[center][h3]The Under - Pizza Tower[/h3]
Level 10 Nadia (212/100)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Rubick’s [@Scarifar], Ichiban’s [@Truthhurts22], Omori’s [@Majoras End], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3205[/center]

[center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn28LCl-dAs&ab_channel=SongOfSoaring][img]https://i.imgur.com/CtW7IPA.png[/img][/url][/center]

It was a night like any other. Or maybe day, you could never tell down here without a clock on hand. The fashionable antique that had been sitting on the desk wasn’t working anymore, so after what felt like an eternity spent waiting in the cramped darkness, Nadia really couldn’t tell. Of course, that didn’t matter now. It was all over with. No more waiting, no more wanting, no more needing. No more sleepless nights spent longing, and no restless days spent toiling, planning, plotting, months of it, all just for this moment. And now she’d done it at last.

For a good long while, she just stood there in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out across the expanse. Few people could afford a view like this, either in terms of elevation, the amount of reinforced glass, or reconstruction costs. Certainly not her, and now she found that she couldn’t tear her gaze away. It really was an unfathomable miracle, this city in the deep. Schools of fish flocked like birds, congregating at clusters of seaweed that danced slowly in the gentle caresses of the currents. A blue whale, the greatest and most majestic animal in all the oceans, flew serenely past the window. Scarcely more than a parade float in comparison. From the rooftops of towering buildings that might’ve been called ‘skyscrapers’ anywhere else, powerful spotlights cast their brilliant rays up into the stygian depths as if to rail against the crushing blackness of a firmament that would never twinkle with distant starlight. Instead the people here gazed up at the glow of innumerable windows throughout the metropolis, not in wonderment of the unattainable cosmos, but in appreciation of the light and warmth they possessed, and in hopes of the heights they might one day attain. 

It was a beautiful view. Everyone down by the seabed dreamed of becoming somebody someday, and gazing out of a window just like this one. Nadia flicked her tail restlessly Of course she’d dreamed those same dreams. Her and her whole family. Though she came from nothing, never knowing or caring for extravagance, and delighted in life’s simple pleasures, she hungered the same as they did. Others had more than enough to go around; the Fishbone Gang just wanted their fair share, and a fair share for the poor folks of Rock Bottom too. But life wasn’t fair. Greed was greed, and for daring to reach so high they’d been brought so, so low.

Nadia looked over her shoulder. Down at what was, by now, just another pile of ash. Now, they were even. [i]Sweet, sweet revenge.[/i] And yet, despite years and years of constant practice, she couldn’t find it in herself to smile. She felt neither elation nor relief. That was the worst part. From the beginning she’d known that this wouldn’t fix anything. She never intended to do it for the sake of future victims, after all. But she’d convinced herself that this act would bring her satisfaction. Or maybe closure. Right now though, she only felt empty. Everything she’d cast aside for the sake of this moment, for what became her sole defining purpose…what now?

The door to the lounge slammed open, and she looked up, her expression blank. “She’s here!” A handful of [url=https://i.imgur.com/T90pAMU.png]suit-wearing goons[/url] spread out from the entrance, the barrels of their tommy guns trained on her. After them barged their ringleader, the teal-haired girl in orange, [url=https://i.imgur.com/xkmKrq6.png]Cerebella[/url]. That hat of hers was already ready to fight. The girl paused for just a moment, stopped in her tracks by the sight of the devastation that had befallen the lounge. All the furniture and decor, from the sofas to the side tables, lay in ribbons and splinters. Ice and fire from Dahlia’s special rounds had wreaked almost as much havoc as Nadia herself, and a half-dozen ash piles remained of the Bunnies who’d tried to come between them. Funny that it’d be Cerebella. Nadia had heard just two things about her, and like all good gossip they were contradictory: that she was a good person, and that she’d do anything for Vitale. Well, she wouldn’t be here if that first one was true.

“...You actually got her,” Cerebella sounded almost impressed. “But I’m afraid this is as far as you go. Hand over the Life Gem, and I’ll get Vitale to let you go.”

Nadia sighed. [i]So it’s like that, huh.[/i] She took one last look out the window, at the city and all its radiant lights. [i]So much for being somebody.[/i] Then she turned to face the mobsters. By now all her new wounds were at least a little healed, which was good. She was going to need every drop. “Wow, just like that? You’re too kind~” She sharpened her claws. “Like I’d buy that. Let’s get this over with.”

