Sunny Sky Blue – Delfino Plaza Defense?:
The Kruna Yura returned to Mushroom Kingdom for the night to sleep, but they were back out and flying west on course for Isle Delfino early the next morning. As they neared the island out in the Pyrimies Ocean, the Kruna saw confirmation of their suspicions and what Commander Buinton's passport card had said. MAE controlled Isle Delfino; and though approximately half of the island had evaded the magical mechanical touch of MAE innovation and advancement, the organization had done more than enough renovation for the Kruna to notice from their Bullet Blitzer. Delfino Plaza had experienced the most mass technological overhaul out of all of the island's locations, making for a stark contrast with the island's non-mechanized areas.
Bowser veered the Bullet Bill-shaped copter to the north side of Isle Delfino and flew towards Corona Mountain, one of the areas on the island left untouched to this point. The fairly remote region made for a decent spot to park the Bullet Blitzer, out of sight from the public eye. Once Bowser picked out a plateau near the base of the volcano to park, the Kruna set out along the grassy fields south to Delfino Plaza, the likely capital for MAE Isle Delfino and a place where they hoped to either run into Warra – however doubtful Athelstan and Bowser seemed about that outcome – or get some answers on MAE as a whole.
"If nothing else results from this, we at least need to figure out where MAE's headquarters is," Bowser said as they stepped onto a dirt road in the open field. "If we can find out where their main base of operations is and take down whoever their leaders are, we can destroy MAE from the inside-out. As things are right now, that'll be the best way to handle this. Quick and efficient and with minimal involvement from the public. Proactive, rather than reactive."
"Yeah, and we do have a responsibility to help keep things in this world stable," said Daisy.
"I wonder if the future Marissa ever had to deal with MAE in her timeline," said Ramona.
"I'm pretty sure she must have had to," said Bowser. "But I could easily imagine Marissa and her archfiends annihilating anything that had to do with MAE without question. And I could also see no one of the Comet Observatory or Rainbow City even knowing of it until after the fact, that because of the then Nirvana Barrier's status over Earth preventing them from watching anything without them going under the barrier themselves."
"Who knows – maybe that Dark Sentinel robot that was chasing us was actually stolen from MAE," said Athelstan.
"Yeah, why not," said Neva. "Scratch that three-letter emblem with wings off the machine and screw with its tech, and then you've got a bootleg killer robot you didn't even have to build."
Ramona smiled. "That's something I would've expected Andrew to say."
"I gotta fill in for that smart-ass idiot since he's not here," said Neva.
"I hear ya," said Athelstan. "It's not the same without his witty and cheeky commentary. Of course, I've got witty commentary too."
"You're cornier than corn," said Bowser. "Not the same."
"But equally as needed, I'd say," added Daisy. "And the one thing that really sucks about this MAE issue is that there's other stuff that we need to be doing; namely, figuring out where Warra and Andrew are, for one. Then we also have to remember that Kokoro still has the Ankh. And I also have to figure out how the Vranzer works."
"You mean you still have no idea how to use that thing?" asked Neva.
"Nope," Daisy said. "Nor have I figured out what it actually does."
"Why don't you put the Vranzer on now?" said Athelstan. "If it yields an automatic effect, you won't know what it does unless you keep it on and let it react to whatever it needs to react to."
"But as things are now, the Orianthi is more useful," said Daisy. "Whenever I've tried to use the Vranzer, it's been unresponsive. I could still need to use the Orianthi."
"Then give the Orianthi to Ramona," said Athelstan. "Her Alkemei's pretty useless right now."
"Woah – no no no no no!" Ramona shrieked. "I am not using that one! Daisy, you go ahead and keep that! Arka Knight gave that to you, not me!"
"Well, at least wear the Vranzer for a while, Daisy," said Athelstan. "If it doesn't seem to help much, then switch back to the Orianthi."
"It has to help in some way," said Daisy. "I didn't go through what I did to get this just to end up with a dud pendant."
"Then put it on and figure out what it does," said Bowser. "If we really need the Orianthi, then pull it out and equip it when it's needed. But as it stands now, the Vranzer is a dud and will stay useless unless you can figure it out. So put it on and leave it on for more than five minutes and figure it out."
Daisy sighed. "You guys are right. I really should give more of a chance to let it work..."
