[center][h1]Fishing in the Reservoir[/h1]
Wordcount: 8,186 (+9)

Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Blazermate’s [@Archmage MC], Geralt [@Multi_Media_Man], Benedict’s [@Dark Cloud]
[/center]

[color=Aquamarine]”So I feel like I should apologize for bringing you all here, but I really did not think it would be this bad,”[/color] Midna felt compelled to say, as they got closer and closer to the reservoir at the very bottom of the Sector 05 undercity.

She had thought she understood corruption and decay, but apparently the waste products of industrial civilisation produced blight far more foul than she could have possibly imagined. As a result she was very thankful that the mask she was wearing was doing something to filter out the smell, and could only empathize and feel bad for/about how much the others must be suffering.

At least she was able to be helpful, offering a (giant) hand to those not blessed with flight/levitation and using it to create footholds and platforms where none were available, while also having her VIbrava buzz around and pick off parasites before they could get a drop on any of the climbers.

Geralt grunted, nose twitching at the frankly [i]sickening[/i] stink of the reservoir. He’d nearly vomited once from the sheer stench, but a few moments of quiet meditation had recentered him for a while.

[color=0072bc]”Oh I’m good.”[/color] Blazermate nonchalantly said, being immune to the rank smell of the brackish water, due to not being able to smell at all. She was a bit concerned Midna had never seen industrial sludge though, did she just want to come here to see what this was? [color=0072bc]”So, what are we doing down here again?”[/color]

"[color=B19666]If I remember correctly,[/color]" the old tactician answered while he looked upon his surroundings with a frown, he pinched his nose slightly though futile as it was to keep the stench of the reservoir from entering his nostrils "[color=B19666]I believe it had something to do with these rather odd glowing apparitions.[/color]" Benedict motioned towards one of the supposed psyfish as it floated by "[color=B19666]Is that correct, Miss Midna?[/color]"

[color=Aquamarine]”That was the plan, yes”[/color] Minda agreed as she around the corner of the building they’d been more or less weaving their way down as part of their descent. The structure itself had gotten more and more rotten and dilapidated as they went down, which was probably not good for the entire thing’s structural integrity, but it was still solid enough to be used as cover to spy on the psyfish.

[color=0072bc]”So are we going to kill them, talk to them… like what?”[/color] Blazermate asked, still a bit confused. Either way, as she did mention something about battling, she began to make sure Benedict, Geralt and Midna were overhealed as it also got her healing resources. She couldn’t do anything about the smell though, only making them feel slightly better when her healing beam was on them.

[color=Aquamarine]”They’re menaces to the city, especially those ones that can fly”[/color] she pointed out the largest and most purposefully moving of the bunch [color=Aquamarine]”I had a bit of a talk with people while getting a proper breakfast. Turns out this place used to not be, well, this. Those things showed up one day and started terrorizing the population to the point they had to abandon the place”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”So, we’re here to kill them, and the idea was we could use them for psychic fusions, which could get more of us into psy-off if we want to go that way”[/color] Midna suggested, though she did not sound the most confident about that now, given the utterly alien appearance of the creatures.

Benedict tugged at his chin, staring down towards the ghastly looking creatures "[color=B19666]Hm,[/color]" they moved about with some purpose though for what he did not know, to his eyes they were unlike anything he had ever seen "[color=B19666]I gather that these..things aren't as non-threatening as they look, if your information is correct. Were you able to learn what these creatures are capable of?[/color]"

[color=0072bc]”Oh, well, if they are just sitting there, I could charge up some uber and we just unload with a kritz charge then. Although I don’t think I can get any psychic powers, being a medabot and all.”[/color] Blazermate said, shrugging and offering a kritz to anyone who waited for about 30 more seconds. 

“Not to mention the Breaching Bastion. It’s slow to turn, but the smaller guns should be more than enough to shoot them down. Not sure I’m willing to risk using the larger shot in this city, though.” Geralt added, a not-so-small part of him somewhat eager to use the Harbor Water Demon’s weapons platform again.

[color=Aquamarine]”Sounds like a plan. Expect ranged psychic magic attacks, from what I heard, plus some kind of distracting spells”[/color] she explained vaguely, while doing little rotations in the air, purple power flashing as she charged herself up using dragon dances. 

Then in the midst of her third rotation she nearly twirled into a wall due the surprise of a gruff voice quietly informing them “Can’t say I’d recommend anything you're planning to do” from inside the building they were using as cover.

“Or the amount of noise you’re making either. Trust me, I’ve got experience in these things” the voice then added. 

"[color=B19666]Quite strange to offer advice to people you do not know.[/color]" Benedict replied in a similar tone, skeptical of the strangers advice "[color=B19666]Trust is a fickle thing, how can we trust you?[/color]" years of service as a royal advisor had trained him to always take words with a grain of salt, this was no different.

“I do when they’re making noise that’s attracting attention to where I was trying to sleep” the voice replied “now if you don’t want advice from someone who knows how to survive down here, I suggest you get lost before the crabs come for you. Odds are there’s some creeping up on you as we speak.” 

