[center][h3]Midgar Sector 06 - Deep-Paris[/h3]
Level 5 Goldlewis (89/50) Level 3 Sandalphon (30/30)
Karin’s [@Zoey Boey], Blazermate and Susie’s [@Archmage MC], Geralt and Zenkichi’s [@Multi_Media_Man], Benedict and Partitio’s [@Dark Cloud], Giovanna, Chai, 808, Korsica, Clara, Svarog
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2846[/center]

The instant Goldlewis set foot on the dash pad, he launched downhill like a bullet from a gun, and his heart rate spiked accordingly. His heart raced a mile a minute as he zoomed downhill, his legs a blur moving far faster than should ever be possible. None of this made a lick of sense, from his speed to his heightened reflexes to the forces acting on his body that by all accounts should be tearing him limb from limb. It was cartoon logic, plain and simple, and Goldlewis didn’t just have to accept it–he had to accept it fast, because this wasn’t an open road. Ahead of him, the street leading downward through Deep-Paris featured all kinds of clutter, from slow-moving cargo vehicles on sisyphean treks up the incline to vintage trams to pedestrians, some of them hauling cargo or young family members. Goldlewis quickly joined every Seeker who preceded him in veering left and right to weave past the obstacles, not at all wanting to find out what happened if he slammed into something at these speeds. He found himself racing alongside Giovanna, who to his disbelief seemed to be taking this in stride somehow.

Still, she wasn’t enjoying it as much as Chai, whose constant cheers and exultations told Goldlewis that he was having the time of his life, despite the protests from Peppermint that rang out from 808. Like Gio, he took a more inventive approach with the obstacles in his way, flipping off of them, wall running, swinging from ceiling fixtures with his grapple arm, and even sliding beneath them. He was having fun with this, and despite the dangers ahead and the threat of Motor Ball behind them, Goldlewis couldn’t say he wasn’t feeling a little exhilarated himself. Even Sandalphon raced along with everyone else, her utterly nonplussed blank expression completely at odds with the high-octane absurdity around her. When Roland ran into a pit up ahead -though in reality it was more of a giant underground ravine that happened to intersect the roadway just before a big left turn- the archangel looked for a solution. She spotted a sky-line that had been set up to get people over the rift, then flew off a [url=https://i.imgur.com/p7soxOI.png]ramp truck[/url] in order to sail over the gorge and land on the rail.

With angelic grace she slid along the top at high speed toward the turn, 2B and 9S following her example. In the wall above the turn, Sandalphon took note of the muted sunlight filtering through a huge turbine that helped vent fresh air into this part of Deep-Paris. Such a machine no doubt required maintenance, and sure enough, she spotted an access hatch she could reach via a different rail. She leaped and changed tracks, lifting her gunstaff to take aim as she slid up toward the hatch. Once her weapon spun up she shot the big red button on the wall to pop open the panel, and without bothering to slow down and dismount the rail the archangel flew off the end, dove forward, and shot through the door. She sailed out over the walkway and away from the sheer face of the earthen sector’s eastern-facing cliff, through the open air above the Sector 07 undercity. After a moment she triggered Heavensent to slow her fall, and with the androids holding onto their pods behind her, the three drifted safely downward toward the ramshackle slums far below.

Back inside, the downhill rush continued for the others. Goldlewis, Giovanna, Chai, Korsica, and Svarog had all jumped the ravine behind Karin, Geralt, and Roland, then slowed down to take the turn before more boost pads sped them on their way. That ravine seemed to mark the end of the ‘upper’ Deep-Paris town that parasitized the underbelly of Vandelay, but there were more settlements in store for the team along this winding underground route. In the middle of another little town they came upon a construction site. The smaller and/or nimbler Seekers could navigate their way around, but when faced with a heavy bulldozer Svarog made a split-second decision. He couldn’t smash through anything with Clara in his arms. He slid to a stop in a cloud of dust, inches away from the big rig. Not far away, Chai hit a section of wet cement, and despite quickly losing speed he forged onward right until he got stuck just a foot or two away from the end. “Oh, crap,” he groaned, tugging at his shoes. Around him the workers not already sent into a panic by the other Seekers began to scatter, yelling, and when Chai turned around he saw why. Repeated collisions with the walls of the downhill tunnel, especially on the turns, had damaged Motor Ball to the point where it was essentially just a flaming, tumbling wreck. And now it was tumbling Chai’s way. “OHHHHH CRAAP!”

Thinking quickly, he grappled to a nearby excavator, pulling him out of the cement with a wet [i]shlorp[/i]. He swung over to an alley between a couple houses and ducked in there to hide. Once there, he spotted Goldlewis coming to a stop by Svarog and Clara, his worry writ on his face.. “You okay, missie?” he asked.

“I’m fine!” the little girl looked around, then back at Motor Ball, now only seconds away. “But we have to help all these people.

Svarog’s cyclopean eye took in the situation, his calculations instant. “Understood.” He unleashed a barrage of missiles at Motor Ball, blanketing it in explosions that tenderized its chassis. Then Svarog turned and hunched over to protect Clara with his body. Rather than hide, though, Goldlewis stepped up next. The veteran took a deep breath, his coffin held tight in his hand as he stared up at the large robot. He’d done this once; he could do it again.

Now!

“DOWN THEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-!” Goldlewis grit his teeth, the veins on his neck and forehead bulging out as he planted his foot, pledging not to move a single step. As the wreck descended upon him, he thrust his coffin skyward, and unstoppable force met immovable object. “SYSTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM!” With a colossal crash, Motor Ball bounced off and, as Svarog turned his head up to watch, hurtled into the air. From inside the coffin three Thunderbird drones zipped out. They flew after the wreck, and when Svarog lent more missiles to the cause, the ensuing explosions reduced the mean machine to smithereens. Tiny fragments of hot metal rained down on the terrified civilians, burning a little but nothing more than that, and Goldlewis lowered his coffin, panting. “Reckon that takes care of that,” he announced to nobody in particular.

