-old’s strength. “Crap! I’m crazy weak, dang it. Hang on a moment.”

Bella tried to smile. “Don’t worry. It’s pretty comfortable here actually, so it’s okay if you take a moment.” She extended her own stubby arm to be pulled by, looking mighty perplexed. “What happened to you? You look so...little.”

“Something turned us into kids!” Nadia growled as she took hold of the hand and pulled, her toeclaws ripping into the blanket. “Hey, can you wiggle around or something?”

“I’m trying!”

[center][i]All Blue Team characters have had all of their fusion and level upgrades rewound,
and they have been physically rewound to the exact way they were at age 4[/i][/center]