Lugubrious

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Hey there. Just as an update the collab is still in progress. It shouldn't be that much longer.

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (50/40)
Location: The Maw - the Belly
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count: 2000

When Bongo Bongo finally decided that the flower pot couldn’t possibly get any more smashed, its gaze moved on once again, but this time Nadia noticed what looked like a change in the monster’s behavior. Already the repeated provocations were wearing on the shadow beast’s nerves, perhaps knowing that it wasn’t striking at the root cause of the various disturbances. Leaving behind its methodical, reactionary strategy from before, the scarlet searchlight started to move faster and more erratically, making its gaze much harder to predict and hide from. Even Nadia, whose middle name might as well be ‘Levity’, had a tough time taking the situation lightly. She made a mental note to praise Mirage for his pun later as her brain raced to come up with a solution to the predicament before her.

Her traveling companion beat her to the punch. Nadia looked on as he extracted a nearby tire from the rubble, and when he began to outline his plan she absorbed every detail, her tail swishing around as the gears turned in her head. Someone possessed of an excess of sanity or perhaps a particularly well-developed intellect might have found fault with his plan, but given the feral’s attempt to jury-rig a paraglider mere minutes ago, it was perhaps unsurprising that Mirage’s idea sounded like the bees’ knees to her. In New Meridian and even the Little Innsmouth itself it wasn’t too strange a sight to see a few pint-sized street rats playing with whatever refuse came their way, tires included. The classic combination of tire and hill could keep a kid riding high for the whole day. “Okay,” she whispered, more excited than scared by the prospect. “Let’s do this!”

Together the two got a tire into position, and after bunching up the remains of her bedsheet parachute and stuffing it inside, Nadia climbed in herself. With her fan clutched between her chest and her knees as extra support she fit snugly inside. At that point movement to her right alerted her, but luckily it turned out to be Geralt, nigh-unrecognizable as he was in his current state. “Hiya,” she whispered, keeping things casual despite the ambient threat of the monster turning them to paste. “Mirage can use his darts to make a kind of ladder up the wall. Then we can climb up into the vent. We were just about to get down.” From inside the tire she pointed a clawed finger in the approximate direction of the junk mountain’s foot. “We can use tires to roll down fast. Our target…”

She cleared her throat as she realized, again a little sheepish, that she hadn’t thought about an actual destination. Carefully she got out of the tire, glanced to make sure the phantom’s searchlight wasn’t about to roll over her, and then peered down through the darkness toward the vent that would be her salvation. “There,” she whispered. “Can you see it? Look for the little metal shine. There’s a couch with red cushions pretty much right below it, about halfway between us and that boat.” She pointed to the houseboat currently commandeered by the Koopa Troop. No doubt they’d be reaching the exit at about the same time, which was great news. “Let’s aim there.”

At that point she heard a voice from down somewhere. She skittered to the edge of the metal platform to look and found Sakura down at the base of the mountain, sending up encouragement and high fives. Too pure and innocent for this world Nadia recalled as she clenched her teeth, looking to see if the little street fighter had alerted Bongo Bongo. Luckily the phantom seemed otherwise occupied at the moment at the other side of the Belly, venting some of its frustrations. Nadia waved down at Sakura with both hands, making the universal keep it down gesture. They might be near the end, but it was way too early to celebrate.

Still, she resolved to give Sakura some high-fives when they got through this. First, though she needed to get through this. With a deep breath she re-entered her tire, while Mirage re-adjusted his aim. “Well, if I get mulched, remember me fondly. Adult me, preferably.” She got as comfy as she could and braced herself for adventure. “Okay, I’m ready. Send me!”

Her friend complied, and the next second she was rolling. Her heart instantly leaped into her throat as the tire hit the junk and started to pick up speed, but pretty soon the dizziness set in and flushed everything else from her mind. The poor kitten could do nothing but hold on for dear life as her tire bounced, rolled, and bounced again down the slope of junk, each impact sending items clattering down the mountain. Normally the phantom might have passed the noise up as nothing more than the typical shifting of junk, but with its dander up Bongo Bongo wasn’t going to let a chance slip through its fingers. Its gaze flew across the Belly to the slope of the junk mountain, but by the time its hit the spot the noise came from Nadia’s tire had moved on. As the disturbances continued it tried to keep up, but for whatever reason it didn’t sense the pattern of her movement and attempt to intercept her, and only grew more frustrated.

Maddened by its continued tantalization, Bongo Bongo started smashing. From the shadows its mottled mitts dropped again and again, flying over one another in a line in a horrific game of leap-frog, destroying the junk in Nadia’s wake in an immense racket. If the monster even heard the sound of Mirage’s thrown glass over the hubbub, it flat-out ignored it. It picked up speed, and only a moment after the kitten’s tire ramped off the car door a hand reduced it to broken glass and scrap metal, hurting itself in the process. A strangled, guttural OOGH came from up above, where the searchlight originated, and both hands ceased their raging as the damaged one flashed blue.

Nadia’s tire, meanwhile, sailed through the air and landed on the bottom layer. It rolled a short distance, hit the edge of a buried nightstand, and toppled over. Only after a moment did Nadia’s tousled head poke up from within, looking incredibly dizzy. For the moment Bongo Bongo seemed to be recovering, but there was no mistaking the trail of tossed objects that heralded the arrival of the thing that lurked below. Even if she couldn’t see straight, Nadia could hear the noise that terror etched in her soul from earlier, and she struggled to pull herself from the tire. The sofa was close, painfully close, but still too far. It’s going to get me. It’s going to get me!

Then a pair of scaled hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her free. She mewed in fear, but rather than up into the darkness or down into the junk she got hauled onto the deck of the mostly-buried houseboat, and once her head stopped spinning she realized that a Koopa had come to her aid. “Junior! Oh man, you really saved my skin” she breathed, still too dazed to stand up straight. Her bright eyes turned just in time to see her tire get pulled beneath the junk, along with the blanket she’d left behind. At least she hadn’t let go of the fan.

A crescendo of clashing noise turned her attention back the way she came. Bongo Bongo’s wanton destruction of the mountainside had destabilized the terrain, and now the mountain was coming down. The piled-high items came sliding, tumbling, and clattering down in a landslide, taking the car hood that Geralt and Mirage stood on with it. Balancing for their very lives the two rode the hood down the mountain, eventually coming to a stop past where Nadia’s car door ramp had been. No other way across lay before them, but thanks to the landslide a box containing a set of welcome streamers among other things had been exposed, offering a perceptive dart-shooter the very sort of rope he’d been looking for.

At the same time the others took advantage of the noise to close the gap. Nadia spotted Sakura and Link pillow-stepping their way across the miscellaneous expanse, the latter having gained a strange companion that was not at all the green-haired lad the kitten had been expecting. Peach kept hopping along in her shoe, slow enough to not cause a scene. Though Bella looked exhausted she kept on trucking, rowing her toy boat toward the red-cushioned finish line. Bowser’s own little vessel picked up a passenger in Ace Cadet, who Nadia was overjoyed to see alive and well after he fell behind at the start. With the cover of the landslide Blazermate would have no trouble blazing her own trail over the junk to where the others were coalescing. Behind her, Rika and Kamek emerged from the houseboat’s interior wielding the split halves of a magnet, and the boat’s prow was only a hop, skip, and a jump away from a couple picnic tables and lawn chairs that led right to the sofa. Nadia’s heart surged with hope; somehow, despite the helplessness and terror, they were actually about to make it!

New Paired Tool

Blue Team has Acquired:
Magnet Halves of Attraction
Despite not being scientifically possible, the halves of the magnet retain their charge. Each one can attract metal of the opposite color and repel metal of the same color, including whatever they might be attached to. Originally created to help restore a troubled couple’s attraction, the magnet halves are stronger if the halves are borne by two people with attraction to one another, and weak otherwise. Their power continues to grow as the bearers’ attraction increases, allowing for new possibilities, including the halves flying together.

Of course, that notion smacked of confidence before the fall, and in anticipation of a problem Nadia turned her cat vision of the exit. Sure enough, there she spotted a problem with the vent beyond its height off the ground: there was a fan inside it. It spun at a good clip, remarkably quiet, but its edges looked sharp, and it promised to make escape difficult. At the hub there appeared to be a softly pulsing red core of some kind that looked important.

Her observation got interrupted by another noise from the shadow beast. As she watched its red eye began to descend, until its hanging form floated only a couple dozen feet above the final stretch of junk, hands at the ready. In anger and desperation at the intruders’ imminent escape it started to beat the ground layer, twice with its left hand and then once, stronger, with its right. Each impact sent a shockwave through the terrain, making it harder to balance and move, and all the while its eye continued to rove around. The final stretch had become a crazed game of red light, green light for those not already at the finish line, and Bongo Bongo wasn’t playing fair.

Those in the middle would have a hard time getting to the sofa, so it fell to those with a clear path around the sides to clear the way as much as possible. That meant Mirage, Geralt, and possibly Blazermate coming in from the left, and the remaining Koopas plus Rika on the houseboat route to the right. And, of course, Nadia. She grabbed Junior’s shoulder and tilted her head to the others, pointing the way with her ears since her other arm held her fan. “We’ve gotta go. Let’s get into position on the couch, so we can climb up. If you’ve got any ideas for dealing with the big fan, now’s the time!” Leading by example she scurried across the deck of the houseboat and hopped across the outdoor stepping stones to the couch, where she prepared to stage her getaway. She watched out for any signal from the others, any chance to put her own fan to use.

World of Light

Museum of Vanity

Location: Al Mamoon
Primrose’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, the Phantom Thieves
Word Count: 3338 (+4 EXP)

Jesse was on the back foot when the Phantom Thieves managed to come to her aid. She was fast and some well-timed projectiles kept it away, but it wasn’t hurting it at all. She figured it had some kind of weakness, but it was hard to think or puzzle solve with a giant monster bearing down on her. Primrose was doing some magic that made Jesse a little more confident that this thing wouldn’t just splatter her with one hit.

When even their impressive maneuver bounced off, Jesse knew the name of the game was slowing it down until her allies could find the weakness. That divination ability would come in clutch. While they did their coordinated attack, Jesse drew forth the Tool Gun.

“I’ll buy time.” Jesse announced.

There were a few things she could try, but a lot of them were probably out done by its sheer brute strength and odd anatomy. Nonetheless, she switched it to Deflate and fired off a few beams at its lower appendages, focusing on the same ankles and knees the brave Mona was pelting. It’s left leg would become Jesse’s target.

In the moment she adjusted her settings the Shambler nearly got her, but in desperation Mona called upon Zorro to whip up an even stronger whirlwind than usual. “Magaru!” His Persona’s rapier cut a gleaming rune into the air, then sent forth his magic with a flourish. A horizontal cyclone that raked across the gallery blew the Shambler up and away, but not nearly as far as it should have, and when the creature fell it descended slower than gravity would typically allow. “Grr!” Mona grit his teeth. “This thing isn’t reacting normally!” He watched Jesse zap its leg, but the monster brushed off the bolt of electricity just as it did the fire before, and its effect didn’t take.

“Yup.” Jesse dead panned. (Time to come up with Plan C.)

While Jesse and Mona dealt the thing and the remaining thieves scattered, Primrose considered her options. Since she didn't wield any wind or ice, she wasn't confident that her magic would be useful at holding the creature back. For her, directly confronting the monster was obviously a no-go. She would leave that to the pair already engaged.

So, Primrose did what she did best in battle: support her teammates. She focused on Mona this time, performing the Peacock Strut to boost his elemental attack. With a stronger wind, hopefully they'd have an easier time pushing the shambler into a corner while the others searched for the weapon that was apparently it's weakness. Midway through the steps she seamlessly reached into her clothes and drew something out, not her fan but her own dagger. The blade in her hand flashed as she danced, reflecting the flames around them.

Once her empowering twirl was completed she took a steadying breath. Mentally Primrose called the Makami out, could feel it's giddiness at being deployed so soon, and she wasted no time giving it it's first mission. She showed it the dagger in her hand, and with a finger she quickly drew a spiral down the length of it. "A bone dagger in a helix shape," she repeated to the wolf spirit, "fly up and help them find it."

The dancer was aware this wasn't the usual kind of job one might give a hunting wolf, but the spirit accepted it nonetheless and floated upwards towards the gallery's ceiling, trying to catch any hint of the mentioned weapon.

