Young Writers Society

 Race to the center of the scales! The Trial of Acid continues

"Well, something I really like about Lionel's creative process is that even though we're supposed to take cultural references and base our characters on them, we're still supposed to make them... Unique, yet recognizable. So all of them MUST have a gimmick that belongs to them, and no else. It sounds obvious when I say it like that, but it might actually be harder than you think. Especially with Lionel hoverin' above us and checking if we're recycling anything that's too obvious. Can't blame the guy though - nobody likes obvious palette swaps, after all!"

Mars Smoldereen, Lead Programmer of Project: Muster Heroes

...Maybe it's because I lied… I did smile when she was doing her Daemorph thing. But… She was satisfied after that, right? The whole talk about the future boss definitely calmed her down! Then… Was it… Was it before? When I ignored her presentation? Or is she still upset that I shouted at her back at the tavern? Does she still think I hate her?

His footsteps slowed down ever so slightly as his train of thought took another decisive stop.

But… I still hate her… Right?

The rhythm of his footsteps slowed down even more as flashes of his memories assaulted his mind.

“I'm your personal Kamikaz!”

...She's… she's just a…

“See?! Fun time! Fun time for pirates, dancers and devils all at one!”

...Just a…

“Got one year of mean pranks to clean up, so I'll be busy, but I can handle it!”

She's...

“Why wouldn't I wanna serve a lord as adorable as you are, mm?”

Mettrick's twin-headed hammer hit the ground he couldn't stop staring at, his eyes widened as he realized something. Something that he had believed to be utterly impossible. His arms felt like they weighted a ton.

“...Oh no...” he whispered to himself, heart pounding heavily in his chest. “Oh no no no no no, this is stupid…”

“Mettrick?”

Mettrick jumped in place and hastily turned back, surprised by Exceedjinn’s sudden interruption. “Wh-What?!” Mettrick shouted. “What d’you want? What’s happening?”

The Enchanter frowned. “What’s happening, Mettrick, is that you are standing in the middle of the pathway that our group has taken. That, and you are currently speaking to me, a member of the rear front, while you are supposed to be with the middle front. In short, I should be the one asking questions here. Well, in a less aggressive fashion, I might add.”

Mettrick suddenly realized that his cheeks were on fire and that he was heavily breathing. Surely, not the best image he could give to anyone at all, especially when almost shouting at Exceedjinn, who still appeared perfectly calm with his long, dark green mantle, and that eye-shaped sphere creepily staring at Mettrick from the top of Exceedjinn's white staff. Sheenobi and Diabolsaur were right behind, obviously confused by what they could see.

“I… Uh… Sorry, I just… I got distracted.” Mettrick whispered sheepishly. “I’ll go back with my squad now. S-Sorry.”

“Distracted?” Exceedjinn repeated, raising an eyebrow. “In the middle of such an important mission? Say, you aren’t planning on getting ‘distracted’ in every mission, are you? After all, you are supposed to be a strategist, therefore, your efficiency matters more than anything else.”

“Look, I know, okay?” Mettrick exclaimed, shaking with frustration. “You don’t need to scold me, I know what I’m doing! I’ll just go back to my place, keep beating up baddies, and we’ll stick with the plan. I… I get it. Just… Leave me alone. I’m sorry. I won’t get distracted again.” Mettrick walked away, dragging his hammer across the ground like the weight of his mysterious guilt. “Stop treating me like a kid…” he muttered. “Stupid…! This is stupid!”

Exceedjinn, Sheenobi and Diabolsaur stood there, confused by the boy’s departure.

“Sheen, why is Captain angry?” Diabolsaur inquired softly, pulling on Sheenobi’s sleeve.

“Um… Who’s 'captain'?” Sheenobi asked, uneasy.

Diabolsaur pointed in Mettrick’s direction.

“Oh! Um… I don’t know. He’s upset about something, I think, but I don’t know what.”

“Shouldn’t we go talk to him? To make sure he’s not angry for too long?”

“I…”

“Leave him be.” Exceedjinn intervened, shrugging. “I am unsure of what sort of distraction could cause such distress in our little friend’s mind, but I am sure that it is related to a certain trident-bearing tomboy.”

“…Kamikaz?”

Exceedjinn nodded at Sheenobi. “She always manages to anger or frustrate him in some way, as far as I've seen, so she must be related to that distraction – unless, as I speculate, she is the distraction herself. But for now, this is none of our concern.”