[color=0072bc]”What crabs? You mean those ones?.”[/color] Blazermate said, her scan ability letting her spot things very easily and marking the approaching crabs with spots of light signifying their weak points. She had been spending her time healing, so everyone was at least overhealed as well, and much tankier.

“Hmmm? Ah, yes those ones” the voice said, apparently IDing them through both the rotten water and the wall he was speaking to them through after only a few moments of searching.

[color=Aquamarine]”What ones?”[/color] Midna, who could not see through the scum water, asked, as she moved to the edge to the edge of the water to try and work out what in the world they were talking about, an act that caused an inconspicuous bit of floating debris to realize it had been rumbled, and to suddenly surge forwards. The princess shrieked in surprise as the two meter tall [url=https://i.imgur.com/4rVfPA9.png]Mirlurk[/url] burst from the water claws snapping as it went for the short sorceress, and giving her a lesson in the benefits overhealing worked as its razor sharp claws snipped it all away. 

The first crab wasn’t alone either, as three other similar crabs clambered up onto the gangways and floating mats of scum surrounding the base of the pillar to assail the heroes in quick succession after the first. Joining them where two less grotesque but no less hulking [url=https://coromon.wiki.gg/images/1/12/31_Ucaclaw_A_front.gif]Ucaclaws[/url], which initiated combat by firing off high speed bursts of fetid water, one from each claw and a third from their mouths, before moving in to use claw attacks of their own.

Veteran or not, his reflexes were not what they used to be. Benedict had only a moment to stumble out of the path the oncoming spray "[color=B19666]Asparas![/color]" he called through gritted teeth, teetering as he kept his footing by leaning on the cane in his grasp "[color=B19666]Freeze the enemy![/color]" the tactician gave the order, pointing to the larger of the crabs. As mediocre as Bufu was it could possibly freeze the creature in the dirty water it rose from, meanwhile he pulled out the sword hidden in his cane and flourished it, boosting his defense for the moment with a use of Bulwark.

Though the mirelurk cared little for the cold damage itself, the ice and frost which flash froze on its body stiffened its joints, and gave Midna the time and space she needed to fight back. Specifically by adding to the chilly theme.

[color=Aquamarine]”Hold it back!”[/color] she commanded, summoning her own strikers: A pair of towering frozen undead materialized on either side of her like royal bodyguards, before they drove their icy spears forwards. Frozen tips met chitin and though they bit into it, they did not dig deep enough into the thick armor to find flesh beneath.

As they held back the mirelurk assailing Minda, Benedict’s good deed brought him attention of another, which clattered towards him across the catwalk, claws open wide and ready to snap.

Steel sung as Geralt’s blade found purchase in the crab’s claw, halting less than an inch into the chitinous armor, but directing the creature’s attention away from Benedict. Geralt quickly made the Sign of Quen with his free hand, dancing out of the way of a snip of the mirelurk’s claw and swinging his sword up and along its arm, gouging a line into the chitin. “Things’re tough. Hard to hit the weak spot, too, they’ve got some reach to ‘em.” Geralt mused.

[color=0072bc]”Well, I’ll just keep healing you guys and we can roast ‘em with the shield.”[/color] Blazermate said. The crabs were not smart enough to target her, letting her just heal her teammates who were doing a great job of distracting them. Although unknown to Blazermate she wasn’t as noticeable to the crabs thanks to one of the items she had picked up a while ago.

While healing everyone, Blazermate mused a bit upon seeing Midna make her own undead. [color=0072bc]”It's a shame they have such hard shells. They could make for some cool zombies.”[/color] It was then she was reminded of something and zoomed over behind Midna’s undead minions and bit them with her shield arm, giving them a mutation and making them stronger. Going back to her healing, she was getting ready to deploy a projectile shield when those things expired.

Oddly enough, the bite did not transform the strikers. Instead it caused Midna start in pain as the effect was transferred to her, mutation boon not taking hold (fortunately) and instead all she got was a fraction of the light nips of teeth on icy armor. Mostly a surprise rather than actual harm.

[color=Aquamarine]”Ow, what was that for!”[/color] the princess complained, only to curse more when the mirelurk used its claws to slice through the shafts of the icey javelins, freeing itself. Then it charged to two undead, smashing aside the two spear skeletons, cracking icy armor and, sympathetically, Midna’s skin, before both were shoved off the catwalk and plunged into the water where they proceeded to float rather uselessly till they timed out.

Yet despite this undignified final act of their performance, they had left marks behind: two tight puncture holes in the crustation’s armor, ready to be exploited. And with their time up, Blazermate had charged up her shield and zoomed in, deploying her projectile shield and giving a robotic cackle as the electric shield started to fry whatever crab was caught inside it, bypassing their armor thanks to it just being a giant wall of energy and slowing them down as the crabs twitched while being zapped. And with her shield blocking the projectiles from the crabs in the back, the rest of her party were free to advance and crush the crabs she was frying, the crabs trying to slash at the medabot, but her maneuverability making it so their claws just smacked against her energy shield. Although this shield didn’t last long, only 12 seconds, so time was limited.