While the Thieves pored over the displays in the less damaged half of the gallery, Primrose’s Makami pointed its snout in the direction of the struggle with the Shambler. Like a kite caught in Mona’s wind it fluttered into the heat of battle, skirting just out of the horror’s range to come to a stop over the remains of a shattered display case, one that Jesse had thrown. It turned back to its new master as its body dangled downward and gave her a hollow howl to signal its find. Then it disappeared, its time spent for the moment. Primrose's eyes flickered over at the noise. So the Makami had succeeded in finding something - she could only hope it was the dagger. "There - try there," she said, calling attention to the wolf's fading form.

A voice reached the Phantom Thieves through their masks, that of the flying saucer Necronomicon. “Hey, are you guys alright? I’m getting some strange readings from in there.”

“We’re fighting this weird monster that doesn’t get hit like it should, and it’s not a normal immunity!” Mona yowled. “Need you to scan it, fast!”

“Oh! O-okay!” Necronomicon stammered, suddenly energized. “Well, uh, it’s...it’s pretty darn weird. Almost like a liquid? Whatever it’s made of can’t be from this world, and it doesn’t follow our laws. It’s immune to energy, but I bet it reacts to matter. Like...the opposite of a non-Newtonian fluid. So slower stuff with more surface area will have more effect.”

Though his stamina was beginning to run dry, Mona sent forth another twister to keep the monster at bay. He kept it slow and watched it carry the Shambler with it rather than move it as it passed through. “No wonder it touches the floor and furniture just fine.” He snuck a glance at Jesse. “Maybe you can pin it down with something?”

Jesse’s reserves of Energy were recharging, and she was managing it as best she could. It always came back, but if she ran empty at a crucial time, it would be bad news. Mona posed an idea. “Maybe.” She responded.

“I need something that won’t break.” Jesse scanned the room. Just keep throwing things at the wall, see what sticks. She ripped the concrete base of one of the statues right out of the floor and hovered it infront of her. She hipfired her Tool Gun, firing several Thrusters at it. She Launched the concrete object at the Shambler, the Thrusters still facing her. Then she activated the Thrusters on the concrete base, looking to push the monster backwards.

Though hackneyed and rushed given the circumstances, Jesse’s scheme paid dividends. Her well-placed thrusters sent the stone slab sliding forward across the ground without tipping forward and smacking into the ground. The Shambler lashed out with its cruel talons when the barrier drew near, but to no avail, and like the plow of a bulldozer the wall swept the monster before it. In only a moment the jet-propelled wall pinned the scrabbling horror against the door. “Nice going!” Mona cheered, but the Shambler’s claws sought purchase around the edges of the slab to make its escape, so he did not sit on his laurels. As he called forth another burst of wind to keep the slab tamped down, his big eyes locked on where the Makami vanished. “Did it find something? We need to act fast!”

“Then leave it to me!” Skull declared with a grin, crouching down into a runner’s stance. Energy welled around him, charging up, and after a brief moment he burst into a headlong sprint across the gallery. He zoomed to where Primrose’s striker signaled its find and slid to a stop amid splinters and shattered glass. Without fear he scooped up the helix dagger from the debris, then barreled back the way he came.

As if sensing something, the Shambler locked its claws around the edges of the slab. It pulled itself free and leaped, grabbing hold of the ceiling. Like a spider it crawled at terrifying speed in pursuit of Skull, who for all his training was only human.

"No you don't," Primrose hissed. Pulling her arm in to conjure her dark magic, she then flung it outward towards the Shambler. Using her BP to empower the spell, she willed it to knock the demonic thing off course, if only for a moment to allow Skull the chance to get the dagger to where it needed to go and end this. Primrose was already in the midst of preparing another spell to back up the first, face determined.

“What’s the dagger for?” Jesse asked, noticing the Shambler’s reaction. The Shambler didn’t have time to destroy the slab completely, so Jesse was free to grab it and throw it at the monster as it was hit by Primrose’s magic.

"With luck, killing it," the dancer replied, getting as close as she dared.
“No shit.” Jesse said wryly. “Skull, what are you doing with that thing?” Jesse shouted across the room to him, jogging forward and chucking another piece of concrete at the Shambler.

Skull screeched to a halt, suddenly second-guessing where his adrenaline and instincts were taking him. “What? I was- that thing’s- they’ve gotta be…?” He’d been headed back toward the painting where Joker’s Third Eye revealed the knife to him, assuming that he needed to bring it back there. But Jesse’s commanding yell made it seem an awful lot like it should be expressly delivered to the Shambler itself instead. Both made sense, paralyzing him with choice, and if not for Primrose and Jesse’s efforts the Shambler would already be upon him. Even as he idled, however, a shimmering darkness spread out from the FBC director’s wounds. Skull looked around with frantic, panicked eyes, his fingers raking through his dyed hair. “J-Joker?! What do I do!?”

The leader of the Phantom Thieves stood by the horrific painting, brows furrowed, the difficulty of the situation plain to him. He couldn’t say what the answer to this puzzle was. He could only trust in his comrade. “Ryuji,” he called, using his best friend’s real name. “It’s up to you. Whatever you feel is the right move, do it now.”

Skull exhaled sharply. “Ri-hi-hight. Well…I’ll…” He clenched his teeth as he looked around, the dagger clutched in his vice grip. Maybe this weird looking knife was the only thing that could hurt it. But maybe the fact that Joker’s Third Eye got the hint from the painting meant something. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Skull tensed his muscles and sprang forward, gunning it for the back of the gallery. Behind him the Shambler shrieked and sprang forward. It twisted unnaturally, as if it had no bones, to avoid incoming projectiles. Mona’s eyes went wide as the monster closed the distance. “Zorro!” he yelled, but his Persona did not appear. He was out of stamina. A vile mitt swatted the cat like a fly, sending him smashing into the broken remnants of a statue, out like a light. It swung at Jesse as it flew by her in pursuit of its fleeing quarry.

Mona was down. Jesse swore and dove out of the way as best she could. The Shambler wasn’t exactly obscuring its intentions on where it meant to go. If the Shambler wanted the dagger so bad, chances were it needed to be kept away from it. The dagger needed to go somewhere else. “Don’t let it grab the dagger!” She shouted.

Jesse extended a hand out, past the Shambler, and ripped a chunk of concrete right out of the wall. She pulled it toward herself, and thus, into the beast. It toppled over, rolled one, and regained its footing to continue its mas dash. Once every five seconds she could smack into the creature. Not exactly the most effective but it was the best she could manage at the moment.

Primrose's spells were much too slow to hit the monster now that it was contorting itself in desperation to avoid anything that would stop it's movement. She let the magic die in her hand. The Shambler was fast, so they needed to be faster. Primrose backed up a step and then spun in place, throwing herself into a dance. She went through the movements as fast as her body would let her, nearly stumbling despite her years of practice. It was fortunate that the Panther Dance ended with a low sweep, as after the speed boosting magic took effect on Skull, Primrose let herself lie for a moment to catch her breath.

The much-needed speed boost snatched Skull from the jaws of defeat as the Shambler leaped for him. Like the wind the thief closed the distance between himself and the painting, but his abominable pursuer would not relent. With Jesse’s power and Primrose both recuperating, Joker and Panther breathed deep and stepped in to buy their friend the moment he needed. “Arsene!” Joker cried, his desperation more clear in his voice than he would have liked, and the apparition appeared. His Persona kicked through the legs of a display table with a roundhouse, then on the backstroke delivered a side kick that sent the furniture flying at the Shambler. Panther used her whip to grab hold of the wing of a draconic, squid-faced statue, and after Carmen appeared to crack the stone with a stomp, the carving flew like an axe blade to strike the horror as it smashed through Joker’s case. And still it kept going. With one blow apiece it struck aside Joker, then Panther, then turned to sink its teeth into the last thief standing.

But Skull had already reached the painting. “Get…” The dagger held in both hands and pointed downward, he leaped into the air. “WRECKED!” he half-bellowed and half-screamed as he plunged its bizarre blade into the painting. To his surprise the weapon carved through a material much thicker than paper, one that quivered like jelly -or flesh- as dark magic eked from the wound. Behind him he heard the Shambler howl, and the monster turned as if to flee, yet it could gain no distance. As the wind seemed to rise, something pulled it toward the painting. It clawed at the ground, scrabbling for purchase but as though someone was dragging it by its legs it slid down the floor. Finally it could hold on no longer and flew, with bone-chilling shrieks, into the painting. Its body disappeared into the semisolid surface, but before its head could sink in its claws latched onto the picture-frame. For a brief moment it fought back, pulling itself out.

(That works.) Jesse reached for the Tool Gun, and adjusted it to No Collide. “Go on. Get.” She lined up a shot and fired it at the picture frame. It’s brute strength shouldn’t be able to save it, now. Sure enough, the frame lost its ability to be touched, and with a final shriek the Shambler was gone.

With it faded the green haze that permeated the shadow gallery, restoring its ordinary light and atmosphere. So did the wounds the nightmare inflicted, allowing the injured interlopers to pick themselves up. Skull’s shoulders sagged in relief as he let out his breath. “Ho-ly crap...” The lead pipe he’d had at the ready to whack the Shambler into the next dimension if not for Jesse’s quick shot descended, and he after wiping his brow Skull moved to the center of the devastated gallery to meet up with everyone. Though bruised and exhausted Mona seemed to be okay, and Panther and Joker fared well, all things considered. Still, Panther did not hesitate to summon Carmen to help patch everyone up.

“Good job, everyone,” Mona told the group. “All things considered, we did about as well as we could have.”

With a groan, Panther rubbed her shoulder. “Agh. Sure hope we don’t run into any more where that came from.

“Yeah, all these changes are total bull,” Skull grouched.

Primrose let out a deep sigh of relief. She stood on somewhat shaky legs and picked her way through the ruined gallery to where the thieves and Jesse gathered. "Damnable thing," she muttered after glancing at the painting the Shambler had disappeared into. Sure that it wouldn't be worming it's way out anytime soon, she looked over the others. Glad that they'd taken no major injuries she offered them the only thing she could while Panther healed them - an encouraging smile.

Uninjured, she leaned against one of the few displays still standing and finally cast her gaze towards the door the monster had been guarding when they first arrived. "How many floors do you think we have left to go?" she wondered.

“It’s hard to say, unfortunately,” Joker told her. “Our objective today is different from last time, and we don’t have a lot of hints. This place’s bigger on the inside, too.” Despite the ordeal the team just went through, and the uncertain road ahead, there was no frustration to be seen on Joker’s face or heard in his voice. He nodded his head at Skull. “Good job back there. You made the right call.”

His friend rubbed the back of his head, smiling. “Aw, it was nothin’. I mean, it was pretty crazy back there, but I thought the picture and that monster had to be connected. That said, I thought that, uh, cuttin’ the painting would cut the real thing, or somethin’. Wasn’t expectin’ the whole whoosh-reeee deal.”

“Yeah. Well done. We straight up banished that thing.” Jesse said, kicking the loose stones of a statue she had shattered. “I think you guys could work on your callouts. If I knew that was your plan I could have moved the painting towards you, or you could have tossed the knife over to me and I could have launched it at the painting. But, hey, we survived, and it was pretty fun.” The Director commented off-handedly. Jesse glanced over at the door, vanishing the Service Weapon. She got out her tool gun and prepared to No-Collide. “We can catch our breath for a bit, if you want. Before we move on to find that friend of yours.”

“Fun?” Panther seemed incredulous. “I mean, normal fights are pretty fun. That, though…?” She let the thought trail off. Primrose echoed the girl's thoughts, raising a single brow behind her mask at the Director.

Joker nodded to Jesse. “You’re right about the callouts. We’re not used to working with others I’m afraid. Normally we would take a moment to talk, but it was a little hectic in there.” The casual manner with which Jesse treated the whole thing made her seem a lot more experienced than he thought. “Let’s take another minute to rest, but our Persona magic doesn’t replenish itself, so there’s no use sticking around any longer than that.”

“Fox’s gotta be here somewhere,” Skull murmured. “If only we had a clue.”

Though her mask obscured them, Panther’s eyebrows went up. “Wait, what about our navigator? Maybe she can tell us!”