“Well um… If she keeps bullying him like that and he gets angry all the time, won’t that be a problem?” Sheenobi objected, slightly frowning. “I don’t think we should just… let that happen.”

“Perhaps. And in fact, I assume that we should care about this matter if it indeed persists – for the good of the team, of course. But we don’t know enough to intervene already, and Mettrick would most likely get even more upset if we did, which would then make him even less efficient. So, as I said, this is none of our concern for now. Let us continue our mission until we reach the Citadel of Ire.”

“'Kay, Boss!” Diabolsaur exclaimed, suddenly joyous. “I’ll go on ahead – not too far, I promise! And I’ll beat the Bsor… Sorb… Uh…”

“Bsorbees.” Sheenobi said patiently.

“Bsorbees! Bsor-bees. Right. I’ll go beat the Bsorbees then!” Diabolsaur ran off, turning his head in every corner as he punched the little enemies around the cave. Sheenobi glanced at Exceedjinn. “Um, should we run for a bit?” she inquired. “He’s probably going to run too far anyway.”

“I don’t believe my character is built around that kind of activities, or least I know that I won’t be able to catch up with you.”

“As long as I don’t use any speed boost, you’re fine, I think.”

“Hmm. Alright then.” Exceedjinn put away his shiny staff behind his mantle and ran along with Sheenobi. Luckily for them both, Diabolsaur was still in sight, slowed down by the Bsorbees he had to destroy for them.

“…Hmm. I almost forgot.” Exceedjinn commented. “No physical work when running in this virtual realm. How silly of me.”

“You don’t like running in real life?” Sheenobi inquired.

“I… Well it is a good way to keep oneself in good shape, and…”

Sheenobi giggled. “So you don’t like running in real life.”

“…No. No I don’t. Sorry, did I elongate a sentence again?”

Sheenobi jumped over a pair of Bsorbees that Diabolsaur hadn’t destroyed.

Pulse Shot x2! Execute!

Following her lead, Exceedjinn fired his projectiles directly from his hand and destroyed the wounded sphere-like enemies with ease.

“Don’t worry, I’m getting used to your phrasing.” Sheenobi assured as they pressed on. “I’m just trying to make sure you get to the point more often, you know? Um… Sorry if it’s a bother, but I just think it’s more…”

“…Efficient?” Exceedjinn completed, grinning. Sheenobi giggled once more. “You love that word, don’t you?”

“I don’t believe I used it very often until a couple of minutes ago.”

“No, but… Well it feels like it’s the main thing you care about when playing a game like this one. I mean I guess that’s why you’re a strategist, right? 'Cause you can see the bigger picture.”

“Hmm. Good way to put it.” Exceedjinn approved. “'Seeing the bigger picture' is most certainly what I do upon enjoying my Real-Time Strategy games – among others, I might had, but these are my favorites. Well, along with Shoot 'em Ups. I fancy large field of views.”

Sheenobi nodded. “Makes sense.” she commented. “I'm more a platformer girl, I think. But I also like management games. Y'know, kinda like… well...”

“Animals.” Exceedjinn completed, dodging another series of Bsorbees. “Lots of them.”

“Y-Yeah.” Sheenobi confirmed. “That's why I'm a big fan of ThirdEye's other series, Paichnidons. I'm a bit jealous that Yatsu got a Paichnidon for himself, but I'm also glad they're in Muster Heroes.” a bright smile enlightened Sheenobi's face. “I can't wait to get my hands on one! Maybe it's gonna be a Tingear! Or an Armscatt? Ooooh, or even a… Um… Stop… Stop looking at me like that, please.”

“I can't.” Exceedjinn swiftly replied, gazing at Sheenobi's blushing face. “You don't seem to realize the outstanding shift in persona that always occurs whenever you involve animals in a conversation. I realize that you don't appreciate Kamikaz, but you really do look like her in those cases.”

“Well I–”

“Duck!”

Immediately following Exceedjinn’s advice, Sheenobi threw herself on the ground, dodging a little swarm of speeding Bsorbees. Exceedjinn had moved aside, evading the sudden assault as well.

“Boss! Sheen! Are you alright?” Diabolsaur intervened, running back to their side. His spiky red hair and black-colored martial Gi was covered with shiny white dust. “Sorry sorry, I punched a big one, and I… forgot they could blow up into swarms.”