Geralt stepped in, slashing along the Mirelurk’s exposed belly, drawing the mutated creature’s blood as his steel found purchase against its softer, fleshier bits now that he had more freedom thanks to Blazermate’s shield attack. He stabbed his sword directly into the crab, drawing even more blood and severely wounding it before the thing ineffectually slapped its claw against him, trying to clamp on his armor, but not managing to even compress the steel through the shield Quen provided and the damage it was taking.

Thankful for the Witcher's prior intervention, the old tactician joined the other white haired man using Roaring Beast on him to bolster Geralt's strength. Hopefully it would expedite the killing of the foul crustacean "[color=B19666]Bufu![/color]" Asparas appeared once more, her cooldown having ended to once again freeze the remaining Mirelurk's claw to prevent the creature from assaulting Geralt any further.

Midna too joined the fray, a beaten up ax in one hand and an oversized revolver in the other. Gunshots echoed across the waters as bullets punched through, but their thunderclaps were nothing compared to that of the bursts of lightning the princess unleashed from her blunt instrument.

The ladies’ lightshows softened up the crabs considerably, while together the gents scored the first blood of what Midna thought would surely be a clean mop up operation- right up until the man behind the wall reminded them he was there by shouting “Now you’ve gone and done it. The entire reservoir will know we’re here thanks to that performance!”

A heartbeat later a next to invisible hatch on the side of the building and out of it slung a man with a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/metalslug/images/8/89/MSD_-_Hyakutaro_Ichimonji.png]lion’s mane worth of hair[/url] on his head. He had once had the body of a soldier, but time living around the reservoir and malnutrition had visibly atrophied his muscles. Literally visibly, because his skin rather than the tawny hue the sun had once given it, his flesh was a translucent blue, leaving his muscles and organs on display.

Some might have tried to hide this otherworldly complexion beneath hoods and baggy clothing, but the man was wearing nothing but ripped shorts as his bare feet landed just above rather than on the surface of a catwalk. 

He moved with worn down grace, his body not able to keep up with his training, and his training not suited to his new style of fighting anyway. Hands moved to his waist, taking up a pose that was familiar to some of the, before  fighters[url=https://art.ngfiles.com/images/2275000/2275802_tavino_hyakutaro-ichimonji.png?f1641252915]energy pooled between them[/url] and he then thrust them forwards, completing the echo of a certain street fighting school girl. The motion was where the similarities ended however, as instead of a fireball, the vagabond launched a grenade of psychic power that splashed down among the remaining crustaceans, the mental power piercing their armored shells with ease, staggering and wounding them in equal measure, and reducing one heavily thunderstruck one to ash

“We need to finish this and move before-” he began to say, but it was too late, and they had already kicked the hornet’s nest long before he tried to intervene.  

From behind them came a rotten gasp of a roar from desiccated lungs, announcing the arrival of a half dozen ghouls who, by the shapes moving in the dark above and behold, were only the front runners of a mutant horde attracted by the sounds of combat (and one royal shriek that started it all). 

With their clawed hands outstretched they came at the heroes from behind, a hammer pinning them against the (admittedly very shoddy at this point) anvil of the 2 remaining mirelurks and Ucaclaws.

“Damn it, damn it” the ethereal skinned man cursed as he pivoted, stumbled, and then thrust out his palms again, launching a mind striking blast that caused one of the ghouls to crumple and fall beneath the feet of the others. Then another was struck in the shoulder by a bullet, and went tumbling off a gangway into the waters below.

“What did I just say! Stop that” the man demanded, swatting at Midna’s revolver. The princes barked back with [color=Aquamarine]”It’s already too late isn’t it”[/color]  only for the brewing argument to be interrupted as 3 ghouls dropped down from somewhere above, landing right among the heroes’ ranks 

"[color=B19666]If you are done your arguing,[/color]" the tactician spoke through gritted teeth, raising his police riot shield to block a slash from one of the ghouls while also causing an electric shock to stun it "[color=B19666]You should be considering a swift retreat.[/color]" reeling from shock the ghoul found itself get ran through by the old man's sword before he quickly stepped back by the emaciated man and the princess "[color=B19666]You,[/color]" Benedict's steely gaze briefly gave the grotesque man a once over "[color=B19666]Lead the way.[/color]" if the man knew what was good for him he'd see sense in finding a quick exit.

[color=0072bc]”Huh, guys, I’ve got an idea, I’ll be right back!”[/color] Blazermate said, having her drones do a bit of healing as the group dealt with the ghouls for a moment as she flew up to a higher perch that was large enough for the engineer to start building his sentry gun. When she summoned her striker, it did just that, and with that done she flew back down to heal whoever needed healing from the ghoul attacks. From what she could tell with her suffering shield not affecting them, they were some kind of mutant, not undead. 

