Potemking

World of Light

Damn, I guess that means no Laharl/Mao fight. RIP

Planet Mobius - A Sonic Universe Open World

TEAM CHAOTIX

South City, Gettin' Some Grub

---

It'd been a pretty quiet year.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy were sitting in a booth inside a local South City diner close to the detective agency, called The Hungry Frog. Vector would always treat the group to a hearty early dinner after a job well done (Before splitting the reward money, of course) and today was no different. They had just closed a case, a bit of a manhunt more than a real investigation, but the guy was in the slammer now and they got paid. You could get away with a lot of things in this city, but if you endangered the wealth of someone, that person was willing to spend just as much as they'd lose just to secure what they lost back. Vector, being a man of the people, obviously couldn't turn down some prime-time jewel seller who was livid at a robbery the police hadn't managed to stop. He gladly took that bounty, and now was enjoying the fruits of said labor without much of a care.

Or at least he would, if he didn't hear the news from a TV positioned up in the corner of the diner. A year of peace... True enough, but the topic of Eggman left a sour taste in Vector's mouth. No body was ever found, and while it was easy to argue that there was just that much ground to cover that it might be a lost cause, he wasn't so sure. It was easy for the common individual to put it aside and appreciate the peace his potential end would cause, but anyone who'd dealt with Eggman knew not to doubt his tenacity. That being said, his crew had been searching for the better part of the year, and came up with nothing. It was frustrating, but also calming in a way. There was a part of him that didn't want to find Eggman; To think he was truly gone. But that was childish to think, in his opinion. Vector would be suspicious even if there WAS a body, let alone without one. They needed a plan.

Vector raised his coffee mug, comically small considering his size, and took a polite sip from it as he stared at the television. Where did they need to look? Did they need to look into governments? Someone so far off the grid that nobody would think a person was out there? Maybe he was in plain sight, and it was so obvious that they were just overthinking it--

"Uh, you okay, Boss?"

Charmy's concerned voice caused Vector's gaze to fall on him. The crocodile realizing he'd been spacing out, blinking and setting his mug down. "'Course I'm okay! We just got paid for a job well done." Vector responded with enthusiasm, trying to hide his negative thoughts from Charmy and Espio for the moment. He knew they were stressed too, and didn't like bringing up the topic while they were supposed to be relaxing after a day's work. There wasn't much more they could be doing, anyhow, right?

"He's thinking about Eggman again." Espio added, cutting through Vector's attempt to keep the topic at bay. The ninja pointed back at the TV with his thumb, causing Charmy to avert his gaze, then look back at Vector with an annoyed expression. "Why don't ya just drop it, Vector? We've spent way too much time looking for that fat tinkerer! Being paranoid is exactly what he'd want." Charmy spoke in a somewhat aggressive manner, challenging Vector's thoughts on the matter. Eggman wasn't one to be found until he was ready, and the Bee figured they could just smack him silly if he ever popped out with a scheme again.

Vector took a moment to think on Charmy's words, chewing on a fried frog leg, the diner's specialty. He appreciated the willingness his team had to comment on or discourage his actions at times, their disagreements were what helped them work through situations faster at times, or help one-another when they were stuck on something like Vector was now. As he swallowed his food, the croc responded with a bit quieter of a tone: "You're right." He admitted, adding: "But I can't stop thinkin' about it. Things have been too quiet, you gotta feel like something could happen anytime, right?" He questioned, looking between the two expecting agreement this time.

"I just told you, that's called being paranoid!" Charmy replied, sitting back in his seat and picking up the grilled cheese on his plate. He took a large bite out of it, before commenting with his mouth full: "Even if Eggman did come back, can't Sonic just handle it? He's usually the one that handles that 'egghead'." He took that nickname Sonic coined on the Doctor, and used it happily.

"Maybe the Doctor himself, but there's usually a lot of ground to cover with his schemes." Espio chimed in, being real about Charmy's statement. "The Doctor himself is a threat, but then you have to take into account his machines, then whoever else he's pulled into the fight to push his agenda." He explained, before returning to his soup.