Exceedjinn glared at him, and would’ve certainly expressed his way of thought about Diabolsaur’s clumsiness had Sheenobi not walked up to him to give him a gentle pat on the head.

“It's okay, Diab.” Sheenobi assured. “You’re allowed to make mistakes. But.” she added in a much more dangerous tone, “Remember that you’re also supposed to cover us. So pay attention, okay?”

Diabolsaur nodded furiously and rapidly turned around, running towards a last bunch of Bsorbees he was supposed to get rid of.

“Is that… Is that what they call ‘the woman’s way’?” Exceedjinn commented, genuinely intrigued.

Sheenobi shrugged. “I don’t know. With him I just feel like I can act like with my pets. Um… I don’t mean that in a degrading way.”

“No, I get you.” Exceedjinn said, putting a hand to his face.

“Stop!”

Exceedjinn immediately froze, staring at his own hand with utter surprise.

“You know what?” Sheenobi continued, visibly on the verge of laughter. “Put on your glasses before starting playing next time, because this is getting very… out of hand!” Sheenobi couldn’t help but laugh, as she found the poor Enchanter’s embarrassed expression absolutely hilarious.

“I… you…”

“Sorry Exceed, I know this was a really bad pun, but… I had to!”

Exceedjinn let out a defeated sigh. “We’ve wasted enough time, I believe, so you can follow Diabolsaur's pace. Your… Your terrible sense of humor is acknowledged.”

Sheenobi pulled out one of her cards and dashed away. “Much appreciated!”

******

Gatling Summon! Execute!

“BANG! BA-BA-BANG! BA-BA-BA-BANG! Bullets all the way, yeeeeehaw!!”

Morkant remained still, arms crossed, a tiny grin on the face as he let his wacky cowboy of a friend destroy all the remaining Bsorbees around them with his gatling gun.

“Trig, they just keep respawning over and over, why are you insisting so much?” Morkant couldn't help but ask after a while.

TriggerZ turned his head towards his friend. “You could cover me, ya know.”

“Heh. I'll pass. I'll test my new stuff during the bossfight, if you don't mind. Not wasting my time with small fries.”

TriggerZ pulled a face. “You're mean, bro. That thing's funnier when you do it with people.”

“Farming can be fun? That's news to me.”

“Hey guys!”

Both TriggerZ and Morkant turned around. The newly creepy-looking Mettrick – both TriggerZ and Morkant had yet to get used to the boy's Ghoul Rags replacing his previous armor – was fending off his own batch of Bsorbees. A mixture of anxiousness and anger darkened his face.

“Uh, sorry for… dragging you down.” Mettrick immediately apologize. “I was a bit distracted, that's all. We can continue now.”

“See?” TriggerZ exclaimed, gazing at Morkant in a childishly defiant manner. “Not my fault he was late! I was just normally enjoyin' myself with the bsorbees, is all!”

“Keep tellin' yourself that, Trig.” Morkant answered, shrugging nonchalantly. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“S-So, can we go now?” Mettrick continued. “We're a bit late, and I think we better call the others to see if they found anything. By now they should've ran into the crocodiles.”

Morkant nodded in agreement before opening his menu and selecting the Communication option. The plan was finally taking its course once again.

“Can everyone in the scout squad, hear me?” Morkant called. “This is Morkant from the middle front. We're about to leave the Bsorbees area – a little late, I know – and we'd like to know what you guys found up ahead. Any crocodile encounter yet?”

“Hey Morkant! Fulguro here.” Fulguro answered through the communication window. “Yeah so, be careful from now on, because the first waves of crocodiles are coming your way for sure. We've passed a good chunk of these already, and we're currently resting for a bit until we're ready to go again.”

“Fair enough.” Morkant commented, nodding to himself. “And… what can they actually do, aside chomping on our feet?”

“They can come out of the ground at random. But each time one's about to come out, there's a slight pulsation on the ground and a yellow circle. As long as you can see that, you can walk away without problem. It starts getting complicated when both the trap jaws and the waves of crocodile appear together: you're bound to lose a lot of HPs there. Especially since you don't have a healer, or… Y'know.”

Morkant grinned. “Kamikaz?”

Fulguro chuckled. “Kamikaz.”

