[IC] World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

[Yankee]

Exploring the Caverns

Ace Cadet - Level: 9 - Total EXP: 501/90
Roxas - Level: 11 - Total EXP: 63/110
Word Count: 5301 (+6 exp)
Location: The Frozen Highlands
_{@Double@Yankee}

The passages that crisscrossed the underground cavern, tunneled out through solid primordial ice, were large enough for most to walk through. Eroded by the passing of many chitin-covered legs scuttling through them, each tunnel wall was almost smooth to the touch, and reflected the light from various open areas so that the area was not as dark as one might expect. The soft green glow that followed Ace only added to these pockets of light, so it was easy enough to navigate - and to tell if anything was sneaking up on him, especially when the little echoes that bounced around the tunnel walls would make up for anything he couldn’t see.

It was due to these echoes of footsteps crunching through frost that the hunter could tell that he was being followed. They were not the sound of more glyphids though, instead they were much more familiar, and when the tunnel they were currently in came to a crossroads of sorts the Ace Cadet paused to turn around and throw a smile back the other Seekers’ way.

"I would have been fine on my own, but I do prefer the company," he said.

”Sorry, didn’t mean to offend.” Roxas said apologetically. He was flanked by two of his Pokemon: Scamp, who stayed huddled close for warmth; and Shocker, who was currently providing a little bit of extra lighting with its natural Electric- and Fire-type glow.

”But hey, it’s kind of like using the buddy system, right?” He offered with a shrug and sheepish, ”Well, that and Scamp’ll get restless and start looking for mischief if I leave him sitting still for too long.” That elicited a slightly offended-sounding bark from the Boltund, but the Pokemon made no real attempts to deny it either.

The dog's reaction drew a surprised laugh from Ace, who really wasn't quite sure how intelligent the various pokémon, pals, and everything in between on the team actually were.

"So he lives up to his name I see," the hunter said with a grin. "But I'm sure we'll find some mischief either way. And snow worries, no offense taken! C'mon."

Once Roxas and his companions caught up the small group picked a path and made their way down it. Though the two Seekers hadn't spent much time together at all, Roxas would soon find that the Cadet was the friendly sort, maybe even annoyingly so - it depended on how one felt about the puns the man tended to slip into his speech, some almost incomprehensible without context. At times their chatting brought wayward terminids their way, but never more than two or three which they could easily dispatch. Even those numbers shrunk until the two of them traveled unharried.

They went through pockets of small open caverns not far from the one they'd been fighting the glyphid swarm in. None looked like dead ends as there were always more tunnels connected, making the layout of the cave system less like a labyrinth and more like an interconnected bug highway - though the further one went, the less bio-luminescence plants grew, making for a darker path. Not that that deterred either of them thanks to the natural glow of their companions.

When they came upon an incline into another dim chamber that looked promising as a possible way out, Ace and Roxas headed right in. Unbeknownst to them, Heismay had already been this way yet had not gone in when he'd spied a strange figure within it. The same one that the pair of Seekers saw now: tall and misshapen, a being born mutated with vestigial animal parts reminiscent of the primordial crucible before the civilized Age of the Erdtree, marking this poor soul as an aberration to be mistreated and outcast. Perhaps that's why it was there in the first place.

The misbegotten crouched by a dead fire pit with a glowing greatsword clamped tightly in one of its hands. Heismay had wisely avoided the monstrous looking person, but the Ace Cadet was not so shrewd. Since meeting all kinds of people that could rightly be called monsters in other worlds, he didn't write this one off on sight alone. A better look meant getting closer, so he started walking over.

"If he found a way in here then he must know a way back out, right?" he said to Roxas. The broken cave floor can't have been the only way, everything that lived down here had to at one point have made their way below ground in the first place.

”I guess that tracks.” Roxas said with a shrug of reluctant agreement. He wasn’t quite so casual about the shape of the misshapen outcast as Ace seemed to be, but he knew better than to judge a book by its cover. And if all they were going to do was watch it for now, then he at least knew how to stay still and quiet. Roxas was not about to make the same mistake he made back in Spire 04 the last time he found himself in a situation that called for stealth and subtlety. He could still remember all those electric shock attacks that warframe used on him.

”So what’s the plan?” He whispered to the monster hunter, ”You gonna, like, talk to it or something? Or are we just watching?”

"I'll try and talk first, see if he'll warm up to us. You stay here for now in case he does something other than give me a cold shoulder," the Cadet replied with a reassuring smile. He knew Roxas was strong, or else he wouldn't be on the team, but he was still a kid so Ace didn't want him to get caught in a sucker punch attack or anything.

He gave Roxas a nod and then jogged the rest of the way over to the figure in the darker area of the cavern. The misbegotten turned its head when it heard his approach, laying baleful eyes on Ace. The hunter's footsteps faltered when his scoutflies changed their green glow into a warning red and retreated back into their cage, but he was already close to the mutant. He slowed and stopped a few feet away, and for a moment neither moved.

"Hey, don't suppose you know a way out of this place?" Ace tried when the misbegotten did not immediately move to threaten him. He wasn't sure if it even understood him as it merely stared before suddenly narrowing its eyes and standing up, yanking the tip of its great sword out of the ground as it did so.

Standing two heads taller than Ace, the misbegotten growled menacingly. Now that it wasn't crouched a long, scaly tail could be seen protruding from its back which twitched in agitation. Its mostly humanoid shape and the remains of a camp around it might have fooled some into thinking that it could be spoken to and reasoned with, but the crusader was more animal than man now, if it had ever been the opposite in the first place.

Guess not, Ace thought as the misbegotten raised its weapon over head and slammed it down toward the intruder in front of it. A blast of disturbed ice and snow shot up in the air from the impact site, though when it cleared there was only cracked ground beneath the blade. Ace had dove to one side out of harm's way, the dual blades in his hands for self defense.

”Wind!” Roxas called from his hiding spot. He cast the Aeroga spell on Ace, conjuring up a whirlwind shield around the hunter that would halve all incoming damage and deal minor touch damage to the misbegotten for the next 18 seconds. After that Roxas immediately went about casting Tailwind on both himself and the other Seeker so they’d benefit from a minor speed buff for the duration of this fight.

It was fortunate that the Wind -and thus the damage reduction- came before the other spell, because when Ace felt the magic wrap around him he also felt the unfortunately familiar sense of dread that accompanied it. His mouth went dry and his body tensed up. Right, Roxas was primarily a magic user! The couple of skirmishes they'd had with leftover glyphids hadn't warranted any spells, but now that there was a more powerful enemy to face the magic was coming out. That was fine though, he was just trying to help, and Ace had been getting used to it more and more. He could deal with a little–

The misbegotten twisted, slinging its whole body sword-first towards the hunter. The blade swung out in a heavy lateral slash too quick for Ace to cleanly dodge while distracted by the spell's effect on him. In the midst of shifting backward away from the blow the far edge of the greatsword caught him, with power enough to send the Cadet spiraling away with a thin spray of blood from the slice.

Meanwhile, Scamp’s legs coiled and the Pokemon growled momentarily before he took off in a sprint toward the sword-wielding creature. ”Use Nuzzle!” He heard his trainer call from behind, and the Boltund obeyed. Scamp lunged for the misbegotten, but rather than bite or slam into it, he instead nuzzled against the creature’s legs while electrifying himself. That would deal minor electric-type damage but also had a guaranteed chance to inflict paralysis if the move connected.

Unfortunately for all of the pokémon's speed Scamp was a beat too slow, his trainer's command alerting the mutant to the new danger. The misbegotten leapt straight up into the air, its tail just brushing by Scamp as the Boltund slowed to go for the nuzzling, and with a growl of its own the crusader gripped the edge of its sword with its free hand and pushed down, swiftly falling down to Scamp's location like a guillotine. This attack also missed, namely due to Roxas' so-far stationary position giving him the vantage to see it coming and react accordingly by quickly recalling the Boltund back into his Poke Ball as a means of dodging the hit.

”Shocker, use Fire Blast!” Roxas commanded, prompting his Rotom to spit out a fireball that rapidly expanded into a big shape that resembled the Japanese kanji for “fire” as it careened toward the misbegotten on what would be a collision course unless it was fast enough to dodge it.

Normally it might have been, but in recovering from its jump the crusader only had time to lift its sword back up to try and block the blast rather than get out of the way of it. The glowing weapon absorbed some of the damage from the attack, but it seemed that fire proved effective as the flames that reached past the block and scorched its body made the misbegotten flinch. Embers lingered on its skin, twisting its awful face into an even more pained expression.

And then it roared, launching itself at Shocker and Roxas with a wide, powerful circular slash.

”Double Team!” Roxas called, prompting his Rotom to instantly split up into several afterimages that would make it harder to successfully hit. As for Roxas, he could either vanish into a StepSword strike or he could stand his ground with a different tactic - and made the split decision to do the latter.

”Reflect!” The Nobody chanted, attempting to put up a Reflectga spell rather than try to dodge. If the timing was right, the Reflectga’s barrier would fully absorb the hit and then redirect the intended damage back at the attacker. If the timing was off, however, then Roxas would be taking the hit just like Ace had a moment ago.

The sword passed through a few copies of the Rotom before meeting Roxas' barrier, the reflect parry effective if only at momentarily preventing damage. What was reflected back at the misbegotten didn't seem to phase it much this time, but it paused before going right into another attack. It narrowed its burning red eyes at Roxas. It was learning.

The bestial-faced figure took one step back and then spun, using its thick tail as a bludgeon aimed at trainer and pokémon again. At the same time it arced its sword overhead, an offset attack meant to cleave the keyblade wielder in two. But it lurched suddenly, throwing its aim with its sword off course. Ace had recovered at this point and jumped right to his comrade's defense, his dual blades slicing along the misbegotten's flank. They tore into the mutant's flesh, pulling a roar from its throat. The hunter whirled out of the way as it raised a leg to stomp him.

A moment later and the misbegotten spread its arms, swinging its greatsword in one hand at its three enemies wildly. Its other hand, tipped with sharp nails, swiped out to try and gouge or grab anything it could get its claws on. And as for Roxas himself, this time he elected to conserve MP and not go for another Reflectga parry. Instead he used his own innate agility and Flow Motion to perform a quick series of dodge rolls to keep from being sliced and swiped. He did, however, look for an opening to toss out another of his Poke Balls - this one containing his Steel- and Poison-type Revavroom, Turbo. ”Use Screech!” He called out in between dodge rolls.

So rather than charge in for an attack, Turbo kept her distance and loudly revved her engines into a loud screeching sound that only echoed more in the enclosed space of the cave system. But that might have been to their advantage, as the sound-based attack was not one intended for dealing damage, but instead to sharply lower the defense of the misbegotten through its high-pitched noise.

With no way to avoid the move, the crusader defenses took the hit as it cringed from the sound assaulting its ears. It did not let up on its attack though, forcing the Seekers and Pokémon to keep up their evasion while looking for the chance to deal damage. Back in the groove, Ace's blades were even more effective thanks to the Screech making even shallow slices begin to add up. Of course the creature they were fighting tried giving as good as it got, but shifting its focus between its sped up enemies meant so far the blows it landed against them had been mostly glancing.

Surrounded and seemingly getting nowhere, the misbegotten pulled its greatsword back close to it after the latest slash. It grunted and stood up tall, thrusting the arm holding its weapon out to the side with the sword pointed straight up to the sky. With its other hand it drew an incantation in the air in front of its face. Suddenly the cretin looked less like a barbarous outcast and more like a sophisticated fighter thanks to its poise.

Whatever it was doing it was clear that it wouldn't be the same savage swings as before - which made Ace wary enough to call a warning out to Roxas and move to pull back. "Watch out!"

It was less than a second before an explosion of holy light erupted in a wide circle up and around the misbegotten, consuming the Rotom and all its doubles, Roxas, and Ace if they couldn't escape the blast radius in time.

The glittering particles of gold faded, revealing the misbegotten standing rigid and facing the Seekers. Maybe it was the fact that they were grouped together now and the mutant had an eerie look in its eye, or maybe it was the lingering unease from the detonated magic, but when the crusader reached up to grip its greatsword in two hands Ace's nerves lit up and his stomach twisted. The misbegotten swung from where it was, and light traced the path of its blade before being flung out in sharpened arc of holy energy right for them that ended up sailing over them as the hunter grabbed Roxas by the back of his collar and forced the both of them to hit the snow just before the flying scythe could lop off their heads.

The missile of magic had been so swift that if not for the early Tailwind they might not have avoided it, but now they knew that this misbegotten crusader was much more than a one-dimensional berserker. Ace hadn't expected to run into anything like this down here, figuring that the most they'd find if not a way out was bigger, stronger bugs or ice-aspect monsters. The hunter was pale in the face as he and Roxas pulled themselves out of the snow, but he forced a confident grin to form. No use worrying Roxas, he'd pull himself together and the two of them -plus the assists from the battle pets- would be able to handle this threat before reuniting with the others.

"Think you can get me one good opening?" the Cadet asked. "These blades build up sleep, a little more and I can put that guy under."

”I’ll see what I can do.” Roxas quickly said before needing to spring back into action again. Not leaving much room for strategizing, the misbegotten growled and swung the sword back the other way to unleash another arc of light at them before following up by leaping with its own body in a heavy falling slash. Roxas had to dive into another dodge roll to avoid the arc of light, but then there was the falling slash.

”Poltergeist!” Roxas, calling on one of his two strikers to come out and lend a hand. The ghost girl appeared and used The Sun Is Not Gentle to give Roxas a plethora of buffs to his Defense and Healing, but also granting him Taunt to keep the crusader’s attention on him and Stealth to allow him keep the misbegotten from locking onto him properly. That would make avoiding attacks significantly easier for the next 25 seconds that these buffs would last.

It also gave him a slim opening to call Turbo back out from her Poke Ball, ”Swagger!” Roxas ordered, instructing Turbo to once again keep her distance and attack with another status move. This one wasn’t as accurate as her other moves, but once it landed it could inflict confusion while simultaneously heightening the crusader’s attack so that any self-inflicted damage would be increased. And he intended to use whatever MP he had left to try and parry some damage back at the crusader with Reflectga, hoping confusion would give Ace the opening he was asking for.

The misbegotten attacked furiously. Its swings were not random, but the keyblade wielder proved a very elusive target even when it attempted to predict which way the boy would move. With its strength improved the misbegotten's blows could chip through even the sturdiest block, but with Roxas burning through his mana to make sure most of that ended up dealt back to the crusader itself whenever it broke through its confusion it seemed that the battle would end up in the Seekers' favor. Especially as all the while Ace made ample use of Roxas' distractions, pairing the Nobody's taunt with his shirking enmity to get in close and rip into the raging monster.

It was wearing down, the slashing damage that was one of its weaknesses taking its toll. When its confusion wore off the misbegotten shook its head and let out a mighty roar that was even louder than Turbo's screech from before, the sound enough to make its enemies flinch, if only for a moment. And during that moment it assumed its casting stance once more. Unlike Roxas, it seemed to have plenty of its own mana left. Another explosion seemed imminent.

But the Ace Cadet had a plethora of experience with similar staggering roars, and when he'd noticed the misbegotten drawing in breath he'd prepared. Free to move after a well timed roll through the snow to dampen the sound for himself, Ace lunged with a double stab that broke the misbegotten's stance. It swayed, stumbling forward before slamming face first into the snowy ground.

Its sword was still clenched tightly in its hand. It was not dead though - the sleep effect had finally taken hold. The mutant's chest rose and fell in fitful sleep.

Ace was confident it wouldn't wake up easily without some help, but even so he waited a beat before relaxing his own battle stance. He looked over at Roxas, checking to see whether the boy had been injured too badly. To save waiting for his MP to recover for a healing spell, the hunter had a few potions he could spare. "Nice work!"

”Thanks,”” Roxas said, his own shoulders sagging in a more relaxed stance before he quickly added, ”You too. So…” He gestured to the slumbering crusader, ”...what should we do about him? Back off and let him sleep?”

Ace looked down at the figure with a small frown. "I wish we could," he said honestly. "But once it wakes up it'll have to come after us, right? Knocking it out cold is one thing, but I dunno if just putting it to sleep will deactivate the whole... forced to fight thing."

He rubbed the back of his head while staring at the misbegotten. Something told him trying a friend heart wouldn't be wise. The Cadet felt a little bad for it since he'd intruded on its territory, but the thing wasn't mindless. It seemed smart, though if it understood their language than it just ignored it and chose violence first.

"It'll be safer if we, y'know, put it to sleep for real. Not a Ya-cool thing to do I know, but..."

Shocker's fire had seemed effective even through its block, so a powerful burning blast like that would really do the trick with the bonus wake-up damage, but Ace wasn't about to ask Roxas to command his pokémon friend to kill the misbegotten in cold blood. "I'll take care of it."

He took a moment to swap his equipment out, stowing the jagged dual blades and withdrawing the longsword Yato. There was ample time for Roxas to look away and investigate the camp the misbegotten had been squatting in or the rest of the cave in general before Ace placed the blade at the mutant's neck. He took a deep breath, raised the sword up, and put all of his strength into one decisive blow. It severed flesh and vertebrae, making the crusader jerk before eventually succumbing from its wounds.

Roxas wasn’t averse to what Ace was suggesting, but it was pretty sad to think about. But he didn’t argue back, and instead took Shocker to go look around at the camp the crusader had been at before the two Seekers showed up. There was no guarantee about what he’d find there but at least it was something to do while Ace finished up with the crusader.

It was mostly just busted up remains of tents with a fire pit long gone cold, but there were small holes in the wall nearby where the misbegotten was crouched that Roxas could hear some movement from. After a moment an insectoid head poked out and looked around as if to make sure the coast was clear. It noticed Roxas and Shocker, giving them a wary look. This bug was noticeably different from the glyhpids and terminids they'd found before, and it didn't appear to be like the blowhogs or anything else that had attacked them in the main hollow.

”Hey there, little guy.” Roxas said softly, tilting his head. ”You live here, I take it?”

At first it seemed that the bug would not react to Roxas' words, but after a few moments it tilted its head. It was hard to say if it knew what he'd actually said, but it did seem to understand his tone. It crawled the rest of the way out of the hole and unfurled four transparent wings, taking to the air. It buzzed around Roxas, more curious than aggressive, which was good because it had a massive stinger that would likely be very painful for whoever it stung.

Then it floated back towards the wall, making a little chittering sound. A few other bugs began to emerge as well - another of the bee-like one, but more that were small and squishy. Little cuties that were perfectly adapted to frozen caverns like this. Just how many different kinds of bugs actually lived and survived down here?? And had the misbegotten been subsisting on these weaker insects while fending off the stronger armored ones?

”Huh?” Roxas was surprised when his Rotom Phone floated out of his pocket on its own and scanned the white bug, which then fired up the Pokedex App to tell Roxas what the species was. ”So you’re a Pokemon? …Snom, huh?” Roxas reached out and gently stroked his finger against the Snom’s little head.

”Hey!” Roxas called back to Ace over his shoulder, ”I found some friendly little guys living here!”

The deed had been done, which was evidenced by the shimmery spirit of the misbegotten crusader in Ace's hand. There was another new development as well, one which had taken the hunter by surprise. When he'd dealt the final blow, his weapon had resonated with the creature's greatsword somehow. The blade it had wielded was beautiful, and though it had not given it up even after death that sword remained as a premium prize for the two Seekers. But the real reward was the Yato in Ace's hands, which had begun to glow at the same time as the crusader faded away. He was too surprised to even think about dropping it when he felt it morph in his grip, and when it settled into a new appearance he stared at it up until Roxas had called. It had not lost any of its length, but the shape of the blade had changed - it now clearly had a flat edge and a cutting one, curving towards the tip, and the pommel had curled into an elegant hand guard. The indents in the amber-colored metal remained, one of them still holding the Fervent Fang he'd slotted in previously. If the golden greatsword was beautiful, then this longsword was gorgeous.

