[center][h3]Tora, Poppi, and Big Band[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky - Inner-Mountain
Level 9 Tora (129/90) Level 9 Poppi (129/90) Level 5 Big Band (67/50)
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Fox’s [@Dawnrider], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Yoshitsune and Sora’s [@Rockin Strings], Laharl’s [@Dark Cloud], Raz’s [@TruthHurts22]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1935[/center]

Sampling a Wendigo’s cunning savagery firsthand, and nearly being butchered in the process, made Tora and Poppi keenly aware of just how much their allied needed their help, but before they could have any hope of helping the others they needed to attend to their own wounds first. If not for Tora’s incredible constitution, with his proverbial boatloads of health, the monster that dragged him below would have eviscerated him in the darkness, and the experience shook him. Even as his out-of-combat healing kicked in, closing the deep gashes opened in his flesh by cruel claws, he couldn’t stop himself shaking from fear as much as the cold. All his spilled blood quickly cooled, coagulating and then freezing despite his best attempts to wipe it off. Even once restored to full, the end result was a thoroughly miserable Nopon. His attempts to form words dissolved into incoherent mumbling as he shivered, his wide eyes reflecting the other heroes’ distant firelight.

Poppi, able to hold her severed arm to the stump and reforge the connection with only a modest expenditure of ether, fared a lot better. Once her internal diagnostics turned up no major problems, she turned to her Masterpon to offer him what comfort she could. As nice as it would have been to wash off all the blood in a spray of water, she knew that Tora would catch his death of cold a minute later, so she switched to her Fire Core instead. “Hold tight, Masterpon. Poppi set you right.” Glowing like a space heater, Poppi picked her Masterpon up in her arms and held him close so that her heat might flow into him. With their friends still fighting for their lives this wasn’t a tender moment by any stretch of the imagination, but at the Inner-Mountain’s absolute cold relinquished its grip on Tora, both driver and artificial blade felt a lot better.

“Meeh,” the Nopon breathed after a few moments. “Okay, Tora feel roasty-toasty enough for now. Thank you, Poppi. Now, let’s hurry and help friends!” He wriggled out of Poppi’s grasp, landed on the wooden platform with a wince, and grabbed the shield that had slipped out of his numbed grasp. The two took off at a run, clattering across the boards to vault over the rail, but a sudden noise from behind made them turn on a dime. As they whipped around, their hearts filled with dread to see the very Wendigo that they thought they dispatched moments ago with Laharl’s help. Even with a caved-in skull, a hole in its chest Tora could see clear through to the other side, and a head that dangled sickeningly on a nearly-severed neck, it was still moving. Still [i]coming[/i]. An awful croaking noise issued from its devastated throat, and it prepared to pounce.

Despite everything, Tora’s reaction was immediate. “MEEEEEH!” he bellowed as he brought up his shield and slammed the trigger, launching a Boom Biter from its center that pounded the Wendigo like a cannonball. The explosion slammed it into the cavern wall behind it, where it hung for a moment, its nigh-impenetrable skin ablaze. “Poppi!” he commanded, passing his companion the shield. “Burn it, burn it, burn it now!”

The moment the weapon hit Poppi’s hand its drill bit extended, revving up as she filled it to the brim with fiery ether. “Gladly!” She braced herself, and the next instant a cyclone of flame ripped forward. “Noponic STOOOORM!” It smashed into the Wendigo like a massive punch, and though it tried to fight through the firestorm, it could not hold out for long. As its body was incinerated, a howling ghost burst up from the chaos, not the kind of spirit that Tora and Poppi knew but a nightmarish specter of the monster’s face. It shrieked through the air and back down into the tunnel from whence the horror first came.

As the scorching whirlwind faded, Tora accepted the shield, breathing heavily. Without a word he took off, and Poppi ran behind.

Luckily, the pair reached their allies as the fight was winding down in their favor. The return of those who’d split off down the tunnel only sealed the deal. Once the Phantom Thieves corralled the last Wendigo, Primrose unleashed her pyromancy to turn it to ash. As it died everyone else got a front-row seat for the release of its spirit, terrifying not just for its sudden and startling appearance but also the implications of its continued existence. A jump scare like that, however, wouldn’t leave heroes like these quaking in their boots. As Panther healed up Laharl and Mona brought Yoshitsune back from the brink, the Dancer’s Warmth soothed the wounds of whoever else needed it, including Sora and Fox.