Once Daisy swapped out her Orianthi for the Vranzer, she put the now dulled Orianthi away into her Hammerspace Belt. The Vranzer's gem became saturated with a glossy black once attached to Daisy's neck, though it did nothing when Daisy tried to will it to activate. But in spite of the disconcerted feeling that ran through her, she committed to keeping it on. As time passed, she could feel a sense of reassurance developing over wearing the special Alkemei.
The Kruna soon entered the outer borders of not Delfino Plaza, but Delfino Square instead. They had to pass through the smaller seaport and market area known as Delfino Square first before they could get to Delfino Plaza. Despite not being as large, Delfino Square demonstrated extensive amounts of the same technological innovation and advancement the Kruna saw in MAE Beanbean Kingdom – albeit, with a heavier industrial emphasis there. The rural countryside region to the north in comparison to the factory and power plant dominant urban area to the south represented a contrast akin to that of day and night.
"This island must serve as some source of production for MAE equipment," said Athelstan.
"I'm thinking this is just more of a seaport," said Bowser. "But it could also be an offshore manufacturing locale."
As the Kruna progressed along Delfino Square's bolted streets, they noticed an absence of citizens and non-MAE personnel in the area. In fact, all the people and robots in the area seemed to be workers. Considering Delfino Square's scant security presence, the Kruna did not feel any immediate threat. In the back of their minds however, they wondered how many of the MAE workers they passed watched them. Bowser also wondered if MAE had somehow witnessed their fight against Commander Buinton, which would likely mark them as hostile to every MAE-controlled province and territory. The lack of aggression demonstrated so far in Delfino Square boded well for them in that respect. They passed through Delfino Square with minimal issue.
But then the time came when the Kruna exited Delfino Square's main sector and arrived at its southwestern outer edge. The short stretch of grass and trees harbored one end of a long, wide bridge over a bay. Delfino Plaza existed at the other end of the bridge, but a conspicuously strange feature hung over the top of the entryway.
The Kruna noticed the object in better detail when they neared the bridge entrance. It was a high-tech piece of equipment that grappled the tall first row of bridge support tower posts with six-fingered hands coming out of segmented, ball-constructed arms. Its spiked arms connected at two points of its flattened and curved hexagonal body, and feather-textured anti-gravity cylinders stuck out of the sockets of the other four points. At the center of its body, a large, four-point gold star and a smaller and diagonal four-point blue star encircled an opaque dome. Altogether, the compact white and gray machine measured equal in size to Bowser's shell.
"What do you guys think that is?" Daisy asked.
In an instant, the dome of the suspended machine opened up to uncover a bulbous, life-like eye with a red iris. The Kruna froze in their tracks the moment the machine's eye revealed itself. When the machine centered its eye's sight on them and released itself from the bridge to float towards them, they had a feeling the peaceful, pleasant sunny day was about to turn violent.
"UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL NOT PERMITTED BEYOND THIS POINT," the machine projected. Its speech sounded organic, but its tone was harshly metallic and synthesized.
"I was going to say that it was some weird decoration," muttered Neva.
"Not permitted?" Daisy said. "Too bad. We need to get into Delfino Plaza there-"
"UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL NOT PERMITTED BEYOND THIS POINT," the machine repeated. "TURN BACK AND DEPART, OR FACE CAPITAL PUNISHMENT THROUGH MAE DEFENSE SYSTEM."
"MAE Defense System?" said Ramona.
"I'm gonna take a wild guess here," said Bowser. "You're the defense system, aren't you?"
"YES," said MAE Defense System. "I AM THE DEFENSE SYSTEM UNIT ASSIGNED TO DELFINO PLAZA. FINAL WARNING TO SUSPICIOUS GROUP: LEAVE, OR PERISH ON THE SPOT."
"Wow, not giving us much of a choice there with that ultimatum," said Daisy.
"UNIVERSAL DATABASE ONLINE AND ACCESSIBLE," said MAE Defense System. Its arms, stars, and anti-gravity cylinders all amplified their glow.
"Oh boy – here we go!" Ramona said.
The Kruna had little time to prepare themselves before MAE Defense System went on the offensive, though not because the machine attacked. Its eye glowed, and the stars surrounding its eye entered a rapid, blurring rotation as a wave of gold light beamed out of its pupil onto the ground in front of the Kruna. A golden hologram of a large, humanoid mouse with sunglasses, gloves, and boots formed out of the light. Once the holographic being appeared, MAE Defense System flew high overhead and out of reach of the Kruna.
