[center][h3]Tora and Poppi[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky - Rusty Desert
Level 9 Tora (96/90) Level 9 Poppi (96/90) Level 5 Big Band (35/50)
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Fox’s [@Dawnrider], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Primrose’s [@Yankee], Yoshitsune and Sora’’s [@Rockin Strings], Mao’s [@Potemking], Raz’s [@TruthHurts22], Ellie’s [@Thatguyinastore]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2588 (+3 EXP)[/center]

Sure enough, there were no shortage of people wanting to help Tora get tougher, and they had no shortage for doing some. Some saw it as a chance to improve themselves, or just to warm up for the cold confrontation in store for them on the mountaintop. A few probably realized that a more formidable frontliner meant better chances for the damage-dealers to do their thing, so his proposal offered strategic value, too. No doubt at least one wanted to help out of the kindness of his or her heart; conversely, Poppi wondered if any of them opted in just to wipe that smug smile of Tora’s face. Even among heroes, someone who could be as annoying and selfish as her Masterpon tended to draw ire. If any such people worked out their frustration here and now rather than down the road, though, all the better. In short, it was hard to ignore how many positives Tora offering himself to get beat up really had. Whether he realized them all, of course, was another matter.

First up to bat was Raz, the newbie. With the young psychic even less intimidating at first glance than he was, Tora was all smiles and full confidence. “Okay, meh! This chance for Tora and new friend get know each other better!” When it came to actually putting Raz’s talents into practice, however, he ran into a snag. As it turned out, the wannabe psychonaut needed to actually get angry at Tora to be able to attack with his mind, and with Raz in good spirits and too new for Tora to have gotten on his nerves, aggression took a while to build. When he finally did launch his Psi-Blast, Tora unceremoniously hid behind his shield and blocked the bolts without even a slight issue. It took a moment for the Nopon to poke his head out from behind it. “What happen? Tora thought friend said he ready, meh. Start anytime~!” By pretending to not even notice the attacks again and again, Tora managed to build up enmity faster, until Raz was battering his shield at a pretty decent clip. He never did manage to break the Nopon’s guard, or move fast enough that Tora couldn’t block him, but in the end the team’s tank gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder anyway. “Good work, friend! Thanks to Raz-Raz, Tora think of new ways to provoke enemies and get attention, like true defender should!”

Midna came next, and unlike with the psychic, a challenge from her was no laughing matter. Knowing that trying to remember everything she could do would keep her waiting, the Nopon decided to just roll with it. “Alright, Tora ready. Bring it on!” Without delay Midna obliged, growing her shadow hand and slugging him with blistering speed. Luckily she didn’t try to get around his guard, but even though her strike dealt him no damage he ended up staggering backward, practically flailing for a few steps until he regained his balance. “Urk!” he complained. “That just what Tora mean. Always get moved around even if block work fine, then get hit by next attack.”

By virtue of being a spectator, Poppi offered a suggestion. “Masterpon, it look like your stance is unstable. Try turning body sideways a little. Bend front knee more than back, and hold shield on one side rather than straight in front.

Tora implemented her suggestion. “Like this?” After receiving confirmation, he asked Midna to hit him again. To his delight, instead of getting guard-broken he only slid back a short way. “Wow-wow! To think that small change have such big difference!”

She gave him a mask along with a request of her own, then left while he studied it. By the time she came back she radiated an intense energy that left Tora a little nervous. “Muhhh...friend Midna remember that goal of training not kill Tora, yes…?” He cleared his throat after receiving a reassuring nod from Poppi that told him she’d help to mitigate the blow, just as she would with a tough foe in a real fight. “O-okay, ready whenever…”

Unfortunately, he was not ready for such an incredibly amped-up uppercut. Midna’s punch blasted through the ether barrier Poppi channeled to protect her Masterpon, then struck his shield with such insane force that Tora launched skyward like a cannonball, wailing as he flew. Poppi rolled her eyes, switched to QT Pi mode, and rocketed off after him. In a lucky turn her barrier plus his defense and weight had actually mitigated the blow to a pretty remarkable extent, so it wasn’t that long at all before the adult-form Poppi flew back down with Tora held in her arms. “...moment there, really did think that Tora got punched into sun,” he was saying, breathing heavily. “Also, lost shield. Wing too numb to hold, fell right out of fingers. Good thing Poppi can make new one.”