If Svarog could have blinked in surprise, he would have. “Recalculating capability index.”

“You saved everyone! That was so cool, mister!” Clara hopped down and ran over to Goldlewis, her expression of terror turned to one of excitement.

“That. Was. AWESOME!” Chai echoed as he emerged from his hiding place, metaphorically blown away. “You were all- it was like- how’re you so freakin’ strong!?”

Goldlewis rolled his neck. “Aw, it’s nothin’. I don’t mean to show off or anythin’.” He lifted his coffin over his shoulder. “We oughta get movin’. Everyone else probably reached the bottom already.”

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/VSLofeM.png[/img][/center]

With the aid of some more dash pads, the stragglers reached the end of the tunnel before too long. It terminated in a large, roughly circular cavern at ground level, full of tunnels that connected to other parts of Deep-Paris. In the far wall were a set of giant metal doors that opened up to the brick and rusted metal expanse of hovels, markets, and factories that was the Sector 07 slums. Just about everyone else had already arrived, and as Goldlewis, Svarog, and Chai came to a stop, Sandalphon descended from above -the very picture of an angel from heaven- to alight among the Seekers in the clearing outside the doors. 2B and 9S landed right after her, letting go of their pods, and Goldlewis hunched over with a sigh of relief.

“What took you so long?” Gio quipped. She’d already plopped down against Rei, using the wolf spirit as a living(?) cushion, and her chest heaved from exertion.

“Whoooooo-wee!” Goldlewis breathed, ignoring her. “After all that, I reckon we could all use a break.”

Though Sandalphon didn’t look particularly fatigued, sweat glistened on her pale skin. “...Agreed. It would appear that we reached the Sector 07 undercity. While I observed the destruction of Motor Ball through my link with Mr. Dickinson, it would still be prudent to put some more distance between us and our escape route. Unfortunately, the layout of this undercity is poorly documented, so I’m unable to suggest a place to rest.”

“Why not head back to that bar we took a breather at yesterday?” Gio piped up. Partitio, Susie, and Zenkichi would remember the place. “It’s gotta be lunchtime by now, right? And a little day drinking never hurt anyone, either,” she joked.

Sandalphon nodded, then turned to 2B and 9S. “What is the status of your Flight Units?”

“No response,” 9S told her, his tone worried. “Have you…heard anything back from Laxi and Mascula?”

“I’ve lost my link to them. Anything beyond that I cannot ascertain.” Sandalphon kept her tone even. “I would like you two to perform recon in the slums. Make use of whatever facilities are available to you.”

2B nodded. “We should have enough materials and currency from the spirits we collected during the fight to procure and upgrade weapons.”

“Hopefully there’s a weaponsmith around here,” 9S added. The two androids turned and went on their way, 9S chatting about the uniqueness of the human civilization around them and 2B listening in silence.

Chai walked over to the ground, 808 in cat form on his shoulder. “Listen, uh, I just got done talking with Peppermint. I’d like to join you guys, but we’ve gotta take care of Vandelay first. We never reached Kale, and if he gets SPECTRA online, everyone with Vandelay augment’s gonna be in danger.”

“I believe that’s taken care of,” Sandalphon reassured him. “Two of the people who went with Luka, Sakura and Roxas, challenged Kale himself and managed to destroy his SPECTRA machine. The threat should be neutralized for now.”

The wannabe rockstar blinked. “...Oh. Sweet! I guess we can take it easy then, huh, Peppermint?”

“I…guess?” His friend sounded stunned, as if she never planned for anything after she achieved her goal. “Kind of…I dunno, anticlimactic. But hey, the world’s better off. One less crisis, eh?” She paused. “...Though, getting rid of Kale and SPECTRA are really just the beginning. DespoRHado’s gone but Peace Protection’s still here on campus, and we’ve got a huge mess to clean up. Get back up here, will you?”

The news had taken Korsica by surprise, too. “Hard to believe,” she murmured. “But what’s done is done. I should come as well.” She walked over to Chai, then shot the Seekers a grateful look. “Putting out fires is my job, after all. Thank you all, we’ll be sure to repay you in the future.”

After another few moments Chai, 808, and Korsica went off to find the nearest train station, leaving everyone else to take a breather in the slums. Goldlewis, Sandalphon, Karin, Roland, Blazermate, Susie, Geralt, Zenkichi, and Clara all ended up looking at Giovanna. “Lead the way,” the archangel said.

She led the way riding on top of Rei, relying on the giant green wolf to clear a path for the team through the slums’ narrow dirt footpaths. The group drew some odd glances but nobody stopped them or said anything, and before long, the Seekers arrived at Seventh Heaven. 

[center][img]https://blenderartists.org/uploads/default/original/4X/8/5/7/8570ad77e92e53be7e150dfaf0145bdd1e11d444.jpeg[/img][/center]

After climbing the steps and stepping inside, the Seekers found the Texan-style bar and restaurant quiet and empty but for a few patrons. Pretty soon it would be noon and more workers would start showing up for their lunch breaks. As luck would have it, Tifa was here to run the place, and the black-haired young lady looked every bit as stunning and composed as ever, happy to serve drinks and fry up some hot meals. While Seventh Heaven didn’t feature the biggest menu, it did offer simple fare, so the team could indulge in a light lunch, snacks, and however much liquor they felt inclined to pay for. Svarog had cloaked himself after arriving in the slums to not scare anyone, but one could trust him to be nearby as Clara entertained herself with the jukebox, darts, and billiards table. While the others settled themselves in, Sandalphon had something else on her mind, and excused herself to the restroom. When she returned after a couple minutes, she looked a little different.

