Lugubrious

World of Light

I have a tentative interest in this. May or may not make a CS.

Also, I see a few familiar faces in here. You may or may not remember me.

@Scarifar

Hello and welcome! We'd be happy to have you if you decide to apply--and if there's anything I can do in the meantime to stoke your interest, please don't hesitate to ask.

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky
Level 9 Tora (182/90) Level 9 Poppi (182/90) Level 5 Big Band (120/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 2724

The plan had been made, but there was a problem, one lost on those possessed of profoundly superhuman durability, like Tora, Big Band, and Ciella. Red Eye’s explosive rising headbutt had ripped the Seeker’s caboose from both train and track, throwing it and all its ammunition into the air like a child’s toy. Its nigh-cataclysmic explosion not only went off too far away from the behemoth to meaningfully damage it, but also pummeled the hapless heroes with a withering pressure wave. It slammed into them like an omnidirectional pile driver, strong enough not just to rattle their brains in their skulls, but to crush their pressure-sensitive lungs and eardrums. In the wake of the blast, the vast majority of Seekers aboard the Railway Gun wound up deafened, dazed, and breathless–in short, stunned.

For a second or two Band looked around in confusion at everyone who apparently hadn’t heard the man. Then the realization hit him like a bolt from the blue, prompting a guttural hrrk. He’d managed to bear the brunt of the debilitating shockwave thanks to his iron lung and protective headphones, but Jesse, the Phantom Thieves, Primrose, Peacock and her cohorts, Mao, the Scout, and the Shepherds were all down, in various states of pain as they struggled to draw breath. Those who did manage to pull themselves together and pick themselves up, confused and desperate to do something, went on the offensive against Red Eye for all the good it did. Midna and Braum spearheaded those desperate measures from the back of the train, joined after a moment by Ciella, but Red Eye closed the distance anyway, gaining on the train with agonizing, almost mocking slowness. Unable to help them, Sectonia offered her magic to speed up the turning process, so Tora directed her down below to the enormous turntable that the whole Railway Gun sat upon. Neither Raz nor Therion were anywhere to be found, which hopefully meant they’d taken shelter either down below or up in front with the Conductor, and not fallen from the train or anything. Meanwhile, something had broken in Raiden. After throwing all his flashbangs to no effect, he seemed to go crazy, talking to himself and shouting at the monster that even now grew steadily closer by the second.

Seeing the absolute state of his team brought a fresh wave of sweat to Big Band’s brow, and with a shaky mechanical arm he dabbed at his skin with a handkerchief, trying to get himself under control. Aside from himself, only Tora and Poppi still possessed the faculties and inclination to operate the Dragonfire cannon, owing to the duo’s shared defense and regenerative ability. “That ain’t enough,” he breathed. He or Tora would need to convince the shooters up front to come back and lend a hand, but even if they obliged, it meant the loss of precious seconds.

The Nopon, however, had other issues. He’d beelined to one of the turning stations to start the Railway Gun swiveling himself, only to be stopped in his tracks by a giant flashing error message on the console. “It JAM!?” he wailed, clutching his head in horror. His wide eyes landed on Band. “Sectonia buff no good if gun not move at all! Tora need go down below and fix!”

“No time to waste!” Poppi grabbed her Masterpon and flew down over the edge, headed for the Railway Gun’s innards so that Tora could service the turntable himself.

Band’s handkerchief flew away in the wind as he reeled, suddenly all alone atop the train hurtling toward Hollow Heights with the mother of all monsters in tow. At a loss for words, he clenched his jaw and stomped to the crane loader, the mission’s last hope clutched tight in his brass knuckles. He slammed the Wrath shell into place, then hopped down to the rear middle section by the mammoth barrel of the main gun that still pointed backward at Red Eye, a laughably empty threat. He gritted his teeth and rammed his shoulder against the steel, pushing with all his might in a desperate attempt to turn the cannon by force. He strained and strained, blasting sound behind him for extra force, but for all his effort the barrel would not budge. “C’mon!” he growled, sweat rolling down his face and stinging his bulging eyes. “C’MON!”

Suddenly, the Railway Gun obliged, but in the wrong direction. It flew sideways in a burst of speed, forcing Band to grab hold to avoid being knocked off the train. “Whoa-oa-oa!” Tora must have fixed the turning mechanism, he realized, allowing Sectonia to hasten it with her magic. But if they were down there, who was up top? Wheezing, Band looked up to see none other than Jesse at the turning station, nowhere near as hurt as he first thought. With the FBC director mashing away, and bemoaning certain allies for not lending a hand or two, the detective gave a sigh of relief. As the whole thing continued to spin he clung to the barrel for dear life, waiting until it brought him back over the train before he relinquished his grip. Disheveled and in sore need of a breather, Band tumbled down the slope and landed upside-down on the lower forward platform, where he remained.

The noise of his landing made the Conductor glance over his shoulder, though he obviously couldn’t see anything from inside the engine. “Gah! What was that!?” he exclaimed, glancing between Therion and Raz. “Go look, wouldja? We’re arrivin’ at Hollow Heights any minute!” Sure enough, a yawning pit had appeared in the desert up ahead. Across the void, a single railway bridge extended through the turbulent air, and that was where the train was headed.

Meanwhile, Poppi burst out from the Railway Gun’s undercarriage, boosting up to the crane loader to get the long-awaited Wrath shell ready to fire. Tora emerged a moment later, panting and smeared with machine grease. When he laid eyes on the team’s pursuer, his mouth hung open in terror. It was too close. The extremities of its gargantuan outer jaws were only seconds away from coming up alongside the train on either side, and in the center of its horrendous mass its inner-jaws gnashed together in anticipation, those pedipalp-like limbs eager to grab hold of the train and pull it straight down Red Eye’s nightmarish gullet. No amount of metal spears, icy blasts, water arrows, or drunken turret fire could keep that monstrosity at bay.

“Meh-eh-eh…!” Tora moaned, tears pooling in his eyes as he flapped his wings in fear. “It t-too late! Train is done for! Need abandon ship! P-Poppi-!”

A hand came down on his shoulder, steading him as he went to shout for his companion. “Meh?”

He looked up to see Robin, clearly still hurt but on his feet nonetheless. “Don’t worry, my little friend,” he said, patting Tora one last time before he stepped toward the back of the train. As he crossed the lower rear platform to where Midna and the others were shooting, the tactician raised his voice. “Hear me, Seekers of Light! I’m telling you this, not for the sake of senseless sacrifice, but so that if worst should come to worst, no-one should ever have to lay their lives down in vain!”

Robin pressed his eyes closed, then opened them with a flash. There came a sound like a thunderclap, and around him swelled a prismatic energy. “This is the power within us–a power unique to each and every one of you. Your whole being in one almighty attack, strong enough to turn even the darkest hour to brightest day. A Final Smash!”

As the aura around him continued to grow, his very body refulgent with power, Ciella seemed to understand what he meant. The Agito lowered her bow as she stared at him. “What madness is this? Do you truly intend to throw your life away for these strangers?”

Robin’s gaze seemed to pierce her mask, meeting his former enemy’s eyes. “My dear friend believed that it was our duty, Ciella. To be the heroes that people needed, to serve and fight for those who could not do so themselves. To be Shepherds for the sheep. His ideals of heroism were no delusion. My faith in them, and in the dream of these ‘strangers’, is no deception. Wallow in despair if it pleases you, Agito, but if my life can somehow be a guiding light unto others, then that is what I will do!”

He thrust his Levin Sword into the air, sparking with lightning. Red Eye roared, its maw so close that the Seekers could feel its infernal heat, but Robin’s voice cut through the chaos. “It’s time to tip the scales!” A lightning bolt shot skyward. Tora watched in astonishment as a cyclone of clouds exploded outward from the top, then opened wide. Through the tempest a colossal black dragon descended, its six great wings carving through the air. As many blazing eyes glared down at the behemoth below, and as it unleashed a tremendous roar, purple flames welled up in its throat, so vivid that it hurt even to look at them. Robin, however, didn’t bat an eye. He leveled his sword at Red Eye, and let out a roar of his own.

”Incarnate Calamity!”

The fell dragon swooped down, and from its jaws raged a torrent of purple fire. Its breath of ruin blasted Red Eye right in the mouth, then swept across its back all the way to the tip of the tail, with the giant worm screeching all the while. Red Eye slowed down, thrashing from side to side in agony, and overhead the soaring dragon dissolved into multicolored light.

Tora blinked several times, trying to process what exactly just happened, and how. In the end, though, he latched onto the most important detail: that Robin had bought enough time for the Seekers to get their final shot off. “Go, go, go!” he yelled, bouncing up and down. Red Eye was still coming, but it had a lot of ground to make up, and the others weren’t going to waste this opportunity. After getting the Wrath shell loaded Poppi moved to the turning console to take over from Jesse, who climbed back in the cannon. The whole shebang began to swivel back around again, creaking and grinding until its business end faced Red Eye once more.

Tora’s eyes landed on Robin once again, and despite the circumstances they lingered there a moment. The young man seemed oddly indistinct, as if he were caught in a desert mirage. On second glance Tora was shocked to realize that Robin seemed to be dissolving, but into light instead of ash. He’d turned around to meet the gaze of Tharja, who was staring at him with teary eyes in stunned silence. For a moment he just looked at her sadly, and when he tried to say something, no words came out. Then he disappeared, evaporated, like morning dew.

Suddenly the desert sand on either side of the Railway Gun disappeared, replaced by pitch-black nothingness. The train clattered along a double track suspended over what seemed like a bottomless pit, surrounded on all sides by an endless forest of metal girders and scaffolds that held up the Sandswept Sky. Red Eye wasn’t far behind, but something strange had happened. As the sand it burrowed through grew shallower beneath it, its whole body rose higher and higher, and its segmented legs found less and less purchase with which to pull its titanic mass along. It slowed down fast and came to a stop not far from the precipice, its limbs scrabbling uselessly at the metal floor beneath a pittance of sand. The guardian was a sitting duck, its defenses blown and burned wide open. It was quite possibly the easiest shot of Jesse’s whole career.

For the final time, the Dragonfire Cannon invited hell. Its payload ripped through the air and exploded against Red Eye with jaw-dropping power. A safe distance away and growing safer every second, the train screamed onward, but its dumbfounded passengers could still feel the blast on their faces. On the heels of the unfathomable explosion came a cacophony of metal as the floor beneath Red Eye gave way, sending both the beast itself and the desert for thousands of meters around plummeting into the abyss.

There was just one problem. That included one end of the railway bridge, and as the Seekers looked on in horror, the rest of the span quickly began to collapse behind them.

Panic erupted all along the train as the whole bridge began to wobble dangerously. With no way to reach the other side in time, there were only two choices: abandon the train, or die. Tora ran around like a chicken with his head cut off, calling for Poppi until his partner snatched him up and took to the sky. Unfortunately, the pair’s troubles didn’t end there. All the chaos had provoked a reaction from Hollow Heights itself, kicking up gale-force winds from deep inside the earth below. As metal came tumbling down, the storm surged up, yanking the heroes from the train with such outrageous force that even the likes of Tora couldn’t help but black out completely.

---

The first thing Tora felt upon awakening was the wind coursing through his hair. When his eyes blinked open his brows furrowed in surprise, for he could see nothing but blue, blue, blue, no matter where he looked. He tried to crane around for a better look, only to realize that he was being held tight in Poppi’s arms. “Poppi!” he called, straining against the wind to pat her gently on the cheek. As he wriggled he happened to look downward, at which point he very quickly realized where he was: the sky.

Below him stretched the desert in its entirety, the mountains on one side, the ocean on the other. He could see Al Mamoon from here, and Sweet Sweet Canyon, the great wall of ruins, Split Mountain, even Smash City Alcamoth way to the south. Beyond the western mountains lay plains, forests, and arid badlands, the green green grass of the Land of Adventure, and beneath storm clouds a great crater blackened by what looked like a colossal handprint, with a strange tree towering at the center. He gulped. “P-Poppi! Wakey-wakey, Poppiiii!” The artificial blade’s eyes lit up as her systems rebooted, and with a groan she brushed Tora’s hair out of her face. After some furious blinking she finished recalibration, then looked down in wonder at the landscape.

“...We very high up!”

“Tora see that!” the Nopon howled, barely able to hear her despite being inches away from his partner. Poppi just stared down at the pit far below, trying to calculate how strong that upswell must have been to carry them this high up. She and her Masterpon both spotted Ciella in her Agito form nearby, and quickly realized they weren’t alone; everybody on board the Railway Gun had been blown sky-high and scattered around, their fall slowed by a lingering updraft. Ciella pointed downward, encouraging Poppi to look again. As she searched, Poppi’s optics were drawn to a fiery glow in the pit, and when she focused she found something disconcerting.

Red Eye was still alive. It lay skewered on countless girders, its whole head in gruesome tatters, but in its middle an enormous core of thermal energy smoldered with unquenchable fury. As impossible as it sounded, this fight wasn’t over. A guttural sound drifted up from below, accompanied by a massive swarm of Trilid sent straight upward to strike the Seekers down. Ciella responded by diving like a bird of prey, zooming down past the incoming Akridd that Tora realized must be trying to protect what could only be the mother of all weak spots. He narrowed his eyes, pounded his Mech Arms together, and pointed downward. Poppi nodded her assent, a smile on her face. Around them the Phantom Thieves descended, and the dynamic duo joined them, sped on their way by Poppi’s thrusters. It was time to end this once and for all.

Ms Fortune

Location: Deep Blue Seaside - Limsa Lominscuttle Town
Level 8 Nadia (80/80)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate’s @Archmage MC, Hat Kid’s @Dawnrider, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Link’s @Gentlemanvaultboy
Word Count: 2724

For nearly ten minutes straight Blazermate took Nadia on a whirlwind tour of Limsa Lominscuttle Town by air, pulling off twists and turns, plunges and slopes, even a couple loops for good measure. It was way crazier than any roller coaster ride the feral had ever been on, and she dutifully screamed herself hoarse whenever Blazermate took a deep dive or made a daring maneuver, much to her carrier’s amusement. Their circuitous trip took them from the city’s lowest depths, where Nadia skimmed along the surface of the fishers’ oyster-encrusted canals, all the way up to the loftiest parapets of its breezy seastack towers among the terns, cormorants, and gulls.