“Heard that!” a distant voice suddenly intervened. “Don't need to remind people who the most badass is: I already know that it's me!”

“And the most humble, I'm sure...” Yatsu commented.

“Never said I was, Maskreep. No need for modesty when you're a badass, that would be BORING!”

“H-Hey… Kaz!” a strangely hopeful Mettrick suddenly exclaimed.

“So are you guys are comin' or what?” Kamikaz continued, blatantly ignoring Mettrick. “Why are y'all so late?”

TriggerZ shook his head. “Ouch…” he couldn't help but whisper, giving a compassionate gaze to Mettrick.

Morkant glanced at the boy. “Uh, well we're late because Met–”

“I'm not used to a few of my new abilities yet, so I took the time to test them.” Mettrick lied, bitterness stuck in his tone. “So there. Sorry for keeping Miss Badass waiting for so long, I hope she doesn't mind that too much.”

“Nah! Kids often get lost in the places they're not used too, so I totally understand if your babysitters have to wait for your sorry butt. Hope it didn't hurt too much!”

Mettrick clenched his fist, a rising frustration taking hold of him. “Probably less that how much getting impaled hurt you!”

A sadistic laughter was heard on the other side of the line. “Big talk, coming from a lost kid who can't even fight by himself. Heck, you even got your own minions doin' that for ya. By the way, when am I giving up my life for you again? How about next Thursday?”

Genuine anger turned Mettrick's face completely scarlet. “You never…!” he stuttered. “You're not…! UGH!! You can go DIE for all I care!!”

“Mm-hm. Next Thursday then. Need a tissue?”

“STOP TREATING ME LIKE A KID!!!”

“You're a riot, Lil' Met!”

“I HATE you!”

“I know.” Kamikaz immediately replied, her voice almost grinning for her. “And I love it that way!”

“OKAY, this is getting us nowhere, we're pulling her out of the window's reach for a while.” Fulguro shouted over Kamikaz's protestations in the background. “So watch out for crocodiles, watch out for jaw traps, and watch out for these two getting together. Give us a call once you're done with that: we'll warn Exceed's group in the meantime.”

“Heh! We'll be fine.” Morkant assured, before gazing at a fuming Mettrick. “Well… Kinda. We'll figure something out. Bye for now.”

“Good luck!”

The communication window disappeared and Morkant, TriggerZ and Mettrick were left alone once again. The latter immediately marched forward, brandishing his twin-headed hammer like a vengeful mace.

“Wow wow wow, Mettrick!” TriggerZ called, walking behind him. “Calm down! Where are you–”

“SHUT UP!” Mettrick shouted back, glaring at his comrade. “I can handle myself! I'm not a kid! I don't need baby-sitters! And I don't need anything to get in my way! It's just gonna be me, my Helmetons, and we're gonna exterminate everything, and then we'll reach the boss, and then everything will be JUST FINE!”

Morkant suddenly approached Mettrick and took him by the shoulder. His usual ironic grin had disappeared.

“Let me go!” Mettrick exclaimed, trying to break free from Morkant's grip. “Let me–”

“I dare you to speak like that to us again, twerp.” Morkant interrupted sharply. “If you're dumb enough to give in to obvious provocations like that, then I guess Kaz is right, you really are a kid. And if you don't want us to be your baby-sitters, then why don't you stop getting distracted and get the job done, mm? Where did the ingenious kid we started the adventure with go? Y'know, the one with the armor? I wonder what he'd say if he looked at you right now.” Morkant brutally pushed Mettrick away, crossing his arms as he glared at his partner. Mettrick stared back, but ended up directing his gaze back to the ground, ashamed of his behavior.

“I… I'm sorry.” Mettrick whispered, dancing uneasily from one foot to the other. “I'm really sorry. You're right. You guys have nothing to do with this. It's… It's all her fault. It's always her fault. I was stupid to think it could change.”

“Uh, I know I don't exactly know what happened between you two last year and all,” TriggerZ intervened, crossing his arms like Morkant, “but I don't think you were wrong, no. That was the first time I saw her tease you that badly, and you kept saying that back then it was all the time. So she's not as bad as she was before, right?”

Mettrick took his head in his hands. “I don't know what to think anymore!” he exclaimed, raising his head towards TriggerZ. “What's her deal? What does she want? Why was she sulking? And why did she ignore me like that? She never ignores me! And… And why–”

“But why do you care?” Morkant asked, his exasperated expression matching his tone. “Isn't she just a bully you barely want to do anything with? Who cares what her deal is, since she's just another teammate?”