Still, with all the healing she was doing and the pre-healing she did before, she had a use of Kritz up, and asked. [color=0072bc]”Which one of you has the most AoE attacks so we can cause some serious deviation?”[/color], Blazermate not having fought with many of her group for a while. At least the Engineer, being out of reach of all the enemies below him, could freely upgrade and build his sentry gun, which began to shoot at the stuff below. 

And to the sides. 

And above.

After Midna finished ripping a dragon clawed hand through a ghoul’s throat (having chucked her spent gun into a portal to free it up for hand to hand combat) she glanced up and her dark attuned eyes could see shapes moving all across the entire superstructure around them. Then she raised a hand, a massive shadow hand, and said [color=Aquamarine]”I can hit them all, just make sure I have the space so that I don’t hit you too!”[/color]

“Then use that to punch through them!” their begrudging guide commanded, pointing though the ghouls and towards the next nearest tower “we can use that one to hide from sight and leave the monsters to fight over this one” 

Right on cue for that comment, the waters shifted as more Mirlurk’s approached, and,at the same time, ghouls dropped down among the wounded ones, the mutant humans full body tackling the mutant crustaceans.

“Hurry now, we’re running out of time!” the vagrant urged them, before popping off another mind strike into a ghoul.

[color=0072bc]”Ok. Go get ‘em then!”[/color] Blazermate said as she krtiz charged Midna, whatever she was using to attack crackling with a blue electrical glow. 

[color=Aquamarine]”Oh. My. Goddesses”[/color] Minda breathed, flexing her hands as the power mixed with that from her dragon dances to make some truly ludicrous power. Then, after wasting about two seconds just reveling in it, the princess burst into action. 

Crackling blue claws on both her hands swiped, shredding two ghouls as she pushed forwards away from the group but that was only the beginning. What came next was the breakthrough they needed, the imp raising up a massive shadow hand above her head, the bright orange limb engulfed in torrents of blue lightning, and tipped with razor sharp blazing purple points.

Then she started swinging, demanding all before her [color=Aquamarine]”Die! Die! Die!”[/color] as she drifted through the air, smiting ghouls with her godly glowing hand and tearing through scum, scaffolding and scrap with little regard for the collateral *damage she was inflicting, at least when it came to physical objects. 

Geralt’s eyebrows raised in an impressed stare as he watched the carnage Midna wreaked on the ghouls between them and their goal, the Witcher sheathing his blade and refreshing the shield from Quen, just in case.

In stark contrast, Benedict was less than impressed by the destructive power their ally wrought upon both the enemy and the reservoir itself. Though it did neutralize the current threat, it no doubt had gained them more attention than he would have liked. But all the aged veteran could do was hang onto the wall, summoning the persona that was spirit bound and erect a crackling bubble of electricity around himself and his immediate allies, shoring up their defense against the princesses onslaught of electrical devastation.

Blazermate was a little concerned with how giddy Midna had gotten with a simple krtiz. Yeah, she was devastating everything in front of her, but you would think a princess would have more class or something? She was like what a medafighter would be if they were a medabot! Which was nostalgic in a way…

Six seconds later, and all around her was dust and ash. Including, unfortunately, a lot of the stuff they had intended to use to reach the far building. Despite this, their guide did not complain, wisly deciding not to argue with the super powered lunatic, and instead pointed and directed them to go “round there, we can skim around the destruction, get to the tower, and then you lot can use the mostly intact stairs to get the fuck out of my reservoir!” indicating to a few gangways and skum platforms that would let them still reach their destination..

It was slower than going straight would have, but with the main pack of ghouls absolutely annihilated, they’d have it much easier going, with only the stray survivor or later arrival to deal with. 

Benedict kept pace as much as he could, blade now sheathed as he did his best to jump across a gangway, silently thankful of the Medabot's help as Blazermate flew with the vet in her hands. As they made their swift retreat he had scooped up the spirit of the ghoul he had felled, quickly crushing it in his hands without a second thought. 

It would better serve him as an item than anything else, he was already hesitant to take the strength of the creatures they had originally came to cull so in the moment he preferred to take what he could get without taking more than one could gamble for.

Blazermate had picked up what spirits she could scoop up as she healed, not really interested in fusing with any of them and probably cushing them later. The engineer’s sentry gun was now level 3 and being a lookout in a limited area with the striker himself having disappeared. If that would come back or not was unknown, but at least that area had some kind of guardian. 

A not so subtle frown creased the sides of his mouth, what he held in his hands made the old man shake his head, he knew not what 'Mac and Cheese' was and he didn't particularly care to find out. Tossing the carton aside while being carried. Honestly, if it were a box of tea leaves he might have kept it but that's neither here nor there. Seeing what loot he got Blazermate could only giggle, knowing full well what that was. [color=0072bc]”Why did that ghoul turn into mac and cheese? I figured they’d turn into something gross, not a prime American food.”[/color] Blazermate commented between fits of laughter.	