For Ace Cadet

Blazing Yato
The legendary blade transformed into its blazing version. Grants Critical Evade when wielded, and bumps up Strength and Speed even while in inventory. Only deals 3/4 damage versus enemies with Dragonskin, and dragons and dragon-like enemies in general.

The Cadet had no idea why it changed, though it must have been something to do with the misbegotten's own weapon. He found himself grinning at the blade until he turned his attention Roxas' way, carefully sheathing the masterwork -and even more carefully lifting the greatsword that was left behind- before making his way over to the Nobody.

"Oh yeah? Friendly ones for once?" he said, coming over to crouch near Roxas and get a look too. "Groovios."

The snom Roxas was petting cooed, or made a noise close to it, happily nuzzling back. The other bugs crawled or flew around the Seekers, spread out, and then came back, happy to have their little corner of the caves back it seemed. Ace fished one of the fruits he'd picked up earlier out of his bag, splitting it open to offer a piece to one of the worms with the pinwheel looking thing on its head. It gingerly accepted it, and when the bees came over at the sweet smell he gave some to them too.

"Wonder what they normally eat..." he thought aloud to himself. Then a little more loudly, "I bet they're food for everything else around here. Are they like Scamp and your other buddies?"

”This white one is.” Roxas answered, ”It’s a Pokemon called Snom. I don’t know about the other two, though, my Rotom Phone can’t identify them. I'm guessing they’re not Pokemon.”

"Maybe they're Pals then, or... Chums. Cohorts." Ace smiled while amusing himself with the made up names for the creatures. Most likely they were just regular neopterons. Small monsters that weren't hostile unless directly threatened. Maybe not even then, given how docile they were being.

The whole encounter had been a roller coaster emotionally. They'd set out to find an exit from the caverns, run into a violent outcast when attempting to talk to it, then defeated it only to find a bevy of grateful bugs that had been hiding in fear of it. At that point Ace's own captive bugs slowly emerged from their cage, spreading out around the area with their usual soft green light. A portion of them began to make a trail back the way Ace and Roxas had come that would take them back to the other Seekers. Judging from the sound of a motor and a drill carving through ice back in the main cavern, the others had likely thought up some other plan to make their way back to the surface. It was probably time to regroup before they got left behind.

Ace stood up, breaking up the remainder of the fruit and leaving the pieces strewn on the ground for the little guys. Then he smiled at Roxas, ruffling the boy's hair. "Well we failed to find anything but trouble, but we ended up fine in the end. What do you say we bugger off and head back?"

”I’m good with that.” Roxas said with a grin, ”C’mon, Shocker, let’s go!” He gestured for the Heat-Rotom to follow and it did, once again providing some small light with its Electric and Fire type energy. ”Take care of yourselves, little guys!” Roxas called back to the grateful bugs with a wave goodbye.

If they were capable of waving back the bugs probably would have. The scoutflies buzzed around the creatures before flying towards Shocker instead, escorting the Seekers out. If one of the humbees trailed after them and landed on the back a thick fuzzy coat, drawn by the allure of more fruit, the prospect of new friends, or just curious about the humans in general, well, it wouldn't be discovered for a while.

What might have been a somber walk back was made more cheery thanks to Roxas' discovery, and the two Seekers chatted lightly as they retraced their steps. They caught up with the stagecoach easily enough, both because the noise of the drilldozer in operation made it impossible not to know where the group currently was just by the sound and because the heavy machinery wasn't all that fast in the first place, especially with the iron coach following behind it. Edward's golems recognized Ace and Roxas and let them through the rearguard so that they could once more be part of the caravan and regale their allies with the story of what they'd been up to when asked.

It was good to hear Sandalphon was doing a little better, though the sight of Edward with a lot more facial hair than just a little while ago definitely threw Ace for a loop. He sputtered a laugh at the sight, but quickly reigned it in when the man offered a very familiar looking weapon that had been obtained from the various spirits.

"Oh radalos, is this gonna turn out to be my lucky day...?" The start of it had been pretty rough, and the little side-quest he and Roxas had just gotten up to could have gone better, but not only had Yato transformed but they'd found a heavy bowgun! Which the hunter gladly accepted. The Breechshot he'd been using was more like a light bowgun, and he knew well that the two styles of weapons handled very differently. This one would eat up a lot more ammo, so he had to think about making sure to keep stocked up on bullet ingredients...

He also requested one of the chitin chestplates if no one else was going to use them. It never hurt to have more armor options after all, and even pieces weaker in defense could make up for it in utility with skills. And of course the spirit of the misbegotten was mentioned, should anyone want to make use of that before one of the two that faced it ended up using it for themselves. The Golden Order Greatsword was also unmissable where it sat hefted over one of Ace's shoulders. It gave off a faint holy aura which prickled at the Cadet's skin, but carrying it was good magic endurance practice - plus there was no way he was going to leave a beauty like that. There were few other Seekers in the group that could actually make use of a greatsword like that one, but if any showed interest in giving it a try then the hunter would part with it.

Only a little reluctantly.

[Goggy]

Fujiwara no Mokou

Level 8 (holding 2 level ups)
30/80

Location: Location: The Midnight Walk - Cave of the Forlorn
Wordcount: 136 (+1 exp)

The slow travel through the caverns was something that Mokou, unfortunately, couldn’t exactly sleep through. Not only did the Drilldozer alert the various bugs to their location, but it also prevented the phoenix from closing her eyes for any meaningful amount of time, causing her to let out a sigh before sitting back up. Kept true to her word however, and didn’t leave the Stagecoach’s side, instead firing a flurry of feathers at whatever bugs dared to come close to Sandalphon’s resting place. For all their numbers, they were still easy pickings for the just as numerous projectiles that Mokou could unleash. A few of the larger and more durable types managed to get somewhat closer, but most of the bigger threats were focused more on the noisy Drilldozer than the stagecoach and its fiery protector.

[Lugubrious]

Esaka, the Tiered City

Setting: Clear Thursday Evening
Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (233/150) Level 11 Big Band (143/110)
Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Pit’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Yayama’s @Chevaleresse Grima’s @Goggy
Word Count: 1972

Thanks to the distances involved, and her general lack of focus which could be diverted by any number of things, Nadia wasn’t privy to any of the conversation that went on between the Seekers in Chanko House Edomon. Instead she bided her time outside at the pub across the street, swishing her tail as she watched people go by.

In Esaka, there was never any shortage of distractions. Between weird-looking yokai arguing about food as they loitered around the eaves and inebriated patrons drinking away their disappointment at early tournament eliminations, Nadia drifted in and out of various conversations, gleaning little of any interest. Random street fights and bar brawls were so stunningly commonplace in the city of fighters that most simply didn’t bear mentioning, and even those that did make their way through the rumor will weren’t liable to offer any useful info. And thanks to her natural regeneration from the Life Gem, she couldn’t even get a buzz from one or two beers; it would take an unseemly amount to overload her system. That left Nadia just sitting there on her impromptu stakeout, bored, as she sipped some British brown ale.

Things changed, however, when her comrades finally finished their chanko feast and began to filter out of the restaurant. Nadia quickly abandoned her casual lounging spot and made herself scarce. Some of the Seekers were just too perceptive for their own good, after all. The feral didn’t mind if her friend Primrose spotted her, but with Therion’s skill at espionage, the last thing she needed was for her fellow thief to catch wind of her and flip the script by tailing her instead. As loath as she was to admit it, Nadia knew who the better burglar was. Better to not give him the chance to practice his art.

When Pit singled out a couple teammates and took them aside, though, the catgirl couldn’t help but be curious. At first, it just looked like some sort of offhanded delivery, though when the excited word ‘presents’ drifted over to her discrete hiding spot on the breeze, Nadia paid more attention. Gifts, apparently from White Team? How’d they manage that? The feral could only assume they’d roped the Lost Numbers into this. Then again, it would have made more sense for them to be delivered alongside the Bogard twins. More importantly, why wasn’t there one for her? That was a mild annoyance, but she could justify it away by saying she couldn’t have blown her cover to accept a gift even if there was one. Oh well!

She was becoming both increasingly bored and aware that the other Seekers were getting farther away from her until Pit dropped the words that every eavesdropper cherished: secret plans. At that, Nadia sidled slightly closer for a better listen, going as far as to crouch down behind a lazy yokai dozing by the sidewalk. To her great misfortune, however, Junior and Rika buzzed off, leaving Amatarasu to communicate with pit via some intermediary Nadia didn’t really understand, which led to a very one-sided conversation.

Pit, at least, spilled the beans about his currently planned undertaking. It sounded like maybe the tournaments weren’t all going so well, and the Seekers were considering stockpiling more allies. When the angel mentioned freeing his dojo mates, Nadia began to feel a little guilty. As much as she liked her fellow NMO members and was rooting for success, she hadn’t considered freeing them. Hers was a burden she didn’t want to foist on them, after all, and even if she decided she couldn’t do this on her own, would the others really help her? They (especially Annie) had been kind enough (in Annie’s own way, of course) to help her so far, but the quest to save the worlds was a different ball game.

Nadia was so busy pondering that issue that it took Pit mentioning something ‘wiped out by Moebius’ to make her focus again. Is he talking about Alcamoth? she thought. As grim as that had been, he better be; she really didn’t need anyone else getting wiped out by Moebius right. From there the conversation sort of wound down, so Nadia got moving, eventually tailing the other Seekers to the High Rollers’ Club. Sadly, the feral decided that the risk of discovery was just too high for her to stroll in and see the inside of a casino for herself, so once again she had to turn away from the main group to find some other way to entertain herself. Man, this ‘lone hero’ thing is hard…

Still, there were plenty of places one could spend money in the High Tier. Not far from the casino at all lay a small cobblestone plaza where a bunch of booths had been set up in opposing rows, carnival-style, with a number of two-person wrought-iron tables between them. Nadia’s keen sense of smell drew her to the crepes stand, and after about a minute the feral had a little plastic basket loaded with crispy unleavened pastries filled with hazelnut chocolate spread. Nadia made her way to an empty table, laid down her basket on the red-and-white tablecloth, and started munching. The crepes were sweet and flavorful, very good, but Nadia could help but stare at the empty seat across from her and wish that a certain monster hunter was here to share this treat with her.

…Then again, given how much he tended to eat, maybe it was for the best.

While eating, Nadia kept an eye on a couple street performers in the plaza area, all three of them clowns. One looked fairly traditional, although he seemed to serious to actually be that funny and wasn’t drawing much of a crowd, while another (a blue-haired freak known only as T.H.I.S.) looked positively monstrous as it juggled chainsaws. Amusingly, it seemed to have attracted a number of fighters disturbed by its appearance, who were just waiting for any reason to jump in and beat the hell out of it, so if anyone was afraid for their life it was probably T.H.I.S. The standout was a cute clown lady with springy arms who could do tricks with nunchucks and flying chakrams, and it looked like she had plenty of adoring fans.

Inside the High Rollers’ Club, meanwhile, a handful of Seekers were busy entertaining themselves. Few were having a better time in there than the Bogard twins. Once they installed themselves at a roulette table, the pair proceeded to kick off the evening with an impressive win streak. Their wins earned them some curious and even questioning looks, so Band hovered nearby to keep an eye out for trouble. The twins did lose a few times, though, and their winnings were never massive. Eventually, most of their doubters were forced to concede that they were simply very lucky. And lucky for them, Bart and Marg were wise enough to move from table to table rather than bleed anyone dry, in order to avoid invoking more ire than usual.

Still, that kind of luck was bound to cause problems, so Band stayed close. Just standing behind the two with a sour look on his face was enough to dissuade the casual complainer, but Band saw more than one well-dressed casino staffer whispering to a coworker or murmuring into an earpiece. Abusing their uncommon good luck had already earned the kids some unwanted attention, and sooner or later, Band knew that this simmering pot was going to boil over.

Not all the Seekers were here to gamble. Roland wandered the floor, hoping to find someone who would interest him. He cast a wide net, not approaching or initiating with anyone in particular, and though this limited his options his ‘efforts’ eventually bore fruit anyway. After passing by a strange gaggle of pirates at a bar, who surrounded a lovely young woman who must have been their leader, Roland found himself faced with a beautiful Chinese lady with pink hair, a bright yellow qipao that hugged her quite tightly, and lusterless dark purple eyes beneath Galeem’s glare. “Well, there you are, handsome,” Marilyn Sue Daije greeted him as she hooked her arm around his, her bangles jingling as she fanned herself with a silk tuanshan. Not far away, a very serious-looking, dark-haired young man in uniform watched her with a frown on his face, but the lady pretended he wasn’t there. “I think its about time for that drink you promised me, hm?”

Band’s continuous observation of the casino interior meant that when a couple new players emerged from a back room, the detective took notice. The fact that these two, a man and a woman of about equal height, wore similar outfits and came armed with rattan escrima sticks stood out to him right away. They both sported a gray jacket lined with white fur, the man’s long enough to be a trench coat while the woman made up the difference with long dark hair, with a white ascot, but while the man wore a brown vest with white slacks, his counterpart preferred a brown silk shirt with brown shorts. Regardless, both had a commanding presence that caused customers and subordinates alike to shrink away as they sauntered through, and they were physically big, big enough that they might as well be called Mr. and Mrs. Big.

Though of course, neither was as big as Big Band. He figured the luxuriously-dressed duo might be siblings, but more importantly, he assumed they were the floor managers here, if not the big cheeses in charge. He also had to assume the worst: that they were here to address the matter of the Bogard twins’ consistent wins. If the house wasn’t always winning, after all, that was a Big problem.

While Bart and Marg were watching their latest roulette roll, the detective deployed a pair of spindly mechanical arms to nudge them in their backs. “We got trouble,” he alerted them in a low tone. “Head honchos, it looks like, comin’ this way. Better pull out and cash out before things get hairy.”

The twins looked at Band, then past him at the Bigs, then at each other. Neither wanted to quit just yet, but there was a fine line between being lucky and being foolhardy. After exchanging a knowing glance with his sister, Bart discreetly adjusted his tie, just barely nudging his distinctive gemstone broach. The jewel set within, half silvery green aventurine and half luminous amber, gleamed every-so-slightly. A second later, the ivory pill fell into the red eighteen slot, which neither twin had wagered on. “Awwwww!” Both he and his sister chorused, making a big show of their disappointment. “What a bust,” Bart complained.

“Ouch,” Marg added. “After a loss like that, I guess our lucky streak’s run out.”

Shaking his head, Bart backed away from the table, waving at the very annoyed-looking staffer at the table. “Alright, guess we’ll get outta your hair. Toodles!”

The two turned to head for the money counter with their many remaining chips, only to find both Bigs stopped directly in front of them, their faces severe. Band let out a sigh, his mind racing. They hadn’t been fast enough. This could get ugly.

---

Now that the sun had set and night had fallen over the Forbidden Kingdom, the High Tier’s most notable zoo was closed for the day. No guests could enter through the giant locked gates at this hour, but that didn’t mean the zoo was abandoned, as a number of zookeepers, janitors, and other workers were still hard at work, and a handful of security officers -mostly miis- had begun their night shift. These factors meant that the retrieval of Mr. Chevalier’s take-out would be a bit more complicated than Sakura, Primrose, and Therion might have thought.

That said, Anji’s specific mention of Rugal’s Panther Zoo did narrow down the search area quite a bit. Rather than the whole zoo being dedicated to panthers, that spot appeared to be a specific subsection of the zoo, judging by the marked-up maps that would be visible on any zoo brochure (whether retrieved from outside trash bins or otherwise). In fact, Rugal’s Panther Zoo occupied a spot fairly close to the entrance, bordering an exterior wall, so that anyone passing near the complex might be intrigued by the animal sounds and tempted to buy a ticket. As such, the dropped parcel had to be somewhere in that area.

That realization presented its own problems, of course. If it had landed in a panther enclosure it would probably be toast already as the panthers smelled the tantalizing aroma of stewed chicken. If the take-out landed outside, though, a worker could have found it instead. With the whole meal intact, there would be no sense in wasting it, so the worker would have logically taken it somewhere to see whose it was. And where better than the front office, directly between the main gate and Rugal’s Panther Zoo? Still, even if that line of thinking proved to be correct, retrieving it -whether through stealth or diplomacy- would be tricky. A challenge worthy of a suitable reward from the United Nations’ leadership.

The Midnight Walk - Glacial Strata

Setting: Murky Friday Morning
Lvl 10 Sandalphon (5/100) Level 7 Heismay (44/70)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double Ramattra and Tenna’s @XoXKieroBombXoX Mokou’s @Goggy
Word Count: 931

Nameless Stagecoach
𖥞: 5/8 | 🛡️: 3/8 | ◆◆◆◆ | Equipment: Stewpot/Vegetubes/Icebox

When it came to the team’s escape route, the drilldozer might have been at the forefront, but it was Edward Portsmith who demonstrated that when the going got tough, it was the Dreadnought’s time to shine. Especially with his brand new beard, inspirational in its size and triangular shape. The mobile perimeter he set up behind the stagecoach ensured that only a scant few glyphids and terminids managed to breach the defensive line (mostly by crawling on the ceiling out of the golems’ reach), easy pickings for Edward’s allies like Mokou and Ace. Even then, he had enough minions to spare to help scour the caves the dozer carved into.

Though brilliant blue-pink quartz and luminescent mushroom grottos did intrigue Heismay, he left their contents for Sectonia, Ramattra, and the others. The eugief stayed put aboard the drilldozer as the final line of defense to ensure no stray crawlers or surprise burrowers reached the contraption to threaten the caravan’s progress. It took some serious concentration for him to drown out the infernal din created by the dozer’s tunneling, which hurt his sensitive ears and made communication impossible, in order to cut down his foes, but Heismay remained steadfast. With primarily rank-and-file glyphids and terminids fast enough to trace the dozer, Heismay’s steady longsaber carved up bug after bug. If an errant arthropod did somehow manage to get all the way to the dozer, the guardian would be alerted by the onboard AI’s high-pitched screeching, the only thing loud enough to cut through the racket. Neither he nor Mokou would stomach that for long.

With defense taken care of, the only piece of the puzzle left was upkeep, and Blazermate was once again proving her worth. Canister in hand, she could fly around to reach the deposits of oil shell hidden up in the darkness out of reach, then zip back down to keep the dozer up and running. Whatever superficial damage the vehicle received from gnashing fangs and bladed claws, a few whacks of her Engineer striker could fix. All the moving parts came together to keep the convoy moving like a well-oiled machine, with both danger and downtime minimized to very manageable levels.

Still, it took a long time (and a lot of oil shell) to drill back up through solid rock to the surface. The constant noise, reverberations, and acrid fumes certainly didn’t make things easier. When the giant drill finally broke through a crumbling wall of rock and the bitterly cold wind rushed in, it was actually a relief. The drilldozer rolled out into the thick snow, plowed straight through a dead tree, and with a synthetic groan came to rest among the splinters on a small snowy field illuminated by a couple free-standing light pylons. Overhead, the sky above the Frozen Highlands was as dark and cloudy as ever. Heismay shivered in his heavy coat. It felt even colder than it had before.

Thanks once again to Edward perhaps, the team had emerged at quite an opportune spot. Through this snowfield, hemmed in by walls on one side and a sheer drop on the other, ran the Midnight Walk, as evidenced by the burnt matchsticks that flanked the path’s unmistakable pattern. To the right, downhill from here, it looked like an avalanche had blocked the path that the stagecoach would have otherwise needed to traverse. To the left the Midnight Walk continued uphill, but instead of circling what could only be Moon Mountain as it climbed higher and higher, it quickly terminated in a sheer drop. The only way forward was manmade: a rather narrow stone bridge, encrusted with icicles, that spanned the gap to a great stone pillar with what looked like a castle perched atop it.