“I care because it's weird!” Mettrick replied. “Kaz is not acting like she used to, and that's… That's so much more fun, okay? Sure, she's still super sticky, and it's annoying, but it was nothing as… as awful as last year! And then she goes up and starts ignoring me for no reason, I try to ask her what's wrong, and she keeps ignoring me, and now she goes back to the way she was before! I don't want that! I'm sick of getting angry all the time! I...” Mettrick let out a defeated sigh. “...I just want to understand.”

“Maybe… Maybe you should stop trying to understand.” TriggerZ intervened, an unusually serious frown stuck on the face. “Maybe you should just… go with the flow, ya know.”

“Heh. And become a crazed gunman like that other guy who goes with the flow, eh Trig?”

“No no, I'm serious on this one!” TriggerZ insisted despite Morkant's sarcasm. “Maybe you should just stop thinking about it! I mean… what if she's not acting the way she usually does because you aren't acting the way you usually do, huh?”

Mettrick frowned. “Wait, so you're saying she's ignoring be because I'm not acting like I usually do?But... how do I usually act?”

TriggerZ retrieved his casual expression as he shrugged, shaking his head. “Dunno!” he exclaimed. “Can't help ya there. I wasn't there when whatever happened happened last year, so you'll have to figure it out yourself.”

“Yeah, and you better figure it out on the road.” Morkant added, “Because right now, we're still late, and it's still your fault. So could you please go back to being our strategist?”

Mettrick nodded. “I'll do my best. Let's start with keeping a running pace, since we'll run into these crocodiles eventually. I'll come up with something along the way.”

Morkant flashed a thumbs up. “Much better.”

Though the three companions finally managed to get back on their track, Mettrick couldn't help but keep on thinking about TriggerZ's words, for he was certain that they were harbingers of changes. Hopefully, for the better.

 ******

“Oh my gosh, Kaz! Really?!” Fulguro exclaimed upon closing the communication window, having warned Exceedjinn's group like he did with Mettrick's. “You just had to ruin everything and go back to bullying Mettrick? Don't you think he had enough of that already?”

Kamikaz was barely listening, her laughter almost covering the sound of Fulguro's exasperated voice. “Are you kidding me? That was flawless!” she exclaimed joyfully, not an ounce of regret in her eye. “Definitely worth the trouble, but I'm really sad I didn't get to see the super duper cute red face of anger Lil' Met has!” Kamikaz giggled to herself, imagining the result.

“Give up, man.” Yatsu intervened, sighing. “I don't think people like her understand what their actions actually do to their preys. It's best to just ignore it and move on.”

Kamikaz rose up and tranquilly marched forward, holding her trident with her hands behind her back. “There's nothing you can say about this, Maskreep.” she warned him with a bright smile. “You don't know what happened, and you don't know what I'm doin'. So, you can't talk. Sorry! Maybe next time!” she winked at him, which didn't seem to affect him in the slightest.

“I think I'm old enough to recognize a jerk when I see them.” Yatsu answered, crossing his arms.

Kamikaz shrugged. “I only brought things back to the way they should be. I'm the worst person in the world, Lil' Met hates me for it, and I love his hatred. See, that was when everything was perfect."

Fulguro frowned. "What do you mean?"

"And speakin' of perfect," Kamikaz continued, pointing at Yatsu's mask, "prepare your healing spell! 'Cause we gotta hit the road, and it's gonna be paaaaaaved with crocodile scales. Massacre ahoy!” Raising her fist in the air and flailing her cape with swift movements of her trident, Kamikaz slowly marched at the encounter of the enemies she knew would arrive. The others would follow anyway, she wasn't going to go that far. Besides, she was happy.

Everything was going according to plan.

Lil' Met had infuriated her when he started acting like a stupid, overly caring puppy, but finally, he was back to the way he was supposed to be. Emotive, frustrated, and most importantly, hating Kamikaz with a passion, and with good reasons. It was to soon for them to... For them to...

Kamikaz stopped her joyful march, expressing her deep sadness and culpability in one, silent sigh.

