[center][h3]Tora, Poppi, and Big Band[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Sandswept Sky
Level 9 Tora (170/90) Level 9 Poppi (170/90) Level 5 Big Band (108/50)
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Raz’s [@TruthHurts22], Raiden’s [@XoXKieroBombXoX], the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
[b]Word Count:[/b] 968[/center]

With the entire train and everyone aboard on the line, the heroes scrambled to scale the behemoth sand worm and lay the hurting down. Using whatever means at their disposal they flew, levitated, hitched a ride, and otherwise made a beeline for Red Eye’s spine. The few who raced upward left behind those without the means to ascend or the damage output to capitalize it, struggling to not just avoid a disastrous fall from the precariously tilted Railway Gun to the inhospitable sand below, but also to get the Dragonfire cannon ready again.

With Midna up and away, Sectonia spitting out magic, and Braum surfing the sand on his shield as he held onto a railing for dear life, it fell to Big Band to get the shells where they needed to go. The last one that the Twilight Princess fetched had rolled across the deck of the Railway Gun and nearly parted ways with the train itself, but a Brass Knuckle charge brought him close enough to Emergency Break and catch the shell just in time. With it tucked under his arm like a football and Peacock helping to push him from behind, he pulled himself along with one pneumatic arm, his struggle both to stay upright and to hold back a string of vehement curses in front of his young protégé. He hauled himself into position and deployed a kick pedal to smack the ever-loving hell out of the console. The one currently in the loader moved on to the cannon itself, while he slapped a new round into the charging station. Or rather, he tried to. “What in the!? It won’t go in!” After one more try just to make sure, he stuck the Wrath shell in the reserve slot and put the Cobalt in instead, without issue. “There we go, jeez. Thing’s gonna make me throw a tempo tantrum.” When Jesse arrived to help with the loader, he repositioned his drum pedal to the charger console and applied it with gusto.

Unfortunately, there was one other problem. As Red Eye tilted the train sideways, the main cannon’s immense counterweight dipped lower and lower, until its back began to dig into the sand. It would have served as a last ditch support to keep the train from toppling if not for the friction that immediately started turning the cannon barrel toward the front of the train, throwing off both the main gun’s aim and the whole train’s balance even more. Primrose and Theron strove with all their might to turn the cannon the other way, but the mechanism just wasn’t strong enough. Any second now the Railway Gun would capsize, and just like that the whole operation would be up in smoke.

Up above, however, the team’s attackers were giving a hundred and ten percent. Raiden carved up and pumped electricity into the wound while the others shot skyward. After blasting whatever looked vulnerable on the way up they focused on the behemoth’s spinal cord, whaling on it with a slew of weapons and powers. Hoping that their gigantic foe counted as earth-aspected, Poppi had switched to her Electric Core, so it was with a blade of crackling yellow lightning that Tora laid waste to the exposed nerves and vertebrae. Midna fractured bone with her immense bludgeon before roasting it with lightning of her own, then sicced a bloodthirsty mimic on the spot for good measure. As she backed off a familiar purple AoE appeared on top of the spinal column, followed shortly by a rain of torrential arrows whose incredible destructive power Midna knew all too well. Sectonia’s magic followed suit, a fusillade of light rings that sliced into flesh and bone alike. Even so, with the cord just too big and thick to be severed, it was Raz who sealed the deal. Using his telekinetic hand he dealt the spine a critically precise blow, driving a wedge into the perfect spot to shatter Red Eye’s composure. With that mechanical damage plus the intolerable agony inflicted by the others, the Guardian hit its breaking point and was forced to back off.

With a tremendous screech it tore away from the Railway Gun, allowing train and track alike to slam back down into place. Everyone aboard, including those holding on to either allies or the train itself for dear life, hit the deck hard. As brutal as that impact was, the narrowly averted catastrophe was a cause of celebration. Tora and Poppi swooped down to snatch Raz as Red Eye fell back, diving back down into the sand for shelter. The tremors that its continued warpath left behind, however, left nobody believing that this was anywhere near close to over.

As the reunited team tried to get their bearings, Joker ran over from the locomotive at the head of the train. “Conductor says we’ve got a junction coming up!” he shouted over the general commotion of rushing wind, clamoring track, and chugging engine. “We need to figure out somewhere to lead this thing!”

Scarcely did he get the words out, however, before the desert to the train’s right erupted. Red Eye surfaced a distance away from the train, the grievous wound in its body on the opposite side. Worse still, the main cannon -primed and ready to fire- was now facing the complete wrong direction. Another swarm of trilid was on its way, and though smaller than the first, it came alongside a second giant Bolsepia pod that soared like a beach ball through the air. This time, however, the heroes knew just how important stopping it was. Ciella and both right-side turrets opened fire, pushing back against the incoming calamity. Joker, the Scout, Poppi, Robin, and everyone else possessed of firearms or magic joined in, but like a meteorite the pod bore down on them nonetheless.

