Chapter 14, Pt. 2: Blitzkrieg

Hi there! Bet you've probably been waiting at the edge of your seat for me to come back since we last hung out. And who could blame you with the way we left off? Scuttle Town being attacked first thing in the morning in the middle of a vicious thunderstorm while Ammo Baron's base of operations suffered much the same fate, with both ambushes being masterminded by none other than the dastardly Risky Boots? I'd be on edge just like you, if I wasn't the one spoon-feeding you all this juicy gossip! Anyway, we concluded our last excerpt at the tail end of Scuttle Town nearly being overrun by Risky's forces, followed by the miraculous resurgence of Shantae right when everyone needed her to make her spectacular return to the front lines. We... also ended off with a certain Ammonian general and his tech-savvy gator pal desperately trying to escape an apparent assassination attempt perpetrated by a certain vengeful extraterrestrial soldier who, last we remember, was turned evil by Risky herself. However, while attempted murder is a serious crime, it'd be a much, MUCH more egregious transgression against the law not to give you the account of how that situation came to fruition the way it did. And with that, I humbly welcome you... to the flip side, where I said I'd see you after the end of the last chapter. There's a lot to cover, as always, so strap in, grab your snacks, go to the bathroom (in whatever order you choose), and let's ride...

Some hours before the two-pronged Tinkerbat invasions...

LOCATION: CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS, RISKY BOOT'S SHIP, SEQUIN LAND

DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, 16 P.G.F.

TIME: 0426 HOURS

We rejoin our most favorite (or, depending on how you look at it, least favorite) buxom buccaneer as she'd appeared to be stirring awake at a most unusual hour for anyone to be waking up. With a most engaging stretch and yawn, the malevolent lady pirate Risky Boots arose within her bed, adjusting her midriff-baring, dark blue, sleeveless crop top as she blinked her eyes a few times to clear her vision within the nearly pitch-black confines of her captain's quarters.

"Whoo… Hmm…~" she moaned, stretching once more as she wiped her eyes with her hands. "What a great night's sleep that was… By far, the best I've had in ages, despite how early it seems to be…" she murmured, tiredly reaching over to the nearby nightstand, where she wrapped her fingers around a glass container with a candle inside. She reached over once more to grab a match, which she struck before using it to set the candle alight to provide some illumination within the pirate ship's master chamber. Setting the lamp down, she peered around the room to find that everything was exactly as she'd left it when she went to bed… including the captive she'd still had chained to the wall at the far end of the room. Grinning with malicious, triumphant glee as she often did, Risky climbed out of bed to reveal the other half of her two-piece pajama set, which consisted of a form-fitting pair of short shorts that matched her top in color and had a ruby red ribbon neatly tied into a bow in the front… in case you were wondering. Y'know, because even the most ruthless pirate in all the land had to keep up her sense of style when she went to bed. Anyway, Risky spotted the pair of glowing silver irises staring back at her, which did everything to confirm that she was not dreaming. "Good morning. I've gotta say, you did remarkably well in helping me unwind and relieve most of my pent-up stress. The process may have been a little slow for my liking, but it did the trick all the same. It also certainly helped that you're as… 'gifted' as you are where it counts. Nevertheless, I hope you slept well after your 'initiation' last night," she teasingly addressed the person gazing back at her in the dimly lit cabin.

"I can't say I did, but I'm not complainin'," the other individual, a young man, casually answered, though the tone of his voice was warped almost beyond recognition. "It ain't every day that I get t' spend quality time with a woman like you… Mistress Risky Boots. Good mornin', by the way," the man further spoke, almost unrecognizable in the way he'd so calmly and pleasantly addressed Risky. It was only by the man's dialect that we could decipher that it was Tayshan she was conversing with. Yet, the luminescent silver in his eyes, the distortion of his voice… and even the bright, searing orange that highlighted the scars across his face and torso told us all we needed to know…

"Oh, you flatter me," Risky laughingly replied with a flick of her hand as she marveled in the result of her unrepentant treachery. She found herself proud of the fact that, from the look of it, her plan had succeeded. It appeared she had corrupted the poor soldier inside and out, thus forcing him to become another of her minions. "You can just stick to calling me 'Risky,' by the way. Pet names aren't really my thing. That, or 'Captain.' Or, if you really want to score some brownie points, you can call me 'Captain Risky Boots.'"

"Your wish is my command, Risky," Tay… or the man we formerly knew as Tay obediently acknowledged her suggestion.

"Excellent," she praised with an approving nod as she slowly and deliberately sauntered toward him. "I hope you're ready to put your word to the test, then. We've got a busy schedule ahead of us, and we're not gonna waste a second on the opportunity I have to make my mark on Sequin Land."

"Always on the prowl, you are. Gotta say, I admire your dedication t' your craft."

"Glad you finally noticed that," she casually accepted the compliment as though she heard it all the time. "As you should know, of course, every passing minute is a potential opportunity to conquer the world. That said, we should have arrived at the base by now, so while we're up, we may as well unload," she further stated, moving to grab a set of keys from a nearby drawer before she took a knee next to her captive to undo the locks still clasped to the collar around his neck. She paused before she did so, however. "You do understand what'll happen if you try anything once I unshackle you, right?"

"No need t' remind me," he assured her. "I'm just glad we came to an 'understanding' of sorts last night. You can trust me not t' do anything stupid. Besides, I couldn't care less about those other little weaklings you locked up at this point," he further asserted… which was… just… wow. "They're none o' my concern anymore."

"Well then, that's quite the change of attitude," she remarked with an almost... gleefully mischievous smirk.

"Hey, what can I say? If you're not strong enough t' save yourself, then why should anybody else be expected to?" he callously remarked, showing that he'd evidently completely lost his way. "It's their own fault, anyway. Granted, there's still the issue o' you-know-who comin' t' get 'em out o' the kindness of her soft little bleedin' heart like I'm sure she always does."

"Which is exactly what I plan on using against her," Risky affirmed. "We could certainly wait for that ponytailed minx to wake up to try and find me, at which point I'd trap her along with anyone who tries to help her. That, or we could go the route of having you go and take care of her preemptively while I finally get the opportunity to commence Operation: Bombardment of Artillery Rainstorms and Fusillades Across Regional Territories. In that case, you'd at least be the perfect distraction, if you don't wind up eliminating her outright as a threat to my plan. I could still use those other brats as hostages if she got past you, of course."

"Whichever one works for you. If I might say somethin', though?"

"Spit it out."

"I'm much more a fan o' the idea of goin' out an' takin' her down for you," he suggested, much to Risky's excitement. "Based on the extensive amount o' time I spent workin' with her, she's clearly not somebody you want t' let go unchecked. The minute you take your eyes off her, she always finds a way to mess everything up. An' if she's still unconscious, then what if I went over t' find her and make sure that remained the case indefinitely?"

"You must be reading my mind, Tayshan," Risky praised, grinning with evil intent as he confirmed her ideas. "You certainly have a point, no less. Waiting for her to fall into my trap has always given her the chance to thwart my plans in some convoluted, outrageous fashion, and today is when that foolish little trend ends. The only thing I demand, of course, is that you bring her back to me alive if you succeed in defeating and capturing her."

"Alive? Why?"

"Because, if anyone's going to do that obnoxious little twerp in for good, it'll be me. No one else."

"Okay, but…"

"Are you questioning me?" Risky demanded to know, scowling at him.

"Much as I hate t' say it, boss… Yes," he answered, though he tiptoed upon VERY thin ice by doing so. "If you let me finish her off, then that'd eliminate any chance o' her turnin' the tables on you. I'm not sayin' I won't bring her back alive at your request, but…"

"Well, I don't pay you to make suggestions about what you think is better, you scurvy dog."

"Uh… I'm… bein' paid t' work for you?" Tayshan questioned again, REALLY stretching his limits on how much he was able to press Risky before she punished him.

"Yes. You're being paid with the knowledge that I find you useful enough to keep you alive," she sternly rebutted, highly irritated at his unnecessary inquiries. "Also, I see your point, but at the root of it all, no one deserves the final word on this famous 'rivalry' between me and her more than I do. I may have tried to get her poisoned, had squads upon squads of Tinkerbats and other accomplices try to assassinate or otherwise dispose of her, had at least one of her friends lure her into an elaborate trap I'd set for her once upon a time and made her destroy her own magic as a result, and even tried turning her evil by turning all her Light Magic into Dark Magic when all else failed, but this recent chain of events has helped me realize something…"

"What's that?"

"That at the end of the day, Shantae's ultimate and irreversible demise must come at no one's hands but my own if I'm expected to truly be feared all throughout Sequin Land as the most unstoppable force the country's ever known. Whether you capture her or not the next time you encounter her, the best way I can set a truly horrifying example of my incomparable power is by beating her down, and then making her witness the collective hope draining from the eyes of all the insignificant peons and peasants she swears to protect. I can't do that if she's dead, which is why I'm specifically ordering you to bring her here alive if you can. Only when she feasts those bright blue eyes of hers upon my inevitable conquest of Sequin Land, does she have my permission to die."

"Oh. Wow, you're hardcore… I never really thought about it like that," he acknowledged with a nod, surprised by Risky's pride-related insight.

"Of course. My genius runs deeper than most might expect. Heck, it's part of why you're still alive as my servant and… potential 'recruit' to the crew rather than just another red stain on the walls of an abandoned temple or a mound of sand somewhere."

"Right…" he acknowledged, though his face soured a bit at the blunt reminder he was given about the circumstances of his survival up to this point. "Well anyway, I'm down with it, if this is the plan."

"Good to know," Risky plainly acknowledged Tay's cooperation as she stuck the key in the lock and, with a *click*, detached the corrupted young man from the last remaining bind holding him down. Tay took the opportunity to stretch his limbs and back, wringing out the kinks throughout his body before motioning to get up. Only, he was stopped midway through when Risky stood up and planted a hand on his shoulder to halt him.

"What's up?" he asked, looking her in the eye as she studied his shirtless form up and down. Risky didn't reply immediately, as she scrutinized every inch of him to make sure she wasn't missing something. Perplexed, Tayshan cocked an eyebrow as he stared back at his new 'master.' "…Uh…?"

"Aren't you going to try and ask me for something in return for your servitude to me?" she dared to ask for the simple purpose of hearing what he had to say in response.

"Somethin' like what?"

"Your freedom, riches beyond your wildest dreams, a chance to move up within the ranks of my crew… maybe even a little kiss on the lips, so on, so forth… Anything like that?"

"No," he plainly answered, catching her by surprise.

"No?" she asked, almost seeming offended by his answer.

"That's right. There's nothin' I want."

"Interesting…" she murmured, though the air got awkwardly quiet for a few seconds, with the only ambient sound filling the atmosphere coming in the form of the rumbling thunder and the crashing waves outside the ship.

"…You're still lookin' at me like you don't believe me. What's up?"

"Well, anyone else I've captured and/or 'convinced' to work with me has always asked for something in return when I made the 'suggestion.'"

"Oh. I… guess I'd hate t' disappoint, but I… don't really have anything I'd want in exchange for helpin' you get the edge over Shantae."

"Huh. Okay, that's new. Why not?"

"Because, with all due respect, you probably wouldn't actually give it t' me anyway," he stated, again treading into dangerous territory.

"Excuse you?"

"You might've 'enlightened' me on the real benefit o' goin' about my business without worryin' about who might get hurt, an' you might've granted me the courage I needed t' shed all my old hang-ups with truth an' justice by givin' me that Dark Magic gem an'… well… givin' me an unbelievable experience I'll never forget…"

"Heh, right…~" she remarked with an involuntary smirk, evidently quite prideful about his mention of her utterly deplorable method of corrupting him.

"…but that doesn't mean I've forgotten that you tend to avoid makin' moves that don't benefit you in some significant way, shape, or form," he continued to reason. "I'm just… interested in seein' how well we can work together, as long as you find me useful."

"Wow. Alright, then. Well said."

"I would hope so. But, since you brought it up… an' if you really want me t' make a request…"

"Ah, there it is," she remarked with a knowing smirk. "Lay it on me, as long as it's not outside my vast power. What do you want? A cut of my spoils of war? A place in my empire once I've conquered Sequin Land? Or maybe…" she trailed off, bending down as she placed one hand on her hip and used a finger on the other to lift her recruit's chin up. "…you'd like me to 'teach' you yet another spicy, one-on-one, close and personal lesson or two? Is that perhaps what's on your mind right now~? Hm~? Because if it is, you might get an answer you most definitely want to hear if you ask me nicely enough…"

"Ah, er… H-heh, um… M-much as I'd… 'like' t' do that… again… uh…" he stammered, visibly flustered by Risky's sudden advances as he batted his eyes away for a moment. Seeing the awful effect she had on him, the Pirate Queen giggled with a dark and unsettling sense of amusement. "Er, my request is… a bit simpler an' a lot less 'exciting' than that."

"Oh, really?" she curiously asked, turning off the charm for a minute as she rose back to a full stand. "In that case, what is it?"

"If I could, with your permission, get a chance t' eliminate another loose end on the way t' huntin' down Shantae for you?"

"Loose end? Who do you mean? And why?"

"Well, in my inability t' sleep over the last few hours, I had time t' think about the possibility of other threats t' your plans for nationwide domination. An', of all the potential threats, there's one that I think should be nipped in the bud before they ever got a chance t' become a speck on your radar."

"Okay. And, once again, who are you talking about?"

"Ammo Baron…!" he revealed, his voice lowering into a growl full to the brim with seething hatred; a seething hatred that Risky picked up on right away.

"Ohh, I see. While I suppose you raise a fair point that bumping him off before he has a chance to get in my way would be good for me, I suspect that you… may have something of a personal grudge against him, if I'm remembering your parting words to him correctly."

"An' I want the chance t' make good on what I said, if you'd grant me just that."

"Eh, I'm not sure," she remarked in contemplation, tapping a finger to her cheek as she ostensibly mulled it over. "I mean, I COULD sic you on him, so you'd tear his guts out with your bare hands for my endless amusement, but it wasn't really part of my plan. I'm gonna need some convincing. What would I get out of it if I unleashed you on that one-eyed meathead lummox?"

"An excitin' show, Ammo Baron's head on a SPIKE, the return of all the weapons he took, an' one less obnoxious obstacle in your path before I move onto the real target," Tay very darkly stated, his anger growing as he thought more and more about the unspeakable things he'd do to the leader of the Ammonian Army if they crossed paths again.

"Ooh, now that sounds too tempting an offer to pass up," Risky commented, grinning from ear to ear with a macabre excitement at the prospect of her new recruit being sent out to annihilate the cyclopean Baron of Sequin Land. "I'll need a bit to think about it, but why don't we go ahead and get settled in while I do that? As I mentioned earlier, we should've made landfall at my base at least an hour ago," she suggested, allowing him to rise to a full stand himself. "Jeez, you're tall…" she commented, seeming to forget about the height difference between the two of them.

"As I've been told in the past."

"I'll bet you have. In any case, have you had a chance to wash up and eat before we go?"

"Yeah. Treated myself t' the bath in here after you went t' sleep. I also ate a couple o' the things you left out here an' there, but I can't really say they brought me up to a hundred percent. I was lucky the chain you attached t' this collar stretched long enough for me t' even reach everything," he affirmed, tugging at the spiked collar still affixed around his neck. "Speakin' o' which…"

"No, you're not taking it off," she firmly shot him down before he had a chance to float his next request. "You think one rambunctious night of hot, passionate carnal fun and you swearing your allegiance to me is enough to make me forget all the trouble you put me through to get to this point? Think again, Tay-Tay. Last night was wonderful, but it'll take a lot more than that to make me reconsider." At that, his facial expression changed immediately into a disgruntled glower. "You've still got a long way to go to earn the right to take that thing off, so until then, you'll wear it proudly as you serve my will. Right now, it serves as a constant reminder that you work for me. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it…" he grumbled, clearly not happy with the fact that he still had to wear the embarrassing accessory.