"HOLO MOUSER LOADED," said MAE Defense System.
Athelstan stifled a laugh. "Are they serious? Holograms? How are they supposed to do anything with holograms-"
The Kruna of Stone flopped onto the ground after a holographic baseball bat hit him in his head. After a few bounces on the pavement, the thrown bat dissipated. Holo Mouser took out another bat and chucked it at Daisy, but she sidestepped in time to avoid taking a hit from the erratically spinning object.
"Tangible holograms?" Athelstan groaned, clutching his face.
"Oh, they're doing that holographic meatloaf bit, aren't they?" said Ramona.
Bowser gave Ramona a weird look. "What's that from?"
Holo Mouser took out another bat and rushed at Neva, this time intent on using the bat as a melee weapon. Out of panic, Neva threw up her hands and shrieked. When Holo Mouser struck, he struck hard – much harder than anyone thought he would. Neva flew off the asphalt and into a helpless tumble in the grass, stunned and dazed.
"It's too nice of a day for this," said Ramona.
"Seriously, what is MAE?!" said Daisy.
Holo Mouser pulled out a lit holographic bomb and tossed it at the group of four Kruna, who backpedaled the moment they saw him wind up to throw it. An actual explosion occurred that left behind scorch marks on the street once the bomb contacted it. Two more bombs flew at the Kruna and further scattered them in evasion.
"Hey, Athelstan," said Daisy. "Don't let one of those hit ya!"
"Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea," said Athelstan.
"It's too bad this defense system chose such a joke of a fighter to make a hologram out of," said Bowser. He breathed out a fireball to clash with the next bomb Holo Mouser threw, causing a midair explosion. Ramona pulsed out a shot of light from her Solar Greatsword through the explosion and scored a hit on their holographic enemy. Daisy then dashed at Holo Mouser and laid down a feisty combo of punches, kicks, and elbows on him.
Holo Mouser's form fizzled and glitched some when he fell, but he got up before long and pulled out another bomb. Neva recovered in time to see Daisy back flip away just as Holo Mouser set up to hurl his bomb. With a quick draw of her Freeze Coil Sniper, Neva got off an ice bullet on Holo Mouser that rocked him enough for him to drop his bomb. The volatile bomb exploded upon hitting the asphalt in front of Holo Mouser, and the blast decimated him into nothingness.
"Awesome shot, Neva!" Daisy cheered.
"See? He sucked," said Bowser. "Already gone."
MAE Defense System flew back into close proximity and zoomed throughout the area before setting up to create another holographic being. This time, a giant holographic Whomp took shape from MAE Defense System's eye beam. The machine again zipped away to let its artificial creation do battle.
"HOLO WHOMP KING, ATTACK!" MAE Defense System shouted.
"And here's another guy that sucks," said Bowser.
As fast as he could, Holo Whomp King revved his stubby legs up into a sprint and leapt at Bowser and Athelstan. He had intended to smash himself down on the two Kruna, but he did not expect Athelstan to catch him and raise him overhead. Tapping into his Alkemei Odina, Athelstan threw Holo Whomp King with double-strength force. The huge Whomp hologram crashed into a tree and knocked it over, almost sailing into the bay in the process.
"Aw man, he would've gone for a swim if that tree weren't in the way," said Athelstan.
"Hey, I remember this guy!" said Daisy. "How did that defense system create a hologram of him?"
Holo Whomp King pushed himself off of the ground and rocked to his feet, glitching out much like Holo Mouser did. He charged at Daisy and Ramona this time and lunged at them in much the same way he had dove at Bowser and Athelstan. Daisy and Ramona both split to dodge in opposite directions and let Holo Whomp King drop onto the ground. Athelstan ran over with his Mountain Hammer out and brought it down on Holo Whomp King's cracked back with his Odina still active. The monstrous hit utterly demolished Holo Whomp King into crumbled pieces that proceeded to evaporate without any trace left behind.
"Oof – I felt that," mumbled Ramona.
"So it seems as though these holograms will break apart if they get hit enough times," said Athelstan. "They must become unstable if they take too much damage."
"Nice security force," said Bowser.
Neva had her sniper up and ready to shoot when MAE Defense System flew back around. She fired the moment MAE Defense System slowed to a still hover, only for the machine to project a light shield in anticipation of the attack attempt and block the two incoming ice shots. MAE then used its abilities to create four separate but identical holograms directed at Neva of big-headed triceratops.