[color=Aquamarine]”Maybe it was their favorite food when they were alive”[/color] Midna added with grim humor as she floated through the air, using a blunderbuss to try (emphasis on try, her hit rate was still poor) and pick off stray ghouls before they could reach the heroes. Then she paused to slam a giant orange fist into the water repeatedly to hammer a mirelurk while declaring [color=Aquamarine]”I won’t fall for that again fish food!”[/color] until it was dust, and she sent its spirit to the twilight realm with the flick of a wrist, where it joined a few ghouls and the odd parasite she had picked up on the way down.

With their guide being rather bad at his job due to him being able to take routes the ground sloggers could not by walking on the water’s surface, that left Geralt bringing up the rear, with the 2 of the remaining crabs (one of each kind) nipping at his heels.

Quickly turning with a sigh, Geralt held one arm up to guard himself while the other quickly composed the Sign of Aard, blasting the two crab creatures with telekinetic force, sending them stumbling and reeling while he turned tail and sprinted away. 

The other two crabs had already perished, one to the sentry gun, the other under the weight of a pile of ghouls. Said ghouls were also in the process being picked off one by one by the auto gun, including a few that tried to drop down onto it, only for them to be comically launched through the air by the turret’s massive knockback.

Its rampage came to an end, however, when three ethereal tendrils reached out through the wall of the skyscraper it had been built next too, and wrapped around it, constricting its movement to prevent it from shooting its attacker effectively, and those shots that did land seemed to be mostly harmless. Said attacker slammed it into the wall to further disable it, before emerging entirely, revealing itself to be one of the [url=https://minionsart.github.io/aowp/Previews/psi-fish_hunter.mp4]hunters[/url] they had seen before.

It was a herald of a shoal of psi-fish, which swept in all at once in stark contrast to the beasts that had been assailing them so far. Most of them where the vaguely humanoid [url=https://minionsart.github.io/aowp/Previews/psi-fish_chrysalis.mp4]crysalids[/url] who drifted across the water, targeting down the range capable Ucaclaws first with focused mental firepower, before blasting the hordes of ghouls with shorter ranged psychic explosions.

Among them were a few jellyfish like [url=https://minionsart.github.io/aowp/Previews/psi-fish_spawn.mp4]spawn[/url] who fired off shots of their own for the most part, but they also used some strange power to fascinate the Mirelurks attempting to sneak up on the shoal, preventing them from being able to focus enough to attack.

Along with them came a wash of low level psychic power that even the mentally inept could pick up on. It felt like a slight pressure, one that pushed feelings of hunger, anger, curiosity and sadness into the heroes, but most of all it pushed in a gnawing sickness. It was as if the ethereal creature’s feelings were bleeding out of them, and into everything around them.

Even Blazermate was affected (for though she was a machine, she was not mindless) exposing the bot to the fact she could be affected by psionic attacks.

Despite the ferocity of their assault however, their guide had been one step ahead, and his plan to abandon the tower left the hapless monsters in the crossfire, and them almost home free.

Or that was how it seemed, until another 2 hunters phased through that very tower, four meter long bodies looming over the heroes, a pair of lifelight filled orbs gazing down at them. Yet they did not strike at once. Instead the feeling of sorrow and regret intensified to a peak, before starting to gradually die down, as if it was being willfully suppressed

“No no no no. Go eat monsters or something” the vagrant yelled at them, only for them to surprise both him and them by responding.

<Sorrow, to snuff out such unique patterns… But... necessary. Need to spawn. Need to transform. Need to ascend. Escape this campground. Escape this sickness. Escape these rules. Return to nothing. To everything. You took us> the fish thought at them, and that last made the vagrant flinch back, and what followed only made his eyes widen more <Spawned us. Raised us. Killed us. Then released us, yet killed us still. Now you trapped us. Kill us slowly. That makes this… fair. Makes this… retribution.>

Determination surged, sorrow flickered, being smothered, about to be snuffed out in the name of what needed to be done. Do more. A glance to the side would show the others how they had locked down Midna upon their arrival, having prevented her from shooting by captivating her mind with their flickering lights, and doing the same to her Vibrava. Both were unable to move or act till freed, willingly or unwillingly.

Having used a lot of her stuff and needing to charge them again (Although her projectile shield charged fairly quickly.) and yet there was still more to fight, things that really, really annoyed Blazermate by making her feel bad. But having been into a new area, Blazermate remembered something she had gathered, noticing the red cracks in the area. [color=0072bc]”Hey, are any of you guys really fast and can see those red cracks? If I touch them, they can really help.”[/color] But besides that, Blazermate was on support duty as the others attacked as usual.

Geralt, slowly growing more agitated by the psychic assault, turned on their guide, cold anger in his voice. “So [i]you[/i] did this? Dammit, it’s always something like this! Taking something, bringing it somewhere it doesn’t belong, and being surprised when it goes wrong? When it fights back?! Imbeciles…” He turned away from the haggard guide, the wrongness inside him growing, drawing his steel sword and cursing as the monsters moved in.