"Good. Now, you go on ahead. I'll need a few minutes to get dressed," she ordered, prompting the corrupted soldier to obediently stroll out the door… of course, not before Risky found it in herself to make one more remark. "Make sure you say hello to your former friends when you see 'em, okay?" At that, the young man froze for a second. Seeming to be contemplating what she said, he took his time gauging his reaction before turning and looking over his shoulder with a sinister grin plastered on his face.

"Trust me, I plan to," he remarked, making evident that he had some dark intentions of his own regarding his fellow captives. Without another word, Tayshan exited the Captain's Quarters and allowed Risky the alone time she needed to get herself ready for the day… or rather, he was going to before he stopped again just as he reached for the door. "Oh, and one more thing, Captain?"

"What is it now, boy?" Risky impatiently asked, having just gotten ready to take off her pajama top before he interrupted her.

"The name o' your operation could probably use a change, for future reference," he politely warned her.

"What are you talking about? The name is fine as it is," she irritably challenged his viewpoint.

"The acronym for Bombardment of Artillery Rainstorms and Fusillades Across Regional Territories… is B.A.R.F.A.R.T.," he plainly pointed out to her, shocking her stiff as she stammered. Evidently, she hadn't realized it for herself until this most mortifying moment. "Or, if you're usin' the first letter in every word, it'd be B.O.A.R.A.F.A.R.T. Either way, it ain't too flatterin' a name, if you ask me. You ain't gotta listen t' me, but I recommend changin' it t' avoid people tryin' t' clown you for it."

"…" Risky had been rendered speechless, though her silence was filled to the brim with nearly inconsolable rage as she clenched her fists and growled.

"Eh… Are you still fee-?"

"GET OUT!" she screamed at him at the top of her lungs, prompting the unfortunate new subordinate to hurry out of the cabin like he was being chased by rabid dogs. After he made his exit, Risky breathed a most exasperated sigh as she commenced with changing her clothes and primping herself up to tackle the day. "Hmph. Darn these obnoxious acronyms…!" she complained, evidently kicking herself for not catching such a terrible gaffe sooner. "First, P.O.O.P.T.O.O.T., and now this? Shoot… Oh, well. I'll just cut it down to Bombardment of Artillery Rainstorms. B.O.A.R. There. Simple fix. And that way, no one would DARE laugh at me unless they had a death wish…" she continued to mutter as she continued about her business sprucing herself up.

Meanwhile…

As Risky geared up to take the new day by storm and Tayshan had committed to finding his way off the ship, I'm sure you're likely wondering if Sky and Rottytops were okay. And, well… I would have to ask you what your definition of 'okay' was in this context. Rather than tease your brain further, however, we're going to dive right in. And, with a startling *BANG* of a Tinkerbat's handgun, we begin…

"Hey! What's the big idea, you jerks!? I was trying to… H-hey, what…? What is this place?" A certain undead young woman spoke from the within the confines of a cage as she grabbed onto the bars. At first, she was glaring at a group of Tinkerbats that found themselves amused by her distress. Nevertheless, the captive young woman quickly became distracted by the atmosphere once she got a good gander at the background. As she looked around, she realized she could barely see a thing except for the incredibly dim rays of daylight cascading in through two giant circular holes in what could be presumed to be the ceiling of a building… in addition to one more ray of light shining in through a wide cave entrance at the other end of the dark, frigid, dank room. On that end, the girl saw Risky's ship, anchored down and wading in a body of water as it aggressively swayed side to side. She also took note of the sounds of the ocean waves crashing against the outside of the building, in addition to the ambient rumbling in the sky and pitter-patter of raindrops hitting the ceiling at full force while somehow not raining in through the giant, well-aligned holes up there.

"Rottytops…?" another female called out, naming the first girl while also causing said girl to turn to her side. There, Rottytops spotted a drowsy blonde-haired young woman with a stylish scarf and cloak wrapped around her head and an equally stylish bird-themed outfit. "Wha…? Where are we…? How did they get you?" she further asked as she stirred awake and found herself becoming rapidly more distraught at the sight of her surroundings. Once she realized she was in a separate cage, Sky climbed up and grasped the bars as she continued to process what was happening.

"Sky?" Rottytops called out to her, immediately alerted to the possibility that they weren't safe. It was also made apparent that neither girl was aware of the other's presence as Risky's captives until they were carted off the ship in cages like exotic animals. "They captured you, too?"

"Yeah, I… I guess they did," Sky did her best to confirm, though she soon found herself sitting down and clasping her hands on either side of her head. "Agh…! Ow, my head is killing me… and… and I don't know where Wrench is…"

"What did they do to you?"

"They overwhelmed us, but… I can't really remember everything…" Sky tried to explain. "…I remember you getting carried off in that giant metal dragon thing… and I tried to catch up to get you, but then… I just remember being surrounded by Tinkerbats after they shot Wrench to slow him down. As soon as that happened, I… I'm not sure. I… felt like I was being electrocuted, but then everything went blank after that…" the disoriented young woman attempted to explain, clasping her head as she tried to nurse the killer headache she had. "…next thing I know, I'm here… What happened with you?"

"That no-good bucket-headed lizard Techno Baron made that airship of his go totally bonkers when I tried to plant that bomb thing Shantae gave me. We fought a bunch over control of the bomb, but then the key thing slipped out of it. Slimy little jerk gave me the slip and ejected out of the airship, but I think he accidentally took the bomb out with him just before it blew up. If I remember right, the bomb went off pretty much right after he ejected with it and damaged the dragon machine. Whatever happened, I jumped out of the ship right before it crashed and exploded," Rotty explained, revealing that Techno Baron may very well have survived the violent destruction of the Mecha Dagron. Or, well... I mean, we already knew he survived, but now we know HOW he survived. "But then, as soon as I jumped out, a whole swarm of these little creeps grabbed me and knocked me out cold. And now, here we are, in cages like prisoners of war…"

"Darn it, that means we totally blew it on that trip to Naga Mountain…" Sky lamented, turning her attention toward Rotty. "I… I only hope Shantae's okay…"

"Y-yeah… me, too…" Rottytops agreed, her heart sinking at the prospect that Shantae was also harmed in the conflict over in Naga Mountain. "…Shantae…"

"…This might be a useless question to ask, but… do you know if she was taken here as well, or if maybe she escaped the ambush…?" Sky fought through an enormous wave of apprehension and internal terror to ask her comrade.

"You two would probably be glad t' know Shantae wasn't captured like you were…" another voice, low and warped in its sound and rather somber in its tone, had made itself apparent through an answer to Sky's question. Startled by the voice, the girls stood at attention, both of them grabbing the bars of their cages as they turned their collective focus toward the voice's owner. In their sights as the group of Tinkerbats parted ways to make room, was a man who appeared all too familiar to them. Tall, dark, lean and muscular, puffy black and silver-colored hair and goatee, wearing torn midnight purple camouflage pants and onyx metal boots, a strange spiked red collar around his neck, and no shirt… but with scars glowing an astonishing shade of blazing orange littered across his body, some particularly frightening glowing scars on his face over his eye and cheek… and with the most soul-shaking, menacing glowing silver irises that housed the most devastating glare anyone had ever seen of him. Also noticeable was the tiny cage he'd been holding in one hand that housed an unconscious prismatic bird of questionable species. By most accounts, this individual looked familiar, but by others, he was entirely unrecognizable. Nevertheless, Sky and Rotty knew who it was once he moved to stand right in front of them. "…but you shouldn't expect that t' be the case for long," he warned with nothing but malice in his distorted tone.

"T… Tay?" Sky barely found it in herself to question, utterly floored by what she was seeing in front of her.

"Long time, no see, Sky," the man in question confirmed, though he harbored no form of joy or relief in seeing her. The contempt and bitterness practically radiated from his skin as he stared bullets into the eyes of the two captives. "Hmph. Even longer for you, Rottytops. Yet, still not long enough."

"Wha… What happened to you…?" Rotty asked, horrified to the point of near speechlessness to witness the result of a dark and disturbing transformation.

"And… how come you're not-?" Sky was about to ask.

"In a cage like you two or this bird here, whimperin' an' hopin' that a certain unreliable half-genie an' her pathetic friends would come an' save me?" he asked, his tone full to the brim with disdain that shocked the girls stiff once again. "Is that what you're gonna ask?"

"What? Tay, what's gotten into you?" the bird tamer asked again, appalled by such a terse and insensitive reply.

"A new outlook, a new purpose, an' a whole, heapin' ton o' Dark Magic…!" he practically growled, getting in close and bending down to meet Sky face-to-face. At that moment, the mortified falconer got a full glimpse of the cold, hatred-fueled glare in his eyes. "That's what got int' me," he added, standing back up as he continued to sneer down at the girls. "No thanks t' you or that lousy, useless, dirt-poor excuse for a 'hero' you two call your friend."

"Tayshan!" Rotty called out to him, flabbergasted that he could say such a thing about Shantae. "Dude, snap out of it! We're your friends, remember? Risky must've done something to you! Whatever it is that's got you acting like this, you've gotta fight it!" As soon as Tay heard Rotty's plea, however, he burst into a fit of resentful cackling that all but silenced her and Sky as they continued trying to confirm that what they were seeing was real.

"I know you ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but don't make yourself seem duller than you already look. I also wouldn't waste my breath tryin' t' beg me t' turn back t' good if I were you," he contemptuously remarked, causing Rotty to gasp in astonishment and offense. "Besides, you've always been too busy fawnin' an' pinin' over your precious little purple-haired princess to give so much as a rat's tail about me. Don't act like you care now because we ain't playin' on the same team anymore or because you feel like you'd be doin' her a favor by 'rescuing' me."

"That's not true! I do care about you, Tay! With or without Shantae involved, I know that you're a good guy! I swear! We may have gotten off to a bad start, but you're still my friend! Our friend! Look, if you're still mad about the other night, then I'm-!"

"SAVE IT!" he shouted at Rotty in a sudden burst of unmitigated wrath that echoed throughout the entirety of Risky's hideout. "Nothin' you're gonna say is gonna make me believe anything different about you. You want Shantae's attention an' affection so bad? Well, now you can have it! When I drag her back here an' lock her in this cage with you, you can spend all the quality time you want together as Risky Boots figures out what t' do with you from that point on."

"Tayshan!" Sky called out, hoping that she could get through to him herself. "Come on! This isn't you! You would NEVER think to work with Risky Boots of all people! And even if she did somehow convince you to join her, you know there'd be nothing good from you doing so! And Rotty's right! Think about our friendship! Think about the all the people we promised to protect together! Think about Shantae! Let us out of these cages! Let's work together and take her down while we have the chance!"

"Yeah, that would be the exact thing you'd expect me t' do, huh?" he sarcastically remarked with a bitter smirk. "You think tryin' t' tug at my heartstrings like you always have, an' tryin' t' remind me of all the 'good times' we had before you suddenly shoved me away an' decided I was no longer worth considerin' as the next guy on your laundry list that you'd want to smother with your tawdry, shallow affection is gonna suddenly turn me around an' make me your friend again? Don't count on it! From this point on, you are my enemies," he declared, pointing directly at them with one finger as he held Wrench's cage in his other hand. Sky gasped in shock at his accusation as she also kept her eyes on Wrench in hopes that Tayshan wouldn't hurt him.

"…Is that how you were feeling…?" she murmured, her heart sinking into her stomach as she considered his harsh words. "I… had no idea…"

"An' you wanna know why? Because I lost what little faith I had in you when you an' Shantae cut me off an' cast me t' the wind, Rottytops. You may have tried t' stop me from leavin', but it doesn't take a lot o' math t' figure that you were only doin' it t' look good for Shantae. I lost my trust in you when you exclusively chose Shantae over me when I thought you came by t' provide me some support, Sky. Can't say I didn't expect you t' turn your back on me if ever she an' I separated, but what disappoints me is that you didn't even wait t' do it. An' then you tried t' insult me by tellin' me we could still somehow be friends when you made a decision that solidified that that could never be the case."

"Tay, that's not true!" Sky argued. "Don't you remember!? We talked about it at length, and we agreed t-!"

"An' y'all know what else? I lost my confidence in our chances at winnin' when Twitch an' Vinegar, along with that scumbag Ammo Baron, betrayed me an' set me up for an ambush Risky crafted t' save themselves, an' then watched as I got beat down, shackled up, and humiliated. Oh, an' you have the three o' them t' thank in part for why you're here. Apparently, they were also workin' with Techno Baron. Go figure…"

"Twitch, Vinegar, and Ammo Baron did what…!?" Sky asked, both flabbergasted and immensely angered by the revelation that their Ammonian 'allies' actually turned out to be what she thought they'd be all along; untrustworthy, backstabbing snakes in the grass. "Those no-good, rotten, turncoat traitors…! I knew we should never have trusted them…!" she further murmured to herself.

"An'… I lost my desire t' help you when Risky beat me down harder an' tortured me throughout half the night after she captured me. But, with some… convincin', she eventually enlightened me," Tayshan concluded his vindictive statement without acknowledging Sky's question.

"Tay, I… We didn't…" Rotty tried to reason, though she felt entirely stunned to hear about how hurt he'd apparently been since their time on Spider Web Island.

"My purpose now… My purpose is now t' pave the way for Risky's success in turnin' Sequin Land into an empire brought down an' remade in her image. An' that can only truly begin with the elimination of all obstacles; your fickle little friend Shantae bein' the top priority."

"Well said, my newest recruit!" another voice came hollering in from behind the disillusioned soldier. Without much need for introduction, the voice's owner came strutting in with an air of insurmountable hubris and triumphant flair. Within a few seconds, she joined the corrupted Tayshan in standing in front of their captives in her full pirate gear, grinning with diabolical glee as she took in the infuriated looks on their faces. "Looks like you've been having quite the pep talk with these idiots, huh?"

"Risky!" Sky shouted, immediately filled with a strong mixture of anger and dread as she glared at her. "Whatever it is you're up to, you won't get away with it! You're gonna pay for all the carnage and destruction you've caused!"

"And as long as Shantae's somewhere out there, you'd better believe your days are numbered!" Rotty added, equally as incensed as her acquaintance.

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on that this time, ladies," Risky confidently assured with a snicker. "After all, I have her beloved ex-boyfriend here to help me soften her up for when I destroy her right in front of you." Of course, Tay reacted by craning his head back and shooting Risky a perplexed glance. In doing so, however, his attention was soon drawn toward a familiar, gigantic contraption resting in a corner nearby. As such, he'd become too distracted to object to Risky's notion. "I also have you fools here as bait, where you'll be patiently waiting for her to fail miserably at saving you. My enhanced artillery, my new first mate, and the absence of you obnoxious little girl scouts all but guarantees the victory I've been deprived of for so long… and you'd better believe that it's so close that I can taste it…!" she taunted with another menacing grin. "You two are lucky you're even alive at this point, to be honest."

"Hmm..." Tay quietly hummed, feeling a sudden pang in his heart as he mentally disengaged from the conversation in front of him to stare at the contraption responsible for bringing him to Sequin Land. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but... something about the image heavily damaged device... it caused something of a 'bell' to ring in his head as his heartbeat quickened in that moment. His breaths grew pressured and unsteady, though he remained silent. After a few seconds, he glanced down toward the hand of his that wasn't holding Wrench's cage and found himself... oddly disquieted by what he saw, prompting him to look back at the machine. This time, however, he could hardly tear his gaze away from it.

"As if we're supposed to be thankful to you for that!" Rotty protested. "You're a dirty, manipulative, scheming old witch!" the zombie girl insulted the Pirate Queen at her own peril. "You must seriously be deluded if you think Shantae would ever lose to you in this lifetime, no matter what you tried to throw at her! And for that matter, what did you do to Tayshan to turn him evil!? Whatever it is, you can count on it that we'll get him back!"