Vector scratched his head, slightly annoyed but at the same time, glad the conversation hadn't gone too far south. "Let's just leave it at we gotta be ready, just in case!" He said, trying to end this discussion. "If he's gone, then the world's a safer place. If he ain't, we'll wrangle him in for reward money. Sound good?"

Espio offered a simple hum of acknowledgement, while Charmy let out a "Uuuh-huh!" With his mouth full again, spitting crumbs all over the table, to which Vector was, to put it lightly, miffed.

"You spat crumbs onto my plate, CHARMY!"

Charmy swallowed, offering a nervous laugh as Vector had his hands up as if he'd strangle him, waving his hands in front of him as he tried to get out of being in trouble. "Ahahah, s-sorry Boss!"

World of Light

LOCATION:Sandswept Sky - Al Mamoon
WORD COUNT: 655(+1 EXP)
MENTIONS:

---

Mao was in position, overlooking the situation with Klee close to his side. He felt like sending Baz as bait was probably the best use he could of had, but at the same time, he felt like this was a lot for just a mercenary or two. But as he was always told, 'they stick together' and all that. More than that, Mao was ticked off that Klee was here; Noting that he could be on the front lines if she was back at the base, but instead he was on the defensive if anything were to go south. Plus, she kept worrying about Baz, which he had to repeatedly assure her the dunce would be fine. He was pretty sure if anything happened to that mass of muscles Klee wouldn't know how to handle it, so keeping her thinking positive was the best he could do right now.

As Baz came bumbling in, Mao gestured to him for Klee. "See? He's fine!" He spoke in a factual tone, as he took note of the man who entered behind their muscle-amassed companion, who seemed just as big, if not bigger, honestly. He seemed oddly familiar too, but at the same time, Mao couldn't figure out where he'd seen him from. Though, it didn't matter, as it seemed he came alone. And he would soon be severely injured and open for experimentation. Or flat-out dead, whatever came out of the attack squad making their move.

It took him by surprise that this guy wasn't startled in the slightest: In fact, he was alarmingly confident despite being surrounded. "I don't like this." Mao quietly muttered to himself, glance going between the interrogators and Klee, before suddenly things went sour. A fight broke out, and despite the numbers advantage, they were clearly getting smacked around, at least for the time being. Mao stood, sword still sheathed but that didn't mean he wasn't combat-ready. As Band unleashed his attacks, the wind from his impressive sound nearly blew Mao's coat from his person but at least he wasn't the big guy's primary target.

"Stay behind me," Mao ordered, wanting to keep space between Klee and their attackers. His left fist began to glow, the demon building up energy in a large, bright light overcoming his hand easily as he prepared his Star magic. The brightness would hopefully help obstruct Klee from view, and if a forward push was made, Mao was ready to offer a burst of his magic to deny forward progression. Those damn peons needed to pull themselves together and handle the one opponent they were facing: His reaction to being surrounded and the amount of noise he was creating made Mao feel certain reinforcements were on the way. How could they possibly prevent that if it happened?

His mind clicked on Klee's treasure possibly being the answer here. "Klee, think you can cook up some of your 'treasures'? The smaller ones." He questioned, figuring he could skip over the battle and instead aim the bombs towards the entrance to prevent any would-be helpers from tagging into the fight. Or retreat for this big guy, who Mao figured couldn't hold out against the numbers for long. Mao noted he'd have to throw them with his spare hand, but given their size and his strength that didn't feel like an issue. it'd keep himself and Klee at range while also providing what Mao thought to be a tactical advantage in the long run, wanting to try and punish the overconfidence of this (admittedly) strong musician.

"You see someone coming through the entrance that isn't one of us, start the fireworks." He added as instructions, hoping Klee was prepping her bombs as he hadn't the time to look back at her given his focus on the situation ahead. Magic prepped and ready, though he was unsure if he'd be able to stay on the defensive for long, if his group kept getting tossed about.