She wanted Lil' Met to like her. With all her heart, all her soul. But she knew that it was the last thing she deserved from him. She deserved to be punished first. For an entire year, she'd find ways to torture herself just like she tortured him, and finally, she'd be freed of her guilt. Finally, they'd become true friends.

Lost in thought, it was because she had taken Mettrick's habit of gazing at the ground when thinking that she saved herself. Below her feet rested a pair of teeth, and it was only when more of them popped up that she realized she was standing in a crocodile's jaw. Using her reflexes, she jumped on the side just as the jaws closed on the spot she was standing a second ago.

“Thanks, Lil' Met.” Kamikaz whispered to herself before raising her hand. “Begone, Here–”

Kamikaz's sentence ended in a sudden gasp: something pushed her slightly forward, and just like that, a good quarter of her Life Bar went up in smoke from the surprise damage she had just taken.

Wha… What just happened? Kamikaz couldn't help but ask herself. Then she gazed down, and her eyes widened as a horrifying vision unfolded before her eyes: a giant fang, much bigger than the ones she had seen so far, had pierced her armor and was coming out of her stomach.

Kamikaz's breathing quickened as flashes of a previous, much deadlier image invaded her mind. But unlike her previous experience, this one was much more short-lived: seconds after the fang impaled her, it vanished and Kamikaz fell on one knee.

What? Hey, stop shaking! It's a game! They're not real spikes! 

The trap had confirmed its status as being just that, a field trap, and not a creature that Kamikaz suspected to be behind her. When she did turn her head, all she could see was a bunch of crocodiles at the feet of a golden-armored warrior who was nonchalantly staring at her with her partially masked face.

“Whew! Thanks a ton for savin' me there, Fox Lady!” Kamikaz immediately exclaimed, hiding her growing uneasiness behind a joyful tone. “Guess I should've paid more–”

“Did the other kid give you his ability to be distracted at the worst possible moments?” J inquired, calmly walking towards Kamikaz and stopping right in front of her face. “Don't die.” J continued coldly. “There's nothing to die for here. If you die, the group dies. And by extension, me. I don't wanna die. So don't throw your fucking life away. Savvy?”

Kamikaz grinned. “I don't believe one single second that you're actually telling me this to save yourself. C'mon, tell me the real reason!”

“You missed the point.”

“I didn't! It's just that I'm gonna keep dying for Lil' Met unless he tells me to stop. So I'm still throwing myself in the nearest pit of lava I can find if it's to help his strategy. Wanna watch?”

J's silently tightened her grip around her weapon. “No.” was her immediate answer. “But I do wanna watch that scared as fuck face of yours again if you fall in a pit of spikes. You don't like those, apparently. Is it because of that impaling business?”

Kamikaz's grin slightly faded. “...'Kay. Here's the deal. You forget you saw that. And I'll make a special effort, just for you. Are we good?”

“...Mm. Deal.”

Kamikaz extended her hand, still smiling. J stared at it.

“If you don't shake that to seal the deal,” Kamikaz warned happily, “I'll find a way to hug you by the time this day is over.”

“Even if I snap your neck?”

Kamikaz giggled. “Especially if you snap my neck.”

J raised an eyebrow. “Does that even make sense?”

Kamikaz raised an eyebrow as well. “Do I look like a logical kind of girl?”

J took Kamikaz's hand and shook it, finally sealing their mutual agreement.

“As for my reason,” J continued, swinging her rapier and bending her knees, “I like your guts.”

Kamikaz winked at J. “D'you you prefer them spilled, or like, fried? 'Cause if gore's still allowed in this game, I might as well send you some pictuuuures...”

“Shut up and fight.”

“You got it, Sis! Hey, you should try this 'talking' thing more often, it's really workin' out for ya!”

“Mm. Credits go to Thunder Boy. Don't think this is gonna be a trend. Let's go.”

During the following minutes, the barbaric frenzy of Kamikaz and J's deadly ballet merged together, forming an unstoppable orchestra of destruction in which every and all enemy they met would take part in, falling like flies in front of their improvised duet. As Yatsu and Fulguro caught up with the girls and attempted to support them, they quickly realized that they were but side characters in the play Kamikaz and J were writing before their eyes.

“Duck, Sis!”

J immediately crouched, allowing Kamikaz to step on her shoulders and take some momentum, leaping beyond a new line of dwarven crocodiles.

“Know your limits, sinner!” Kamikaz shouted. “Exploder Pike!”