"HOLO REZNORS ENGAGED," MAE Defense System said as it flew out of reach once more.
The four Holo Reznors stampeded at Neva with their horns aimed at her. With how close MAE Defense System had spawned them, they moved much too fast for Neva to get out of the way of. Perhaps even more surprising, Daisy somehow, with as far away as she was, reached and cut through the Holo Reznors to snatch Neva and jump over the attackers.
Neva gasped when Daisy landed, clutching to the earth wielder as if hanging over the edge of a skyscraper. Her senses had blurred in the two seconds that passed between the Holo Reznors charging at her and Daisy getting her to safety. Daisy was not even in Nova Form, yet she had moved so swiftly and stupefied Neva with her speedy reaction and movement.
"Wha-what just happened?" Neva mumbled, wide-eyed.
"I just saved you from a bunch of holograms; that's what!" Daisy replied.
"Um...uh," Neva sputtered out. "I don't...I don't know what to do with my hands..."
"You can start by letting go of me," said Daisy.
Neva seemed shaky when Daisy set her down to stand on her own. Though not as much as Neva, the other Kruna also showed some surprise. They knew Daisy was fast, but the way she had just moved demonstrated ridiculous amounts of speed and agility both.
"She sure hasn't been slacking since Marissa, huh?" said Athelstan.
"It took Nova Form for her to be able to move that fast before..." Bowser murmured.
"Oh dear, I really fell behind if she's able to do all that now," mumbled Ramona.
"Maybe we all did," Athelstan said. "That's insanity right there."
By the time Neva started sobering, the Holo Reznors had turned around to charge at her and Daisy again. Neva got away without Daisy's aid this time, and Daisy did not evade the Holo Reznors with the same quickness she had exhibited moments ago. Bowser and Ramona aimed their respective tools at the Holo Reznors, but the holograms demonstrated some agility of their own in turning and leaping over the blasts the two Kruna sent at them.
With their sights on Bowser and Ramona now, the Holo Reznors dashed at them with their mouths open. As they ran, they released burst after burst of fire in front of them for a combo attack of fireballs and tackling. Ramona got her Sun Shield up and ducked under it, but Bowser snagged her and ran to the side.
"Hey, what're you doing?" Ramona asked.
"You would've blocked their fire, but you still would've gotten trampled!" Bowser snapped.
The Holo Reznors curved their run and their aim at Bowser and Ramona as the Kruna of Fire continued to pull his light teammate around to their left. Some of the Holo Reznor fireballs blasted away a few of the limited amount of trees in the area, but MAE Defense System did not seem at all concerned with the collateral damage. Almost a full circle of burned, charred ground stained the asphalt and grass before the Holo Reznors stopped their pursuit.
Daisy pulled out her Laser Drill Staff the moment she noticed the Holo Reznors had stopped near the edge of the grass by the bay. Before the Holo Reznors could move again, she focused her elemental powers through her staff and raised the chunk of earthen land into a slope. As Daisy increased the incline of the ground the Holo Reznors stood on, they each lost their footing one by one and rolled off the edge into the bay water. Though they could not see the Holo Reznors after they fell into the bay, the Kruna could hear each Holo Reznor's splash and subsequent disbandment.
"Oh, nice!" Neva said as Daisy replaced the ground she had worked.
"Hey, come on!" Athelstan cried. "I was about to smack 'em with one of those trees!"
MAE Defense System's eye had an angry look to it when the machine reappeared to create another hologram. The hologram of a vicious dog-wolf hybrid that dropped out of the air became instantly recognizable for each of the Kruna, for they had to deal with copious amounts of such enemies when fighting against Marissa in Sarasaland. Wonder over how MAE Defense System created its holographic enemies reached its apex when the large, demonic canine growled at them.
"HOLO HELLHOUND, POUNCE!" MAE Defense System commanded.
"Man, nobody wanted to see one of those things again!" Neva grumbled.
Holo Hellhound crept towards Daisy and Neva, the closest of the five Kruna considering Bowser and Ramona were on the other end of the small field and Athelstan stayed centered on the road. Neva tried to get a shot off on MAE Defense System, but it again flew off to a point away from the main battle area and out of range. The sound of her rifle set Holo Hellhound off, and the holographic demon dog jumped at Neva. With amazing reflexes, Daisy slammed an uppercut into Holo Hellhound right before it could lash at Neva. Surprise once more filled Neva, for Daisy could not have timed that punch better.