Planet Mobius - A Sonic Universe Open World

I'll try and have a post out within a day or two, sorry for the delay.

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw - The Depths
WORD COUNT: 815(+2 EXP)
MENTIONS:

New Power Unlocked... And Re-Locked!

Ping - Mirage can mark up to two locations, objects, or enemies within his view for him and his teammates to see with colorful, easily identifiable symbols depending on what he's trying to convey. These markers can go out of Mirage's sight once made, and will follow the pinged target over long distances, allowing for Mirage to track an object or individual, and can help teammates keep track of (or ambush) enemies in combat by giving away their location.

---

"Revenge isn't much of a treat, but it'll do!" Mirage said in agreement with Junior, the general mood of the group seeming okay, all things considered. A high-five from Sakura hurt more than raised his mood, but it was a fun gesture all the same and did help a little. Surely there was a long path ahead, but making a milestone was worth being joyful over, right? And Sakura granting Nadia MVP status was about as joyful as it got. The feral seemed to put the fame on her fan instead, but Mirage figured piping up a little was worthwhile in this situation.

"Hey, there's a saying amongst us engineers--" Mirage added, raising his hand to point at Nadia in particular. "A tool is only as useful as the way the person holding it puts it to use. And you saved our bacon, so I think you deserve the credit!" He stated with a smile, noting her help was critical to him getting this far. He also felt pretty bad about the whole tire thing, and felt like he owed her big time for that. That was for another time though, they didn't have time to get into all those details right now.

Pushing himself to his feet as Sakura began to try and work on clearing their path, Mirage chuckled at Geralt's words, offering him a low-energy grin and a finger gun as he passed by. Surviving again and again was his specialty, there's a reason he's an Apex Legend after all. "We just gotta keep being better. And none of these monsters are better than me." His words were met with him arriving at the blockade, rubbing his palms together as he prepped himself to lend a hand getting everything out of the way. Unfortunately, his success wasn't much better than Sakura's, but he desperately tried. After a moment, he took a step back and wiped the sweat from his brow, embarrassed but trying not to show it as he looked at the items blocking their way as if he was planning something in silence.

Thankfully, the others joined in and Mirage was able to play along that he was going to suggest teamwork as the way forward. Hunger and the exhaustion from the previous escape hindered his aid, but he pulled his weight in clearing the way. With a momentary break here and there.

---

As the sight of the Depths came into view, Mirage had a scowl on his face. "Oh great, water. Because we weren't soak-and-tired of that already." He complained, momentarily considering taking a sip, but remembering some of the others were talking about cursed food or something, and he didn't want to be cursed. He was cursed enough with hunger and being a kid, thank you.

Nadia commenting about sea monsters didn't help him feel better, but it did drive him away from wanting to drink any water. He cautiously eyed the surface of the flooding-- Or at least what he assumed was flooding, but the ship didn't seem impaired by it or anything. No sight of anything concrete... Though the light shifted and had him a bit wary here and there.

Speaking of wary, Mirage wasn't entirely liking the idea Peach was having with the submarine. Though, as he tried to use his head to think of a better way, he had nothing. "Well, never operated a submarine before, but there's a first time for everything." He said, defeated by the lack of options he had. He wasn't sure how familiar the group was with machinery, but noted that one of them was piloting the Atomos so there was someone here gifted enough, whoever they were. Hopefully they could figure out the details on the way.

He'd been spacing out a bit in his thoughts, but Nadia snapped him out of it. Eyeing the wall and bridge, he tried to make note of the distance to make each dart so they'd make the climb. "Say no more, a couple of steps coming right up!" He said, a few 'pop pops' sounding off as he placed his platforms along the wall. Ever the adventurer, he went ahead and took initiative to start climbing, figuring it would prove the darts were positioned well and that the bridge up top was secure enough to hold them. He hopped a few times, stopping after hearing a small creak which startled him

"I think I'm actually glad we're small," Mirage remarked up above, eyeing the bridge. "If we were adults, I bet this thing would give out under us." He looked out into the dark, noting what pieces of bridge he could see. He wanted to be wary on their path, no telling if any of this stuff would give out, really. He'd happily take the front, if it meant getting to that submarine faster. Then he'd get to sit back down, at least! Perks to this mess, right?