Exploder Pike! Execute!

Catchphrase Bonus: Activated!

A crimson red glow covered the tip of Kamikaz's trident and she swiftly turned back, impaling all five crocodiles on her weapon. She then raised it in the air, and much like with her Burn Cast, the five creatures instantly detonated, leaving nothing but ash and dusty remains behind them. Kamikaz proceeded by pointing her trident on the horizon, a radiant smile on the face.

Battle Cry! Execute!

Crocodiles and living jaws around them – even those that Fulguro and Yatsu were fending off – immediately abandoned their actions and rush to Kamikaz's position.

“You're up, Sis!” with that single warning, Kamikaz jumped away while J rushed to her previous place and bent her knees just as her rapier shone with its usual orange glow.

Gale Blade! Execute!

J spun around and a circular blade of air appeared, flying in all directions and instantly striking all the enemies that Kamikaz had attracted. But as both of them had expected, a lot of them were still alive.

“Shit. I don't have time for an Alchemy Twirl.” J revealed, swinging her rapier with annoyance. 

“Hey, don't worry about it, Sis!” Kamikaz assured. “It's me they want. You can just snipe 'em with your glorious poking device and you'll be juuuuust fine!”

But as the two girls braced themselves from an imminent attack of their recovering foes, a golden blur flew in the air and landed right in front of them, revealing itself to be Yatsu, wearing a brown variant of his cloak with golden boots at his feet.

“Or how about you count on the two other guys on your team and let them handle the rest?” Yatsu suggested as he rose from the ground, before a puff of smoke appeared in mid-air, revealing a book that the teenager immediately grabbed.

Masquerade Weaver! Execute!

Yatsu's cloak turned black, and a peculiar waist cape appeared, covering the lower part of his body. It looked like eight tails shaped like spider legs, which gave a creepy feeling to his attire.

“Of the boastful weaving beauty I am the heir, and none can doubt that my skill is fair!” Yatsu exclaimed, slamming his palm on the ground. “Contemplate my unbreakable Aegis Yarn!”

Dramatic Quote Bonus Activated!

Yatsu's spider leg-like features rose above his head, weaving an elaborate defensive dome with outstanding speed. Before the enemy reptiles could bite anything with their jaws, the defensive construction had already appeared, stopping their attacks and paralyzing those who had struck it.

“All set.” Yatsu simply commented.

Multi-Polygon Bolts! Execute!

Far away from their position, a crackling sound resounded in the air, like a fading roar announcing the imminent coming of a harsh rain. Then, an army of bright polygon-shaped projectiles covered the air and flew in their direction before detonating, destroying everything that it touched – aside for Yatsu's defensive Aegis Yarn barrier. Before long, the remaining enemies the group of scouts had had to fight were vanquished, leaving the group in a short-lived silence. As Yatsu's construction disappeared and his cloak reverted to its normal dark red color, Fulguro revealed himself, walking in the small group's direction with a satisfied smile on his face. He performed a fist bump with Yatsu and gazed at the girls.

“You girls should really stop running ahead of us and get in that sort of trouble.” he said to them.

“C'mon, you call that trouble?” Kamikaz exclaimed, brushing off his words with a gesture of her hand. “'Sides, with backup like that, I don't think we need to worry much about our backs. 'Cause seriously man, ten outta ten on that swiping job! You need to get upgrades on that polygon thing!”

“I know, right? I seriously love that Skill, I can't wait to see just how awesome it can get later on!”

Kamikaz put a solemn hand on Fulguro's shoulder. “You have learned the true meaning of butt-kicking in flaring fashion.” she declared, narrowing her eyes to parody an old master talking to his pupil. “You are now free to explode as many foes as possible and develop your true style in the matter. Onward, my child!”

“...Seriously?” Yatsu intervened, crossing his arms. “Nobody's gonna comment on my awesome front flip back then? Or like, how I protected everyone and paralyzed the crocodiles so that thunder show-off over there could get his finishing touch? That's just cold, guys. Just sayin'.”

Planting her trident on the ground, Kamikaz jumped in Yatsu's direction, passed her arms around his neck and assaulted his masked face with a violent kiss on the cheek.

“You get a nine outta ten, Maskreep!” Kamikaz exclaimed, winking at him. “Not enough explosions!”