“Mm-hm.” Poppi allowed him to hop out of her arms, then shifted to QT mode to outfit her Masterpon with the Eryx Mech Arms. “It go without saying that even great tank should not try block everything. Poppi Alpha make Tora defense tank, but QT make Tora evasion tank. Masterpon, exercise judgement in what to block and what to dodge.”

“Make sense.” Tora nodded, then held a little hand to his chin in thought. “You know, Tora wonder if there way to get rid of buffs on targets. It only matter of time before we face enemies that do same thing as Midna. Let’s keep eye out, meh.” With that thought pinned for later he hefted Eryx, ready for more. “Okay!”

He, Midna, her minions, and Yoshitsune sparred for a few more minutes, doing his best to withstand an onslaught from multiple foes. With more agile weapons he could evade a lot better, allowing some strikes to go past him rather than hit him, but two fists versus one shield meant he could also block in multiple directions. At several points he instinctively tried to counter-attack, only to remember that he should only be defending. Having to think more exercised his brain as much as his body, and by the time he was done the Nopon was panting from exertion. “Mehhh!” he gasped. “Poppi, need water!”

“Roger, roger.” With her Water Core already equipped, Poppi hosed him down with missiles of water, allowing him to drink his fill in the process.

Next up came Sectonia, and Tora saw no reason to refuse her help. She started things off right with a big serving of unblockable lighting, the bulk of which flowed straight through his armaments and into his body. “MEH-EH-EH-EH-EH!” he garbled, electrified and tingling all over. “Not fair! There nothing Tora can do about that!” His eyes widened. “Meh-meh! Actually, there is! Poppi, switch Earth Core!” Once she did, the elemental advantage increased his electric resistance enough to make the lightning much less punishing, to the point where Sectonia moved on. While her bolts were not projectiles that her mask affected, her Void Globules were, and to Tora’s extreme displeasure he found that they penetrated his defenses too. “Meeeeeeeh!” he wailed. “Sectonia big cheatypon!” After finding that out, he prioritized dodging instead. Although he did consider swapping Poppi to her Light Core, he’d already learned the lesson that Dark and Light were mutually destructive, so it wouldn’t benefit him on the defense. At least her light rings could be blocked normally, and all he needed to do to dodge them was either jump or duck as required.

Once the magic show concluded, Fox joined in. His shots did not faze Tora, no matter which he used, but when Fox rushed in Tora found himself in for a nasty surprise. Rather than strike, the pilot reached out and grabbed him, deftly maneuvering Tora off his feet and into the air in one fluid throw. “Meh?!” Confused and disoriented, he was under attack again even before he hit the ground. Amidst a rain of blows he scrambled to get his defense up, but with the paranoia that Fox’s grab inspired in him his guard was in shambles. It wasn’t too long before what probably constituted Tora’s hardest training session yet came to an end, leaving the Nopon to heal up while he panted. “Meh, meh, meh,” he wheezed. “Tora not really run into grab-happy enemies before. Have much to think about, meh…”

No stranger to grabs, Band offered his two cents. “Ah, the classic dilemma. Anyone with decent offense and half a brain knows how to pull a strike-throw mixup game. Thing is, it’s a mind game. The goal is to condition ya into blockin’, then grab that block and box your ears some. And if ya get too jumpy throwin’ out attacks to foil their grabs, they’ll smack ya upside the head with from another angle, a long-range attack, or even armor.”

Tora looked aghast. “That sound awful! Blocking is cornerstone of Tora fighting! What Tora supposed to do?!”

“Simple. Get in their heads ‘fore they get in yours,” the detective told him, tapping his noggin with a mechanical arm. “If ya show ‘em they ain’t gonna get away with bein’ clever, they’ll have to put a li’l more respect on your name. Or, you could make ‘em think they’ve got your head spinnin’, then punish their carelessness so hard they start thinkin’ twice!”

“So Masterpon win by making enemy think he stupid?” Poppi mused. “That should be easy. Masterpon is natural!”

“Hey!”