At the foot of the first staircase stood a small arcane monument, with some kind of magical energy whirling inside it. When Heismay looked around, though, he couldn’t find much else. This snowfield was barren, with no alternate way forward that he could see. At least there were no enemies present either, or defenders stationed atop the castle ramparts, which meant that every one could wipe off the bug gunk and rest up for a bit.

Heismay let out his breath at last. “That’s enough action for me for one morning,” he complained as he massaged his aching ears, then turned back toward the stagecoach. “After all that noise and jostling, I could use a nice, quiet sit-down. Don’t suppose there’s any more stew?” A bite of something warm and hearty was just what he needed. Without any semblance of breakfast, it would be a very long, very hard day. As he approached the rear door, it swung open to let Sandalphon out. He got a good look at her condition, though he ended up wishing he hadn’t. He bit his tongue and stepped aside to let her past in silence, then hopped up the rear steps to access the stagecoach’s interior.

Now Sandalphon surveyed the mountainside, quickly coming to the same unspoken conclusions as the team’s scout. For all the effort the team put in to keep the stagecoach with them, it didn’t look like they could take it any farther than here, not with a bridge half as wide as the vehicle itself. “Let’s gather ourselves and make ready,” she declared, careful with her facial motions as she spoke so the petrified side wouldn’t cause her pain. “Barring any new discoveries, we continue on foot.”

[Chevaleresse]

Esaka, the Tiered City

Yayama Yama
Status: Ruminating
LV: 6, EXP: 39/60
Word Count: 469 (+1)

After everyone had begun filtering out of the restaurant and into the casino, Yayama had declined to follow the rest. She fully intended to get a solid night's sleep while it was a possibility, and she'd had quite enough Manderville nonsense to sate her appetite for seeing casinos for the next two centuries. Not that we have that time. She trusted the others not to do anything terribly stupid, so the lalafell headed back to the Roman Cancel on her own, setting a leisurely pace.

While she walked, she considered what her tournament future looked like. Yayama hadn't heard anything about her next foe, which probably meant she could overcome them with a bit of luck and a bit more grit, but what she was hearing about the one after that concerned the dark knight. Big contender, huh? And apparently I'm not a big enough obstacle to consider, if this Azrael guy's supposed to get a clean sweep after me. No information on his capabilities was bad, too. We're - I'm - so much weaker here than I was, too. It's not just the Principles.

The original Yayama Yama was something of a unique existence, even stood next to the famous Petra Stelle. Her soul was denser than everyone but said Au Ra's, and it had swirled with a blend of light and dark-aspected aether rarely found in combination. Her current incarnation had faithfully recreated the problems that arose from that, much to her dismay, but something about the process just hadn't remade her in full. She supposed it made sense; if Galeem were actually fully recreating Hydaelyn's blessings, for one, then its unique form of tempering wouldn't have worked in the first place.

Yayama shuddered at that thought. Thankfully, gleaming seemed to be easier to cure than tempering, but the idea of existing for so long with her will suborned like that was. . . disturbing. Moreso was the idea that she'd done so potentially dozens upon dozens of times, each time unaware she was merely serving to keep a perpetual engine of death running. There was a sick humor to it, as well, with how she'd been traipsing about in an outfit she'd designed to be a warning to the residents of the Crystarium, proclaiming herself to be a champion of Light all the while.

Guess I'll just have to hope I get to punch the bastard in the face before I evaporate this time, and maybe that someone finds the next Warrior of Darkness faster this time.

Unless they could fix themselves somehow, of course. Do something to bring back their worlds in all their former glory, restore their original existences. . . "Gods damn you, Hades. I didn't want to wear your blasted boots, much less walk a league in them."

[DracoLunaris]

wordcount: 1,149 (+2)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(333/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(169/110)

The Koopa siblings had planned to go into the casino and maybe get to know the new kids on the team, but they got just a little sidetracked on the way there. Specifically Rika (with her new appreciation for plushies) ended up holding them up upon spotting the soft and cuddle-able prizes on offer for one of the carnival games.

It took her a bit of time to get the hang of the ball chucking game the prizes were for, but once she got the weight of them figured out, the girl won herself a second cuddly friend. Not a bear, mind, but instead one resembling a certain streetfighter that was called Blanka-chan.

Given they had already been left behind, Jr (who’d been tinkering with his Mini-shyguy while waiting) then dragged his sister (and her two plushies, one held under each arm) over to get a closer look at the performers. Unsurprisingly, the clowncar piloting boy had an appreciation for the real thing, as did his Brionne Dazzle, who he released from his pokeball so the mon could join them in enjoying the shows.

Of course, having an appreciation for clowns didn’t mean all clowns were appreciated equally.

T.H.I.S. was definitely trying too hard with the danger of the saws, while at the same time missing the point that clowns were meant to be funny not creepy. Any slapstick that was going to happen would just be gory too, which was not something they wanted to see. Besides, the two couldn't get close because the cordon of fighters were actively dissuading any kids from getting close anyway.

The one who had a mask that looked a bit like a phanto did seem to be quite the acrobat and capable of a few card tricks, but there was just something off about him, beyond just his inappropriately serious demeanor. He also seemed to be paying far too much attention to the third performer and was clearly very frustrated at her comparative rip-roaring success.

Indeed she was so successful that some of the kids crowded around her were clearly fans specifically of the clown girl (who went by Lola) herself, given their matching attire.

Others meanwhile were clearly fighters; Two were escorted by larger companions who presumably did the bulk of fighting, namely an increibly young girl with her hand drawn big brother and a feral girl with her brute of a mount, while the others, a school girl, care free boy and a disciple, where entirely apt at doing the brawling themselves.

This proficiency in violence didn’t prevent them from laughing along with the clown girl in childish glee, and it didn’t stop the koopa siblings from joining in either. Well, Jr was all in right away, whereas Rika took a bit of warming up to it. Even she, however, couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of a puffed up Lola.

Her juggling also was way more fun than T.H.I.S.’s and was also actually more impressive once she started really using her stretchy arms, tossing a multitude of things this way and that and then reaching out several arm-lengths to catch the sweet treats. She even made a game of it, challenging the kids to beat her hands to the ‘punch’ when it came to catching the candy. Rika managed to win this game thrice thanks to her warframe granted agility, double jumping into the air to catch sweets, and if she hadn’t already been won over this free food would have gotten her 100% onboard.

After chowing down on one of her prizes (she gifted her other two to Jr and Dazzle) she found herself saying ”She’s really cool, huh? I think… I think I’m getting how to use the sword drones a bit more just from watching her even? I wonder what she’s like in actual fights?”

”Probubly like this one fighter we had in smash. Some human lady with hair like noodles” Jr commented, which didn’t really answer things, but it did prompt Lola to ask “Oh? You know Min Min?”

”Know here? I mean kinda? We fought some times but that’s about it? She’s pretty good though, that stretchy arm thing is pretty weird” He replied, before adding, after a moment ”in a good way, you know?”

“A.R.M.S. are pretty unique, that’s for sure, but that’s what makes them so fun!” Lola replied, taking the somewhat backhand complaint in her stride with cheer, before starting to say “if you want to see how we fight with them, you’ll just need to watch the-” to Rika, but before she could name drop a tournament with an A.R.M.S fighter still in the running they were interrupted by yelling followed by cries of disgust.

All attention in the area suddenly went to T.H.I.S. who’d responded to one of the fighters trying to get physical by spewing a purple fluid at the unfortunate fellow. Before their eyes, this purple fluid solidified into a meatmoss that rapidly grew over the victim, before sloughing off and revealing a new clown with mouths for eyes.

Panic spread among the bystanders, but the fighters took this as the signal to jump the killer clown and the clownified victim. Both fought back with chainsaws, resulting in a loud and bloody mess rapidly developing, especially as fighters got in each other's way and hit each other, causing their galeeming nature prompting active infighting.

Most of the kids scattered at this, but the fighters among them clearly wanted in on the action. Lola tried to stop this, naturally not wanting the children to get hurt, but unfortunately the the feral girl’s meathead of a mount violently barged past her attempts at this, which triggered Lola’s galeeming aggression, causing the clown girl to strike back. That triggered the brute’s aggression, and when he turned back to attack her, the jealous masked clown jumped into the fray too, seemingly wanting to seize this opportunity to pick off competition.

Naturally the other fighting kids wouldn't have this either and so jumped into the fight as well. Punches, kicks, and projectiles went flying, some of which sailed into the beatdown happening to T.H.I.S which triggered aggression there and caused the fight to merge together and grow even bigger and more chaotic.

While initially wanting to help Lola, both of the koopa siblings rapidly changed their minds and decided to cut their losses as the situation rapidly devolved into a directionless brawl, mainly because neither of them wanted to risk their toys being broken.

Thus they hightailed it out of there and into the casino where they knew some of the seekers where, only to arrive just in time for things to get complicated there as well. Given their hands were currently busy carrying two plushies (Rika) and a clownish sea lion (Jr), neither was particularly ready to jump right into whatever brawl was about to break out in here either.

[Double]

Word Count: 401
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 90/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 91/60

Esaka’s High Tier, The High Rollers Club

For the entire time the Seekers were in the casino, Captain Falcon had not actually participated in any of the games. Gambling was never his cup of tea, as it were. So instead he simply sampled the occasional hors d’oeuvres tray or the occasional glass of a non-alcoholic champagne - as he wasn’t there to let himself get drunk either. Rather, he spent his time watching and observing the Bogard twins as they bounced between game tables and racked up their winnings.

From this - as well as recalling what he saw of them during the fight against Abigail - the Captain was able to more or less piece together what he believed their fighting style amounted to. In the simplest terms, he guessed it was based around some form gambling archetype for the purposes of building up gold that they could then later spend to use their stronger techniques or special moves. It was probably similar to something like the Power Gauge or Super Meter, but functioned a bit more on luck instead. And so Falcon essentially pegged the twins’ fighting style to be one based around high risk and high reward. The only thing that worried him was having them face large opponents such as Abigail - given the trouble the bruiser had given them earlier.

And speaking of trouble, Falcon also spotted the appearance of the two individuals that Band had pegged as the head honchos around here. Casino bosses were often known to take issue with guests winning too often - whether those wins were legitimate or not. But this was more than that. Cap knew a crime boss when he saw one and these Big people may as well have been wearing neon signs that told the world that they were giving orders to the local criminal element. And that, Falcon knew, was only going to mean even more trouble.

As such, he didn’t hesitate to set his glass aside on a passerby tray before making his way over to put himself between the kids and the Bigs, ”What seems to be the problem here?” Falcon asked the man, trying to de-escalate first in the hopes of avoiding a fight. He wasn’t sure how well he or the other Seekers could talk down these two but it was worth at least trying before the fists started flying. ”Surely we can settle this like adults, can’t we?”

[Double]

Word Count: 565
Level 9 Ganondorf: 22/90
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 23/90

Alpine Climb - Drill Baby Drill

The ambush had really soured Ganondorf’s mood. He spent the prep time hovering near the stagecoach to guard its contents. One of the vegetubes in there contained the one thing that could single-handedly solve his healing problems, and he’d be damned before he let something unfortunate happen to that Napberry. And if that meant the warlord had to start personally guarding stagecoach himself, then so be it.

When the drilling itself commenced, Ganondorf’s mood didn’t exactly improve. The noise was rather grating, and so was having to deal with the occasional glyphid, terminid or other insectoid along the way. No problem for himself, obviously, but still an annoying nuisance nonetheless. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Roxas looked less bothered. The Nobody appeared to be using this as a method to let his Pokemon do some battling in order to get them more experience and grow stronger.

If Ganondorf had one of those kinds of pet creatures he could be doing the same. But alas, he still only had the raw paldium he found and not any of the necessary materials to turn it into Pal Spheres. It would have to wait for another time, unfortunately. Eventually, thankfully, they managed to breach the surface which meant fresh air again. Ganondorf hadn’t been in these caves for as long as he was stuck down in the Under but he had to admit it was starting to give him some unpleasant memories of that place. So finally being able to breathe the air again would be just the thing to improve his mood.

Or, at least, it would have.

It didn’t take the warlord long to notice that the path was no longer able to accommodate the stagecoach. And this was all the more confirmed when Sandalphon managed to come out and announce that they’d be continuing on foot. ”She can’t be serious.” Ganondorf grumbled. After all the trouble of getting this blasted stagecoach up here they were going to abandon it just like that? And what of the vegetubes? The mistletoe they needed was already prepared, yes, but that was not the only function the machines served. They were almost singularly responsible for them being able to sustain their food supply. And then there was his napberry.

On one hand, the vegetubes and the supplies associated with them would be safe aboard the Avenger. On the other hand, it meant that Ganondorf would have to jump through an extra hoop to get ahold of his napberry supply when it was ready to be harvested. ”Fine, but nobody aboard the Avenger had better mess with my napberries.” He obviously ended up recruiting Edward’s help to send the vegetubes back to the armory along with the instructions about what they were and how they could be used to mitigate the ship’s current food shortage. And Ganondorf made sure to include explicit instructions to never let the napberries run out, as they were far too useful as an alternative source of healing.

”Well, there goes our self-sustaining food supply.” He grumbled after the vegetubes were sent, ”Looks like it’s back to feeding ourselves the old fashioned way.” And he knew that meant hunting and trading where possible. Thankfully the hunting part was just up the Ace Cadet’s alley, so Ganondorf figured between him and a few others it wouldn’t be too much of a chore.

[Zoey Boey]

Sakura Level 11: 044/110
Location: Panther Zoo
Word Count: 2,474
Points Gained: 4
New EXP Balance--- Level 11: 048/110

Primrose - Level: 11 - Total EXP: 326/110
Therion - Level: 10 - Total EXP: 383/100

Getting to the zoo itself did not take very long. Chanko House Edomon wasn't far from one of the lifts that connected the Mid and High Tiers of Esaka, and as Primrose had mentioned she knew exactly where the attraction was. When she, Sakura, and Therion split from the group headed to the casino they made a beeline for the zoo, though Primrose's casual strides slowed their pace down from Sakura's earlier eagerness. Soon enough they stood across the street from the establishment. Though the gates were locked the exterior lighting around its perimeter and lamps along pathways the Seekers could see inside remained lit. From where they were standing, shaded by the contrasting shadows cast by the street lights, it might have looked like they were a group that had just missed closing time and were at a loss on what to do now. It was, perhaps, partly true.

"I was hoping to look around a little while we were here…" Primrose said. Her arms were folded in front of her as she glanced between the zoo and her two companions. "but regardless, this is the place."

”Ah, shoot. That’s too bad, I really like the zoo.” Sakura scratched her head. ”Do you think they’ve found it yet? I know what I would do if a fully cooked meal literally fell out of the sky,” Sakura said nervously.

Sakura walked up to the closed gate. ”Hello?” She asked. ”Anyone?” She sighed.

At that point Primrose and Therion joined her, the latter starting a walk around the wall and glancing up every now and then.

"No bell or knocker... not even one of those communication boxes," Primrose observed. "They must not want to be bothered by anyone after closing hours."

And who can blame them? was the silent implication in the upward quirk of the dancer's lips. It had always been a hassle to deal with latecomers and patrons who refused to leave after last call at the tavern.

”Where I come from, if food delivery gets waylaid like this, you just order another one. In fact, it would probably be illegal to deliver this food after not knowing its whereabouts for such an extended period of time. And lost in a zoo of all places?! It could be contaminated in a million ways. There must be something in this order besides food. Maybe a secret message or something.” Sakura said. ”The United Nations is spy stuff, isn’t it?”

Though, when she looked back at her two allies, she realized they might not know the answer to that. ”...I think it is.”

She was right in assuming that the Orsterrans hadn't a clue, though Primrose looked back at her with mild curiosity.

"You're familiar with them?" she asked. Maybe the group had a bigger presence in Esaka than she'd thought.

”Well, yes, a little bit. But in my world the United Nations is like, a place where all the countries on the planet come together and do diplomacy. There’s probably spies there, right?” Sakura reasoned.

The dancer raised an eyebrow as though she found the notion far-fetched.

A moment later and there was a soft click from beyond the gate. It opened slowly just an inch or two, and when there was no squeal of the metal joints it was pulled open fully to reveal Therion on the other side, casually stashing his picking tools away. He had disappeared for what seemed like only a handful of seconds, now standing aside to let the girls in. Sakura blinked her wide eyes, and scratched the back of her head.

"That makes sense," he said of Sakura's hypothesis. She hadn't been at the meeting with the UN earlier, so he went on to explain. "They had a lot of information, agents spread over the city... and a bit of a condescending attitude."

It was hard to tell if he meant that last part as a joke or not. "And you're right, a guy like that? No way he'd want a meal that'd been tossed around in animal pens."

The thought that they were retrieving something more important did alleviate some of Therion's earlier annoyance at this even being asked of them, but they couldn't be sure they weren't just literally fetching lost food until they found it.

"Let's see what we're working with then," Primrose said, waltzing inside. The zoo was quiet, but there still had to be staff members around.

For Sakura, there was something very grounded about breaking into a type of place that she recognized, and she found herself getting a bit nervous. Like she was worried she would get in trouble with her parents. ”Sh-should we just ask?” Sakura asked with a lowered voice, glancing around.

Not far from the entrance there was some kind of staff building with the lights on. Everything was low light, except for the lamps next to all the walk ways. Around them, dark cages hid shifting shadows of creatures. That was creepy, too. An owl hooted, and Sakura flinched.

Sakura scampered a bit towards the staff building. ”Guys?”

"Sure, if you want to explain how you got in and why you're going so far for some noodles," Therion said. He gave a casual shrug, but the mild sarcasm in his voice easily told Sakura what he thought about that plan. Primrose elbowed him lightly in the side.

”Hrmm.” Sakura made a displeased noise.

"We'll say they simply forgot to lock the front gate," Primrose told Sakura, turning to look at the street fighter. She followed Sakura over while waving Therion off over her shoulder. The thief scoffed lightly and dipped around the office, taking off silently to some other place within the zoo. Likely to check the panther enclosure while the girls talked with the staff.

Sakura and Primrose peeked in through one of the windows. Its shade was drawn but the blinds weren't completely closed, so they could see that inside a woman was discussing something with a few of the mii workers. Primrose turned to her fellow Seeker.

"I'd be happy to take the lead, if you like."

”Sure.” Sakura said. This wasn’t going how she thought it would go at all, she thought. But it’s not like she had any money to gamble. While Primrose approached the building, Sakura scooted off to the side. Not too far away was a large pit enclosure. Trees and artificial overhangs hid the animals within. Were there panthers in there?

She would have to get closer to find out. In the meantime, Primrose gave her a nod and then walked right up to the office door. She moved calmly and confidently, at least up until she knocked on it. Between then and when one of the miis came over to answer it, she had adopted a look of curiosity, mixed with a touch of hope and guilt. The very picture of innocence.

"Good evening," she said quietly. "I'm so sorry to disturb you all, it seemed that the zoo was still open and... I've seemed to have lost a delivery in here... would you help me?"

Even her voice had lightened from its usual cadence. The mii tilted her head, leaned out to look at the gate, and then ushered Primrose inside. The dancer's gaze flickered briefly over to where Sakura was hidden and she sent the girl a subtle wink before disappearing into the building.

”Kowai…” Sakura muttered to herself at Primrose’s display. But Primrose’s facade had gotten her inside.

Which left Sakura alone, in the dark, with only pockets of light to help see. Somewhere close a bush rustled. A shadow passed overhead. All very normal things had it been daylight hours. And perhaps that owl seemed to have some grudge against her, because during a stretch of silence it hooted again, louder.

”Eh-?!” Sakura jumped one more time. With a laugh, she shook her fist. ”Fukrou-san! Temee!” The little scare had lifted her spirits.