They passed by the Bismarck restaurant, tidied up and open for business after their group’s nasty spat with Cia nearly two days ago, and soared over the harbor they’d set sail from yesterday to find it utterly devoid of shipgirls making ready for war. In the light of day the city’s immense Blitzball arena seemed even more magnificent, and with no game in progress Blazermate could fly right inside. While the two of them had visited the stadium before, an aerial view was a far cry from watching in the stands. She skirted around the great orb of water suspended in its center, allowing Nadia to reach out and drag her fingers along its incredible surface. When she pictured the players from that beautiful night inside, she remembered their movements better than their faces. To an outsider it had been a mesmerizing display, not too unlike the elegant fish she’d seen schooling throughout the reef in Heaven’s Edge, except the Blitzball players were more like sharks on the prowl, working together to hunt down the ball and hungry for victory. Their dance had been one of lightning passes, cunning interceptions, and ruthless tackles, intense as it was beautiful, and thrilling to behold. If she weren’t so caught up in the moment Nadia might have asked Blazermate to drop her into the water, curious to see if her fusion with the Oceanid made her even half as good a swimmer as those athletes on the night before the storm, but before she knew it the pair were back out in the open air once more.

The only thing that flew faster than Blazermate and Nadia as they hurtled beneath the bridges and around the vast nets of Limsa Lominscuttle Town was the time. All too soon Blazermate coasted down for a landing among the dirigibles and flying machines of the city’s bustling airship pad, bringing their wild ride to an end. “Whoo-oo!” Nadia exulted as Blazermate let her go. “That was- wagh!” When the feral hit the deck on wobbly legs she nearly fell flat on her face. She ended up in her knees, gasping for breath as she clutched at her chest in a vain attempt to grab hold of and bestill her racing heart. “Gah…hah…hah!” she coughed, her throat raw from a potent combo of hyperventilation and emphatic yowling. Her nerves were shot, she’d lost her voice, and her head still spun from the dizziness, but as Blazermate could see when Nadia lifted her head after a moment to shoot her a huge grin, she was happy as a clam. “That..” she croaked. “Was awesome.”

After a few more moments she managed to bring her breathing and heart rate under control, which also turned out to be enough time for the cityfolk going about their business in the area to stop giving the surprise newcomer weird looks. That meant that when Nadia picked herself up, she got to see the airship deck in all its glory. Perched high atop the Mizzenmast, the great tower that formed the beating heart of Limsa Lominscuttle Town, the landing stretched out in every direction like a giant umbrella. News of the city’s freedom from Abyssal siege seemed to have traveled fast, and a whole host of air vehicles now sat upon or hung about the place. Some, like lhe Junker and Squid, hovered alongside the deck like ships docked at a pier, prevented from setting down by their peculiar construction. Their immense balloons really caught the eye, but even they didn’t quite hold a candle to the actual blimp moored nearby, its fins and undercarriage a striking hot pink. Nadia spotted a sick-looking helicopter with two adjustable rotors, as well as an even more futuristic hauler. Not counting the steampunk ships’ balloons, the hauler tied for biggest alongside a green arship with a huge, sharp nose that reminded Nadia of a narwhal’s tusk. She expected to see the Seekers’ Atomos somewhere, but if unlike her Bowser spent the night in Alcamoth, it made sense that the team’s airship would’ve been left in the public park or something. Workers were loading and unloading cargo, making regular use of the Crow’s Lift in the deck’s center. It was an impressive scene, although even with all its grandeur, the airship deck couldn’t claim the honor of being Limsa’s highest point. That went to Sky’s Hatchery, accessible by the spiral staircase that began where the lift ended. When Nadia looked upward, she could see the rookery up above, traces of animal activity visible through the windows.

Nadia took a deep breath in, then let it out. Despite the fumes coming off some of the nearby vehicles, she could really savor the fresh air up here, almost as much as the wealth of opportunities that stretched out in every direction beneath her. Her flight with Blazermate, and all the sneak peeks around the city it provided, had helped her realize just how much there was to see and do around here. Her previous jaunts around the city had really just scratched the surface; exploring the upper and lower decks alone could keep her occupied for days, and after taking into account the labyrinthine wharftowns plus the shoreline districts across the great bridges, as well as the culture and citizenry that brought the whole place to life, Nadia could picture herself falling in love with Limsa in a way she never could with New Meridian. Compared to that, even the thought of facing another Dead Zone or Bottomless Sea made her want to die a little inside. She looked over at Blazermate. “Thanks again for the ride! Never have I ‘meda’ better ‘bot. I think I’m gonna wander around a while, though. Maybe meet up back at the beach ‘round dinnertime. See ya!”

With that she was off, but Nadia didn’t plan to go down before she checked out everything that was up. With bright eyes the feral skipped up the stairs two at a time until she stood at the threshold of Sky’s Hatchery. The instant she set foot inside she found herself greeted by a whole flock of birds, winged beasts of all shapes and sizes, some even big enough to ride on. A few were flapping around but overall they seemed pretty content to just lounge around their perches and cages. Some customers milled about, mulling over potential purchases, and a couple hired hands -who were themselves penguins- helped to take care of the other creatures. They were adorable in their little caps and vests, although the ‘DANGER - DO NOT THROW’ warnings on their backs threw Nadia off somewhat. In the middle of it all stood Sky herself with her trusty partner Wrench on her arm. She seemed to be talking about owls with a magical-looking girl, who had a cute little owlet of her own. Nadia waved when they glanced her way, then did a lap around the place to look at the birds. Most were a little wary of her, so she only stopped once in order to pet an industrious-looking rooster named Nugget, whose label identified him as the hatchery’s manager. Highly impressed, Nadia gave him some feed, then went on her way.

Rather than join the crowd using the Crow’s Lift, Nadia made her way to the edge of the airship deck. The wind whipped at her hair and her shirt, but she wasn’t afraid. As tall as it was, the Mizzenmast didn’t exactly compare to modern skyscrapers, and she was by no means starved for ways to get down. She turned and, like a diver from a boat, fell backward over the railing. As she did she embedded hardened claws into the rim. From there she descended using her muscle fibers as a bungee cord, stretching them out farther and farther until she could feel the pain even through her typical numbness, at which point she was left dangling in the air.

Ignoring the probability of being stared at through the windows behind her, possibly by somebody important, she scanned the nearby upper decks for any good anchor points and found a suspension bridge held up by nets between two buildings. “Okay,” she told herself, bringing her off hand up in front of her. “This should work…I think…” After taking a deep breath Nadia began to pressurize her arm, charging up power until her scar tissue couldn’t hold together any longer. In an explosive burst of vital fluid her hand launched forward, connected by strands of fiber. She aimed high, and thanks to the abundance of net, managed to snag a handhold from afar without issue. “Hah! Like shakin’ up a can of soda–a certified pawttle rocket!”

Of course, that was just stage one. Nadia started building pressure in her thigh and ankles, but kept her muscles tightly bunched, so that instead of blowing her parts off, she’d blow herself forward. When she had enough power she took a deep breath, let go, and with a hearty blast of blue blood zoomed toward her new handhold. Nadia barely kept herself under control, her teeth clenched the entire time, but after a moment she came together right where she wanted to be.

A moment of silence passed as she double-checked to make sure everything was intact. Then she breathed a sigh of relief–a sigh that turned into a cackling laugh halfway through. “Nyahahaha! Course it worked, I’m the coolest!” Still giggling, she climbed onto and flopped down on the bridge, where she lay staring at the sky. After a couple moments she lifted up her forearm again and looked it over. “Hmm,” she thought aloud. “Y’know, I bet if I sat down for a couple hours and practiced I could use that to punch dudes from a ways off. Fast, too. That’d be purr-etty cool…yeah…” As she realized she was talking to herself, she rolled her eyes, then got to her feet. So, the Upper Decks, she mused, looking around. Where to next?

She wound up in the next building over, the Marauders’ Guild, where a bunch of big, burly dudes trained with axes. While she watched for a few minutes, wondering if she could apply any of their techniques to her fish tail, she soon moved to the balcony to get a good view of her surroundings with no nets in the way. It offered a great view, not just of the Upper Decks around her, but the Lower Decks beneath. From here she could see the Mizzenmast Inn, where she and a number of the other Seekers had their rooms, and where they’d chowed down on pub food the same night she went to watch Blitzball. Just down the way stood the Aftcastle, where the Maelstrom militia was garrisoned, keeping the peace inside the city and doling out commissions to anyone who wanted some work. Farther down she could see the Aetheryte Plaza with its distinctive enormous crystal mass, full of people mingling or going in and out of Hawkers’ Alley. Lower still, the shanties extended outward. If the Mizzenmast was the hub of a wheel and the other seastacks plus their stone walkways the spokes, then those multi-tiered wooden wharves were the space between.

Naturally, everywhere she looked, Nadia saw the people of Limsa just going about their business. Funny how just watching ordinary people still didn’t tire her out; hopefully it never would. Maybe she was just imagining it, but today it seemed like everyone was walking with some pep in their step. With the Abyssal Fleet leaderless and in tatters, people were full of zest all over, even those who couldn’t afford to while away their time on beaches and in resorts. When Nadia narrowed her eyes in search of familiar faces, she spotted Shantae down in the Aetheryte plaza, cheerfully giving dance lessons to a dozen or so bright-eyed girls and a couple guys. Some of the young ladies seemed vaguely familiar, so the feral went ahead and assumed they were shipgirls she saw during the battle on Blackwater Bay. She also saw Bacchus slumped against the wall by the Mizzenmast Inn, unsurprisingly plastered. Other than that though, she didn’t really recognize anyone. Not until she happened to glance back at someone she initially passed over, a gray-haired young man on a different bridge looking out to sea.

It took a moment for the ball to drop. “Oh wait, yeah, I know him, he was the guy…” Nadia stopped dead in her tracks, a knot forming in her stomach. The guy who asked me to tea a couple days ago. Who I saw at the Blitzball game, with…her. She recalled her impression that Inigo was an incorrigible flirt who seldom saw success, and that when she saw him actually on a date with the somewhat aloof Northampton, she felt happy for him. Happy that he seemed to have found someone, and ended up happy himself. But that girl was dead now. Killed on Blackwater Bay, fused by Nadia herself, then later removed and fused with Link. It was impossible to say one way or another, but an idea haunted the cat burglar: the idea that Northampton really had been the one for this poor guy, only to be murdered the very next day, then have her remains passed around like a trading card.

“Ugh.” Nadia held a hand to her head and averted her gaze. Part of her felt like she ought to make her way over and offer her condolences, but at the same time, she didn’t really know Inigo, or even Northampton for that matter. Her eyes drifted to her old wounds, which no amount of regeneration seemed able to heal. She was no warrior, but she knew that in any war, there were always sacrifices. Better than most, she reckoned, she knew the scars that tragedy could leave in its wake. Some scars would never fade away. But by the same token, those scars made sure that she would never forget what she had lost–and why she needed to keep fighting. Today was her day to take a load off, sure, but tomorrow the sun would still rise on a world full of evil. Her fingers closed into a fist, her Oceanid eye glowing with resolute power. Tomorrow, she would rise to the occasion, too. No matter how many more Dead Zones or Bottomless Seas awaited her, she couldn’t live well while Galeem and all the evil it brought into this world still endured. As long as she had her allies, stronger and braver than she, and spirits to give her the power to make a difference, Nadia Fortune could finally be the change she wanted to see.

For Ms Fortune

New Power obtained:
Cat-aract
After building up enough pressure in her head, Nadia can use her Oceanid eye to unleash a torrential cascade of pure Hydro, a foamy spiral beam of water. The beam itself is magic rather than physical and does not rely on her reserves of vital fluid, nor does the water stick around afterward. It is two feet in diameter, has a range of 100 meters, pushes Nadia backward while using it, does not pierce opponents or objects, and deals high continuous damage to whatever it hits for the couple seconds it lasts. Like her vital fluid, however, it can proc Hydro reactions. It takes as much Dramatic Tension to use as Fifth of Dismember

She took a deep breath and straightened up. Her conviction allowed her to dull the pain of seeing Inigo alone again; hopefully, he wouldn’t give up, either. While today still lasted, she could still make the most of it, at least. Nadia turned and began to make her way to the Aetheryte Plaza, wondering if she could learn a thing or two about dancing before the next bubble pit came around.

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky
Level 9 Tora (176/90) Level 9 Poppi (176/90) Level 5 Big Band (114/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 1398

Though the assembled Seekers bombarded the incoming Bolsepia pod with everything they had, it took a coordinated effort between Sectonia, Big Band, and Raiden to stop the imminent disaster for good. The cyborg swordsman sailed skyward in spectacular fashion, first launched by Band and then springboarded even higher by his insectoid ally, until he reached the pinnacle and unleashed his Blade Mode for the whole desert to see. His blade carved into the giant organic mass fast as lightning, each slice shearing straight through from one side to another, and in a matter of seconds the pod plus all its contents were reduced to ribbons that plummeted to and blew up harmlessly on the desert sand below.

A chorus of assorted hurrahs heralded Raiden’s arrival as Sectonia brought him back down to the train. In one awe-inspiring display he’d gone from dubious stranger to certified hero in their eyes, and Tora most of all. “Meh-meh-meeeeh!” he cheered, spinning with glee as he jumped into the air. “Friend sliceypon save train from bomb bugs!”

“Don’t forget Sectonia!” Poppi chided him as the giant wasp touched down. Despite her best attempts to save face, the effort of keeping up with the train throughout the whole stunt had taken its toll, leaving her tuckered out for the time being.

Tora clapped his wings together as he continued to dance. “Tora not forget! She do good job too, meh-meh!”

“Bravo, you two!” Big Band tipped his hat to the pair, more than impressed by what they’d managed to accomplish.

With the Bolsepia threat cleanly nipped in the bud, only the Trilid remained to challenge the heroes aboard the train. As the swarm approached the gunners and casters opened fire, but the Akrid were every bit as bothersome as before. Midna’s summons speared several with each lance, the Thieves’ turrets blazed with explosive rounds, and Ciella’s arrows tore through swathes of Trilid at a time, but without Sectonia’s wide-range magic to fill in the gaps the swarm was pushing through. Poppi downgraded to QT mode for better defense and missile coverage, while Braum readied his shield to protect the caboose’s volatile contents, but Primrose stepped up to the plate. Even as her hair and flowing garb whipped in the wind, she poured all her concentration into the palms of her hands, bringing forth one wellspring each of pyromancy flame and dark magic. With teeth gritted she pressed them together, melding a raging sphere of fearsome black-white flame. Its intensity grew along with its size, larger and larger, until finally Primrose hurled her pitch-back pyroclasm into the incoming swarm. Its explosion sent a wave of heat across the area, as hot and weighty as the fire itself, which splashed like magma from a volcano to incinerate every Akrid it touched. Only stragglers were left behind, easy pickings and so few in number that the threat was as good as gone.

“Meh-meh-meeeeh!” Tora cheered again as he bounced into action, with Poppi right behind. While Therion mashed his console to turn the cannon around, the Nopon hurried back down below to assess the damage. Thanks to Jesse and Band’s efforts earlier, a fresh Cobalt was already loaded in the main gun, with a second fully powered up in the charger. There was one problem, however: the charging station was now offline, with an empty T-ENG canister popped out from the top. Replace thermal energy canister, the console displayed in big, flashing letters. Poppi skipped off toward the caboose to find one.