[center][hider=For Sandalphon]Spirit consumed:
[url=https://i.imgur.com/dPPfvrR.png][b]Vigilant[/b][/url]
The host has gotten only two inches shorter (all exosuits being big enough to fit an adult man comfortably inside). Her white coat now has a hood, a synthetic feel and pattern to it, and three long flaps past the waist rather than a single curtain all the way around. She now has black gloves with light armor of a futuristic metal, which also now adorns the lower legs of her pants/heels, the latter of which now have metal talons on their fronts. There are glowing blue lines on her belts and the clasps are black metal instead of gold ornaments. This spirit grants the power [b]Vault[/b], which allows the host to launch herself high into the air by firing her rifle during an upside-down flip. Vault has an eleven-second cooldown. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Prehistoric Nemesis[/b], making all dinosaurs / special reptiles hate her with a burning passion to the point where they’ll attack her on sight

New Power:
[b]Shapeshifting[/b]
After building up enough power through use of her skills, particularly Angelic Wings in Concentration Protocol, Sandalphon can transform into her draconic form [url=https://i.imgur.com/O5RmMjd.png]Heavenly Wings[/url]. While in this larger, stronger form she switches from support to raw damage output. Angelic Praise is replaced by Celestial Skewer, which creates an eruption of divine water spears around her and can consume a Rapid Analysis stack to hear nearby allies for 42%. Angelic Wings is replaced by Celestial Castling, which creates a divine star above her that rains down seven rays of frostbite-inducing light. It can also inflict either poison, burn paralysis, stormlash, flashburn, shadowblight, or scorchrend randomly. It can also consume a stack of Rapid Analysis to heal nearby allies for 42% and refresh Celestial Castling for use[/hider][/center]

The spirit she requested from Midna augmented her white attire with a little black armor, and she didn’t mind the stylish alterations to her coat, either. Vigilant promised to expand upon her sniping abilities, and Sandalphon had no doubt she’d need them on the road ahead. For now though, the team deserved a break. “We should make sure that everyone’s up to date on the details of the operation,” she suggested, a tall glass of soda in her hand. Without access to coffee, she’d settle for fizzy sugar water. It helped that her time in the Lateran Church had given her something of a sweet tooth. “Including myself. I would appreciate a full briefing on everything there is to know about the mission to counteract Galeem. I intend to provide my full support to your organization going forward, and the more information I have, the better I can do so.”

In the course of the conversation that followed, Clara pulled herself up onto a stool and asked for a glass of water. “What’s it like living out here?” the girl asked Tifa. “I’ve been stuck underground for so long, this place is like a whole new world to me.”

“Aw, you poor thing.” Tifa gave the kid a sympathetic look. “Well, it’s not all sunshine and roses down here, but we do the best we can. The people down here are tough, and we look after one another. We’ve gotta be when the Machines come knocking, and neither DespoRHado nor the government feel like lending a hand.” She nodded at the news playing on the old TV set in the corner. “Though it looks like DespoRHado won’t be doing much of anything anymore. Such insanity…things can’t continue like this.”

“This place under the city reminds me of Belobog. It was just the same there.” Turning sideways, Clara whispered for a moment to nobody in particular, then turned to Tifa again. “Miss? Mr. Svarog wants to know if the people here need someone to look after them. If he can set up shop here, we can definitely help keep people safe!”

Tifa lifted her eyebrows. “Oh? How…nice of Mr. Svarog. He must be very strong and kind. Er, tell him we appreciate the offer, won’t you?”

Clara nodded emphatically. “Oh yes, he really is!” She fell silent for a moment and listened before continuing. “He wants to know if there’s any local group familiar with the area who we can work with!”

Taken a little aback, Tifa smiled at her. “Oh, well. We have a sort of neighborhood watch that’s based near Scrap Boulevard, rest next to the Salvage Depot. I have some friends there. If everyone else is settled here, I can give you the tour if you’d like, little lady.”

“I’d like that very much, thank you!” Clara beamed. With Svarog hidden, Tifa needed at least one more person to ‘chaperone’ Clara on the trip, but if someone filled the role the little squad could take off on the side quest while everyone else hung around.

[center][h3]Suoh - Beacon Mental Hospital[/h3]
Midna’s [@DracoLunaris], Sakura’s [@Zoey Boey], Pit’s [@Yankee], Roxas’ [@Double], Luka, Raz[/center]

Using Luka’s borrowed power, the small team made a series of jumps across the City of Glass in order to leave Sector 06. Despite the speed with which they needed to leave the highly dangerous -and highly public- conflict consuming the Vandelay Campus behind, they needed to move with cautious deliberation. Any teleport made too hastily could lead to catastrophe, after all, if the warp happened to cause an overlap between two different instances of matter. Luka’s pair went first, always warping to a spot that everyone could clearly see from the last one so the others could follow suit with more confidence. In this matter the group quickly but carefully left Vandelay Campus behind, moving around the periphery of Midgar’s plates. Not even the sector’s high walls stopped them; they could simply teleport up to one of the guard towers, then use the high vantage point it provided to zip down into Suoh before the security could catch them.

Though primarily a glistening red metropolis, the city known as Suoh wasn’t evenly distributed across the Sector 05 plate. Its densest concentration of big buildings stood much closer to Midgar’s hub, with the vivid red glass of the Otherlobe often cast in the shadow of the monumental Shinra building between sunrise and noon. Toward the far edge of the plate, though, Suoh got less grandiose, with the enormous Visions visible only to psychics far less omnipresent. It was at the far edge of the plate that the team’s destination lay. Right at the edge, overlooking a breathtaking view of the Valley of Ruin, stood Beacon Mental Hospital. The team’s final jump brought them right to its main gates.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/lQmzEQ5.png[/img][/center]

Compared to the supermodern brain punk cityscape of Suoh, the hospital looked like a relic of the past. Wrought iron fences, pitched green tile roofs, tall steeples, white pillars, and timeworn masonry gave it an almost gothic appearance, and beneath the stormy reddish-gray sky, it looked foreboding indeed. Everyone quickly jumped the fence and headed not to the front door, but an open window Luka indicated. “This place was shuttered years ago for practices the Suoh council deemed inhumane,” he explained in a low tone. “This part of town is usually very quiet, but it seems like there’s been clandestine activity around here for a while. When I asked around, the citizens were pretty hushed about it. The suspicious people we saw are supposedly here about renovations, or a historical society, or something. But when I asked further, I found out that some of those who live around here have disappeared. ‘Got a little too curious’, that’s what one lady said. After I told the others, we decided to take a look.”