After that, lesser-known members of the crew tried their luck. Braum cheerfully pitted shield against shield, slamming down on the sturdy little Nopon’s defense with his own mighty slab. Rather than take it until the jarring impacts deadened his limbs, Tora worked on his evasion, figuring out better ways to move. The Phantom Thieves lined up against him four at a time, forcing him to think and react faster than the Nopon had in his whole life. Against the battery of weapons and elemental attacks, he could only hold his defense, Poppiswap cores, and pray. They made for such an effective team that Tora resolved to never, ever try fighting them again. He fared pretty well against Blue Poison’s crossbow bolts and the Scout’s kit of weapons, although their agility kept them on his toes. The Heavy opted for a boxing match against Tora with Mech Arms, giving the Nopon a lesson on proper form when it came to pugilism.

Even Ciella stepped in to help, treating Tora to hard-hitting water skewers and even a deadly Rain of Arrows. With his defenses turned upward and Poppi to help, however, Tora withstood the move that ended Amara’s life intact. His experience with Midna and Heavy then allowed him to better deal with Ciella’s summoned water arms. By the time he finished with Ciella, though, he had no gas left in the tank, so Tora called it quits to settle down and relax for the rest of the ride. Mao, Jesse, Sora, and the rest could take their shots later. Even though his training killed a lot of time, there was a lot of desert to go. Bit by bit, mile by mile, the riders began to get a better idea of just how immense their destination was--and how much farther they truly had to go.

[hr]

In the early afternoon, with the sun practically overhead, the train finally came to a stop at the base of Split Mountain, where the red sands really started to slope upwards to form the foothills of the colossal eminence that overlooked the Sandswept Sky in its entirety. From here, it was less a mountain and more of a wall, spanning as far as anyone could see in either direction. One could only see its cleft peak by craning their neck because the mountain wasn’t at all as vertical as it looked from afar. To say that the last leg of their journey would be more arduous than all the rest combined did not seem at all an unfair assessment. Tora shuddered; if he’d felt small after first setting foot in this desert, standing before this mountain among mountains made him feel like an insect, just waiting to be crushed beneath the unfathomable weight of the apex of the world.

At the very least, one final light of warmth and hope awaited the Seekers before they began their climb. The Railway Gun came to a stop at an open-air station just outside a cheerful little town, the walls of every building painted and decorated with vivid, festive colors. Bright green cactuses grew tall from intricately patterned pots, rows of flower pots covered the balconies and window sills, and the big fountain in the place’s center burbled invitingly. The residents, poncho-wearing and maraca-shaking skeletons with painted skulls of [url=https://i.imgur.com/bXX8Unn.png]blue[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/5aXGLXr.png]green[/url], were just about the friendliest undead that Big Band had ever seen. They welcomed the big batch of new arrivals to their Tostarena Town with open arms, offering drinks as if their visitors were checking into a resort. After Band realized just how many tourists seemed to be in town, though, it made a lot more sense. There were non-Tostarenans everywhere, although for the moment most were more interested in the gigantic Railway Gun that just appeared on their doorstep than enjoying the town’s many recreational and cultural attractions, not that Band could blame them. It wasn’t something one saw every day, after all.

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

“Mountain climbing, huh?” the Tostarenan in charge confirmed once informed of the newcomers’ intentions. “Bit late for an early start to beat the heat, but you’ll cool off real quick once you hit the snowline! It’s a popular pastime, but most visitors don’t go much higher than that. Looks like you folks came at least a little prepared, but it couldn’t hurt to stop by our sports shop...” he pointed out the building in question, “...to make doubly sure, eh? Either way, enjoy yourselves as long as you’re in Tostarena Town!”

“Whatever ya say, buster!” Peacock told the Tostarenan by way of farewell, and after Big Band tipped his hat to the greeter in thanks, both turned his attention back on the mountain. Poppi and Sectonia’s ice antlions helped out on trip here, but once the climb began in earnest, he wouldn’t be sweltering in his trench coat for long. As he scoped out the mountainside, trying in vain to get a rough idea of what might be a good route to take, he happened to see Ram flying high above, little more than a speck way up in the sky. Peacock noticed, too. “Howsabout we skip the climb the rocket all the way, old timer?”

Band shook his head. “Even the sky ain’t the limit, but unless ya want me paintin’ the mountainside red, as ya like to put it, I gotta set me some aerial boundaries.”