That left just one fight, even if it too was in its final act. After getting frozen by Kelvin’s Sublimate, Sectonia backed off to chunk the golem with Void Globules from afar. As she fell back, however, Midna closed in. Therion’s empowered plunge staggered the creature, paving the way for not just Big Band, but the Twilight Princess to get in and do some damage as well. Midna called out for a duet performance, but with oodles of tension and victory close at hand, the detective had a mind to steal the spotlight. “This thing’s in for a sound beatin’!” As Midna started punching, Band charged in with Brass Knuckles, socking Kelvin in the face. His dance partner dutifully pushed his foe back toward him, and up popped his shiny brass trumpet. When he put his lips to the mouthpiece, something strange happened. Time itself ground to a stop, and in that stolen moment, the big man played Kelvin a [url=https://youtu.be/EUv3_9VLJ1g?t=23]special song[/url].

Time resumed, and the monster didn’t so much as get a chance to register what happened before a [url=https://i.imgur.com/GIz1hvs.gif]brass knuckle beatdown[/url] befell him at mach speed. “TUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBATUBA-!” Band yelled, each giant punch reducing his already-broken victim to smaller and smaller pieces, until with a final mighty “TUBAAA!” he scattered the golem’s remnants in an explosion of ashes. The battle was over.

[hider=Results][b]Party:[/b] Tora, Poppi, Big Band, Midna, Sectonia’s, Primrose, Therion, Laharl, Raz
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] +8 EXP[/hider]

In typical fashion, the team got together in the aftermath of the fight to mend leftover wounds and take stock of the situation. Not everyone sustained injury in the course of the brief but brutal struggle, but those who did suffered quite a bit. The wounds left by the Wendigo didn’t heal quite right, and though Tora insisted that he could continue and Joker hadn’t gotten it too bad to begin with, Yoshitsune’s debilition could not be ignored. Add to that the fatigue and exposure incurred by the fight, and the ground the Seekers stood on seemed a little shakier. “I don’t care how much of a big shot ya are,” Band told the samurai. “You ain’t on your game today. Turn your behind back around, or I’ll turn it ‘round for ya.”

Yoshitsune tried to protest, but in his anger he overreached himself and nearly stumbled. Sora moved in to keep him from falling over. “Take it easy, big guy,” the boy said, patting him on the shoulder. “Everyone has bad days sometimes. Just like everyone has a little darkness inside them. But don’t worry, ‘cause everyone has light in them, too! You’ll get your day soon, I know it!” He turned to the others, offering a smile. “I’ll help him back to that temple thing with all the old guys. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon.”

As Band nodded his assent, Poppi spoke up. “Not to interrupt, but we may be on timer. The scary ones did not die as usual, but turn into ghosts and fly away. We should fix lift as soon as possible.” She put a hand on her chest. “Poppi superstrength enough to work controls. That way claws come down and grab platform.”

Braum’s eyes went wide in admiration as he looked at the two massive, pendulous counterweights that promised to drag the lift upward, even with all the Seekers atop it. “Can you truly raise those up by yourself, leetle girl!?”

“That right, heh heh!” Tora grinned proudly, his stubby little arms on his hips. “Poppi power almost as flabbergasty as Tora smartiness, meh! Of course, Poppi have Tora to help!”

“Bloimey.” the Scout shook his head, rubbing his bald spot with one hand. “Well, we got the cart. Clear o’ rocks, too. Just gotta slide it over.”

“Right then, let’s get it done, double-time.” Band led his portion of the team back down the tunnel as the team dispersed. Those who didn’t head over to help push the cart or assist Tora and Poppi with the lift controls could either keep a look out or help to clear the way as Fox and Goemon continued to ice over the stone path. This time the Scout stayed behind to make sure new flares went up whenever the old ones died out, though his stores began to run low quickly. With every eye and ear at attention for any sign of more monsters, nobody could afford to exchange words until the cart finally slid into view. It moved slowly but steadily across the cavern floor until it lay directly beneath the giant pincers that the operators helped to lower. From there, a little guidance and coordination lowered the claws into position, and with a final loud [i]CLACK[/i] the mechanism locked into position. From this point on the weight of the big box -and everyone in it- would only serve to make the pincer grip tighter, so as long as the wood and metal didn’t give, everything would be dandy.