“Oh, good idea! I’ll call her.” Skull put two fingers to his temple, although he didn’t actually know if that did anything or not. Joker watched, but he didn’t exactly look hopeful. “Uh, Necro? Can you scan the place for Fox? Necronomnom? You there?”

“It’s Necronomicon, you moron!” Panther hissed.

“Yes!” The modulated voice responded. “I’ve already run a scan. Unfortunately the place is really big, and there are too many lifesigns to narrow it down. I’ve been going one by one trying to recognize him, but no luck so far. But he’s not in the treasure chamber, and there doesn’t appear to be a basement.”

Mona considered what he remembered of the palace. “So, where would captive artists be held…? Although there are a bunch of places with security lasers, I don’t remember any holding area.”

“Maybe the distorted Escher area,” Joker suggested. “It’s basically made to prevent escape. If we’re about halfway up, past the area with the walk-through paintings, it must be nearby.” The Thieves nodded their collective agreement, and a few moments more were ready to follow Jesse as she no-collided the Shadow Gallery door.

“Okay. Sounds like a plan.” Jesse said. Deeper and deeper, into a labyrinthine complex that defied spatial sense, and was full of horrible monsters? All in search of a missing person? (Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.) The Director No-Collided the door, and this time she was the one who stuck her red-haired head through.

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (47/40)
Location: The Maw - the Belly
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count: 1546

At a steady, methodical pace the shadow beast’s fell beacon roved across the miscellaneous landscape. With so much ground to cover it spent only a second or two on any particular item of furniture or clump of debris, lingering here or there for a moment at a time, and occasionally sweeping from one area to a farther one without focusing on anything between the two. As Peach’s distraction showed, it would lock onto any disturbance and retaliate with needless brutality, but as fearful and threatening as the monster was, it wasn’t unstoppable. Mirage’s tentative footsteps, taken well away from the phantom’s baleful gaze, proved that it couldn’t hear well enough to prohibit movement. Its glare passed over the extra-large shirt in which Geralt swaddled himself, but it did not penetrate the cloth to discover the boy hidden within.

Even after the danger moved on, Nadia stayed still for a good few seconds, fighting to get her breathing under control. After holding her breath she needed air but couldn’t risk hyperventilation, and regulating her breath with the added bonus of ribs bruised from the impact with the television turned out to be surprisingly hard. Nevertheless she managed, and once she’d craned her head around to make sure the pillar of red light was far away, she gingerly hauled herself on top of the TV. She pulled at the parachute that covered her, mindful of every swish, until her head poked out into the open air with ears twitching.

Immediately she spotted Mirage beneath her, seated on the stand her television rested on. Given the haphazard way everything in this place seemed to fall she was a little surprised to see the device and its platform still reunited, but maybe they were bolted together or something. Either way, that was the least of the concerns. She could see the crimson spotlight wandering around still, never so distant that she could afford to ignore it, and at the peak the sight of the shadow beast’s eye, suspended in the utter darkness up there, sent shivers down her spine.

As she watched, the phantom’s gaze swerved toward the bookshelf Geralt fled from once again, drawn by the sound of the Blazermate’s jet turbines. Following in Peach’s footsteps she flung a book as a distraction, but the imitation proved shortsighted. A book made for a lot less stimulation than an alarm clock, and a bit less than a noisy, flying Medabot, and it bought her only a second to make her escape. Then its gaze sped after the noise, following a short distance behind and forcing Blazermate to race to stay in the concealing darkness. An enormous hand hurtled from the darkness, silent as the grave, and slammed down only just behind her with a tremendous crash. Its twin followed, close enough that Blazermate could feel the wind of it rushing past. She zoomed over where Sakura climbed into and hid inside a washing machine, narrowly avoiding getting her ally found out. A few seconds later she reached the bed. Blazermate dove beneath the blanket and stopped cold, while the beacon in hot pursuit overshot her to the junk beyond and stopped, no noise or movement to guide it. For a tense moment its hands loomed to either side of the bed, but the shadow beast had lost sight of her. The hands lifted away into the pitch like marionettes, and the monster resumed its search.

Nadia groaned. She was afraid to go and terribly worried for everyone (with a VIP badge for Sakura in particular), but there was nothing she could do and staying put was even worse than going forward, so she couldn’t stick around any longer. “Psst!” she whispered down to Mirage. “You alright there? Jeez, can you believe this crap we gotta deal with?” With a beleaguered sigh she wiped her brow. “Well, whatever. Don’t want that thing givin’ us a peer review, so ‘eye’ guess we’ve gotta stealth mission on our hands.” She couldn’t help but feel annoyed that her plan had been scuppered already and her not-at-all-silent fan rendered useless. Even her parachute wouldn’t serve its intended use, since it probably wouldn’t unfold before she hit the ground even if she jumped from one of these junk-mountains. But it wasn’t worthless. She surveyed the terrain ahead briefly. “I see a painting leaning against the TV, a long dresser, and a rolled-up rug. C’mon, let’s go together. Stick a dart on the screen and climb up. Once we both grab onto the painting we can kick it and ride it to the other side.”

She and Mirage got underway using the feral’s strategy to get to the dresser with only a minor clatter, then ran across without falling into the holes left by missing drawers (more than once apiece, anyway).. When they got to the rug it took some effort to quietly extract and unroll it, but once they did it lay ready to offer a smooth ride down. “Wait, wait!” Nadia whispered urgently, her bright cat eyes staring through the dark at the junk mountain’s base. “There’s some kind of pit. It’ll be hard as hell to get out of.” She took another look at the pit, evaluating the stuff around it. “It...looks like there's a dishwasher beside the pit. If you can dart it, we can jump from the rug right before it gets to the pit and use it as a platform to get across. We’ll need to circle around a little for a straight shot.” With furrowed brow she looked at the party streamers strung between nearby gardening poles and fake plants. She took a running start and leaped for an artificial ficus, which her claws helped her climb until she could reach and cut through the streamer knotted at the top. Its end clenched in her teeth, she slid down, then offered the makeshift rope to Mirage. “Here. You’re a good shot, right? Think ya got what it takes to nail the washer while swingin’ around?”

While he got busy she crouched down under her sheet, on lookout for the monster’s beam getting too close. She caught a glimpse of the others making their way through the Belly, wary of Bongo Bongo’s gaze. The Peach had found herself a peculiar shoe and was using it to hop across the surface of the junk, but the tendency to hit something that made a clatter forced her to hide under her parasol a few times when she provoked the phantom’s ire. Way on the other side the Koopa Troop plus an enlightened Rika had managed to get out of the ball pit. Between them and the other side stood two distinct zones: an area littered with everything one could find in a garage plus the instruments of an entire garage band, and then an actual houseboat half-buried in the junk. Good luck with that. Link made his way with a deftness none of the other children could match, needing nobody's help to progress across the Belly; in fact, he went out of his way to give a trepidation Glenn a hand. Nadia was also glad to see Sakura, fresh from her stay in the washing machine and up to her old tricks again. Not far away she spotted Bella in a toy boat complete with oars, using the strength of her leviathan tail to row her one side at a time across the ground layer after Sakura, and relying on a bucket to shield her from the evil eye.

In short order Mirage managed to prove himself a hotshot gunslinger still, and with the dart in place there was nothing for the kids to do but crouch on top of the rug and edge slightly forward in anticipation until it finally overbalanced and started to slide down the mountain.

The end came quickly, a yawning void in the junk. Whether or not it had a bottom Nadia didn’t want to find out. “Now!” she cried through clenched teeth, as quietly as her overworked heart would let her. She sprang, her arms and legs flailing for balance as she soared over the drop, and the next second she landed on the dart. Its suction held, and she bounced right off and over the rest of the pit to land in what looked like a well-used dog bed on the other side. Fwop. Though it smelled of four-legged friend, Nadia didn’t seem to mind, and allowed her head to plop down as her thumping heart worked itself out.

Her rest came to an end when the shadow beast’s searchlight drew near, forcing an emergency hunker down below her sheet. When it passed, Nadia wasted no time in getting going. The next and biggest mountain seemed to have a lot of mechanical parts, and a mixture of tires, bike frames, and car doors took them to the top. There, however, their shared journey hit a snag. There seemed to be no furniture nor methods of conveyance available to get down the mountain and over the final stretch to the far wall, where they could now see Peach’s vent exactly where she said, sure as sugar. “Drat,” Nadia snarled. “I’m not seeing anything. And we’re so close…'' She kicked a tire in frustration only for it to roll halfway down the mountain and crash into a flower pot, which Bongo Bongo was only too happy to annihilate. When a trembling Nadia pulled her sheet off a few moments later she was wearing a sheepish look. “Sorry…”

World of Light

Big Band

Level 2 Big Band (18/20)
Location: Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon
Word Count: 1259

With a heavy heart, and an even heavier slam onto the ground, Big Band realized that he still seemed to be missing some core functionality. His first idea, and far and away the most effective, had been to engage his afterburner and soar off into the wild blue yonder, but his systems refused to listen. “So it’s like that,” the big man grumbled, picking himself off the ground with one pneumatic arm and holding his volatile plunder with the other. Even in dire straits, however, he took a moment to dust the sand from his coat as part of his efforts to keep cool and collected. With steady breath he shut out the worrisome hissing noise of the explosives inside the treasure box and weighed his options.

In a way, Band felt grateful that the bombs appeared to be magical, so that defusing them wasn’t even something he could try. Someone versed in any of the many arcane arts this world appeared to foster might know how, but the detective lacked both the slightest idea where one might be found and the time to actually get there. That left just one possibility: mitigation. As much as he prided himself on the strength of his big bell, he wasn’t willing to bet that he could soak a blast meant for a small building. Stashing it underground could be even more disastrous, with the sheer potential for collateral damage. Band reckoned his throwing arm could hurl the payload high enough into the sky that the detonation would do no damage, but that would take precise timing. His best shot? Getting it out of Al Mamoon entirely. But speed was not his forte.

“Salt...peanuts,” Band groaned. Suddenly he felt the absence of any nimble companions a lot more. To reassess the situation he opened up the oh-so-innocent treasure box once again to check on the bombs. As he feared their pulses had already gotten faster, and with the innocent little faces drawn on them they looked like round little rabbits squirming together in a nest. Band felt as if they were mocking him, saying whatcha gonna do about us? But watching them together turned on a lightbulb above his head. Using a padded pincer he plucked one bomb from the box and set it in the hole he pulled the box from. If a dozen of the fruit-sized explosives could take out the commissions office with a chain reaction, he reasoned, one couldn’t be that bad. From beneath his coat he extended his saxophone and clamped it down over the hole. He took a deep breath, tensed his joints, and blew out a single flat note.

BWOMP

A muffled explosion went off in the saxophone’s bell. Some smoke rose from his mouthpiece, which he avoided inhaling, but Band saw no visible damage. “Alright, looks like I’ve got you under my skin. Gonna need a hell of a tune-up later though.” One by one he repeated the process, moving with mechanical precision. Place, cover, blow. Place, cover, blow. As the remaining bombs pulsed faster he pushed himself into overdrive, keeping at it even as the internal damage to his precious sax began to mount. By the time the last cheerful bomb vanished beneath his instrument’s bell his eyes were watering, and not just from the stinging smoke. He smoothed over the little crater, replaced the tile atop it as best he could, coughed a couple times, and stood. Crisis averted.

Only after he turned to stomp off did he realize that a bespectacled woman had been watching him with crossed arms. He’d been so intent on his task he didn’t notice her arrival. His eyebrows shot up over widened eyes. “Oh! Uh. Hello, Dolly.” He glanced down at the pile of sand, soot, and chipped tiles, more than a little embarrassed. “I ‘s’pose this looks a little odd.”

“Yeah,” the lady replied, “What were you doing? You with the Resistance?”

Band straightened up and shook his head. “No, ma’am. I’m a detective from out of town.” Not quite the truth, not anymore, but good enough for his purposes. “I tailed a trio of suspects to this office. Saw them come down this way, then leave a while later. When I dropped by to take a look, I found this.” With a tilt of his head he indicated the homemade treasure box laid on the ground. “Stuffed with bombs, cheek to cheek. I couldn’t let ‘em blow up the surroundin’ buildings, so I detonated ‘em one at a time.”