[center][h3]The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Snowdin Outskirts
Linkle’s [@Gentlemanvaultboy], Frisk’s [@Majoras End][/center]

The air was brisk as ever, but the oftentimes biting wind was mild, and the fresh snowfall light. For Albedo, the big flakes brought to mind images of young children on their rare trips to Dragonspine, wide-eyed with amazement as the beheld a landscape blanketed in powdery white. After gallivanting through the drifts to catch the biggest snowflakes on their tongues, they’d plop themselves down to make snow angels, or start packing together ammunition for impromptu snowball fights. Theirs was a childlike joy, pure and simple, that Albedo never minded coming down from his usual haunts to see. As one who frequented the lonesome mountain in search of solitude for his studies and inspiration for his arts, he often ended up serving as a guide to such visitors, and it was a rather similar journey that he, Linkle, and Frisk undertook now. Though hidden for now by the snowy clouds and fog, Dragonspine awaited them far to the northwest, and beyond that lay their passage to Edinburgh MagicaPolis. By this point, most adventurers would be too accustomed to the climate to delight in these simple pleasures, and too knowledgeable about its horrors. Winter was beautiful, but it was also cruel, a fact not lost even to children from his world like Joel, whose father Joserf was lost in the mountain for the longest time. Albedo had no doubts that even if he managed to guide his new friends on the safest path imaginable, they would encounter resistance on their journey.

Before any of that though, there was the pressing matter to which he’d already alluded. After putting enough distance between her group and the town that any unusual spectacle would go unseen and unheard, Linkle brought the trio to a halt so that they could have the sparring match she’d suggested earlier. Albedo nodded his approval, tacit in his understanding of the Skullgirl’s true intentions and, despite the undeserved pain that entailed, complicit. In silence he pulled back to give the combatants room to maneuver, as well as to keep himself out of the crossfire since, knowing what he did of Linkle’s fighting style, there would be plenty. A Solar Isotoma both elevated him out of the way and gave him a bird’s-eye view of the fight as it began just a couple seconds later.

It began uneventfully, with Linkle holding her ground as she sent a steady trickle of crossbow bolts Frisk’s way. With their tips unmodified, every single one could do some real damage to the rather normal-looking child should they hit, but Frisk managed to exceed Albedo’s expectations right from the get-go. They evaded each and every projectile, dodging and weaving even as the barrage intensified, turning from a trickle to a stream and finally a torrent. It wasn’t long before Frisk soldiered all the way into melee range and managed to actually throw a punch. They did well, although Albedo could be only so impressed whilst knowing just how much Linkle was holding back. Things quickly escalated after that, with Linkle launching an offensive that ended in a knockout kick. The alchemist couldn’t help but wince, despite his new friend’s quick intervention to make sure that both the injury and Galeem’s influence came to an abrupt end.

With the fight suddenly and definitively finished, Albedo stepped off his isotoma, landed in the snow with a roll, and approached the two as they spoke together. Frisk’s blurred memories seemed to be returning, and with them the inevitable realization that this coagulated reality couldn’t be allowed to endure. They didn’t even question it, but proceeded straight into an explanation of one of their more esoteric abilities, to which Albedo listened with interest. The power Frisk described turned out to be a real whopper: the reversal of causality to a prior point in time, able to undo untold disasters and give Frisk another shot at achieving their goals. Though he masked it well, the casual dispersal of such information left Albedo reeling. “Incredible,” he breathed. “And nobody else retains their memories of the erased time? In essence, such an ability makes you…well, theoretically unstoppable.”

He cleared his throat and gave Linkle a chance to speak, ruminating on the possibilities. Obviously what he said wasn’t quite true; even with the benefit of infinite attempts, experience alone couldn’t overcome every obstacle. It also sounded like Frisk abhorred fighting, though whether or not that principle would continue to hold true in the World of Light was up in the air. In a way, the idea of being ‘undone’ by such a power was a terrifying one; it robbed him, and by necessity everyone else, of agency. Albedo found himself feeling grateful that Frisk’s ability seemed to be diminished somewhat, at least by their own admission. 

Misgivings aside, everything seemed to be in order. Frisk had been freed, hands had been shaken, and everyone was ready to proceed in earnest. Albedo took the chance to shake with the child as well. Even if he didn’t typically engage in such gestures, after being hugged by them a couple hours ago, it was small potatoes. “You did very well,” he told Frisk. “Countless are the hands who bring destruction, but few are the hands extended in compassion. I am happy to have you as an ally on this journey.” With that, he turned and began to lead the way onward.