When everyone jumped in, they found a welcoming committee there in the lobby waiting to greet them. Raz recognized [url=https://i.imgur.com/bE87vZC.png]Yuito Sumeragi[/url] from his encounter with Lili’s squad outside the Sumeragi Tomb two days ago. Though a little plain-faced and somewhat forgettable, the young man wore a warm smile as he recognized Raz in return. Sakura, and to a lesser extent Roxas, meanwhile would better remember the other two from Anistar Gym, especially the tall, brawny [url=https://i.imgur.com/4GcyMmA.png]Gemma Garrison[/url] with his distinctive armor. They hadn’t gotten to know the red-haired [url=https://i.imgur.com/D1JVYot.jpg]Hanabi Ichijo[/url] as well, but the staff-wielding girl had been sitting on a threadbare green couch at Yuito’s side. “Ah, speaking of,” Luka began. “These are the friends I mentioned. Guys, these are Sakura and Raz, my new squadmates, plus two new friends.” He gave Pit, Midna, and Roxas a chance to introduce themselves.

“We’ve met,” Gemma replied. “Had a good couple rounds of sparring at the gym…the day before yesterday, wasn’t it?” He crossed his arms, his eyebrow raised at Sakura. “I’m a little surprised to see you in the OSF, though. I thought you weren’t a psychic?” His frown widened as he rubbed his chin. “Maybe Armstrong’s accusations during the debates weren’t as outlanding as they sounded?”

Yuito gave Sakura an apologetic look. “We don’t mean to pry. If you’re here with Luka, that means you’re as concerned about this place as we are, so we’re on the same side.”

“Exactly. We’re all here to find out what’s really going on in Suoh right beneath our own noses.” Hanabi furrowed her brows, her expression one of concern. “What Luka said about your friend turning into an Other…the ‘P-types’, and the weird changes in behavior. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this.”

“We found three spots that warranted further investigation, once we got some backup,” Yuito explained. “Since there’s nine of us, we should split into three teams. And we should link up to use SAS.” He put a hand on his chest. “My power is Psychokinesis. Think of it like Telekinesis, but a bit stronger.”

“I’ve got Pyrokinesis!” Hanabi chipped in with a cheerful smile, creating a spark of psychic flame with a snap of her fingers. “So if you need anything burned, I’ve got you covered.”

Gemma nodded. “You all can borrow my Sclerokinesis. It’ll make you basically invincible, but it goes fast, so make sure you don’t waste it.”

“You all know about my Teleportation already,” Luka mentioned, turning to look at Raz. “And yours is ‘Marksmanship’, right?”

[color=FF8c00]”Uhh…yeah! Psychic laser blasts from my mind and all that!”[/color] the Psychonaut replied, just now remembering that psionics were supposed to have only one power.

As everyone connected the necessary SAS cables, they quickly decided on teams. As the ones more familiar with Beacon thanks to their recon, Luka, Gemma, and Yuito would each lead one team, and after Hanabi stuck with Yuito, Raz elected to join them, and the three proceeded down the hospital’s center route. That left the other four to choose between Luka and Gemma in order to comb the place.

Once formed, Luka’s team headed toward the right. That third of Beacon comprised the more residential section of the hospital, its multi-tiered common rooms connected by hallways lined with patients’ rooms. However, something seemed to be wrong with this area. It was filled with a viscous, bubbly white psychoplasm that coagulated and dripped like candle wax, slathered over the walls, floor, and furniture. The team proceeded in quiet caution until they came upon several [url=https://i.imgur.com/9NfuXei.png]humanoid figures[/url] laying in the wax, cracked and calcified as if molded from plaster. “We decided to wait for backup after seeing these,” Luka whispered. “They may just be here to dissuade intruders, but if they’re enemies laying in wait, we need to destroy them quickly and quietly. There’s no telling what’s lurking in this place.” His suspicions turned out to be well-founded. When anyone got within a certain range, the Albedo would jerk to life and begin to stagger around, muttering in strangled, dry voices as they searched for something to tear apart. Starting in the second common room, a pool of wax began to bubble and froth, and as the team took cover a monstrosity emerged from within. At first it looked like a serpent, with a long body covered in wax that twisted around to look for intruders, but the head on the end appeared to be a melted, jawless human skull of unusual size, with glowing red compound eyes in each socket. If the [url=https://i.imgur.com/XKpwd3b.png]Watcher[/url] spotted anyone its countless hands would emerge from the wax to drag them in, turning the exploration into a heart-pounding stealth mission.

On the other side, Gemma led the way into the hospital’s medical wing, with dark rooms lined with pale green tiles, gurneys and hospital beds everywhere, and an unusual profusion of barred metal gates. It wasn’t long before the team began to find bizarre mannequins in increasing numbers. Assembled like dolls from all kinds of prosthetics, straps, and bandages, the hospital’s ‘patients’ could be found sitting, standing, and prone just about everywhere in a variety of poses. Some had hook arms or peg legs, or heads that were nothing more than masks or wind-up teeth on metal prongs. There were plenty of spare parts, whether hanging on the walls or in boxes, and it was very, very quiet. A gate blocked their way, but Gemma inserted a spare fuse that he found earlier in the fuse box beside it, then cranked the lever to open the gate. A [i]bwaaamp[/i] rang out as the door slid open, causing one behind the team to slide shut at the same time. It also made the room’s power grid fluctuate, including the light in the ceiling, and as it did Gemma glanced suddenly at a nearby mannequin. Had that thing just twitched? A moment later the fuse box blew and the overhead light along with it, and in the dark about a sixth of the [url=https://i.imgur.com/Sl6lbNA.png]patients[/url] began to totter forward–impervious to damage, deceptively fast at close range, and bent on squeezing the intruders to death within their iron grasp.