For a moment the woman considered his story, but it took her only a few moments to give a stiff nod. “In that case, I guess I should thank you for saving my life. I work right in this building.” She slapped the side of the commissions office.

With a smile Band bowed his head. “No thanks necessary ma’am, just doin’ my duty. But you’re welcome all the same. I just appreciate you believin’ me.”

Hunnigan shrugged. “It just makes sense. If you wanted to do some damage, you could have let them go off together. Or just run into the office yourself, I guess. Wouldn’t have taken much. I did see a few other people head in and out of the alley in my peripherals, and there isn’t much of anything here anyway, so it was a little unusual. What’s your name?”

“Me? I’m the last of the most real. They call me Big Band.”

His new acquaintance gave a thin smile, although for someone who looked as if she hadn’t smiled in years, it still made an impression. “Do they now? Well, most people call me Hunnigan, but Ingrid works too. Would you be willing to give a report of everything you saw to the peacekeepers?”

Band glanced out of the alley. “More than willing, ma’am, but right now I’ve got a slim chance of trackin’ the suspects down before they’re miles beyond. The trail’s cold, but it’s not dead yet. But you better clear out, ‘cause when they come to see their handiwork and realize everything’s still in one piece, they might try an’ finish the job.”

Pursing her lips, Hunnigan took the warning seriously and gave back some advice of her own. “Believe me, it’s important to demonstrate to the Grimleal that you’re on their side. What we should do is call them here anyway, but not to guard the building. Instead they could lay low in the area and wait for the Resistance to show up and spring the trap. That way you can both give your report and stay on the case.”

“Hm,” Band murmured, pleasantly surprised. “You know your stuff, Ingrid. That makes sense to me. Go ‘head an’ make the call, and I’ll stand by.”

The two made their way to the front of the office, where the secretary slipped inside to use the phone. Band looked out over Al Mamoon’s thoroughfare, pausing on each face. None of the suspects seemed to be around, but who wasn’t to say their compatriots hadn’t already lined the street? Without even meaning to the one-man band had gotten involved in the desert city’s shadow war, and in just a few minutes he would be standing on its frontlines. The detective treated himself to a wry smile. “Never could just stand on the sidelines, could ya, Ben?” A tiny mechanical arm rose from his coat with a handkerchief to dab the sweat from his brow. If things were hot now, they were going to get a lot hotter, and real soon.

Al Mamoon - Museum of Vanity

@Zoey Boey @Yankee

Overwhelming Fear momentarily relieved the Phantom Thieves of their senses and put them to flight, their legs running as if they had minds of their own. As they sprinted away or dived behind cover, however, Jesse held strong. Rather than waste time wondering why this puny creature could resist it, if it was even capable of such, the Shambler lurched forward with raking claws at the ready. In the stygian blackness the flash of Jesse’s power seared into her mind a grotesque vision of a wrinkled, eyeless face, singularly dominated by a gaping, fang-toothed maw.

Then she hurled one of the soapstone deities at it, bowling the creature over backwards as the carved statue shattered against it, and lit it up with her Service Weapon’s muzzle flash. The monster glet out an uncanny shriek as it regained its feet, the limbs on its back like featherless wings as they flared out behind it. It howled up a storm, giving vent to its otherworldly fury, but in the split seconds that Jesse could see it the thing she could make out no injury on its contemptible frame.

The Shambler moved forward. Relentless and implacable it staggered Jesse’s way through a hailstorm of gunfire and an avalanche of unsettling antiques. Though its body only absorbed part of the physical force delivered to it, it never once evidenced any injury. No matter how much she punished it, the unstoppable Shambler kept coming toward her, forcing her to back up. Twice it got too close just as she hammered it with a carving, but luckily the scrapes of its cruel claws received mitigation from a recovered Primrose’s defense-boosting enchantment. After only a few moments Jesse’s supply of throwables began to run dry, but to cease her onslaught in favor of an alternative would be to give the horror the moment it needed to pounce on her. Bit by bit it forced her back, stepping blindly through the darkness, each flash illuminating its ghoulish mockery of a face, nearer, nearer, nearer.

Then gunfire to either side of Jesse broke out, joining their cacophony to her own. The FBC director had bought the time she needed. In her peripherals Jesse found Panther keeping up a steady bombardment with her submachine gun, Skull unleashing more infrequent but brutal shotgun blasts, and Joker targeting probable weakpoints with his pistol. Even Mona stood at Jesse’s feet with his slingshot, terrified but determined, peppering the Shambler’s ankles and knees with projectiles. “Going in three!” the cat yelled. “Two! ...One!”

“GO!” The Thieves cried as one.

Mona leaped forward, transforming into a full-sized bus. With his pedal to the metal he bulled into the Shambler head-on. A second later his forward momentum smashed the Shambler into the doors behind it in a bone-pulverizing impact, but neither the doors nor the monster gave in. When Mona turned back it left the Shambler plastered against the door for a moment, providing just the opportunity Primrose needed. The dancer’s fireball blazed through the air and crashed against the horror in a scintillating follow-up, and now that she was out of ammo, Panther followed her example. The thief snapped her whip taut and the weapon burst into flame, lighting up a face of frantic courage. She lashed out over and over again, striking the scenery as much as the Shambler, proliferating the fire Primrose started. Thanks to all the flame everyone could focus on putting out damage rather than light, and as the horror pulled itself from the doors Joker called upon Leena to plant a One-hit Kill shot straight into its mouth. The magic bullet drilled into the flesh between its teeth, but even that evidenced no wound of any kind.

“It’s freakin’ immune to everything!” Skull growled.

“Then there’s a gimmick somewhere!” Panther yelled in reply. “Dormina!”

Carmen manifested to unleash a wave of sleeping magic, but predictably the Shambler shrugged it off. Shaking his head, Mona called, “I’ll stay here and help push it back with wind. You guys try to find a lead!” He pulled out his scimitar, and by his side his Persona appeared with rapier extended. “Show them your might, Zorro!”

No longer worried about miscellaneous curses, the rest of the Thieves scattered. Their search lasted only a moment, for the hideous portrait of a monster the thieves now knew to be the Shambler itself was prominently displayed at the shadow gallery’s opposite end. Going out on a limb Joker slashed at it with his knife, but its edge slid right off the paint. “This must be the answer...” Holding his hand over one side of his face, the leader of the Phantom Thieves activated his Third Eye, and in his mind’s eye a clue took shape. “I can see it...a dagger of bone, shaped like a helix. It’s somewhere in here. Find it!” The Thieves ran between the exhibits and display cases Jesse had yet to destroy, wildly searching for the weapon Joker mentioned as fast as they could while the director and the cat struggled to keep the monster at bay.

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (44/40)
Location: Bottomless Sea
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count: 1337

Even though a small part of Nadia (smaller than the rest, at least) still wanted nothing more than to dive beneath the pillows and hunker down until this nightmare was over, it was time to make the best of a bad situation. It helped that her new friend Mirage was practically chomping at the bit to get back into pint-sized action, emboldened by his newfound toy. Though a gun that could create platforms without needing ammunition certainly seemed more useful than her fan at first blush, she didn’t mind. If anyone was equipped to make the most of an unconventional power set, it was someone who fought by pulling her own body apart.

After hearing Mirage’s plan Nadia watched him set off, scaling a sideways table to get atop a nearby ‘hill’. His new tool made the conquest of vertical space easy, but the minute he tried to wade through the junk up there there came the commotion that Nadia had already learned to fear. The unseen monster tunneled through the ground layer like a shark through the water, with only the objects it kicked up marking its frightfully swift passage. “Get off the ground!” she called up in panic, but luckily Mirage was a step ahead of her. He clambered back on top of some furniture well before the horror reached him, a few foraged items in his hands. Rather than forge onward busied himself with his loot, and though Nadia’s lower angle blocked her sight, she guessed he must be crafting something. When he did press forward he was in for a fun journey. For whatever reason the chutes on the left side of the Belly seemed to be the most used, which led to a chain of junk mountains arcing along that side to form the ‘high road’ laid out before him. A number of floor lamps, flags, thin cabinets, and other tall, narrow items stuck out between the mountains. It looked like one hell of a tricky path to Nadia--good thing he had that dart gun.

While he went off on his own adventure, Sakura kept her ambitions in check and went for a far more pragmatic approach. Her methodical strategy gave her a slow but straight, and most importantly safe, shot all the way to the other side. If something got in her way, she would simply go around it. The simplicity of the plan made Nadia smile, and it was one that everyone could do too, what with Mount Pillow behind them and all. Still, the fact she went alone (much to Bella’s chagrin), and how isolated it left her set off warning bells in the feral’s head. Sakura would be fine if nothing weird happened out there, but given everything that happened so far, Nadia felt a little uneasy. Peach watched the future street fighter with similar worry, and worked to follow as close a path to Sakura as she could by climbing, jumping, and gliding with her parasol.

Next up was the koopa troop plus Rika, whose welfare Bowsers Junior and Senior seemed committed to look after. They also chose a straightforward tactic, even simpler than Sakura’s really, that relied on their throwing and jumping power. “Hey, if anyone’s cheatin’ it’s definitely you guys!” Nadia teased. “The rest of us can’t chuck like baseball players or jump like rabbits.” Even if she could have gone along for the ride, however, she would have passed. In a way, she needed to forge a path of her own. To prove that she wasn’t useless. Still, one thing Kamek said ignited her imagination. The feral examined the bedsheet, getting a feel for its thickness, then tested the weight of the fan. For being so strong, it managed to be incredibly light. As she looked between the two objects, an idea coagulated in her mind, dumber and cooler than any she’d had so far. “Okay. Okay! This is gonna be good. Gimme a meowment.” Her little claws flashed, making the first incision, and she got to work.

A brief but furious session of slashing, arranging, twisting, and knot-tying ensued, and in only a short while a final knot completed her project: a bedsheet parachute. Two other twisted lengths of cloth went into makeshift straps that allowed her to carry her fan like a backpack, and after a quick test to confirm that her parachute could catch the air, Nadia felt ready to fly. She pulled up behind Blazermate and Geralt as they coordinated their jump, and a moment after they leaped into the air Nadia turned her fan on and followed in their footsteps. Her parachute billowed open as the fan whirred to life, and with a squeak the kitten lifted off her feet. Heart pounding and beyond giddy, she sailed up, up, and away. For a moment she could see everyone, from Sakura with her pillows to the Koopas in front of a toy dump to the sad little boy back at the start.

Then she, along with the other fliers, realized their mistake.

From the pitch-black center of the Belly’s cavernous ceiling, there shone a dreadful crimson light. Nadia looked up, frozen, to see a dot of yellow at the center of a vivid red orb, surrounded by a ring of similar yellow beacons. From the shadows emerged a hand of massive proportions, disembodied, floating like the angel of death come to take her away. It came too late to snag Blazermate, who landed safely with her passenger, but now it bore right for Nadia. Reflexively she tugged on one of her parachute’s cords and banked to the left, brushing right by the loathsome thing. When the back of the hand made contact with the cloth of her parachute the hand snapped shut, just a few feet away from crushing the kitten mid-flight, but Nadia’s momentum carried her out of the way. She drifted left and smacked belly-first into a television set on top of the one the junk mountains in Mirage’s path, where she clung like her life depended on it as her parachute settled softly atop her, hiding her from view.

Then the red-and-yellow spotlight shone down on her position, but its glare found nothing out of the ordinary. A moment of absolute, agonizing stillness passed, Nadia’s breath held. Then the baleful gaze slid on, headed back toward where Blazermate and Geralt stood in the open, exposed.

Peach moved quickly to retrace her steps. She hopped back across the set of speakers she’d just navigated and sprinted along the fallen ladder that formed a bridge over the junk where Sakura was making her way. From the pool table at the other end she slid down the ramp of pool cues onto the caved-in nightstand. From its bowels she retrieved the alarm clock she saw just moments prior, which she then wound up and threw with all her might. The clock hit the junk a few feet away and shattered the tense quiet of the Belly with a terribly alarming clamor. Instantly the spotlight locked on, and as Peach got clear, a mammoth hand smashed the whole area flat.