A good deal of trudging brought them across the trackless snowfield outside town. Aside from the rolling white hills and heavily-coated shrubs there wasn’t much to distract from their forward progress. At one point Linkle did catch a glimpse of a familiar ravine, and when she jogged over to check she found a yawning hole in the immense seal of ice placed there yesterday, the belligerent she’d trapped there on the loose once more. Not much could be done about that, though, and the journey continued.

Albedo led the others from the snowfield into a rugged coniferous forest, its bushy boughs of green needles caked in icing snow. With the ambiance of the town long since faded into the distance it was very quiet, with only the whisper of the wind accompanying the crunch of the travelers’ boots through the snow. While Albedo wasn’t expecting the woodland creatures to roll out the welcome mat, he noticed the utter lack of any sign of wildlife, wondering if the local animals were avoiding them for any reason in particular. It was a while before he picked up the telltale caws of crows, and not just one or two, but a handful. Though the source of the noise lay off the path he’d planned for his group to take, his curiosity got the better of him. “If neither of you mind, could we chance a brief detour? I must say I’m interested to see what’s going on.”

It wasn’t long before they tracked the scavengers down. Their answer lay just beneath a slight knoll, in a perfectly unassuming and unremarkable spot, but the sight of it made Albedo visibly dismayed. It was the remains of an animal, a normal deer if he had to guess, stripped of any worthwhile meat and left in a pile for the crows to peck at and squabble over. The alchemist shooed the protesting birds away and knelt over the corpse, taking hold of a bone to test its weight and consistency. Only after his silent examination did he finally speak. “How strange,” he murmured. “As you both are no doubt aware, in this world, all living things are reduced to ash shortly after expiration. The stuff of creation, which in my world could be termed ‘dust of azoth’. Yet this animal is dead as it [i]should[/i] be.” He glanced at the others. “So even though this is, in a way, completely normal, it is also a startling abnormality. Without a solid grasp of why bodies turn to ash in the first place, I cannot tell why, either…” There were no clear-cut signs of tracks around, thanks to the snowfall, but the disturbance of snow on nearby branches marked the passage of something else through the area. With a sigh Albedo rose. “Sorry, let’s be on our way. Only, perhaps we should be a little more cautious as we proceed. These woods may house further anomalies.”

Now on the alert, the group continued through the pine forest. They kept their eyes and ears wide open for any sign of trouble, and sure enough, the sounds of commotion eventually reached them through the trees. Albedo picked up the pac, running alongside the others until they came to the lip of a small ridge, overlooking a clearing. Down below they spotted a batch of [url=https://i.imgur.com/r9MCUK9.png]snowy ruins[/url], but it was the fight in front of them that caught their attention. Linkle recognized the great [url=https://i.imgur.com/qIEYSg4.png]Gammoth[/url] that she saw yesterday, now fighting against a squadron of men in a mixture of robes and armor. As the onlookers watched, the humans worked as an effective team. They fought with a backline of clerics that alternated between the use of holy incantations both against their giant adversary and to heal any injured, while melee fighters whaled on the Gammoth’s legs between attacks, all of them spread out enough so that no stomp or slam would hit multiple of them. Judging by the wounds all across the Gammoth’s body, the hunt had been in progress for quite some time already, and Albedo saw no reason to interfere. Though the Gammoth fought with brutal desperation and overwhelming strength, the clerics and paladins were a well-oiled machine. Three in particular stood out among them: a [url=https://i.imgur.com/DEi8X4d.png]priest in blue[/url] who commanded the power of wind, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/Gyq39eb.png]warrior in red[/url] whose tenacity and martial prowess just about stole the show, and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/sVFWfKY.png]knight in silver and gold[/url] whose assault wove tirelessly around the Gammoth’s attacks. Thanks to their efforts the beast was already flagging, and as its rampage neared its end, it was the knight who stepped forward while the others held off. He sheathed his sword and spread wide his arms, casting a circle of golden light that surrounded the beast. Runes sprouted from within like trees, then burst like twinkling stars. A moment later the death blow was dealt, and the Gammoth thrashed its last before slamming to the ground hard enough to shake the whole forest with the tremor.

Albedo crossed his arms, a hypothesis in mind. He watched the giant animal for any sign of decomposition, but as the seconds went on its massive corpse failed to turn to ash whatsoever. Down below the men and women were already talking amongst themselves, swarming around the body with carving knives at the ready. Their leaders and their [url=https://i.imgur.com/kxaURrz.png]chief healer[/url], meanwhile, stood by. “Well, that’s one mystery solved,” Albedo remarked. “Convenient timing, too.” He glanced at the others. “I’m interested to learn more, but it seems as though they intend to butcher the creature. Shall we introduce ourselves, or pass on by, do you think?”