[center][h3]The Under - Holograd, the Termite Capitol[/h3]
Level 11 Nadia (140/110)
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Rubick’s [@Scarifar], Artorias’ [@Dark Cloud]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2580[/center]

Light on her feet as ever, Nadia took the steps two at a time as she left the train station and its eldritch presence behind. Once she crested the top of the staircase and set paw back in the ramshackle emptiness of Falldown Mall, she couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. It might be a far cry from warm sunlight and a refreshing breeze, but she still very much preferred the lightroot rays and cave mists that filtered down through the shattered glass lattice roof to the oppressive atmosphere of the train station. While she hadn’t been lying when she said that aura didn’t feel as bad as it did before, its absence still took a weight off her chest, and she was ready to enjoy more snooping around with Jesse.

While Nadia got the impression that the song that echoed through the building might not have been anything special even if the place’s stereo systems weren’t butchering it, she couldn’t help but like it. Even though the feral’s own world lacked malls, the details Jesse shared gave enough context to help the song characterize this place as something nostalgic. Retro. Somewhere that time forgot. Since her breath of fresh air put some pep in her step, she skipped along to the tune, humming as she did with an easy smile on her face. “Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm, hmm-hm-hm-hm-hmmMMmm-mm~”

She took a left from the stairwell in order to do a counter-clockwise sweep of the mall, assuming that the walkway went around the back of the big central structure. Jesse followed behind her, neither humming nor skipping to the warped tune. To a more pessimistic individual the more serious woman might have seemed like a chaperone, but Nadia liked having her along. At first Jesse seemed sort of aloof, brooding, and detached, not to mention a little scary, but her little jokes and asides ended up making her a lot more human and personable. Besides, anyone who deigned to trade puns with Nadia Fortune couldn’t be all bad. As she passed by an abandoned toy shop, Nadia raised her hands and performed a cartwheel, landing deftly on her footpaws despite the added weight of the blade case that affected her balance. “Still got it,” she grinned, pleased with herself. “I’m still getting used to the changes, but it ends up ‘feline’ weirdly natural. You haven’t fused through, right Jess? I was worried at first, and I’m not totally over it, but it’s been alright so far.” She brushed her hair out of her eyes, only for it to immediately settle back over her left again. Funny that her bangs ended up being the least pleasant of her new features. “Still, I’d like to turn my hair white again, and I wouldn’t shed any tears if I ended up ditchin’ the paws and extra tails.” [i]Hopefully before I meet back up with Ace,[/i] she thought, although she didn’t say that part. She felt like she needed to be careful lest this whole fusion business tamper with whatever the Monster Hunter -and by extension, all her new friends- liked about her.

Nadia spotted a jewelry store, and though she didn’t bother getting her hopes up since the whole city looked pretty picked-over, she couldn’t suppress her curiosity and slipped inside for a quick peek. Maybe her instincts as a cat burglar could alert her to something others missed. Upon entering, she found every display smashed and empty, as she predicted. Not even the cushions that the dazzling accessories might have rested upon remained. At the very back, however, she discovered a big, black safe. “Ooh, what do we have here?” It lay on the ground behind the desk, very scratched and banged-up thanks to all the looters who’d tried to open it by force, but still shut tight. She knelt down and ran her hands over it, getting a feel for the hardware. It looked much sturdier than the safe she breached back in the Home of Tears, and she doubted she could bust it open. While not one much for arithmetic, she knew by heart that four places and ten digits meant ten thousand combinations, way too many to brute force. Still, it looked like someone had tried. Scrawled on every inch of the walls were different four-digit codes, evidently ones that some enterprising treasure hunter had tried. Above the safe itself was one code in particular, nine-five-zero-three, which Nadia quickly found out wasn’t the code.

“Hmm…” Standing up, she got a closer look at the big code. When she looked at it just the right way, the five shimmered in the light that managed to filter through the wrecked storefront all the way to the back. “Wonder what that means.” Did that mean the code started with five? She tried five-zero-three-nine, then reversed it to make five-nine-three-zero, but had no luck. Not even five-five-five-five did the trick. “Ugh,” she groaned, standing up. “Guess it takes this one. Safety in numbers and all that.” Nadia went to leave, but on her way out of the shop, she noticed something odd. Among the countless wrong combinations scrawled on the walls, one happened to catch her keen eye with a subtle glint. Curious, she went over for a closer look, climbing on one of the tables. Six-six-nine-one, and the one at the end shimmered like the five. Instantly the wheels in her head began to turn. “Aaah, I get it! Diamonds in the rough.” Nadia tore through the remains of the store like a whirlwind, hunting for the last two combinations. In less than a minute she was crouching by the safe again. “Four five eight one!” The safe clicked, and with a gleeful grin Nadia pulled it open to peruse its contents.

[center][hider=For Nadia and Jesse]We have obtained:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/cj9lF3T.png]Soul Link[/url][/b]
[i]At the last, we pushed the Ravager back when we realized that destroying it was not as important as protecting each other. Five percent of the damage dealt by the wearer’s summons is returned to the wearer as health.[/i]

[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/eUILoVM.png]Generating Band[/url][/b]
[i]The source of N'Erud's power is not a natural phenomenon. It is a replica, a miniaturized version of the star that once warmed our homeworld. Creating a star --however small--is no mean feat, but we believed that if we could do so, then there was nothing we could not accomplish. We were almost correct. Regenerates a little health every second while a shield is active[/i][/hider][/center]

“Catch!” Nadia tossed the gray ring to Jesse, then put then aquamarine one on herself. “This whole treasure-huntin’ business has a nice ‘ring’ to it, eh? Sure looks nice, but I guess we’ll have to get Toni to tell us what they do, if anythin’.” The glint of gold drew her greedy gaze back to the safe, and after a moment of rummaging she pulled out a handful of lustrous coins. “Check this out Jess, we’re rich!” Something caught her eye though, forcing Nadia to furrow her brow. Carefully she peered back the golden foil with her nails, revealing a brown substance beneath. “Ohh…” She sounded heartbroken, her ears drooping down accordingly. “It’s chocolate. Chocolate coins. They musta been here for years.” As she turned to Jesse, her ears perked up. “Want some?”