It took a moment for the echoes of the impact to die and the smothering quiet to return. The clock was no more, but whether not satisfied or simply curious, the monster wasn’t done. Its fingers curled, gathering a clump of junk before the hand floated upward again, silent as the grave but for the couple loose pieces falling to the heap. As the hand went up the body descended. The hand turned upward with its payload, and in contemplation the scarlet eye regarded it. In that moment the children below got their first -and only- glimpse of its outline--a colossal hanging torso with mottled, veiny flesh, near-human musculature, severed wrists, and a head like an alien flower. Then Bongo Bongo brought his other hand around to smash the clump of junk in a mighty clap, and as the shreds and splinters cascaded to the floor its eye resumed its search.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

An update on the plan, since I didn't post yesterday. A collab is in underway and we're making progress. It should be enjoyable when done!

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Cool. Two-way would be good with me, with the 'falling for' bit being an interesting angle if I understand it correctly. That said I'm also interested in what a three-way would entail, so I have no particular preference and will wait for Stern's thoughts.

Infactorium: A New 4Xpansion (Overlord RP) [DISCONTINUED]

Sounds good. I'll get a post up today or tomorrow. If Mae and Gamma are clear to engage (after receiving Faetalis' latest missive via a skeleton) any guidelines for handling the humans? That is, what level of agency do we have in making them or writing out their actions, or will you be playing all the humans?

World of Light

Al Mamoon - Museum of Vanity

@Zoey Boey @Yankee

When Jesse suggested taking out the guards, Joker raised an eyebrow, although his mask obscured it. If the Shadows could move through the lasers and they couldn’t, any fight would be a tough proposition. At best they would need to confine the whole struggle to one of the nine subsections of the room, and the four were spread out between them. Avoiding an unnecessary fight completely would be the better option, although unfortunately he couldn’t be one hundred percent positive about the giant paintings working like they used to. To not risk further embarrassment he figured it best to use an alternative plan, and luckily, the FBC’s director offered a few more.

He considered Jesse’s ideas, noting as he did her excellent aim in being able to plant a thruster all the way across a room full of lasers. He doubted the Shadows. It probably went unnoticed with all the other brightly colored beams around. In the end, he found himself liking her first plan. “Going small’s a good idea,” he whispered. “We’ll be able to go right under the lasers, and if we need to hide, we’ll be small enough to use the plant pots.” As Jesse began to put the plan into motion, shrinking herself to less than a foot in height, Primrose came up with the idea of using one of the monsters from the last room for transportation. Joker considered it, but was not convinced. “Can’t strikers only appear for a short while? Go ahead if you like, but I think we might have a more surefire way to get over there quickly. Don’t we, Mona?”

The not-cat nodded. “Yeah, that’ll work. Alright Jesse, go ahead and shrink us!”

As a whole the team waited while Primrose made contact with the essence of the Makami. The hunting wolf spirit seemed eager for a companion, more so than the Hippowdon by a long shot, and the spirit linked to the dancer’s own, restoring a semblance of existence. After that, it was time to begin. One brief session of getting zapped later, the Thieves walked right through the no-collided vent grate and into the open. Being this low to the ground put things in a wildly different perspective, Joker found, but at least it wasn’t because he was Rattled this time. He shuddered at the thought and crouched beneath the bench while a guard plodded by. Once the coast was clear, he gave Mona the thumbs-up. “Okay, now!”

“On it!” The thief jumped into the air and disappeared in a puff of smoke. A second later the Morgana Car hit the floor, no bigger than a breadbox but large enough to accommodate both the three Thieves and their two new friends. “Not a moment to lose!” Mona’s voice came from the vehicle, his tail wiggling around excitedly in back. “Get in!”

Once everyone piled in, Mona raced forward. Across the golden tiles he zoomed, passing under laser after laser with a rather close for comfort amount of clearance. Twice he came to a gentle stop, both to avoid a guard’s patrol and screeching his tires while doing so, and once he threw himself into reverse to hastily correct after an overextension. Jesse’s remotely-triggered thruster saved the day there, distracting the guard long enough for Mona to skedaddle. In the end the car cruised straight through the employee access door without detection, either from the Shadows or the lasers. In contrast to the glitzy main rooms of the gallery the stairwell was a standard affair of concrete and and metal, although bearing a greenish tint, and once Mona let his passengers off he turned back to normal so that everyone could be returned to their normal size with the Tool Gun’s Undo button.

“Good work,” Joker told the team. “Even if we sometimes go in guns blazing, discretion is part of the Phantom Thief code. Let’s stick to it.”

The group climbed the stairs to the next floor. In a stroke of bad luck the employee access area they found turned out to be nothing more than a connection between two floors, rather than the extensive web that Joker hoped for. Still, he felt confident in their choice. If this place still had no basement, going up brought them closer to the distorted gallery’s sanctum, where any captives must surely be held. Jesse lent a hand by no-colliding the exit door so that Joker could poke his head through for a discreet look, and he was immediately struck by just how different this wing looked.

Here the subtly unnatural green tint that had tainted the staircase grew to a staggering potency. Everything seemed to swim or shimmer ever so slightly, as if the room was filled with crystal clear water. Sculptures of primeval beings, their gods and demons of stone and gold so lifelike as to seem frozen in time, stood in the open space; paintings of creatures and cryptids that seemed too lifelike to be the product of imagination hung from its walls. Joker saw no guards, and one door to the right. On the left end a couple steps preceded a raised section of honor, in the middle of which a stylized but no less ghastly portrait rested among lit candles. In fact, candles seemed to be the only light in the entire area, and there were a lot of them. Joker pulled his head in, showing the others his affronted expression. “Okay, it’s some sort of eldritch nightmare gallery in there,” he reported. “I’m sure everything’s cursed, so let’s just make a run for the exit on the right without looking at anything.

This didn’t seem to surprise the Thieves, and they got ready to book it. They waited for their leader’s signal before rushing through the door and to the right through a gauntlet of unnerving art pieces. Joker rounded the corner of one of the gallery’s four wedge-shaped dividing walls and in an instant became a dark blur as he dived back into cover. Standing in front of the door was a single guard, unmoving. “Looks like we can’t sneak by this guy. It’s probably a strong one,” he murmured. “But I can get the drop on it to kick things off. Get ready.”

He zipped forward as a blur once again, swooshing into hiding behind a statue’s plinth. Another dash brought him into the cover of a glass display case. Then he surged from the shadows, boosted off the wall, and landed on the Shadow’s back. “Show me your true form!” he demanded as he reached down and peeled the guard’s mask off. It contorted wildly, forcing him to jump clear, then melted into liquid darkness. Joker joined the others who pulled up in front of it, weapons out and ready to fight. A moment later the Shadow reformed in a wave of bone-chilling power, putting out every candle in the shadow gallery and plunging it into viridian darkness. From the void emerged an abominable thing that immediately unleashed an accursed scream. That hideous clamor filled all six with primal Fear. Instinct took over, and they turned tail to scatter and hide throughout the gallery. With a gibbering noise uncannily close to laughter, the Shambler began to stalk its prey.

Ms Fortune, Bella & Mirage

Level 4 Nadia (41/40)
Location: The Maw - the Belly
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count: 3746

Despite Nadia’s effort her opposition proved a worthy challenge--and since her adversaries were mere cushions, that made her feel pretty much worthless. Still, she grit her teeth and pulled, squeezing Bella out of her pillowy prison a bit at a time. Unfortunately a sudden cry shattered her focus, and reflexively Nadia crouched down with ears flattened and tiny razor-sized claws at the ready. Her bright eyes made vision in the darkness of the room not a problem, but even still she couldn’t see the source, as the heaps of household items obscured whoever it was from view. Other voices reached her from different directions, turning her ears this way and that. All sounded vaguely familiar in their intonations, but not quite recognizable in their pitches. Shaking off the eerie feeling that brushed at her, Nadia took a deep breath and got back to her task. If she wasn’t alone, all the more reason to get Bella out as soon as possible.

Luckily, the struggle didn’t last long. Reinforcements arrived in the form of a little boy in yellow, although since he stood taller than Nadia she begrudgingly guessed she needed to change her point of view. Either way she appreciated him identifying himself the moment he appeared, which cut through some of the confusion and confirmed in the feral’s mind that whatever happened, it happened to everyone. “Hey, Mirage! You know, you seem awfully childish all of a sudden. It’s me, Fortune. And this is Bella.” The minuscule Abyssal waved. “Here, take her other hand!”

A little grin escaped Mirage at Ms. Fortune's humor, enough to show a tooth missing among his pearly whites as he took the joke as a chance to help cope with their situation. "No kidding!" He responded, reaching out to grab hold of Bella's other hand. Her hand seemed small enough to disappear into his own, so he ended up grasping a bit of her forearm to help in pulling her out from her soft, cushiony doom.

With two sets of hands the task went quickly, and after only a few moments Bella was out. Even better, she managed to stand, despite the near-instant loss of the new power she’d gained. Her relief turned to confusion as she gave herself a proper once-over. “How could this happen?”

Nadia sighed as she gave a shrug. “Magic, I guess. We lost our stuff, powers, everything. But at least it seems like we’re thinking the same. And...I remember these clothes.” She took hold of her threadbare sleeve, feeling the cloth. “This was the stuff I was wearing before the Fishbone Gang adopted me. At first I thought we were just made younger, but...it’s more like I was sent back in time.”

Mirage slipped his goggles over his eyes, fingers slowly trailing the band around his head with disbelief. "Yeah, I remember my Ma giving me these. Said they made me look sporty and adventurous." He added with fond reminiscence. It seemed to make Nadia smile.

Still wearing a face of consternation, Bella shook her head. “I don’t remember ever being like this.”

“You mean, you don’t remember anything from your childhood? Like, at all?” Nadia asked in disbelief.

Bella tugged on her hair, shifting uncomfortably. “No…” She took a step back, nearly stumbling, but managed to catch herself with the help of her tail. “At least I can sort of walk. This must have been before my muscles atrophied. And they have less to hold up, anyway.”

“That’s good, ‘cause we’ve gotta get movin’,” Nadia declared. “My instincts’re sayin’ we’re not alone. We can’t fight like this, so if anything finds us, we’re toast. Let’s hurry up and find the others first. I heard voices from that direction.”

She scurried to the end of the sofa, hopped back onto the bed where she landed, and made for the other side. With a frown she noted that the furniture seemed much bigger than it should have been considering her size adjustment. If everything were to scale, that would have made her under a foot tall, which couldn’t possibly be right. The idea of being reduced to a kid in the first place was annoying enough without things being more unfair. She came to a stop at the other end of the bed and eyed the small drop. The bottom layer of this room appeared to be a sea of small objects like clothes, toys, and especially shoes like an enormous ball pit, albeit one that rose and fell in hills and mountains. Something occurred to her for the first time, making her gulp. “All these...th-these clothes and things. Were they all…?” She trailed off as horror twisted her insides, preventing her from finishing the thought.

With shoulders hunched and arms crossed she looked ahead. Some ways away she saw a mountain of pillows tumble down, with a telltale childlike figure sliding down it. This one she recognized as Bowser Junior, who must not have been as affected by the curse. Getting there wouldn’t be a problem. Nadia hopped off the end of the bed and onto the ground layer.

‘Into’ the ground would have been more correct, however, for she instantly sank to her belly button in the item pit. Alarm bells went off in her head, telling her to get out, but no matter how she tried to climb on top the small things kept shifting beneath her, sinking her back to firmer, more compacted footing underneath. With a snarl of frustration she found that moving through it was even worse than trying to push through an actual ball pit, since everything was irregularly shaped and tended to catch. “This sucks,” she hissed, but she didn’t know the half of it.

After a few more steps there came a clatter from in front of her, and she went wide-eyed in fear. Something was moving through the ground layer. It moved fast, it moved noisily, and most terrifying of all, Nadia couldn’t even catch a glimpse of it--only the items it threw into the air as it carved through the mess straight toward her. “Uh oh,” she muttered in deadpan fright, too desensitized to scream, before she turned herself around toward the bed and went as fast as she could.

She put all her hope on the unseen monster not being able to leave the ground layer and pushed through until she could sink her claws into the edge of the blanket that hung down and scrambled up. Mirage and Bella reached down and helped haul her up just in the nick of time, and as Nadia clawed her way back on top, the monster came to a sudden stop right below her. Which Mirage childishly mocked, pulling up his goggles just to tug the skin beneath his left eye downwards and stick his tongue out at it. “No snack for you today, buddy!” He boasted confidently.

