[center][h3]Blue Team[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] The Maw - Main Kitchen
Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey],  Link’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Mirage’s [@Potemking][/center]

Without the time to quibble about acting skills or babble apologies, Rika and Sakura did their best they could to play their part in the Seaplane Tender’s scheme. They were by no means perfect, or even particularly talented in the art of deception, but the girls had an ace up their sleeve. Over the span of a few moments, what began as obvious and totally unconvincing fraudulence quickly turned to real sadness and anguish, spurred on by the physical and psychological pain of the journey thus far. Everyone bottled up their suffering for the sake of getting through this, but now they could get through this by letting loose. As such, the sobs that wracked their bodies were genuine, and even cathartic. A good cry could do a world of good.

It wasn’t long before the commotion reached the point where Larry, intent on cleaning and gutting his fish, couldn’t ignore it any longer. Grumbling, he wedged his knife in the bloody surface of his wooden cutting board and waddled over. “Shut up, shut up! What is it with you? I’m only gonna make you food!” he chuckled, positioning his enormous frame in front of the cookfire. Barely batting an eye, he slapped Sakura and Rika with the back of his hand, one after another. When he got to Bella, however, he did a double take at the way her head limply lolled around. It was then that the little girls’ words really sank in with him, and Larry Chiang cracked a broad smile that showed off his missing teeth. “Ooh, hehe. Clocked out a little early, eh? Well, I’m not gonna waste fresh meat!” A wiser man might have checked her pulse, but this brute cared only for his butchery. After poking her a couple times in her slightly protruding belly and receiving no reaction, Larry nodded, reached up, and unhooked her. With a leering expression he held her by her bonds, swinging her back and forth as he plodded back to his table, and carelessly he laid her out among the piles of fish gunk. The impact must have hurt, but still the little Abyssal maintained her composure, giving no outward signs of life. She even stayed still as Larry sharpened his knife’s edge on a honing rod, filling the upper floor with the disagreeable sound of sliding steel. Such was Larry’s fixation that he took no note whatsoever of Mirage, Geralt, and Link, all having hidden themselves close by and readied themselves for a surprise attack.

Just a few moments later, the first potential chance came. From downstairs issued the terrible ruckus of metal tureens crashing against the floor, mingled with the blurted scream of the stretch-faced chef and followed by Antoine’s vitriolic outburst. Standing over Bella and poised to start carving, Larry glanced with a sadistic curiosity toward the railing, but only for a moment. Chances were it was just another kitchen disaster on the part of that blowhard Antoine and the walking sacks of suet he tolerated as underlings. Making fun of them could wait; for now, Larry had something much more enjoyable to attend to. With a grin he aligned his cleaver over Bella’s neck, then drew the instrument back to make the first chop. [i]Now or never.[/i] Bella’s eyes flashed open, and for a brief moment the butcher paused, taken by surprise.

Then the door exploded. A sudden, deafening blast of white flour and roiling orange flame blew through the remnants that Bowser, Junior, and Blazermate had battered and pounded against the cupboard that barricaded it. The top-heavy object obligingly fell over to hit the ground with an immensely loud slam, creating for a two-for-one cacophony of chaos. Larry couldn’t help but look, and in that moment of distraction Bella struck. The little Seaplane Tender rolled over as fast as she could, allowing her leviathan tail to lunge at Larry like a killer crocodile at a watering hole. Its jaws clamped shut around Larry’s neck, provoking a strangled cry of alarm and pain, but those uncannily human teeth couldn’t seal the deal.

Larry struggled for his life, hacking the tail again and again with his cleaver while his other hand sought to pry the Abyssal maw from his bloodied throat. Bella’s eyes widened, sure that she’d be able to kill him immediately. In her dismay Larry might have even dislodged her, swatted her tail away, and finished what he started if not for Mirage, Link, Geralt, and Mimi. Since Bella went for the head, the others converged on his ankles. Larry wore simple white rubber boots over his green pants, and though they prevented the little legend inflicting a bite of his own, it was a different story for Geralt’s nail. With a Witcher’s deftness he pierced straight through the rubber and into the crucial tendons. At the same time Link drove Larry’s own stolen knife into the butcher’s other ankle, sawing viciously through. The well-targeted critical damage proved to be more than Larry could bear, and he fell over backwards, gurgling blood. His weight dragged Bella off the table after him, revealing to the boys that the somewhat bigger Abyssal was still very much alive.