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw - The Belly > Room Of Reprieve?
WORD COUNT: 830(+2 EXP) (10+ ENCOUNTER EXP) LEVEL UP!!!
MENTIONS:

---

Mirage was right to look down at his landing zone, as it turned out he wasn't making it to the couch. Not as worried about noise now, he screamed as he plopped into the shoes, momentarily getting his head stuck in a sock, struggling to escape but Geralt's landing helped pop him out, face almost green from the smell of the footwear he had landed in. He eyed the couch, still a short distance away, before being launched again by Bongo Bongo's quakes, his attack proving ineffective, unfortunately. As he landed, he looked down and realized the situation they were in. After what he'd seen with Nadia, he easily put together the urgency of their situation and grabbed his wingman Geralt before yanking him along, making it clear that: "We gotta get up before we get pulled under!"

He clenched his teeth, head shifting to get a look behind them and in front, trying to figure out a plan as he trudged through the junk, in a slow and clumsy manner due to not having much for footing. Everything he stepped on sank and triggered the monster, and his breathing became more and more uneasy as he felt like this was it. However, Nadia's voice broke him out of it as he realized the streamer he had could possibly save their lives. With no hesitation, he released Geralt to take his makeshift rope from it's place around his arm, before tossing it towards the tiny feral. Thrusting an arm back he urged for Geralt to grab on, not wanting to waste even a second given they were sinking. His panic came back as they seemed to not be moving immediately, the boy wondering what was going on until he saw a fan soar overhead, flying back and slicing through Bongo Bongo. "Oh yeah! How'd ya like--" To his horror, it was still moving despite the damage, causing the moment of happiness to quickly end as he lightly tugged on the rope and shouted: "Get us out get us out get us ouuuuuuuut!"

His feet scrambled as they began pulling. Feet pressing against the cushion, he tried to scale up as fast as he could, knowing things were getting sour quick. On a safe zone again, he couldn't keep himself from offering a kiss to the couch for it's service. It seemed there was no time to rest, however, as Nadia urged for them to get going. Eyeing the vent, Mirage pulled whatever strength he had in reserve, gripped his streamer, and ran up to her fan, jumping in and letting out a "Woo!" As he soared into the air before planting some darts to give a bit more of a landing zone for the vent.

He felt like his heart was going to hop out of his throat, hands caressing the cold vent as he saw everyone come up, one by one. "Crap, she can't blast herself up!" Mirage realized, running over with streamer in hand as he peered over the edge. Urging the others to grab hold, he dipped it down to try and fish Nadia up, which happened just in time thankfully due to quick thinking with her fan. With their last teammate recovered, he was quick to start running despite the aching his body felt. He wasn't interested in ever seeing that room, or those creatures, ever again.

---

It had been dark, and aside from the steps of those within the vent and their heavy breathes, pretty quiet. Mirage was half glad to be out of the vents, but also scared of what could be around in this next room. Things seemed simple enough, thankfully, and nothing jumped at them so perhaps they had a moment to rest. Pulling his goggles up onto his forehead, he dropped into a sitting position, trying to catch his breath. Everything hurt, he felt like he'd been run over, or something. This little body wasn't meant to be exerted so much, and he was regretting the amount of physical activity he chose to partake in.

His stomach felt a particular pain. Earlier he'd felt like he'd been stuffed with a glorious porkchop dinner, but now it was like it had been torn right out of his gut. His arms wrapped around his waist as the hunger pains added to the suffering. the boy feeling like he'd not like the reason this feeling suddenly came over him. "There's magic making us hungry now?" He questioned, staring at Nadia with a tired expression. Slowly, his view went to the floor, confirmation that he indeed did not like the reasoning behind his hunger. "Man, this hull place just sucks."