"Heh… I was hoping you'd ask that," Risky morbidly remarked, seeming to have gotten a kick out of revealing her method of corrupting her new 'partner' to the Dark side. "However, no one can answer that better than the guy I so painstakingly and so… intimately turned to my side. Go ahead, Tayshan. Explain to them how we came to our 'agreement' to work together, hm?" she ordered, though she received no immediate response. And, as we all know painfully well by now, Risky HATED it when her commands went unheard. Within five seconds, the silence within her dimly lit lair had grown far too long for her tolerance level to endure. As such, she turned toward him, hot with disproportionate fury. "Hey! What did I just-!?" she was about to scream before she was cut off.

"You… you haven't fixed this thing?" Tay was all too compelled to ask as he studied the gigantic hunk of scorched metal and other miscellaneous materials that was Risky's Tinker-Portal. Just glancing at it in its poor condition sent a wave of dread and uncertainty through his gut. That wave brought some very agonizing memories to the forefront of his seemingly addled mind as he found himself almost mesmerized at this point.

"Hm?" Risky hummed in wonder, following his studious gaze to figure out what he meant. Once she figured it out, however, she nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "Oh, you mean the Tinker-Portal. No, I haven't. I'm sure you were probably wondering if I still possibly had access to your original home world with it, but I'll dash your hopes right away and tell you we haven't been able to get this thing working since that fateful day. Turns out the part I stole from Ammo Baron's band of rejects was incredibly sensitive. It was to the point where one use risks completely blowing it out. Unless I can get this one fixed or somehow make an exact duplicate, I can't get this contraption to work anymore. One lousy trip, and I'm forced to either just deal with what little I pilfered, or get my hands dirty by wringing that scaly little freak Techno Baron's neck to possibly get him to do something about it… Provided he's even alive, which I'm doubting by this point if Ammo Baron couldn't even find the body in Inseam yesterday. How annoying…!" she grumbled, though her self-centered rant of mild irritation did not compare in the slightest to the visible devastation on the corrupted soldier's face as he hung his head. His glowing eyes practically burning holes into the ground as he clenched a fist in existential frustration, Tay basically went into a grief-induced trance.

"…I knew it was too much t' hope for…" he murmured.

"…Jeez… S-sorry, Tay…" Sky attempted to console him from within the cage, reading the heartbroken look on his face.

"Um… Y-yeah, stud muffin," Rotty joined in, also feeling bad for him. "That's… really rough…" Though he'd heard his former allies' words, they did absolutely nothing to make him feel any better. If anything, their collective pity only infuriated him as his saddened stare quickly turned into a hot, burning glare that remained aimed at the ground as he kept himself tightly wound up.

"Oh, well," Risky casually dismissed with another shrug of her shoulders while not even looking at him. "I'll figure something out eventually, but until then, I hope you weren't also expecting me to grant you a one-way ticket back to your dimension or something. We both know that that's never gonna happen now." Tay almost flinched at her preemptive denial of his unspoken request to return to his own realm… but not because he expected Risky to even hear out such a far-fetched wish. In that moment, he was reminded of another purpose he'd been given regarding this troublesome device… and as such, he wondered about the worth of the request in the wake of his finding out that the device was incapable of functioning anyway. Nevertheless, he heard Risky's comment and glared at her in what appeared to be a momentary sense of extreme contempt.

"...Huh?" Rotty murmured as she and Sky noticed Tayshan's contemptuous glare aimed at an unaware Risky Boots. Before either of the girls could call attention to it, however, he sighed, relaxed himself, and spoke.

"Hm. Not at all, Captain," Tayshan denied with a notable deflation in his voice as he turned all the way toward Risky Boots with hardly a sign of emotion on his face. "I was just surprised you still had it layin' around. In any case, what's on the agenda for today?"

"You're getting quite used to addressing me by my title, huh? My, you sure know how to charm your superiors," she teased with a most arrogant smirk aimed in his direction as she placed her hands on her hips.

"I aim t' please," he matter-of-factly replied, much to the dismay of the other girls as they glanced at each other before looking back at their captors.

"And please me, you certainly have… in more ways than one~!" Risky crudely remarked, still grinning wide at him as she shot him a knowing look. Once he received the signal, of course, Tay exhaled, nodding in uncomfortable understanding as he momentarily cast his gaze elsewhere. "No need to be bashful now. We both know better than that."

"R-right…" Tay nervously agreed before shaking his head to refocus. "Anyway, do you have an assignment for today?"

"No, unfortunately. A nasty storm's brewing outside, and it'd be too dangerous to try traveling anywhere I would've liked to go without some heavy consequences. The next phase of my plan will have to wait until tomorrow," she informed him.

"Really? Shoot…" he murmured in disappointment, though he still had an idea in mind on how to help Risky make more progress with her goal of dominating Sequin Land. "Well, I could still go out while the storm ain't in full swing just yet, an' maybe spread a bit of influence. You think that might work?"

"Oh, you're a real go-getter, aren't you?" Risky asked back, her intrigue piqued regarding her new partner's eagerness to get the ball rolling. "In that case, where would you be going and why?"

"This might come off as obvious, but why not hit Scuttle Town first? We can't afford t' let our old 'friend' get too much time t' recover," he reasoned. "Provided she's even there…"

"No! You can't! Leave Shantae alo-!" Rotty was about to protest

"Shut it, brat, or else I'll chain your ankle to a pile of bricks and toss you overboard!" Risky very vehemently threatened, glaring directly at the zombie girl. Rotty, though highly upset by Tay's request to attack Scuttle Town while its defenses were down, barely managed to keep herself quiet as she frightfully glanced at Sky, who'd quietly shared every bit of anxiety in the air. "Anyway, Scuttle Town would be too obvious a play. Something always seems to get in the way when I do that. And, much as I'd love to potentially nip the problem of that genie pipsqueak in the bud, I don't know that you'd get there in time before the storm hit. Scuttle Town's too far away from here."

"Hm. How far, if you don't mind me askin'?"

"Far enough that, if we left now, we'd get there in the afternoon in this weather and if we got lucky," she cryptically replied. "And with the unruly winds around this area, there's no telling if we'd actually make it if we tried braving the storm front."

"I see… Alright, then. How about we attack somewhere no one would expect?"

"Like what? Ammo Baron's pathetic little campsite?" Risky expertly guessed.

"Exactly," he confirmed, his desire to pay the Ammonian Army a visit nowhere close to hidden.

"Of course, you'd suggest that again. What for? He's hardly a threat and there's no way he'd be stupid enough to oppose me now; especially not after what I did to him and his moronic congregation."

"Right, but if he's still walkin' around with a decent supply o' the weapons from my old base, I wouldn't doubt he's probably gonna try an' figure out a way t' use 'em against you," Tay reasoned some more. "He strikes me as bein' just that ill-advised."

"Hmm… I suppose that's a feasible point."

"Yeah. Plus, as we talked about before, if we completely erase him an' his backstabbin' blonde blowhards from the picture sooner than later, then you'll collect a bunch o' what he took, an' with any luck, we create another diversion in case Shantae wakes up an' starts feelin' heroic again."

"Okay…? It… sounds like it may have some merit, but if we went through with this, then at what point would you expect to move? Because I'm not going anywhere in the middle of a thunderstorm."

"I was hopin' I could go right now, t' be honest."

"Now? Why? What's the hurry?"

"Wherever that 'campsite' is, I imagine I can use the storm as a cover, so they don't know I'm approachin'. They wouldn't know what hit 'em, an' I, with some help from a few o' your Tinkerbats, could probably turn his base into a muddy little crater in no time flat. By the time it's over, we'll have gotten a massive head-start on spellin' the end for the bigger threat t' your success while settin' yet another example o' what happens t' anybody that crosses you."

"Hmm… Y'know, the more you explain it, the more I'm warming up to it. A little preemptive sneak attack here, a bit more calculated destruction there, a sprinkling of trap-setting… It's actually quite diabolical. And you know what else? Now that I think of it, I suppose this 'exercise' you're so eager to engage in could double as your true initiation into my crew," she remarked, seeming to be on-board with the idea. "Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to just shove off for this trip without some preliminary conditions."

"Conditions?"

"Yes. First of all, if you fail, you will be made to walk the plank. And don't bother trying to run away, because you can count on me finding you. Begging for mercy won't help, either."

"If I fail, you won't have t' worry about me runnin' away or pleadin' with you. I'll take the judgment in full right in front o' you."

"Glad to hear it. The second condition is that you wrap up your 'business' with Ammo Baron without causing too much of a scene. Even if that means silencing him for good, you'd better make the job quick."

"Not an issue. Only thing I can't guarantee is his 'safety' once I get within fifteen feet of him," Tay remarked with a sinister grin.

"You can do whatever you want to him when you find him, but don't let a single one of those morons off the hook. No one wearing a blue jacket should be leaving that base alive without some form of grievous injury. Only way anyone's gonna find out about this is if they were there, or if they're a certain half-genie with a long-overdue beating coming her way and she's going there to stick her nose in your business like we know she will. Anyway, my third and final condition…"

"Name it."

"With pleasure. Condition number three would be that if you're not back here by the time this storm ends, I'm going to set sail to your location to inspect your progress. And if I find anything amiss, Tayshan, you'd better believe I'll make you suffer even more than I already had to yesterday."

"Noted."

"On the contrary, if you can satisfy all of those conditions, then… well, let's just say you might earn yourself another little… 'reward,' if you know what I mean…" Risky hinted with a most… suggestive smiling wink at him.

"O-oh! Okay, wow… Are... are you serious about that? Or are you just teasin' me at this point?" he dared to hesitantly ask after having been hit with Risky's 52nd remark about... er, 'incentives' for following her orders.

"Of course, I'm serious," she nonchalantly confirmed, raising an eyebrow to communicate her surprise at his inability to read the signals. "Do I look like the kind of woman who jokes around about what she wants?"

"Well... No, but... I uh… I thought that was a one-time thing… I-I thought you only did that t' trigger the uh…" he nervously stammered, a sudden rush of discomfort washing over him like a monstrous tidal wave.

"Oh, how adorably naïve," she teased with a chortle. "Yes, I did it to awaken your truly dark nature, and I'm quite impressed with what I'm seeing of you so far. But then, after such a spectacular first-time performance last night, how could you possibly expect that to be your only opportunity to spend quality time with me? Knowing how guys like you operate, it's an arrangement far too tempting for you to refuse. And you know that."

"…Wha…? What does she mean there…?" Sky whispered to Rottytops as the girls listened in on the conversation.

"Beats me, but the sound of it alone is skeeving me out something major…" Rotty whispered back with an horrified shudder as she stuck her tongue out in disgust at what she and Sky were hearing.

"…I'm pretty sure I know the feeling…" Sky understood, her face scrunching up in reflective revulsion at the thought of whatever it was Rotty was thinking about.

"Huh. Well alright, then," Tay rather nonchalantly acknowledged with a slight shake of his head, giving no real reaction that indicated his feelings one way or the other. "In that case, do you know where Ammo Baron's camp is?"

"I do, but I'm not going there with you," Risky revealed, though this came as no real surprise. Regardless of this, he decided to figure out her reasoning.

"How come?"

"The storm coming is likely to be a bad one, and my ship is too valuable to take out to sea in such disastrous weather."

"So, if you weren't gonna help me get there, then how do you expect me t' carry out this mission?"

"That's for you to figure out, slick," Risky uncaringly replied, shrugging her shoulders as she turned toward a group of Tinkerbats in one of the far corners of the cavernous headquarters doing an inventory check on a sizable pile of Weapons Crates. "If this is something you really want to do for me, then you'll find a way to do it on your own. I'd rather wait out the storm and make some other preparations for the more important upcoming battles."

"Figures…! Thanks for the help," Tay sarcastically remarked with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

"What was that, you scurvy dog?" Risky dared him to repeat, turning around and glaring at him to intimidate him.

"I said it figures," he repeated, doubling down on his position while also testing Risky's notoriously low patience. "As in, it figures that you'd make me come up with my own way o' goin' out t' take down Ammo Baron."

"Oh, and do you have a problem with that?" Risky rhetorically asked, very unappreciative of his tone.

"I don't in this case, because I still remember that you have that Auto-Canoe from when we met in the Kitschy Quilt Desert," he calmly answered. "Or, do you…?"

"Ah, right, that old hunk o' junk," Risky realized, nodding her head. "It's nowhere near as good as my ship, but it's proven its worth from when I took it. Yeah, it's docked at the back entrance over there," she informed him, gesturing a thumb toward a second opening at the end of the lair opposite of where her ship was stationed. The entrance was much, much smaller in comparison, but that was the least of the young man's concerns. The fact that the Auto-Canoe was still in functioning form provided him with a mixture of relief and increased eagerness to destroy Ammo Baron. "Why? You planning on using that thing to get to the Baron Desert?"

"It's my only option if we ain't sailin' out together in your ship," he answered. "Also, the Baron Desert? That's where I might find him?"

"Affirmative. Without saying too much, it won't take you nearly as long to get there as it would take you to get to Scuttle Town. However, you'll be hard pressed to figure out exactly where you're going without a map or at least a couple landmarks. I also want to reiterate to you that shoving off as a storm is coasting through is not the wisest of ideas. I won't stop you if you still choose to go, of course."

"Trust me, Captain, my mind's all made up. This is a perfect opportunity that won't come again anytime soon. And, as long as you're willin' t' lend me a map savvy Tinkerbat amongst a small group o' them, an' arm us with at least a couple rifles an' rocket launchers, we'll make VERY quick work of our targets. If we play our cards right, I could probably get it all taken care of with just a small squad o' your crewmen behind me."

"Just a small squad, you say? How many are we talking?"

"Enough that we'd at least stand a fightin' chance against any projected opposition, no matter how weak or how strong. Provided your guys have been trained well enough, I'd need five particular Tinkerbats to fulfill specific roles. Any others would just help us sweep through their base once things kicked off."

"I hear you. And which specific services would my crewmen need to provide to you?"

"I need a navigator, a sniper, two demolitions experts, an' a reconnaissance specialist t' case the joint for weak spots or special targets just before we strike."

"Ooh, I'm liking the sound of it more when you put it that way. Does that strategic observation come from your military background?"

"Among a smorgasbord of other things, Captain, yes."

"Oh-ho, is that a fact? Well then, I almost can't wait to see you prove your worth to me. Alright, you've convinced me, provided you accept the terms I've laid out."

"Of course, I do. This first mission is personal, so failure ain't even in the equation…!"

"Glad to hear it, then!" Risky excitedly proclaimed, seeming to be willing to approve of Tayshan's plan. "In that case, you'll get just those five willing volunteers to assist you."

"…Those five willin' volunteers and at least a few extra Tinkerbats? Or… just those five willin' volunteers?" he cautiously asked, knowing better than to take anything Risky said at face value.

"What you just heard me say is exactly what I mean. I'm not repeating myself," she sternly rebutted, causing her newest crew member to shake his head in disappointment.

"Ah, I knew you wouldn't make this easy for me…" he complained, much to Risky's amusement as she chuckled at his lowered expectations.

"Easy? Honey, we didn't become the most fearsome band of criminals this pitiful world has ever known by looking for the easy way out, as you'll soon come to learn," she confidently assured him. "Besides, I need to preserve my forces and limited resources for much more important missions down the line. Yours and that meddlesome brat's constant interference with my plans over the last month has set me back quite a bit, much as I hate to admit it. That series of stunts and parlor tricks you pulled yesterday wasn't much help to me, either."

"…Sorry?" he uncertainly 'apologized,' trying to read between the lines of his leader's statements.

"Apologies with words won't cut it. Apologies with actions will," she bluntly stated, refusing his word-based apology. "If you really want me to forgive you, then I'll grant your request to embark on this side mission under the conditions we just agreed to, in addition to the condition that you complete it with just five Tinkerbats under your command. Considering your capabilities when you're completely alone, I'm sure you can handle it."