In only a couple more seconds, the cannon had turned its gleaming barrel on Red Eye, a chilling ultimatum that the behemoth lacked the capacity to appreciate. Therion barked out the words that everyone wanted to hear, and as Jesse began her countdown everyone clapped their hands over their ears, bracing themselves for the weapon’s cataclysmic report, and it did not let them down. The Dragonfire roared for a third time, evaporating a massive chunk in Red Eye’s left side, right on top of one of the throbbing red weak spots that the Thieves helped soften up with their turrets. Red Eye’s howl shook the earth as it thrashed, driven to even further agony by the immense, grisly wound. Still, an uncharged Cobalt shell was no substitute for an energized Devil’s Roar, and while it was still good progress toward the behemoth’s demise, the damage was a whole lot less than last time. Red Eye fell back, but it did not retreat underground; instead, it veered sideways, positioning itself directly behind the train once more.

The Seekers got back to work straightaway. With only a slight turn needed from Primrose and an energized Cobalt ready to load, it took only a token effort to ready the cannon once more. This time, however, Red Eye seemed to have learned. As it trailed behind the Railway Gun, growing closer and closer, it kept its giant, armored maw clamped shut. No matter how many of the little eyes on its jaws the heroes shot, it refused to budge. As it continued to encroach Jesse held her fire, worried that she’d waste the round on a hard target. The seconds passed like molasses in this standoff of titanic proportions.

Meanwhile, Therion reached the engine with the news. “A pit?” the conductor squawked, looking understandably frazzled by everything that had been going on even before the thief’s sternly-given order struck him. “D’ya mean Hollow Heights, laddie? With such a big train, the whole peckin’ track might come crashin’ down beneath us! Or…beneath it. Say, that just might work! Full speed ahead!”

Back at the train’s other end, the situation suddenly came to a head. Red Eye dug down and, with a burst of speed burst up from beneath the sand. Jesse opened fire. The shell smashed into the upper section of Red Eye’s gargantuan jaw, blowing through hard shell and bristly teeth, but it wasn’t enough to stop the behemoth’s attack. The tip of its jaw erupted beneath the caboose, hurling the entire train car upward and sideways. It flew from the track in a scene of transfixing horror. The others could only watch as Braum leaped from the top of the doomed armory, using an ability to zoom straight in front of a more securely-positioned ally. Behind him the caboose ripped free from both the coupling and the tracks, tumbling to the left and crashing end over end across the sand until all the ammunition inside went off in one heart-stopping catastrophe. Through the cloud of acrid smoke and plume of sand Red Eye appeared a moment later, wounded but not crippled, and ready to deliver the Railway Gun to a similar fate.

Ciella pursed her lips. “It’s gaining on us. Slowly but surely.” She considered transforming and flying off then and there, but decided to stick it out a little longer, and see if these heroes came up with anything.

It took a few moments for Tora to swallow his sheer terror and find his voice. “N-no real damage to Railway Gun!” he squeaked up from below. “B-but no more armory, either!”

“That means no more shells,” Big Band growled. He watched as Red Eye’s jaws opened wide, and though it had fallen far behind after Jesse’s broadside, Ciella was right about it gaining on them. It was like staring death in the face, painfully slow but terrifyingly unavoidable, and it left the detective paralyzed. Until he remembered the special shell. “Wait, we still got one!” He plucked the Wrath shell from the reserve spot on the cannon loader. “But this one didn’t fit!”

Tora had come up from below, his expression one of dumb dread, but when he saw the shell in band’s hand his eyebrows shot up. “MEH!” he cried. “That Wrath shell! It strongest of lot, but it not go in normal loader! We need use crane loader, and for that, we need cannon straight forward, meh!”

Big Band inhaled sharply. Could they do it? Did they have enough time to spin the cannon all the way forward, load this grace-given round, and then swing it all the way back? “Well, not like we got a choice here.” He grabbed on tight to that ray of hope, and like the word of law, held it higher. “Y’all heard the man! Less ya wanna be worm food, let’s boogie!” he shouted.

One More Hit! (?)

The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl

Location: Frozen Highlands - Snowy Forest
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy, Frisk’s @Majoras End

D nodded when Linkle introduced herself, although Tatiana went as far as to give a nice curtsey. “So nice to meet you, miss Linkle!” In doing so she nearly tripped over her own feet, but she managed to steady herself with a helping hand from D on her shoulder as the Skullgirl explained her group’s destination.

“We haven’t had the pleasure,” D replied to her question. “The Litany of Proper Death, by itself, is not an offensive incantation. Its purpose is more as utility, to deal the final blow and usher the departed off in the true and correct manner. If your aim is to slay an invulnerable man, you must first come by a method of harming him–in any meaningful way, that is.”

Frisk’s question seemed to puzzle the hunter of the dead, as far as Albedo could tell. While the man’s expression was inscrutable, his tone of voice gave the strong impression of a raised eyebrow as he replied. “Our power is not magic. Indeed, it is a far cry from the self-important erudition of the scholars, casting away all things sacred in their obsessive glintstone studies.” While his reply couldn’ be called ‘vehement’ when delivered in such a steely and measured tone, it bore a profound personal touch nonetheless, albeit in a different fashion from his denouncement of Those Who Live in Death. Albedo couldn’t help but wonder if D still nursed scars from conflict with the glintstone scholars he alluded to, at some point in the past.

“Our miracles and incantations are the result of faith,” Tatiana explained, her tone a little more gentle and understanding now that she knew Frisk to be a layman. “They are invocations of a higher power, capable of truly incredible things. Heavenly light and lightning, holy healing, cures for maladies and defenses against attacks of all kinds, banishment of evil, all made possible by our wholehearted deference! The only thing it can’t do, it seems, is make me any less clumsy.” She smiled and patted the child’s head. “If you’re interested, I have good news! I’m sure it could all be yours too, so long as you believe.”

At that, D gave a dry chuckle. “Would that it were so easy. Even with the Erdtree right there, its golden glory plain to see for all, men and women of true faith seemed few and far between. And now, in this tractless land, we few must persist with nary a glint of gold.”

“And yet our miracles shine no less brightly.” The reality check did not seem to bother Tatiana. She merely shrugged as she smiled. “Perhaps faith can only truly mean something in absence of definitive proof.”

“Hmph.” D glanced idly over at the Gammoth, which his clergymen were still working tirelessly to carve. “Such musings are none of my business. Only to be a blade against defilement, a hunter of the dead.” His gaze seemed to linger on Linkle for a moment, as if suspecting something, and after waiting a brief moment Albedo cleared his throat.

“It sounds as though you and Sister Rosaria might get along,” the alchemist mentioned. “In Mondstadt, where I’m from, she is a nun in service to the church of Barbatos, the God of Freedom. It is said that Barbatos, seeking not to interfere with the freedom of the people, is the most seldom seen and heard among all the gods, and likewise Rosaria takes a rather hands-off approach. She is more concerned with practical matters, such as the disposal of anything that poses a threat to Mondstadt’s citizens.” He crossed his arms. “There was even a time in which she investigated me, and I was pleased to ultimately prove her suspicions unwarranted.”

D gave a noncommittal grunt, but he did turn his attention elsewhere. Linkle was safe for now.

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Location: Deep Blue Seaside - Kanzuki Beach Estate
Level 8 Nadia (71/80)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate’s @Archmage MC, Hat Kid’s @Dawnrider, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Link’s @Gentlemanvaultboy
Word Count: 1366

As wonderful as her adventure through the shallows of Heaven’s Edge had been, with all the amazing wildlife that enriched every colorful nook and coral-filled cranny of its incredible natural labyrinth of sand, Nadia knew that it was past time she packed it in. She’d been running on empty for a while now in fact, tempted ever onward by the exciting prospect of what might lay just beyond the next shoal. A four-course feast of volleyball plus what felt like a solid hour of semi-aquatic off-shore exploration was a lot even for someone as athletic as her, and by now she wanted nothing more than to collapse back in her beach chair and doze the day away.

After bidding farewell to Ace for now, Nadia made her way back toward the beach at a leisurely pace, floating along on her back with just the gentlest flicks of her fishtail wherever possible. Despite all the time she’d spent in and under it, the beautifully clear water had yet to lose its charm, its embrace every bit as delightful and reinvigorating as when the feral first jumped in. Its coolness perfectly complemented the warmth of the afternoon sun soaked up by the skin of her arms, legs, and face. Another long, happy sigh welled up within her as she drifted closed to the beach, across a sunken area where the rocky bottom lay hidden beneath a miniature canopy of tentacled anemones with all the colors of the rainbow. All too soon her back came to rest against a slope of sand, and Nadia opened her eyes to find that she’d washed up on terra firma. Leaning back with her arms planted against the ground, she cast one last long, slow look across Heaven’s Edge. This place truly was a paradise–the kind of place that helped remind poor souls that there was more to life than pain and suffering, and what the peace and happiness they fought so bitterly for actually looked like.

A hint of melancholy coursed through Nadia as she picked herself up and trudged across the sand toward her beach chair. If only, she thought, Mirage, Sakura, Brineybeard, and the others were around to enjoy it too. They’d more than earned such a rich reward. She hoped that wherever they might be right now, they too were enjoying their shares of happiness. Would that those who’d paid the ultimate price to safeguard such happiness had lived to see it, too. Frog, Mr. L, Delsin, each and every shipgirl who sunk on Blackwater Bay, and in every naval battle before…Nadia wasn’t about to stop living her life out of guilt or sorrow for the departed, but she didn’t plan to forget them, either. Her heart went out to Mirage in particular. In the brief and, all things considered, pretty traumatic time she’d known him, he’d proved himself a real nice guy. But after everything that happened, she couldn’t blame him if he ended up thinking that he’d jumped on the wrong boat. Would she even see him again? Only time would tell, but Nadia sure hoped so.

Before she knew it, the feral had reached her chair. At some point a beach towel had been thoughtfully laid across its back, so Nadia took it, moved the clothes she’d left behind, and spread it over the chair to lay upon. While her first instinct was to plop down right that instant, she realized that she also felt pretty dehydrated, and so with the last of her stamina she made her way to the bar. As nice as another stiff drink sounded, she felt pretty relaxed already, so a misty glass of ice-cold water suited her far better. Once she got a hold of it Nadia gulped it down so fast that a good amount splashed across her cheeks and her front, but she neither noticed nor cared. In a few seconds the water was all gone. “Ahh!” she gasped with relish. As she set down the cup with a clink and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, she flashed the bartender a smile. “Thanks!”

Feeling mighty fine, Nadia made her way back to her beach chair. On the way she glanced over at the bubble pit again, still curious. Even more people were milling in and around it, grooving to the music. As fun as it looked, she didn’t want any more detours right now. Maybe she could check it out later, preferably with Ace. If she was going to make a fool of herself trying to dance for the first time, might as well make the memory with him. Then again, she didn’t exactly want to monopolize the dude’s time or anything. Well, whatever. Right now she needed to rest; everything else could wait. Nadia parked herself on her chair in the warmth of the sun, her shorts and tank top balled up together to serve as a pillow, and dozed right off.

---

About an hour of tossing, turning, and light snoring later, Nadia awoke with a sudden start and a loud snort. Her jerk upright left her blinking and mildly bewildered as she took in the scenery again. “Nngh…” When she swallowed she discovered that her throat was as dry as a bone. Ahh man, was I sleeping with my mouth open the whole time? In addition to parched and a little embarrassed when she considered how many people must have passed by and seen her just snoozing there, she felt bleary and disheveled, as if she hadn’t rested well. She let out a groan as she plopped back down, her eyes squeezed shut. Without enough alcohol to pollute her ever-replenishing bloodstream to the point where she actually blacked out, her rest had been riddled with bits and pieces of last night’s horrors. Snippets of hideous monstrosities and gruesome vistas hung around her like flies on a corpse. She massaged her eyes with the palms of her hands, dashing the images with blotches of phantasmal color. A good mai tai, she reasoned, would solve both her issues at once.

Once Nadia enjoyed a luxurious catlike stretch, she got to her feet. Her seaside nap had left her skin totally dry and, against all odds, not burnt, so she pulled her clothes on without issue before she made her way to the bar to wait her turn. The sun still shone bright overhead, just not quite as high as she remembered it. It looked like the bubble pit was still around, but both the music and the crowd had subsided, so while a few beachgoers still frequented it Nadia guessed it wouldn’t be around much longer. A section of beach not far from the volleyball courts north of the Kanzuki estate appeared to be littered with colorful scraps of rubber, indicating a large-scale water balloon fight that Nadia had been unlucky enough to miss. “Rats,” she hissed. While not the best judge of time, she figured that it must be around four o’ clock or so. A little too early for round two with Miss Karin’s altogether-too-generous buffett, although the feral didn’t really know if her host planned to cater both meals. Maybe dinner somewhere else in Limsa would be a nice change of pace…the Bismarck, maybe? It could still be under repair from the fight with Cia and her clones, but the view that Nadia happened to catch off the dining area when her head got knocked into someone’s noodle bowl had been pretty awesome, and the noodles weren’t bad at all, either. If not that, then maybe another tavern. Drowning Wench had been pretty good after all. Maybe Missing Member? But with a name like that, who knew what she might be in for. Nadia resolved to do a little city exploring once the sun got a good bit lower. Until then though, this lovely beach had plenty more to offer her.

In short order she got her drink, then leaned on one of the standing tables while she sipped it, her tail casually swishing back and forth. She kept an eye out for any of her friends, interested to see if anyone was up to something interesting.

The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl

Location: Snowdin Outskirts
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy, Frisk’s @Majoras End

As Albedo expected, the prospect of butchery wouldn’t leave a battlefield veteran like Linkle feeling squeamish. She didn’t even hesitate to call out and hail the company down below. Now that the furious din of their skirmish had given way to the silence of the snowy woods, the hunters could hear her loud and clear, and turned toward the source to see the girl waving. While Albedo wouldn’t have put it past anyone to be trigger-happy when it came to uninvited guests, especially in such an ominous place where any manner of peril could lurk behind the next copse of trees, the leaders of the clerics neither took up arms nor lost neither composure as they sized up the trio on the tree-lined bluff. No doubt the numbers advantage in their corner gave them confidence, and more than likely they supposed -correctly- that these strangers had borne witness to what they’d just achieved. As anyone could see from the creature’s sheer size and destructive power, felling a Gammoth was no mean feat. Reasonably speaking, one would have to be a fool to challenge this well-armed congregation out of hand, and Linkle certainly wasn’t one.