In all his life, through the fires of war and the burns it left behind. Benedict had experienced true horror, loss and sorrow that came with his service. He already carried a heavy burden on his heart, a secret he had kept a long time from both lord and house. 

A twinge in his heart was all he felt, when an invisible wave washed over him "[color=B19666]Lower your weapon now Geralt,[/color]" though he too felt the agitation of being manipulated, Benedict's mind was practiced and trained at keeping a cool head though it often made him out to seem apathetic "[color=B19666]That sword is no use against these things. Stand down, now.[/color]"

No good would come of sitting there in the open, they needed to put distance between themselves and the psyfish. If these were psyfish, they looked different from the others.

The deserter retorted to the accusation with that age-old non-defense: “They ordered us to capture them, but I don’t know what they wanted them for!”

<You did this. You killed us. Generations. Over and over and over. You are guilty. You are to blame. Causer of death and death and death and death> the minds of the hunters resounded as they drew closer until the hermit screamed back at them “You think I don’t know that!? Why do you think I’m down here and not in the army any more? If I’d been a smarter man back then, not just followed orders, so many people would still be alive! My comrades. People here. Even you. I just didn't know!” before he saged, and held his face while reiterating “I didn’t know” miserably.

<You understand the agony of your actions caused us> the minds thought, seeming surprised, before they continued <For them you must be punished/forgiven> only for the two wills that had been in unison of purpose suddenly fracturing apart. The two paused their descent and instead of attacking started blinking flashes of light at each other in what could only be an argument.

Behind the heroes, the rest of the psi-fish shoal was in the midst of mopping up the last of the monsters, while beside them Midna and her beast still stood together, minds captivated by the Hunter’s forms, although little micro movements of both indicated that said effect would not last forever.

Geralt only managed to overcome whatever rage was consuming him when the two fish began arguing, shaking his head with a frustrated sigh and sheathing his sword, while backing away from the other psi-fish. “I…dammit…” One hand came up to rub his forehead, eyes scrunched up in pain. “Let them…let them have this place. We’re not quite as bright as we think we are, it seems.” Too little too late, but the point had been made. This place wasn’t abandoned for lack of care, it was abandoned for lack of feasibility in reclaiming it.

Blazermate wasn’t as psionically affected as everyone else, but she got the jist of the message. They were being psionically told to go away and that's all she got, with the emotions they were emitting being what you basically felt during a robattle with parts on the line. Although she did guess that it might be worse on these guys being psionically attacked.

Rubbing the side of his forehead, Benedict was silently gritting his teeth under the weight of the voices in his head shaking it off as the two entities seemed to turn on each other.

"[color=B19666]Geralt is right,[/color]" the tactician turned to their healer, seemingly unaffected by the psychic attack "[color=B19666]We need to retreat.[/color]" they were simply not equipped for this manner of situation, the psi-fish were more than they had anticipated.

"[color=B19666]Fetch the princess, we must leave at once.[/color]" the seriousness in his tone hinted with a slight urgency, but his face didn't betray worry though he very much was.

[color=0072bc]”Right right…”[/color] Blazermate said, topping off everyone before flying over to the building Midna had found herself in as the two psychics argued with each other. Getting close to them was super, super annoying but all Blazermate had to do was keep her focus on the task at hand and get it over with. It took a little bit for Blazermate to find Midna who had gotten herself way out of position, something she’d have to yell at the princess later for, and picked her up and her little minion thing. Neither particularly reacted to the bot’s grabbing of them, but the fact that both were still hovering in their listless state meant she could drag them along through the air like a tugboat.

With everyone together, the vagrant subtly gestured to point out their escape route: an unlocked door in the side of the skyscraper that sat just off to the side of where the two hunters were debating, one that, as their guide had said, would lead to an intact stairway that would lead them back up towards the service.. 

All that was left was for them to pick their moment, because odds were the two fish bickering over the heroes’ fate would not entirely approve of the seekers bailing on them before they reached a decision. All while Blazermate regained her resources as they argued by healing her team.

After a few fugitive glances, someone made the first move, and they were off. The heroes darted under the arguing hunters, the front runner booted open the door to the sky scraper and, sure enough, within was a tight spiral staircase leading up and up and up, one that was miraculously intact for the state of decay the reservoir was in. Then there was nothing to do but climb, boots pounding step after step after step.

It would be a relentless climb, but the heroes would not be without motivation, as the pair of hunters, noticing that they had run off after a few moments, phased through the walls at the bottom and gave chase. Or, rather, one did, its mind chanting for <death> while the other attempted to slow it down without harming its kindred. 