Then the blanket corner went taut, its end clutched by the unseen foe, and it started to pull. Beneath Nadia, Bella, and Mirage, the blanket began to slide toward the edge, and them with it. The little feral released a guttural noise that sounded like she was being strangled and sprinted the other way as fast as her legs could take her. Mirage letting out a panicked “Crap, crap, crap!” As he regretted taunting the monster, but managed to keep pace. But Bella wasn’t so lucky. With a squeal she fell down onto the blanket and was carried atop it toward the edge of the bed. “Bella!” Nadia cried, reaching back with an open hand, but before the Abyssal could be yanked off the edge her snakelike tail lunged at the bedpost. Its teeth dug into the wood, turning it into a lifetime that saved Bella from certain death. Holding her breath, Nadia crept to the edge of the bedsheet-clad mattress and looked down to see the last of the blanket disappear into the ground layer. Only after a few moments of silent stillness did she realize how bad she was shaking. For the life of her she could not remember being more scared. Except once.

She got to her feet and brushed her hair back, her tail sweeping back and forth in agitation. With Mirage she helped Bella back from where she dangled, and all three stood at the edge of the bed. “...Jeez. The hell was that…?” Trying to compose herself and focus, she took a number of deep breaths in and out. “So. The floor might as well, uh, be lava.” She pointed a claw at the pile of pillows. “We need to get over there, but we’ve gotta stay off the ground.”

Mirage pounded his small fist against his chest with his signature grin back in place. "Well, at least it's not real lava-- I've been there, NOT fun." He said in a surprisingly nonchalant manner, all things considered, but the task before them made him try to tune into some optimism. "Alright kids, time for some hardcore parkour! Where you play for keeps and if you fall, you get eaten by a mysterious monster." He let out a small huff that was a mix of frustration and repressed fright as that optimism momentarily faded. "No pressure, no pressure at all."

The simple plan of action made her look at the terrain in a new light, seeking routes that didn’t involve touching the danger zone for more than a moment at a time. Up ahead the mess trended upward like a hill. Across the first stretch of junk she saw a large suitcase lying open, stuffed with drab clothing, and right after that a dresser on its side, halfway sunken. Then the hill seemed to come to a peak, and the pillow pile not too far beyond that. As she already knew, however, the suitcase was too far to wade to. “We need...some kind of bridge,” she thought aloud. Still a little nervous, she looked around her immediate surroundings. The four-poster bed with all its cushions lay at a slight angle with Bella’s sofa on the far side and a leaning bookcase against the headboard. By its foot an office chair poked up from the ground, the kind that swiveled. A small fan lay face-down in the junk near where the monster surely still lurked.

Mirage bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to think, scanning the area in front of them. If the game was keeping away from the ‘splash-zone’, then a small idea came to mind. “If it can’t come up to grab us, then we could hop across those big pillows.” He suggested, gesturing ahead at the assortment of throw pillows and cushions. “They might sink down if we stand on them for too long, so we’d have to keep moving.” He added, with a bit of concern as he looked down at Bella, noting she had issues escaping from the blanket issue they’d just experienced moments prior.

The tiny Abyssal looked embarrassed. “Um...I don’t suppose I could ask for some help? I can mostly walk on my own, but jumping might be a problem.”

Mirage's eyes widened for a moment, followed by a few blinks at her request. Back when he was a kid, he was the one getting the piggyback rides as he was the smallest. A complete change to now, where he was the tallest kid in their current small-numbered group. "I've got ya. You're looking at the best athlete to ever grace a galaxy-wide television network! Only... Slightly miniaturized." Maybe the 'best athlete' thing was a bit of a stretch since there were a few folks more agile and parkour-experienced than him, but he could keep up! Kinda! He could get Bella across this, at the very least.

“In that case, I’ll handle the pillows. We’ll use ‘em like steppin’ stones!” Nadia ran over and grabbed one. Thanks to its light weight she could haul it around easily, and after she dragged it to the edge of the bed she tossed it down onto the ground layer. It rested on top of the junk without sinking, and even when the feral dropped down after it for the sake of experimentation, it didn’t move. “Hey, it’s got enough surface area so that it doesn’t sink!” she called, glad for a lucky turn at last. Her principal concern, however, was that the monster might not care about the pillow. Such things didn’t come to mind when one pictured a safe platform or barrier, after all. But the moments passed without any stirring beneath the junk, and Nadia breathed a sigh of relief. “Looks like this’ll work. Toss me another!”

"No sinking, bonus!" Mirage cheered, glad one of his own fears was no longer a factor. Quickly, he made a small system with Bella where he gathered pillows and she began to toss them down to help Nadia in making her platforms. This process slowed a bit as Mirage began to burrow through some junk to try and reach bigger pillows to make travelling across easier, throwing an assortment of clothing and small household items to the side as he worked. As he dug through the junk, he came across a small but strange looking device that he only took note of because it seemed to have a trigger. A small, gray gun-like object kind of shaped like a top hat.

Picking up the device, he pointed it towards the leg of a somewhat large but useless to their traveling efforts nightstand and curiously pulled the trigger, resulting in a ‘POP’ sound as the gun shot out a similarly-colored projectile that stuck to the piece of furniture. Walking over, he attempted to recover the item to see if it was reusable, but even as he tugged, it seemed to be stuck in place in a very sturdy fashion. Brought back to reality as Bella called that they needed more pillows, causing him to tuck the weapon away in the side of his shorts as he went back to work.

One by one the pillows dropped into Nadia’s waiting hands for her to run out to the end of her makeshift bridge, pulling each behind her as she hopped nimbly between them. She worried about running out, but was relieved when she reached the suitcase with a few pillows still stocked up on top of the bed. She went back over to the bed just to make sure, then called up. “Okay, come on you guys! Be careful!” Before heading over herself, however, she reached out to snag the fan from the ground layer. It was just the right size and heft to be carried, and she couldn’t help but think it would come in handy.

Once past the pillows steps the trio hurried over the suitcase, across an almost too-big gap, and up the dresser. When they reached the top of the hill, however, they found it to be a cliff overlooking a big furrow in the ground level. Nadia crossed her arms. “Ohh, purr-fect...”

A shout from close by got her attention. She quickly spotted a little boy with dirty blond hair atop a cupboard. Running through Blue Team’s roster in her head, she figured that it had to be Link. “Over here!” she yelled in reply, jumping up and down as she waved. “Fortune, Mirage, and Bella! We’re headin’’ your way!”

Mirage offered a wave with one hand, having Bella on his back still as he hadn't particularly found a good place to set her down. He noticed Link seemed to have found a weapon of sorts, which was admittedly smart. He noted that after they got regrouped he should probably do the same, as something was better than nothing, even if he wasn't particularly good at swinging objects around. Not to mention having the strength of a small child on top of that. "How're we getting across, though? Can't just toss some pillows here." He questioned, noticing that Nadia seemed to be scanning for a solution.

Nadia re-evaluated her surroundings and realised there was a broom leaning against the edge of the dresser. Its head lay somewhere down in the middle of the ravine, but her head was full of dumb ideas. “Ooh, I’ve gotta try this.” With a grin that belied all the terror sustained only minutes ago, she grabbed hold of the broom handle and propelled herself off the edge of the dresser. “Here goes!”

Holding on for dear life she managed to pole-vault over the chasm and to the other side, steering herself toward a ripped-up green recliner. Although yellow stuffing protruded from its many slashes and holes, it cushioned her landing just fine. “Whoo!” she squeaked as she bounced down. “Nailed it!” Feeling more than a little better about herself she climbed up the recliner’s back to where the handle had come to rest. Another bright idea hit her, and she lifted up her new fan. When she turned it on it blew with a lot more power than she expected, and the broom shaft practically flew back to the other side. “Wow, that actually worked. Here, you guys try!”

Eyeing the broom, it was slightly concerning. Mirage was sure it could hold him, but the question was more if he could hold on. Eyes shifting around for a moment, he sat Bella down and held the broom, allowing her to get a grip first with her tail. He took a deep breath, fully investing in this attempt to go down as he dropped his weight on the broom. The entire way down, he was screaming, and as they made it to the bottom, that screaming was muffled as he landed face-first into some of the yellow-stuffing of the recliner, though it quickly stopped as he stood and regained his composure, noticing Bella with a slight head-tilt at his actions. Face red, he offered a light pat on the back to Bella as they hurried to catch up with Nadia.

After a few more hops Nadia slid down the side of a grandfather clock past Mount Pillow to land on the bed where everyone seemed to have gathered. This one was even broader than the one she woke up in, although it wasn’t the four-poster kind. More important, of course, was everyone on it. Blazermate jumped out to her immediately, as the Medabot looked fresh and full-sized. Makes sense for a robot, I guess. Everyone else, however, was in the same boat as her. She scampered up to greet them. “How d’ya do, fellow kids?” There seemed to be two junior Bowsers, one of which she took to be an ensmallened Bowser Senior. There was a boy she did not even remotely recognize as Geralt until he said so, and another boy she recognized just about instantly as the Cadet. “Hey there, monster pun-ter! Still got the one brain cell I think, so everything’s fine there. As for what I can do…” she put her hands up in resignation. “Zilch. I mean, I can see in the dark pretty well, and my claws are still sharp, but that’s about it. No Life Gem, man. I can die as hard as anyone now.”

She distanced herself from that gallows humor by checking a few of the remaining team members. The snow-white girl could only be Rika, of course. Having never seen Kamek without his robe it took a moment to realize the rather normal-looking Koopa must be him. And the brunette all done up with flowers and ribbons… “Sakura?” Nadia beamed. “You’re so cute! If I were still big I’d wanna scoop ya up, give ya a big hug, and buy ya ice cream or somethin’.” Only after spouting all that did Nadia realize that her friend seemed to be in bad spirits. “Oh...uh…”

She was saved as Peach arrived, floating down from some high-up perch thanks to her little parasol. Even as a four-year-old the princess was the very picture of dainty, but it was determination written on her features. “Hello, everyone,” she said, her voice the highest out of everyone’s. Doing her best to keep her composure despite the indignity of it all, she told the others, “Like Link I went up high to look around. I saw just one door, but no handle or anything. Must open from the outside. There are holes in the ceiling that stuff falls through, but I saw a vent in the wall, too.” She pointed to just about the exact opposite side of the massive room. “We might be able to get out through there, if we can get up somehow. As for a plan...” She glanced between the assembled heroes. “I figure there’s a good chance we can end this by tracking down the demons that caused it. Then there’s nothing stopping us from putting down that creep. But they’re way up at the top, and we’re down here, so we’ve got a long way to go.”

Nadia raised her hand like a schoolchild. “So you guys know, there’s something scary under the junk. I didn’t see it, but I saw it cookin’ through the stuff tryin’ to get us, and it ate a blanket tryin’ to pull us in. So we gotta stay on top of something.”

The grim expression on Peach’s tiny features left the feral feeling like she wasn’t the only one with a fun discovery to report. “I thought I saw something too,” she whispered, glancing upward with a hint of anxiety. “In the shadows, hanging from the roof. Upside-down.”

Once again Nadia shivered. “Great. This just keeps gettin’ better.” She moved to the edge of the king bed and looked off into the darkness, trying to spot either the new monster or the escape route Peach saw. “Guess we’ve gotta make our way over there.”

The princess moved up to stand beside her. “While I’m not saying to split up, we shouldn’t travel in one big pack if there are enemies around. We’ll attract more attention and get in each others’ way,'' Peach advised. Her eyes landed on Nadia’s fan. “And let’s keep an eye out for anything that might be of use in the junk, but be careful you all don’t put yourselves at risk of the monster below. And we may want to be careful about how much more noise and spectacle we make.” Though she managed to hide it, her heart beat like mad. This was not going to be easy, but they were going to make it through. “Let’s go.”