Deciding to try and find a positive, Mirage allowed himself to fall onto his back, arms outstretched. Everything was dark, they were hurting, there was no certainty that something wouldn't pop out and try to eat them within a moments notice. "Look at the bright side, guys: We're alive!" What a good positive to point out, Elliot, captain of the Obvious...

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw - The Belly
WORD COUNT: 889(+2 EXP)
MENTIONS: Ms. Fortune, Geralt, Sakura, Blazermate

---

Mirage was ready to push Nadia down on her one-way trip to freedom, but as she was, became distracted as voices began to distract them, peeking down to see Geralt in his small form, he offered a quick OK hand signal. "One ladder, comin' up!" Soon after these words left his mouth, there came numerous pops from the Dart Gun as Mirage shot the tiny non-witcher his own personal climbing platforms to get on top. He figured if the guy had a plan, they could pull it off while Nadia was on her way to the other side. This was perfect, actually, meaning there was no call for self-sacrifice afterall! He really hadn't wanted to rot up here, so that was a huge weight off his mind.

While trying to ready the tire again, a second voice caught his ear. Peeking down again, he noticed Sakura way down below. He would have offered her a ladder up, but she made it clear she preferred her two pillows. Which he respected, honestly, offering a thumbs' up in response to her long-distance high fives. "Be safe! We'll be at that vent in no time!" He declared confidently, figuring there were plans galore to solve this now. Finally, Mirage and Nadia were able to continue their plan. She loaded in with her equipment, and after discussing the target, he gave her a nod of confirmation before taking aim.

Shoving the tire down the hill, he watched anxiously for a moment to ensure she was rolling the right way, before turning to continue his plan. Swapping to his sling, he pulled a perfume bottle out of his pocket and loaded it. Quickly, he went between launching bottles, the shatters ringing out in the area behind them... With a lack of results, as things started getting real loud real fast. Anxiety hitting him like a truck, he panicked and ran past Geralt to look out at Nadia, noticing how she was rolling. "Come on, come on, come on...!" His fingernails were scratching against his scalp as the tire fell in a dangerzone. His first instinct out of guilt was to try and rush there, but he was quick to realize he had no quick way down. His heart calmed somewhat as he noticed a figure pulling Nadia out and onto a safe platform; That little turtle dude! A sigh of relief came from the boy as he wiped his brow, looking back at Geralt with a shifty smile "Ahah, she made it farther, she's okay!" He called, excited, a slight desperation hitting him as he hit the boy with a question: "So how are we gettin' over there? You had a plan, righ--"

Things began to shake really bad. With Bongo Bongo beginning his rampage, the gogglehead panicked as their mountain became unstable, and things began to slide downwards, including the door they both were standing on. Arms spreading with quick thinking, he grabbed hold of the manual window opening handle and Geralt, trying to keep them steady as they slid downwards, finally coming to an abrupt stop that snapped Mirage forward, hands losing their grip as he tumbled down, finding this fall to be broken by a box of sorts. Looking down, he realized something was spilling out of it: Streamers! Kind of like the stuff he and Nadia used earlier. Oh, yeah! That's the rope he needed! "Dunno who the heck Leon is, but I owe him big time." He commented, gathering up as much of the makeshift rope as he could by looping it around one of his shoulders, before regrouping with Geralt to overlook the situation.

Bongo Bongo was angry, and slamming his hands down hard. Those shockwaves began to shake their platform, and luckily everything didn't fall at that moment. But his thoughts went to those at the ground level: And how much trouble they'd be in. Nuts, there had to be a way for him to help, right? Though, the last time he tried, he nearly got Nadia swallowed into the floor. This doubt was distracted by Blazermate's appearance, and a sudden offer to throw both him and Geralt. He wasn't sure what the Witcher would do, but he suddenly saw an opportunity as he looked back at the exit the beast was defending. His darts couldn't stop the shockwaves themselves, but maybe if he could hit the source and distract him a bit, people could get to safety...