"…Hmph. Fine, then," he acquiesced, seeing no point in arguing with Risky about the effectiveness of larger numbers in relation to mounting surprise attacks on enemy factions. "If that's what it takes for me t' prove my worth, then so be it."

"Glad you see it my way," Risky concluded with a most condescending grin on her face.

"Of course. In any case, I suppose I should figure out how I'm gonna do this…" he stated as he began to ponder.

"…Jeez, we're lucky they're not attacking Scuttle Town right away…" Rottytops whispered, her stomach twisting into a thousand knots as she and her fellow captive overheard the details of Tay's and Risky's plan to dispatch Ammo Baron shortly before attempting to do the same to Shantae.

"…I know…" Sky murmured, gripping the bars of her cage tightly enough that she could've very well bent them if she had the physical strength to do it. "…I really hope Shantae is okay… Otherwise, we're as good as doomed if this carries out the way they're talking about…" she added, though Tay appeared to overhear her. As such, he shot his eyes toward Sky, who'd also noticed him looking at her immediately. The area went silent for a few seconds that felt like minutes to the young bird trainer as her stomach filled with dread. Tay, however, shared no such sentiment. He appeared to be thinking as his glowing silver eyes remained locked on his 'former' friend. Yet, before things got awkward…

"Ah, hold up. Before I go… Mind if I make a few arrangements regardin' our captives here?" Tay asked as he shifted his gaze between Sky and an also-frightened Rottytops.

"Arrangements like what?" Risky warily asked, immediately not trusting his request.

"Two small things: First, I'd like t' borrow an important piece o' this plan that'll really drive those blue-coated punks wild as we rip 'em t' shreds," he cryptically remarked with a most mischievous inflection. "My other suggestion is that we make room for our most special guest when she comes here… either by her own will, or by us draggin' her in here by her oversized ponytail. That is, unless you've got extra cages layin' around somewhere."

"Hmm…" Risky pondered for a moment, drawing up conclusions as she studied her scheming recruit up and down. "These are the only cages I have right now. But what exactly is running through your mind? I'll admit, you're making me VERY curious."

"Simple stuff, really. Move the bird girl int' the other cage with the zombie, an' then take the zombie's head t' show off t' Ammo Baron as a… 'war trophy,' in a sense."

"Hm… I can't say I'm following, but you've certainly got me curious enough to figure out where you're going with this," Risky permitted as she, with a snap of her fingers, summoned a small squad of heavily armed Tinkerbats to their immediate vicinity. Within a second, she issued a nonverbal order for them to cock and aim their weapons. "Of course, if you try anything funny, you and these little whelps will be dead on the spot. Understand?"

"Ain't gotta tell me twice. But first…" Tay trailed off, turning toward Sky. "Hand me the Bird Seed, Sky."

"What? No, I'm not giving you that! You're insane!" she fervently rebutted, refusing to cooperate.

"You'll give it t' me now, or poor little Wrench is gonna have t' learn how t' fly with bullet holes in his wings," he threatened, holding the birdcage up and glaring directly at her. Risky, hearing the merciless threat loud and clear, giggled in a twisted sense of amusement at the sight of the soldier willfully turning against his former allies. She couldn't have been prouder in that moment.

"An excellent start!" the Pirate Queen cheered as she watched on.

"How could you!? Wrench has nothing to do with this! Leave him-!" Sky was about to protest.

"I suggest you shut your trap an' do as I tell you right now, Sky, or I swear this bird won't live t' see the end o' today. An' it'd be no one's fault but your own. Do you understand?" he coldly remarked, shaking the devastated bird trainer to her very core as she stared back at him. She… could hardly believe it. It was right in front of her eyes, but she still couldn't believe it… The Tayshan she knew and grew so fond of was gone… and in his place was a stone cold, calculating monster of Risky's creation. And here he was, threatening to seriously injure Wrench if she didn't hand him the bird seed that allowed him to temporarily grow giant.

"Tayshan, stop!" Rotty pleaded, equally as horrified by his vicious, barbaric threats. "You don't have to do this! You don't have to do any of this! Please, listen to us! We're sorry if we hurt you, but this isn't the way to even things out! We still… er, w-we still love you!" At that, Risky burst into a thoroughly amused cackle as she watched this tragic display unfold in front of her. Tay remained silent, though he cast a most dissatisfied glare in Rotty's direction that communicated that he didn't want to hear it from her. Within a few seconds, however, he turned his attention back to Sky.

"Well, Sky? You wanna save your bird or not?" he asked again, urging her to make the correct choice. At that point, however, Sky's heart sank like a submarine with five anchors attached to it. Crestfallen, she nearly lost all hope in the situation as her gaze met with the floor.

"…Here…" she weakly stated, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a tiny burlap sack that contained the avian food in question.

"Thank you," he impatiently stated, taking the Bird Seed and stuffing it into his pocket. Afterward, he turned toward Risky. "Do you have the keys t' these cages?"

"No, but I'll get them. Now, I'm dying to see how the rest of this delicious performance plays out," she excitedly replied, turning toward a Tinkerbat and whistling for it to come to her. One of her indistinguishable minions hurriedly sifted through the crowd to get to her. It immediately handed her a silver key ring with three golden keys on it. Risky got Cage Keys and tossed them over to Tay, who caught them with his free hand.

"Much obliged."

"Sure. Key on the left is for the bird's cage, key in the middle is for the zombie's cage, and the key on the right is for the crying blonde's cage," she instructed him.

"Noted," he acknowledged with a nod as he approached Sky's cage. Taking the key on the right, he stuck it in the lock. Sure enough, with a *click*, Sky's cage door was opened. "Out. Now," he ordered the devastated bird trainer. Obediently, Sky slowly stepped out of the cage, her eyes glued to the ground as she trudged toward him. Turning toward the Tinkerbats surrounding them, Tay motioned with a hand for some of them to approach. Three of them, carefully watching the highly dangerous prisoner shuffle, obeyed his command. "Stick t' her like glue. If she even flinches in a way that makes you think she's up t' somethin', execute her," he ordered the Tinkerbats, further shaking poor Sky as she tried her hardest to keep herself together. Nevertheless, the three Tinkerbats obliged by surrounding Sky while she remained helpless. Meanwhile, Tay moved to set the sleeping Wrench's cage on top of the one Sky had previously been held in before grabbing the key corresponding to the lock on Rottytops' cage. Before he committed to opening it, however, he turned toward Risky. "Hey, Cap. You got anything t' gag this one with? Like a cloth or somethin'? Last thing I wanna hear is her mouthin' off t' me."

"Excuse me!? Who do you think you are, you giant, glowing-eyed jerk!?" Rotty proceeded to mouth off. "You've got some nerve, y'know that!?"

"My point exactly," he flatly retorted, still facing Risky as he gestured a thumb toward the agitated zombie maiden.

"Good call on this one," Risky complimented, approaching and handing him a white cloth. "She can be a real chatterbox when the time doesn't call for it. She's lucky it hasn't gotten her killed... again."

"Forget you, Risky! Whatever it is you're trying to do, I swear I'll-!" Rotty protested, just about ready to fly off the handle.

"Stop talkin'!" Tay barked at her loud enough to frighten her out of her angered stupor. "You make one more peep, Rottytops, an' so help me, you an' Sky are both goin' under. Is that clear?" he threatened again, shocking her into the speechlessness he wanted her to exhibit. Appalled and disappointed, Rotty glared at him and nodded. "Good," he conclusively remarked as he opened her cage with another *click* of the corresponding key turning the lock. "Now, get over here." Never taking her ruby red eyes off him, Rotty angrily and warily approached the man… no, the monster she once called her friend. Within seconds, she stood before him as he towered over her. "So, you're actually capable o' listenin'. Now, then…" he condescendingly remarked, making her blood boil as she wanted to get just the right opportunity to make him pay for humiliating her and threatening her and Sky. However, she knew that she didn't want in the slightest to endanger herself or her acquaintance. As such, she remained silent with a burgeoning wrath that no one would've been prepared for if she was able to release it. Nevertheless, Tay leaned over and wrapped the cloth around Rotty's mouth with no resistance from her. The evil soldier made sure it was wound as tightly as possible, preventing Rotty from uttering even a single syllable that wasn't completely muffled by the bandana.

"Okay. Now, what happens next?" Risky inquired, growing progressively more intrigued as she watched him completely throw away his friendships in the wake of helping her accomplish her goal.

"Gotta make one last arrangement," he informed with a thumbs-up before glancing at the Tinkerbats guarding Sky and gesturing toward them while he kept an eye on Rotty. "Alright, bring her in," he commanded. Accordingly, the Tinkerbats nudged and prodded a reluctant Sky with their rifles, practically shoving her into the cage Rottytops had just been in. "Good. Now, guard this one while I'm at it." And, as he commanded, the same Tinkerbats approached and aimed their guns at a horrified and infuriated, yet helpless Rottytops. Meanwhile, Tay grabbed Wrench's cage and the key corresponding to it. He unlocked Wrench's cage with another *click* before reaching a hand in to gently grab the resting avian creature from its cell. "Sky."

"…What?" she irritably remarked, wanting no part in speaking to this… twisted monstrosity that used to be Tayshan any further.

"Take him," he ordered, gently handing Wrench over. Though astonished, Sky quickly snatched Wrench out of Tayshan's hand, collapsing to her knees within the cage and cradling the unfortunate bird as he remained injured and asleep. Soon after, he turned his attention toward Rottytops, who was still shooting him the dirtiest look she could muster as he continued to stand over her. "Hmph. Well, let's get this part over with…" he murmured with a rather jaded sigh, placing the key ring atop the cage he'd just stuffed Sky and Wrench in before grasping Rottytops by her cheeks. "Don't make a sound," he warned her as she continued to stare bullets into his face. Ignoring her very clear resentment toward him, Tay tightened his grip on the zombie girl's head and… "Haaaaaap…!" he grunted as he pulled upward without warning. However, it seemed to hardly matter as he, with a strong tug, tore Rotty's head off with a most… unfitting *pop* that was more akin to a cork being pulled out of an apple cider jug. Not knowing any better, the Tinkerbats that bore witness were instantly shocked and horrified by the sight of what they believed to be their newest crew member decapitating his former friend. Risky, despite knowing better than to believe Rottytops deceased as a result of her past experience with the undead maiden, found herself disgusted enough to turn away and block her vision with a hand. Evidently, she wasn't a fan of dismemberment in the slightest, despite knowing Rotty's status as a zombie.

"You could've warned us before you did that… Ugh…" Risky complained, still shielding her eyes in unadulterated revulsion.

"Noted for next time, provided there is one," Tay apologized, though he didn't take his eyes off Rotty. In that moment, he held her disembodied head up close and at eye level, staring her in the eye just as intensely as she'd been relentlessly staring at him. However, Rotty would soon find her angered glare broken with all the effect of a boulder smashing into a house from 10,000 feet high. As she stared at him to the point where she wasn't even blinking in that moment, Tay pulled a most… unexpected move by relaxing his bloodthirsty scowl without warning and shooting the zombie girl a surprisingly warm, smiling wink.

Rotty's eyes went wider than satellites in complete surprise as she watched him seemingly communicate a nonverbal message to her in the most discreet way that anyone in this situation could muster. Of course, as her facial expression switched to one of total astonishment, Tay wasted no time shoving her disembodied head into the cage Wrench previously inhabited and closing it without locking it. Thankfully for her, the cage was big enough to fit her head in. Once he did that, he set the cage down and gently tapped Rotty's body back into the cage alongside Sky, who'd been busy cradling and petting Wrench. Offering surprisingly little resistance, Rotty's body waltzed back into the cage and took a seat next to Sky. Once the headless form of the zombie girl was secured, Tay quickly locked the door with one final *click*, finalizing the prisoner exchange process. "Finally, it's done. Alright, I got what I needed out o' this," Tay advised, prompting Risky and her Tinkerbats to relax their stances. Risky, of course, took a moment to observe the fruits of her recruit's labor.

"So, you shoved everyone into the same cage while making sure the bird tamer had no way to heal her injured pet, and tore the head off the zombie to put it in the cage meant for the bird while gagging her to keep her from making any noise?"

"Yep. With the three o' them locked in one cage with no way t' escape or break out, in addition t' takin' the most important piece o' the zombie an' lockin' it where the bird was, you now have room t' stick Shantae somewhere she won't escape once we capture her. In the meantime, her friends don't get any chance t' converse with each other, because I'll be takin' one o' their heads t' intimidate that arrogant one-eyed moron Ammo Baron with before I destroy him," Tay confidently explained. "I don't have the impression he knows that the zombie can come apart like a shamblin' jigsaw puzzle an' still live t' tell about it, so it'll do me wonders in makin' him an' his cohorts cower in fear."

"Wow, that's dark…" Risky commented in an ironic mixture of revulsion and intrigue. "…and yet, it's so ingenious that I should kill you for coming up with that plan before I did."

"Oh. Well, uh… Can that wait until after we find out how successful it's gonna be?" Tay uncertainly offered as he tried to decipher whether Risky was kidding or being serious.

"Absolutely. Succeed, and you won't have to worry about dying at all," she cleverly retorted with a dastardly grin. "Go on ahead and grab whatever weaponry you'll need for the job. I'll pick out which Tinkerbats are best suited for your company. Sound like a plan?"

"Heard loud an' clear. I'll leave these t' you an' leave the prop where you can see it," Tay excitedly agreed before handing Risky the Cage Keys and leaving the cage containing Rotty's head atop the cage containing the rest of her along with Sky and Wrench to approach the stacks of Weapons Crates across the way. Risky watched him closely, her smile quickly fading into a suspicious scowl that made quite evident that she was still watching him like a hawk. Once he was out of earshot and distracted with picking out the right equipment for his self-imposed Search and Destroy mission, Risky silently hand-picked five Tinkerbats out of the sizable group of them in the immediate area. She beckoned them with a hand, where she entered a huddle with them.

"Alright, listen up, you scalawags…" she whispered as they all cobbled together to conceal their speech. "You five are going to help him complete this mission, but you are advised that in the very INSTANT he shows any signs of plotting against me or deviating from the agreed plan, you either kill him on the spot, or you come back to me immediately. Otherwise, see to it that he sticks STRICTLY to the schedule. If you all succeed, you make sure to get him back here directly from the Baron Desert. Your trip should be a straight shot to and fro. No stops, no breaks, no excuses. Meanwhile, I'll gear up the rest of the group to begin our real plan of embarking on our long-awaited conquest of Sequin Land. With any luck, you'll be back here just as the storm clears up, so whatever you have to do, you'd better make it back here as quickly as possible. Otherwise, you'll be left behind. Do I make myself clear?"

Her Tinkerbats, mute as they always were, collectively nodded in agreement as they got on-board with the idea of Risky getting a head-start on waging war against Sequin Land. As far as they were concerned, there was no time like the present to assert their dominance across the country.

"Aye," Risky conclusively stated as she and her henchmen broke the huddle. Just as they dispersed, Tayshan had just finished gathering the weapons he and his assistants would need; a sniper rifle, two loaded rocket launchers, two designated marksman rifles, and a handful of extra magazines for the rifles. "Well then. You've made your selections rather quickly."

"Oh, you have no idea how excited I am t' end this coward and his pathetic little gun-totin' circus troupe…!" Tay very darkly stated with a twisted, toothy grin. His eyes glowed with such an unprecedented appetite for destruction that it was like he'd been given a birthday gift. It certainly didn't help that his skin began to radiate with faint swirls of Dark Magic as he did next to nothing to contain himself. The Tinkerbats assigned to assist him took notice of this unsettling phenomenon and thus, turned to look at Risky, who'd simply been smiling back at the corrupted serviceman with a sense of pride in what she'd done to him. His smile faded within a few seconds as he raised a finger, however, as he appeared to want to address something with her. "I… do have t' say, though, that your supply's lookin' a lot… thinner than I thought it'd be at this point," Tayshan further pointed out. "As in, it looks like you've only got enough for maybe a couple big missions or a couple weeks' worth of smaller ones before you run out unless you recycle 'em."