Benedict, being the slowest member of the group, was the last to ascend the stairs. Blazermate, needing to taxi Midna and her pet, wasn’t much faster but still faster than Benedict who thanks to their relative speeds. Seeing this and the approaching death hunter, Blazermate gave the veteran an Ubercharge, which removed any psionic effects from herself and him, and made him immune to the hunter trying to smack him with its tentacles. This gave the hunter’s compatriot enough time to firmly grab and slow down the death hunter enough for Benedict to get going.

Other than that hindrance, the heroes got another boon when they got far enough away from the fish as Blazermate could cleanse Midna, who stirred awake after a few moments into the climb. She shook herself free and though she seemed to have no idea what was going on, she caught up to the fact that they were running. She sent her still stunned Vibrava home and then slipped into one of the runner’s shadows to prevent herself from being a burden.

The climb lasted for what felt both like days and the blink of an eye, but after several minutes of exertion, the hunters had fallen behind, and as they approached the surface, they one who wished for their end gave up, listing to one side and falling out through the wall, its stick body spent.

<victory> the one which had aided their flight declared, before addressing them directly <Go. Live. Remember what was done to us. Suffer above as we do below.> 

After just a few slower, breathless, laps of the staircase later and they reached the end, emerging out into a maintenance room of some kind, one looking out on the reservoir below. Out the window, they could ever so vaguely see the site of their battle with the monsters, and the glowing forms of the psy-fish finishing up their mop up operation. Should any of their gazes linger, they might see the last of the ghouls fall, and then, after the battle was won, see flashes of light, as a number of chrysalids transformed into spawn, and a few spawn ascend to the air as a new hunter, and a single hunter also transform into an as of yet unseen [url=https://minionsart.github.io/aowp/Previews/psi-fish_siren.mp4]form[/url].

This form moved over to a ghoul that seemed to have been intentionally kept locked down by the fish. A tendril extended, touching it, after which it was released to run around in a panic, until it exploded into ash .. and a newly born chrysalis was left in its place.

Spawn. Transform. Ascend. 

Midgar’s plan was a race of poison vs the fish’s cycle of transformation and spawning free from active culling of their most dangerous forms, and only time would tell who would win.

That was a problem for the future, however. The heroes had their own small one, namely getting out. The not winded from running Midna was working on that one, the princess slowly using dragon claw tipped to cut open a maintenance hatch in the roof that seemed to have been sealed from the other side, working it loose so they could return to the civilized world above. 

As she did that, the others had a moment to rest and reflect. Their still nameless guide took the moment to slump into a corner, looking like death, his heart, visible through his translucent flesh, still hammering in his chest from the exertion. Despite this he still managed to mutter and curse to himself about what he had learned, and what he had done. 

The princess glanced at him a few times, not able to really pick up or understand what he was going on about, before asking the others [color=Aquamarine]”So … what in the goddess’ name did I miss?”[/color] 

Blazermate shrugged. [color=0072bc]”I don’t really know either, it was just some weird psychic jellyfish thing that we’ll have to take out from range. Probably with a nuke.”[/color] she said, not really sure of the whole context of what was going on there.

Leaning against the nearest wall, glasses removed and rubbing the bridge of his nose "[color=B19666]I fear it is rather far more complicated than we think.[/color]" the vets head ached from being mentally assaulted, yes he was quite hard to crack but he was still mortal and this entire mess had worn him out "[color=B19666]I know not what they were trying to say.[/color]"

“Midgar is run by fucking morons, is what we learned.” Geralt dismissed the dilemma. “I’m content to let them suffer their idiocy.” Unless he was paid a hefty fee to care, he couldn’t quite find it in himself to do so. 

[color=0072bc]“Well, I got these spirits. I don’t feel like fusing with any of them since they aren’t that cool. So let me just crush them instead.”[/color]  Blazermate said, looking at the 3 ghoul, 1 mirelurk, and 1 Ucaclaw she had grabbed. 

[hider=Items for Blazermate]
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/l0IJI4C.png]Mirelurk Cake[/url][/b]
[i]When eaten, grants water breathing for 30 minutes[/i]
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/dijkGpZ.png]Gulper Slurry[/url][/b]
[i]When eaten, grants invisibility for 10 seconds[/i]
[b]TM83 - Razor Shell[/b]
[i]An instructional disc that allows an eligible pokemon to learn the move Razor Shell, a water-type physical carapace slash that has a 50% chance to lower defense by one stage. If the pokemon has more than 3 moves, Razor Shell will replace one it already has[/i]
[b]Kins[/b] x 750
[i]A virtual currency usable in all Psynet transactions[/i]
[/hider]

Looking at these items, besides the currency, the others were unusable to her. Seeing a chance for a prank though, she pulled out the Gulper Slurry and floated next to Benedict, holding the can of gulper guts in front of him so he could smell it. [color=0072bc]”So… you hated the mac and cheese… Is this more your style? Hm? HM?”[/color] Blazermate said before giggling. 