 His charge looked disappointed, if not surprised. “What a stiff.”

Raising his voice, the detective addressed the group at large as they milled around. “Let’s get some lunch in us and walk it off ‘round town, pickin’ up whatever we can. Then we’re headed five hundred miles high.”

“Ooh, lunch,” Tora chimed in, although his agreement came a little half-heartedly. Although it was probably for the best that they didn’t encounter any giant monsters or anything on the way over, he’d very much wanted to see the Railway Gun in action. “Oh, well. Maybe other time,” he sighed, then turned to waddle into town alongside Poppi to see what Tostarena Town had to offer.

[center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Bottomless Sea
Level 6 Nadia (50/60)
Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Blazermate’s [@ArchmageMC], Hat Kid’s [@Dawnrider], Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN], Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey],  Link’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Mirage’s [@Potemking]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2757[/center]

Freed from the long shadow of the Lady at last, the children could allow their spirits to lift, even if just a little. With the mastermind behind the Maw slain, the darkness itself seemed a little less unbearable, as if beaten back by the light of hope. Together, the Seekers of Light had escaped from or overcome a gauntlet of nightmares, from such alien horrors as Bongo Bongo all the way down to knife-wielding maniacs like the chefs, and as far as they knew their salvation from this wretched place lay just beyond those doors and up those stairs. Only the Guests of Honor remained as potential challengers, but the unscrupulous five did not stir from their gallery boxes. Instead those that cared (mostly Vauthry, Oren and Slug-for-a-butt) made manifest their appreciation of the scintillating show via applause or booming laughter. If someone wanted to try freeing them they could, but Hat Kid, the miraculous savior whose time away from the group evidently supplied her with a wealth of knowledge about this place, ushered the group onward.

As the group left the ravaged kabuki theater behind and began the long climb upstairs to the helm, Nadia reflected on the situation. Victory did not come at a cost. Glenn was gone, his face as he disappeared into the hood of the Resentment demon still fresh in her mind. Friend or not, nobody deserved to go out like that. She saw no sign of the Runaway Kid either, though if Junior’s condition was anything to go off, he too remained a faceless Nome. Another tragic loss, though if not for the forewarning provided by his misfortune, Nadia shuddered to think of the Lady picking the unwary Seekers off one by one in the dark. Three of Bowser’s five koopas disappeared during that final fight too, but she half-remembered seeing Junior summon those things, so maybe they were just disposable minions. There was also that guy in the green cap, vanished all the way back in the Depths without ever telling her his name. And even with all that out of the way, there was still one last, troublesome problem…

“I can’t believe we’re still kids,” Nadia complained. If asked, just about everyone present would have probably guessed that the end of the Resentments would spell the end for their curse as well, or failing that, at least the death of their even more evil and magical mistress would have done the trick. Everyone’s continued youth, however, put an end to that line of wishful thinking. Of course, nobody wanted to consider the possibility that this hex might require the services of a professional curse-breaker, or maybe even be permanent.

Bella considered the matter as she ascended the stairs. “I didn’t get big again, either. So it's not just ze enemies, but also Monsieur Geralt’s magic zat isn’t expiring.”

“Just keep an eye out,” Peach said, trying to be encouraging. “If the Lady was protecting the helm, maybe the solution is up here.”

Not long after the tiresome climb came to an end, and the Seekers pushed through into the Maw’s command center. They found themselves in a dark, domed room, with a long, narrow window on one side that allowed the children to peer into the watery deep. Above the glass lay a row of giant screens, each stylized like a giant open eye with lid-shaped frames, each providing a view into various parts of the Maw. The Belly, the Depths, the Dorms, the Restaurant, and even the Kitchen, where the remaining chefs continued their miserable work, could all be seen. The one that caught Nadia’s attention, however, was the big one. This screen showed a view of the ocean’s tumultuous surface, staring out across the waves at a lone island sitting calmly in the eye of the storm. A few moments’ spectatorship made it possible to gauge the rate at which it appeared to be getting bigger, and that could only mean one thing: that it was a lot closer than it looked. Nadia’s eyes widened as she remembered the mission briefing. “Is that...is that where the boss is?! We’re pointed right at it, and we’re so close!” She turned to see Hatty looking more smug than ever, her arms crossed beneath a catlike smile. “Did you do this?”