“...So I'm gonna ignore the fact that you just did that and take the nine.” he muttered bitterly, rubbing his hand on his cheek. “So what's the next step?”

“Well we keep advancing, Maskreep! Which we wouldn't have any problem doing if you boys weren't so freaking sloooooooooow!”

“Yeah, we're so sorry for being late.” Fulguro apologized, sarcasm oozing from his tone. “I mean it's not as if we've been sending updates to the other groups like we were supposed to, or anything, right Yatsu?”

“Tell me about it!” the other continued in the same tone. “We're sooooo hopelessly slow that I should try and add a slug form to my arsenal. Want one, Fulguro?”

Kamikaz rolled her eyes. “I get it. Responsibilities. Thank you guys for keeping them around. There, happy? Can we go now?”

“No.” J suddenly intervened.

Kamikaz gazed at her, surprised. “..No?”

“No.”

“Okay. Any reason, Sis?”

Without turning back, J lifted her arm to point at something behind her. Kamikaz looked in that direction and her eyes widened.

“How… How did I not notice that before?” Kamikaz asked quietly. The first odd element she could witness was the paved ground meters away from the group's position, which blatantly contrasted with everything they had seen in the Labyrinthine Innards so far. It was as if Handbagg had digested extremely well-polished gray-colored bricks that had reassembled themselves perfectly inside of his stomach.

Then, there was the ship.

Indeed, the paved road led to a gigantic brown battleship, which was about twice the size of Irvin's Squaldon's already impressive vessel, and looked more like a wooden ark than anything else. Oversized black cannons were springing out from the ship's side, their gaping holes staring menacingly at the players. Stuck in the ship's stern rested a large, medieval-style tower, made from the same gray bricks paving the ground that led to it.

Needless to say, the entire construction looked severely out of place, which made it clear to everyone that this was where the next powerful foe was awaiting them.

Fulguro and Yatsu joined Kamikaz's side to contemplate the construction with her, while J opened her menu to read something of her own.

“Hey, guys?” Fulguro said, having opened the communication window. “I think we found the Boss Room. Should we get inside, or wait for everyone else?”

“The boos room?” Mettrick answered immediately. “Does it look like… uhh… some kind of ship? 'Cause I remember the core thingy being stuck inside a broken ship full of monsters.”

“Definitely a ship.” Yatsu confirmed, joining the discussion. “But there's a tower next to it. It looks kinda old, but I wouldn't call it broken.”

“It's inside that it's supposed to look broken.” Mettrick rectified. “Or at least, that's what I remember. Uh… Well you guys are the scouts, so normally, yeah, you should totally go inside and trigger the boss anyway… but… That tower's not supposed to be there. So since the guys at ThirdEye can take liberties with the cultural references they take, I feel like they're gonna lock the room even if the full team's not inside.”

“So we should run towards the ship and see what happens, but we don't enter yet?” Fulguro inquired.

“Yeah. I think this is where we switch to Exceed's strategy and move in like a human tank. We don't have too many field traps to worry about if we're inside, and we can always switch formations if things get crazy. Uh… Does that… does sound good for everyone?”

“Yay! Captain's not angry anymore!” Diabolsaur shouted.

“No objections from us.” Exceedjinn commented. “The scouts may proceed to the next step of the plan.”

“No objections from us either!” Fulguro assured, gazing at his comrades. Yatsu gave him a thumbs up. “Guess that means we'll deal with the remaining traps here 'til everyone's here.” Fulguro continued. “See you all in a few!”

Kamikaz walked towards Fulguro, grinning at the communication window. “Enjoy the fireworks!” she exclaimed. “'Cause we're gonna blast that entrance, and I'm pretty darn sure you'll see it go kablooey!”

A short silence followed Kamikaz's sentence, and the window closed itself. She giggled in return. “Perrrrrrfect. Let's go do our thing then!”

“...So when people are upset, you're happy, and when they're not, you're sulking?” Fulguro inquired. “Seriously, what's your deal?”

A sly smirk appeared on Kamikaz's face as she gazed at an exasperated Fulguro. “I'm the worst person in the whole wide world! The rest you don't need to know.” and with that, as well as a final wink towards Fulguro, Kamikaz casually walked away, her trident over her shoulder, and her feet directing her towards the giant flagship, just as its cannons suddenly regained motion to aim themselves at her.

The real party was finally beginning.