"Your point?" Risky tersely asked him, seeming unappreciative of his observation.

"The armory in my old base had enough weapons t' arm my entire division, which equaled up t' 5,000 men in total. Not that there were that many guys in one place, mind you, but we were stocked full of equipment. An' if I remember, you cleaned the armory out, didn't you?"

"I can't exactly recall such a minute detail at this point," Risky deflected with a shrug. "We came, we saw, we took what wasn't nailed to the ground, and then you came along to try your luck at stopping me. Since then, we've been trying to ration them out while I replaced the ammunition in most of those weapons with my own supply."

"Right. Speakin' o' which, why haven't you used the real ammo for any o' the weapons, anyway? I'd imagine you'd get your goal accomplished a lot faster if you used that."

"To be perfectly honest, I don't trust my Tinkerbats with that kind of power," she straightforwardly answered, glancing up at a particular spot on the ceiling of her secret lair that Tayshan was none the wiser to. "Loyal and motivated as they usually are, they're not terribly well-coordinated on their own. We've… unfortunately had a couple of embarrassing incidents that led me to almost refrain entirely from using any of the original ammo. One bad slip-up could get me hurt in a completely avoidable fashion, or I could wind up losing droves of valuable crewmen to their own incompetent habits. Plus, even I have strict limits on the amount of destruction I need to cause to make or prove a point. I'm not a total 'demon,' as you once called me. I'm a 'demon' with a brain."

"…Huh. Interesting way t' put that," Tay murmured as he listened intently to Risky.

"That said, I decided to use most of the real ammunition for target practice to gauge their effectiveness. And while I will say that the normal ammo certainly never failed to impress, it also proved way too dangerous for my admittedly clumsy Tinkerbats to utilize in the middle of us also looking to take over Sequin Land as fast as possible with the right amount of preparation. Too little time on our hands, simply put. Plus, there was hardly any extra ammo within the supply of weapons we took, which further encouraged my decision to just switch out whatever I could for my magic pellets. If we were to use the regular ammunition for missions from the start, we'd have definitely run out within a week or two. Of course, I made sure to keep JUST enough of the real stuff around that, once I got the chance to sit down and figure out the specific designs for each type of gun, bomb, or whatever other weapon we pilfered, I could find a way to reverse-engineer that technology; especially since it looks like taking another trip to your timeline to scavenge for more isn't going to be very likely to happen until I figure out how to get this propulsion generator fixed or replaced."

"Wow… I didn't think you were bein' so methodical about it all," the soldier acknowledged with a nod. "I mean, even for the weaker type of ammo you put in the guns, it's crazy t' see how effective they still are. Of course, that still makes me wonder why you're in such short supply o' weapons when you've got endless access t' the pellets you've been loadin' 'em up with."

"I have you, your obnoxious former friends, and those moronic Barons to thank for that. Your constant interference in my crew's training drills were zero help in making sure we kept our weapon use to a strict minimum. Of course, we also looted and pillaged a large city or two to increase my riches, exercised our increased might by wiping out places like Hypno Baron's Castle, and… well, made arrangements for a few major battles between that tower in the sky that got blown down, the Thimble Canyon, and the Inseam Municipality. I had hoped my bolstered artillery and careful training would make things easier as I eventually decided to also take things slower, but then a few setbacks caused a huge chunk of the weapons we collected to be lost. We also may have overestimated our supply by a bit, which is made more annoying by the fact that we've had to use so much in as little as three weeks. And then, of course, Ammo Baron's traveling raccoon-themed gun circus started getting their grubby little mits all over them… which, of course, wouldn't have happened, were it not for you alerting the genie brat and those blue-coated buffoons to my endeavors," Risky concluded, glaring at Tay to indicate she was still VERY unhappy with him.

"Sorry," he apologized, reading her message loud and clear. "Couldn't have expected things t' go the way they did from when we first fought. Crazy as it is t' say, you probably should've considered killin' me yourself at the start." At that, Risky reeled back in surprise at the fact that he could make that suggestion so nonchalantly.

"Not that you're wrong, but you're awfully calm about saying such a thing."

"I know. Trust me, it… it makes me dread what could've happened had you gone that route, but the objective point still stands," he explained. "It's… a matter o' strategic observation. That said, I don't really know how much smoother your plans would've gone if you eliminated me at the beginnin'. I don't know if your battles with Shantae would've played out any differently had she not pulled me out o' that desert your Tinkerbats took me to. Either way… Hm. Either way, you possibly would've had an easier time…"

"Eh, I'm not entirely sure about that myself," Risky countered, much to his surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah. When it comes down to it, that irritating squirt ALWAYS finds a way to completely blow my plans out of the water. Had you been disposed of at the beginning, I'd have had the element of surprise on my side, sure. I may have also been able to spend more time training my Tinkerbats to use these weapons more effectively. But then, I get the strangest feeling it would all just play out the same way it always does, with her being unprepared at first as I launch my next attack, followed by her somehow finding the power within to turn the tables at the last second, which would inevitably lead up to her thwarting my plans outright yet again. This happens basically EVERY time. It's sickening."

"Huh. You know the pattern so well, yet you still find it difficult t' break, eh?"

"Unfortunately. However, this time is gonna be different. I can FEEL it…!" Risky assured herself, clenching her fists as she held them up to her chest and scowled at them for a moment before turning her attention back to her new 'partner.' "Plus, if it wasn't for you surviving long enough to eventually come back to me with a 'clearer' mind anyway, I probably wouldn't have gotten the idea to take her closest friends hostage this time around. That alone all but guarantees that I hold all the cards in this game of ours. I also got the idea to… 'convince' the likes of the Barons to lend their aid to the cause because of this sequence of events. On another note, I wouldn't have found out how to properly harness the Dark Magic I've been able to utilize more freely since my trip to your timeline, had my troops not discovered that you'd been affected with it before you were given a piece of the Dark Magic Shard from the Tinker-Portal. Of course, that begs the question of if the Tinker-Portal might be responsible for us being loaded with levels of magic that would potentially cause a genie to gasp in wonder…" she pondered, studiously examining her hands.

"…R-right," Tay hesitantly answered, though he found himself secretly shocked to find out where Risky got the gem she forced him to swallow, in addition to her revelation that she had indeed been powered up by the Tinker-Portal the same way he had.

"Oddly enough, I've learned quite a bit more on how to properly deal with that pipsqueak and her peasant pals by keeping you alive than I would've learned if I finished you off myself instead of trusting my Tinkerbats with the task that day. Of course, you never heard me say that," she threatened, glaring at him again.

"…Oh," Tayshan barely found it in himself to reply as he remained focused on Risky. For some strange reason, he didn't find himself proud of the fact that the Pirate Queen admitted to learning a thing or two from him. If anything, he felt… highly conflicted at best. At worst? I'd probably describe it as him feeling… a mixture of thankful and remorseful… which is just a fancier way of saying he felt conflicted.

"It seems like you understand. Now, enough prattling," she demanded, switching gears right away before her new crewman could ponder the implications of his continued existence in and interference with this unusual era. "If you're gonna get this job done, then you'd better get a move on before I change my mind."

"Oh! Uh, o-of course, Captain," Tay acknowledged, snapping himself out of the trance he was about to enter. After a moment, he reminded himself of what he'd just signed himself up to do, and he changed his disposition accordingly. "I'm ready. Is the crew prepared t' move out?"

"You'd better believe they are," Risky confirmed, gesturing a hand toward him to signal the Tinkerbats in question to join him. Reluctantly, Risky's designated henchmen approached the twisted young man, whereupon each of them was given a weapon corresponding to their assigned job. Tay himself took it upon himself to lock and load the marksman rifle he selected once he handed out the other firearms.

"Lookin' good…" he murmured, glancing at each of his new cohorts to gauge their readiness to attack. Despite this, however, he singled out one of the Tinkerbats and pointed to it. "You. Judgin' by the goggles you have hangin' around your neck, you're my recon specialist. Right?"

The Tinkerbat plainly nodded.

"You're gonna need one o' those propeller pack things t' get a bird's eye view o' this place when we get there. We'll need to assess for strengths an' weaknesses before we launch our assault. I'd also suggest grabbin' some flashbang an' frag grenades. You might wanna take extra ammo for your rifle an' a sidearm, too," he instructed. "An' you, with the other set o' goggles, the compass, an' the map. You're my navigator?"

This Tinkerbat also plainly nodded.

"Grab yourself some ammo an' a couple grenades," Tay advised. "In case things get too rowdy out there, we're gonna need you t' be prepared t' join us in the battle. The idea is t' keep you out o' harm's way, but we won't know what we're dealin' with until we get over there. Also, you there with the sniper rifle."

The third Tinkerbat perked up, acknowledging that it was being called.

"Get yourself propeller pack, too. You're gonna want t' get a decent vantage point either in the air or from a high place t' safely take your shots. That'll be crucial. Also, grab a pistol in case they get too close for you t' use the sniper rifle. Me an' these two with the rocket launchers will do what we can t' give you the time you need to adjust, but you want t' protect yourself in case we get overwhelmed. In turn, you'll be helpin' us clear the way from a distance. An' as for my demolitions experts…"

The final two Tinkerbats, growing eager to hear the remainder of their de facto squad leader's plan, perked up with hardly a question.

"Grab just a couple more rockets each, an' then take a marksman rifle with some extra ammo, along with some flashbangs an' frag grenades. I picked up a few myself a second ago. In case they have any vehicles there, our focus is gonna be on makin' sure they don't have a way to escape or overwhelm us. Once those rockets are used up, though, the three of us are gonna do most o' the dirty work as we hunt down that goofy raccoon enthusiast an' neutralize anybody who gets in the way without a millisecond of hesitation. I'm contemplatin' takin' one or two more things, but we'll figure it out. An' for all o' y'all, once we gather our supplies, load up the canoe. We'll wanna get there before these fools wake up, if possible."

At that, each of the Tinkerbats saluted him before scattering to gather the requested pieces of equipment. Meanwhile, Tay moved to collect the bird cage containing Rottytops's head before taking one last look at Risky Boots.

"Y'know, with that level of foresight and strategic planning, you're earning yourself a spot as a secondary trainer for my troops once all is said and done. You do know that, right?" Risky 'suggested.'

"As long as your troops prove competent enough t' follow directions, I'll drill in as many lessons as are necessary," he confidently replied. "Not bad for a 'pup' like me, huh?"

"Don't get carried away now. You've only mildly impressed me so far, but you've still got a long way to go to really earn my approval," she dismissively shot back. "Now, hurry up and shred that meathead. We don't have all day, and we've got much bigger fish to fry after you're done."

"Roger that. Beginnin' mission," he solemnly replied, turning and walking toward the weapons supply with his crew. They deliberated for a moment before taking some extra weapons. Afterward, they all headed to the Auto-Canoe with their weapons in hand. It wasn't long before he and his Tinkerbat comrades boarded the canoe, after which they shoved off with hardly a moment's notice.

"Hm. We'll see just how useful you can be in this state, Tayshan. You'd better not screw this up," Risky murmured, anticipating the result of his first bloodthirsty crusade in her name as she rallied her other Tinkerbats to begin making preparations for Operation: Bombardment of Artillery Rainstorms, which we now know is the longer version of Operation: B.O.A.R., and not that other thing that we are no longer allowed to mention under the threat of a fate worse than death. Of course, in typical Risky Boots fashion, the bodacious swashbuckler found some time in her busy schedule to gallivant over to her prisoners' cage to watch their (or, in this case, Sky's) suffering in glee. "Aw, what's wrong, birdie? You upset that your so-called friend isn't the goody two-shoes you thought he was? Or maybe you're in here crying about how you're never gonna get out of here because Shantae can't save you? Which is it?" Hearing Risky's derisive comments, Sky wiped her eyes and glared at Risky while still holding Wrench close to her chest.

"I have not even the slightest interest in talking to you. You're scum, Risky. Scum!" Sky spat in complete revulsion at her captor.

"Scum, you say? Hah! Harsh words coming from such a pathetic little feather fiend," Risky shot back with no sense of consideration. "I should punish you right now for such insolence… or maybe I should just do it for kicks and giggles when I get bored. You're just lucky I've got planning to do right this second."

"Yeah, because all you can do is pick on people you think you can control or intimidate, or who you think are weaker than you. That's been your M.O. for as long as my friends and I can remember. Fight someone on your level like Shantae, and you're always sent scurrying away with your tail between your legs." At that, Risky chuckled in ostensible amusement, though it didn't take an expert detective to identify that Sky's comment bothered the Pirate Queen greatly. Just as she finished laughing off the merciless insult, she charged up a flow of Dark Magic in her fist and punched one of the bars of the cage. With a sudden, incredibly loud *KRANG*, the cage was sent sliding back at least a few feet into the cavern wall, where it hit with an additional *PLACK*. Startled, Sky clutched Wrench tighter as Rotty's headless body fell over. Risky approached again, Dark Magic still coursing through her fist as she inspected the damage.

"Ah, not bad… I'm starting to get the hang of this," Risky ominously commented, inspecting the bars of Sky's cage to notice that she'd put massive, smoldering dents in the metallic structures. "Just a bit more time, and I'll take complete control of my new abilities."

"…New abilities?"

"Oh, yes. I'm not going to waste my time explaining it to you, but certain people know from direct experience how much more powerful I've become in recent times," she hinted with a menacing smirk before turning her back on Sky. "After all, it's that same power, mixed with a bit of forceful subterfuge and… how do I say, a very close and wild… physical encounter with your former friend that won him over to my side," she tactlessly bragged, hinting that she did something truly horrible to a certain someone to spark a notorious change of heart within them.

"What? What did you do to him!?" Sky demanded to know, Risky's assertion sending a disturbing chill up her spine as her heart also sank. If Risky's vague and indirect description was any indication, then whatever she did to turn Tay evil had to be something so incredibly awful that it turned him into the… the vengeful shadow of his former self that she unfortunately bore witness to. A 'close and wild physical encounter,' though? What the heck could that possibly mean? She had no clue… that is, unless Risky meant she…

"None of your business, brat," Risky shut her down as she sauntered away to address her Tinkerbats. "Now sit there and be a good little hostage while I get set to destroy everything you and your worthless friends have ever known and loved," she further commanded, showing off that she was very comfortable in her role as Sequin Land's number one worst enemy.

"…Shantae, wherever you are, please get here soon…" Sky murmured to herself as she watched Risky bark orders at her Tinkerbats. "And Tayshan… I… We need to find a way to get you back to normal before it's too late…" she further stated in her melancholy tone as she scooted up in the cage and cradled Wrench as he continued to rest. As it appeared, Sky's only option at this point was to sit in silence and wait, crossing her fingers in hopes that Shantae would bust in and save her. In addition to those hopes, Sky held onto her faith that Shantae would get there before Risky did anything to her. And, as we get into the full swing of our heroes (and villains) mobilizing in various places all at once, we… should probably see how a certain 'surprise party' was going to unfold. So, without hesitation…

Later…

LOCATION: AMMONIAN CAMP, BARON DESERT, SEQUIN LAND

DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, 16 P.G.F.