[i]Munch, munch, munch.[/i] Fearing nothing, least of all Jesse’s judgment, Nadia chowed down on the stale sweets as the pair continued on their trek. They continued to avoid the beasts that prowled Falldown Mall until they reached the back of the place, which brought their journey to a screeching halt. In front of them stood a massive crowd of shambling, half-rotted [url=https://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/427190/ss_1a2a783901398a39be84cd84efa62da9fd050b41.1920x1080.jpg?t=1687820818]undead[/url]. “Zombies!” Nadia just about choked on her chocolate as she reflexively leaped backward, her claws sharpening. She hadn’t heard their groans over the song that permeated the mall, although she hadn’t exactly been paying that much attention, either. In a flash she drew one of her boxcutter hilts, and once she pressed it against her case a blade clicked into place. “And here I thought they all went extinct when the Dead Zone went up in smoke. Just my luck, huh?”

Teeth gritted, Nadia stood with her blade at the ready, waiting for the mob to make the first move. She waited, and waited, and waited some more. Then she finally relaxed her stance, looking as sheepish as she felt. Unlike the Dead Zone zombies, these seemed to be both remarkably slow and oblivious, their muscles as rotted and inoperable as they reasonably ought to be. When one finally noticed the newcomers, it plodded her way like a drunk, waving its arms. Nadia stood her ground, took her boxcutter with both hands, and brought it down on the zombie in the middle of a rather feeble lunge. Its decaying body split apart like butter. Very smelly butter. The feral wrinkled her nose as the monster dissolved. “False alarm, I guess. I honestly thought they’d zom-be a bigger threat. More like the ‘obliving’ dead, right? Haha...uh, guess we’ll go around ‘em.”

With the moans of the meandering mob in the background, the ladies continued their mall run, starting with a visit to a pair of bright red doors nearby that signified a maintenance room. Inside they found a [url=https://i.imgur.com/GsvXe8J.png]workbench[/url] against a wall plastered with blueprints. As Nadia read the labels on them, her eyebrows went higher and higher. “Defiler…paddlesaw…plate launcher? These all seem a little…demented? Wait, laser sword!?” The feral glanced at Jesse in disbelief, since the blueprint simply said to combine gemstones with a flashlight. “No way that works, right?” Her eyes landed on a flashlight laying on a nearby table all on its lonesome, and with wide eyes Nadia withdrew the gems she’d gotten from Pizza Face from her pouch. “I’ve gotta know.”

To Nadia’s complete and utter amazement -not to mention delight- the blueprint worked exactly as instructed. Somehow, the jewels, flashlight, and provided duct tape combined to create a [url=https://i.imgur.com/pueXgRX.png]weapon[/url] that, when clicked on, worked exactly as advertised. “Holy frijoles!” Nadia flinched away from the humming green laser blade that appeared. She shook her head at Jesse, laughing. “Guess I’ve gotta give Galeem one thing. This world never gets old!”

Forgetting all about the zombies’ distasteful smell, she immediately went to try it out on the nearby horde. Sure enough, the laser sword sliced and diced the walking corpses with ease, cauterizing their wounds as it went. Nadia mowed through the horde for a solid twenty seconds before her new weapon shattered in her hand, leaving the surprised feral surrounded by zombies with her mouth agape. “The hell? That thing sucks!” She pulled out her box cutter and dispatched her attackers before storming off in a huff. “I can’t believe I spent my gems on that, what a rip-off! More like…like…loser sword! Pah!”

Not long after she and Jesse left the zombies behind, the two got a call on their linkpearls. It turned out to be from Primrose, whose escapades with Therion in the Arboretum had borne fruit for the whole team. The two had managed to locate a tunnel that seemed to lead downward into a gigantic underground hive. “Nice goin’, guys!” she told them. “Ya really ‘rose’ to the occasion! The buildin’ with all the trees, right? We’re on our way then. Don’t ‘leaf’ us bee-hind!”

Jesse and Nadia hastened out of Falldown Mall, leaving its mysteries and melodies behind. After making a mental note to tell the others about the train station, the feral navigated through Holograd’s streets, avoiding all the clutter and critters as she headed for the giant domed structure with branches poking out of it. Once inside, which itself demanded a little agility since the front door was blocked by roots, she made quick progress thanks to the efforts from the Octopath Travellers to clear the way. Some mouthy plant monsters could be seen and heard in the desiccated underbrush, but none jumped out at her, and the cute little korpokkur she found just helpfully pointed her in the right direction. The highest level of the arboretum seemed dead and dry, with only cactus still in bloom, but as she descended Nadia found much more verdant gardens below, full of flowers and greenery and sparkling blue pools with lily pads big enough to run across. While she wanted to look around, the cat burglar ignored most of the details to get straight to the temple at the end, carefully darting around the thorny red vines. There she found Primrose, Therion, and their newest acquaintance. While no Harbor Water Demon, the Water Lily Siren still boasted an incredible stature that left Nadia feeling small indeed. Her presence here alongside the Archangel that Magikrab mentioned made her wonder how many more powerful beings were lurking here in the Termite Capitol. Once Barnabee and the others arrived, the Seekers proceeded through the tunnels and onward to the Hive.

If Nadia had wondered how Primrose and Therion knew that this route would lead to their destination, one glimpse at the [url=https://i.imgur.com/WkyxNRF.jpg]tunnels[/url] dispelled all doubt. Entire swathes of the dark rock gave way to golden honeycombs, and honey dripped down from them in slow-motion waterfalls. Yet these tunnels seemed oddly abandoned. “Oh yeah. Hive gotta good feelin’ about this one.”