Navigate through a bizarre obstacle course of lost things, your route yours to decide. Keen eyes and opportunistic hands may find Paired Tools. Be wary of the nomes scrounging here and there. Move quickly but quietly, lest the hanging shadow descend

World of Light

Big Band

Level 2 Big Band (15/20)
Location: Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon
Fox's @Dawnrider, Mao's @Potemking
Word Count: 1194

As one might expect, no revelation leaped from the woodwork, but Band played as patiently as he listened. In the shade cast by the awning of the Hound Pits pub the minutes went by to the tune of cozy noontime jazz. Many citizens passed him by, some with a curious glance at the new musician putting a little soul into their lunch breaks. Every now and again someone stopped in front of him to listen, to listen like stethoscopes to a few of the beats from Big Band’s big heart. Fewer still dropped a coin or two in the metal inspector’s hat, but ever so often one fell nonetheless, the first few in silence and those afterward adding a little golden percussion as they clinked off the forerunners. Band cared more for murmurs than money, however, and needed no encouragement to validate the music that flowed through him, so used the clatter of currency in his hat as a way to pass the time.

It was after the eighth coin that something unusual caught his eye. A group of three coming from the south toward the pub. A young man with white hair, glasses, and a coat as red as his eyes that he wore off the shoulders led the trio, while a woman with striking pink hair and a blue overcoat followed behind. Around the two milled a little girl in red with blonde hair and long ears. A strange group with no common denominator save its relative youth, Band observed. They could harbor no conceivable relationship, and even them being friends seemed rather unlikely. Yet the kid displayed no distress, which put a sock in any notion of kidnapping. As the trio passed him by, the little girl turned a face of wonderment his way, but the young man put a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Klee,” he told her, purposefully not looking Band’s way. “We’re almost there.” She looked sad but allowed herself to be led off into the Hound Pits. Band knew it served as a restaurant as well as a bar, but two youngsters taking a little kid there further solidified his curiosity. He attuned his instruments to listen in.

After a few moments of recalibration, during which he made some meaningless adjustments to his saxophone for the sake of any onlookers, he started up his lowkey song once again, and started to eavesdrop. “....course stupid bird-legs had to go and kick him. What a mess,” he heard what could only be the pink-haired woman saying. “That’s what I appreciate about you, you know. Not going overboard every chance you get.”

“Whatever,” a male voice replied, belonging to the white-haired guy. “You talk about me behind my back too, whenever it’s you and Cass? And keep your voice down, will you? Don’t need anyone figuring out we know her ‘til things blow over.”

A small voice then piped up, which Band guessed came from the little girl. “Um. Mr Mao, can I have some pizza? Back home Jean would let me have some of her pizza from time to time, and it’s my favoritest thing!”

“That’d take too long.” Mao, as the detective noted his name to be, did not sound quite as harsh as he did when talking to his other companion. “We’re just here so miss bubblegum here can wet her whistle.”

“Hey, can’t a girl be thirsty?” Bubblegum protested. Although probably a nickname it worked well enough in Band’s head to identify her by. “My throat was parched from all the running!”

That seemed to annoy Mao even more. “Maybe it’d be fine if you didn’t yack so much, ever think about that?” He took a deep breath and allowed the edge to leave his voice. “Anyway, we’ll come back and have a pizza later, okay Klee? After you hide your treasure.”

“Okay!” That seemed to convince the small girl. Band played on, ruminating over the information as the trio lapsed into relative silence. His instincts told him something wasn’t right about these three after all. Mao and Bubblegum clearly didn’t get along, and only the former seemed to care much about little Klee, unless Mao was somehow in charge. It reeked of forced cooperation, a happenstance arrangement orchestrated by a third party for some purpose. All of a sudden Band felt rather like seeing what Klee’s treasure might be.

A few minutes later the trio left, and after they disappeared around a corner to the south the detective abruptly rose from his kickstand, surprising the woman who’d stopped to listen to him play. “‘Scuse me, sugar. I’ve got giant steps to take.” He took hold of his hat with a mechanical pincer, emptied its contents into his waiting pouch, and then replaced that hat atop his head. After a tip of its brim he was off.

With a veteran’s grace he tailed the strange trio, putting the absolute maximum distance he could afford between them and him at all times. Given his size and distinctive appearance they would absolutely be alerted if they saw him even once, but they never did. Klee’s frolicking kept the others’ attention from wandering too far. He followed them to and a little ways up Al Mammon’s main street. Just before a small building, little more than a tollhouse, by Band’s standards, they split up. Mao and Klee headed down the alley between the tollhouse and neighboring building, while Bubblegum yawned and leaped against the toll house itself in a way that barely made it look like she was guarding the alley.

Band seated himself in the shade of an open-air cafe for discretion.. “Iced tea,” he told the man behind the counter, who nodded and poured him a glass. For a handful of minutes he reflexes, alternating between taking sips and peeps, until he spotted the trio leaving. They headed back the way they came. Band kept cool until the three disappeared from his sight, then dropped a gold piece on the counter and got to his feet. He stomped over to where the strange group separated, noting that the toll house appeared to be some type of small commissions office on the way, and went down the alley.

Sure enough, right behind the building he found some loose tiles sprinkled with dirt. He crouched down and removed the tiles, then dug at the disturbed earth with the edge of a french horn until he found a box. A quick dusting revealed letters scribbled across its top in red paint. “My treasure,” Band read aloud, and with delicate pincers he opened it. He let out a long breath that made his pipes sing. “Tsk. This little girl of mine…”

Inside the box was a bundle of bombs. Unfortunately for him, they appeared to be magical, as they sported no technology of any kind but pulsed red every now and then as they stretched and contracted slightly. Although presented with fascinating evidence he kept a lid on speculation for the time being, and considering that these magic bombs appeared to be primed to go off some time in the near future, thought instead about what to do right now.

Al Mamoon - Museum of Vanity

@Zoey Boey @Yankee

Nobody expected combat to begin with the bang it did, courtesy of Jesse. Two of the oni bowled over, as surprised as they were angry, when the woman pulled a couched into them from behind with potent telekinesis. The Thieves watched, impressed, as she then smashed it into the irate ogres’ fronts too, rolling them away with a few brand-new breaks and bruises in the midst of a storm of unintelligible curses. Angriest of all was somehow the untouched Tantroni, but he ran Jesse’s way when he should have been counting his blessings, since she plugged him the next moment with a handful of shots from her Service Weapon. Its bolts blasted black essence from the oni with each hit, dealing significant damage, but if anything the oni got even madder. With a lot more gumption than Jesse gave it credit for, it performed a flying punch to close the distance as she strafed sideways, and struck her arm. It didn’t really hurt, but at its cursed touch Jesse’s temper instantly flared red-hot, but it did not by any means put the two on an equal playing field.

Meanwhile, Primrose called upon her magic with a characteristic dance, strategically waiting just long enough for the bludgeoned oni to get to their feet and run up alongside the Makami and Demon Nut. Then she unleashed her dark magic, blasting all four at once, and the Thieves followed her example. Joker came down with a vertical slash through the Suspicioni’s eyes, Mona dealt a rising slash to the Makami that fluttered its entire paper-like length, and Skull pulled a shotgun from literally nowhere to pump the Demon Nut’s eye full of buckshot. His weapon’s report resounded through the room as the demon swung its muscular arms, landing a glancing blow to Skull’s shoulder. “Ow!”

“Hey, watch the gunfire! We don’t wanna pull reinforcements!” Panther warned him. The Makami lunged for and bit her but dealt only minor damage. After pushing the paper wolf away Panther pulled from her Lamia side to unleash Ominous Words. “Sssuccumb to your dessspair!” she intoned, and a purple wave struck the Makami that stopped it in its tracks. It sagged downward, every ounce of fight gone from its body. Mona wasted no time calling upon Zorro to whip up a concentrated whirlwind, but even after getting torn up by it the Makami didn’t resist as Mona sliced it in half with his scimitar.

As Joker pulled his knife from the disintegrating corpse of the Suspicioni he summoned Arsene to kick its buddy away, but the wily ogre used the weight of its head to dodge out of the way and sock Joker in the guts. “Guh!”

“Nahah! Didn’t like that one, didja?” the Contrarioni taunted.

An impulse rose within Joker’s gorge, as undeniable as vomit, and he couldn’t help but let it out. “I liked it plenty,” he heard himself say. “Arsene!” His Persona went low and punched high in a dizzying uppercut that sent the oni into the air. As it came down Arsene let fly a powerful roundhouse kick that shot the little demon right over Primrose’s head and into the wall behind her where it smacked into one of the Madarame banners and plopped to the ground.

“Nice one, Joker!” Panther called.

Once again he felt himself claim the opposite. “That wasn’t anywhere close to ‘good’,” he told her.

“Uh, okay?” Rather than consider that any further, Panther went to help Skull with the Demon Nut. Though the demon was strong, the boy could take a hit or two, and was using his speed to batter his hard-shelled foe with relentless swings from his pipe. “Dance, Carmen!” At her bidding her own Persona appeared to throw a blazing fireball at the nut and roast it alive.

While it flailed, Skull took his chance to jump forward and stomp on its shell. He reeled back for a full-power overhead swing. “Batter up! Hyah!” With a mighty crack his pipe caved in the front part of the shell, and the monster opened wide. Rather than try to finish it off himself he stepped out of the way to let Panther shoot a fireball of her own into its mouth and torch its innard for good. The demon began to dissolve, and the two thieves shared a high five.

Joker and Mona came over, and provided that both Jesse and Primrose finished the oni they’d been dealt, the team reunited after the brief scuffle. “That went pretty well, huh?” Mona grinned.

“Not even a little,” Joker admonished him, before clapping a hand over his own mouth. Now everyone was looking at him, and it made him want to die inside.

“What are you talking about? You’re being really weird all of a sudden. Did one of them brainwash you or something?”

“No, I’m not!” Joker insisted, pointing toward the ashes of the oni Primrose took care of. “That one must have done something to me.”

Mona rolled his giant eyes. “Hold on a minute. Zorro, use Me Patra!”

“I won’t, let’s go.” Joker declared, but he stayed still, red with embarrassment. As the cat’s Persona cured him, he shook his head, grimacing. “Yuck. That’s a nasty curse.”

Skull nudged him in the ribs. “Hey, at least it was just a curse! Some people just contradict everyone naturally. Ain’t that right, Mona?”

“Uh, no? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Now fully recovered, Joker steered the conversation back on track again. Luckily the party-wide Me Patra cured the Tantroni’s curse on Jesse as well, leaving her as temperate as ever, and Joker looked to her for a hand. “These usually just swivel open. Can we have you no-collide them whenever we go through?” he asked, allowing her to lead the way through the vent.

A short time later, the group reached the next room. They found the vent exit right behind a bench that prevented the grate from being opened, but no-collide worked just as well on the furniture as it did the metal cover. The team emerged to come across a large square room with walls dominated by giant paintings of nature. This apparently necessitated extra security, and the entire room was divided into nine equal subsections by rows of lasers higher than anyone could jump, with just about a foot of clearance between each laser as well as the bottom laser and the floor. Four guards patrolled the room clockwise, walking right through the lasers that promised to zap or at the very least detect anyone without the total immunity they seemingly enjoyed. As for hiding places, Joker could only see benches scattered along the edges and plant pots closer to the center, both of which would stretch his team’s hiding ability. He did notice one other detail, however, and in a whispered voice he relayed it to the others.

“We can go inside those paintings,” he told Primrose and Jesse. He pointed to the wall on the right. Each one depicted a scene of a desert, while those on the left showed a forest, and the far wall an ocean. Corner subsections each featured two, one for each wall that met there. “We’ll be able to move through to any of the same theme.” His gaze narrowed at an employee-access door on the far side. “That’s our goal. Problem is, there’s no painting in the far middle. Lasers in the way. And the guards could probably see us jumping in and out of the paintings.” If only, he reflected, he had his grappling hook. Nevertheless a few ideas swirled in his mind, but he wondered if Jesse might be able to come up with anything using the Tool Gun.

Ms Fortune

Level 4 Nadia (38/40)
Location: Bottomless Sea
Blazermate's @Archmage MC, Bowser's @DracoLunaris, Ace Cadet's @Yankee, Hat Kid's @Dawnrider, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Frog's @Dark Cloud, Mirage’s @Potemking, Mr. L’s @ModeGone
Word Count: 2610

As the prismatic lightshow faded and the dreary, storm-clouded shadow took back over, a transformed Bella was left to blink a few times and shake off the light dizziness that accompanied the change. She noticed that it took a bit more strength to lift her arm, on account of the large gauntlet that now covered it, so that she could run her fingers through the pale yellow, spiral ringlet that lay on her bare shoulder. A moment later she noticed with a start just how much of her now lay bare and how much she now had to bare. “Eep!” She squeaked, hurrying to cover her midriff and chest, which her new gauntlets managed handily.