The fight lasted only moments. Nadia didn’t hold back–she fought like a woman possessed, or someone with nothing to lose. The mobsters shot, stabbed, and swung at her, fighting to pry her claws from their throats, and she just kept coming. Slaughter for the slaughterers. Her rampage only came to an end when Cerebella finally managed to snatch her up, clamping her between Vice Vera’s massive [url=https://i.imgur.com/8dKIBkU.png]palms[/url].

Pushing back against the living weapon’s strength, Nadia laughed grimly. “You’ve got some serious guts, fightin’ me after seeing what I did to Dahlia, her bunnies, all your little friends…or maybe you’re hopin’ they softened me up? Hehe, you wish. I won’t stop until the Medici Mafia is destroyed. Every last one of ya.”

“That’s my family you’re talking about now,” Cerebella growled. “I won’t let you touch Vitale.”

Nadia grinned at her with pearl-white teeth. “Yeah? Try all you like. As long as the Life Gem’s power flows through my veins, no-one can stop me avenging the Fishbone Gang!”

“...Flows through your veins, huh?”

She began to squeeze tighter. Much tighter. Nadia grit her teeth, her eyes wide, as the walls closed in. Her attempts to fight back were in vain. A second later the giant hands slammed together, and when they opened again, almost [url=https://i.imgur.com/RKAbkQq.png]nothing[/url] remained.

[hr]

Nadia jerked awake with a guttural gasp. Her chest heaved as she hyperventilated, her skin slick with sweat, her nervous system in raw shock from the visceral certainty that she had been dying. To her horror she found herself bound, encased in some sort of sack, and in her panic she instinctively fought it tooth and nail, like a prey animal squeezed by a boa constrictor. After a couple furious seconds she fought her way loose, partially shredding it with her claws in the process. Only once she’d escaped confinement did her jolt of primal panic begin to subside. That awful sensation of being wadded up, then crushed to death…just a dream. A terrible, terrible dream, but no more than that. [i]Jeez…[/i] As the thumping of her heart slowed, her breathing returned to normal, and she began to search for an answer to a very important question.

[i]Where the hell am I?[/i] While she didn’t recognize her surroundings, she could tell that she’d wound up in some sort of tent, military green in color. When she took another look at the cloth thing she’d attacked in her terror, she was embarrassed to realize that she'd been fighting for her life against an ordinary, perfectly harmless bedroll. A bunch of her equipment lay neatly arranged on the other side of the tent, including her blade case, her boxcutter hilts, her new dagger Athame, the Bait launcher, her pouch-laden utility belt, and her jacket. That left just her top and her shorts to sleep in, which was definitely for the best. Everything else seemed to be in order, from ears to tails to toebeans. Hearing noise from outside, she crawled on all fours to the slit at the front of the tent where warm light seeped in, and after poking her head through the tent flaps Nadia got her first good look at her surroundings. Purple brick walls, roaring fireplace (the reason it felt so toasty in here no doubt), a firmly barred door, and more tents.

Ah. Now it was all coming back to her. This was the Pizza Tower’s bottom floor after all, the last thing she remembered before passing out. These tents and bedrolls were new, though. The more Nadia thought about it, the more probably it seemed that someone had been nice enough to scoop her sorry ass off the ground, get all her stuff off her, and put her to bed properly. Honestly, while someone else might see it as an invasion of privacy, that act of kindness struck Nadia as a major relief. Right now she felt sore, stiff, and hopelessly unkempt, with a bad case of bedhead turning her raven-black bob cut into an unruly wad of fluff. [i]I must look like a disaster.[/i] She couldn’t imagine how much worse it’d be if left to sleep on solid stone, with all her equipment poking and pulling at her all night! It felt like she’d been tossing and turning, and no wonder, with a dream like that. “Ugh…” Nadia groaned, rubbing her eyes. Though the exact details of her dream were already slipping away, her unease lingered. [i]It felt so real…[/i]

After shaking her head she ducked back inside her tent and threw her jacket on. While underground there was no reliable way to tell how much time had passed while the Seekers slept, but her gut instinct, drowsiness, and well-restedness suggested that it was some time in the morning. Seven, maybe? That meant it was a brand new day, guaranteed to be as chock-full of thrills and spills as the last. As much as Nadia hated starting another day of adventure in this state, she had to admit that she’d been pretty darn lucky to have spent the last three nights straight of her globetrotting trip in well-stocked hotels, complete with showers and complimentary breakfast. “Gonna have to get used to roughin’ it,” she told herself as she ran her claws through her hair as a makeshift comb.