“Be on the lookout for any wasps, my friends,” the Hive Knight warned everyone. “They are a barbaric lot, vicious and prideful, and they shall not suffer thee to set foot on their supposed territory.”

Nadia brought out her box cutter again. “Don’t worry Barnie, I’m ready for any funny bees-ness.”

Even before getting through the tunnels, the team started running into wasps. Decked out in metal armor worn atop their black and yellow stripes exoskeletons, wasp warriors brandished their vicious-looking, saw-toothed weapons at troops of ragged worker bees that made and gathered honey at their bee-hest. Further on, the tunnels finally opened up into a jaw-dropping view of the interior of the Hive. The vast open space featured honeycomb walls like brazen hexagonal tiles, tall columns that made it look almost like a grand, gilded cathedral, and ethereal hexes of shimmering golden light that formed and unformed in the air, as fleeting and intangible as dreams. The place formed a sort of town, but paper wasp nests could also be found stuck to the walls of its buildings or hanging from the ceiling, and the wasp invaders clearly enjoyed complete dominion over the local bees with the help of their [url=https://i.imgur.com/vqUTWvd.png]Bee-Boop[/url] drones. Through the air hovered the massive [url=https://i.imgur.com/ylCFPFT.png]Heavy Drone B-33[/url], on constant looking for any bees slacking in their production while the wasps enjoyed the town’s facilities. The entrance to the throne room seemed to be on the far side.

“Looks like we got our work cut out for us, huh? That’s a lotta wasps…” Nadia glanced at the Hive Knight, who was seething and spoiling for a fight with the invading army. She scratched her head, her eyes narrowed. “But stealth might not bee an option.”

[center][h3]Edinburgh MagikaPolis - Dead of Night[/h3]
Level 8 Big Band (105/80)
Ace Cadet’s [@Yankee], Albedo, Lucia
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2019[/center]

Ace made it alongside Lucia and Albedo, but try as he might, Big Band couldn’t see hide nor hair of either Mewtwo or Wonder Red. [i]Where the hell did they go?[/i] he wondered, more than a little angry, and not just at the no-shows. Surely they hadn’t gotten mobbed by skeletons during the mad dash over here, but if they had, the detective knew he’d be responsible. Though to his shame, part of him couldn’t help but think that their demise would prove beyond all shadow the magnitude of the threat the Skullgirl presented, not just to Edinburgh but everything the Seekers held dear. Even if the ‘Seekers’ in this wintry city only amounted to the four standing right here, right now. Either way, taking stock of the situation would have to wait until Darkbeast Paarl and the Revenant were dispatched. And thanks to that lifepowder, he was good to go.

Ace took the initiative against the lightning-wreathed monstrosity, and Albedo quickly moved to join him. As the monster hunter drew Paarl’s attention, the two swordsmen stood together. The alchemist might not be as heavily armored or equipped as his counterpart, but he was no less determined to defeat this nightmare and find his lost friend Linkle. Paarl accepted the challenge and stalked towards the two, its bones creaking awfully as the raggedy tufts of raven-black fur that clung to them fluttered in the piercingly cold midnight breeze. “As I use my skills, my Geo will react with its Electro,” Albedo told Ace as the gaunt horror approached. “Pick up the purple crystals to gain shields. They’ll help immunize you against lightning but are too weak to take physical blows.” He could spare no further time for explanation, as Paarl attacked. It lunged toward Ace, its hideously grinning jaw wide open to crush his flesh between knifelike yellow fangs, but the monster hunter cracked it right in the chin with an upward shield bash. It was well-struck, but Paarl reacted far less than either swordsman would have liked. As Albedo created a Solar Isotoma to send out pulses of Geo energy, the unliving thing reared up and came down with electric claws, its huge slashes deceptively quick and hard to see even in the pale moonlight.

“Two pair, huh? Against a coupla o’ jokers,” Band mumbled. With Albedo and Ace against Paarl, that put him and Lucia on Revenant duty. Together the two former cops turned to face the skeletal bioweapon as it landed on the grim plaza’s tombstone-ringed central monument, standing between the two pillars with the statue at its back, where it trained its Multiple-Launch Missile Batteries on them in turn. While the Revenant looked far less imposing than Paarl, those weapons presented a unique and possibly even more troublesome challenge for a couple melee fighters trying to take it down. Sure enough, the ghoul started the fight off with an uproarious, hollow cackling and a salvo of rockets from its launchers. Band tensed up, his eyes narrowed as he gauged the distance. “Spread!”

“Ya think?!” Lucia took off running, booking it to the right away from her partner in crime prevention. Not as mobile, Band put up his guard and tried to parry. He wanted to seize whatever advantage he could, but the missiles weren’t evenly spaced, so while he deflected a couple he also ate a handful when he mistimed his parries. Leering in satisfaction, the Revenant took aim and fired off a pair of more powerful homing missiles at him. They hurtled toward him and erupted against his guard, pushing him back, though the first thing the monster saw when the smoke cleared was Band’s angry face. Lucia didn’t outrun all the splash damage that came her way herself, but when she slid to a stop she was ready for action. “Hey, bonehead!” A flare to its left drew the Revenant’s attention as Lucia performed Flipper Shot, her burning upward kick creating a fireball that she then kicked up toward the demon like a soccer ball. “Think fast!” 

Unfortunately, all the Revenant needed to do was lean back and lift its foot up as if from a splashed puddle. Then it returned fire with homing missiles, and Lucia barely took cover behind a tombstone in time. Even then, she got scraped up and thrown down when the rockets obliterated her hiding spot. Laughing, the monster tilted its head back and let out a bloodcurdling screech. Immediately all the skeletons wandering around in the periphery turned and ran toward the battle, charging through the graveyard to attack Lucia and Band. With no other options, the detective buckled down and got busy. The first skeleton that reached him got popped up by a trombone slide to the face from Band’s knee, then launched even higher with the Air Mail Special so that a follow-up soundblast from the upward-facing saxophone could blast it to pieces. Two skeletons showed up, taking turns to dive at him. Band blocked, then push-blocked the first one, then interrupted the second with Low Rank, splintering out its knees with the downward organ pipes. From there he used Giant Step, crushing the latter’s skull with the stomp that deployed his giant drum pedal, which in turn pulverized the former. It also knocked down the incoming mob of skeletons, but at that point a couple rockets from the Revenant flew in, and by the time Band blocked those the horde was upon him.