Nadia couldn’t help but giggle at her bashfulness, although she knew it wasn’t exactly fair of her, being so desensitized to such a state owing to her own manner of garb. She watched Bella redden as Sakura approached, noting the cute dynamic they seemed to have. Still blushing, the Water Princess tried to compose herself and answer the question. “Um...a little, um, exposed. But…” Tentatively Bella took a step forward, and then another. When she set her feet down her knees did not wobble and her legs held firm. Even if she would need a few moments to come to grips with her new sense of balance, she could walk, and the realization brought a joyous smile to her face. “I’m stable! I can move on land! That means...I can be a hero with you guys! Aaaah!” The Abyssal squealed in delight and sized Sakura in a full-bodied hug, squeezing the smaller woman from side to side. Only after a moment did she seem to realize where her auto-pilot had taken her and turn beet red. “Oh! Pardon, pardon!” She released Sakura and scooted back, covering her face in her massive mitts while her leviathan tail scraped back and forth across the deck like a dog’s.

As adorable as the exchange was, Nadia turned her attention away and back to the matter at hand. The last of the Guests disappeared into the nightmare vessel that represented one option, while the hallway behind her led to the other. Although for the moment no consensus had been reached regarding which path to take, everyone seemed in agreement that whichever future lay before them, Shippy was not in it. Nadia added her own agreement to the others’. “Yeah, poor Shippy’s suffered enough. No ifs, ands, or butts a-boat it. I’m sure Briney wants to see her too.”

“Sounds good. I’ll let her know.” Peach confirmed, then headed out across the dock, with her parasol a dainty but appreciated shelter against the rain. She got as close to the spray-spattered edge as she dared before waving to Shippy. “Hey! After talking about our options, we think you deserve a break, and should probably make your way back to Limsa! Please be careful on your way back!”

The figurehead of the living vessel nodded. “Okay, I’ll do that. I can’t wait to see the Captain again. Thank you all for protecting me as best you could, and good luck on the road ahead.” She pulled away from the sealab’s landing pad and took off. In only a few moments Shippy was on her way toward clearer skies and safer waters.

Peach jogged back toward the Sealab’s structure. As she approached, the screen blinked on again, showing the gathered heroes the metallic visage of Tyl Regor once more. “Still lurking at my threshold?” the scientist intoned, seemingly incredulous. “And here I thought you would have decided already, to get out of the rain if nothing else. My offer, after all, was more than fair. If I didn’t know better, I might think you were talking behind my back…hm?”

Suddenly he turned away in response to something offscreen, something that made his relaxed manner go rigid. “Wait, it’s coming now~?” he exclaimed, his voice a little muffled by its direction. “Are you sure!? Then we’ve little choice. Close the bulkheads!”

Just a moment after he gave the command, an alarm went off in the sealab interior, and giant metal plates started to slide together over the elevator shaft. At the same time the front door received an override and began to close as well, alongside reinforced plates. Regor turned to face the Blue Team members once again. “Sorry ladies and gentlemen, today just got a little too interesting for my blood. Now everyone, out of the pool! Unless you fancy being trapped!”

Being in the doorway already, Nadia dodged out of the way of the closing doors and back into the rain with a yowl. Peach hurried out of danger as well, calling, “We can’t all make it inside! Come on!” Spurred on by the knowledge that something was coming, unknown but terrifying enough to put the Sealab into a state of emergency, everyone gathered together in the center of the circular dock with eyes in every direction. After a couple seconds Nadia spotted something that left her with little doubt: a number of enormous red lights that gleamed through the low clouds and rain, growing more intense as their owner got closer and closer. Closer inspection of their movement, however, suggested that they must not actually be that close--instead, the source must be much, much bigger than it appeared at first. A horrible, bone-rattling groaning noise, like the shifting of titanic machinery, swept across the Sealab, and Nadia’s ears flattened against her head in fear.

In the end, she never saw exactly what it was. Nadia only ever caught a glimpse of a mountain of dark metal that made the Sealab’s upper portion look like a toy in comparison, followed by a wave of golden energy that surged outward from the colossus’ body. She was powerless to stop it, but when it struck her it left her surprised, for it exhibited no effect on her body. The same could not be said for the Sealab. At the wave’s touch its lights, systems, and even beacon blinked out. So did all of Blue Team’s electronics, everything with circuitry, including the Atomos and Blazermate herself. The whole area was plunged into darkness, except for a singular source of light: the open mouth of the Maw. Somehow, the accursed vessel was immune to whatever it was that so effectively knocked out all sophisticated technology. Peach screamed at the top of her lungs to be heard over the steely bellow that shook her crew to the core. “The Maw! We gotta take shelter, get to the Maw!”

“Don’t gotta tell me twice!” Nadia ran like her heels had wings, kicking up water with every stride even as her feet scarcely touched the ground. She hurtled up the Maw’s gangplank a moment before it began to retract, forcing the whole party to double-time it to get inside. Bella put her newly strengthened legs to work by sprinting up the ramp, and by the time Peach got there she needed to jump to get onto it as it pulled higher. Only grabbing Blazermate and saving the Atomos (via Kamek’s shrinkage and Bowser’s strength) gave anyone pause as they ran for their lives. Once up the gangplank there lay a short metal catwalk with railings that led straight ahead, and one by one the heroes barreled down its length and threw themselves through the light at the end.

“Oof!” Nadia landed on a slippery wooden floor streaked with rainwater. For once she hadn’t managed to land on her feet, having not known what to expect of the Maw’s interior. The spotlight that faced out through the doors had just about blinded her on the way in, and now that she was past it it cast the rest of the room in darkness. As best she could tell she now sat in some sort of parlor. Portraits lined the walls overlooking plush red sofas of an antiquated style, interspersed with little wooden tables bearing vases, flowerpots, and stoppered jugs. Square lanterns that gave off only a soft yellow glow hung over a long, floral patterned rug that led from one door to the other at the parlor’s far end, beneath a balcony on the floor above. It was a paper screen door oddly enough, the kind that slid open. She found neither hide nor hair of any Guests, but presumed they went through that door. Overall it seemed nice, at least for now, as the Maw’s hideous reputation lay at the very forefront of her mind.

As the last of Blue Team hastened aboard the Maw’s giant mouth slammed shut and the spotlight turned off, leaving nothing but darkness behind them. Nadia got to her feet, hackles raised and wary. The whole vessel began to move, both down and away from the Sealab and the unknown titan alike. She tensed up as the lights flickered, only to inwardly chide herself at being so fidgety. There’s enough to be scared of without jumping at shadows. she thought as her eyes wandered toward the second floor balcony. Then she froze as she realized there was a person there who had not been there before.

Bella gasped as she noticed too, which was enough for everyone to take note. From the balcony a slender woman in a dark brown kimono stood stock-still, her done-up black hair atop a white porcelain mask. Creepy, Nadia observed, and not a good sign of things to come. Though Peach instinctively reached for her boomshot, she composed herself to call up to the unknown figure. “Who are you? Are you the master of the Maw?”

For a moment it looked like her words brooked no reaction. Then, with a dignified slowness, the woman nodded her head once.

Peach swallowed. So this was the person in charge of the ominous vessel that demanded human tithes. This woman certainly gave off an unnatural air already. She wondered if the others would just start attacking, and though she felt the same urge herself she held out a hand to tell them to hold their fire. If this person meant them no harm, and could get them across the Bottomless Sea, it was worth thinking twice about trying to kill her. And didn’t her team just learn not to pick fights in this dangerous place? No matter if the nightmare in question was big or small. They had to see the pragmatism in it, at least for now; justice could wait until later. Peach found her voice. “Pardon our intrusion. We seek passage to the eye of the storm,” she said, only just now wondering for the first time if whatever that titanic thing outside was had actually been the region boss. If the guardian was just the biggest thing around, she had a hard time imagining that it was anything else, but she hoped not nonetheless. “Is...is that alright? We won’t be a bother,” she said weakly, speaking on behalf of the group’s more volatile members.

The Lady remained silent. Nadia thought her head tilted ever so slightly to the side, but a moment later the woman raised her sleeves. Spindly fingers extended from within, and the feral heard the soft clap of hands.

Below her, the paper door slid open wide. Whatever Nadia might have expected, it wasn’t this. Two demonic creatures with the lower halves of snakes slithered through into the main room. The monsters fanned out to either side of the door at a peaceful pace, their hands clasped together innocently, and in the lamplight the heroes got a better look at them. They sported crocodilian flesh, necklaces of threaded skulls, and elaborate hoods. Within the darkness of the hoods were concentric red diamonds in perpetual motion, shrinking toward a single central point. Only after a moment did Nadia realize that she couldn't avert her gaze from the mesmerizing display within one demon’s hood. Panic welled within her as she tried to move, only to find her muscles sluggish and unresponsive. Her sudden energy ebbed away; she felt sleepy, and the others faded from her view. “We’re getting…” she garbled in a daze. “Hypno...tized…” Any moment she felt as if she’d hit the deck, down for the count. But that thought filled her with rage. After all she’d been through, how the hell could she go out like this? With all her strength she dug her teeth into her lip, trying to keep herself awake with the pain.

For a moment she was fighting it, pulling herself back from the brink. Her fingers balled into fists, and she took a step forward. Then the hypnotic diamonds were replaced by beams of scarlet power, blasting each and every member of Blue Team. A strange feeling overtook her, like being immersed in an unknown liquid, and all the fight left her body. The floor fell away beneath her and she began to fall Nadia’s senses were overloaded. She could make sense of nothing. Everything faded to black.

---

How much time went by she couldn’t tell. In the darkness she didn’t move, or think, or dream. She only awoke to the some clatter nearby with a flinch, and groaned as she nestled deeper into her pillow. “Agh, ten more minutes, c’mon…” She settled in with a sigh, ready to nod off again. Then her eyes snapped open.

“Whah!?” she sat bolt upright, rubbing her eyes. As the bleariness cleared, she found herself smack dab in the middle of a big bed in a huge, dome-shaped room. Beyond where she sat she saw books, tables, chairs, pillows, shoes, and other personal objects and furniture of every stripe, heaped around the strange chamber like a giant junkyard of household items, with no visible floor. How far down it went she couldn’t fathom. How she got here she could only begin to recall. “I was...falling? ...Dang, good thing I landed here.” She rubbed her head and scowled as she remembered the demons. “Yowch. These people ain’t kitten around. At least I’m still alive.”

When she checked to make sure, however, she quickly found that something was wrong. Her outfit was different. Her arms, her legs, her everything--it was all short. The cuts in her arms were gone. “What the!?” She leaped to her feet but didn’t rise much. In a state of shocked disbelief she looked herself over, arriving at an indisputable conclusion. “I’m a goddamn kid!” she yowled at an embarrassingly high pitch. “I’m a tot! I’m tiny!” She wore a ratty pint-size t-shirt and shorts, just the sort of refuse that a homeless alleycat couldn’t say ‘no’ to. Nadia held both hands to her head, distraught. “Is this pun-ishment for all my childish jokes!? What the hell!”

“Ms Fortune? Is that you?”

Nadia whipped her head in the direction of the noise. She spotted another child stuck beneath a few cushions, a tiny girl with orange eyes, white skin, white hair, and an equally snow-white dress. A metal creature little bigger than an actual snake reached out from her back, trying to pull her free. “Oh, gosh. You too, Bella? At least it ain’t just me. Hold on!” Pushing aside her predicament, Nadia scampered over to help. She started pushing and pulling on the cushions and quickly found that she had only a four-year-old’s strength. “Crap! I’m crazy weak, dang it. Hang on a moment.”

Bella tried to smile. “Don’t worry. It’s pretty comfortable here actually, so it’s okay if you take a moment.” She extended her own stubby arm to be pulled by, looking mighty perplexed. “What happened to you? You look so...little.”

“Something turned us into kids!” Nadia growled as she took hold of the hand and pulled, her toeclaws ripping into the blanket. “Hey, can you wiggle around or something?”

“I’m trying!”

All Blue Team characters have had all of their fusion and level upgrades rewound,
and they have been physically rewound to the exact way they were at age 4