Suddenly, one of the shadows in the peripheral of her vision actually took shape. From the direction of the panther exhibit, a large, agile beast leapt out from a bundle of decorative foliage. As big as a leopard, the blue, black, and white feline landed right in front of Sakura.

”Kowai.” Sakura wasn’t laughing anymore. Yep, it was back to being scared.

Sakura began to back away, hands raised, staring at the feline. ”Uhhh…nice kitty?” She racked her mind for animal safety tips.

Play dead? No, cats loved messing with things, dead or alive. As fast as she was, she couldn’t outrun a panther. Especially a magic panther like this one.

Maybe..? Sakura grabbed the edges of her jacket and stood on her tippy toes. ”Boo-aaah!” She tried to make herself look as big as possible, coming to an imposing five feet four inches as she stretched.

The cat... looked unimpressed. It stared at her like it had no idea what she was trying to accomplish. For an animal, its thoughts were surprisingly easy to read. After a moment it blinked, and seeming to realize something, showed its teeth in what could be called an amused smirk if one was being generous. But it didn't hiss or roar or jump at her, so that was good.

”...Eh?” Sakura deflated.

One of its ears twitched and it looked beyond Sakura to the zoo's office. It had only been around ten minutes or so, but Primrose emerged with the staff and their other guest in tow.

"...every other series or so. Zoanthropes, animal fighters, we're never the most popular in these sort of things y'know? The events earn some fans - and some funds! To help out engineered Zoanthropes too. Also..."

The woman in white seemed to be talking about some program that her organization planned to put on. Primrose nodded politely, making a vague promise to spread the word. The group made their way to the front gate to let the two visitors out, though just before leaving the dancer spoke up, a little louder than she needed to be to ensure that perhaps someone else nearby would be able to hear her.

"Thank you again for trying to help. So you think a bird really flew off with it?"

"Yes ma'am, like we said there's a real avian jerk that comes around at night. Pretty sure someone saw it with a bag in its claws, but who knows if it's still here in the zoo." One of the miis said.

Once Primrose and the other woman were safely outside, the gate was closed and locked once more. The miis turned to walk a side path, meeting the janitorial staff who'd wrapped up their duties for the night as they took a separate employee-only door out. Not before hitting a switch to kill most of the remaining lights of course, meaning only a few ground lights were still on. Now the zoo was truly empty, and all the spookier for it.

"A bird..." came a voice from behind Sakura.

The feline beast had disappeared, leaving Therion in its place. A familiar set of cat ears twitched atop his head. "There wasn't anything in the enclosure, so I guess it's possible it got snatched if it landed in a tree, or..." He frowned. "Either way, how can we find it now?"

At this point, Sakura had turned away from Therion, her face covered by her hands. It wasn't long at all though before the heckling hooting returned, making the search a non-issue. The culprit came into view following a passing cloud, its silhouette just barely illuminated but its large, yellow, evilish eyes unmissable. The nefarious Hooter looked down from its perch as though it were looking at inferior beings. And sure enough, there was a plastic bag with some container inside of it clutched in its talons like a taunt.

For an opening gambit, Hooter decided to explode into blue light and a cloud of feathers, dropping the bag onto the ground and flying away into the distance. By the time it was twinkling like a distance star, one would have by then put together it had been hit by an energy blast.

The source of that energy blast, Sakura, face beet red, jumped onto Therion’s back and grabbed his head. ”Don’t you think you should tell someone before you turn into a panther at the panther zoo?!”

"Wh-! Hey! Get off!" They flailed around, Therion stumbling at the surprise weight on him. It was hard to keep track of who knew what about each other, but whether Sakura hadn't expected his sudden appearance in beast form, or just hadn't expected the transformation at all, he countered with, "when would there be a better time?! I figured it was an easy assumption!"

”Easy assumption?!” Sakura complained.

"Yes!" Therion complained right back. When it became clear he couldn't rid of himself of Sakura by shifting the blame for her embarrassment back onto her (and the fact that she was just physically stronger than him), he instead stooped suddenly to see if it would throw her off. Sakura let go, rolled off his back and landed on her feet in front of him. She prepared to start kicking at his shoes.

"Alright, alright. I'm sorry if I scared you." He offered an awkward apology.

Though not even a moment later added, "now can we grab the bag and get out of here before any of the actual panthers break out?"

With a huff, Sakura ran over and snatched the bag from the ground. ”Fine. Not that you would care, panther wannabe.” With that epic burn, she ran away and jumped clean over the gate. Once on the ground on the other side she slapped herself on the forehead hard and ran her hand down her face. It’s a good thing she only had about nine more years left to live before her memory got wiped.

Unbeknownst to her, Primrose had seen the little display. After leaving the zoo, the dancer had found a spot to await her companions across the street, in the same sort of shady spot they'd been in when they'd first arrived. Though she didn't know what had gone on in there, she could hazard a guess. She chuckled lightly and gave Sakura the few seconds to compose herself before walking toward her as though she'd only just spotted the girl. A moment later and Therion landed on the ground nearby, having followed the street fighter's lead. Though part of his face was obscured by his bangs, the look of bemusement he sent Sakura was clear.

"Mission accomplished?" Primrose asked, nodding to the bag in Sakura's grasp.

”Huh? Oh, yeah.” Sakura looked down at the ‘food bag’. Some agitated part of her was tempted to rip it open, but instead she hugged it tightly. ”Let’s get outta here. I don't like zoos.”

[Archmage MC]

Blazermate

Sectonia

Level 14 Sectonia (holding 4 level up) - (24/140)
Level 15 Blazermate (Holding 4 level up) - (20/150)

Location Frozen highlands
Word Count: Less than 750

Deep Focus

An equippable item that will double outgoing heals for the wearer but increase casting time substantially. For regens this also doubles the regen amount but halves the tick rate

Fumbling around with the charm Sectonia had found, she wondered if it would be of any use to anyone or if she should just give it to Edward for him to make something of greater use for. It was full of strong magic, but it seemed to be fairly particular in how it functioned. Blazermate might be able to make use of it and her to a small extent, but its ability to store and release that healing energy might cause problems with how delayed it was. She'd leave it up to the healer if she'd want to use it or not.

Coming to their next stop at the end of the long drilldozer tunnel, Sectonia was relieved and soon after frustrated at what would now be a treck through a winterland full of chilling winds and chillier snow. Blazermate, being a robot, wasn't really affected by the cold but to show solidarity with the others made comments about it being "Cold" and "Windy". Sectonia meanwhile summoned some Red antlers to help with keeping people warm in the cold air as she observed the fractured stone bridge held together, or lit up by, what seemed like magic.

"The castle itself also seems to radiate magic. I wonder if anything within could be of use?" Sectonia said, more so thinking of ways to protect from the cold if anything. Although what they'd find inside could be anyone's guess.

Blazermate meanwhile, was deciding on what to do with the Deep Focus gem thing Sectonia gave her. Much like Sectonia thought, the additional casting time on a lot of her abilities was significant, and she'd mull it over a little bit before taking her suggestion of having Edward use it to craft.

---------------------------------------

Roland

Level 8 Roland (7/80) - Holding 1 level up.
Location: Eseka
Word Count: less than 750

While Roland was more or less taking in the sights of the casino, A woman came up to, more or less, whisk him away. While at first this sorta had him worried, a glimpse of the woman and registering what he said made him relax a little. Granted he'd be more on edge than normal in this place, so he was looking at the woman with a critical, but relaxed eye. He wasn't going to show any suspicion of fear and would, while keeping his guard up, see exactly where this was going.

To be fair, this wasn't going much of anywhere bad. Although he wasn't happy about being asked to buy a drink for someone he had never seen before, with a glance he saw a guy looking at him and the especially the woman with quite the glare. With how suddenly this was all happening Roland put two and two together and decided to play along a little bit with what looked like a lovers quarrel.

"Lead the way to the bar." Roland said, getting to a more natural place to make whisper talking not suspicious. ONce there however, he changed tacts pretty quickly. "Are you trying to make that one man over there jealous or something? If so, I'm fine with playing along but your ordering the drinks. Maybe some gossip as well couldn't hurt. I can be quite the actor."

Once she had him all to herself, as well as some distance between herself and the serious-looking man, Marilyn allowed her sultry smile to slide into something a little more sardonic. "Such a gentleman." She seated herself at the bar, gave a curt nod to the tender to galvanize her into action, and bent over to lean on an arm propped up by her elbow. "No, not jealous. Just wanted him off my back. He's been hounding me quite incessantly." Discreetly she cast her glimpse in her alleged pursuer's direction, but the man had faded into the casino's crowd for now.

With a twinkle in her eye she turned her attention back to Roland. "Gossip, hm? Well, how about a word to the wise about the guy you gallantly saved me from? His name is Akatsuki, and he's a technical engineer turned super soldier. He himself is a relic of World War II, aligned with Imperial Japan and thus the Axis powers. An incredibly dangerous individual, especially with that Blitz Engine of his." Marilyn sighed, massaging her eyes. "To be honest, now that he's set his sights on me, I don't know if I'll make it..."

"Oh, so hes just an augmented human thats creeping on you, not a boyfriend that your trying to make jealous, a lot more understandable. Although, 'make it', is he also trying to fight you or something in the tournaments as well?" Roland said, a lot less intimidated by his augmented nature. Where he came from, that was not only par for the course, but extremely expected. He himself had quite a few superhuman augments, good ones, but they were so common as to not even have any crazy names or anything. It was just everyday life and completely unnoteworthy.

Marilyn smiled at Roland like one might a toddler. "I mean survive. He's out to get m, and not for anything tournament-related. Life's a bitch, huh?"

"Oh, City life. Well, I can give you some advice on that then." Roland said, and started to give good advice on surviving and dealing with people like the guy that was chasing her.

[DracoLunaris]

Words: 960 (+2)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (25/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

It was a relief to get to the surface again in some ways, and a pain in others.

On the positive side, the mind rattling sound of the drill finally came to an end, as did the bug attacks, meaning they could finally get a moment of true respite. On the negative, there’d be no more coach riding and their rest spot was the most barren and cold spot the frozen highlands had yet to offer.

Also, really, there’d be little respite to be found for Edward in particular, as there was a lot that needed dealing with before they set out again. The impossible creatures needed feeding first off, and that involved them going through the last of their leftover supplies because there was not a lick of vegetation to be found. The only reason they did not run dry was the hunting expedition he had sent out during their drilling accent.

Then there was the question of what to do with the sheildrix now that they were no longer useful for towing the stagecoach. Technically they still had value as troops, but their combat abilities had been mostly neutered by the specifics of their fusion and they’d have to be herded across a narrow bridge before being put to any use. The Chillanth and SomnaDrix were already going to have enough trouble with that path as it was, and they, he hoped, could mostly slither across it.

The unkind option was butchery, but that was a terrible waste in Edward’s opinion, and that wasn’t merely sentiment talking. If only they had more pal spheres, but alas, they were all out. They did have the ingredients for some, and Edward had (while dealing with his requests about the vegetubes) coordinated the request of the smelting of the massive padlock into ingots that could be combined with Ganondorf's ore, but they would not be done any time soon.

Still, if they couldn’t make use of them, perhaps someone else could. Not the other team, or the Avenger, mind. They simply represented too many mouths to feed. The lost numbers had a city somewhere however, that he knew, and surely they might find some value from their reliable beasts of burden.

Thus after going around and collecting Fulton devices from the rest of the team, it was time to bid farewell to their reliable stagecoach pulling companions as they were sent off into the sky. The coach itself was also offered, given the thing was frankly far too bulky for its own good.

The same went for their savior from the deep, as the Drilldozer was not something that would really fit on the avenger long term, but surely would have value either to the lost numbers, be it for mining or as something to sell/salvage.

By the time it was all sent away, the white team’s force looked positively tiny compared to where it had been before, even if most of what had been lost was the bulk of the coach. Still, their presence in the barren snowfield had diminished greatly, causing the cold desolation of the frozen highlands to loom just a little larger in comparison.

It also brought a serious problem to the forefront, that being Sandalphon’s condition. She was no longer able to be transported within the coach, and was also, naturally, in no condition to walk. Edward approached her about this and, after testing the waters and finding no appetite for abandoning her position and heading back to the Avenger, they set about finding a solution.

His inferno steeds were an option, but beyond just their anathema demonic (imitating) nature that would put her life entirely in his hands due to the nature of their control. After some consideration they ended up selecting the Chillanth as a suitable carrier for her, as the Chillet section on the rear spotted an almost natural saddle upon which she could ride.

The need to solve that problem caused him to entirely forget to question her about her condition.

Well, that and the need for a break himself, little of one that he would get. The little stew that they had would have had to have been eaten up before the coach went, leaving only a smattering of cold leftovers for himself and Taffy to eat while squatting next to an inferno steed for warmth.

Belly filled (somewhat) and body warmed (somewhat), Edward finally had the time to complete his morning routine. He checked his equipment, he combed his hair, and, at last, shaved off the ridiculous beard he’d accidentally given himself down in the caves.

That was all the rest he could squeeze in before needing to make ready again.

He organized his forces. Construct wise he sent scouting drones ahead while dissolving the rest so as to avoid clogging the bridge. The only exception was an inferno steed they’d be using for warmth and light (and transport of Edward’s grenade launcher).

At his side were the somandrix, along with Taffy and Loona, while several palsheres holding the more situationally useful snoruyo and Reindrix rested in his bags and pouches.

It was a reduced force, but with the narrow approach to the castle it was preferable to an expanded one. Indeed Edward had put aside the thought of creating fresh impossible creatures, despite the possibilities the bugs from the caverns represented in terms of samples. The Glyphid Menace in particular would have provided excellent firepower. It also would have provided another mouth to feed, and another body to clog up the bridge, neither of which were a good thing.

With his affairs in order, he and his own formed up facing the stairway that represented their only way forwards, and reported to their leader that he was ”Ready to depart.” before commenting ”Let us hope we will not need to siege the castle. Our fliers might make it less defensible than its builder might have hoped, but I still suspect it will be a tough nut to crack if we encounter any resistance”

[Yankee]

_{Friday Morning}
Word Count: 885 (+2 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 503/90
Location: The Frozen Highlands

It took a little rearranging, mostly in moving small items to his field pouch, but the new armor piece and weapon were safely stowed away in Ace's traveler's backpack. It did feel like such a shame to tuck the golden greatsword into the bag, it was only for now he reasoned. The spot on his back was currently occupied by the Crab Buster, the one on his hip was taken up by the Yato, and he needed both of his hands free; while he trailed behind the drilldozer with the others as it ate through the ice, the Cadet was getting use out of his Alchemy Barrel. There were still some small berries on hand, plenty of debris like chunks of rock, and any chips of the natural armor of glyphids that got broken off when they unwisely tried going after the Seekers on their ascent. All of it got tossed into the barrel, which Ace casually held and shook at certain intervals as he walked. The result? Ammo. As much as he could make, especially while Blazermate was busy using her Striker to keep the machine running. He knew these shots would be compatible with both the new heavy bowgun and the Breechshot, which he'd already modified days ago to accept the more crude bullets of his world.

It would be nice to try and figure out a way to make at least the specialty ammo more standardized for all the more modern weaponry the Seekers tended to come across, and then anyone would be able burn, zap, freeze, and even heal with their bullets. Something to think about after they got back from the Highlands, maybe.

It was only while starting to make them that Ace noticed he had a stowaway. With the things he was carrying plus the thick winter coat he wore, he hadn't realized one of the humbees from deeper into the underground ice caverns had clung to his back until it crawled up over his shoulder to request one of the berries. The hunter blinked in surprise as he turned to look at it, giving it one of the small cherry-like fruits without even thinking. It made a weird, happy noise that sort of sounded like swaswaswass.

"You planning on sticking around?" Ace asked it as it nibbled away. He didn't really mind, but the Seekers' mission was a dangerous one. He couldn't help but think back to the last critter he'd tried looking after, and with a tinge of regret said, "the berries probably won't be worth it, might wanna head back before we end up in a real jam."

The humbee tilted its head and made no move to fly off, so Ace let it perch on him for now.

He packed away the Alchemy Barrel when the first streaks of light and fresh air started coming in through the crumbling stone and ice. It was also only after they were just about out that it occurred to Ace that the whole mountain they were digging through could easily have come down on top of their head while they were drilling out. Thankfully nobody seemed to have worried about that earlier, himself included of course.

Once they were out in the open once more it was hard to tell if it was still morning or now afternoon given the weather and how the sky looked. The temperature was just as cold too, if not more so than the night before. Due to the higher elevation perhaps? Either way it was sure to make for a miserable hike, especially when the group came up to the end of the path that the stagecoach could take.

"If that's what the boss thinks is best," Ace said following Ganondorf's grumbling, hopping down out of the back of the coach where he'd been assisting in offloading everything they needed to take with them. The camping gear had been mostly lost in the cave-in, the stew and other food eaten now while they had the chance leaving only some rations, but there were still a few things that could be carried with them. Perhaps most important of all the plant that was the area guardian's only weakness.

The hunter looked out towards the man made bridge, not for the first time. "And she's not wrong, there's no way we'd get the stagecoach across." Hence the emptying it of anything that might still come in useful. Afterward Edward started the coordination to send everything they couldn't take back to the Lost Numbers, that was the signal for the group to prepare to move out in earnest. If Heismay couldn't find another route then there probably wasn't one, so across the stone pathway to the castle beyond it they would go. Ace peered at the stone fixture with the swirling arcane energy as they passed it and squinted at the looming building ahead, though he said nothing about it. He did glance at Edward though when he mentioned a siege of the castle, putting a reassuring smile back onto his face.

"Last couple places we stopped in were friendly, so let's hope for the best," he said. Maybe this was even where that kingly cat had come from, and they could just mention they'd already gotten the feline's approval.

[Lugubrious]

Esaka, the Tiered City

Setting: Clear Thursday Evening -> Drizzly Friday Morning
Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (236/150) Level 11 Big Band (146/110)
Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Roland’s @Archmage MC Pit’s @Yankee Sakura & Juri’s @Zoey Boey Captain Falcon’s @Double Yayama’s @Chevaleresse Grima’s @Goggy
Word Count: 2812 (+3)

As Big Band and Captain Falcon stepped up to give the Bigs the chance to pick on someone closer to their own size, the Bogard twins squirmed away as stylishly as they could. Putting on a brave face, they resumed their trek toward the exchange counter to cash out. The Bigs watched them go but made no effort to stop them, their focus instead turning toward the two who confronted them. Mr. Big stood with his arms crossed, staring down his nose at the smaller man as he sized Falcon up, while Ms. Big lowered her sunglasses with a dainty index finger to fix Band with a severe stare. Around them, casino activity continued as usual, with only a few onlookers aware of the tense standoff unfolding in their midst.

After a moment, Mr. Big cracked a wide smile. “Settle what? I don’t see any problem. How our customers wanna spend their money isn’t our concern, is it, Ms. Big?”

“Not at all, Mr. Big,” his counterpart replied. “Only, it would’ve broken our hearts to see a couple bright-eyed youngsters lose everything after getting too carried away.”

“Mm-hm.” Mr. Big nodded sagaciously. “Kids and casinos don’t really mix, do they, Ms. Big? I’m just glad they had a change of heart and got goin’ while the goin’s good.”

The lady raised her sunglasses and smiled. “I figure they hightailed it just before their luck ran out, Mr. Big. That’s the best kind of luck there is.”

Mr. Big slipped his hands into his pockets. “I’d keep an eye on ‘em if I were in your shoes, hm? Wouldn’t want ‘em runnin’ into any trouble, now would we, Ms. Big?”

“Of course not, Mr. Big!” Ms. Big winked at Falcon and Band, then gave a little wave with her fingers. “Enjoy your evening in our casino, fellas~”

The two drifted away, with no further action taken, so Band took the hint and made for the exit. He caught up with Bart and Marg just after the twins stepped out into the night air, their wallets fat with their winnings. They turned to face their new friends with big smiles on her faces. “Impressed?”