TIME: 0806 HOURS

"Things ain't lookin' too great now, Techs," a certain burly, one-eyed army general addressed his reptilian comrade (whose nickname I should clarify was pronounced 'Tex' to save you the trouble) within the confines of a giant tent as they took refuge from the whirling thunderstorm outside. The soft, yet continuous rumbling of the thunder above overpowered almost all other sounds in the immediate atmosphere, though that didn't stop our two mysterious comrades in arms from brainstorming ideas on how to make their situation better. "Risky stabbed us in the back and burned us on that Inseam Municipality deal, and now... And now, I have less than half my army in active duty because of all the setbacks we've been hit with this year. I didn't think I'd still be feeling the pressure from the Cape Crustacean disaster a couple months back, but it's hitting us harder than I could've imagined. What's worse, I've also gotta deal with dwindling resources and the absence of my two most reliable right-hand girls. We've gotta figure out how to bounce back from this…"

"Your concerns are certainly heard, Ammo Baron," stated one frazzled anthropomorphic reptile wearing what basically looked like a dented bucket on his head. For those who didn't know better, it was Techno Baron, who'd indeed survived his deadly encounter with Rottytops aboard the doomed Mecha-Dagron. How, you may ask? I feel like we already had that answered. Then again, there ARE two sides to every story. That said... "And believe me, I agree," the tiny reptile validated. "I lost years' worth of valuable resources on that mechanical masterpiece of mine, all thanks to a hideous zombie, a bunch of annoying birds, their ditzy blonde overlord, and everybody's favorite walking ponytail with an irritating little girl under it. It was only a wonder that I managed to eject myself from the hatch at just the right moment before I passed out, only to wind up washed ashore here by the time I regained consciousness."

"Some luck that is, eh?"

"Indubitably. Either way, this may be a time like no other for us to band together, Ammo. We have far too much pride as Barons of Sequin Land to uphold. And together, I'll bet the scales on my left foot that not even that cantankerous old witch Risky Boots would stand a chance!"

"That's a pretty optimistic point of view there, chum," Ammo Baron acknowledged as he studied what appeared to be a map hung up on the wall of the tent with a series of lines strategically drawn all over it. "Only thing is that, with all the heavy casualties I've been hit with over the last few months since my airship went down in Cape Crustacean, things have been on the rocks for me."

"Not to worry," Techno Baron assured, climbing up onto a stool to join Ammo Baron in studying the map. "We may yet have an ace in the hole in the form of those highly sophisticated weapons you've been procuring recently. Now that we aren't on that psychotic pirate's radar, it gives us a perfect opportunity to rebuild your army, dissect and replicate these strangely powerful weapons, and mount a joint conquest the likes of which the world has never seen! We've had success in the past with turning Scuttle Town into Ammo Town."

"Alright…" he pensively murmured, listening intently to Techno Baron.

"And that was with the standard grade of weaponry we've already had at our disposal. With these heat-seeking rockets, these immensely powerful semiautomatic rifles, these incredibly destructive tiny green pineapples and their cylindrical equivalents that appear to be meant for stunning and disorienting the opposition… in addition to the host of other ethereal artillery, we could potentially take the entire country by storm!"

"That's exactly what I was thinkin'. Biggest issues there, though, are Risky Boots and that little pipsqueak Shantae," Ammo Baron pointed out as he turned his attention to a nearby table that had some of the aforementioned weaponry laid across it. "They got in our way before, and now that Risky's got the majority of these weapons all to herself, we'd be running pretty low on time to figure out how to mass produce this our own supply before it's too late. And… much as I'd hate to admit it, Shantae is a whole different story. Doesn't help that Risky just captured the one person in this whole world who has any useful information about this equipment before I could. Granted, she forced me to help her do it, but if we'd played our cards a little closer to our chests…"

"Who did she capture that we could've had so much use for?" Techno Baron asked, seeming unaware of who Ammo Baron was referring to.

"Some kid that apparently came from the same place these guns came from," he began, his brow furrowing at the thought of the individual. "Whatever place across the wild blue yonder he came from, he proved himself to be utterly LETHAL on the battlefield. My seconds-in-command were so close to coaxing him to our side, too. I didn't bother to consider how useful he could really be until I saw him go completely berserk in Inseam. Kid just turned into a total killing machine. He just ripped and blasted through most of my troops and the Tinkerbats that ganged up on him over there. Even Risky herself had a heck of a time dealing with him. I've never seen anything like it…"

"Hm. I get the feeling I know who you might mean. But if he still wound up being captured at the end of the day, then he can't be that useful. His success in even surviving that ambush must surely have been a total fluke," Techno Baron rather inattentively dismissed with a shrug. "And whether we have access to this mystery joker or not, we still have a golden opportunity to build upon the small successes we've accomplished with getting our hands on the same weapons Risky's hoarding for herself. You also still have a healthy supply of your war vehicles to utilize that she may not be able to deal with. It may take a while, but with your power and my technical genius, we can still find a way to overwhelm her once and for all."

"Heh. I like your enthusiasm. Alright then, let's put our minds together," Ammo Baron praised and suggested, a sense of hope awakening in him as he and his partner in crime got set to conjure up their own strategy for taking over Sequin Land. Of course, we would've been left to wonder what they were scheming, had they not been under some very unexpected surveillance in the form of a Tinkerbat slyly peering into their hiding spot to overhear their conversation.

As it turned out, a certain band of pirate warriors had made it to their destination unhindered, and had quickly commenced their action plan from the second they arrived. It appeared their first phase was to send this Tinkerbat out to sniff out any significant points of interest. Once this Tinkerbat had discovered the Barons and had gotten wind of their plans, it stepped away from the tent as the rain picked up and the thunder began to rumble louder. Activating its propeller pack, the Tinkerbat lifted itself high into the air, swiftly soaring away from the camp to avoid detection. And, as it seemed, it managed to fly toward the coastline without a hitch, where a certain shirtless, Dark Magic-infested young man and a group of four other Tinkerbats with heavy weapons patiently awaited it while standing near a beached metallic canoe. Cue the obligatory transition…

Meanwhile, at the shoreline…

"So, what's the situation?" the man, evidently this group's de facto leader, asked of the Tinkerbat spy.

The Tinkerbat gesticulated a series of very unintelligible hand signs as its method of communicating its findings to the rest of the group.

"They've got just a few tanks an' a couple biplanes on standby, an' most o' their guys are either asleep or just stirrin' awake with maybe a couple on patrol around the perimeter, eh?" the humanoid squad leader asked the Tinkerbat for affirmation. "An' the one-eyed fool an' that tin-head alligator are here, tryin' t' come up with a way o' catchin' Captain Risky off-guard?"

The Tinkerbat nodded to confirm.

"Hm. Figures they didn't learn from their past mistakes. Oh, well. That's precisely why we're here," the man asserted with a menacing chuckle as swirls of evil energy radiated from his fists as he clenched them. "We've clearly gotta teach these cowards a lesson they won't forget, should they live long enough t' even tell about it. In that case, let's tackle it this way…" he began, gesturing for the group to huddle together. Once the Tinkerbats did, he knelt to meet them at eye level. "Sniper, go an' get yourself ready at the designated vantage point. They don't have a lot t' work with here, but that shouldn't stop you. Don't start shootin' until you hear us start off on the ground."

The Tinkerbat sniper nodded, arming itself accordingly before activating its propeller pack to hover high while getting itself situated.

"Recon, I'll need you t' keep your distance, but you'll stick by the navigator. We'll prioritize protectin' our method o' transportation, an' we need t' make this as quick as possible. There's no room for hiccups."

The Tinkerbat reconnaissance agent nodded, taking its place near the Tinkerbat navigator.

"Navigator. Like I said before, keep yourself protected, an' don't stray too far away from Recon. Your top priority is the protection of yourself an' our boat, but you're all aware that we're spreadin' ourselves a bit thin t' pull this off. This might seem like an easy operation, but any one thing that goes wrong could spell the end for us all. An' even if we succeed in knockin' these Ammonian guys for a loop, we'd still need t' hurry up an' get out o' here with this canoe before they get the chance t' counter. Otherwise, we'd be stranded. Copy?"

The Tinkerbat navigator saluted in understanding while the others nodded.

"Glad you know what I mean. An' lastly, my demolition duo…" the man addressed, tucking a rifle into his inventory while fitting himself with a flamethrower. "We're gonna employ a little attack strategy I'd like t' call 'The Horns,' based on the findings of Recon an' the last time y'all came t' this place. I'll take point, goin' deep enough into their camp that I can give them a… toasty wake-up call. As I go through the middle an' set up a few traps, you two will take either side along the perimeter t' flank 'em. Move quick, an' have your weapons ready. Your priority should be t' destroy any vehicles they have, an' to make as much of a mess as you can as you do it. The other main point is t' confuse them an' send 'em scatterin' in different directions as they try t' figure out what's goin' on. From there, we'll use the confusion an' this thunderstorm to our advantage an' crush these weaklings like eggs under sledgehammers. Understood?"

The Tinkerbat demomen each nodded in understanding, seeming ready to cause another senseless bloodbath in the name of their ruthless pirate captain.

"Excellent. And… as for you…" the squad leader trailed off, producing a bird cage with a green-skinned girl's disembodied head in it. The head in question looked her captor in the eye in what seemed to be confusion and worry, though the cloth tied tightly into her mouth prevented her from speaking… y'know, because disembodied heads definitely always have the ability to speak. "If you want this t' unfold in our favor, you're gonna play along with what we discussed earlier. Make it convincin', an' you might earn yourself a slightly less miserable time as Risky's hostage. I hope that's been made clear enough t' you," he advised before he placed the cage back into his inventory without seeing if the head could respond. Afterward, he silently made a series of hand gestures toward his allies, prompting them each to take an assigned position from which to begin their brazen invasion. Once each of the Tinkerbats got set in their positions to attack, the pirate accomplice readied his flamethrower and, with a bloodthirsty grin, began dashing toward the Ammonian base of operations through the thick, mushy wet sand. As he approached, he uttered just one more phrase before he committed to his task.

"Objective: Exterminate the Ammo Baron…!" the man ominously growled, making very clear what his purpose was for launching an unannounced attack against the Ammonian Army at their most vulnerable. One could only wonder exactly what sort of carnage was about to unfold in the wake of a six-man sting operation launched with the ostensible purpose of crushing anyone who potentially posed a threat to Risky Boots's conquest of Sequin Land. Well, we won't be wondering for long, so I hope you're ready…

Within the Base…

"Okay, so maybe if we lay low for a bit, regroup, and make use of the resources we have, we could potentially be up and running within the next week or two, no?" Ammo Baron asked Techno Baron as they each sat at a table with a gigantic map laid across it within the confines of their tent.

"Eh, that would be sort of a stretch, but it isn't improbable," the anthropomorphic lizard replied, tapping a finger to the unusual bell-shaped device on his head as he contemplated options. "It doesn't help that your army's been hit so heavily that we barely have the ability to defend ourselves, but with Risky moving as quickly as she is, we don't have much time to work with. That aside, our alternative would be to ask our fellow Barons for assistance."

"That grouchy old wizard and that giant, dopey octopus? Come on, we're not THAT desperate," Ammo Baron sternly protested, seeming offended that Techno Baron would come up with such a 'ludicrous' idea. "Besides, Risky attacked Hypno Baron already. She forced him to try and take down Shantae and that other punk in Genie's Hem a couple weeks ago, but those two beat the snot out of him, too. Word along the grapevine is that Squid Baron also got the literal tar beaten out of him by that hotshot dancer chick and her boyfriend even earlier than that."

"It matters little what happened to them in the recent past," Techno Baron objected. "As long as they are alive, we must at least consider them as a last resort. Besides, we haven't worked together as an entire group since our inception. For us four to be called the Barons of Sequin Land and have little to no history of banding together outside of our preferential two-man pair-ups between you and myself, as well as Hypno Baron and Squid Baron, it sort of begs the question of when we'll all eventually work as a whole unit. Granted, the idea leaves a more bitter taste in my mouth than black licorice coated in candle wax, but-!" Techno Baron was about to get into weighing their options on unifying their might against Risky Boots when a sudden *FWOOSH* that sounded nothing like wind from the storm penetrated their ears. Soon after, the terrified cries of men outside began to fill the air, followed by a massive *KABOOM* that shook the two Barons stiff.

"What in the…?" Ammo Baron questioned, his anxiety hitting an all-time high as he raced out of the tent to be greeted with the sight of various tents being engulfed in flames. As he took in the stench of burning fabric and witnessed the clouds of smoke billowing into the overcast skies, another pair of even louder *BOOMs* nearly caused him to go deaf. "What the heck is goin' on out here!?" he demanded to know, though he hurried back into his tent to pick up a semiautomatic rifle from Risky's arsenal, in addition to an additional, traditional Ammonian rifle.

"What's happening!?" Techno Baron frightfully asked, backing himself into the farthest corner of the tent he could find. Just then, the *pops*, *bangs* of gunfire being returned by his troops, in addition to the voices of his troops shouting commands to one another tipped the Ammonian leader off on the unfortunate turn of events.

"We're under attack, from the sound of it…! You stay in here while we handle the issue," Ammo Baron commended Techno Baron. "Darn it, who has the gall!?" he further angrily and rhetorically asked, rushing out of the tent and leaving Techno Baron to hide somewhere within. As Ammo Baron was greeted once again with heavy winds, a torrential downpour, and booming thunder, another *KABOOM* rocked the immediate area. Debris came hurtling from all directions from what appeared to be a tank and an airplane that had just been blown up. "Whoever this is, they're gonna pay for this…!" Ammo Baron vowed, hurrying through the compromised camp until he found a sizable group of his men banding together with Ammonian rifles in hand, charging toward the massive wildfires that had suddenly erupted. "Up and at 'em! Make sure you drag whoever is responsible for this mess through the dirt and place them at my feet!" he commanded, pumping up his troops as they charged in with gusto.

Were it so simple, they would've seen no issue completing their task. However, with a distant *bang* and resultant *FWOOSH*, one of the Ammonian soldiers was sent hurtling away in defeat as a nearly invisible bullet struck him in the face. Before anyone realized what happened to take out that soldier, another three or four went down with him in succession. At this point both angered and somewhat frightened, the squadron dispersed in separate directions to ensure that, in case of a sniper, they wouldn't be a collection of sitting ducks. Meanwhile, a couple more *KABOOMs* rocked the vicinity once more, another tank and a collection of Ammonian soldiers being flung about in the distance as another fire sprouted up, contained only by the rainfall.

"We're bein' hit hard, from the look of it. But who…?" the Ammonia general tried to figure out as he kept himself moving. His efforts to identify his base's attacker(s) would be paid off in the form of him spotting a Tinkerbat ahead, spraying a barrage of flashing marbles at a separate squad of Ammonian soldiers from the cover of a burning surveillance tower. "Risky Boots…! You conniving shrew!" he cursed, thoroughly angered by the revelation that the Queen of the Seven Seas (of all people) could be capable of something so underhanded. Nevertheless, Ammo Baron witnessed as the group of blue-coated henchmen broke into two separate units to flank the lone Tinkerbat before it could cause any additional harm. Half of them were able to get around one side of the building, where they were met with another *BANG* of an explosive device as they began firing off a collective fusillade of rounds at the pirate creature. The other half had unfortunately met an untimely defeat at the hands of a random, massive spray of flames that sent them all packing. "What the…? A flamethrower?" Ammo Baron pondered, dashing up ahead just a few feet before taking cover behind an unscathed tent. Hurriedly, he poked his head out from cover to spot a most harrowing sight; that sight being the Dark Magic-imbued form of a certain someone he'd met within the last 24 hours, armed with the suspected flamethrower. "You've got to be KIDDING me...!"

"Darn, we're already down one…! Gotta be more careful from here on…" the intruder murmured to himself as he dashed away from the group of Ammonian soldiers chasing after him after they'd apparently defeated the Tinkerbat and survived his pyromaniac assault. As the platoon of Ammonian soldiers chased him down, spraying a relentless barrage of bullets his way, he was seen pulling a key out of a canister and tossing it behind him. Soon enough, another ear-splitting *BANG* erupted, though the squad dove away in different directions to avoid being hit.