He put his goggles over his eyes, swapping his sling for the Dart Gun as he nodded at the Medabot. "I'll go first." He stated, and was surprised how willing and eager Blazermate was to just grip him, lift, and toss. Flying through the air, Mirage couldn't help but grin, the feeling of being in the air reminding him of skydives into the Apex Arenas. Gripping his Dart Gun, he did his best to aim towards Bongo Bongo, who became an easier the farther Mirage soared, an assortment of pops ringing out as he sent all three platforms towards the monster, hoping for one to hit and maybe disrupt him long enough for the others to get onto safer grounds.

Speaking of safe, Mirage was still falling, and as he began to dip and lose altitude, he looked down praying he wasn't about to dive face-first into a table and splatter himself like a housefly.

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw - The Belly
WORD COUNT: 1,140(+2 EXP)
MENTIONS: Making a choice for Ms. Fortune.

---

Mirage blinked, eyeing Nadia up above. Oh, good. She seemed to land safe enough, so that was one less concern. She asked about his health, actually, and all he offered for the moment was a thumb in the air, still taking heavier breaths to try and recover from his dangerous venture. Slowly he sat up however, rubbing his eyes. "They keep making that thing lash out and we'll have an avaglance on our hands." He complained, but figured folks were doing their best. He hoped everyone was safe; And that Geralt had taken the darts and got himself and Blazermate out of their predicament. Because he needed the Dart Gun now, as there was still a trek for him to personally make.

Figuring traveling in a pair wasn't a terrible idea (unless Nadia decided to try and go airborne again) Mirage used his dart gun to plop some platforms onto the TV screen. It seemed no matter how close or far, whatever it hit wouldn't get damaged. He thought it would at least damage the screen a little, but nope. He ascended the TV, peeking behind him as he climbed with a small prayer he wasn't spotted. Scrambling on top, her plan seemed solid enough. They had to keep moving, as much as sitting still in a safe position felt good.

Their teamwork proved essential, from traversing the picture to extracting the rug. However, he raised an eyebrow at her warnings, before peering down at the pit she described. Swallowing hard, he chuckled. "I'm sure it's nothing but sugar and gumdrops. But let's not find out." He commented, perking up at the suggestion to make a platform for them to jump to. He felt a bit of concern as she climbed the streamers, but they seemed sturdy enough... As the makeshift rope was offered to him, Mirage remembered he had already established dominance as the King of Swing back at the Luma Pools. He knew a monkey, too. Add that all up with him being a good shot, and that meant this was going to work out! He raised a hand as he began to point out his skill: "Think? I don't think--" Index finger bending as he realized what he said, he shook his head. "I mean, I get paid for my shots, especially when they hit, so you know, I'm pretty good."

Realizing he didn't make it much better, he embraced his inner ape and took a running start before leaving solid ground for the swing. One hand clenched on the streamer as the other wielded the Dart Gun, the gogglehead making laps as he spun to land three consecutive shots to give them a bit of landing room. As he came back from the last lap, he jumped back onto the dresser, stumbling a bit and almost falling into an empty drawer space. The dizzy young man followed Nadia's way and got onto the rug, having a moment to thankfully recover before they were sent off to their potential sliding doom.

With clenched teeth, he took the leap before they ended up diving into the pit. Behind Nadia, he bounced off the little platforms and hopelessly flapped his arms in hope he had a Spirit that helped him fly, but instead crashed into a bed full of dog hair. As he lifted himself up, he seemed to momentarily get his facial hair back in dog-hair form, before he coughed and it flew away, scattering back onto the bed. "Man, I hope hair is all that's in this thing." He spoke in a soft, but concerned tone as he tried to recover from both the near-death leap they took and the dog hair.