“By how much y’all won? Fo’ sho’,” Band began. “Course, it wouldn’t of meant much if you both got turned into paste by the Bigs back there.”

Bart shrugged. “I know it looked bad for a minute…”

“...But we would’ve made it work,” Marg finished. “We always do.”

Groaning, band shook his head. “That’s exactly the problem,” he told them. “Overconfidence. I know you got some serious tricks up your sleeves, but in this world, there’s always a bigger fish. And you know it. It’s why the Lost Numbers always runs from Moebius, ain’t it?”

“Alright, alright,” Marg held up her hands placatingly. “We’ll be more careful, okay?”

Bart nodded, his brow furrowed. “Every good gambler knows when to fold. We’re not stupid.”

At the perceived challenge, Band narrowed his eyes. For the second time the twins found themselves facing a large, annoyed man, and this one stood even taller than the last. After a moment, he gave a derisive noise. “Hmph See to it that you ain’t.” He glanced over at the chaos unfolding down a nearby street, then at the High Tier’s cityscape. “Better find somewhere safe to stay for tonight. I know a lab in the Low Tier that fits the bill.”

“Thanks, but we’ll find somewhere up here,” the twins replied together. After a few more words about when and where the twins would meet Falcon the next day, the remaining Seekers dispersed, headed to their habitations for the night.

Once Bowser Jr and Rika showed up to the street fair near the casino, drawn by all the hullabaloo and especially the colorful performers, Nadia’s peaceful and solitary reverie came to an end. The kids weren’t exactly the cleverest or most perceptive bananas in the bunch, but any stroke of bad luck could lead to the incognito feral’s discovery, so she knew it would be best if she made herself scarce. With that in mind, she did her best to off her crepes, loath to rush the act of savoring their nutty chocolate filling.

Sadly, she didn’t have much choice. Not long after the Koopa Kids arrived, dubious onlookers provoked the monstrous T.H.I.S. into showing its true colors. With a brief but horrific demonstration of its abilities, the demon clown signed its own death warrant as the citizens who’d been waiting for any excuse to exterminate it practically dogpiled the thing. And with no many punches being thrown and weapons being swung in close proximity, it was inevitable that utter pandemonium would follow. The whole street fair became a madhouse as fighters either fled the scene or got sucked up into the conflict. Wrought iron tables and chairs went flying, food stalls got banged up, and balloons went sailing sky-high. Even a mime got in on the action, brawling with an invisible opponent who apparently gave even better than it got. The whole thing amused Nadia for a few moments, but after the mime somehow anti-aired himself and went flying into a nearby table, the catgirl took her leave.

Trusting that the Seekers could look after themselves and the city’s aurumatons could sort out everything else, Nadia began her return trip to a certain part of Esaka’s Middle Tier. Annie (Girl of the Stars) had given Nadia no indication that she’d be welcome to crash on her apartment’s couch for another night, but the feral didn’t exactly have anywhere else she could go, so she was holding out hope that the harsh girl’s hidden soft side would shine through. After all, tomorrow was going to be a busy day. Less inner conflict and self-doubt, she hoped, but definitely tougher fights, not to mention that plan she’d put together. With a schedule like that, Nadia needed plenty of beauty sleep, and for that she needed somewhere where she’d be safe and comfortable. Sure, she could break her way in to any number of buildings, but being somewhere she shouldn’t wasn’t exactly restful.

Rather than rush, Nadia made her way to her destination at a leisurely pace, content to take in Esaka’s night life as she went. This was only her second night in this fascinatingly unique society, after all, and there were plenty of surprises left for her to find. Everywhere she looked, there were weird yokai, fun shops, and of course, street fights. The first night of Pools was no time to rest on one’s laurels, after all, so plenty of people were on edge. Those who didn’t put their energy into training had to blow of some steam some how. Maybe some were even trying to sabotage the tournament brackets by hunting down fighters they disliked, or ones who’d beaten them in bracket. Though she kept an eye on whatever brawls she found in her path, Nadia gave the fights a wide berth. Her only stop on the way ‘home’ was at a convenience store to buy a couple everyday items like a toothbrush and spare clothes. Her squatting in Annie’s abode would be easier to bear, after all, if she kept herself hygienic and didn’t use her host’s supplies.

Eventually, Nadia reached her new friend’s apartment. After a couple knocks, the tired-looking, one-eyed, mint-haired girl cracked open the door. She looked neither pleased nor surprised, but after Nadia gave an apologetic (and rather pleading) smile, she rolled her eyes and let the catgirl in. “Aw, you’re the best, Annie!” Nadia crooned, snatching the star up in a grateful hug.

“Don’t make me regret this even more!” Annie scowled, but Nadia noticed that her friend waited until the hug was done instead of trying to wriggle free.

The catgirl quickly brushed her teeth, changed out of her new outfit into a casual t-shirt and shorts, and tossed herself down on the couch. A pillow and blanket had already been laid out for her, which brought a big smile to Nadia’s face. She cupped her hands around her mouth and sang, “Good ni-ight!”

“Shut up!” She heard from Annie’s room. Snickering, the feral took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In no time at all, she was sound asleep.

---

Hours later, Nadia drifted out of sleep to the sound of pattering raindrops on the window. What a soothing, luxurious sound. With that kind of ambiance, she could snooze here all day. The feral yawned, stretched, and rolled over. Then her eyes snapped open. Where was here, again? She blinked a few times, then looked around the room. Floral patterned wallpaper, old-fashioned white furniture, an overstuffed loveseat with a skirt, lots of pastel greens and pinks. A stuffed rabbit with an eye in its mouth. Minus that last part, it looked like an old lady’s home.

Right, Annie. Now it was coming back to her. She sat up, looking around the little apartment to refamiliarize herself with it. Waking up here today felt a lot better than it had yesterday. Her burns hadn’t completely healed but it no longer hurt to lie down. She could appreciate how comfortable this place was, especially with that light rain outside. To her great chagrin, though, she couldn’t spend the rest of the morning dozing. According to the analog wall clock, it was seven thirty-two, slightly less than an hour and a half from the tournaments’ nine o’clock start time. Just enough time for her to grab a bite to eat and warm up before the action began. Hopefully she could find Robo-fortune at the NMO dojo and run a few of last night’s drills before the matches got started. If yesterday had been tough, today would be even tougher, and she needed every advantage she could get.

And if that included the spirits of a fallen Mortal Kombat competitor or two, well…finders keepers!

“Looks like you’re finally awake.” The familiar voice drew Nadia’s attention away from the light gray sky beyond the rain-washed window and toward the kitchen table, where Annie sat munching on Throw Loops cereal, already dressed in her typical getup.

Nadia made her way over, yawning as she stroked her own furry tail. “Mornin’, sunshine! I guess even the sky thought I could use more t-raining. How’s it goin’?”

The girl shrugged off her guest’s pun and cheerful attitude with a sour look. “Lost to some baldy named Axel Hawk. Honestly, couldn’t tell you how. Thought I had it in the bag. Doing fine one minute, on my back the second.” Her single eye swiveled toward the mirror, allowing her to thoughtfully stare off into the middle distance. “Could’ve been overconfidence. Or maybe…plot armor?”

Eyebrows raised, Nadia blinked at her quizzically. “No kitten?”

With a sigh, Annie looked back down at her cereal. “Eh. Claiming that the Heavenly Principles play favorites is what losers do. I’m not really sweating it. Either I’ll tear through Losers’ Bracket, or I won’t. No big deal.”

Now Nadia scrunched her eyebrows together, her questioning look a little too overdramatic to be sincere. “Aren’t you fightin’ to win?”

“That’d be nice, but getting hyper-focused on winning tends to be how people lose,” Annie replied. “My main goal is to become a better fighter. If I do that, winning will just happen.”

That sounded like decent advice to Nadia, but unfortunately neither she nor the other Seekers could afford to take it. “Well, losin’ ain’t an option for my crew,” she replied. “I know that sounds, uh, egotistical, but we’re not just fightin’ for fun or for glory. We’ve got lots of people we need to save, and winnin’ here is a big step in makin’ that happen.”

“Well, good luck then,” Annie said curtly as she got up to rinse out her bowl in the sink. “Glad that’s not on me.

It could be, Nadia thought. Annie wasn’t just a good fighter, but a good person, a good mentor. She would be an excellent ally in the fight for the bigger picture. Then again, the Seekers had a strong presence in the World Warrior tournament still. Putting more fingers in that pie would probably just mean more teamkills. Tekken, on the other hand…

“Hey, d’you know where Beowulf is? I thought of somethin’ I wanna ask him.”

“Uh, no.” Annie shrugged. She walked through the apartment to grab the rabbit Sagan and pull her sword off the rack by the door. Before leaving, she paused in the doorway for a moment and glanced back at Nadia. “Meathead like him’s bound to need some protein, though. I bet he’s somewhere chowing down on steak and eggs.” After a brief moment, she reached down and picked up a wrapped box up off the doorstep. “Is…this for you?”

According to the nametag, it was. The catgirl slashed it open with her claws to reveal a little trinket that resembled a creature in an ice cream cone. “...Huh. Neat.” There were no hints about who sent it to her, or why, or how they knew to find her here, but it seemed fun. She made a note to attach it to her blade case later.

The door slammed, and Nadia was left to think as she finished her cereal. Well, she didn’t know any place that served steak and eggs, but there was nothing to stop her from going to look for one. Nothing except the clock, of course. Seventy-five minutes to go. Once she had her fill of Throw Loops, Nadia got dressed, cracked open the window, and hopped out into the morning drizzle. “Esaka, here I come!”

As the catgirl began her search of the Middle Tier, Big Band was sipping coffee beneath the Low Tier. He’d consumed half a cup already, draining his mug at a leisurely pace as he watched Lab 8’s youngsters like Hive and Leduc hone their abilities in the practice range, and he still couldn’t tell if he liked it. The morally dubious geniuses of Lab 8, adept with all kinds of concoctions, had managed to brew a beverage with some serious punch and flavor. Band could practically feel energy seeping through his true body and out into his mechanical chassis, so there was no denying its effectiveness, but it tasted just a little…off. Like whatever wacky contraptions the beans had been put through hadn’t been fully purged of mad science beforehand. And there was no telling what kind of additives Coyle or Stanley had infused for the sake of ‘optimization’.

Still, as long as the coffee did its job, Band guessed he couldn’t complain. Plus, breakfast was always better when shared with a friend. Unlike him, Ileum needed a lot of food to sustain her bizarre biology, but she did make a charming effort to be as discreet about her appetite as she could. She also did her best to make sure Band didn’t see whatever lay beneath her mask as she ate, and to respect her wishes, the detective didn’t pry. The two chatted as they passed a few minutes together, mostly about the littles and their antics. When the subject of Peacock came up, Lab 8’s unofficial mom and dad had plenty of old mischief to talk about. With her cartoonish personality and powers, that little lunatic turned every day into a series of nonstop hijinx, so there was no shortage of anecdotes that neither Band nor Ileum had heard about from the other before. Without her around Lab 8 was a lot more peaceful, but both admitted to missing her.

With another long day of World Warrior Pools fights coming up soon, though, pleasantries could only last so long. Before heading out Band needed to pay Coyle a quick visit to report on his new arms’ field test, both to satisfy the not-so-good doctor’s curiosity and to receive a quick tune-up. Overall, Band had no complaints. The explosive beatdown he’d delivered to Balrog at the end of his last fight yesterday, express mailed from long range, had been very satisfying. Hopefully the Lokjaws would serve him just as well today.

As Band prepared to shuffle back up the stairs and into the daylight, he deployed a mechanical arm to plug his linkpearl back into his ear. He hadn’t heard a peep since last night, and while he would typically assume that no news meant good news, the detective didn’t like taking chances. “Mornin’, y’all,” he greeted the team as he began his journey. Hopefully everyone was awake by now and hadn’t left their linkpearls on their nightstands. “Nothin’ went bump in the night, I hope? We meetin’ somewhere, or headin’ straight to the fights?” Another rendezvous probably wasn’t necessary so soon after last night, but no time spent with his team sounded like a mistake to Big Band.

The Midnight Walk - Winterhold College

Setting: Labyrinthine Friday Morning
Lvl 10 Sandalphon (3/100) Level 7 Heismay (42/70)
Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate & Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Ace Cadet’s @Yankee Roxas & Ganondorf’s @Double Ramattra and Tenna’s @XoXKieroBombXoX Mokou’s @Goggy
Word Count:

Even though everyone had survived the underground ordeal with the bugs, including the expedition’s newest member, morale was low overall. Getting undermined in one’s sleep and plummeting down into a frozen cavern full of vicious insects was not a good start to one’s day, and it didn’t look like things would improve much. During the journey thus far, the stagecoach had become a home away from home for the Seekers of White Team, providing shelter from the elements, relief from wearisome travel, useful technology, and all the supplies that everyone desperately needed.

Whether as they traveled alongside it, repaired and upgraded it, or fought to defend it, most of them had grown fond of the huge, bulky, nigh-impregnable thing. Even though the stagecoach had never received a name, it was practically a team member in and of itself, and one that more than carried its weight. As such, the prospect of parting with it and trudging on through the blizzard on foot -however necessary that might be- was understandably upsetting.

Still in the process of figuring out human emotions, for all the good it would do her in the long-term, Sandalphon realized the effect her declaration had on the mood a little late. Everyone was glumly watching Edward collect Fultons for the expeditionary steeds as they supped on meager stew, invigorated by the warm leftovers in only the vaguest sense of the word. As Edward prepared to warp the stagecoach to the Avenger, everyone could imagine their beloved vehicle disassembled and stripped for parts by those grubby, ungrateful Lost Numbers. Some members of the team were more disgruntled than others, and Sandalphon felt it necessary to say something. She cleared her throat.

“Although its true that we’ll have to make do without our reliable stagecoach from here on out, allow me to reassure you that we’re far closer to our destination than you all might imagine. Climbing through the mountain via drill rig versus treacherous exterior paths resulted in a substantial shortcut. By my calculations, in terms of ground to cover, our expedition to Moon Mountain is ninety-seven percent complete. We do not have far to go, and nor will we need to painstakingly gather additional provisions. Stand strong, Seekers of Light. We are nearly there.”

Once the stagecoach, drilldozer, and most Edward’s menagerie were sent away, White Team felt greatly diminished. Down to just thirteen members, the expedition members felt small and isolated, exposed to piercing winds and freezing cold made worse than ever by the high altitude. The stew did help a little, but everyone was soon eyeing the castle perched atop the pillar in the path ahead, scanning its battlements for any sign of hostile defenders as they anticipated hurrying inside.

As the Seekers made for the bridge that led to the sky-high citadel’s front door, Professor Layton paused a moment to kneel by the strange monument in front of the stairs, transfixed by the purplish vortex that swirled within its circular gap.

Crunching through the snow behind him, Geralt paused. His amulet was humming quietly, and something about the carving rubbed him the wrong way. “What are you doing?”

“This structure intrigues me,” Layton admitted, tentatively reaching out his hand. ”I can only wonder at its historical function. In fact, this reminds me of a puzzle…”

Geralt’s eyebrows rose as he gritted his teeth. “Wait a moment! It looks like some kind of-!”

The moment Layton’s hand touched the magic swirl, the vortex intensified, exerting a powerful gravitational pull. In an instant the professor vanished inside, and the other Seekers flew toward it, unable to escape the pull. Geralt roared in vitriolic outrage as he too got dragged inside and everything became a nauseating, tumultuous darkness “PORTAAAAAAAL!”

A few seconds later the pull subsided, leaving the snowfield quiet and empty, as if nobody had ever been there at all.

The Tale of Frederic

---

Undercroft - Edward’s @DracoLunaris

Edward came to in a large, dark cave, luckily neither quite as cold or icy as the one he’d been subjected to earlier that morning. He was lying on a square stone platform surrounded by a formidable masonwork railing, with a couple aged barrels around him. In front of him, a stone staircase curved to the left as it descended deeper in what appeared to be a subterranean chasm, its belly filled with water that softly shimmered as if reflecting distant moonlight. The bottom of the staircase created a T-shaped intersection, with the leftward path leading into what seemed like a room recessed into the cave wall, its interior mostly hidden from this angle although the presence of chairs suggested some kind of dwelling.

To the right, a bridge led across the chasm, down some stairs, and into another and even more inscrutable recessed room. Both chambers featured a superficially gothic architectural pattern, suggesting some sort of grandiose ruin fallen to time. The bridges and stairs at least appeared to be in good shape, structurally sound and sufficiently lit by a couple different styles of brazier. Edward could hear the squeaks of bats as they fluttered around the cave, and a few dead bats could be seen on different parts of the structure, which was a strange and rare observation in the World of Light.

Behind Edward stood a heavy-looking wooden double door, and should he travel to the other side of the cavern another could be found beyond the well-lit threshold. The leftward chamber, meanwhile, would turn out to be an odd sort of sanctum, perhaps used for worship or liturgical study. In it, above the rickety chairs and desks covered with indecipherable old writings, hung an ornate bell. And if he looked closely at the rock walls of the chasm, small veins of coal and lapis lazuli could be found.

---

Operating Theater - Blazermate’s @Archmage MC

Blazermate came to in a creepy, vaulted chamber smothered in tattered curtains and spider silk. Appallingly dark, it featured only a couple glass globes containing glowing fireflies and a faint spotlight from above for illumination. The floor itself appeared to be made of molded metal, or perhaps lustrous chitin, arranged in ceremonious circles and ridges. Fallen surgical tools could be found around toppled tables, wheelchairs and gurneys, with broken bindings that suggested involuntary captivity. Most striking of all was the enormous metal contraption that stood in the room’s center, a pair of arcs supporting a half-dozen giant spikes pointed inward, strung with dimly luminous silk and outrageously, surgically sharp. There seemed to be two wooden double doors to allow patients in and out. Just what had been happening here?

At first blush this strange, foreboding room was oppressively quiet, but if Blazermate listened carefully she might be able to make out the sound of terror-stricken breathing, not quite fully suppressed. Following that sound, and moving aside some ruined furniture, would lead her to the hiding spot of a little pilgrim, insectoid in nature, who cowered beneath the wide brass brim of a roughly bell-shaped hat, needle and brass ringer in hand.

---

Cursed Armory - Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Mokou’s @Goggy

Seemingly by random chance, Sectonia and Mokou awoke together in a most fantastical room. It appeared to be a tall vault with red brick walls, with a couple levels constructed from wooden logs to make floors and stairs. It was well-lit by candle sconces for the purpose of displaying what could only be described as a smorgasbord of loot. Everywhere the two looked, they found expensive-looking, ornate magical items of all shapes and sizes. There were robes, fancy clothes, and suits of armor on mannequins. There were various relics framed on the walls, as well as shelves of brilliantly colorful potions that shifted and sparkled in the light. Large artifacts could be found on tables or even standing on their own, their purposes unknown. All sorts of weapons from swords to bows to staves glittered on their high shelves, arranged around an enormous wall-mounted tome and pink crystal beneath the light of a fancy chandelier. The whole place hummed with magic, and one didn’t need Sectonia’s arcane sense to feel that. What an incredible, unbelievable collection!

Try as they might, the two could spot only one wooden double door without look or key, and no guards or means of security at all. For a treasure hunter, this was undoubtedly the find of a lifetime. For a cynic, though, it was hard to look at all this unfathomable wealth and power and not think it a little…too good to be true.