“Good to go,” Mona confirmed from on top of Necronomicon. The Persona hovered over the cart, scanning the whole cave every few seconds for any sign of trouble. “All aboard!” From up high he watched Joker, Skull, Panther, Fox, Fox, Primrose, Therion, Raz, Laharl, Braum, and the Scout climb in. Tora and Poppi remained at the control mechanism, ready to fly up under their own power once the lift got underway, and neither Midna nor Sectonia needed any help to ascend either. The abstinence of Big Band, however, left Mona confused. “Aren’t you getting in, Mister Band?”

The detective chuckled. “If ya gonna call me ‘mister’ an’ make me feel old, might as well call me ‘Mister Birdland.” Otherwise Band is jus’ fine.” He then shook his head. “And no. For this Armstrong, even the sky ain’t the limit.”

He jumped into the air, and in a frenzy of activity his lower chassis reconfigured into a [url=https://i.imgur.com/oaiSlnm.png]genuine rocket[/url], its main thruster and seven afterburners ablaze with flame. He hovered there long enough to send off all the wide eyes pointed his way with a cheeky salute. “I must go now. My planet needs me.” Then he blasted off, soaring up into the cavern’s frosty upper reaches.

After receiving confirmation that everyone was on, Poppi began the countdown. “Okay, everyone brace selves! Three! Two! One!” She released the controls, and the counterweights began to work their magic. The lift groaned and creaked, but against all odds it lifted off the ground. It rocked and span a little, but it continued to rise, neither too fast nor too slow. The ground fell away beneath them, and before too long the Seekers left the scaffolding and stone behind, on their way up through the vast emptiness of the icebound upper cavern. After a few moments Poppi appeared alongside the lift in her QT Pi form for easy flying, Tora held tight in her arms. “Everything look good so far. How friends holding up?”

“Tora have nightmares for weeks, meh,” her Masterpon supplied.

[center][h3]Ms Fortune[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Carcass Isle - Where All Things Must Come
Level 7 Nadia (55/70)
Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Blazermate’s [@Archmage MC], Hat Kid’s [@Dawnrider], Geralt’s [@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN], Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee], Sakura's [@Zoey Boey],  Link’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Delsin’s [@Rockin Strings]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2075[/center]

Brief as it was, just about everyone got a chance to get a few good hits in while the creature reeled, confounded by the magic-bound obstacle in its path. Even an opportunist like Nadia didn’t want to push her luck, however, and rather than risk a repeat of the blow that decked her earlier, she got out while the going was good. [i]When the going gets tough, and all that[/i], she reasoned, and after another moment she was grateful she did. Sakura getting hurt made Nadia wince, but the way the feral saw it, there was no way a stray hit like that kept her fellow fighter down. For now she had bigger concerns, for the belligerent Orphan didn’t take kindly to all the punishment the heroes lavished upon it, and it wanted to make very sure they knew.

It unleashed a flurry of widespread attacks, its assault even more unhinged than before, if that was possible. Rather than abandon her allies and flee to a safe distance, Nadia made her best effort to stay in, ducking, dodging, and detaching past the meaty placental blade that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at once. Since Sakura was getting her bearings, Bowser had grudgingly stepped back for some healing from Kamek, and Geralt kept his distance for now, it was up to her, Ace, and Link to weather the storm as best they could. Like the cat burglar, Link relied upon his agility in order to keep himself alive as he added a few more of the thousand cuts that would be the Orphan’s death, but Ace took a different tact. In a feat of dogged perseverance and incredible moxie, he stuck to the Orphan however it lurched around, landing thrust after steadfast thrust. With a quick sigh Nadia tabled her praise for later and focused on the much less appealing Orphan. Just when she thought she’d finally navigated the gauntlet of attacks and could land a full-force ankle slice with her tail axe, however, an attack not even meant for her swooped around and scored a headshot just as she darted in.