She greeted them as cordially as the distance between them would allow, making the obvious connection between these wielders of holy magic and the cold monastery she explored that morning. For a moment their leaders glanced between one another. They gave no reply, but the knight gave a brisk wave back, indicating some degree of friendliness, and the priestess waved with both hands and a smile. Once the clerics’ lack of outward hostility seemed clear, Linkle proceeded to drop down from the edge of the cliff. She slid, skidded, and hopped down the incline, breaking into a light jog when the slope evened out. All the while she kept her hands well clear of her weapons, a characteristically pleasant look on her face–a diplomatic choice.. Albedo followed right behind her, grateful for the fact that his weapon dematerialized when not in use. The last thing he wanted or needed right now was to get on the wrong side of a force like this, whether or not the Skullgirl could actually take them on with her newfound power. As he and Linkle drew close the knight and the priestess turned their way, leaving the more taciturn two in reserve.

“Greetings!” the priestess told them. “I never would have expected to see friendly faces all the way out here, especially ones so young! My name is Tatiana, a saint tasked with holy healing.”

“I’m known as D.” As he stood, speaking in a low, steady voice, the knight cradled the head that protruded from his breastplate with his off hand. The other held a beautiful gold-silver greatsword, the broad tip of its inseparable blade still embedded in the ground to convey his lack of hostility. “We are not affiliated with the Monastery, make no mistake. Though we have cause to work with them on occasion, we cannot condone the corruption allowed by their excessive permissiveness.”

The mention of work left Albedo curious. “Are you all game hunters? I would not have expected men and women of the cloth to engage in such activity.”

“It is for precisely that reason that we engage in such activity,” D told him. “Because corpses turn to ash mere moments after death takes hold, meat is scarce, and many want for food. When treated to the Litany of Proper Death, however, death takes its natural course. So it is that we make our coin as we travel the land, in pursuit of Those Who Live in Death.”

Both unfamiliar terms, spoken with weight and import, fascinated the alchemist. It did not escape him that the man called D referred to Those Who Live in Death with venom in his words, suggestive of a profound enmity. Albedo made sure he did not instinctively glance Linkle’s way. “Forgive me, but I have not heard those words before. Could I trouble you for an explanation?”

D sniffed. “The Litany of Proper Death is an incantation, a recitation of faith. It is nothing more, and nothing less, than a re-establishment of proper order over aberration in the world. And none more so than Those Who Live in Death.” Though he kept his tone even, he could not keep the severity out of his voice. “Such creations fall outside the principles of the Golden Order. Their mere existence sullies the guidance of gold. Tainting its truth. And so it is the vermin must be exterminated...down to the very last."

“I see,” Albedo said, nodding. “And are you on the hunt now?”

“Always.” D’s eyes couldn’t be seen inside the darkness of his helmet, but their weight could be felt. “For now however, we are gathering meat. If you wish to purchase some, by all means. Otherwise, you should be on your way. And steer well clear of Those Who Live in Death, unless you too would set this crooked land to rights, and weed from them their Deathroot.”

Tatiana offered the newcomers a warm smile despite the cold, huddled in her sash. “And if you should need healing, I would be happy to oblige you. Be well!”

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky
Level 9 Tora (170/90) Level 9 Poppi (170/90) Level 5 Big Band (108/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 968

With the entire train and everyone aboard on the line, the heroes scrambled to scale the behemoth sand worm and lay the hurting down. Using whatever means at their disposal they flew, levitated, hitched a ride, and otherwise made a beeline for Red Eye’s spine. The few who raced upward left behind those without the means to ascend or the damage output to capitalize it, struggling to not just avoid a disastrous fall from the precariously tilted Railway Gun to the inhospitable sand below, but also to get the Dragonfire cannon ready again.

With Midna up and away, Sectonia spitting out magic, and Braum surfing the sand on his shield as he held onto a railing for dear life, it fell to Big Band to get the shells where they needed to go. The last one that the Twilight Princess fetched had rolled across the deck of the Railway Gun and nearly parted ways with the train itself, but a Brass Knuckle charge brought him close enough to Emergency Break and catch the shell just in time. With it tucked under his arm like a football and Peacock helping to push him from behind, he pulled himself along with one pneumatic arm, his struggle both to stay upright and to hold back a string of vehement curses in front of his young protégé. He hauled himself into position and deployed a kick pedal to smack the ever-loving hell out of the console. The one currently in the loader moved on to the cannon itself, while he slapped a new round into the charging station. Or rather, he tried to. “What in the!? It won’t go in!” After one more try just to make sure, he stuck the Wrath shell in the reserve slot and put the Cobalt in instead, without issue. “There we go, jeez. Thing’s gonna make me throw a tempo tantrum.” When Jesse arrived to help with the loader, he repositioned his drum pedal to the charger console and applied it with gusto.

Unfortunately, there was one other problem. As Red Eye tilted the train sideways, the main cannon’s immense counterweight dipped lower and lower, until its back began to dig into the sand. It would have served as a last ditch support to keep the train from toppling if not for the friction that immediately started turning the cannon barrel toward the front of the train, throwing off both the main gun’s aim and the whole train’s balance even more. Primrose and Theron strove with all their might to turn the cannon the other way, but the mechanism just wasn’t strong enough. Any second now the Railway Gun would capsize, and just like that the whole operation would be up in smoke.

Up above, however, the team’s attackers were giving a hundred and ten percent. Raiden carved up and pumped electricity into the wound while the others shot skyward. After blasting whatever looked vulnerable on the way up they focused on the behemoth’s spinal cord, whaling on it with a slew of weapons and powers. Hoping that their gigantic foe counted as earth-aspected, Poppi had switched to her Electric Core, so it was with a blade of crackling yellow lightning that Tora laid waste to the exposed nerves and vertebrae. Midna fractured bone with her immense bludgeon before roasting it with lightning of her own, then sicced a bloodthirsty mimic on the spot for good measure. As she backed off a familiar purple AoE appeared on top of the spinal column, followed shortly by a rain of torrential arrows whose incredible destructive power Midna knew all too well. Sectonia’s magic followed suit, a fusillade of light rings that sliced into flesh and bone alike. Even so, with the cord just too big and thick to be severed, it was Raz who sealed the deal. Using his telekinetic hand he dealt the spine a critically precise blow, driving a wedge into the perfect spot to shatter Red Eye’s composure. With that mechanical damage plus the intolerable agony inflicted by the others, the Guardian hit its breaking point and was forced to back off.

With a tremendous screech it tore away from the Railway Gun, allowing train and track alike to slam back down into place. Everyone aboard, including those holding on to either allies or the train itself for dear life, hit the deck hard. As brutal as that impact was, the narrowly averted catastrophe was a cause of celebration. Tora and Poppi swooped down to snatch Raz as Red Eye fell back, diving back down into the sand for shelter. The tremors that its continued warpath left behind, however, left nobody believing that this was anywhere near close to over.

As the reunited team tried to get their bearings, Joker ran over from the locomotive at the head of the train. “Conductor says we’ve got a junction coming up!” he shouted over the general commotion of rushing wind, clamoring track, and chugging engine. “We need to figure out somewhere to lead this thing!”

Scarcely did he get the words out, however, before the desert to the train’s right erupted. Red Eye surfaced a distance away from the train, the grievous wound in its body on the opposite side. Worse still, the main cannon -primed and ready to fire- was now facing the complete wrong direction. Another swarm of trilid was on its way, and though smaller than the first, it came alongside a second giant Bolsepia pod that soared like a beach ball through the air. This time, however, the heroes knew just how important stopping it was. Ciella and both right-side turrets opened fire, pushing back against the incoming calamity. Joker, the Scout, Poppi, Robin, and everyone else possessed of firearms or magic joined in, but like a meteorite the pod bore down on them nonetheless.

The Chalk Prince, the Fallen Child, and the Skullgirl

Location: Snowdin Outskirts
Linkle’s @Gentlemanvaultboy, Frisk’s @Majoras End

The air was brisk as ever, but the oftentimes biting wind was mild, and the fresh snowfall light. For Albedo, the big flakes brought to mind images of young children on their rare trips to Dragonspine, wide-eyed with amazement as the beheld a landscape blanketed in powdery white. After gallivanting through the drifts to catch the biggest snowflakes on their tongues, they’d plop themselves down to make snow angels, or start packing together ammunition for impromptu snowball fights. Theirs was a childlike joy, pure and simple, that Albedo never minded coming down from his usual haunts to see. As one who frequented the lonesome mountain in search of solitude for his studies and inspiration for his arts, he often ended up serving as a guide to such visitors, and it was a rather similar journey that he, Linkle, and Frisk undertook now. Though hidden for now by the snowy clouds and fog, Dragonspine awaited them far to the northwest, and beyond that lay their passage to Edinburgh MagicaPolis. By this point, most adventurers would be too accustomed to the climate to delight in these simple pleasures, and too knowledgeable about its horrors. Winter was beautiful, but it was also cruel, a fact not lost even to children from his world like Joel, whose father Joserf was lost in the mountain for the longest time. Albedo had no doubts that even if he managed to guide his new friends on the safest path imaginable, they would encounter resistance on their journey.

Before any of that though, there was the pressing matter to which he’d already alluded. After putting enough distance between her group and the town that any unusual spectacle would go unseen and unheard, Linkle brought the trio to a halt so that they could have the sparring match she’d suggested earlier. Albedo nodded his approval, tacit in his understanding of the Skullgirl’s true intentions and, despite the undeserved pain that entailed, complicit. In silence he pulled back to give the combatants room to maneuver, as well as to keep himself out of the crossfire since, knowing what he did of Linkle’s fighting style, there would be plenty. A Solar Isotoma both elevated him out of the way and gave him a bird’s-eye view of the fight as it began just a couple seconds later.

It began uneventfully, with Linkle holding her ground as she sent a steady trickle of crossbow bolts Frisk’s way. With their tips unmodified, every single one could do some real damage to the rather normal-looking child should they hit, but Frisk managed to exceed Albedo’s expectations right from the get-go. They evaded each and every projectile, dodging and weaving even as the barrage intensified, turning from a trickle to a stream and finally a torrent. It wasn’t long before Frisk soldiered all the way into melee range and managed to actually throw a punch. They did well, although Albedo could be only so impressed whilst knowing just how much Linkle was holding back. Things quickly escalated after that, with Linkle launching an offensive that ended in a knockout kick. The alchemist couldn’t help but wince, despite his new friend’s quick intervention to make sure that both the injury and Galeem’s influence came to an abrupt end.

With the fight suddenly and definitively finished, Albedo stepped off his isotoma, landed in the snow with a roll, and approached the two as they spoke together. Frisk’s blurred memories seemed to be returning, and with them the inevitable realization that this coagulated reality couldn’t be allowed to endure. They didn’t even question it, but proceeded straight into an explanation of one of their more esoteric abilities, to which Albedo listened with interest. The power Frisk described turned out to be a real whopper: the reversal of causality to a prior point in time, able to undo untold disasters and give Frisk another shot at achieving their goals. Though he masked it well, the casual dispersal of such information left Albedo reeling. “Incredible,” he breathed. “And nobody else retains their memories of the erased time? In essence, such an ability makes you…well, theoretically unstoppable.”

He cleared his throat and gave Linkle a chance to speak, ruminating on the possibilities. Obviously what he said wasn’t quite true; even with the benefit of infinite attempts, experience alone couldn’t overcome every obstacle. It also sounded like Frisk abhorred fighting, though whether or not that principle would continue to hold true in the World of Light was up in the air. In a way, the idea of being ‘undone’ by such a power was a terrifying one; it robbed him, and by necessity everyone else, of agency. Albedo found himself feeling grateful that Frisk’s ability seemed to be diminished somewhat, at least by their own admission.

Misgivings aside, everything seemed to be in order. Frisk had been freed, hands had been shaken, and everyone was ready to proceed in earnest. Albedo took the chance to shake with the child as well. Even if he didn’t typically engage in such gestures, after being hugged by them a couple hours ago, it was small potatoes. “You did very well,” he told Frisk. “Countless are the hands who bring destruction, but few are the hands extended in compassion. I am happy to have you as an ally on this journey.” With that, he turned and began to lead the way onward.

A good deal of trudging brought them across the trackless snowfield outside town. Aside from the rolling white hills and heavily-coated shrubs there wasn’t much to distract from their forward progress. At one point Linkle did catch a glimpse of a familiar ravine, and when she jogged over to check she found a yawning hole in the immense seal of ice placed there yesterday, the belligerent she’d trapped there on the loose once more. Not much could be done about that, though, and the journey continued.

Albedo led the others from the snowfield into a rugged coniferous forest, its bushy boughs of green needles caked in icing snow. With the ambiance of the town long since faded into the distance it was very quiet, with only the whisper of the wind accompanying the crunch of the travelers’ boots through the snow. While Albedo wasn’t expecting the woodland creatures to roll out the welcome mat, he noticed the utter lack of any sign of wildlife, wondering if the local animals were avoiding them for any reason in particular. It was a while before he picked up the telltale caws of crows, and not just one or two, but a handful. Though the source of the noise lay off the path he’d planned for his group to take, his curiosity got the better of him. “If neither of you mind, could we chance a brief detour? I must say I’m interested to see what’s going on.”

It wasn’t long before they tracked the scavengers down. Their answer lay just beneath a slight knoll, in a perfectly unassuming and unremarkable spot, but the sight of it made Albedo visibly dismayed. It was the remains of an animal, a normal deer if he had to guess, stripped of any worthwhile meat and left in a pile for the crows to peck at and squabble over. The alchemist shooed the protesting birds away and knelt over the corpse, taking hold of a bone to test its weight and consistency. Only after his silent examination did he finally speak. “How strange,” he murmured. “As you both are no doubt aware, in this world, all living things are reduced to ash shortly after expiration. The stuff of creation, which in my world could be termed ‘dust of azoth’. Yet this animal is dead as it should be.” He glanced at the others. “So even though this is, in a way, completely normal, it is also a startling abnormality. Without a solid grasp of why bodies turn to ash in the first place, I cannot tell why, either…” There were no clear-cut signs of tracks around, thanks to the snowfall, but the disturbance of snow on nearby branches marked the passage of something else through the area. With a sigh Albedo rose. “Sorry, let’s be on our way. Only, perhaps we should be a little more cautious as we proceed. These woods may house further anomalies.”