Forming up into a curved line around him, the skeletons swiped, punched, and swung at him with everything they had. One even stabbed at him with a bone [url=https://i.imgur.com/JLf8EpE.png]insect glaive[/url], its accompanying Culldrone cutting into his coat. In the end though, bone could do only so much against iron. Band deployed his huge mechanical arms to seize the glaive, wrench it out of the skeleton’s hands, and snap it in half. From there he swung the halves like drumsticks across the entire arc of skeletons, playing their skulls like a xylophone. The sight of a Typhlosion skeleton brought his jam session to an end as Band threw the drumsticks at it. “Looks like I gotta give ‘em the goods.” From beneath his coat his little arm produced a clay plot aglow with golden runes, which it tossed up for Band to catch in the palm of his big arm and crush in his fist, coating it in holy water. His massive hook punch then wiped out the entire line of skeletons in one mighty blow, giving him enough time to use Brass Knuckle and armor through the Typhlosion’s charge and crack its skull. The undead Pokemon jumped back, wound up, and breathed out a stream of fire. Band hopped back, though for a moment, then leaped over the flamethrower to come down with [url=https://i.imgur.com/MXVajMy.png]Jelly Roll[/url] into a giant dropkick that blew it away. When he hit the ground, however, vines sprang up around him and bound him in place. He looked up and got a brief glimpse of a skeletal Serperior as it lunged to bite his head. With a grunt he deployed his seldom-used gramophone horn from the machinery behind his head to hold the monster’s jaws off long enough to blast through his restraints with [url=https://i.imgur.com/I43Cmd6.png]Base Drop[/url]. He sprang to his feet just in time to block a double water cannon from a skeletal Blastoise, then found himself beset on three sides.

Meanwhile, Lucia had been dealing with adds of her own. Dry Bones might not be threatening, but they wouldn’t stay down no matter how many times she knocked them, and when a skeletal Blaziken came calling they made things difficult. The undead chicken put her kicking prowess to the test as they traded blows, but before Lucia could prove herself Quaquaval and Chesnaught skeletons showed up to rain on her parade. The featherless duck struck her with Water Pule, and when she tried to shoulder bash the Chesnaught she took damage from its Spiky Shield. She staggered backward into the middle of them, shook her head, and scowled at them. “Alrighty, bustahs You asked foah it.” Quaquaval and Blaziken attacked together with kicks of fire and water, but Lucia ducked and the two clashed in a cloud of steam. Lucia cut through the haze with an EX triple kick. “Toahnado Spinnah!” After decking those two, she rounded on Chesnaught, who went to block again for the second time in a row. Instead Lucia burned through its Spiky Shield with Firecracker, then kicked it in the chest to make it stumble back. Blaziken kicked at her, but this time Lucia caught it against her stomach with a grunt. Then she dropped her elbow on its femur, breaking it, and swept its other leg out from under it. By that time, Quaquaval was back on its feet, and Lucia was tired. [i]BANG, BANG![/i] Her pistol, snatched from its holster on her hip, smoked as her gunshots struck the undead Pokemon in the head. It didn’t go down, but after she dialed in her aim a third shot to the neck sent its skull spinning to the ground. The Chesnaut took five before it went down (two to each leg after missing the first) and Lucia dispatched the Blaziken skeleton before it could rise with her last shot.

Then she zeroed in on the Revenant, all high and mighty on its monument, and had an idea. She took off a Dry Bones’ head with a football kick, then grabbed its shell. “This oughta…” With a yell she hurled it at the cackling ghoul. “Shutcha up!” The shell struck the Revenant, then proceeded to bounce between the pillars around it and the statue behind it, smacking it again and again. Shrieking, the Revenant activated its jetpack and boosted away toward the corner of the plaza, ready to start the keep-away game again.

At the same time, Band had grabbed the Typhlosion and rattled its bones inside his bell, then smashed the skull when it hit the ground. The Serperior ensnared his right arm with vines to get the holy water out of play, but when it went for his head again Band snatched it out of the air with Beat Extend. After getting jangled by the giant tambourine and left in sound stun, the Serperior couldn’t do much as Band grabbed it by the tail and hurled it at the bony Blastoise. As he wrenched his hand free, he saw Lucia’s stunt with the Dry Bones shell, and inspiration hit him. “I like the way ya think, lady,” he said, charging at Blastoise with Brass Knuckle only to cut himself short with Emergency Break and grab it with Take the A Train instead. When he deposited it, the skeleton fell on its front, and Band took hold of it with both hands. “But we gotta think bigger!” With a humongous heave, he sent the giant shell hurtling across the ground. The Revenant didn’t know what hit it; suddenly its legs shot out from under it and it hit the floor. Screeching, it took aim with its rocket launchers, but Lucia closed the gap with Rough Chase. After bashing its head with her three-hit Cyclone Spinner, she went from the spinning backfist into a jumping split kick to knock away its missile batteries. It swiped at her as it rose, but she backflipped away, and beneath her Band came in with Brass Knuckles to make the Revenant see stars. After the holy water-drenched blow, it began to flash orange, and Band went in for the kill. He tore off its missile launchers with his mechanical arms, threw them down, then clapped the ghoul’s head between them to take it out for good.

The two officers panted, their sweat terribly cold in the freezing night. Though a few skeletons still congregated in their vicinity, their focus lay on the fight with Paarl. If Ace and Albedo finished off the Darkbeast, the Seekers were done here.