Holo Hellhound flipped and landed on its feet with a growl, ready to strike again. However, it had to make an evasive jump before it could attack so that it could clear itself out of the way of the tree Athelstan threw at it. Now, Holo Hellhound had its sights on the Kruna of Stone. It took off with angered haste powering its legs, but Neva caught it in its left hind leg with a shot from her rifle. With its leg now partially frozen, Holo Hellhound slowed down enough for Athelstan to bring up some of the road in front of him and let the hologram ram into that instead. Ramona and Bowser advanced and blitzed Holo Hellhound with their light and fire while it sat there stunned. Athelstan's quick jolt of the raised asphalt then shoved Holo Hellhound away and closer to Neva, who ran at the holographic dog and jammed her Chill Sickle into it. After crying out in a howl of pain, Holo Hellhound broke apart and disintegrated.
MAE Defense System zipped back into the immediate area near Daisy and Neva, still mad and now glowing again. Its eye generated light, but it gathered in a pulsating, oozing blue orb rather than to create another hologram. With the way it aimed its eye, Daisy and Neva could tell that MAE Defense System was targeting them for a likely attack. They dashed under the machine and across the street right as it released its wavy energy beam, but they had to keep moving when MAE Defense System traced its aim their way.
"Doesn't look like it's up for using those holograms anymore," said Athelstan.
"One of y'all, do something!" Neva yelled as she and Daisy ran. "I'm not getting hit by an eye cannon! Like, that's just not happening!"
Bowser flared and slung a fireball off of one of his Blazer Claws with a curve to its flight. The projectile angled into MAE Defense System and hit it in its MAE-emblem on its back, disrupting its cannon attack. Minimal time passed before MAE Defense System turned around and flew at Bowser, its arms and open hands now vibrating with free-flowing electricity. As it flew, it spread its arms out in opposing curves and entered a furious full-body rotation that made it resemble a spinning top.
"Are you frickin' kidding me?!" Bowser grunted as he dodged through a hard skid in his shell.
MAE Defense System bounced off the ground where Bowser formerly stood and reentered the air, its rotation wobbling from the hit but gaining speed. It launched itself at Bowser again, provoking the Kruna of Fire into another dodge. However, it turned out to be a fake attack. Before Bowser even made the evasive move, MAE Defense System whipped its flight around and swooshed through the air at Ramona. Barely prepared, Ramona spun just out of MAE Defense System's reach and felt the gust of its rotational speed and its electric charge swipe at her hair as it flew by.
"Brilliant bloody hell – stop this crazy thing!" Ramona screamed, breaking into a sprint.
"Got it!" Daisy called out, a fist charged with seismic power. With MAE Defense System curving into a chase at Ramona, Daisy ran at her light teammate and crossed paths with her to intercept the pursuing machine. Not too far behind Daisy, Neva had an attack of her own on standby for her approach. The Kruna of Earth nullified MAE Defense System's electricity and shook up its rotation when she forced out the seismic rumble of her Shotgun blast.
Having been given enough time to ready her advanced elemental ability, Neva then unleashed the latent magnetism within the ice she had generated around her sickle and directed the power at MAE Defense System. Now bound in place, the machine struggled to break from Neva's magnetic hold. Daisy moved aside to clear the way for Athelstan, who trotted at the machine with his hammer up and his Odina active one more time. At that point, MAE Defense System could not do anything to protect itself. With Neva holding it in place and disrupting its electronics, Athelstan smashed his hammer into MAE Defense System using enough strength to obliterate the machine into hundreds of pieces in much the same way he had finished off Digga-Leg.
"Bro, you are too strong," Daisy said among the clanks and pitter-patter of falling metal.
Athelstan grinned and flipped his tool a couple of times in his hands. "I'm liking this hammer and Alkemei combo."
"I bet you are," said Neva.
"I want to know what was up with that robot and what was up with those holograms it was making," said Bowser. "Tangible holograms at that. But maybe even more than that – Mouser? Whomp King? Reznors?"
"And then a hellhound to top it all off," said Ramona. "And it howled out in pain when Neva stabbed it."
Bowser grimaced. "Just how are they doing all of this?"
Athelstan was the only one with a response. "Technology – am I right?"