Though a glancing blow, it left Nadia’s head literally spinning, whirling around so fast that as she staggered backward she had to reach up and physically stop it. It was as she clapped her hands against her head that the bottom of her right palm felt something wet, and when she pulled it away she found her hand soaked in bright blue blood. Her cheek had been sliced open, enough so that she accidentally put her tongue through the opening when she tried to assess the damage, which made her shudder in horror. “[i]Eugh![/i] That’s gonna leave a mark.” Hoping that her Life Gem would close that up as soon as possible, she turned her attention back toward the Orphan, only to see it fly out of the melee and toward another part of the beach entirely–a part where only a scant few heroes stood, unprepared for such a dire threat. “Uh oh.” Galvanized into action by the urgency of the situation, Nadia took off on all fours, kicking up sand as she sprinted toward the brief but bloody struggle that was Delsin’s heroic stand. As she ran she got a good dose of Ace’s lifepowder, smiling as her fresh wound into just another storied scar. “Heal yeah!”

Thanks to his intercession, and a little cleverness from the Koopa prince, Junior and Rika managed to escape the Orphan’s deadly clutches while scoring a few hits in the process. Immersed in electrified slime, it tensed itself for a massive leap that would see it hurl its placenta down at the duo from on high before landing on them, but it was then -with no allies in the monster’s immediate vicinity- that Peach made her move. “Get away from them!” the princess yelled as she leaped from the rocks nearby. As she fell her axe kick slammed down on the Orphan’s weapon arm, sticking its visceral armament in Junior’s goop, and without delay Peach jammed her scatterboom into the monster’s chest. A conical inferno erupted from its barrel, filling such a wide area that the princess’s lack of participation so far suddenly made sense. The shrieking Orphan teetered backward as if falling over, but before it could pass the point of return its head locked onto Peach. It planted its other foot and surged back toward her, its weapon pulled free, coated in the same shocking gunk that the princess floated atop, and careening toward her in a ruthless diagonal. Peach, however, was already in motion. She span around with Chao Ho’s fan extended, and in a jaw-dropped display managed to turn the Orphan’s strike, sending it past her while she carried on. “Seen through that!” she growled, and with a torpedo deployed on the bottom of her shoe she came around with a high crescent kick to the Orphan’s jaw.

Supremely angry, the Orphan let go of its heavy weapon to continue on its course, and brought its right hand back around in a bone-cracking backhand to Peach’s head. The unprecedented blow lifted her off the ground, stunned and spinning like a top, to fly a few feet and hit a rock, where she crumpled to the ground barely conscious. The whole exchange took only a handful of seconds, and it was only after a second more that the other Seekers arrived. Link, Sakura, Geralt, Bella, and Nadia closed in, paused long enough to not run straight into a giant horizontal as the Orphan retracted its weapon, then went about their business. Before attending the Orphan, however, Link slid to a stop by Delsin like a batter at home base. No stranger to thinking on his feet, the hero resuscitated the Conduit with a Friend Heart, then joined the others in their assault.

Junior’s goop bolstered several Seekers’ mobility, allowing them to get in and out of the danger zone. Tired of mending injuries in the backlines, Blazermate followed suit with an Ubercharge, shielding her allies as they went at it in quick succession. Meanwhile, Ace punctured it with greatarrows from afar, though the Orphan seemed weirdly resistant to paralysis. It was a hit-and-run strategy that nullified the risk out of the hit, and even if Nadia couldn’t get a word in edgewise -foiled by bad terrain and a keen desire to not get in the way- it was a solid strategy. Until the allure of massive damage pulled Blazermate into melee range in hopes of frying the Orphan with her shield. Instantly recognizing the source of the agony that now tormented it, the monster leaped through the barrier and straight into Blazermate herself. Thanks to her Ubercharge the medabot couldn’t be damaged, but she could be struck and carried backward by the thing’s momentum, and the together the two sailed a short distance before the Orphan came down on top of Blazermate hard enough to half-bury her invincible chassis in the wet sand. It whacked her once before a shout from behind it drew its attention.

The Orphan turned to see six Bowsers barreling toward it, four shadowy, one shadowy and small, and one vanilla. Screeching its acceptance, it released its placenta for a massive disjointed swing that swept across all of them, then came around again for another, and though those strikes must have hurt, not one Bowser broke formation. Before the Orphan could attack again Bowser jumped and came down in a belly-flop, which his doppelgangers were only too happy to pile onto. Nadia and the others approached at a respectable difference, relieved and even amused as the big lug got his time to shine. Beneath all that weight even the barbaric strength of the Orphan could only amount to so much, and though it struggled and struggled, it couldn’t force the Koopa King Troop off.

Not, at least, until it exploded.