Thinking of breakfast, unfortunately, made her realize just how hungry she was. She was [i]starving[/i]. Thirsty, too–her tongue felt like sandpaper, and not in the way a cat’s tongue usually did. Nadia treated herself to a luxurious stretch, yawning like a lion, and exited her tent to greet the new day. “Good mornin’! Mornin’! Mornin’ everyone!” She made sure to greet everyone with the same cheerful smile. “Anyone got any water? I’m kinda fursty. Purrched, even.” After a few moments she came face to face with the three Pizza Trolls, who happened to be enjoying their last few leftover slices next to the warmth of the pizza oven. “Hey, guys!” she chirped. “What’s on the menu?”

Arno wasted no time in correcting her misconception. He, Willa, and Shyler didn’t make visitors pizzas; in fact, anyone seeking passage through this area needed to make pizzas for [i]them[/i]. “If you want to get through Pizza Tower and reach the Forsaken Lands, you’re gonna have to make all three of us pizzas with only stuff we like!”

With that little nugget of wisdom came a new opportunity, however. “We are rather particular when it comes to toppings,” Willa advised the heroes. “But you’re free to make as many pizzas as you wish in order to find the right one for all of us. And the ingredients to make any pizza you could possibly imagine can be found on our magical tower’s various levels.”

Shyler nodded. “Y-you can even take ‘em with you when you go! In our special pizza boxes, pizzas never go bad or fall apart, and you can fit as many in our red pizza bags as you want!”

“Yeah, knock yourselves out,” Arno added. “They’re all open, just make sure you’re fast. Each level’s got a time limit, and trust me, you don’t wanna be in one when the timer runs out! And don’t go anywhere marked ‘Staff Only’, ‘cause boy you’ll be sorry! Now get movin’, these pizzas aren’t gonna make themselves!”

After that somewhat brusque briefing Nadia circled back around to talk with the others. “You guys catch all that?” she asked them excitedly. “Unlimited pizzas that don’t go bad? This sounds like the purr-fect chance to stock up on food for our journey! We don’t even have to make all the ingredients we get into pizza, we could just keep ‘em, or eat ‘em on the spot!” She looked over her shoulder at the trolls in case they were listening, but they were currently playing rock-paper-scissors for their last pizza slice.

While the feral spoke with the others, Barnabee approached the Pizza Trolls. “I beg your pardon. Last night I distinctly remember thee mentioning a ‘boss’ of some sort. Is he an individual of some repute?”

“Y’mean, is he a big deal? ‘Cause he’s like, the biggest!” Arno cackled. “Trust me, nobody -and I mean nobody!- messes with Pizza Face!”

“And hast thou happened to glimpse a porcelain-white mask fragment in his possession, by any chance?”

The troll looked bemused. “Uhh…maybe? T’be honest, I don’t pay that much attention to anything that isn’t pizza.” He narrowed his eyes at Barnabee. “Wink, wink!”

Barnabee nodded in gratitude, then returned to the others. Nadia joined them again after a few moments as well, having gone back together etch her belt and weaponry. Then she padded over to the Hub’s adjacent halls to get her first good look at the Pizza Tower’s available floors. The first hall featured five introductory levels, though the last one in the row appeared to be completely blocked off.
[list][*][b]John Gutter[/b], a blend between [url=https://i.imgur.com/UXZEK6U.png]underground jungle[/url] and [url=https://mario.wiki.gallery/images/f/fd/SMO_Lost_Brochure_Art.png]tropical isle[/url], with vegetation tinged as purple as the swampy water and a populace of living stone pillars, and various fruits like pineapple hanging from the trees
[*][b]Pizzascape[/b], a medieval-themed castle of red brick, infested by Pepperoni Goblins and patrolled by Cheese Knights. Instead of weapons, its armories and wall-mounted racks contain arrays of peppers, including bell peppers, banana peppers, pepperoncini, and jalapenos
[*][b]Ancient Cheese[/b], Pizza Tower’s cheese repository, piled high with all sorts of cheeses harvested and delivered from Crumble Cavern to be carved into building blocks and styled in the fashion of ancient Greek ruins. Home to many cheeseslimes
[*][b]Bloodsauce Dungeon[/b], a foreboding and labyrinthine expanse of dark halls and rooms where cauldrons, vials, and even pits of red sauce, marinara, pesto, olive oil, barbeque sauce, alfredo, and buffalo sauce can be found if one can get past the monsters[/list]