As the butcher thrashed and the boys moved to help, Bella gathered her strength for a final effort. Filled with anger at the bloodthirsty lunatic for daring to hurt her, and even worse, daring to hurt [i]Sakura[/i], she issued the command without restraint or remorse. The maw of her tail loosened its vice grip for a brief moment, but only so that it could fire its miniature railgun shot straight into Larry’s blood-soaked chins and through his throat.

Yet the man did not die. A superhuman psychopath capable of surviving even shotgun blasts and chainsaw slashes, he endured the magnetically-propelled payload, but lay powerless to do anything but weakly flail his arms as the boys closed in. The smell of blood was in the air.

Something about that smell awakened something in Mirage, and especially Bella. All of a sudden, Mirage’s early plan of biting into Larry seemed much more appealing, and though he might resist, the rage and hunger of the Water Princess felt compelled to chow down once more. As Link and Geralt went to deliver the finishing blow she allowed her leviathan tail to lash out once more, digging into the meat of Larry’s chest, and as she did the lights in the kitchen flickered dangerously.

[center][h3]Wildwood Glades[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Frozen Highlands - Alpine Skyline
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center]

Though she wore a gentle expression, the unknown woman took in every detail about the two blondes in front of her, including every facet of how Linkle acted and reacted. She could discern the conflict and even the shame that festered within the young archer, and treated the Skullgirl’s retelling of past events with utmost seriousness, no matter how audacious her claims. Bending no truths and omitting no details, Linkle dispensed the dark secrets of her current state, giving the stranger everything she needed to know in more ways than one. Albedo found himself ever-so-slightly envious of his new friend’s genuine, forthcoming manner. If he were in a similar situation, he imagined that he wouldn’t be able to prevent himself steering the narrative in a way that this potential Witch of the Woods might want to hear. He’d done it already in fact, feeding her no real falsehoods but totally hiding his and Linkle’s true intentions in coming here. Marvelled as ever, the alchemist kept quiet while the Skullgirl laid everything bare.

At the end of Linkle’s account, the woman gave her a warm, sympathetic smile. It was an almost motherly expression, the caring look a woman might give her son after he trudged in from playtime outside, having scraped his knee on the road or tripped over a root. Just that one expression held a certain kind of power, not the strength that helped one to push others down, but the gentle and loving sort that allowed one to pick them up. “I’m glad you were honest, hiding none of the things you might have thought would scare me off,” she told Linkle. “I have no need for your crossbow, nor your…’gun’. Your sincerity is enough for me.” For a moment she looked at Albedo, her expression more curious than warm. “Isn’t it a wonderful thing?”

The rhetorical question put Albedo on guard, making him wonder if this woman knew he was keeping information from her, but she turned away a moment later to focus on Linkle. She approached slowly, one step at a time. “After hearing your story, and seeing its truth in your eyes, I don’t believe I have anything to fear from you. All manner of mud may cling to us as we travel, but the person beneath is the same. And beneath the stain of death I see a wonderful little soul, more brilliant than even the wildflowers.” When she reached Linkle she drew the rabbit-eared girl into a heartfelt embrace. Her warmth chased away Linkle’s cold, and her compassion filled the Skullgirl’s emptiness. A moment passed of beautiful serenity; how long it lasted, neither they nor Albedo could really say. When it came to a close, the woman backed away, her hands on Linkle’s shoulders. “As for this Witch of the Woods, I know just where she may be found. If you want to see her, let’s take a leisurely stroll to her house together. What do you say?”

To that, the alchemist figured, there could be only one answer.

A few moments later, the three were on their way, headed away from the autumn-red lake toward the deeper part of the glade’s forest. The creatures of the forest seemed to come alive at the woman’s passing, appearing at the edge of the wildflower path to watch her as she led her guests along. She did not regard this as anything unusual, but engaged Albedo and Linkle (mostly Linkle) in conversation. “I’d love to hear more about you from before your troubles in the place you called the Dead Zone,” she said. “About your world, I mean. What made you into the fine young lady you are today, able to stay so true to yourself even through the machinations of a heart-eating parasite.” Albedo wondered what her intentions were, but he’d be lying if he told himself he didn’t want to hear more about Linkle, too.