Now on the alert, the group continued through the pine forest. They kept their eyes and ears wide open for any sign of trouble, and sure enough, the sounds of commotion eventually reached them through the trees. Albedo picked up the pac, running alongside the others until they came to the lip of a small ridge, overlooking a clearing. Down below they spotted a batch of snowy ruins, but it was the fight in front of them that caught their attention. Linkle recognized the great Gammoth that she saw yesterday, now fighting against a squadron of men in a mixture of robes and armor. As the onlookers watched, the humans worked as an effective team. They fought with a backline of clerics that alternated between the use of holy incantations both against their giant adversary and to heal any injured, while melee fighters whaled on the Gammoth’s legs between attacks, all of them spread out enough so that no stomp or slam would hit multiple of them. Judging by the wounds all across the Gammoth’s body, the hunt had been in progress for quite some time already, and Albedo saw no reason to interfere. Though the Gammoth fought with brutal desperation and overwhelming strength, the clerics and paladins were a well-oiled machine. Three in particular stood out among them: a priest in blue who commanded the power of wind, a warrior in red whose tenacity and martial prowess just about stole the show, and a knight in silver and gold whose assault wove tirelessly around the Gammoth’s attacks. Thanks to their efforts the beast was already flagging, and as its rampage neared its end, it was the knight who stepped forward while the others held off. He sheathed his sword and spread wide his arms, casting a circle of golden light that surrounded the beast. Runes sprouted from within like trees, then burst like twinkling stars. A moment later the death blow was dealt, and the Gammoth thrashed its last before slamming to the ground hard enough to shake the whole forest with the tremor.

Albedo crossed his arms, a hypothesis in mind. He watched the giant animal for any sign of decomposition, but as the seconds went on its massive corpse failed to turn to ash whatsoever. Down below the men and women were already talking amongst themselves, swarming around the body with carving knives at the ready. Their leaders and their chief healer, meanwhile, stood by. “Well, that’s one mystery solved,” Albedo remarked. “Convenient timing, too.” He glanced at the others. “I’m interested to learn more, but it seems as though they intend to butcher the creature. Shall we introduce ourselves, or pass on by, do you think?”

World of Light

Ms Fortune

Location: Deep Blue Seaside - Kanzuki Beach Estate
Level 8 Nadia (68/80)
Koopa Troop’s @DracoLunaris, Blazermate’s @Archmage MC, Hat Kid’s @Dawnrider, Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN, Ace Cadet’s @Yankee, Sakura's @Zoey Boey, Link’s @Gentlemanvaultboy
Word Count: 1809

“Whoo!” Nadia breathed, a wide grin of unadulterated joy plastered on her face. It was a wondrous thing not just to see but to feel the improvement of the others as the games progressed, each more exhilarating than the last with new feats of synergy and athleticism. Then, once the players had three normal games under their belts, the whole thing culminated in a no-holds-barred superpowered bonanza so crazy that it even caught the eyes of the Lethal League competitors practicing next door. Holding back or not, Nadia’s blood-powered mobility and extendable reach made her a force to be reckoned with, but no amount of clever tricks negated the incredible advantage that was Blazermate’s flight. Even when she brought out copycats for increased coverage, Junior powered through with such a superfluous spike that Nadia couldn’t help but be impressed. No matters how handy her doubles were, they were no substitute for the real thing! As absurd as it ended up getting, it had been a total blast, a spectacle of sportsmanship, self-improvement, and good old-fashioned fun. While fighting together against impossible odds most certainly made the Seekers allies, it was stuff like this that allowed Nadia to call them ‘friends’, and she couldn’t be more happy.

Of course, she also couldn’t be more winded. When the rush of adrenaline subsided, Nadia just about keeled over where she stood. Her chest heaved as she doubled over with her hands on her knees, glistening with sweat all over. “Hah…hah…” she panted, wiping at her brow. “That’s definitely enough for now. Good games, guys!” It went without question that this was the last game, so after she traded high-fives with the other players, the group started to disperse. Some just wanted to plop down, others to grab some drinks, but Nadia fixed her eyes on the ocean blue, her eyes shining almost as brightly as the gentle waves that glittered like diamonds in the afternoon sun. It called to her with a siren’s song, and this time she couldn’t paw-sibly resist.

As Nadia jogged over she pulled off her tank and then slipped out of her shorts, leaving just her swimsuit. She stopped by her chair only long enough to fling her balled-up clothes into the seat, then spun toward Ace to beckon him to follow her. “Time for a sea-esta!” she called as she made her way toward the water. “Don’t keep me wadin’!”

Without further ado she sped past shells and seagulls, leaped over a bastion of sandcastles, splashed through the shallows, and hurled herself into the drink. Immediately she was struck by a wave of relief, both literally and figuratively. Though a slight shock at first, the water was perfect, warm enough to be comfortable but cool enough to be so wonderfully refreshing. Delighted, Nadia immersed herself completely, allowing the crystal-clear water to wash away all the sand, sweat, and fatigue built up over the course of her volleyball matches. For a moment, everything seemed to drift away–her tension and her pain, her past, her worries for the future, the crisis facing the world, even her thoughts. It felt like heaven. She had slept last night, she’d enjoyed going back through Limsa Lominscuttle Town, and she’d taken it easy right after lunch, but now -for the first time- Nadia Fortune could really relax.

After a few seconds she bobbed to the surface, floating on her back with her eyes closed and her shell-white hair spread out in every direction. Down below her fish-tail swished back and forth in contentment, which helped keep her up, but even without its aid Nadia felt lighter than a feather. It did occur to her that she never liked getting wet anywhere near this much and this newfound appreciation of the water might be a byproduct of her fusion with the aquatic Oceanid, but right now Nadia couldn’t imagine the change as anything short of a blessing. Who could say no to the ability to enjoy more of life’s great joys, after all? Still, it did feel sort of surreal, and not just the physical change to her body, but existing in this crazy world in the first place. It probably wasn’t real, all things considered, but after all she’d been through it couldn’t possibly be a dream. Either way, while stuck here she might as well hold onto whatever morsels of happiness happened to come her way. Speaking of which…

As a shadow fell over her Nadia’s eyes slid open to find Ace standing right next to her, his head and chest above the surface. True to what one might expect from coral shallows, the water wasn’t really very deep here. Still, a devilish idea took hold of her. “Wah!” she blurted out as if startled, then began to flail her limbs about. “AaaAAaah, help me!” the feral cried as she splashed, neither panicking nor suppressing her smile very convincingly. “I’m just a cat in the water, I can’t swim! Oh, save me~!”

Ever the hero, Ace sprang into action without a second thought. He bent down and scooped Nadia right up out of the water and into his arms, holding her beneath her knees and behind her back. It was another bridal carry, just like when Ace caught her last night, albeit in much happier circumstances. By instinct he held her close and tight, like a giant egg that might splatter if so much as a stiff wind blew his way, and it was everything the feral wanted. She threw her own arm across his shoulders, giggling as the monster hunter’s face betrayed the gears turning in his brain. “Nyahaha! Either ya really forgot I can swim just fine, or ya really can’t help holdin’ me! I’ll have to return the favor sometime.”

While it would have been well within Ace’s right to drop her back in the drink then and there after the practical joke, he took a few steps to set her down in knee-high water anyway. “Why thank you, thank you,” she grinned as she put her hands on her hips. “Man, isn’t this place awesome, though? It’s gotta be, I dunno, what’s that one phrase you like? Rad-alos, yeah? You’re gonna have to explain that one sometime.” Eyes bright, she scanned the water for signs of movement. “For now though, let’s check this place out!”

Heaven’s Edge, the shallow coastal zone just beyond the tropical shoreline, pierced by winged holy swordblades, was as versatile an area as it was large. No two spots were quite the same, for the terrain underfoot fluctuated wildly in terms of elevation. In some places the sand formed flats or bars that were knee or even ankle deep, but elsewhere there were basins or ravines between the bars that went as deep as thirty or even fifty feet, some of them very large, where seagrass bloomed around coral mountains and sandstone formed all sorts of delightful formations. As Nadia quickly found out, she could dive from the top of a sand plateau all the way down to the depths of a trench to get a firsthand view of the wildlife. No matter where one went within Heaven’s Edge one couldn’t avoid witnessing its incredible array of flora and fauna. Even on the flats there were various crabs among the corals, but things really got interesting underwater. All kinds of fish, both the tried and true and weird but wonderful, swam and schooled throughout the azure reef in an incredible display of color. There were eels, otters cracking shellfish, lobsters, rays, big snails, squid, and even a bizarre fish with a human head that earned a double take from Nadia. When she waved at him, however, he just rolled his eyes in a rather brusque manner and carried on. She happened to catch a glimpse of the ocean beyond Heaven’s Edge while diving, and though the sight took her breath away, so did being underwater, so she turned back toward safer shallows. At one point a curious otter swam up and pawed at Nadia’s fish tail, and when she reached out to scratch its head, it was so delighted that it began doing somersaults in the water, just for the fun of it. Of course, Nadia then had to join in, until she got so dizzy she could do little other than float back up to the surface.

There were less natural structures, as well. The winged swordblades remained stolid and mysterious, their origin and purpose nebulous. During her dives Nadia spotted a number of fragmented ruins underwater, most overgrown with barnacles and such. On the largest sand flat, beneath only a few inches of water, she and Ace also found a faintly ominous circular depression of stone brick, with a central emblem that gave off a deep purple glow even in direct sunlight. It didn’t seem to do anything, but Nadia didn’t check very thoroughly, either.

At one point, after getting a good way out, she cast her eyes back toward the shore. The Kanzuki Beach Estate really was beautiful, but from here she could see a good deal more than that alone. Farther south on the beach was an inlet fringed by palms and formations of large, light gray hexagonal stones. An old shipwreck stood in its center amidst all sorts of strange food-based bugs, apparently converted into a dwelling place by the lone grumpus within. Beyond that lone encampment the beachfront showed signs of development for a good distance, though not quite as high-profile as the resorts to the north. Even farther still, the tropical jungle gave way to rocky upheaval, beginning with smooth cliffs and natural overhangs and ultimately becoming forested marble cliffs that overflowed with waterfalls. It made for quite the picturesque coast.

A little north of the Kanzuki estate and not too far from the volleyball courts, meanwhile, something was afoot. Some posts had been embedded in the ground by resort staff and tarps stretched around them to form a big letter C, a good fifty feet in diameter at least. After the workers positioned some machinery by the tarp, they switched it on, and the giant blower began to fill the area with bubbles. The suds came thick and fast, quickly covering the whole zone, but light enough that they quickly began to pile up. As onlookers gathered around to watch in eager anticipation, the bubbles amassed into drifts like snow, becoming a sudsy heap higher even than Ace in some places. Once the mountain had risen, party music began to play, and kids and adults alike waded into the mass to goof around and dance.

By now Nadia was feeling pretty refreshed, but all the swimming, climbing, wading, and jumping she’d done around Heaven’s Edge left her even more pooped than she’d been after the volleyball game. “I think I’m out of gas,” she confessed to Ace. “Think I’m gonna go back and crash in the shade, at least for a minute, 'cause that bubble pile's got me curious. Appreciate cha comin’ with, though! This was really great.”

World of Light

While the Malaise and Desecration weaknesses could probably be combined, there's nothing wrong with the sheet I don't think. Playing a mute character could pose some challenges, but if there's a definite personality there anyway, it could be doable. And with our discussion of how to reconcile fusion with the desecration system, he should be good to go. I see that Raiden is pretty much level 3, so you could begin straightaway, once we settle on an entry point.

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky - Apex of the World
Level 9 Tora (168/90) Level 9 Poppi (168/90) Level 5 Big Band (106/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse’s @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 1680

The dispersal of Bolsepia all across the locomotive, littering it from engine to Railway Gun to caboose, added a whole new dimension to the heroes’ already hectic struggle. Their suicidal self-destruction not only threatened the wellbeing of the Seekers, but the train itself, and nobody needed to point out that if their well-armed ride went kaput, the entirety of their campaign in the Sandswept Sky would soon follow. Skittering like puffed-up spiders, the oversized bomb bugs swarmed over the exterior of the train, moving as if by instinct to where their death detonations would do the most damage.

Fortunately, Raiden had just the tool for the job. His blade could carve through Bolsepia bodies without hindrance, and the precision of his Blade Mode meant that no matter how much carnage he left in his wake, his targets’ volatile heads went totally untouched. Killed too quickly and cleanly to explode, the Bolsepia that fell before him could do little but blow away in the wind, reduced to unsightly pieces and then, in short order, to ash.

He moved up top to the Railway Gun counterbalance, where the defense against the Akrid was the fiercest. There, the cyborg lent Raz and Ciella a hand against the Bolsepia, alongside Peacock after she popped up to add even more mayhem to the mix. Freshly armed with the knowledge that these things blew up when given half a chance, the little devil used a pair of striped flags to summon miniature biplanes flown by cartoonish bombs. Whether by sawing into Bolsepia legs with their propellers or just dive-bombing themselves, the planes helped send the unwelcome guests packing, but preemptively starting their countdowns and knocking them around quickly proved just as much a dangerous hindrance as a help.

With her own targets taken care of, Poppi joined her allies in their efforts to stop the Akrid sabotage. Cognizant of just how much danger these creatures posed, Midna and her assistants worked overtime to take them out as quickly as possible, while Sectonia cast her speed boosts down to make the most ruthless pest controllers among her allies that much faster. The insect queen kept her eyes on the prize, however, and though that meant she could deal some damage to Red Eye’s soft spots, she left the other Akrid unattended. Not many Trilid remained at this point, but those that did found Sectonia to be a tempting target, and as she slung light rings at Red Eye she got divebombed by a handful of the wretched things.

Down below, the Railway Gun remained in a state of chaos despite the Seekers’ fast action. The defense force by the charging station had splintered as the main cannon turned, with Raiden separated and Poppi -after hearing the cyborg’s shout- abandoning her post to save her Masterpon. With wild desperation she fought her way toward Tora, but in her haste she fell prey to an explosion that flung her down toward the tracks. Only a full-force thruster burn got her out of harm’s way, but it also forced her away from the train, and as she struggled to regain control and catch back up she could see the pandemonium caused by the Bolsepia all across the train. Joker had his hands full with the engine’s defense, relying on Arsene’s long limbs and Jinx’s stun gun to keep the scuttling bombs at arm’s length. One of them climbed up on top of Skull’s turret to blow itself up, and while the panicking thief managed to blast it back with his shotgun in time to save his own skin, his assailant still managed to take his turret with it. While Big Band’s Giant Step managed to knock down the critters on the roof of the caboose, it dealt only minimal damage, meaning that the Akrid were still very real threats. The one-man band went on the offensive, using Overblow, Brass Knuckle, and his patented 5000lb Slam dropkick to send the Bolsepia flying from the train. Even with the Scout’s assault rifle fire covering him, however, he couldn’t clear them all in time. A chain reaction from three of them tore a gaping hole in the armory car’s roof, leaving the remainder of the Railway Gun’s ammunition exposed.