---

Dormitory - Ace Cadet’s @Yankee

The Ace Cadet soon found himself in a rather unremarkable dorm room, all things considered. With floors, walls, and a ceiling of stone brick, it felt rather spartan, an impression that a couple dark red rugs and paintings of old, experienced-looking wizards did little too alleviate. Four twin beds were arranged around a central, columnar hearth, where a fire crackled merrily–a welcome relief from the cold. Each bed featured a pale purple-blue blanket, two pillars, and a nightstand. One bed did have a lot of white dog fur on it, though, and in the accompanying nightstand Ace could find a bag of extra-large dog treats, two-thirds full. The room seemed to have only one exit, a pair of double doors opposite him, and not much else going on. Although…he could hear a faint, intermittent scratching and tapping that came from directly above. What was this place, and why did everything -from the furniture to the building itself- reek subtly but uncomfortably of magic?

---

Archmage Quarters - Roxas’s @Double & Somnadrix

Roxas wound up in a cylindrical room of heavy stone brick, its upper reaches ribbed by stone support beams that met in a central ring of reinforcement over an odd indoor garden. A variety of plants and fungi could be found there, including medicinal root, hidden mandrake, bulbous red nether wart in patches of shifting soul sand, bleeding crown mushrooms, pleasant purple lavender, and yelough shrubs with ripe fruit uncannily similar to eyeballs, all beneath a pair of magical dancing fairy lights.

The rest of the room appeared to be the personal chamber of a sorcerer, a somewhat pragmatic fusion of bedroom, study, and larder all in one. There was a bed laden with heavy blankets, a table for meals, and a workdesk.This chamber’s lack of luxury suggested that its inhabitant, however important, ought to be focused on scholarly pursuits and arcane theory rather than worldly gain. That said, there did still seem to be a couple of interesting artifacts ripe for the taking around the room: a Stone of Barenziah on a bookshelf, boots enchanted with 40% shock resistance, a dwarven dagger, in a display case, a Staff of the Frost Atronach on a shelf, and multiple types of filled soul gems.

Roxas wasn’t alone here, though. Near the center of the room, by the garden, stood a frazzled, black-hared painter in a black smock and blue beret, wearing a green ring and no shoes. He seemed surprised by the keyblade wielder’s sudden arrival, but unsure of whether or not to reach out to him in greeting. As a result he averted his gaze, sneaking peeks every now and then as he waited for Roxas to break the ice.

---

Library of Negated Words - Ganondorf’s @Double

Ganondorf came to the bottom floor of what appeared to be a very tall octagonal library, although on closer inspection it looked almost more like a dungeon. Shelves of books could be seen behind steel grates reinforced with locks and chains, preventing all access to the reading material. Light filtered through a grate in the highest point of the domed ceiling, so darkness predominated at the very bottom of the library. In those shadows, ghostly green librarians, cloaked and cowled floated in ceaseless procession. They phased out from the walls, proceeded straight across the room, and disappeared through the opposite walls without ever deviating. This presented an obstacle, forcing any visitors disinclined to touch the specters to carefully time their movements. All over the floor the warlord could fine patches of torn-out pages, blotted with black ink to prevent any interpretation of the script therein. Touching or even stepping on these pages would greatly accelerate the ghosts, making them much more dangerous.

Far more active threats could be found in the Library of Negated Words, however. Two Headless Chamberlains had taken up residence in the upper reaches, their severed heads resting on crimson pillows. Once alerted, they could send out floating heads like wrathful spirits to chase their enemies down, relentless until the main body could be dealt with.

Not all faces within the Library were unfriendly, though. In one corner stood a somber watchman, Diosdado, his face hidden beneath a leathery hood and wide-brimmed hat. Keys jingled in the ring in his hand and around his neck, while the lantern he carried flickered in the dark. He steered well away from the ghosts, but did not shy away from Ganondorf. Every few seconds Diosdado seemed to flinch from something, as if disturbed by something only he could hear. The Library of Negated Words offered two wooden double doors to anyone wishing to leave, far less restricted than the bookshelves.

---

Hall of the Elements - Ramattra’s @XoXKieroBombXoX

Within the College of Winterhold, Ramattra appeared in a stone lecture hall. Strong winds rattled the frosted windows, and blue mage lights shone atop plinths around the room’s perimeter, but by far the most remarkable feature of the Hall of Elements lay in its center. There, a circular basin stood atop a raised dias, and over it floated a huge crystalline sphere housed within some sort of metal frame. The sphere was marvellously beautiful, aglow with an uncanny and intriguing light from within that constantly undulated, like sun rays through shallow tropical water. It slowly rotated in place, held aloft in the air by some kind of sorcery. Power practically radiated from it, although its decidedly magical nature made it totally foreign to any kind of energy that the Omnic had ever experienced.

Other than the Eye of Magnus, the Hall of Elements featured little other than three wooden double doors.

---

Observatory - Tenna’s @XoXKieroBombXoX & Traffy the Traffikrab

Tenna powered on in a small, rather quaint observatory pleasantly illuminated by the soft yellow glow of five electric wall lights arranged around the interior. In the center stood the mount for the observatory’s telescope, intricate and sizeable, which dominated much of the space. Its business end point out through a rift in the domed ceiling, through which Tenna could see the dark, cloudy, wintry sky of the Frozen Highlands, without a star in sight. A few tables could be found around the bottom floor, each sporting a pronounced curve that indicated its bespoke design for this place, and all featured journals, textbooks, or planetary models. A single door led out of this room, while a wooden staircase provided a way up to the semicircular observation deck, perhaps for telescope maintenance. Everything seemed very mundane, perfectly quiet and with nothing out of the ordinary, and yet…Tenna couldn’t quite shake the feeling that he wasn’t alone. That someone -or something- was watching him.

After a few moments, turning around confronted Tenna with something that hadn’t been there before: words, scrawled on the door in some sort of bluish fluid, probably paint. Hello, it read, with a little heart drawn on for good measure.

---

Grand Archives - Sandalphon

Sandalphon stirred with a groan, the mobile half of her face scrunched up in pain. She suppressed the urge to jerk awake, knowing it would only hurt more, and focused on breathing deeply. When she opened her eye, the archangel instantly realized that she’d changed locations. She seemed to be inside, with no snow or cold in sight, and a stone ceiling high above her instead of a dark, cloudy sky. The last thing she remembered was Layton inadvertently activating that magic device, which then forcefully sucked everyone in. It must have been some kind of trap connected to the castle ahead of them. Unfortunately, she could hear no familiar voices, and when she gingerly turned her head from one side to another, Sandalphon couldn’t see her fellow Seekers either.

Instead, she beheld some sort of archive. The abundance of books everywhere she looked made her think of a library at first, but there seemed to be no regard for order, cleanliness, accessibility, or even safety. There were candles everywhere, which lit up the space well enough, but in many cases the candles stood directly atop piles of ruined books. Add to that all the hanging lengths of cloth, and one wrong move would be enough to turn this huge chamber into a giant inferno. Though, judging by the amount of melted candlewax in this place, the owners of this archive had been obscenely lucky. It practically blanketed the floor, covering all the furniture in ghostly white shells. A lot seemed to have collected in a vat against one of the walls, seemingly warm enough thanks to all the surrounding candles that the wax within was still liquid.

It wasn’t just the room that the wax had claimed. After a moment, the sound of multiple footsteps alerted the archangel to a handful of people headed her way. Willing to take no chances, Sandalphon clinched her teeth and scooted herself behind a wax-coated sofa. Her huge halo gave away her hiding place somewhat, but she didn’t have much choice. When she peeked out from her hiding spot, she observed a couple robed scholars with heads covered in wax, the coated contours disturbingly reminiscent of bare skulls. In their pale hands they clutched candlesticks like daggers. Only one scholar’s wick blazed with flame, and the others followed their lit leader. They approached, slowing down as their eyeless sockets took in the area, and Sandalphon held her breath. A few seconds later, the scholars turned to move on, their bodies even more painfully stiff-looking than the archangel’s.

On a hunch Sandalphon ran a quick scan, and sure enough, it turned up negative. These things were little more than corpses, though that didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous. Especially to her, given her condition. She craned her neck upward to try and get a better idea of the archives’ scale, wondering where the others were. If the magical trap had separated them, they could all be in danger. Reuniting with her fellow Seekers was her first priority. But would trying to escape the archives be riskier for her than staying put and hoping that someone found her first? Warping to one of them was also an option, but doing so without knowing where they were -or what they were up against- presented its own problems. This was a tricky situation. Whatever happened, Sandalphon would have a great deal to thank Layton for when she found him.

---

Alchemical Lab - Heismay

With a frustrated snarl, Heismay stirred and blinked his big, ruby-red eyes open, a hand on his aching head. Instead of a dark, snowy mountainside, he found himself in a rather grim -if not outright macabre- laboratory of some kind. Most of what light there was came from by eerie green orbs within hanging metal lanterns, casting latticed shadows everywhere. Strange skeletons that couldn’t belong to any natural creature could be found hanging from the ceiling or made into freestanding sculptures, but the real horror came in the form of the bubbling specimen jars crowding the main research table, housing all manner of ghastly, fleshy homunculi. Heismay took in the tables, of alchemical equipment, towering blackboards covered in illegible scrawls, and shelves full of nasty ingredients. It was almost over-the-top in its commitment to the evil laboratory aesthetic, in fact, which nothing epitomized better than the bat wings atop the backs of the tall green chairs.

In contrast to the room around him, the actual alchemist at work here didn’t look that bad. He looked like a pretty suave fellow, the academic look of his lab coat tempered by long black dreadlocks, a green shirt that showed plenty of his toned chest, and leather thighboots. A wooden staff with a deep blue gem in its crook floated at his side as he mixed chemicals and recorded observations, focused on his work.

When he did look Heismay’s way, he gave a succinct wave, then turned back to the task at hand. Heismay, not quite ready with a tentative greeting, froze up a little and didn’t manage to return the wave before he lost the alchemist’s attention. Strange…one would almost think from the man’s behavior that he had nothing to do with Heismay’s presence here. So why was he here, and without any of the other Seekers? Had that magical trap separated them somehow, perhaps scattering them throughout the castle? To what purpose? To divide and conquer seemed like the most probably answer, but nothing had attacked him yet. Heismay burned with questions, but his main concern was regrouping with the others before any of them got hurt.

“Dammit,” he mumbled, furious that the team had fallen prey to such a scheme. The curse got the attention of the alchemist again, who gave a look somewhere between concern and amusement. Heismay cleared his throat and picked himself up, figuring it was time to make contact. “Ahem! Pardon me. I believe I appeared here quite suddenly. Do you know where I am?”

The alchemist held up a finger as if asking for silence. Heismay grumbled. “Very well, I can wait…” At that, the alchemist shook his head, pointing at his throat. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. Heismay’s brow rose again as he reassessed the situation. “Oh, are you mute?” Grimacing, the alchemist wobbled a horizontal fanned hand, essentially saying kind of? He grabbed a nearby notepad and began to write, so Heismay padded forward to get a better look. After a moment, the alchemist showed him the notepad. “I’m cursed. Can’t speak,” he read. “This is Winterhold College. Magic school. My alchemy lab.” The eugief nodded. “I see. Thank you for your help, kind sir. I don’t suppose there’s anything else you can tell me?”

After a little more writing, Heismay read the new update. “Rooms shift around. Inconsistent. Don’t know how to leave. I’m fine here though. Be careful.” Heismay pursed his lips. “Understood. My thanks. I need to go look for my comrades. Let me know if I can be of any help to you, as well.” The alchemist nodded as he turned back to his work, leaving Heismay to pick out one of the two doors and continue onward.

[DracoLunaris]

Words: 1,338 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (28/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Edward groaned as he awoke, before blinking once and leaping to his feet with an assistive flap of his wings. He drew his nanite-infested katana in one hand and magelock pistol in the other as soon as he was up, before taking cover behind the barrels.

Only after claiming the defensive position did he take the time to fully observe his surroundings, and only once he identified them as clear did he step back out of cover, holstering his pistol but keeping the sword dawn just in case.

”Teleported. Wondeful” he said to himself, before setting about investigating the area for signs as to where he was, and where the others might be.

Despite the sudden transportation and unfamiliar surroundings, Edward forced himself to remain calm. Most of the others could handle themselves, and even for those that could not, there would be no gain from rushing into danger when he was on the lower end of the ‘being able to handle things’ spectrum. Instead he focused on trying to make sense of the situation, and to discover any clues or items that could aid the team.

First things first, he checked the barrels by lifting up their lids with his sword. In doing so, he discovered that he had made a very poor choice when taking cover earlier, given they were filled with black powder. Still, he wasn’t one to turn down the offer of high explosives, and so these were swiftly sent to the armory for later use.

He then took the time to examine both the dead bats and the living ones. The latter seemed perfectly healthy, rather than perhaps starved or sickly, which would have explained the presence of the dead but uneaten ones on the floor. These were in varying states of decay, including infestation by unusual large maggots.

This all struck Edward as quite odd, especially the corpses. There were clearly decomposers at work here, such as the maggots, so the fact that there was any flesh at all implied that the area must have been created (or copied in) rather recently, else they would be nothing but bone now. After all, no fresh ones would ever be joining them in Galeem’s version of reality where the dead turned to ash.

There wasn’t much to do with this information however, other than vaguely worry that what had been recently made might soon be unmade, and so Edward descended the stairs in search of something that was of use, where he found the alcove with its writings. Perusing them, he discovered that the side room was dedicated to the study of a cadre of powerful beings known as the Daedric Princes (worshipped by some as deities) as well as the planes associated with each one.

Perhaps, he speculated, they had been drawn into one of those realms, though given the mundanity of the bats compared to some of the daedra described in the documents as being the residents of those planes, this was not a theory that had much evidence at the moment.

It was only after he was done reading, and having bound all the writing together into a halfbaked Tome using his magic, that he began to inspect the bell. I did not seem particularly magical in any way, which was a shame, but he was naturally quite curious as to its purpose. Perhaps it would summon someone willing (or able to be ‘convinced’) to explain the situation he was in.

The man wisely fortified his location with summoned golems before sounding the bell. Unfortunately this did nothing to dissuade the three gargoyls that swooped down from a hole in the ceiling in order to grab him and haul him back up into their hiding spot.

Said spot turned out to be a vertical tunnel, and, after hauling him up past a secondary tunnel leading deeper into the rock, emerged out of the top into a Perilous Hallway via the pit in its center. They then deposited him at the top of the flight of stairs before returning back down the way they had come.

After a moment to steady his breath, Edward glanced back down into the pit, but found nothing down there but the dark.

”What a wretched transportation system” he complained, before setting it aside for now. With a quick few mental commands he dismissed most of the golems he’d summoned down below, but left a squad of bronze ones who began hacking away at the walls to extract any coal or lapis they could with their helbards. Not exactly the perfect tools for the job, but they could keep at it effortlessly for as long as he sustained them.

Then he flexed his wings and with a flapping leap crossed the gap to the balcony opposite the staircase. He’d seen that the gold filigree decorated black doors there were ajar, allowing a bright light to creep through into the dim corridor, and was intrigued to investigate the source of that light.

Past the black doors Edward found a spacious and elegant bathroom, its white tile floor studded with small black diamonds, and a pattern like a curtain or half-folded fan on the off-white walls. To the left, a huge latticed circular window let light shine across a pristine bathtub that sat atop a raised dias, its arrangement of faucets intriguingly intricate. A rug occupied the center of the room, and opposite the tub stood the bathroom countertop with mirrors and sinks. Towels, soaps, and potted plants could be found in abundance, as well as some other furniture. It was luxurious without being opulent, very clean, and a comfortable refuge in an unknown location.

Edward still moved through it with sword in hand nonetheless, but once it was confirmed clear he breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. Certainly the sunlit window was somewhat suspicious, given there was no sun outside and the frosted over texture made it impossible to see what was actually out there. However, after releasing the Snoruyo from their pal-spheres, he felt secure enough to experiment with the bathroom.

He tested the bathtub first, purely out of curiosity, and found that its elaborate faucet was capable of streaming out several different colors of perfumed water to create a rainbow bath. A quiet novel setup indeed.

Much as it was tempting, however, this was not the time. What he did however have time for was the sink. After the morning’s rude awakening and the whole beard incident, the man was feeling pretty rough and unkempt despite his best efforts. More so than he might expect, even, as despite the fact that he had simply been examining the rooms he was in, he found that he felt somewhat fatigued.

As such, a bit of self care was more than welcome. He also took the opportunity to fill a small drinking flask with water that wasn’t made from snow that had been melted using a simulacrum of hellfire.

He wasn’t entirely idle while he did this, as the man had a scout drone he’d made before his wash launch itself down into the pit in order to investigate the side passage he’d been flown past while being carried by the gargoyles.

It wasn’t a particularly long investigation, as after spotting an interesting blade that crackled with lighting, the drone was promptly destroyed by a grotesque Green Hunter that lurked within the otherwise mostly bare cavern.

An unfortunately unsurprising confirmation that danger did indeed lurk within these halls.

He decided to leave it be (for now) and put his re-energized state into further exploration, recalling the snoruyo and heading back out to the Perilous Hallway. Here he glanced left and right, before leaping back to the stairs with a flap of his wings, and then heading down towards the left door in order to continue seeking answers.

---

Elsewhere in the maze, the Somnadrix presented itself to Roxas, awaiting his commands, while Taffy the traffikrab hunkered down under its neon traffic cone in response to the confusion brought on by suddenly appearing inside of an observatory. Finally, the infernal steed carrying Edward’s grenade launcher lay itself down in a room filled with seated cage wearing corpses at its general’s distant command, lacking as it did thumbs needed to either open doors or investigate the main body more closely.

[Archmage MC]

Blazermate

Sectonia

Level 14 Sectonia (holding 4 level up) - (25/140)
Level 15 Blazermate (Holding 4 level up) - (21/150)

Location Frozen highlands
Word Count: Less than 750

Well, Sectonia did want to get out of the winter air, but finding herself with only Mokou was... Well, teleporting magic could break if used improperly. It was a reason she didn't just use her own portals willy nilly without an anchor so this sort of thing wouldn't happen. But... well, best to figure out what was going on now.

And the room she found herself in with Mokou was... well from the looks of it a magical armory! This would be of great use for their crusade against Galeem, assuming it was all real. But as Sectonia grabbed an item that seemed to radiate insane magic, a prism, and attempted to open the portal to send it to the Avenger, she found that spell didn't work. In fact most of her magic didn't seem to work in this area which was... odd. She could still fly, but she couldn't use things that would get her out of the room.

Granted whoever or whatever ran this armory wouldn't like their stuff being stolen, there were much bigger things at play and Sectonia could deal with whatever ran this place if it came up. Hopefully Mokou was in the same thoughtspace as her with grabbing items, although, she might regret grabbing the item she sensed had insane power.

"I am sure we can make more use out of these weapons and armor than the current occupant just leaving them here. A bit fortunate we got teleported here though, we might get ambushed later." Sectonia said to Mokou, her and her new item in hand. "We had best figure out where we are."

Testing her new item, she found that since it was from inside the armory, it worked unlike her own magic. But once it was used, she found it was cursed.

Last Prism

Last Prism (Cursed) - a remnant of the Moon Lord that can emanate multicolored beams of light that quickly converge into a single beam dealing egregious magic damage at the cost of a high constant magic drain. This item is cursed, and equipping it inflicts the Disorder VIOLENT OUTBURSTS. At some point in every post, the sufferer is compelled to dash in a random direction and execute a reckless melee attack strong enough to knock victims away, and deal recoil damage

Although she wouldn't discover the curse until they entered the next room, only assuming her current swing at a dummy wearing some cultist robes was her own anger at the item draining her mana at quite the insane rate.

--------------------------------

Blazermate meanwhile found herself in quite the spooky area covered in what she assumed was cobwebs. Apt, but not exactly what was in the area. And there was some sort of bug in a more ancestral outfit ringing a bell trying to keep their spirits up. Blazermate found out this guy was completely harmless, but that didn't mean things weren't hostile here as she approached the pilgrim, they warned her about the monsters in the silk and almost on que, the door behind her slammed shut and many mutated monsters covered in the same cobwebs and more... machined cobwebs which she'd find out was silk jumped out to attack her with the pilgrim, Sherma, hiding behind the makeshift shelter he had made clearly not a fighter.

