[Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ylZldYI.png[/img]
[color=DEBA42]LOCATION:[/color]The Maw - The Belly
[color=DEBA42]WORD COUNT:[/color] 1,283(+3 EXP)
[color=DEBA42]MENTIONS:[/color] Geralt, but speaks to the group as a whole.
[/Center]

[hr]

Having caught up along with Bella to regroup with everyone, Mirage wasn't entirely surprised the entire group has been de-aged, but it was strange to see regardless. He noted that there were now [i]two[/i] little turtles, the only other one he could think of being Bowser, though he looked much less wriggly and slender now. Nadia was helpful in identifying folks, Sakura in particular, who seemed to not have cat ears and such as a natural part of herself like Nadia did since they were missing. Must've been the effect of a Spirit or something. Regardless, he was happy to know everyone was here and safe, if not a bit scared and/or agitated. 

Geralt being one of the group who he exchanged names with, he was surprised with the guy's appearance. But he figured it wouldn't make sense if he was, say, ten feet tall as a kid. [color=DEBA42]"Fudged is right, those creepy snake things turned us into tots [i]and[/i] took all our stuff? They're gonna pay by the time I'm done here!"[/color] He spoke with a bit of annoyance, while trying to show a little confidence that he would, indeed, escape this situation and make them pay. But rather than boast further, he listened to Peach for a moment, and her exchange with Nadia. And how there was a lot of bad news flowing around...

[color=DEBA42]"Well, I might be missing out on my abilities, but I found this!"[/color] He offered as a moment of positivity among the bad news being shared, presenting the Dart Gun. Pointing it at a nearby surface and firing, Mirage found the weird projectile sticking again. He walked up to it and tried to get it to fall under his weight, to the point of standing on top of it and jumping a few times, only to see it not budge whatsoever. [color=DEBA42]"These things stick to walls real good! I bet I could climb wherever I want with them."[/color] He jumped off, turning to fire more out of curiosity, since it seemed to not exactly have ammunition. A second one stuck, then a third, then as a fourth shot out, Mirage was taken by surprise as the first projectile poofed away like it never existed, in a little white smoke cloud. 

[color=DEBA42]"Nuts, I can only make three of them. But that's better than nothing!"[/color] Positives! Had to stick to them positives. The idea of monsters being above and below was concerning. It's like they had to keep safe in a middle ground or they'd get snatched. But that raised the question on if there were things to hunt them in this middle ground as well. Mirage felt a little more confident with the Dart Gun in hand, and at Peach's suggestion to make their ways through the pile to reach a vent that she found, he felt ready.

Twirling the gun in his hand, he continued: [color=DEBA42]"If we can all get below the vent, I bet this gun could help get us up there. But we should see if we can find anything that'd make traveling in a group easier. Maybe a rope that I can take up there and tie for everyone to climb, or something?"[/color] Shrugging as it was the best idea he had, Mirage chuckled a little. [color=DEBA42]"I'll climb around and see what I can find, though. Scout from higher ground while I move. I'll try to stick close to you guys too, just a bit higher up. So if you need one of these platforms, lemme know and I'll blast one down for ya."[/color] 

With that, Mirage took Peach's suggestion to get going more seriously and began putting the Dart Gun to use to climb up the steep hills of household junk. His platform projectiles leading him up to a small 'cliff' of sorts which seemed to just be a small table buried by the countless items spread around, but it was more than enough of a path through somewhat higher layers of junk for him to wade through. Holstering his dart gun once again through the power of pants-tucking, his eyes scanned the junk as he slowly stepped through, trying to be a bit cautious in case anything decided to start falling. His thoughts trailed to the fact that Link had picked up a weapon of sorts already, and while this new gun was nice, the projectiles weren't very fast. He wasn't sure if the velocity of them would even be enough to cause much more harm than an irritable bonk, so he decided to start piecing together a new piece of gear.

Scavenging up some supplies, Mirage found a few particular things that helped in his efforts: Some furniture, a display case or something he figured, must've shattered a long time ago. Mirage picked up a few glass shards as the rest lightly crunched beneath his feet, continuing his search for supplies and finding some simple cloth shirts and an elastic exercise band. Taking one of the shirts and the band, he stopped momentarily to take a seat by some shoes, putting his materials down in front of him which nearly got lost in the immense clutter as he tried to work. Removing some of the shoe laces, he thought he had pretty much everything he needed to start on a small project.

Using the glass, Mirage cut through the exercise band after a few minutes of effort, providing himself with two cords that both had handles, which seemed convenient enough for what he wanted to do with them. After that he cut the cloth shirt, making a medium-sized, somewhat rectangular piece of cloth which he then tied both sides to the ends of the cords using the shoe strings, a small satisfied laugh leaving the boy as he looked at his crude weapon. Standing, he put a few glass shards into the cloth 'pouch' of sorts, his fingers looping through the handles of his new weapon as he brought his arm back and then swung it forward, yelping as he arced the weapon incorrectly and sent the glass scattering into the area directly in front of him.

[color=DEBA42]"Not exactly a gun, but it'll do once I get the hang of it..."[/color] He said to himself aloud, thinking about putting more practice in as he picked up a few little items here and there to put in his pockets as ammunition, occasionally sending an item out into the distance with his sling as he slowly got the hang of how to angle it without it hitting the ground. Every toss helped him learn how far he could through, and what amount of strength led to what distance and destination. He took mental notes of this, trying to prepare himself for combat in case the others didn't end up making gear of their own, or pick up something to use for self-preservation. He made sure to pick up a few easily breakable things; Tiny perfume bottles, things of that sort, that he could potentially sling a decent distance to make a noise for a distraction too. He wasn't too confident in starting fights as a four-year-old, so sneaking was fine with him where he could manage it.

Folks down below might've been able to see the occasional small object fling from the area Mirage climbed up. Or even catch a glimpse of him using his newly created tool. Just in case the sling fell apart, some of what he stuffed in his pockets were replacement strings and a glass shard for cutting. Though he was pretty proud of his knots, so he doubted it'd fall apart [i]too[/i] quickly. 

He continued to travel in a somewhat casual manner, but watched his step and kept an ear out for anything abnormal.