The Seekers’ original child nodded, looking mighty pleased with herself.

Peach marveled at the little girl’s achievement, although it also puzzled her. “I wonder why the Lady didn’t stop this?” In reply, Hatty produced a large, important-looking gear from her pocket, and pointed toward the rear of the dome. A raised section of floor formed a thick ring around the back half of it, accessible by stairs from the middle, and at the top of the landing lay an elevator with a sign that read [i]Engine Room[/i] with a down arrow. The princess realized what must have happened quickly. “Sabotage?! Wait, but then won’t-”

“Hey!” A call from Bella rang out, having already gone back to check out the stairs. “You all might want to see zis!”

When attended to, the Abyssal pointed out something strange around the left side of the raised area. Missed when they first came in thanks to the distraction of the window and screens, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/wvePGpl.png]gaunt man[/url] sat on a bench by the railing. Wearing nothing but threadbare trousers and a full set of prison manacles, he did not rise from his chair, but waved his arms in rhythmic motions over the bright green magical circle at his feet. At his fingertips swirled a locus of sorcerous energy, a nexus of serpentine shapes, hooded like cobras, locked in a ceaseless dance. His nervous gaze had been on the children the whole time, and once approached, he wasted no time entreating them in a quavering voice. “W-what do you want?”

Peach furrowed her brows at him. “What is this? What are you doing?”

“Nothing, nothing! I am just a humble servant,” the prisoner insisted. “I do not wish to interfere. I won't cause you trouble, I won't! Swear on me mum!”

Nadia put her hands on her little hips, her face as angry as a little kid’s could get. To say she had her suspicions would be an understatement. “Hey, buddy, we’re not [i]kitten[/i] around here. We asked ya what the hell that magic is. If it’s nothin’, why don’tcha tell us what this is for?”

Sensing that the unruly youngsters wouldn’t be satisfied without an answer, the man quickly replied, “W-why, haha. Just keepin’ the lights on, is all. I’m stuck ‘ere, same as you!” The whole time he continued working his magic, and now that she was close enough to feel it on her skin she got a real feeling of wrongness, of something nasty and unnatural.

It was just then that all hell broke loose.

There came a calamitous noise, and a sudden tremor of incredible force shook the Maw. Taken completely by surprise, the kids went flying right off their feet, over or through the railing, and toward the dome’s  glass-faced front. With nerves already shot, Nadia couldn’t suppress a long yowl of fear until she finally rolled to stop on the hard metal floor and realized that she hadn’t died. Too shocked and battered by the experience to spring to her feet, she lay there dazed and wondering what the hell just happened, but a quick look around could spell it out to just about anyone. The whole room -no the whole [i]Maw[/i]- had pitched forward, leaning like a drunkard to one side. Her gaze landed on the big screen, its view now no better than the window beneath it.

Being a creature of the deep herself, Bella figured it out. “We hit ze seabed!” she cried, trying and failing to stand on the smooth and increasingly slanted floor. Her eyes fell on a confused Hatty. “Zis place is as tall as a mountain! If it goes anywhere near ze land, it’ll hit ze bottom long before it reaches shore!”

By now the whole Maw was shaking. Rivets flew from the walls, creating sprays of seawater. All sorts of alarms were going off, as if the colossal vessel itself was crying out in pain with a thousand voices. The floor was only a moment away from reaching a forty-five degree angle, quickly becoming too steep to walk on. Peach curled her fingers through the metal grate of the floor to stop herself sliding, and through the chaos wailed, “We won’t survive like this! Someone kill that mage! Look for escape pods!”

“Too late!” Nadia yelled, pointing dumbly at the window. Anyone who followed her gaze would see not an endless expanse of water, but the rapidly oncoming surface of the sea floor. “Brace yoursel-!”

Impact--unimaginable, incomprehensible. Force enough to instantly render senseless. All that was left, then, was darkness.