Well... Blazermate didn't like to fight by herself, but she was known on the battlefield as the combat medic for a reason. She'd start by summoning her engineering striker to protect Sherma with his sentry base and provide cover fire as Blazermate, being much faster than any of the silk zombies, moved around with hit and run tactics. And since she was the only one here, she'd be able to use her gained uber for medaforce blasts to keep herself up for when she eventually got hit.

Although her hit and run tactics seemed to be something that these creatures were weak to. with a lack of ranged attacks and a period where they had to rest between attacks, it was almost like whatever world these were from the hero, or... villain? People? were either very fast or very slow to deal with these things since when they hit, boy did they hit with zombie strength.

While her initial divine stars and ubersaw hits didn't do all that much damage, her purgatory ghosts and eventual medaforce beams did quite the large amount of damage clearing out a zombie or two each use as the sentry slowly plunked away at the closest zombie. While sometimes she'd get the wrong timing down and get hit, those are times where she'd use her medaforce beam to heal herself back up much like if she was in a robattle. Seeing these were zombies, at one point she tried using her shield to control them, but when she did that, the silk that animated them seemed to pull tighter forcing them to attack her instead of follow her commands.

Clearing out the last few zombies with a summon of Armstrong to blow them all away, the man far stronger than any of them and his fiery explosion causing even more damage than normal due to their silky insides, eventually the waves were cleared out and the door that had locked behind her opened signifying she could leave.

"Are you ok?" Blazermate asked Sherma once the whole thing was clear. "Do you know where we are or a way out or something?"

=========================================

Roland

Level 8 Roland (8/80) - Holding 1 level up.
Location: Eseka
Word Count: less than 750

Unlike some of the others, Roland had a less than eventful stay at the Casino, more afraid to gamble than anything. Although helping out another girl with dealing with her stalkers and surviving in the City, even though the high tier was quite posh and far, far different from the backstreets did highlight his night. The backstreets taught you many things and many ways to survive and deal with those coming after you, and those lessons should work even in a place that Roland assumed was more like a Nest. Although with the others finishing their gambling and the night drawing on, it was time to leave and he'd have to check in to see how things went tomorrow. Tonight he had to sleep for his tournament matches tomorrow.

Waking up at his stay in the low tier with an uneven step and in need of coffee, Roland wasn't super eager for his matches to come but regardless he went to go find where Band and the others were staying to see how things were going for them and their plans. It seemed that this fighting city made it difficult for people to keep their goals in sight as many things seemed to creep up and stab those that were focused. But maybe Band and the others had plans outside of just doing more matches.

Answering Band's call for a meeting spot, Roland chimed in. "I found a cafe down here in the lower tiers I was running some food for. Its mostly packed with carbs but they have some good rice and noodle dishes. I'll send you the address."

In all honesty, Roland was a bit worried about his match today with what was supposed to be a top tier. Not only a top tier, but a creme of the crop top tier that was known as a "one shot one kill" wonder. And he voiced as such when talking with the other seekers once they all got together. Or those that took him up on his offer.

[Yankee]

_{Thursday Evening ➜ Friday Morning}
Word Count: 1325 (+3 exp)
Level: 8 - Total EXP: 345/80
Location: Esaka, the Forbidden Kingdom

Some Seekers retired straight away, some found entertainment in the street, and others found it in luxury establishments. Ammy and Pit had set off to put at least some of the Seekers' worries to rest before the hour got too late. There were four missing friends to track down, but that night they concentrated on two: Harrier Du Bois and Kim Kitsuragi.

Being recent additions to the Seekers (especially Kim who they'd only met the day before), no one had really gotten the chance to know the detectives. Normally that would be detrimental in trying to find them, but Harry had never made a secret of his vices. When he wasn't at the bar that Amaterasu had left him earlier, she and Pit only had to go to the next closest one before they spotted him. His bar crawl had stopped early it seemed as he was doubled over in the space between the establishment and its neighbor, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground, one arm braced on the wall. Fortunately his fellow detective was right there with him, standing an appropriate distance away while idly patting Harry's back. Kim glanced at the two of them, pushing the bridge of his glasses up his nose and giving them a nod.

The combination smell of smoke, bile, and alcohol was an unpleasant one. It made Pit's nose rankle as he thought about what the chances were that he'd started and ended the day with this smell. It was much worse for Ammy of course with her sensitive nose, and recognizing that Kim stepped away from Harry to speak with the other two Seekers at the mouth of the alley where the stench wasn't as strong. Behind them, Harry mumbled something and gave them a thumbs-up (which he quickly dropped to clutch at his stomach).

Kim successfully fought the urge to light a smoke of his own, standing with his hands clasped behind his back as he addressed Pit and Ammy.

"He will be alright. Eventually," the man started. He didn't look too bothered, as he was used to the other detective's behavior. "Though I do not know how useful he will be to your cause in the long term... and that goes for me as well."

Because both of them had been knocked into the Loser's Bracket in their respective tournaments, they wouldn't have much luck trying to claw their way out of it when there were so many other, actual martial artists participating. Fighters that could control their ki so well that they could fire it out from their body, or commanded other kinds of mystical powers that they freely used. Harry could throw out a mean roundhouse kick capable of knocking out men nearly three times his size, but it wasn't a reliable move... and at the end of the day, the two of them were only human.

"It's a bit out of the RCM's pay grade I'm afraid."

Which sounded like a resignation, but after shifting his weight from one foot to the other Kim continued with, "but I have a feeling that Harry will not agree with me and insist on 'unraveling the mystery of the evil sun' or some such, and I would be remiss in not keeping an eye on my partner. While I try and convince him otherwise, please consider us on standby."

The smile he offered to Ammy and Pit was a slight one, only the barest movement of his lips. Kim was a good person, but he was a realist; if there was something that they could do to help, he would answer the Seekers' call. But as their current plan revolved around increasingly difficult battles, he just wasn't sure what they could offer. At the very least, the two of them would remain in Esaka until the Seekers had taken care of things. Pit accepted this, reminding them that the reverse was true too: call over the linkshell if they needed any help.

Kim stepped back into the alley to help Harry while Pit and Amaterasu returned to the street.

"Guess that's two down," the angel told Ammy. Somehow he didn't feel as accomplished as he thought he would after finding them (or more like following Amaterasu while she found them). At least they were alive and mostly well though. Things would always have turned out worse.

With no leads on Terry or Zenkichi and the night wearing on, it was time for the Pit and Ammy to turn in as well. Sure they could crash at their shared dojo even if it really wasn't equipped to house its members, but as one of the things Pit had done between matches that day besides eat was to find places for his team to stay, he'd already booked a room for himself at one of them. Without the power of speech it would be a hassle for Amaterasu to do the same, which was why she accepted the invitation to bunk with Pit for the night.

It was a modest motel, with a no pets policy that they briefly argued with the clerk over. In the end the two of them threw open the door to a single carpeted room with a small attached bathroom and one bed large enough for two adults. Being one wolf-shaped goddess and one teen-shaped angel there was room for both on said bed, but if they didn't feel like sharing the mattress, there was also a very uncomfortable chair parked next to a small, barren table, and the floor was always an option.

The final item on today's agenda was dealing with Omen's spirit before it faded away, and with no takers among the Seekers and Pit himself loathe to fuse with or summon the wraith, he crushed it between both hands.

For Pit

Item Obtained:
Soul Heart
A blue heart, not unlike Omen's own. When touched, it is consumed and adds a temporary bit of protection to the toucher, granting an extra buffer of 'blue health' that is depleted before the toucher's own health, but cannot be regained

And with no more pending action that night they could wind down and hit the hay.

---

There were no rays of morning sun to wake the pair through the room's one window, but they both were still up early. The benefit of a consistent internal clock and literally being able to sense the sun's position. It didn't take very long before they were ready to get a start on the day, although stepping outside and seeing the drizzle of rain put a bit of a damper on that.

"Aw man," Pit said, curling his wings up over his head as a makeshift umbrella. He glanced down at Amaterasu. "You think the Heavenly Principles will stop the rain for the matches?"

His own first match was later in the morning, so he had some time to kill. He considered going to meet up with Ashrah early (and asking Amaterasu if she could get rid of the clouds if it turned out the Principles could not or would not), but soon enough the familiar brassy voice of Big Band filtered through the link pearls.

"Breakfast sounds good!" Pit chirped into the connection.

He nodded towards Amaterasu so that they could start scouring the area for a place that looked (and smelled) good and had room for so many customers at once. Esaka's fighters all knew the importance of starting the day with a tasty, invigorating meal, and the better the restaurant the more people were packed in there. They'd probably have to head down to the Low Tier again.

"Me and Amaterasu got some news too, kinda like medium news? So not bad but–"

He stopped short, also pausing mid-step when he spotted something -or rather someone- familiar to him. At a small cafe, a white haired woman in an intricate tactician's coat sat alone at a table.

"...but I'm gonna be a little busy I think, so I'll tell you guys later!"

At the inquiring look the wolf goddess gave him, Pit grinned and said, "operation free a bunch of allies, remember? I'm gonna get a head start on it! I'll be fine, so you go on ahead Amaterasu. You can let everyone know about Harry and Kim and tell them I'll catch up with a new friend!"

How she would do that without Pit to interpret was another matter. Maybe with some luck Yayama would join them and fill in to get the goddess' thoughts across to the others. After giving Amaterasu a peace sign, Pit ran over towards the coffee shop without another moment's hesitation. If his waving didn't get the woman's attention, maybe his calling what he thought was her name as he approached her would.

[Double]

Word Count: 573
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 91/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 92/60

Esaka’s Low Tier, The Breakers Dojo

“What do you mean, ‘missing’?” asked Sho Kamui.

Captain Falcon had returned to the Breakers Dojo for the night. Once there he’d shared with Sawamura and Team Breakers what had happened that day regarding Terry going missing. And while Lee remained stoic, Sho and Tia showed their concern. Sawamura stayed silent for now, taking in the info and simply processing it.

”It happened after our match,” Falcon said, leaving out all the details pertaining to the UN and the G-Corp investigation. ”He just… went radio silent, and wasn’t replying. And I couldn’t find him at the Fatal Fury Dojo either.”

“Wait,” Tia chimed in, “so if he’s actually gone, then your team…” she trailed off.

“...will get DQ’d from the Tournament.” Lee said, finishing the thought for her.

“But isn’t there a rule that allows an emergency sub-in?” Sho pointed out.

”Yeah,” Falcon confirmed, ”that’s allowed. I’ve even found a pair of fighters who want to take his spot, but…”

“But what?” Lee asked, “You’re down a teammate, and was lucky enough to find a quick replacement. Why the hesitation?”

”They’re only 15.” Falcon said with some trepidation, ”Kids, essentially.”

There was a pause between all of them at that revelation. It was Sawamura who eventually broke the silence, “You’d be surprised how young some prominent fighters can be.”

“True.” Sho said optimistically, “And it’s not like the KoF matches are allowed to be lethal, right?”

Under most normal circumstances they’d be right. But the Captain obviously knew some details that they were not privy to concerning the Four Kings and what he assumed was likely waiting for the Seekers at the end of the Tournament. The twins weren’t like himself or the other Seekers. They wouldn’t be regenerated by the system put in place by Galeem. They only had one shot. If something happened to them, that was it - Game Over. Not an easy thing for Falcon to have to carry on his conscience.

And yet Bart and Marg were insistent on fighting anyway. From that perspective, he had to admire the courage and guts the two had. Which was also why he couldn’t just turn them away. Not after how much trouble they went to to prove they wanted to do this. And not the least of which because Falcon had no other options for how to replace Terry on the KoF team.

”I guess you’ve got a point.” The F-Zero Pilot finally admitted.

---

The next morning, Falcon was back out on the streets of the Low Tier when he heard the call from Band and Roland’s subsequent reply. ”I’ll be there.” The Captain quickly chimed in. Since he was already in the Lower Tier it wouldn’t take him long at all to get to the address that Roland specified.

Once there, he got himself a coffee and a rice omelet. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. He greeted Pit and Amaterasu when they arrived, too. He waved the wolf goddess over so he let her know where they were set to meet the twins before the day’s matches were supposed to begin.

”We’ll have a tougher time knowing what we’re up against without Terry.” He admitted but quickly added, ”But I’ve got faith in us. As long as we’re not out of the Tournament, then as far as I’m concerned we’ve still got just as good of a shot as ever at making it to Rugal.”

[Goggy]

A Chance Encounter

Pit - Level: 8 - Total EXP: 348/80
Grima - Level 5 (holding 1 level up) 46/50 EXP

Location: Esaka's High Tier, Forbidden Kingdom (Friday Morning)
Word Count: 2233 (+3 exp)

"Robin! Hey, Robin!"

Grima didn’t respond, at least at first. People calling out other people’s names was not something that concerned the Fell Dragon. ‘Robin’ was a name she was not familiar with, after all. But when the person calling it out continued to run up to her, Grima was forced to look up, glancing around and noticing that there was truly no other person they could be calling out to.

“... I believe you have me mistaken for someone else,” Grima states calmly, placing her coffee mug down on the table in front of her, putting on a friendly facade as she took note of the stench of the boy in front of her. If the clear wings were not an obvious enough sign, then the scent of divine favor radiating from them was a sign that this was, at worst, a servant of the gods. The fact that they mistook her for someone else was a curiosity though, “Regardless, is there something you need?”

Pit faltered a little, but since she didn't seem to immediately brush him off the angel took that as invitation to stay (though to be fair, he likely would have regardless). He squinted his eyes and tilted his head at "Robin."

"No, I'm pretty sure you're Robin. The girl Robin! You got the coat and pigtails and everything!" Though he wasn't as close with her as he was with other 'Smashers,' she was exactly how he remembered her being. He didn't believe this was a case of mistaken identity. "It's Pit! You know, veteran adventuring angel who's just as cool as Link? Don't you remember me?"

He smiled widely at her as though that would jog her memory, but after a moment his eyes shifted to the woman's own. Unsurprisingly, they glowed with the evidence of Galeem's influence. "...or maybe you don't."

“No, I do not ‘remember’ you. Nor do I know of any ‘Link’. I am sure that I would remember someone like you,” Grima states with a small shrug, her gaze steady as she looked back at the angel, “Odd that this ‘Robin’ sounds like me. I, however, am… Grima.” the Fell Vessel explains.

"Grima?" Pit questioned, confused, while at the same time a voice in his head echoed him. Grima...?

After a beat though, Pit smiled in a way that was just a little embarrassed, but in a good way. "Heheh, someone like me huh?"

He fluffed his feathers proudly at what appeared to be a complete stranger (who dressed identically to someone he knew) recognizing his strengths at a glance. Or maybe his looks. Or his can-do attitude? He had a lot of good points after all.

"Sorry, you just look exactly like a friend of mine."

I don't think you're wrong, Pit. Technically, I mean. It may be more accurate to say that right now, only part of her is the Robin you know.

...I'm not following.

Remember a while ago when we talked about parallel universes and different timelines?

Yeah, and what the point in doing anything was if there was always going to be another version of you that did the opposite thing and–

Not that part. In Robin's world, they already had to deal with at least two timelines. One where the incarnation of an evil dragon's spirit into their fated vessel failed, which is where the Robin we know comes from... and one where it succeeded, and their body and soul is ruled by that same spirit. The Fell Dragon - Grima.

It was only a scant few seconds between Pit's apology and then a sudden, surprised outburst. "Wait, Fell Dragon?!"

His angel senses had been picking up on something, but he'd thought it was just Robin's unique magic signature. With that revelation, the aura of the woman in front of him now seemed a few shades darker.

Grima’s faux friendliness evaporated practically in an instant, her eyes narrowing slightly at Pit’s outburst, “... Seems like you caught on. That saves me the trouble of beating around the bush, though I suppose it may have been better had you not realized,” Grima comments, picking up her coffee again and taking a casual drink, “Yes, Fell Dragon. Though I am hardly your enemy. In fact, I believe you happen to be part of the Seekers of Light, correct? In that case, our goals actually align. I too have been dealing with the current leaders of this city. A certain Lucky Chloe has already been dealt with and shouldn’t interrupt the rest of your plans.”

It was one whiplash after another it seemed. Pit hardly had time to even process that Grima was an enemy before she denied it. He floundered before finding his voice again. "Uh, yeah, I'm their captain! But how did you know about us?"

Neither Captain Falcon nor Bowser Jr. had mentioned seeing Robin, or as it turned out, Grima's vessel. Not to mention the fact that Grima was still gleaming with the firelight of Galeem, a fact that he'd initially come over to remedy. He regretted not freeing Ken back when they'd met the man a few weeks ago, and he wasn't going to pass up a friendly face again if he could help it. So... how had that turned into all this?!

"And how do you even know about our 'goals,' I thought it was impossible for people still brain washed to even think about that stuff!"

Interesting... Lady Palutena chimed in. It felt to Pit as though her divine gaze was leaning forward for a better look. Though she probably means defeating the Four Kings. It is pretty much every person in the city's goal after all, right?

“It’s simple really: I overheard it at the Wine-Cup Hold meeting. You wish to overthrow the Four Kings, and so do I. It’s a matter of common grounds-”

And there was one more thing, arguably the most important thing in fact. As he kept talking, Pit had gotten more excitable, until he slammed his palms onto the table Grima was seated at.

"Plus you're apparently possessing the body of my friend! How does that not make you a bad guy?!" Of course saying that was a little hypocritical considering that Pit had actually done the exact same thing before, intentionally even, but it had been for good reason and temporary. Still, the conviction in his stare may have faltered slightly as he recalled his own soul-jacking incident.

Grima’s earlier comment was quickly interrupted by Pit slamming the table, not quite jolting the vessel but causing her to blink slightly before sighing, “The commonality of this vessel and your ‘friend’ is irrelevant. They were not them, of that I can be certain. Even if they were hypothetically, what would it matter? This vessel was made from the start to be mine. I’m sure even your friend behind those eyes can agree on the value of a proper vessel,” the Fell Dragon stated, her own gaze locking onto Pit’s, “Don’t think I haven’t sensed them. The scent of the divine is something I know far too well.”

Though they were just words they did startle Pit, who drew back slightly. "Wh- you can sense Lady Palutena?"

Veeery interesting!

If any of the other deities that Pit had spoken to since reuniting with Palutena had also sensed the presence of the Goddess of Light, none of them had mentioned it. So far they had been content in the knowledge that with Galeem's influence dominating the world, the telepathic conversations between angel and goddess would be difficult, if not impossible to intrude upon. Perhaps it was then that they just hadn't encountered someone with powerful enough magic, or force of will, to be able to do it. But Palutena pushed that train of thought to the side for the moment, addressing Grima's claim on vessels.

She's not wrong. Like Amaterasu's reincarnation into a physical body, or my Power of Transformation so that humans can comprehend my form, embodying a vessel is just another way for gods to interact with the world. And a bad fit might be more trouble than it's worth, she said, her tone scholarly.

Then... she's telling the truth?

If she had been physically present, the goddess might have glanced down at her ward then. She of all people knew full well that naivety was literally built into Pit's being, and the hope that Robin really wasn't stuck disembodied and helpless as he’d once been was now fighting with the lessons he'd learned about not trusting others at face value.

About no one else being in her body but her? It's a little frustrating, but even I can't tell.

So they were at a bit of an impasse.

Pit squinted at Grima again, his expression something between glaring and scrutinizing. After a few long moments he bit his lip, and a few more later he crossed his arms.

"...okay, fine! She said you're not wrong. I'll believe you... for now!" he said, clearly conflicted over his own decision. "So you just happen to look like someone we know, overheard some of us meeting, and want to join up in taking down the Guardians, is that it?"