The entire beach shook as the pile of Bowsers evaporated in a massive eruption of cherry-pink fluid. Kamek’s shadow-clones turned into a dark deluge as they rained all over, with Mimi’s mimicry doing no better. Even the real Bowser went flying, his giant body so limp that Nadia’s heart just about stopped. Had he really been defeated, just like that!? “No way…” she breathed, not even daring to wonder how Junior and Kamek must be feeling. It was only when a familiar quartet of Felynes hurtled out of the mouth of the cave to catch Bowser in their cart that the Feral realized that he’d be okay, but that in itself invited a far worse realization. The team’s safety net was gone. Whatever came next, those who remained would have to face it not just without Bowser, but with the knowledge that the next fall would be fatal. And as the pink mist cleared, they got a good look at exactly what came next.

For a moment, the Orphan stood at its full height, which seemed a few feet taller than before, as if its first growth spurt had arrived way ahead of schedule. Otherwise it looked the same, except for a few minor details. First, its placental blade was [i]enormous[/i], a fleshy curved maul with a grip that reached the nightmare’s waist while its head still dragged along the ground. Second was the birthing sac that before clung to its shoulders, nothing more than a rudimentary mantle. Now it extended outward in two great lengths, pale, gossamer, and billowing behind it as though in underwater currents. Like the wings of an angel–an [url=https://i.imgur.com/RWkDBxM.jpg]angel of death[/url].

Nadia swallowed, her muscles tense. The Orphan just stood there, its sunken eyes glinting in the moonlight. Then, it tiled its head back, and to the heavens raised a bloodcurdling howl. The very air around its head undulated, warped by its plaintive cry. In reply, a pillar of lightning dropped from the storm onto the body of its mother Kos, and across the black beach rolled waves of electricity like the crashing tide.

“Watt the hell!?” Nadia called out in alarm, her pun reflexive. The suddenness of the magic, as well as the blinding brilliance of the lightning, was shocking enough even from afar. But while smaller lightning strikes arced down to hit the crest of the wave at intervals, the cat burglar could see a path through. “Gotta time it right…” she breathed, then ran forward as the lightning rolled in. She just had to hope that the others could handle this on her own, and especially that someone could help out Peach, because Nadia sure couldn’t. With catlike agility she hopped up and over the wave, flipping between the pillars, to land on her feet on the other side. Of course, that put her closest to the Orphan, and the monster accepted the invitation. It dug its hand into the meat of its placenta and leaped high into the air. Well before it could come down on top of her and split her in half, Nadia sprinted the opposite way–only to run headlong into the wave of lightning as it rebounded off the rock face and rolled back towards Kos. The second it touched her, Nadia’s permanent Hydro status reacted to leave her Electro-charged, turning her into a living lightning rod as she fell to the ground burning and paralyzed. “O-o-ohm…my-y-y…go-o-od!” she rattled out amidst her spasms.

Where she suffered, however, Delsin embraced the lightning. Buoyed by confidence that his allies could fully restore him at the drop of a hat, he ran forward into the electricity and proceeded to soak it up, adding the new power to her repertoire. From there he blinked forward, turning to electricity to arc through the air toward the Orphan as Nadia fled from it. He smashed it with his chains, once, twice, then as it wrenched out a bundle of flesh to plunge into the sand, dashed away to a safe distance. The move was not, however, quite as he remembered it. Instead of a small burst around the Orphan, the flesh exploded in a huge area in front of it, and with a cry Delsin flew into the air. He landed as the Orphan bore down on him, holding its placental cleaver with both hands to run on, and with reckless abandon the nightmare brought the guillotine up and down, again and again, until the Conduit was no more.

[center][h3]The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, the Skeleton, and the Skullgirl[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Frozen Highlands - Snowdin
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Frisk’s [@Majoras End], Papyrus’ [@Dark Cloud][/center]

With their investigation already happily concluded, Frisk turned to lead the way out of the rabbitfolk’s little patch of eternal springtime, into Snowdin’s wintry thoroughfare, and toward the eerie ascent that stood between them and the inhospitable Beneviento manor. Albedo lagged behind a few paces though, and not just to don his new overcoat. Speaking to one or two people did not make an accurate picture of public opinion, and whenever one’s character got called into doubt, things got trickier still. Even omitting the possibility of outright falsehood, there ought to be a lot more to the story. More pieces to the puzzle that would gradually slide into place the deeper the team got into the culture of the Warrens.