[hr]

[center][h3]Carcass Isle[/h3]
[i]The stains of time are washed away[/i][/center]

When at last numbness gave way to feeling, the first things Nadia felt were the cold, and the damp. They made for a brutal combination, although one effective in shocking the body to action. From her ears down to her toes, that awful chill filled every inch of her. She heard the crash of waves and felt them on her bare flesh; she heard the whisper of wind and felt its fingers playing in her hair. Her dry tongue ran over chapped lips and received the loathsome taste of brine. Her crusty, bleary eyes slid open to see a crab mere inches away from her. It was dead, lying on its back, a black cord trailing limply away from its abdomen into...the sand. She blinked. [i]The sand.[/i] Not metal, nor wood. Realizing that she lay on her cheek, Nadia tried to get up, but could not, so instead she craned her eyes as far as they would go. A storm-dark, cloudy sky hung over her, and within it shone a strange, yellow moon, shrunken like a collapsed eye. Motion drew her gaze toward the body that lay beside her--her body. It had rolled onto its back at her bidding. Those beige scars, that teal crop top...there was no mistaking it. It was her adult form, modified by her shipgirl fusion, but hers nonetheless. Nadia made a sound somewhere between a laugh and choke, spit out seawater, and sent her body blindly grasping for her head. A moment more and Ms Fortune was whole, kneeling in the surf of an unknown and rainy beach, her palms on the ground as she got the rest of the seawater out of her system. She’d made it. She was alive.

[center][img]https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/007/600/820/large/mark-sungho-lee-pirate8.jpg?1507236809[/img][/center]

When Nadia could stand again, she got to shaky feet in the mucky sand, wary of the dead things that littered the water’s edge all around her. The corpses of fish, molluscs, and crustaceans of all kinds lay in droves, scattered by some cruel tide. To her right lay the rotting, bloody hulk of a giant [url=https://i.imgur.com/Rvruc1B.png]whale[/url], although with those tentacles it was like no whale she’d ever seen before, and it wasn’t the only  on this beach by any means. There were a myriad of shipwrecks, their masts pointed skyward like the spears of a forgotten army, but the honor of ‘biggest wreck’ went to the Maw. Nadia turned around, and through the downpour that soaked her to the bone saw the gargantuan nightmare vessel laying half-submerged in the sea, extending so far that its bottom lay hidden beneath the waves, like a legendary worm. The smokestack that crowned its rounded top had broken off and fallen, splitting open the bloated carcass of a [url=https://i.imgur.com/0HwP2uX.png]crab-legged leviathan[/url] to reveal the [url=https://i.imgur.com/Avhqz5S.png]seaworms[/url] and other [url=https://i.imgur.com/Z0kunhV.png]parasites[/url] gorging themselves on its innards. A combined sense of revulsion and triumph drove her to point her cannon right into the mass of parasites, but commanding it to fire made it the weapon [i]click-click-click[/i]. Too numb to get mad at this point, Nadia popped open a panel to see an Oil meter empty. [i]I need oil to use this thing,[/i] she marvelled. The next second her harness plopped into the surf, abandoned. [i]Of course.[/i] Right now, she couldn’t be bothered. There were more important matters to attend to.

The feral splashed through the water, searching. On account of his size he found Geralt quite easily, and though the giant witcher looked terrible, he was alive, too. Nadia breathed a sigh of relief. She had dared not think too much about the possibility that only she survived the crash, owing to the Life Gem’s immortality, but seeing Geralt okay convinced her straight away that everyone made it. As she looked around she spotted Link with his back against a barnacle-encrusted rock, then Mirage clinging to a [url=https://i.imgur.com/Mez1Hud.png]bulbous, doofy-looking fish[/url] like a body pillow. To her surprise she then spotted Rika on her feet, Kamek in one arm and a normal-looking Junior in the other. “He’s okay!” Nadia breathed, delighted, as she splashed over. “Are you alright?”

“Fine,” Rika replied. “The deep sea’s my home, after all. Same for Bella.” She nodded in the direction of the Seaplane Tender, back to her full size with none of the pudge, currently cradling Sakura’s head against her chest as she waited for the street fighter to wake up. “How are you still standing, anyway? I saw you get hurled against a rock.”

“Can’t die,” Nadia told her rather casually, her headache making a lot of sense all of a sudden. “Not normally, anyway.” Spotting a pair of waving legs, she hurried over to help pull Blazermate out from where she’d stuck head-first in the muck. “Blaze!” she hailed once the Medabot had been extracted. “You scan for everyone, right? We gotta make sure everyone made it out!”