Meanwhile Tharja, distracted by Robin’s injury, did not notice the Bolsepia priming itself behind her until it was already too late. Only one person did, in fact: Ciella. The furious red glow caught the archer’s eyes as she prepared a four-shot spread of rebounding arrows to clear the upper deck once and for all. For a split second the Agito wavered, reconsidering her choice of target. Then the Bolsepia in front of her surged, and Ciella let loose her shot straight ahead, washing the Akrid away in a torrent of maelstrom shots. At the same time, a loud burst on her periphery seemingly heralded the fate of Ciella’s former adversary, but when she glanced back over she saw that another magician had come to Tharja's aid with a well-placed couple of hexes. Ciella sighed, and turned her focus back to the enemy.

Tora’s own emergency, at least, turned out a little better. Midna saved the day at the last possible second, yanking the Bolsepia out of the Railway Gun’s passage in the nick of time and hurling it out to pop harmlessly in midair. Though it would be a minute before his heart stopped pounding, the Nopon breathed a sigh of relief. He’d been on the verge of tackling the Akrid to the floor and using his own super-spongy body as a shield for the machinery, but the Twilight Princess spared him such an unpleasant fate. “Thank you, meeh!” he gasped as he slumped down against the metal, fully aware that the array of red damage alerts on the screen beside him meant that despite his brush with disaster, he didn’t have any time to sit and rest. With a groan Tora wiped his brow, picked himself up, and busied himself with the repair console once more.

A moment later Poppi dashed in, her amber eyes wide with worry. “Masterpon!”

“Here!” Tora said, poking his head out. Though a little sootier and singed, the rotund engineer was none the worse for wear. “Glad to see Poppi okay!”

The sag of his companion’s shoulders suggested palpable relief. “Whew. Poppi also happy Masterpon not hurt.”

“What happen up there?” Tora asked, his eyes on his screen as he continued to work.

“Big slug cover train in bug bombs,” Poppi replied. “Mostly dealt with now, Poppi thinks.” She ducked back out into the sunshine, determined to stand guard over this section of the train. Thanks to the ingenious idea of Raz, the Seekers had cleaned up the leftover Bolsepia by returning them to sender. With all onboard Akrid eliminated, both the functional turrets and the capable Seekers were pounding the weak spots with all they had. As Poppi watched, one of the red spots, already tenderized by cannon fire, Bolsepia blasts, and projectile punishment, erupted in a visceral shower. When the extra-chunky salsa cleared, only a pulpy crater in the behemoth’s hide remained. The good news didn’t stop there, either. Thanks to Therion and Raiden’s effort spent keeping him safe, the cannon was in position ready to fire once more. This time it packed an energized Devil’s Roar shell instead of a bog-standard Cobalt, so once Jesse dialed in her aim on the sore spot her allies created, she could unleash one hell of a payload.

In that fateful moment, all the work put into that one shot paid dividends. The Railway Gun thundered, but its roar was nothing next to the calamitous bellow of Red Eye as the shell ripped a huge gap into the side of its thousand-plus foot body, revealing skeletal and spinal structure within the scarred, blackened flesh. It was a terrible, grievous wound, and yet…the behemoth did not back down.

Its response was immediate. Amidst its thrashing, Red Eye veered sideways. Its massive body slid closer and closer, keeping pace with its target. Big Band swallowed, the sweat beading on his forehead beneath his hat not just from the desert heat. “Hooh, I got it bad. And that ain’t good.” Unable to do anything but brace himself, and as frustrated as he was alarmed because of it, he hunkered down and watched until Red Eye grew so close that it began to push up against the train. Suddenly the both the track below and the train atop it began to tilt precariously to the right, its immense weight pitted against the incredible strength of Red Eye’s body. Suddenly the smaller turrets were so close to their target that they couldn’t hit anything but armor, though that was still small beans compared to the issues facing the Dragonfire main cannon. As its barrel shifted up, its counterweight shifted down, threatening to pull the entire train off the tracks with it.

“Meeeeh!” Tora cried as he climbed up from below, waving his wings in panic as the Thieves shot uselessly at whatever they could hit. “We going over any second now, meh! Maybe friends should abandon train!?”

“And then what!?” Band shouted back. “We got no chance without this thing!”

Poppi stood by her Masterpon, ready to grab him and hover at the drop of a hat should it come down to it. “If we mean to stay, we need get this thing off, now!” She jumped up on top of the cannon, making sure Jesse was okay. “Can we fire?”

That depended on whether or not the cannon was loaded, which it wasn’t. In the tumult of repelling the Bolsepia, no more shells had been either energized or loaded. It would also be much harder to aim while tilted, both for the gunner within and the Octopath Travelers beside. Something had to be done, and fast. Still, Red Eye being so close surely presented an opportunity of its own, and as Tora looked up, an idea hit him. A way to force Red Eye off, and maybe even save the train. “Poppi? Need boost up top, meh!” he pointed at Red Eye’s exposed spine, not directly aligned with the train but still feasibly close. “Friends! We need give biggy big monster back pain!”

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky - Apex of the World
Level 9 Tora (162/90) Level 9 Poppi (162/90) Level 5 Big Band (100/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Jesse's @Zoey Boey, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, Raiden’s @XoXKieroBombXoX, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 2034

The sudden expectoration of Akrid swarms worked wonders to make the Seekers realize they were on an even tighter schedule than Red Eye first made it seem, and like eggs the whole crew scrambled to their stations. The undisputed ruler of flying insects, Sectonia took to the sky to cover her teammates while on the move, rebuffing the incoming Trilid horde with a veritable fireworks display of sorcery. Given the velocity of the train below and the rather more worrisome speed of the Guardian in pursuit, Sectonia needed to work her poor wings overtime just to keep up while also raining down magical mayhem on the Trilid, but if there was anyone who could accomplish such a feat of aerial acrobatics, it was her.

Under her protection, Raz reached the charging station in a matter of seconds. Midna and her new impromptu bodyguard Raiden were making tracks to the train’s caboose to plunder the onboard armory for heavy ammunition, but until they returned with ordnance, the psychonaut cadet had nothing to do. Rather than just stand around, he lent his psi-bolts to the fusillade of projectiles that Sectonia, the rear turret gunners, the Scout, and Peacock had brought to bear. As he shouted at the Akrid a shadow fell over him, and when Raz glanced sideways he realized it belonged to Ciella as she adopted a firing stance. Standing beside one other really put the size difference between the pair into perspective, with Ciella at six foot ten and Raz at just four foot four, but the Agito did not deign to look the boy’s way. Instead she pulled taut her bowstring, her hair streaming beside her, and unleashed four water arrows in a spread formation. Each tore through any Trilid in their path before disappearing into Red Eye’s cavernous maw. Whether or not they dealt much damage in there Ciella couldn’t really say, but without delay she drew her bow once more.

Compared to Raz, Primrose and Therion had even less distance to travel before they reached the stations they’d volunteered for, but once there they couldn’t exactly stand idle. Despite the ranged fighters’ efforts, some Akrid nevertheless managed to slip through. That remainder fell to the rest to deal with, be they strictly melee fighters like Braum and Big Band, or mages who couldn’t afford to waste mana on single-hit small fry, like Robin and Tharja. Trying to slap dive-bombing Trilid out of the sky, however, was like trying to hit an entire baseball game’s worth of fastballs, and Big Band wasn’t doing so hot. “Ow, gah!” he grunted, reeling from the explosion of one monster that struck him square in the middle. He recovered just in time to duck out of the way of a second Trilid, which promptly blew up against the surface of the cannon behind him. The blast dislodged his hat, but before it could fly away on the wind the brazen detecting snatched it out of the air. With another Akrid already on its way down, he hurriedly popped his hat on and pulled off a well-timed Beat Extend. Two halves of a giant tambourine deployed from his torso and slammed together like pincers, catching the Trilid before it could hit him. The noise of the jingles inflicted sound stun, allowing Band to catch the dazed creature and hurl it back into the Trilid cloud like a stick grenade.

“These things got me all kinds of funked up,” Band complained, looking over his shoulder at the cannon. To his dismay he found that the Trilid he dodged had gone on to detonate on the main cannon’s turning track, warping the metal enough to pose an issue. “Hey, we got a hit over here! Who we got on fixin’s?”

A little panicked and very distracted by everything going on, Tora looked over with wide eyes. Nobody had claimed repair duty, not that anyone was much of an engineer except, of course, Tora himself. “Meh, me, I guess!” Using Poppi’s stored ether he released a parting volley of missiles from his Mech Arms at the trilid swarm, then took one final look around. Before he could say anything about the main cannon, Jesse volunteered to take control, which meant that every position was accounted for. Or did it?

“We need someone up front!” Tora suddenly realized. “If enemies get yellowpon, we all doomed!”

Taking potshots at Trilid nearby, Joker narrowed his eyes. “Hey, you guys good without me?” he called down to the Phantom Thieves in their turrets, shouting above the wind.

“All good here!” Skull shouted back. “It’s basically one big arcade game!”

“Except the ducks are trying to kill us!” Panther added, her pigtails flapping in the wind.

Joker gave a parting salute and dashed off toward the front of the train, where his varied skillset would be invaluable keeping the Conductor safe.

Meanwhile, Poppi switched to QT Pi mode and jumped up on top of the cannon. “Poppi run defense up here for Jesse!”

“Oh…” Tora looked uneasy at the prospect of separating from his treasured companion, but at the same time he knew it had to be done. The team couldn’t afford to lose either the critical weapon or the woman controlling it. “Okay! Stay safe and kick monster butt!”

“Roger, roger!”

In a jiffy Tora reached the repair panel, where he started redirecting T-ENG for repairs. “Friend Therion and Primrose!” he called as he worked. “We need cannon face backwards, right away! Can load normal rounds at any time!” Once Tora made the requisite connections, a little button mashing would push the T-ENG where it needed to be to make turning the big gun possible.

It wasn’t much longer before Midna and Raiden returned, fending off Trilid all the while. The Twilight Princess deposited the giant shells on the top of the train next to the cannon, and Tora shouted the instructions she needed. “Meh-meh-meh! Put in loader, and charger, quick quick quick!” When she complied, some mashing would plug the round straight into the main gun itself. From there another could be put into the loader for immediate insertion after the loaded shell was fired, and another in the reserve slot to take its place. Meanwhile, the charging station could energize a shell with all the power drummed up by Raz’s mashing, then added to the queue. After Primrose and Therion decided on which of them would be turning the cannon one hundred and eighty degrees, since both mashing their buttons would get them nowhere, the barrel of the Dragonfire cannon swung around. As it span so did its counterweight, which included the charging station, the loader, and everyone on top of it, which took Ciella by surprise and would have resulted in a fall from the train if not for a timely grab by Raz. Another few seconds and the turn was complete, and it was down to Jesse to make the final adjustments.

Poppi was crouching above Jesse when she asked if her targeting looked okay, and after a quick focus of her optics the artificial blade gave her a thumbs-up. Without Blazermate on hand to scan for weaknesses, anything seemed as good as anything else, and Jesse was right to conclude that it would be hard to miss. While Poppi didn’t know what the FBC director meant by graduating high school’, now was a bad time to need reassurance, so Poppi told her, “Poppi not do that either, so it fine!” At Jesse’s warning, everyone in earshot braced themselves, and the next second the roar of the Dragonfire rang out through the desert sky.

Nobody saw the shell actually travel through the air, or what happened inside Red Eye’s gullet. They only staggered from the physical force that shook not just the train, but the very air, and witnessed the monster’s reaction. It let out a terrific roar as it bucked wildly, thrashing from one side to another as it let the whole desert know of its pain. As it fell back, the train tracks began to curve, averting the locomotive from Al Mamoon as per the Conductor’s strategy. Even as the behemoth receded, however, Poppi kept her eyes on it. In no world would one shot, even from a weapon of this ludicrous caliber, be enough to end this fight.

"Pow!" Peacock grinned. "Right in the kisser!"

Big Band whistled through his instruments. "Now that's what I call percussion."

Despite the general elation, Red Eye didn’t stay staggered for long, and after mere seconds began tearing across the sand again. It cut through the arc the train was taking, and with terrifying speed began to pull up alongside the Railway Gun. From there it couldn’t just eat the train if it caught up, but the Dragonfire cannon couldn’t shoot down its mouth, either. Still, its reload was already in progress, and once the Octopath Travelers turned it again Jesse could line up another shot. All along the behemoth’s side were large, meaty red masses situated at intervals among the chitinous plates of armor, which to anyone with even a morsel of genre awareness looked tantalizingly like weak spots. For the rest, Necronomicon spelled it out.

“Shoot those red mounds!” the Persona advised, and the Phantom Thieves on the train’s right side, Mona and Fox, hurried to obey. Their turret rounds pounded the eye-shaped spots, rupturing bloody craters in the exposed flesh. As the Seekers opened fire, however, so did Red Eye. From a blowhole it launched an absolutely massive spiky pod that hurtled almost lazily through the air, and despite any attempts to shoot it down, the sheer mass kept it going until it hit the Railway Gun. The whole train shuddered under the impact, knocking the main cannon -and any heroes without firm footing- askew. To make matters worse, the pod then erupted into a horde of Bolsepia that landed across the entire train.

Seven landed on top of the cannon section, four on the counterweight around the charging station and loader and three on the barrel. Counting on the others to tend those behind her, Poppi focused on the ones ahead. She morphed the Variable Saber into shotgun mode and unleashed two blasts apiece into the nearest Akrid. Their force dislodged the crab-legged pests and sent them flying from the train, but the third skittered forward toward Jesse’s cockpit. Poppi dashed forward and extended her saber’s laser blade, skewering the Bolsepia through the head. That head, however, began to swell and glow, which in Poppi’s world meant only one thing. In a panic she switched off the saber and burned her thrusters to execute a backflip kick, popping the Bolsepia far enough off the cannon that the ensuing explosion caused no damage. The artificial blade breathed an entirely cosmetic sigh of relief before calling out, “Everyone be careful! These things explode!’

By the time she gave her warning, however, other Seekers had already learned firsthand. Robin cut through a Bolsepia head with an electrified slash from his Levin Sword, but couldn’t get clear before it blew up, slamming him into the metal hard. “Robin!?” Tharja snarled, grabbing hold of the second Bolsepia with hands of darkness as she bent to heal her beloved’s wounds, unaware of the third climbing up behind her.

“Grrah!” Big Band groaned. “I’ve had it up to here on this chattanooga choo choo. He leaped down from the Railway Gun to land with a bang on the roof of the armory car, where Bolsepia were massing to blow the whole thing sky high. “Giant Steps!” he cried, deploying a huge kick pedal to sweep the monsters’ legs out from under them. From there it was a matter of picking them up one or two at a time and tossing them off the train, but if any of the leftover Trilid joined the party, things would get explosive fast.

Down in the Railway Gun’s fuselage, Tora was working on repairs when one explosive Akrid crammed itself into the same cramped passageway he was in. “Meh-meh!?” he exclaimed, realizing that a blast in here would be very, very bad. “Poppi!” he cried. “Need Drill Shield! Copy? Need Poppi Alpha, pronto! Poppi!?” As the Bolsepia crept closer, the Nopon swallowed nervously, struggling to figure out something he could do.