"Huh… So, that's her game, huh? Send this little punk in once she brainwashed him, so he'd do all her dirty work? How incredibly lazy and uninspired…" Ammo Baron disapproved, readying his weapon as he prepared himself to abate the issue himself. As he was set to dash out of cover, however, another *bang* could be heard from the distance, followed by the *FWOOSH* of a bullet that nearly caught him right in the eye. "GYAH!" he bellowed out in shock, ducking behind the tent to narrowly avoid being shot. "They've got a sniper somewhere, too. Yet, that's only two Tinkerbats I've seen so far, as well as the kid… Where are the rest of 'em?" he pondered as the sounds of the battle intensified with a cacophony of grenade and rocket explosions, gunfire, rain, thunder, and unintelligible shouting coming from the Ammoninan troops as they barked commands at one another on how to strategically counter their unscrupulous enemies. With many details of this rapidly deteriorating situation in mind, Ammo Baron opted to turn and dash toward the heart of the conflict in a different direction to avoid further detection by the Tinkerbat sniper. He soon made his way to a separate group of soldiers that were collectively tossing grenades and firing their weapons in sporadic bursts at the two Tinkerbats they'd seen hiding behind a tower many yards away. To get their attention, he whistled to them as he hurriedly rushed through the rain and sand. Once they heard him, they momentarily disengaged the enemy to hear him out up close.

"Alright, gentlemen," he addressed them as they huddled up. "What we seem to be dealing with right now is a Risky Boots-related game of guerrilla warfare. They used this thunderstorm to their advantage, and they're attacking from different angles and running away when we get the chance to put some pressure on 'em. If they're not fighting us straight-up, then that potentially means there aren't many of her little freaks out here with her… if she's even here. If there are any tanks or planes in the area, go to them and get them up and running as soon as you can. On the ground and with the tactics they're using, they have a minor early advantage, but we can flush 'em out of hiding by flexing our might and showing these lily-livered sycophants who they're messin' with! Are you with me!?"

"Hoo-rah!" the group collectively cheered, agreeing wholeheartedly with their leader.

"Excellent! Alright, you four go and operate the war vehicles. The other six of you, with me. I'll take point. And when I give the motion, spread out to avoid being taken down en masse," he commanded, prompting a portion of his troops to go dashing off behind him to search for any functional vehicles in the area. The rest awaited his next order. "Okay…" he murmured, holding out a hand with three fingers extended. He counted down from three, after which he waved his hand forward, prompting his squad to go charging in with him at the helm. Under the mounting pressure, he knew he had to make his next move as quick and precise as possible with very little room for error. As such, he immediately took out a frag grenade, pulled the pin, and tossed it forward in hopes that the enemy would reveal themselves. And, as he expected, they did. A Tinkerbat jumped out from cover once it spotted the grenade, prompting Ammo Baron to halt his troops to keep them from getting too close to the explosive.

"TARGET SPOTTED! TAKE 'EM OUT!" he ordered as he aimed his rifle and began firing an unforgiving storm of bullets at the offending creature. He was soon joined by his comrades as they all spread out and focused their aim on the Tinkerbat. However, before they could get the chance to fully capitalize on the advantage, a pair of explosives landed right near their feet just as Ammo Baron's grenade exploded with a *BOOM*. The Tinkerbat they'd been aiming at, despite being struck a few times, narrowly escaped with its life as it dashed behind another tent that hadn't been torched yet. Of course, they were in for a rude awakening when…

"Sir, look out!" a frantic Ammonian soldier cried out, shoving Ammo Baron away.

"Whoa! Lieutenant, what do you-!?" he was about to ask before another *BANG* rang out, deafening all who'd been in the vicinity. Disoriented, Ammo Baron climbed back to his feet and scurried away while trying to call his soldiers. Only… all he could hear in that moment was an incessant ringing in his ears that seemed to overpower anything he tried to say. The more he shouted, however, the more he realized he could barely hear his own voice. Dashing toward a nearby unoccupied blue tank, he turned to see that most of his soldiers had been hunched over, holding their heads in collective despair. However, before he could do anything about it, another explosion ripped through the air, sending sand and debris flying everywhere. Unfortunately for Ammo Baron, most of that squad of soldiers had found themselves flung away and sprawled out on the ground in defeat. The ones that survived the explosions still found themselves too disoriented to do much else other than wait for the effects of the strange explosives to wear off. Only, one of the remaining two servicemen was taken out by the Tinkerbat sniper Ammo Baron narrowly avoided. The other had been sprayed into oblivion with rounds from an interdimensional rifle.

"No… No, no…! You… I'll make you pirate freaks pay for this!" the Ammonian leader roared as his senses eventually returned to him. And once they did, he was out for blood. Enraged by the desolate state of his troops and base, he hurried up and climbed into the tank, making sure he was set to go. With a mighty *VROOM*, the tank booted up without a hitch. At that point, Ammo Baron was ready to go to war. "Let's see how you cowards handle the big guns…!" he commented as he soon began driving his war vehicle to a safe enough distance to where he could get a decent view of the opposition. "Just as I thought…" he muttered, gaining enough of a view of the battlefield that he spotted his troops engaging their opposition at various points.

Among the encampment of burning, smoking tents and crumbling buildings, he spotted four Tinkerbats… one of which was stationed in one of the towers, firing away at his troops with a sniper rifle, another of which was flying around with a propeller pack throwing grenades and shooting at troops sporadically from a distance with a marksman rifle, a third of which had been sneaking around with a rocket launcher and was seen blowing up a tank after its operator narrowly missed its mark with a cannonball fired from its gun… and a fourth, who'd appeared to have been guarding a canoe of sorts; no doubt the one they carted themselves here on. This fourth Tinkerbat had appeared to be the only one fighting to hold its ground as it fired off irregular sprays of rounds. It soon found itself joined by the second Tinkerbat after it returned from its round trip of raining destruction from above. Yet, the biggest issue appeared to be the crazed alien soldier in the purple pants and metal boots, who'd been in another area entirely, mowing down troops in groups using a combination of a flamethrower, a rifle, and grenades as he struck from the rainy shadows.

"There's only five of 'em here, and they're giving us this much trouble!? Darn it!" Ammo Baron cursed, setting his sights on the Tinkerbats guarding the canoe. "In that case, since you're here to party, why don't you stay for a little while?" he further quipped, aiming and firing a cannonball from the tank with a mighty *PROWGH!* from its gun. He didn't even wait for the cannonball to hit its mark before floored it to rush his tank forward. As he moved, he fired four more projectiles at his targets, by which point the first cannonball hit the canoe with a destructive *PWAASH!*, kicking up a spray of sand and metal chunks that immediately alerted the Tinkerbats to the trouble they were in.

Upon noticing that their way off the island was compromised, they turned to see a gigantic blue vehicle on treads bulleting toward them, as well as a trio of airborne cannonballs. Frightened, they attempted to alert the rest of the attack squad by firing their weapons haphazardly to draw attention as they ran away. One of the Tinkerbats was hit with a *PWANG* of one of the cannonballs, however, and was soundly vanquished. The other just BARELY missed having its clock thoroughly cleaned as it ducked under one of the other cannonballs. Afterward, it hurriedly sprinted its way toward the blazing encampment, firing its weapon wildly as it approached the shirtless man as he'd just created some distance from another group of Ammonian soldiers while flinging another grenade in their direction.

"Now, I've got you!" Ammo Baron roared, seeing red as he charged the tank toward the primary target of his counterattack and fired another barrage of cannonballs… one of which was an unusual green in color. And, in case you remember, you know from experience what usually happens with green cannonballs fired from Ammonian tanks…

"So, that's where you've been hidin'!" the man called out, immediately pulling out a pistol and aiming it while he had just a couple seconds' time. Seemingly in one fell swoop, the enemy soldier aimed his pistol, fired a single round at the green cannonball, and dashed out of harm's way while grabbing the Tinkerbat by the hand and pulling it away to protect it.

"What!? How did he know about-!?" Ammo Baron was about to shout before his vehicle was struck by the earth-shattering *KABOOM* of the green cannonball against the surface of his tank. The impact caused it to rattle and quake immensely as it was stopped dead in its tracks. "ARGH! Shoot, we really should've ironed out that weakness by now…!" he further murmured, hurrying to recompose himself before confirming the tank was still operational. Despite the fact that it was dented and smoking, he was still able to maneuver it. "Heh… You're a crafty bunch, but this is where your little game ends!" he vowed, changing direction and riding the tank back to a safe distance to commence another round of cannon fire… only, his chance to take out the soldier and the Tinkerbat as they dashed together back into the forest of immolated tents and buildings would not come. Just as he took aim, he caught sight of another Tinkerbat approaching from the side with a rocket launcher… that it had already fired just as Ammo Baron's tank stopped moving, signified by the rocket's *FRRISSSSSHH* as it barreled toward him.

"Aw, are you flippin' serious!? Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot…! NoooWAAH-!" he ranted in panic, climbing out of the tank like his life depended on it (because it did), narrowly escaping just in time before his vehicle was utterly obliterated with a devastating *KABOOM* that turned it into a smoldering, melting pile of twisted metal. Chunks of the vehicle scattered all around like glass shards of a window after being smashed with a baseball bat. Ammo Baron, though rendered more than a bit disheveled by the blast, climbed to his feet as fast as he could. "Argh… Hah, you think I'd go down to a shrimp like you so easily!?" he brazenly challenged, pulling out the rifle he'd been carrying as he ran around the burning wreckage of the tank. "Think again!" he further barked, hounding down the astonished Tinkerbat as it tried to throw the empty rocket launcher down and pull out its own rifle. With a series of *pocks* of rounds connecting with the Tinkerbat in various places, the dastardly minion of Risky Boots was promptly done away with. "Humph. Now, to snuff out the rest of the pests we have around here…" Ammo Baron murmured, dashing past the empty weapon dropped by the Tinkerbat as he reentered the vicinity of the base, looking for either the tent Techno Baron was hiding in, or any surviving soldiers in the area.

He found himself relieved to see a small group of his men setting up to take down the Tinkerbat sniper with a rocket launcher of their own while one more soldier whizzed over the area in an Ammonian biplane. He turned to his side to see two additional squads of his men vigilantly patrolling the area while heading in opposite directions. The sounds of gunfire were brought to a momentary standstill as the storm raged on with another mighty *BOOM* of thunder emphasizing its presence. He prepared to stand by his men to dig in and help them fend off the invaders with all their might before a *SKZZZT* noise from his pocket took his attention away from the battlefield.

"A.B. Come in. Do you copy? Unit 365 to A.B. Do you copy?" the voice of Vinegar was heard through an Ammonian Transceiver he was carrying on his person.

"Ah, it's the girls," Ammo Baron acknowledged, taking a moment to pull the walkie-talkie out of his pocket and step away from his fellow officers. "Hold your positions tight, men! And make sure that you don't stop fighting until you see these pirate punks layin' buried in the mud beneath our boots!"

"Hoo-rah!" his loyal subordinates called out in unison, prompting Ammo Baron to trust them as he stepped aside to answer the call.

"Ammo Baron? This is Vinegar. Can you hear me? Respond if you read, please," his second-in-command attempted to radio through to him again. Knowing that time was of the essence, Ammo Baron took an extra moment to scour the area with his eye before finding somewhere safe to address his comrade. With a *SKZZZT* of his device once he activated it, he began to speak.

"Vinegar? Hey, did you try buzzing in just a second ago?" Ammo Baron hurriedly asked, knowing he wanted to make the conversation as brief as possible.

"A.B.!" Vinegar called to him, evidently relieved to hear from him. "Hey, is everything alright?"

"Not exactly. We're… agh! We're dealin' with a bad situation over here," he revealed just as another *BOOM*, followed by the *pops* and *pows* of more gunfire as the conflict picked back up. "Where are you-! Agh, shoot…! Cover the left flank!" he ordered, glancing ahead to see a flurry of rounds and a grenade sailing in from the side. Meanwhile, Ammo Baron readied his rifle and committed himself to reentering the fray.

"What's going on over there!?" Vinegar urgently asked through the transceiver. "Are you okay!?"

"We're bein' hammered over here!" Ammo Baron communicated, panting heavily as he broke into a sprint toward his soldiers' station. In that moment, the troops that took on the responsibility of neutralizing the Tinkerbat sniper fired their rocket with a *FWOOSH* that sent the explosive projectile careening toward its target with extreme prejudice. Within a second, the tower was brought down with a violent *KABOOM*, toppling it before the Tinkerbat inside had a chance to escape. "That no-good pirate sent that kid she-! Gah!" he grunted as he was hit with a couple of stray rounds from a direction he couldn't identify in that moment. He deciphered, however, who may have just tried to take him out. "Hey! Make sure you get a clear shot and pick that kid off before he gets too close!" he ordered his men as he fell back a bit.

"What!? What kid!?" Vinegar asked, her voice sounding distressed through the device.

"The kid she captured in Inseam yesterday! She sent him and a squad of Tinkerbats over to our base without warning, and they're on a rampage in the middle of this thunderstorm! I've never seen anything like it! Agh…! She must be trying to tie up her loose ends…!" the Ammonian general theorized, wincing in pain as he trudged through the camp looking for cover. "Where are you and Twitch!?" Ammo Baron shouted through the transceiver, still huffing and puffing through *pops*, *booms*, *bangs* and shouts that signified that he and his men were in the thick of it.

"We're in Scuttle Town," Vinegar hastily informed him. "We're grounded now because of the storm. Risky's assaulting the base again?"

"Not Risky herself this time, but-! Darn it, this is bad…! We shouldn't be losing like this…!" Ammo Baron complained, as he witnessed another entire platoon go down to a stun grenade and more gunfire. "It's… it's that same kid we worked together to help her capture yesterday. He led an attack squad of Tinkerbats into our base and carried out a preemptive guerrilla assault while we were still resting from yesterday's battle. But… from what I saw, he looks different from before…"

"Different how?" Vinegar pressed for information, prompting Ammo Baron to try and sneak a glance over the cover he'd found in the form of the remains of a surveillance tower. There, he caught a glimpse of the man in question as he just launched a surface-to-air missile from his own cover while aiming at the plane hovering over the camp from what was previously presumed to be a safe distance.. The *FRRRISSSSSSH* of the weapon as its round was fired alerted Ammo Baron that he needed to act VERY quickly if he hoped to quell this unscrupulous assault before it got any worse. Readying his rifle, he charged toward the man in question while attempting to fire a spray of rounds. Noticing him, the non-Tinkerbat ally of Risky Boots pulled out a grenade and tossed it before disappearing behind another tower, where he appeared to directly encounter a small group of soldiers ready to take him down without a shred of hesitation.

Only, instead of the platoon taking him down, the man rushed through them, taking the empty rocket launcher and bashing a soldier in the face with a disturbing *PLARCK* before pulling out a grenade and dropping it immediately. Panicked, the Ammonian soldiers collectively rained a maelstrom of bullets upon him as they scattered in different direction to avoid the impending blast… only, the blast never came. And as though things couldn't get worse, Ammo Baron witnessed the enemy serviceman pick one of his men up by his jacket and hold him hostage as he returned fire on the remaining troops in that area.

"He's got all these scars across his body that are glowing orange, his skin's darker, he's still got that hideous dog collar on him, and he's got this crazed, maniacal grin on his face as he beats the stuffing out of anyone and anything in his path. And, just from what I can see from a distance, his eyes are glowing white…? No… silver. And… I might be hallucinating, but I swear I see these weird clouds of black and purple smoke coming off him…" he informed them to the best of his ability through a series of heavy breaths as he hurried toward an area where other troops were still holding their positions. If for nothing else, Ammo Baron wanted to at least use a possible element of surprise to finally catch this maniac slipping while he appeared preoccupied. "Double down, men! We can handle it! Let's dig in and show these underhanded marauding pirates who the real top dogs are!" he valiantly shouted, motivating his men to keep the pressure on.

"A.B.! Are you guys at least able to retreat? Or can you hold them off long enough to think up a counter strategy?" Twitch asked, finally making her presence known. It came as no surprise that she sounded equally as fearful for her leader's safety as Vinegar had.