“The Guardians? I’m afraid I don’t know those ones, but if they are in leagues with the Four Kings, then it would be only natural to oppose them.” That was a half truth. She didn’t quite know the Guardians, true, but eliminating them would only depend on their status and threat to her resurrection, “Overall, yes. As I said, our goals align in this matter.”

Right, she still didn't know what Guardians were, or even what the Seekers of Light's actual goal in Esaka was. Pit pursed his lips, evidently falling into silent thought again. This time was much shorter before he nodded once and set Grima with a determined stare. "Alright. If you wanna team up with us, there's an initiation you gotta go through."

Are you sure you want to de-story her?

Honestly, I don't know. But if even a King of Evil like Ganondorf can work with us, then a Fell Dragon probably can too, right? And... if she's lying about possessing an empty body, maybe freeing her will bring Robin back.

Hehe, how astute of you, Pit! Normally I would recommend purging an existence like Grima's, but in this case? I agree with you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say.

Then Pit smiled at Grima, the kind of expression that declared a challenge. "Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that much!"

“... An initiation?” Grima asked, her eyebrow rising slightly, before she rolled her eyes and stood, “Fine, and what would this initiation entail exactly?” the angel said it wouldn’t ‘hurt much’, which Grima knew was likely a lie. She would wager a guess that it would be testing one’s ability to fight, in which case… She would be all too willing to oblige.

"We're gonna see how strong you are," he told her, which wasn't technically a lie even if it wasn't the point of the 'initiation.' "Come on, I know a place we can use for it!"

Neither the weather nor the hour kept Esaka's citizens from going about their business throughout the city. Today was still only the second round of Pool's matches, but tonight would mark the start of the weekend and the start of true hype surrounding the tournament series. That fact energized everyone from common folks at their daily jobs to participants doing morning training under the light rainfall. There had been one place Pit had visited before that was mostly empty though, and as he led the two of them up into the High Tier he found that that was still the case. The street ring wedged in the blind spot between the tier's edge and tall buildings, abandoned in favor of sparring pits in better locations or with more pleasing views but not yet repurposed. The same place that Pit had fought and freed Ashrah.

The roofs of the buildings around them did little to stop the rain, but at least it was still only a drizzle. Pit shook the wetness from his wings before holding his hands out to display the area, as uninspiring as it was.

"Nobody should bother us here, I think... not that it's gonna take long."

Grima looks around the chosen arena, her eyes taking in the unremarkable scenery, “Hm. Quiet and out of the way. Very well, you wish to see my strength, so I shall abide,” the Fell Vessel commented as she walked into the abandoned ring, drawing her sword and twirling it in her hand, a bit of smugness creeping into her smile, “Whenever you are ready to be crushed, draw your weapons.”

Fighting and freeing people on a small scale like this wasn't all that bad, Pit thought, as he mirrored Grima. He'd been doing a lot of it these last couple of days, but when in the city of fighting, why not? The Palutena Bow manifested in his hands with a small golden sparkle, and without a string it appeared to be a long, two-sided blade - unmistakably divine in nature.

Pit was unbothered by the confidence in her tone, because there was one way and one way only that this would play out.

"Hehehe, you're about to be in for a rude awakening!"

[Double]

Word Count: 1,133
Level 9 Ganondorf: 23/90
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 25/90

College of Winterhold - Library of Negated Words

Ganondorf grunted and grumbled as he pushed himself to his feet, his mood very much not improved by his sudden change in location. He didn’t know how or why he had been brought here, but whoever or whatever was responsible was about to learn the hard way that he was not one who could be contained. And it didn’t take the warlord long to notice that he was not alone in this library. In addition to the somber watchman, there were two headless abominations seemingly living in the upper reaches of the library.

Ganondorf rumbled a low sigh of exasperation. Somehow it always seemed to be him that ended up having to deal with such abominable creatures. In fact this stirred a memory or two of The Under that he would rather have forgotten about, ”Tch, fine.” He finally said to himself in a curt tone, having no doubt that the headless monsters would provide no real challenge to him.

Reaching the headless chamberlains would require climbing a series of ladders scattered at the edges of the floor levels, and after ascending the first the warlord quickly started to see what it was he was dealing with. Once he started climbing, the lower of the two chamberlains conjured floating heads that began flying down toward Ganondorf, likely intending to crash into him and force him to fall. But they had no idea that Ganondorf was well-equipped to stop their imminent collision. Without even needing to release his grip on the ladder, his four back tentacles grew out and lashed at the heads to swat them aside and seemingly kill them with ease. They retracted into Ganondorf’s back once again when he reached the first upper floor.

Once on the first upper level, Ganondorf drew his swords - Litania and the Acidic Curved Greatsword and advanced toward the first headless chamberlain. It continued to try to send heads at the warlord, but between his blades and his back tentacles not a single one was able to deter him from reaching the abomination. The acidic bite of one sword and the blessed prayer of the other one made quick work of the headless chamberlain as Ganondorf managed to hack and slash it down with relative simplicity. It seemed as though the creature was better suited to obstructing an attacker they climbed toward it then fighting directly.

And then Ganondorfed sheathed his weapons and mounted the next ladder to climb higher. As before, the second headless chamberlain sent flying heads down to try and knock Ganondorf from the ladder. But once again his back-tentacles proved to be rather effective at swatting them away, both on the ladder and on the upper level itself once Ganondorf began his advance toward the chamberlain. The second headless chamberlain proved no more difficult to neutralize than its brother on the lower level, and Ganondorf stood victorious in the end.

As he descended back to the ground level, Ganondorf scooped up both their spirits and tucked them away. He could do something with them later. For now, the priority was figuring out where he was and how to get out. And there was a watchman down below who he assumed could tell him these things.

”You there.” Ganondorf said to the watchman after he was on the bottom level once again, ”I need to know where I am, and how to leave.”

When confronted by Ganondorf, the watchman just seemed to stare past him, if there were indeed any eyes within his shrouded head to stare. After a brief moment, though, Diosdado replied in a low, raspy voice, as if whispering. "...The Library of Negated Words." Slowly, he turned the brim of his hat toward a set of double doors. "A way out...of the Library...but not of...Winterhold. How to leave...I know not...I merely keep...the keys."

He flinched, then bowed his head. "The sound...does not cease. It creeps on these...forgotten walls, and no one....can determine its origin...or its obscure destiny. For the love of the High Wills...silence it...for I have long yearned for it."

From the reply, Ganondorf assumed he must be inside the structure they saw on the outside. But the watchman's word about not knowing how to actually get out of the building was concerning. Ganondorf should have guessed it wouldn't be as simple as just going through the door. When were they ever that lucky? That meant Ganondorf would have to try another room and hope some other clue about getting out would present itself there.

But there was also the second thing the watchman spoke of. The sound that he described, which Ganondorf had not heard a single bit of thus far. Was he simply crazy and imagining things? Or was there more to this Library than meets the eye? ”If I were going to silence that sound, how might I go about finding it?”

Diosdado continued to glare at the floor. "Look," he replied. "Listen. As you wander...not in this Library, but in another room, somewhere..." After a moment, his head slowly rose. "Silence that noisome sound, and I will part with whichever key you need."

”Then I’ll try to return when I’m finished.” Ganondorf said. He couldn’t make promises since it sounded like wandering these rooms was going to involve a bit of luck, but that wouldn’t stop him from keeping his ears open for whatever that sound the watchman wanted silenced. And a choice of any key from his collection could prove useful in navigating this place. With no other business to attend to in the library, Ganondorf approached double doors and pushed them open.

The Pool

This room wasn’t as big as the library. It was small, and square. Its only real feature was the pool of clean water in the center of it, bearing steps that led down into the water should one wish to swim or bathe, presumably. The only items of note were a bucket, a shovel, and a rope of connected objects that the warlord presumed were flotation devices intended for use in the pool. But then the other important thing he noticed was that the other set of doors in this room appeared to have been opened already. Beyond them he could see a glimpse of a tall stone auditorium housing a large floating spherical crystal that he could clearly sense a great deal of magic emanating from.

”Hmph, now where to begin…” Ganondorf murmured. He glanced around the pool but he kept drawing his gaze toward the next room over. Something about the sphere was very… tempting to him. And he had half a mind to ignore the pool room and investigate that instead. Eventually his temptation and curiosity got the better of him, and the Gerudo crossed over through the open doors into the auditorium room.

[Double]

Word Count: 941
Level 11 Roxas: 63/110
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 65/110

College of Winterhold - Archmage’s Quarters

”Ugh…” Roxas groaned as he came to his feet, ”Someone get the number of that runaway wormhole?” He mumbled dryly to himself. He heard a small whine nearby and went to give Scamp some comforting pets, ”You okay buddy?” He asked, and after the moment the Boltund calmed down and began to sniff around the unfamiliar surroundings. Meanwhile Roxas patted himself down, counting off his Poke Balls. 1… 2… 3… 4, good they were all still with him.

Wherever this was, it looked… well, magical. A few shelves contained books and scrolls as well as what looked like an obviously magical staff. A display case contained a dagger of some kind and Roxas also saw a pair of boots that might have been enchanted too but he lacked the ability to tell whether or not they were. Should he take them? They did probably belong to someone and whoever they were probably wouldn’t be happy about it. And nearby there was a garden of some kind growing all kinds of weird plants and mushrooms. This whole room was practically screaming “wizard” at him. But eventually he noticed the painter standing near the garden. Since there was no one else here, Roxas had to hope he could answer his questions.

”Excuse me, um, sir?” Roxas said, trying to mind his manners and not make himself seem threatening, ”I’m kinda lost… can you tell me where this is?””

Somehow, even though the other man had clearly seen Roxas already, he managed to be taken by surprise. Or maybe he'd just been cooped up in wherever-this-was long enough to be supercharged with nervous energy. "OH! Hey. Hi. Sorry. This is Winterhold College. The Archmage Quarters, specifically. But I need help too. I feel like I'm going mad..."

He took a deep breath. "I...I'm Frederic. Fred's fine, though. This is going to sound crazy, I know... but ever since I made THAT painting... my life has been turned upside down." He shook his head vigorously, squeezing his eyes shut. "My paintings have come to life. I made a series of portraits... but they escaped their canvases. They are prowling around the college. They are plotting something. I KNOW they are. I can hear their thoughts in my head. It's driving me insane." His voice became increasingly despondent, as if he were fraying at the edges. "Please, can't you do something about them? Any of them, even just one. Here, here."

Frederic dug in his pocket, then handed Roxas what looked like a fancy black doorstop with gold edges. "The layout in here isn't right. Always changing. When a door closes, it'll open somewhere else. Unless you keep it open with this."

Roxas tilted his head in curiosity. Magic paintings were not the strangest things he'd ever encountered. But paintings that plotted and that the painter could hear in their head? Admittedly that part was pretty weird. Still, he wasn't mean enough to just ditch the guy and not at least try to help him.

”Sure, I can try. Um, my name is Roxas.” Roxas answered, accepting the doorstop. ”So rooms really just change a lot? Man, how's anyone supposed to get around without being late all the time?” Meanwhile Scamp sniffed at the doorstep and then leaned forward to sniff curiously at Frederic.

”What should I do when I find one of those paintings?” Roxas asked, ”You want me to, like, destroy them or something? Do you know if there's any in here right now?”

Frederic looked around nervously. "No...I don't think there are. But keep an eye out. Chances are, they'll be hiding somewhere. From the voices. They can hear them, too. And we all want the same thing. Please, don't listen to them...destroy them."

”Got it.” Roxas said, ”Find the paintings, destroy them, and don't listen to them. Thanks for the tip about the doors!” After that Roxas decided to go open a door. If none of Fred's paintings were in this room, then he wanted to try checking another room for them.

”C’mon, Scamp.” Roxas said, patting his leg for Scamp to follow. Together they approached the door and Roxas pushed it. It was heavy, almost too heavy, but the Nobody managed to get it open.

The Kitchen

Roxas blinked at what was on the other side. ”Is this a… kitchen?” He asked, almost recoiling when he spotted the carved up hog, ”Ugh, or maybe it’s a butcher shop?” Regardless, he quickly knelt down and shoved the doorstop underneath the open door. From what Fred said, if he let the door close then it would lead to another room the next time it opened. Of course, Roxas only had that one doorstop. So he’d have to get creative if he wanted to figure out how to keep other doors open.

”Eyes peeled, Scamp.” He told his Pokemon, ”If you smell something, let me know.”

He shuddered at the sight of the bloodstains on the floor. Hopefully that was from a butchered animal and not from… a person. The rest of the room was pretty normal as far as kitchens go. Lots of shelves, cabinets, and pretty much all the necessary cooking and eating implements. He also noticed three other sets of doors besides the one he came through. One was straight across the room on the opposite side. The other two were on balcony levels that could be accessed by climbing up steep metal slat-stairs. But the most relieving thing Roxas spotted was a familiar figure.

”Geralt!” He called, already starting to jog over to where the Witcher was standing, Scamp bounding behind him at his heels. ”Have you seen anyone else?”

[Yankee]

_{Friday Morning}
Word Count: 1596 (+3 exp)
Level: 9 - Total EXP: 506/90
Location: College of Winterhold?, The Frozen Highlands

When Ace woke up, it was a slow process. His consciousness returned, and he heard and smelt burning logs in a fireplace nearby. He blinked his eyes open, finding that he was lying on his side on hard ground. He didn't get that prickling sensation of anyone else being in the room with him, but he did feel something. Intangible, uncomfortable. It was all around him, and even on him - he might be imagining it, but the residual magic of that teleportation spell seemed to cling to his clothes and skin. Goosebumps formed and the hunter sat up quickly, pressing a hand to his mouth to stop a few dry heaves.

So the Seekers on the White Team had just been separated from each other and randomly teleported to different places? Or something? This was the worst. It more than giggisux. How were they supposed to get into contact with each other, let alone meet up again? Were they even still in the general area?

Ace closed his eyes again and took a few long, deep breaths through his nose. Finally he removed his hand and started assessing himself. It didn't look or feel like his body had changed, thank the heavens and everything else. His gear was also all accounted for and unaltered. His bee- right, that Bnahabra-looking tag along, that had managed to stick with him somehow. Probably because it had been literally sticking to his coat, the little hooks on its neopteran legs allowing a good grip. It did look pretty dizzy though.

"Told you," he murmured to it with a hint of a humor, petting its soft furry mane.

Alright, he had to find out where he was and then find everyone else. A cursory look told him this was a bunk room, maybe part of a larger dorm. Ace rubbed his forehead and willed the worst of his discomfort away, but before he stood up motion in the corner of his vision caught his attention. He turned to the nearest bed, or more accurately the space under it.

They looked like little people, dressed in tunics and pointed caps. They shuffled together at the far end under the bed, though when Ace's eyes found them all four turned to look his way. They sported wide grins on angry red faces, which did not look friendly in the slightest. Armed with little pickaxes, the gnomes toddled toward Ace with surprising speed and didn't hesitate to take swings at him.

"What the-!" The Cadet scrambled back, kicking a few away as he got to his feet. He was more taken by surprise than in real danger, as though their tiny weapons were painful as they hacked at his legs they weren't making any deep wounds. It would be death by a thousand cuts only if he let them do it.

A flash of Yato shattered three of the gnomes one by one, a single slash all it took to destroy the things. The humbee recovering and dive bombing with a ram of armored head took care of the fourth. They had basically exploded into pieces, leaving no ashes or even spirits behind.

"Guess we weren't gnome alone after all," Ace said, though the humbee did not appear to understand wordplay. The hunter figured that the area might be dangerous, but he hadn't expected the ambush in this room, however ineffectual it had been. He swept the underneaths of the other three beds to make sure there weren't any other nasty surprises waiting, but he only found some pieces of scrap metal and springs (which he took) and a few dirty magazines (which he quickly shoved back under with a flushed face when he realized what he was looking at).

Well now that he was already looking around, he figured he had better investigate the room as a whole in case he could find anything useful. The nightstands beside each bed were the next logical place to look, so he opened the draws unceremoniously. Normally he might have felt bad about raiding what must have been people's personal belongings, but that had all flown out the window after being forcibly teleported and then attacked by violent little people. He found a bag of some big biscuits shaped like bones in one, along with the shed fur of some animal on the mattress next to it. Forgetting that they'd sent the machine that made impossible creatures back to the Avenger, he took some tufts of the hair as a bio-sample. Plus the biscuits of course. The next drawer had some sort of sleeping mask, emphasis on mask as it featured some air purifying device affixed to it that would cover the wearer's nose. Next was empty pill bottles and scattered pills. Reading the labels on the bottles told Ace nothing, as he was unfamiliar with the names and ingredients listed.

One never knew what might come in handy though, so he scooped the pills into one of the bottles and pocketed it along with the mask. Maybe Sandalphon could scan them and determine what they were for. Maybe they could even help with the symptoms of her disease.

Ace acknowledged that that was wishful thinking and moved to the last nightstand, from which a frog toy hopped out of the open drawer and bounced around the ground. Since making those toys in Christmas Village, the hunter had a deeper appreciation for the work that went into them, especially ones with simple movement like this. It was pretty cute too. The humbee had flitted down to follow the toy curiously until it eventually wound down and came to a stop.

"Bring that here," Ace told the humbee as he opened his bag once more. He went to go fetch it himself but was pleasantly surprised when the bug actually listened to him and grasped the toy in its legs before it flew over to him with it. It dropped the toy into the bag, pleased with itself. Ace gave it a smile, coupled with a playfully suspicious look. "Oh so you understood that but not the joke?"

It titled its head innocently. The thing was nice and all, and it probably really was stuck with the Seekers now, but the hunter didn't want it getting into trouble let alone danger. It might be able to handle itself given it had attacked one of the gnomes of its own accord, but for now... Ace withdrew the one pal sphere he had on him, the one he'd practiced making from scratch before, and tossed it at the humbee. Maybe it was the wrong capture device for this particular kind of creature as when it was sucked inside there was some sort of visual distortion that didn't look like how capturing the reindrix had, but after a few airborne shakes it seemed to have worked regardless. He took the blue crystal sphere and affixed it to his belt where it would be easy to reach quickly.

Having walked around the room already, Ace had seen a single set of doors that was his way out. He waited to open them, because besides the fire crackling away in the center of the room, he also heard some sort of movement above. Looking up was only stone ceiling though, and he found it weird that he would be able to hear anything through a thick layer of stone like that. That must mean there was something else in the room still.

Given the ceiling was clear, Ace stepped onto the poster bed frames to get a look at the space above them. So far nothing, nothing, and a light weight disc that wasn't quite flat (whatever it was, he was taking it). Over the last one he checked, he spotted a dark shape that he initially thought was another toy of some sort. When he reached out to take it and was met with the feel of cold metal and rough twine he furrowed his brow and hopped down to hold it next to the fire light.

This couldn't be a toy, despite being a doll of some sort. It looked like a wooden carving of a human, tied up and impaled with old nails. To Ace it gave off a sense of foreboding, especially when he turned it over in his hand and saw that a photo of a girl was nailed onto the doll's face.

He shouldn't take it. He didn't even want to be touching it. But in a situation like this, how could he leave it? What if it was something meant to hurt whoever this girl was? What if it was connected to something else? He couldn't even destroy it without knowing what that would do.

The hunter must have stood there squirming and fretting for longer than he'd thought, because his mounting anxiety over the object was only broken when he heard something beyond the door in the room. His head snapped in that direction, and with doll still in hand he ran over to press his ear to the door. He definitely heard something, but it was impossible to tell who or what it was.

Obviously the only thing to do now was open it.

With little hesitation Ace took one of the door handles and opened it wide in one push. Immediately the green glow of the next room flooded into the dormitory, and Ace found himself in some sort laboratory.

More surprising was that at the same time, the other side of the double doors swung inward to reveal a familiar eugief's face. "...Heismay!"