[Center][img]https://i.imgur.com/o25QIBM.png[/img]
[color=DEBA42]LOCATION:[/color] Carcass Isle
[color=DEBA42]WORD COUNT:[/color] 1,386 (+3, +4 Sakura Collab EXP)
[color=DEBA42]MENTIONS:[/color] 
[/Center]

A bit more centered and focused thanks to his conversation with Sakura, Mirage managed to trudge along with a slight bit of additional confidence. It also took him by surprise that, much like Sakura, he was finding himself traversing atop water rather than in it. Thanks to the fusion he figured, which in itself was thanks to Link for the suggestion in the first place. He figured this form, at least for now, wasn't all bad if it meant that he'd have less issues with mobility. That didn't change that the place was disturbing to say the least, however. Hints of paranoia leftover from the Maw had him eying dark corners and higher spaces, wondering what might jump out at them. He kept one hand near his holster with the intent to draw and fire if necessary. Though all he'd seen so far were some snail-like things that, while rude, were more bark than bite. Weren't exactly worth wasting ammunition on, so he took Nadia's route and simply kept moving rather than engage. 

Entering the village proper, Mirage felt uneasy. The place was a wreck, and a messy battlefield at that. All sorts of nooks and crannies for something to hide in, yet it seemed that their opposition was right in front of them. [color=DEBA42]"Ahah, there's only what? A few dozen?"[/color] He nervously responded to the approaching fish-like folk. This wouldn't be so bad, right? There were a lot more competitors than that in an Apex match! It just meant it was time to lock and load, which Mirage didn't hesitate in doing as he pulled his mighty Wingman from it's holster. 

Concerned with Sakura heading for a frontal assault, Mirage decided to take the direct route as well. Traversing atop the water while maintaining his speed was a helpful feat, and he soon discovered how he could essentially treat it like he was on land. With his mobility in check, he had confidence in this confrontation: Except for those huge boys, which he'd leave to maybe the giant turtle with cannons. Or the ten foot tall swordsman. Instead, he went for thinning out the smaller crowd: His arc-star was a no-go with so many people in the water, but whatever an electric explosion could solve, so could bullets! The agile greens saw the Apex Legend as easy bait, a small swarm of five deciding to gang up and charge into him, approaching from a multitude of angles at his front.

[color=DEBA42]"Time for a certified Mirage classic!"[/color] He announced as he brought an arm forward; The devices along his suit shining momentarily before everything went dark and Mirage was gone. It was only for an instant as he approached the small violent posse, but that instant was enough to spark major confusion as Mirage reappeared: Or rather, the Mirage's reappeared. A bundle of six shot out from one position, chaotically spreading out and bringing confusion to his bone-weapon wielding foes. As they followed the six figures that now had them surrounded instead, they began to lash out: It turned into a large chase, with the real Mirage bouncing to and fro, sliding along the water below as his swarm helped distract these watery bastards.

The strong boom of his Wingman firing was a welcomed feeling: The powerful handgun ringing out twice as Mirage put a few bullets in one of the fish-freaks swiping at one of his decoys crying out it's static bamboozling insults. The sound brought attention from the others, but the creatures panicked as the other decoys came into their respective visions, lashing out in response and pinging them as clear targets for a trained gunner. If two bullets was the kill, then he'd take advantage now and try to injure a few. Two more bullets rang from his pistol, striking at the locations of two more of those green agile freaks and causing them to sputter out whatever pained gurgles they could muster.

His decoy count was reduced to two, with four fish on his tail still alive. They seemed to pick up that out of the remainder, he was the dangerous one: The uninjured duo launching at him with alarming speed. Darting left, he found them catching up faster than he'd like, going into a slide before shifting on the ground, facing back at them as he launched his primary Decoy in a sliding motion back at them. It caused enough confusion for him to ring out his last two shots, turning one of the predators a one-way trip to being a spirit floating along the muck. 

This brought him to an unfortunate situation, however: He was now out of ammo. Frantic to reload, Mirage found himself too slow for his pursuer, having let him get too close for any kind of comfort. A roll from his prone position to the left yielded a dodge from the fish-freak's swing, causing a large splash that shot water around the surrounding area. As Mirage continued to reload, the fish didn't wait to raise it's weapon to strike again: Rather, it raised one foot from the waters and swung it to scratch at him with the horrid-looking claws on its feet, to which he went down flat against the water to preserve his face from being sliced like deli meat and infected by mucky waters like these. 

As the creature turned, it was riddled with bullets: A reloaded Wingman blasted a bullet straight through one of it's large-round eyes, while another dived straight through it's agape maw. But even this victory was short lived, as he found himself getting a nice taste of what those bone-weapons could do from the duo of injured freaks he'd had to take his eyes off of. The jaw of one of the bone weapons struck him in the back as he tried to stand, and it sent him down into the water. Gritting his teeth, he turned and opened fire: One closer in his face than he'd like as if it intended to take a bite, causing it's innards to become a splatter on the Legend's face, as Mirage's frantic shooting staggered the last freak alive but only grazed it, leaving him yet again empty on ammo but with a new opportunity.

The staggered freak had dropped it's weapon, which Mirage eagerly wanted. He holstered his Wingman as he shifted forward, and reached in the center of the ripples the weapon caused as it fell into the water. He pushed himself up and lunged forward, not a swordsman or close-combat specialist by any means, but even he could swing a club. He bashed the freak and toppled it over, his hurting back causing him to stumble down after it, which was terrifying in a multitude of ways, but especially because rather than lay down and take it, the freak tried to just take a bite out of him on the way down. [color=DEBA42]"Don't think so, fish-face!"[/color] Mirage cried as he shifted the weapon in his hands, cramming it into the creature's mouth. The jagged and sharp bones sticking out of the weapon did not bode well for trying to swallowing it: The creature ending up being slashed from the inside, with Mirage splashing into the water and ash remains of the creature as it died beneath him.

Already panting and sore, Mirage tried to recover. He stumbled upright, hand on his sore back, but noting this wasn't as bad as the time he got kicked in the spine by a robot-legged lunatic, so he'd probably live! As he retreated backwards to try and reload to rejoin the fray, he found himself not being able to catch a break: Wandering too close to a jellyshroom danger zone yielded him with a crabsnake as a reward, which instantly reacted by deciding that Mirage would be the perfect prey to try and drag home as a meal or three. [color=DEBA42]"Oh COME ON!"[/color] He complained aloud, struggling to both stay upright against the crabworm, let alone fight it back. The creature brought it's outer claws into one of Mirage's legs, causing him to shout out in pain and panic as he frantically aimed downward to try and blast it before it used it's inner teeth to chew his leg off. But such a distraction, not to mention a newly-found leg injury that would get worse without blasting this thing to pieces, left him in a bad spot for anything that decided to make him prey in his time of peril.