However, he didn't seem to mind as much when he noticed things getting brighter. Not having a hiding mechanism, Mirage instead scrambled over the side of the dog bed and hid behind it, hands over his face trying not to cough or sneeze. As the light passed, he climbed back in, rejoining Nadia as he watched the searchlight go into the distance, and back towards the others. Thankfully, they could continue their climb up a rather interesting mountain: One of mechanical parts, which made Mirage smile. Although he couldn't put a lot together without tools, so his options were pretty crippled. As they made it to the top, Mirage was distraught with the sight before them. Damn, no furniture. No easy routes down... He felt a sense of dread chill his spine, up until Nadia kicked a tire in frustration, breaking something and alerting the monster. Mirage jumped behind a junior booster seat to hide, peeking out after a few moments to find Nadia's enthusiasm also draining quickly.

"It's okay, I'm tired of this too." He said, small emphasis to try and make a joke that'd amuse her as he began to think. His mind raced, though only a few things came to mind, and a lot of them were... Not cooperative efforts, in a sense. His eyes met with the area the beast had smashed after Nadia kicked that tire. The pot smashing was what alerted it, not the tire itself, so maybe it was quiet enough. He scanned the terrain, the scrap of the mountain as everything beyond it was lava zone. He noticed, part way down the mountain, there was a car door. It sorta stuck out in such a way it resembled a ramp. His view shifted to a tire up next to them, then to the ramp. Then back at the tire.

"I have an idea," He spoke up, scuttling over to a tire. It seemed big enough for her to fit into, yeah. He gave it a few pats, the dirty tire darkening the bright skin of his palm. "There's a door down there, kinda looks like a ramp. If I send you down there in a tire, you could fly off of it and soar across the rest of the junk to get to the vent." His suggestion had a very major problems, some he'd overlook, but one he'd address: "And yeah, it'll be loud, but I have a lot of glass up here. I can launch some of it back into the area we came from and it'll distract him from you rolling across."

The big issue was that... If he rolled Nadia across, who would roll him? Well, it was something Nadia might've thought of more than he did, as he wasn't quite sure if trying to aim himself would yield good results. He'd have to think a bit more, find something else. But he wanted to make sure one of them made it, at least. To distract from the idea of him being left behind, he offered a slight joke as he urged her to make a decision:

"We should be wheely quick about this, before we have to hide from another patrol."

World of Light

LOCATION:The Maw - The Belly
WORD COUNT: 1,135(+2 EXP)
MENTIONS: Helping Geralt and Blazermate and traversing towards Ms. Fortune!

---

Mirage was actually having a little fun now, target practicing with his sling and traversing through the path carved out by large furniture. Thinner items had stabbed through the junk piles like spears, leaving him with some weird decisions to make about traversing. He wasn't exactly good at walking on tightropes (Not that he ever tried, he's an eternal clutz at heart) but with some well-placed platforms, surely this wouldn't be too bad, right? He was about to start on his fun traversal journey, but quickly got interrupted by noticing some folks soaring along, trying to cut over all the heavy footwork. "Flying is cheating." He muttered to himself, hiding his jealously of the amazing idea.

Which quickly subsided as some sort of light seemed to detect their presence in the air, followed by something trying to snatch them. He held back a yelp, crouching down and watching the horrific situation take place. Geralt and Blazermate were somewhat safe, but his main concern was with Nadia landing in a sudden and very high place; Eyes watching the scan light as he kept still enough that he almost felt as if his heart was going to stop from a lack of breath. It seemed content that Nadia was gone, and as the light shifted back towards the bookshelf, Mirage made sure to keep himself down and away from that light. That was another worry, though, if that light was coming to find them, then they might need help-- But if he shot a dart now, it'd probably alert the creature. He needed a solution-- Or a distraction!