World of Light

Tora, Poppi, and Big Band

Location: Sandswept Sky - Apex of the World
Level 9 Tora (156/90) Level 9 Poppi (156/90) Level 5 Big Band (94/50)
Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Fox’s @Dawnrider, Sectonia’s @Archmage MC, Primrose and Therion’s @Yankee, Raz’s @TruthHurts22, the Phantom Thieves, Braum, the Scout, Peacock, Mao, Robin, Tharja, Ciella
Word Count: 1621

Rough landing or not, there was no time to waste, so the Seekers hit the ground running. The sheer size of their foe was staggering, even in comparison to the colossus the team had already tangled with, now disappeared beneath the sand to shelter until such time as it felt safe enough to take to the skies again. What Red Eye lacked in length it made up for in bulk and weaponry, with sectioned jaws big enough to chow down on office buildings and a plethora of giant arthropod legs to help drag it through the sand. Once it came to its senses the behemoth could steamroll anything in its way, be it a forest, a city, or a ragtag bunch of heroes, and nobody harbored any delusions about fighting it head-on. So while Sectonia bravely buzzed off to harry the monstrosity while it was down, the rest used her speed buff to turn tail and run like they were getting paid for it.

The Psychonaut cadet Raz joined the wasp queen in pelting Red Eye from a distance in an effort to grab its attention, but to his chagrin his psi-bolts turned out to be even less effective than his comrade’s magic. Neither of their attacks, even those landed on the creature’s many eponymous eyes, seemed to register at all. It quickly became apparent that their efforts were mere drops in a vast, vast bucket, which meant going out on a limb like this promised a lot more risk than reward. “Raz!” Necronomicon hailed, floating down to where the kid was waging his one-man standoff, unaware that he planned to levitate away when things got hairy. “It’s not working! We’ve gotta get you outta here now, or you’ll be left behind!” The flying saucer extended her tentacle limbs, ready to grab hold and whisk Raz away to safety, or as near an approximate as she could manage, if he agreed.

Meanwhile, the others were making tracks. Big Band trucked along the desert toward the Tostarena Town train platform as fast as he could go, kicking up grit as he belted out baritone, and the groove he plowed through the sand paved the way for the others to follow. Still, a couple team members blazed out ahead of the pack, Tora and Poppi among them. With the artificial blade’s thrusters at full burn it took only a couple moments to reach their destination. Fraught with worry, Tora lingered a moment as he caught sight of all the dumbfounded townsfolk, many of them already fleeing in whatever direction their panic-stricken minds struck upon. He couldn’t bring himself to shout words of worry, for where could these poor people possibly run to escape the horror that he helped to unleash, if the Seekers failed in their duty? Instead he focused on the job at hand, determined to not allow such a thing to come to pass.

He and Poppi alighted on the immense train right by the cab, and immediately the Nopon started pounding on the door. “Conductor? Conductor!” he yelled. “We need to leave, right now, very, very fast!”

“Ya don’t peckin’ say!” The supposed bird, reclined with his feet up for his late afternoon nap until mere moments ago, already had preparations well underway. “Ya better make sure ya friends are on board, laddie, ‘cause we sure en’t waitin’ around! All aboaaaaaaaaaaaard!” As he yelled he reached up and pulled the train’s whistle, sounding out two piercingly loud notes of alarm. Even if the noise didn’t stack up to the ground-zero tolling of Jondo, everyone in the vicinity could be assured that the last train in town was about to depart.

As the locomotive’s engine blazed and smoke belched from its stacks, Tora and Poppi left the Conductor to do his job, and ran toward the back of the train to attend to the second most important ingredient in the team’s recipe for success: the Railway Gun itself. There they found Midna, who was already doing her darndest trying to figure out how to get the massive cannon working, bless her technology-illiterate heart. Tora approached at a fast waddle, waving his wings. “Meh, meh, meh! Before friend Midna start slamming things together, wait moment! We need turn on weapons system first!” Suddenly very glad that he’d spent hours geeking out over the Railway Gun back in Al Mamoon, Tora approached the main terminal and got to work. As it booted, Poppi looked fretfully back toward the gargantuan sand worm, as well as the rest of their friends fast approaching. The Phantom Thieves were a fast bunch, but even then they were only slightly ahead of Primrose, Therion, and the Scout. Robin and Tharja repeated their strategy from before to teleport onto the train, while just a moment later Ciella landed in her Agito form, setting a now conscious but still dazed Braum down on the upper deck. In only a few moments everyone would be aboard, but how long they had before Red Eye recovered was anyone’s guess.

After a couple tense moments the onboard mainframe came online. “Warning!” an electronic voice instantly declared. “Category G Akrid detected. Activating emergency response protocols.” On his screen a popup appeared notifying Tora that the STORMBREAKER AI was speaking, as well as a complicated diagnostics readout. “Verify Chimera system initialization criteria.”

“Mehh!? Sure, sure!” Tora pounded whatever prompts looked affirmative. He glanced over toward the behemoth, saw it rolling itself upright, and began to bounce in place with manic energy. “We need big gun, and we need it now!”

The console seemed to accept his input. “Chimera system verified. Stand by to begin operation.”

With a sudden lurch and the loud creak of mechanical parts, the train began to move. The stragglers jumped aboard with only seconds to spare, and as Big Band doubled over on the railing to breathe a sigh of relief, he noticed an unfamiliar face among those present. Though he didn’t exactly seem like the most trustworthy individual, he did look capable with that sword of his, and Band wasn’t about to turn down an extra fighter. “Right on,” he told his fellow cyborg. “It’s lookin’ like we’ll need all the help we can get!”

With the Conductor working the controls for all they were worth, the train began to pick up speed, and in only a few moments it left the platform -and Tostarena- behind. Unfortunately for its passengers, and in all honesty the world at large, Red Eye was starting to move, too. Partially immersed in the sand, it started working its forelegs and quickly gained traction. Its innumerable eyes took stock of its surroundings, searching for anything unusual or interesting, and it didn’t take long to find something that looked like prey.

“Chimera system initialization confirmed,” STORMBREAKER declared. “Prepare to negate Category G Akrid Threat.” With a series of loud clicks, four smaller turrets unlocked around the central gun platform, two on either side of the train. “Dead Eye firing system initialized,” the AI added, followed shortly by the activation of the main gun control, which was basically a little cockpit of its own in the giant, rotatable metal mass. “Dragonfire main cannon initialized.” Down below, inside the sizable Railway Gun chassis, the armory unlocked. Shells bigger and much heavier than barrels were now available for collection, coming in three increasingly rare varieties: Cobalt, Hell’s Roar, and Wrath. “Dragonfire operating system Shellshock activation confirmed. All crew members begin operating procedures.”

It was go time. With the urgency of the situation, Joker made a split-second decision based on the fact that most of the Seekers present came from a pre-industrial society. “Leave the turrets to us!” he volunteered, scrambling the other four Phantom Thieves to man the smaller guns. “Now that we’ve got some firepower, let’s get that thing’s attention!”

“Maybe it’ll notice us, but I doubt we can put it down with those,” Band observed. “We’re gonna have to roll out the red carpet for this sucka. Any idea how?” He glanced over at Tora.

“Yes, Tora think so, meh!” the Nopon announced, raising his voice so everyone could hear his instructions. “Controls are simple, but there lot of them. There left and right stations for fast turning cannon, manual loader for cannon, thermal energy charge station to make shell stronger, two repair panels, and crane loader for special Wrath shells!” He looked around at the Seekers, practically bursting with both energy and nerves. “Meh, meh meh! We need friends bringing up shells from below, charging them, loading them, turning cannon, and if cannon overheat or damaged, someone on repair duty! Button need mash to make machines do jobs!”

“Begin thermal charging procedure,” STORMBREAKER insisted. “Thermal energy charge will increase firing speed.”

Big Band shook his head, sweat beaded on his brow. “You gotta be kiddin’ me. I’m too old for this shi-!”

A roar resounded from Red Eye as it began to pursue the train, encouraged by Skull and Panther as they opened fire with their turrets. Ciella, back in human form, joined in with charged typhoon arrows that struck even harder than the turrets themselves, albeit slower. More angry than hurt, the fearsome titan bore down on the train, tearing up the track behind it. As fast as the Conductor had the locomotive going, it wouldn’t be enough to outpace Red Eye if its passengers didn’t start properly fighting back. It wasn’t an easy process, and the behemoth was only too happy to complicate matters further. From its gullet flew a swarm of Trilid, and the trilobite-headed flyers quickly homed in on the Seekers to divebomb them where they stood. Even if they went down in just one shot, and the rear gunners Panther and Mona could fire at will, their numbers made them a problem that the heroes couldn’t ignore.

Bridges to Alcamoth

Starring Yuri, Pit, and Wonder Red
Word Count: 4300

While common sense would typically dictate that an important meeting ought to occur first thing in the morning, the circumstances of the Seekers’ late-night return to home base meant that this one needed to wait until one-thirty in the afternoon. All things considered, it was an understandable delay. After naval warfare, the Maw, and the unfortunate turn of events on and beneath Carcass Isle, the triumphant but stressed-out away team couldn’t press on even if they wanted to, no matter how impactful the business at hand might be. Of course, the delay also meant that a full half-day of vigorous activity had already come to pass, and at Smash City Alcamoth, no day was uneventful.

That period had already seen a number of smaller-scale mercenary missions dispatched and completed, each one drafted, assigned, and overseen by Mission Control in the Garfont Center’s Dispatch without the need for any input from the Hero Teams, as they’d come to be known. It took a lot of infrastructure to support both the floating city and its ever-growing army, which in turn demanded a bevy of quests both for the sake of the city and the surrounding areas to secure resources, knowledge, and revenue. Through exploration, experimentation, and plain-old interviews the wisdom of many worlds came to be gathered in places like the Spirit Board, slowly but surely. At any time of day a small contingent of skilled fighters, known colloquially as the Door Bosses, could be found at Alcamoth’s front entrance as the welcome party to ensure that nobody brought in from the outside remained under Galeem’s influence for long. Those not on the job spent much of their time training. Whether in the gym or in matches throughout the city’s holographic arenas the Mercenaries worked to better themselves, gaining the experience to regain what the World of Light had taken from them.

Today marked some exciting new developments, however, and not just for Alcamoth, but the campaign against Galeem itself. That’s why Princess Peach and however many of her cohorts could possibly be spared needed to come to this meeting. Vandham was already seated at the Garfont Center’s great roundtable, poring over the world map for the live updates delivered that morning, when the first of the attendants arrived. The Devil Hunter Nero appeared with his crew, including Banjo and Kazooie, casual but a little tense. Whether it was due to what they experienced or just the gravitas of such a grand meeting itself, Vandham felt sympathetic. “G’day,” he told the newcomers, waving them over. This party represented the Mercenaries’ firsthand knowledge of the Dead Zone, so their willing cooperation was vital. “No need to stand on ceremony, mates. Feel free to put your feet up, long as ya don’t crack the map, heh.”

“Thank you, sir.” Yuri said stiffly, taking a seat but not putting her feet up. In her hand she had a small cup of coffee, not for consumption but to hold. It helped steady her nerves for if she was given a significant amount of attention.

Next came the new ingredient in the mix, the strangers whose chance encounter had provided an easy way home for the scouts, and whose assistance might very well prove quintessential in the journey yet to come. The eccentric doctor Elvin Gadd rolled in on a mechanized chair, wearing a navy-blue cap and pushing a futuristic stroller before him. With its bonnet down the carriage concealed its contents, but Vandham could only assume that a baby or two lay nice and snug within. As for why the scientist might have babies with him, well, the mercenary commander was still grappling with the brief explanation he’d been given the night before. Along with Gadd came two more figures of comparable stature. Captain Lawrence Nelson served as the leader of the security detail responsible for bearing Gadd’s party so far south, while the masked Wonder Red represented his fighting force. The last four members of their group, being the pilot, the engineer, and just two additional superheroes, remained with their ship. Despite the severe lack of manpower, the pair seemed to be perfectly composed and ready to begin. “Good afternoon, Commander,” Nelson greeted with a raise of his cup.

“G’day yourself, good sir,” Vandham responded in kind.

Last to arrive was Peach. After a night of restless, fitful sleep she couldn’t claim to be feeling fine, but the princess did her best to seem as professional as she could. With her clothes in the laundromat she came wearing a simple sweater-and-jeans combo so ordinary that they stood in sharp contrast to her tri-colored hair, done up in a fluffy ponytail, as well as her station as leader of the campaign against Galeem, but what could she do? The clothing preferences of the regal princess Peach, hardass punk Grimm, and elegantly evocative Chao Ho had left her fashion taste so scattered that she couldn’t do much better than the bare minimum. Her gaze swept over the assembled people. “Hello, everyone.”

“Welcome back, princess.” The mercenary commander crossed his arms as he took stock of everyone present. “Well then, now we’re all ‘ere, we can get started. On behalf of the Alcamoth Mercenaries I bid ya welcome, be it welcome back, or welcome for the first time. My name is Aquila Paronet Sol Esteriole, but you can call me Vandham.”

With introductions were in order, Peach bowed her head in respect for the newcomers. No matter how ordinary one’s clothes, a little decorum was expected from the head that wore the crown. “Princess Peach, of the Mushroom Kingdom. Pleased to meet you all.”

“Lawrence Nelson, at your service,” the Centennial leader told her, returning her gesture. With a cultured British accent he seemed every inch the gentleman, even in battle regalia. “This is the field leader of the Wonderful One Double Oh, Wonder-Red.”

At his introduction, Wonder Red saluted the room at large, his movements quick, snappy, and slightly rigid. ”Greetings, everyone! It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

After that, the elderly scientist had his say. “Nice to meet you. I’m Professor E. Gadd, longtime assistant to the Mario Brothers and current representative of Bridges.” He tented his fingers, giving a crooked smile as he peered around through swirly glasses. “And that, my friends, is the chief reason we’re all gathered here today. Now, I could ramble on about the who and what of Bridges, but I figure I might as well leave it to my boss, eh?”

“Your boss?” Nero looked around. “We missin’ somebody?”

“That would be me.” A bright light turned on in both arms of Gadd’s chair, establishing a connection. There was a bright flash, a loud PING, and beside the inventor a heavyset man appeared. Gray-haired and spectacled, with a trim beard, black suit, and lateral scar across his forehead, he stood with his hands raised. “Ah, no need to be alarmed!” he said, taking in the sudden change of scenery, his low voice accented by a slight Spanish twist. “What you see before you is merely a chiral hologram. I myself am still in Midgar. But ah, where are my manners.” He put a hand over his heart. “I am Deadman, coroner, leader of the Bridges Medical Team and acting director of Bridges, until such time as Die-Hardman is found.”