One person at a time, as heroes woke up from their trauma-induced stupor, the party grew larger. With Blazermate’s help they found Hatty, Mimi, and Bowser, although they couldn’t really retrieve the Koopa King from where he’d landed on the whale’s soft, cushy, and rather malodorous back. Unsurprisingly, he held Peach in his arms, unharmed except for the ruination of her regal garb. Of the baby behemoths, they found no sign, which left a taste in Nadia’s mouth even worse than the brine. When Rika found Ace, unconscious and shivering, Nadia rushed over. "Damn. Everyone's soaked. We need to get 'em warm and dry, before we freakin' die of exposure." When the lean feral proved too weak to carry Ace on account of his muscle, gear, and hardy constitution, she settled for pulling him out of the water by the armpits. But where could she go, with everything wet and gross?

The feral stalled, stuck at an impasse, until she heard a shout. “Over here!” Rika hailed, calling Nadia’s attention over to a rocky area next to a river running inland. A patch of large corals created an overhand that warded off the rain, providing enough shelter to create a makeshift campsite where everyone could be gathered.

Nadia hurried over, grateful to be out of the rainfall, and propped Ace against the coral. Since waterlogged driftwood wouldn’t catch fire even if Bowser was here to light it,  she sat down and wriggled herself beneath Ace’s arm, trying to share her body heat. It was a standard and sensible practice, she knew, but that didn’t stop her cheeks reddening as she did it. She shared a silent glance with Bella, their situations none too different, and despite the slight embarrassment Nadia found herself smiling. Despite everything, after all, they’d made it. No matter how cold, wet, and hungry she felt, she couldn’t be miserable so long as she had her friends.

Still, looking out across the rocky island, she couldn’t take things too easy. The boss of the whole Deep Blue Seaside lurked somewhere on this island, but even more than that, she didn’t like the look of what lay before them. The river that flowed across the murky, corpse-littered beach and into the sea also led straight to what looked eerily like a village built amid the promontories of rock. The spine-chillingly unwholesome aspect of that place, however, filled her with dread, and she wanted nothing to do with it until everyone was ready for action once more.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SC9YnRM.png[/img][/center]

[center][hider=Results]
[b]Party:[/b] Bowser, Junior, Kamek, Blazermate, Hat Kid, Geralt, Ace Cadet, Sakura,  Link, Mirage
[i]You have survived the nightmares of the Maw. Although your state has been reset to how it was before being cursed and you’ve probably gained new traumas, overcoming this ordeal has made you stronger[/i]
Gain:
[list][*]One free Power Upgrade for your skillset, which you can bank for later if you choose
[*]One free Strength Upgrade of your choice, related to your experience on the Maw
[*]Either the Strength Feast/Famine, depending on whether your character gave in to hunger on the Maw
[list][*]Feast - Eating anything will restore health in addition to its actual effects. Also, receive a fast-diminishing attack boost after eating
[*]Famine - While hungry, gain speed boost and stamina regain that ramp up the hungrier you are[/list]
[*]One Weakness of your choice, related to your experience on the Maw[/list][/hider][/center]

[center][hider=For Ms Fortune]New Power gained from Level Upgrade:
[url=https://i.imgur.com/HC6zs5C.png][b]Fifth of Dismember[/b][/url]
A devastating Blockbuster finishing move available once Nadia’s worked up a whole lot of Dramatic Tension. She can blow herself up, sending all her parts flying in a swarm of blood-powered rocket drills, then reunite at a targeted location in a much bigger blood explosion that deals a huge amount of damage

New Power gained from Level Upgrade:
[url=https://i.imgur.com/iLZy8dP.png][b]Nyawn[/b][/url]
Nadia stretches, yawning, and restores her own vitality. In combat the restoration is piecemeal at best, but out of combat this can lead straight into a cat nap, which can restore her vitality to maximum over the span of just a few minutes

New Power gained from the Maw:
[url=https://i.imgur.com/Jn1AZoG.png][b]Outtake[/b][/url]
A strategic option that’s available when Nadia has an opponent in a combo. Rather than continue to deal damage normally, she can detach and swing her tail like a golf club to deal a high-knockback, non-damaging attack. If a foe is fighting as part of a team, this special attack not only stuns the victim but drags in whatever enemy teammate Nadia wants. If the foe is alone, this attack prevents the foe healing until the battle is decided

New Strength gained from the Maw:
[b]Tag Team[/b]
Camaraderie in the face of adversity has allowed Nadia to work much more effectively as part of a group. This connection to her teammates gives her a better sense for both when she can help them out and what she can do to help, be it in or out of combat. This means she can better follow-up her allies’ attacks, potentially even continuing their combos.