In the second hall, the Seekers found western-themed levels, although the fifth and final one also seemed inaccessible.
[list][*][b]Oregano Desert[/b], an [url=https://i.imgur.com/1SuYG9w.png]arid expanse[/url] plus [url=https://i.imgur.com/qkeVPeG.png]herbal oasis[/url] where all sorts of herbs grow in bushes, shrubs, and sprigs. Home to Buffalocusts, Egglers, Scorpeppers, and according to legend, the terrifying Mothza Supreme
[*][b]Wasteyard[/b], a spooky underground cave full of ghosts, gabaghouls, and the burnt, shambling remains of pizzas that never got a chance at life. Being underground, roots, bulbs, and tumors can be found here in abundance, including garlic, red onions, and green onions
[*][b]Fun Farm[/b], a lush Italian farmstead with a bumper crop of tomatoes. All sorts of poultry and beef products can be found here, from shredded chicken and eggs to ground beef and meatballs, if one can get past the giant bipedal poleaxe-wielding [url=https://i.imgur.com/Du3rQyX.png]cows[/url]
[*][b]Fast Food Saloon[/b], a western-style town where ranch dressing can be found in abundance, usually packing heat in the form of Ranch Shooters and a handful of banditos. There’s plenty of liquor here too, though[/list]

The third hall offered five levels collectively referred to as ‘Vacation Resort’, though two were blocked off.
[list][*][b]Crust Cove[/b], a beautiful [url=https://i.imgur.com/4v5lnhQ.png]sunset seaside[/url] where the water is not only full of shrimp and anchovies, but sparkling. Black olive trees grow along its sandy shore as well. The vessel that sails its waters is crewed by green pizza goblins, wielding asparagus spears, broccoli clubs, and all sorts of things too healthy to go on pizza
[*][b]Gnome Forest[/b], an enchanted [url=https://i.imgur.com/GWtjd0R.png]fungal woodland[/url] filled to the brim with all kinds of tasty and flavorful mushrooms, with plenty of fungal freaks to match. [url=https://i.imgur.com/vNjqsgr.png]Beehives[/url] can also be found littered around it, though the bees are loathe to give up the honeycombs inside
[*][b]Deep-Dish 9[/b], an [url=https://i.imgur.com/gCDwS3M.png]alien planet[/url] inhabited by U.F.Olives and one-eyed pickle creatures, highly protective of their flavorful, briney vegetables[/list]

Finally, the last hall also offered just three usable levels.
[list][*][b]The Pig City[/b], a swine-themed urban city center where every shop is a butcher or deli, this is a one-stop shop for all essential pork products, like pepperoni, ham, prosciutto, salami, chorizo, and sausage. Just beware the wrath of the pigmen and piglin residents, only too happy to join together into an angry mob to dispose of any meat-eaters
[*][b]Peppibot Factory[/b], a facility where raw materials are refined into a number of ingredients for dessert pizzas, including marshmallows, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, candy bars, cookie crumbles, pie filling, and more. Owing to the value of these ingredients, the machines that operate this facility are well-armed and highly aggressive
[*][b]Refrigerator-Refrigerador-Freezerator[/b], a snowy landscape where cheap, low-quality, frozen pizzas are assembled and kept. In terms of effort needed to make a pizza this is as low as it gets, but they’re practically guaranteed to displease, and the snowmen here aren’t exactly welcoming[/list]

While she found more closed doors than she expected, as well as a number of ‘help wanted - miniboss’ signs on said doors, Nadia found herself quite spoiled for choice. Each open door offered only a sneak peek at the level’s contents, so what the Seekers would run into once inside was anyone’s guess, but if the Pizza Trolls were right about it being dangerous they’d still need to be careful. Still, with her stomach rumbling and empty the feral was more than prepared to take a risk. There were a bunch of good options, but once she caught the faint smell of seafood drifting from the level marked as ‘Crust Cove’, she realized there wasn’t much choice at all. Trying not to salivate, she grabbed a burlap sack from the nearest pile and waved to her fellow Seekers. “Alright, see you guys back here in a few minutes!” With that she jumped in and was promptly whisked away to Crust Cove, eager to rustle up some seafood. Any other enterprising Seekers would be following suit with their own chosen levels, ready to put an end to the team’s short-lived food shortage.