Nostrils flared at the horrid stench that invaded his senses "[color=B19666]I..Respectfully decline.[/color]" pushing the can away slightly, Benedict fought the urge to gag at the contents of the can whatever they were. Blazermate let out another giggle before pulling the items away and asking Midna to store the food and disc she got, which the princess paused her cutting for a moment to do

“Huh, so there’s more than one thing you can do with those spirits” their guide, who was fused with at least one psi-fish, noted, eyeing the Kins more than any of the other things that had been created by the process. Then he grunted and slumped back when he realized he wasn’t able to make use of even that any more.

[color=Aquamarine]”So uh, I didn’t miss much then I guess?”[/color] the princess asked, having no idea how to match that up with the fish who had protected them’s parting words.

“Ha, if that’s all you got out of it … well you got the right conclusion, Midge is run by idiots. But what you are missing is that we brought those things here. Captured ‘em from … somewhere, and then used them for something. Whatever it was, seems like it killed a bunch of them in the process. Then whatever whackjob thought that was a good idea musta got bored of the whole fish murder circus and then thought it was also a good idea to flush the fish down the toilet into the reservoir. When people were still living there. Well, no one could live there after the fish, so they sealed it off and started dumping waste down there to poison them”

“Fucking morons. And bastards too. I never knew they could talk. I mean not well. But still. Can’t blame ‘em for being mad after being enslaved and then chucked out like trash” he sighed and slumped back after giving his interpretation, clearly depressed by the entire mess.

"[color=B19666]Hm, so they are failed experiments of a sort?[/color]" Benedict mused to himself, a pensive expression washed over the vets face as he rested against the wall.

"[color=B19666]This could be useful information in the right hands, or have rather interesting ramifications if passed to certain parties.[/color]" whoever had left these creatures here had either seen that it would have consequences for the locale or were too careless to consider the ramifications, the who was likely someone in the government, no civilian would just up and make whatever manner of thing the psi-fish were.

"[color=B19666]Let us not linger much longer,[/color]" there was time to mull over the details later, now they needed to be elsewhere "[color=B19666]I do not relish the idea of being ambushed again.[/color]" if there were no objections Benedict was more than willing to leave if there was nothing else to be done.

[color=Aquamarine]”Add it to the list of things wrong with the establishment, because that is messed up”[/color] Midna agreed [color=Aquamarine]”... it was probably Psych-OSF, right? Seeing as they do psychic stuff? We could have our infiltrators look into it?”[/color] 

“Maybe. Maybe some other department. There’s a million of them in Shinra, probably all doing messed up stuff” the man replied.

“Apparently Public Security is letting a machine attack happen to blame DesporHado for it. So there’s that, too.” Geralt added, entirely unhelpfully. To say he was over this excursion would be an understatement. 

[color=Aquamarine]”Mmmm”[/color] Midna agreed, before going [color=Aquamarine]”Ah, got it!”[/color] and pulling down the maintenance hatch she’d cut up. A breath of only slightly fresher air from the undercity washed on in, and after the princess poked her head up she could confirm that [color=Aquamarine]”Yeah that’s it, we’re home free”[/color] 

“Well good luck to you with whatever your doing, but I can’t say I’ll miss you, seeing as you probably massively compromised one of my hideouts, and who knows what you’ve done to the fish” the homeless veteran complained

[color=Aquamarine]”Wait, you're really just going to go back down there?”[/color] Midna asked, somewhat appalled

“What, you think I can go up there? Looking like this? Fusions illegal for civvies and deserters missy, incase you didn’t realize that”

[color=Aquamarine]”And. So? What do you think I always looked like?”[/color] the princess asked, before pulling off her helmet to expose her bright red glowing eye, and then turning to flick her tail in his direction.

“I dunno, maybe you were born a freak? I sure don't recognise what you’ve got in you. Where as me? Well? What else am I but part fish?” he replied with a dejected shrug

[color=Aquamarine]”Fair. But we can also fix that. Peach can pull spirits out of you, though, uh, she is one of our Psych-Off infiltrators so getting a meet up with her might be tricky”[/color] Midna said, as she poked her head out to check if the coast was clear.

“Ok that’s the second time you’ve mentioned infiltrating psych-off. And you can do what? Pull them out of people. And you made them into money and food and stuff as well?” the man began to ask, to which Midna added [color=Aquamarine]”Those ice monsters we summoned here also a spirit thing”[/color] which caused him to throw up his hand and demand to know “who the hell are you people?”

To that, Midna replied [color=Aquamarine]”Oh us? We’re the seekers of light, and we’re going to save the world”[/color] before drifting closer, reaching out a hand and asking [color=Aquamarine]”want in?”[/color]

The man sat there for a few moments, and then shrugged “fuck it, why not?”and clasped her hand and let himself be pulled up by the princess.

[color=Aquamarine]”Good. Now there’s just one liiiiiiiitle bit of initiation before we make you a full member”[/color] she added, which got her the question “huh, what’s that?”

Then there was a splash of blood, a flash of pink, and a moment of memory, before Taro, undistinguished veteran of the Regular Army, and 3 times POW, joined their ranks for real.