The sudden noise took him by surprise, the impact of the hand shaking the whole room, it felt like. But it was a perfect distraction, further proven by Geralt's signaling from the bookshelf. Scanning the area, he picked up on the message thanks to his motions, raising his dart gun to try and provide some assistance before it was too late. As the monster threw a tantrum of sorts, Mirage focused his aim. He popped two darts, the projectiles flying over to Geralt and Blazermate's location and landing the darts along the 'wall', one high enough from the other to provide a good upward boost. He figured if they worked together they'd get up just fine.

At that point, Mirage was in a bit of a pickle. With how the gun worked, if he fired more than one dart, than Geralt and Blazermate's platforms would disappear. Breathing heavily from the shock of the monster finishing it's junk-smashing tantrum to resume it's search, he had one safety net and that was it. "I guess someone as good as me needs a handicap," He said to himself as a bit of motivation, as he began to slowly progress towards all the thin, definitely very welcoming platforms.

'Make too much noise, I die. Step in the junk, I die. This is great.' He found himself a little cynical and irritated; Perhaps a way to cope with fear since the humor wasn't doing enough. Regardless, he'd have to make it across the thin path before him, which was a bit nerve wracking, but alright. Here goes nothing.

A quick scan to make sure the light wasn't near him and he was off: Gritting his teeth as he nervously began to step along 'staircase' of flags and lamps, with notable gaps between them. With the dart gun, he'd be able to just fill the gaps, but now? He was traveling quick to keep momentum and tried to not stay on one piece of terrain for long. Until, suddenly, an end to his path appeared, causing him to almost fall straight off into the junk depths below. Shaking and ready to yell in panic, he quickly fired the dart gun and made himself enough footing that would allow him to just stand for a moment, panting from the heart attack he was on the verge of at this point. "Dang... That's gone." He said solemnly, noting he used his only dart. He couldn't get a clear sight of Geralt, so he had no way of knowing if their climb had worked out. Chest moving with his breaths, he scanned for a way forward, noticing something dangerous but possibly his only option.

Tucking his dart gun away, he pulled out his sling. Putting the two ends together, he gripped the handles and torn ends of the elastic exercise band he cut earlier, giving them a pull to make sure they were solid. His eyes peered at a flag pole that was pointed more downwards, but still in his desired direction. And at the end, a thin cabinet poking out of the junk he could plant his feet on. In a very nervous manner, he lowered himself in a very slow and careful manner, bringing his feet down onto the upside-down base of a lamp directly below the flag pole, which was a huge standing relief for him. He brought the bands around the top of the pole before gripping them again, staring at his destination with fear in his eyes. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if he didn't get over there, then at best he'd live out his days here. Alone. Because he refused to accept anyone else not making it out, so he had to, damn it!

Getting a running start, Mirage let out multiple fearful swears as he traversed down the pole, keeping atop thanks to his sling. The material of the band made things awkward but the force he started with helped him propel the full length of the pole, hands tightening as he reached the end, feet kicking the junk pile but not making it budge at all, as he dangled trying to position himself for a landing. "I think I just shaved a few years off my life." He commented to himself, now having to go up again.

Feet meeting bars, the tiny bamboozler pulled himself up with a heavy gasp, his body having exerted itself to get across without his darts. He plopped down onto the flat surface of a tv-stand, groaning as he weakly looked up, seeing Nadia's parachute. He wasn't sure what condition she was in, but maybe the parachute was in good enough shape to float her down here. He didn't see anything soft to break a landing in his immediate vicinity, so he instead just stayed down for the moment, catching his breath as he laid on his back, keeping an eye on Nadia. He would've asked if she was okay, but she was still a bit of a ways up from his perspective, and that monster didn't react well to much noise before. He'd simply hope his breaths weren't too much, and that it was more distracted elsewhere so he'd not have to move for a few more minutes...

World of Light

@Dark Cloud
Frog would be exactly how he was when he was four years old, with clothing to match, and none of his abilities or items.

So he'd be human again, actually.

Edit: Mentally he's the same though