New Strength gained from the Maw:
[b]Feast[/b]
Eating anything will restore health in addition to its actual effects. Also, receive a fast-diminishing attack boost after eating

New Weakness gained from the Maw:
[b]Phagophobia[/b]
The fear of being eaten alive. Whether Moreau, the Guests, or even in a literal sense the Maw itself, Nadia has come to treat the possibility of being eaten alive with a terror that goes beyond normal. This can apply with things like leeches, maggots, and piranhas, or even mouth-shaped things like cave entrances, but especially with large monsters. If being eaten is on the table, and with it the chance of an eternal, undying existence of torment within the wet, crushing, acidic guts of monsters, Nadia can’t keep her head on straight. She’s also highly averse to being bitten in general even if it wouldn’t really harm her.[/hider][/center]

[center][h3]In the Witch’s Hut[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Frozen Highlands - Wildwood Glades
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy][/center]

Linkle’s impression of the goddess’ frugal living conditions turned out to be right on the money. Though the concept of a god’s dwelling place invoked images of white marble, gleaming gold, rich silks, and spacious interiors, this place was for all intents and purposes no more than an ordinary woodland hut, despite its reptilian overseer. Without grandeur or splendor of any kind, it seemed to be exactly the sort of shack one would expect the Witch of the Woods to have. In fact, it more suited an herbalist hermit than anything, since it lacked any black cats, crystal balls, crystal-tipped staves, or ghastly ingredients. A humble arrangement of woods, furs, and plants carefully harvested from the natural environment, it was the very picture of innocence, with only the leftovers from the brief and fruitless squabble to suggest that anything might be amiss. A search that lasted the better part of an hour turned up no safes, hidden compartments, secret buttons, telltale journals, or stashes of incriminating documents.

The young pair of investigators did, however, find a door in the basement that led to a rather expansive cellar. Less a man-made structure and more of a cave made more liveable by carpentry and a few amenities, it continued the trend established by the house proper in being pretty unremarkable, all things considered.

[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/736x/59/5b/2e/595b2e3a42f17ef713327324883ced07.jpg[/img][/center]

Nevertheless, it was in this cave that Albedo and Linkle began to discover interesting things other than roots, stems, bulbs, and herbs. Protruding from one wall was an enormous, gnarled tree root, and from it like curtains hung large masses of crystallized sap, so ruby-red that it could be mistaken for blood in the light of the candles and braziers that dotted the place. The existence of an [url=https://i.imgur.com/82l6iUl.png]odd workbench[/url] in the most ingredient-rich part of the cave, surrounded by racks of mosses, wild garlic, spider husks, and snakeskins, caught the Alchemist’s eye. To him it looked like nothing so much as an alchemy lab, remarkably similar to those in his own world except for the constitution of the table itself, and it was on top of that stand that his curiosity was rewarded. He discovered a pair of [url=https://i.imgur.com/CEeDI88.png]whalebone runes[/url], a [url=https://i.imgur.com/q7LlpHr.png]curious bone[/url] that smoldered with embers, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/b00Pzr3.png]deep violet lotus[/url], and . Other than that, the only other thing the pair really discovered was a big glass jar, about half as tall as they were, with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/B88qYuQ.png]sad-looking grub[/url] inside. Nothing incriminating, or obviously related to the Stranger, presented itself--just as Freya told them.

After a few minutes of rummaging, during which he pocketed everything that looked useful, Albedo tracked down Linkle again. “It looks like the cave may go deeper, but the development stops in this room,” he told her. “We could continue our search farther in, but my guess is that the Witch is too smart to leave something that could work against her just lying around. Would you rather move on and pursue another source of knowledge?” He tried to gauge the sunlight filtering through the Witch’s house upstairs. “It must be close to noon. We could feasibly reach another point of interest before returning to Snowdin in the evening in search of the black-robed man.”