Vandham lowered himself back down into his seat. “Roight. G’day t’ya as well then, Mr. Deadman.” He crossed his arms again. “Professor Gadd was just sayin’ y’know all there is to know ‘bout Bridges, and we were ‘opin’ you’d spill the beans.”

“Certainly.” Deadman clasped his hands together. “So, Bridges. Put simply, it is a logistics company charged with the reunification of the United States of America. At least, back where we’re from. Though this world is divided and under siege, it is very different from our own. Yet our purpose here is much the same. This world is full of cities, towns, villages, all sorts of places kept in stasis by the forces at large. Their citizens hail from all over, with vastly different understandings of society, science, and yes, even magic! We are here to…close the distance between the people. Make the connections needed to bring about a better society, so that we may make the most of this strange world we’ve been stranded in.”

He went on to pull up a couple holographic screens, displaying various pictures as he talked. The first one was of a massive, roughly circular city, walled in on all sides, with another entire city a layer beneath the plates suspended high above the ground. “This is our home base, the capital city Midgar. I say that though it is not part of any true country, nor is its governance concerned with any place but itself. Nevertheless, it is the biggest and most technologically advanced city on the continent, and where reunification must begin.” He pulled up the next slide in his presentation, a visual of Bridges HQ. “We do not have the resources or manpower to lay down power lines, or signal towers, or build roads, but we do have the power to unite

“Of course, we have encountered more than our share of issues.” For a moment, Deadman’s face looked downcast. He walked forward toward the center of the group, his hologram’s lower half phasing through the table. “As if its internal issues weren’t enough, Midgar is under constant threat from outside, so much so that many refer to the situation as the Ever Crisis.” He placed emphasis on each word, punctuating them with taps of his hands. “Simply going and coming is a risky business. Our organization is scattered just like everything else, our ranks sorely depleted. So we took to hiring anyone with a mind to help, including the good professor Gadd.” He held out a hand to the scientist, who waved, then turned in the direction of the Centennials. “We also enlisted our friends at the Wonderful One Hundred, suffering from a similar predicament, to help us go out into the world and do good for its people.” Deadman smiled as he began to account for the organization’s achievements. “To date, we have made connections to Esaka, the Tiered City, Al Mamoon, the Cream of the Eastern Desert, and even Edinburgh MagicaPolis up north. Many smaller towns and such too. This is all made possible by the Chiral Network. Of course, to explain that, I would need to delve into the Beach.”

Peach’s eyes widened, remembering the night. “The…Beach?”

“Indeed,’ Deadman nodded sagaciously. “It is a liminal space between this world and the next, the realm of the dead, where time does not pass. Once built and connected to the network, our nodes can use the Beach to instantly send data between one another, turning it into the greatest repository of knowledge that the world -any world, in fact- has ever known. As Die-Hardman put it, a very ‘spiritual’ successor to the internet.” Deadman smiled at his little joke, but when nobody laughed, he cleared his throat and continued. “Ahem. Gadd’s chair has been configured to serve as one such node, which is how I am able to speak with you.”

“You’ve been to the world of the dead?” Yuri asked, shock radiating across her face. She remembered the dark ocean where she had confronted Ose for the last time, lit red by an eternally setting sun, both infinitely deep and shallow enough to stand. “And you ran the internet through it? Are you sure that’s safe?”

Deadman shook his head, specifically for the first question. “Not physically, and not all the way there. We can only interface with the seam between the two worlds, where they’re bound together.”

With Peach too stricken by the relation to the pocket dimension beneath Carcass Isle to comment, Vandham spoke up. “While this is all very interestin’, I’m sure, ‘ow exactly does it pertain to us? You just want us to ‘elp you settin’ this network up?” He rubbed his chin. “If we can send people around the world like that, I can definitely see the benefit...”

“Oh, no,” Deadman corrected him. “It cannot send people. Well, nobody without sufficiently advanced DOOMS, I should say. There is another avenue we’re aware of for such travel, which would be the Metro, but as for your main point…” He clasped his hands together. “We have had our eyes on one particular place for some time. Redgraccoon City, the place overrun by the living dead. Just recently we sent our best man inside, to drop off a certain package that, once triggered later that day, would destroy the whole place in one fell swoop. Kaboom, game over!” He spread his fingers wide, then clasped them.

Nero squinted at him, remembering suddenly both the name and the deeds of the porter Sam Bridges, but he didn’t say anything.

“Alas, there turned out to be unforeseen circumstances. Even though the contamination should have been minimal, the entire area was covered by Timefall, as our recon team found out.”

Captain Nelson looked grave, a single tear rolling down his cheek. “The storm caught us by surprise. The moment that rain hit us, the Virgin Victory began to age. It is a miracle we escaped with our lives, and another that after meeting with your own recon team, we were able to make it here.”

“That lines up with what we found,” Nero concurred, a little irritated. “But if the rain seriously ages everything it touches, how are we supposed to take down the Qliphoth? How is it still standing, in the first place?”

At that, E. Gadd perked up. “Well! It just so happens we got a plan in mind, sonny. Turns out, not everything ages as bad as yours truly. Magic for one, so if we got anyone with magic barriers we could walk straight in. But option two is coatin’ stuff in Chiralium, ‘cause bein’ from the Beach, that stuff doesn’t age either! So if you whippersnappers find any strange golden crystals shaped like hands, let us know!”

Peach raised her hand. “Actually, we might have a lead…”

After explaining what she’d been through early that morning, both Bridges members seemed taken aback. “Well, criminy!” the professor exclaimed. “Sounds like we got more than enough!”

“I wonder if that means you and your team have contracted DOOMS?” Deadman mused. “That may be important for step two. See, wherever Timefall falls, BTs aren’t far behind.” After a few confused glances, he went on to explain that, too. “BTs…Beached Things. Dead souls that could not reach the other side, and returned to their decomposed bodies. If they catch you, they can trigger a void-out. A nuclear explosion, everything for miles…gone. They must be avoided at all costs.” His chiralgram walked out of the map table and over to Gadd’s stroller. “Luckily, if there are DOOMS sufferers among you, we have the solution.”

Gadd pressed a button on the carriage, and the bonnet popped open. Inside were four bright orange capsules, and inside each of them was a baby. The professor picked up one that held an infant with a remarkably familiar hat, leaving the babies in green, pink, and blue. Peach’s eyes nearly bugged out at the blonde one, for though she didn’t resemble the baby anymore, it looked unmistakably like a younger version of her own self. “BBs!” Gadd said. “These tykes are tied to the other side, and they can sense BT’s even if most people can’t. Once hooked up to Odradeks, they’ll help ya steer clear of the nasty things and get where ya wanta.”

Vandham exhaled deeply. “Well, that seems dubious…but moral quandaries aside, it sounds like we mighta solved the Dead Zone. And maybe gotten a lead on a couple other zones, too.” He looked at Peach and the other mercenaries present. “Whaddya think?”

“It’s despicable.” Yuri said sharply, staring intently at the babies. “Why would you use children for this?”

Deadman looked almost hurt, but he had a ready reply. “Normally, BBs are excised from their stillmothers’ at seven months, since the mother -being braindead- cannot give birth. The stillmother’s womb is what facilitates a connection between the BB and the world of the dead. These BBs are older and more stable than we’re used to, but otherwise they exhibit the same traits. Logically they would have mothers, but they do not. They are incapable of growing into their own people, but are ‘locked in’ at their current state until they expire. The pods are, in fact, necessary for their survival.” Deadman pressed his hands together, his brow furrowed. “They may look like children, but functionally, you should consider them as nothing more than equipment.” Despite his reassurance, however, the others remained ill at ease.

”Understand that it is a necessary precaution,” Wonder Red pitched in, ”Without these Bridge Babies there would be no way to circumvent any BTs out in the field, leading to disasters that nobody would be prepared for. It’s thanks to their help that Bridges can avoid such things.”

"That's cruel," Pit began, bending down to look at the babies in their pods. Even if they didn't look so uncannily familiar, they were still just kids. "They aren't equipment, they're alive! And they'd be in a lot of danger if some "doomed" person brought them out there. With all the crazy stuff in this world there has to be another way, right?" He looked up at Deadman and the people they'd met on the aircraft before glancing towards the well traveled Princess Peach. "Some other way to see or fight those BT things. I bet we could find some wizard or necromancer that can spot them."

The princess could offer no solution, but it was clear she felt the same way. Deadman gave a slow nod, understanding where everyone was coming from. Even if it carried over some elements from the post-Stranding world he knew, this new realm was fundamentally different. The average person wasn’t a helpless civilian, isolated and trapped in their bunkers or Knot Cities in fear of the outside world whose horrors they were powerless to face, so embroiled in the despair of chiral contamination that only artificial dopamines let them reach the next day. In a reality where things weren’t nearly so bleak, such desperate measures as BBs were a much harder sell.

“That very well may be true. With seemingly infinite worlds conjoined, we cannot discount the possibility. BBs are tried-and-true, but if you wish to wait until another method is found, that is your decision to make. In the meantime, we would like to install a terminal in your city of Alcamoth and connect you to the Chiral Network. If there is any way Bridges can be of service, we will do what we can.”

“I might be able to.” Yuri said, more softly this time. “If BTs are what you say they are, the souls of the dead wandering the world of the living…I’ve been able to see them for most of my life. So, in a way, I’m like one of these babies all grown up. And I have this.’’ Yuri reached down and placed the Camera Obscura on the map table for everyone to see. “The Camera Obscura was designed to take pictures of things that humans were never meant to see, and I’ve used it as a weapon against ghosts before. But, I’m only one person.”

Deadman stroked his chin, nodding. “Fascinating, fascinating! Well, that is lucky, indeed. Even if it’s just you, you can keep watch for the rest of your team, navigating them quickly and quietly around BTs. Just be aware that one slip-up could prove fatal, not just for whoever gets caught, but everyone else for up to miles around. Are you up to the task?” The coroner looked at the girl pointedly.

“No,” Yuri said gravely, looking down.”Like I said, I’m just one person.” She didn't have any illusions about her ability to protect a whole group. Without a practical solution to offer she felt herself deflate.

”Uhm, excuse me! If I may interject - Commander?” Wonder Red addressed Nelson standing beside him. ”Could the Camera Obscura be reverse-engineered? Perhaps Professor Shirogane, or Professor Gadd, can replicate its design so that more people can use them instead of this one girl.”

“It might be possible.” Yuri said. “Their creator, Kunihiko Asou, was a normal man as far as I know. He even made multiple cameras, but they’re so rare and valuable as antiques I don’t think anyone has ever seriously studied how they do what they do.”

Her testimony seemed to capture Gadd’s attention. “Ooh, that so? Well, maybe I oughta give it a li’l look-see.” He adjusted his glasses with a smile. “Wouldn’t be the first time I rigged up some tech to deal with ghosts. That’s part of why I’m along for all this hullabaloo to begin with.”

“Is that so?” Yuri replied, surprised at the little man’s field of study. Talking to a doctor that actually believed in ghosts could be worthwhile.It might even benefit Bridges once they returned home, so they didn't have to resort to something like the BBs. “I wouldn't mind helping you, though I only really know what my mentor passed onto me.”

“Sounds like a fine arrangement to me,” Vandham declared, pleased that the team had come up with a promising plan of action so quickly. “And for the record, I’m in favor of hookin’ Alcamoth up to this network of yours, as well. Nice as our Moogles are, bein’ able to radio whoever we needed at the drop of a hat would be a lot more convenient. Between that, and the possibility of aerial deployment once the Virgin Victory is back in action, a partnership with Bridges might be our savin’ grace.” Despite his affirmation, however, the mercenary commander maintained a solemn bearing. “I have just one question for you, Deadman. When they arrived, your associates were Gleaming, an’ ‘ad to be freed by the Door Bosses. But you sir don’t look the part, an’ you’re able to talk about the world like normal. Yet you’ve never left this city of yours called Midgar, where nobody on our side’s ever been.” Vandham raised an eyebrow. “Now, ‘ow might that be?”

Deadman seemed perplexed. “Hmm. You’re talking about the bright-eyes, yes? How most everyone is suppressed in a certain way? Well, I…I do not know. For as long as I can remember, my eyes have been normal, while everyone else has been glowing. Thought I was crazy for a while, trapped in some sort of limbo, until I realized. It meant I could take charge and start things happening again. A new game plus.” Fists tightened with determination, he put on as brave a face as he could. “I’ve been acting director for Bridges for about a month now, working to make the connections that nobody else seems willing to. In part to fulfill the dream of a world united, but also so that I might ask....for help.”

Clearing his throat, Deadman treated the room to an imploring look. “Do you remember what I said early, about the Ever Crisis, in Midgar? Well, it is serious, more serious than I can even convey. The city is under attack from the mysterious Others, bizarre creatures who feed on human brains. There are Chimeras, invisible to the naked eye, who can infect civilians with Redshift. And if that wasn’t enough, a seemingly inexhaustible machine army waging war from the swamp valley ruins to the south. The OSF, Neuron, Desperado, and other security divisions are hard-pressed merely to defend the city. And right now, things are even more tumultuous, thanks to the upcoming presidential election. The question of who will define the city’s future, and how, is on the mind of every man, woman, and child.”

Deadman took a deep breath. “That is why I was hoping that Bridges would establish contact with someone who could help us. Someone who can work with us to keep the city safe, and find a way to bring the Ever Crisis to an end. Someone like the Alcamoth Mercenaries.”

Once he finished, a few moments of silence followed. He’d dropped some big news, and in the wake of that knowledge bomb everyone was left with a lot to think about. Of course, the decision ultimately lay with Peach and Vandham, who had a number of factors to consider.

Peach ultimately decided to speak up. “Well, it goes without saying that we would want to help out whoever might be in trouble, if we can. I’m sure that the city of Midgar would not allow such aid to go unrewarded, either. But one thing we have to keep in mind is our campaign. Thirteen Guardians must be eliminated before we can defeat Galeem, and we have only three. To dedicate our resources and manpower to a cause that may not advance that all-important goal, or at worse cripple our ability to accomplish it, is no small matter.” She inhaled deeply, in through her nose and out through her mouth. “I would like to confer with the others, once they’re done with their respective assignments. Can you give us that time?”

“Of course,” Deadman confirmed.

“Thank you. We’ll have much to discuss when the others return.” With the meeting all but concluded, Peach stood up from her chair. “Until then, let’s see if we can research the Camera Obscura, as well as set up this network of yours. We have someone lost somewhere on the continent, and with any luck a few contents will help us find her again.”

Vandham nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s hop to it, ladies and gents! This little world of ours just got a ‘ole lot bigger!”