But if the trail stopped here, then so be it. If he were to try to address Treat’s situation, Albedo preferred a different tact: the wolfgirl to embrace the good that most of Snowdin wanted to extend her rather than dwell on the enmity of the few. You couldn’t please everybody, no matter how hard you tried; to be loved and acceptance was an unrealistic, even impossible dream. Nor were those who didn’t like you problems to be fixed, their goodwill to be mined out of them like nuggets of gold from so much stone, their reasons extracted like confessions. Do not wallow in darkness, but seek out and hold fast to the light. At least, that was Albedo’s hypothesis. Maybe, for someone like Linkle with a natural heart for humanity, there was another way.

In the end, Albedo’s job on this venture was just to make sure that Frisk didn’t get into any scuffles. It occurred to him, ruminating on this task, that Treat and the rabbits’ continued existence meant that there had been no physical altercations between them, which was good. Unless of course, the rumor about Treat the Shapeshifter was true and she’d destroyed all comers, but if that was the case Albedo felt like there would be more than just passive animosity for the girl. Trying to move on, the alchemist proceeded through the tangled copse and up the snow-dusted steps toward Treat’s abode. 

As soon as the trio arrived, however, they were greeted by trouble. Treat herself appeared in such a panic that she hurt herself, barely holding herself together long enough to blabber out the key points of her and Linkle’s foray into the haunted basement. Albedo knelt by the girl as she spoke, examining her ankle as he took in the details. While he meant to offer whatever relief he could, his Corgi did him one better. The little dog’s natural empathy led him right into Treat’s arms, where he could snuggle up against Treat’s head and chest to provide both warmth and comfort as he whined his sympathies. Albedo’s brows turned upward in pity. Realizing that she’d been watched in secret by a monstrous puppeteer for weeks on end -if not longer- probably chilled the poor girl a lot worse than the cold. But now they had a chance to turn her situation around, to free her not just of this lurking menace but of her misery in general. And unlike with the rabbits, the obstacle in her way was a tangible one, a villain that could be defeated.

Papyrus and Frisk shared his resolve, and prepared themselves to hasten to Linkle’s aid. Knowing firsthand at least a portion of the Skullgirl’s incredible power, Albedo doubted that she really needed the help. If she found herself facing an enemy that even her strength and bevy of elemental abilities couldn’t defeat, the alchemist doubted he, a child, and a skeleton would be of much use, unless these two boasted very hidden depths. Still, even if Linkle would be fine, Albedo didn’t want to leave her alone. At the very least, they could return her precious crossbows.

He stood. “Just a sprained ankle,” he told Treat, offering his best diagnosis. “Not mild, but not serious, either. So long as you rest up and don’t walk on it, the inflammation should go down relatively quickly.” Albedo stopped by Linkle’s sled to get her weapons before jogging after Frisk. “Just hold on to my dog, and we’ll be back before you know it.”

Despite Frisk’s determination, Albedo outpaced the shield-bearer in only a moment, on account of both longer strides and a lot more confidence in Linkle’s ability. He went as fast as the descent would allow, even jumping if given the chance, since he knew that falls of this scale would not damage him. The screams that issued from the depths of the manor, hollow and harrowing, did not phase him. Very soon, Albedo stood in the darkness of the basement, peering at the commotion that stirred in the gloom. He announced his presence by calling a [url=https://i.imgur.com/oK9xOgZ.png]Solar Isotoma[/url] into existence in a burst of golden light, saying, “Burst Forth!”

The momentary radiance revealed both his new friend and his new enemy. Although not even startled, let alone stricken by fear, Albedo realized that he’d underestimated just how big this dollmaster was. Even hunched over, he utterly towered over Linkle, suspended atop freakishly elongated arms and legs. For a brief instant the alchemist beheld bloodshot, maniacal eyes that bulged from a bulbous, froglike face. Albedo understood in that instant that there wasn’t a moment to lose. With limbs like that, this creature could close the distance in a heartbeat, and even if those wounds suggested an imminent victory for the Skullgirl, Albedo wanted to take zero risks. He manifested his sword, the [url=https://i.imgur.com/zSXIlCD.png]Cinnabar Spindle[/url], and readied himself for a fight.