"Can't tell…!" Ammo Baron barely managed to answer through all the commotion going on in the background. "Hah…! We've been hit hard a few times over the last week… We're at least wiping out the Tinkerbats, but this kid's a freak of nature! We can't get a decent handle on him, and he's tearing into us!" he shared as he witnessed a small faction of his crew chasing after a fifth Tinkerbat as it used its propeller pack to flee from the battlefield. While they were distracted, however, they were met with the *BOOM* of a flashbang grenade, followed by a spray of flashing marbles coming from a notable distance that took that group out in an instant while they were distracted. Seeing this systematic dismantling of his troops both disheartened and thoroughly agitated the Ammonian leader as he fired a barrage of rounds in the enemy's direction.

"Is it as bad as it was over at Inseam?" Vinegar asked through the Ammonian transceiver.

"No. It's… it's at least three times worse than-!" he was about to answer before a deafening *KABOOM!* from above rattled him and everyone round him. He turned around to see the obliterated remnants of an Ammonian airplane plummeting directly toward him in a fiery storm of metal chunks. "GAWRGH!" Ammo Baron shouted, dropping his weapon and diving out of the way to narrowly avoid being taken out by the plane's engine as it landed with an intensely voluminous *THWOCK* in the sand alongside other gigantic pieces of the vehicle. The few remaining soldiers in the immediate area did much the same, diving and running out of harm's way as pieces of the plane's wings and body came hurtling down as hard as the rain that had refused to lighten up.

"Hang in there, A.B.!" Twitch rooted for him, seeming to pick up that the situation had not gotten any easier.

"Gah… Th-that was a close one… I'm still here, but it's not lookin' good right this minute…!" Ammo Baron assured Twitch and Vinegar as he picked himself up and ran back toward the tent where Techno Baron was hiding. As he did so, he picked up the sounds of more gunshots and more shouts, making evident that the enemy was closing in… and FAST. "I… I think we got the Tinkerbats out of the way, but they've wiped out most of our troops here over the last hour and…"

"…There you are…!" Another voice could be heard behind, stopping Ammo Baron short just as he was about to enter the tent to check in on Techno Baron. Its owner's tone was warped to the point where it hardly sounded human, and full to the brim with incalculable anger. Faced with no other option, the haggard Ammo Baron turned to face the wrathful non-Ammonian soldier head-on as he approached.

"Wha… You! You sneaky little punk! How dare you go and launch such a cowardly ambush on us when we weren't even ready to defend ourselves!? Was this on the orders of your new master!? Huh!?" Ammo Baron shouted, angered even further by the offensive sight of the corrupted young man in front of him as lighting struck in the distance, followed by another *BOOM* of thunder. At Ammo Baron's derisive remarks, Risky's recruit sneered at him.

"Hmph. You got some nerve callin' anybody a coward after the stunt you an' your band o' raccoon lovers pulled on me yesterday. If you stuck t' the original plan an' helped me an' Shantae fight against Risky Boots, you wouldn't have t' worry about today turnin' into a grisly scene right out o' your worst nightmares. You an' your crew wouldn't have had t' suffer if you didn't ambush me, shoot me down, an' sell me off t' Risky Boots like a caged animal!" the man venomously roared in unmistakable outrage. "Instead, you thought you could make a quick profit off the situation while my former comrades an' I paid the price for your treachery. Well, now it's your turn t' pay. An' like I said before Risky dragged me away, I came here t' DESTROY YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID! NOW FACE ME LIKE A MAN AN' GET READY T' DIE!"

"...So be it, then," Ammo Baron acknowledged with a sigh, realizing that things were going to get very ugly, very quickly. Once more, Ammo Baron lifted the Ammonian Transceiver to his face. "Twitch. Vinegar. Looks like we'll have to cut this chat short. I've got a lesson to teach this jumpy new 'recruit' of that no-good, double-crossin' pirate snake-in-the-grass Risky Boots. When I'm done, I'll meet with you at your current location to let you know how it went," Ammo Baron stated, seeming ready to throw down with the remaining attacker of the Ammonian Army base. "Stay put and don't try to come out here right now; even if the weather clears up. I'll be alright. Ammo Baron, signing out." And with that, Ammo Baron turned his transceiver off and pocketed it before standing tall to face the man who'd sworn revenge against him.

"I certainly hope you know that they're next once I'm through with you," the man brazenly threatened.

"Leave them out of this," Ammo Baron sternly rebutted. "Those girls are innocent. They were following the orders of me and Risky Boots when we met in the Inseam Municipality. Your beef is with me."

"Anyone associated with scum like you is just as guilty as you are," the man shot back, not at all willing to accept Ammo Baron's suggestion as they glared at one another. "Their only shot at redemption would be standin' down an' denouncin' their allegiance t' you. An' you'd better believe it'd be a LONG one in that case."

"Say whatever you want about me, but there's no denying that you considered Twitch and Vinegar your friends once. There's no way you'd realistically go after them the same way you hunted me down. Come on, now, uh… T-Terrence?" Ammo Baron theorized, expecting the man to back down… as he also guessed the man's name.

"My name is Tayshan," the enemy soldier we normally knew as Tay (who once again had finally been identified after an entire chapter's worth of situational ambiguity) corrected him. "An' before you attempt t' tug at my heartstrings with that fraudulent 'friendship' between me an' your backstabbin' cronies… I got somethin' t' show ya…!" he remarked with a dark, unsettling grin as he reached into his inventory (which, in case you were wondering, was hidden in the pockets of his soaked, sandy purple camouflage fatigue pants) and pulled out a bird cage that, MUCH to Ammo Baron's shock and disgust, contained the ostensibly severed head of a girl he was at least somewhat familiar with. The girl's eyes were closed and there appeared to be a bandana tied into her mouth as he dangled the cage high and proud, uncharacteristically cackling as he did so.

"Guh! Gah… Wha…!?" Ammo Baron stammered, utterly flabbergasted by the gruesome sight he beheld… "Is… Isn't that one of that genie's friends…?"

"What's left of her, anyway," Tay answered with a most haunting sense of joy in his tone. "I figured I'd bring this piece of her as a souvenir an' a reminder o' what's in store for anybody who dares defy Captain Risky Boots. An' y'know what, Ammo Baron? Before I came here, I promised Risky that your head would be next in line t' be collected. Only, you get the special privilege o' havin' yours stuck on a spike before I deliver it t' her!"

"You… You're sick! You would go so far as to hurt your own friends to prove a point to me!? What's wrong with you!?"

"You misunderstand. This one wasn't hurt at all," he cryptically replied, still grinning with bloodthirsty glee at Ammo Baron as the storm's heavy rain began to lighten a bit. "It was rather quick an' painless for her. You, on the other hand, are gonna feel every excruciatin' moment o' what I have in store for you…!" he added, stashing his captive's head back into his inventory. "Hope you're ready, because I've waited almost a whole day t' hand you your just deserts." With that statement, Tayshan put up his fists as the ominous aura around him increased in its density.

"I don't know what twisted, demented thoughts are spinning in that head of yours, but kid… I'll warn you right now that you're pickin' a fight you can't ever win. My head is staying squarely on my shoulders," Ammo Baron declared, raising his fists in response to Tay assuming a battle stance. "Of course, we don't have to do this. There's not a ghost of a chance you'd seriously condemn yourself to a life of servitude under that cantankerous, cackling pirate witch; especially not after what I've seen and heard of you over the past few weeks. You have to know that it'd do you no good working for her."

"Your point, Ammo Baron?" Tay demanded as his grin turned into a contemptuous sneer, wanting Ammo Baron to hurry up and speak his piece.

"Join me," he straightforwardly offered, though he kept his stance firm.

"…You're jokin'." Tay remarked in utter disbelief.

"I don't joke, kid. I'm serious," he asserted. "Even for what you did to my troops here, and the massive amounts of collateral damage you've caused, I can tell you've got potential. Lots of it. Don't let that potential go to waste on a crotchety, lonely old pirate woman who'd just as soon toss you aside like trash as she would tempt you into doing her bidding like she probably did to get you here. Together, we could topple her and her entire crew. I can rebuild the Ammonian Army in a vastly improved image that would certainly benefit from the skills and the weapons you brought with you from whatever planet or universe you're from. And trust me, we could definitely take her right out of the picture if we banded together. What's better, you could have whatever you wanted once we expand my empire… be it vast riches, uncontested power, a couple of top-notch vehicles to call your own, your very own personal collection of the most advanced weaponry the Ammonian Army has to offer… or even a loving, committed relationship with my adorable second-in-command, Twitch. I know for a fact that she's real sweet on you. Trust me, she's one of the most affectionate and loyal women I've ever met. From what I've seen of her on and off the battlefield, there's no telling how far she'd go to make sure you got everything you wanted from her. And you know that she'd make you feel right at home with us. Join the Ammonian Army, and all of that can be right in the palms of your hands," Ammo Baron further tried to tempt Tay, expecting the prospects to sway him. Yet, Tay only found himself utterly repulsed as the murderous scowl on his face intensified.

"Hmph. You don't have an honorable bone in your body, do you?" brazenly questioned, offending Ammo Baron with his fervent rejection. "It's as disgustin' as it is pathetic, though I'm not the least bit surprised t' see you tryin' t' weasel your way out o' this by butterin' me up."

"Excuse you?"

"You're just as much of a filthy, opportunistic con artist as Risky is, thinkin' you can just seduce me with promises o' frivolous materials, an undeserved cushy, lavish lifestyle, an' meaningless relationships in exchange for my 'services,'" he spat in disgust and intense bitterness, revealing that his allegiance to Risky Boots wasn't as faithful as we had been led to believe. "I couldn't care less about your feud with her. Even for what she did t' me t' turn me into… into this, I still maintain my own integrity an' self-respect. That's far more than I could say about you an' your lackeys. I am NOT a bargainin' chip t' be bought off with empty promises from you or Risky. What's more, you AND those fickle, fair-weather friend Femme Fatales you call your subordinates squandered the final chance you had for us t' work together when you set me up for failure t' save yourselves. An' just for your information, I'll have you know I actually came here entirely on my own will despite what I said a second ago."

"Wh... What?" Ammo Baron asked in complete disbelief, uncertain of if he heard his adversary correctly. "On your own will...?"

"Yes. More specifically, I convinced Risky t' let me and a few Tinkerbats take a trip over here with the explicit purpose o' bumpin' you off," he revealed to Ammo Baron's surprise and dread. "Most o' your troops are still alive at this point because I still have at least some loose sense o' restraint, if that makes you feel a little bit less scared. I can't say the same for the Tinkerbats that came here with me, but the point remains the same."

"Most of them? That's your justification? Have you been paying ANY attention to what you've been doing since you got here!?" Ammo Baron indignantly asked.

"Of course I have. If I really wanted it t' be the case, they'd all be spirits headed t' the next world in a single-file line," he threatened, turning around momentarily to direct his attention to the droves upon droves of unconscious or otherwise incapacitated Ammonian soldiers strewn about the soaked, sandy warzone. "I don't find much, if any pleasure in harmin' them in the ways I had to. Unfortunately for them, they're workin' for you at a time where you've been greenlit as a dead man walkin'. Since your loyal troops chose t' get in my way, I won't be held entirely responsible for what happened t' them today. Of course, unavoidable casualties are an unfortunate and ugly truth about the nature of war, now ain't it? Your guys had t' acknowledge that when they signed up for your little gun club in the first place, which is why a few of 'em are no longer here an' the rest are simply down for the count. As a soldier myself, an' even if I'm not in the same company as them, I at least respect their commitment t' your lost cause. I won't mock them for that. But, as the leader o' the Ammonian Army, you should already understand what I mean," Tay coldly remarked, making very evident that he was aware that he'd done some truly horrible and irreversible things in the wake of his demented revenge quest against Ammo Baron.

"I suppose that can't be denied," Ammo Baron agreed, though it brought him no comfort to acknowledge his enemy's point. "That doesn't make you any less responsible for your actions, though. You hurt a lot of my guys here; guys who have families, friends, and the like outside of their jobs as my soldiers. Spout all that cynical 'This is War' dreck all you want. It won't clear your conscience when it all boils down to the basic point that there's blood on your hands now."

"Hmph. There's... unfortunately always been blood on my hands, even before today, so that statement doesn't hit me near as hard as you think it does..." Tayshan solemnly admitted as his facial expression remained neutral in that moment. "Regardless, you ain't wrong about that, an' you're definitely makin' a very good point…" the corrupted serviceman further acknowledged, momentarily batting his eyes elsewhere in what could've been interpreted as retrospective guilt. However, he quickly turned his attention back to Ammo Baron before too long. "…Then again, only a relentless, greedy, trigger-happy warmonger like you could ever say somethin' like that t' me as though you're on some arbitrary moral high ground, which I find ironic," he pointed out, preparing to throw Ammo Baron's point back at him. "If anything, you sound like you've used that same excuse far more than a handful o' times," he shot back, surprising Ammo Baron yet again. "I've heard o' the types o' crime you dabble in, an' I've been well informed about what lines you'd cross, as long as it meant you got what you wanted. I'm sure you're aware o' just how big a hypocrite you are, so there's no use pointin' out the obvious there. I should probably go ahead an' say that even for my background, I never have, an' never will hurt an innocent person in my time as a member o' my military. You? I ain't so sure, based on what I've been told in the past, in addition t' what I've seen…"

"Listen to how smug you sound, as if you're better than me," Ammo Baron spat in disgust.

"That's because I am better than you. Dark Magic or no Dark Magic, an' even with this situation, I at least own up t' my past an' my flaws without a shred o' hesitation. I don't go prattlin' on about how someone else is wrong for what bad deeds they've committed when I know I got no place t' speak. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It makes me wonder exactly how many innocent people you've hurt over the course o' your career an' tried t' cover up behind a shroud o' false bravado an' indifference… not that it matters now, considerin' you're about t' get exactly what you deserve for all your troubles. That's really the only important reason I'm here. Regardless, whatever benefit Risky gets from me ambushin' your camp doesn't really concern me in the slightest. At this point, the mere sight o' you angers me like no tomorrow. An' at this point, I personally want t' watch you squirm as I methodically beat you int' submission an' make you regret the day we crossed paths for what you an' your friends did yesterday. As an equally important bonus, you'll no longer be allowed t' hurt anybody else when I'm done with you. Risky just happened to agree t' the idea of eliminatin' a potential threat t' her conquest as early an' as quickly as possible. Suffice t' say, it seems I'm doin' the whole world a favor in takin' you down for good...!"

"Is that so? Alright, then. Ah well… It was worth a shot trying to talk some sense into you. In that case, you won't find me to be such an easy target. If I gotta send you back to Risky Boots in a box before I deal with her properly, then let me just preface it with the statement that you brought this on yourself."

"Heh. Famous last words comin' from a man standin' on what's about t' become his own grave…" Tay very darkly remarked, fixing his furious gaze on Ammo Baron as he prepared to attack. "I'll be sure t' tell your girls t' write that as an epitaph on your tombstone after I finish you."

"Ooh, now that's a bold statement. In that case, talk is cheap. You wanna kill me and collect my head after what you did to that beautiful young lady in that cage of yours? I dare you to try!"

"Be careful what you wish for…!" Tay began his statement as the two men stared each other down. "…because, as somethin' of a 'genie' myself, I'm definitely gonna grant it here…!" he coldly, yet eagerly remarked while making a subtle quip about his military background. And before long…

TAYSHAN (CORRUPTED) VS. AMMO BARON & TECHNO BARON: A CHAOTIC, CATACLYSMIC CLASH!

Now, before we begin, you're probably wondering why and how Techno Baron's name got mixed in there. Well, without making you wait for it, you'll find out exactly why.

"Ammo Baron!" Techno Baron called out, rushing out of the tent armed with a pistol. Not surprised in the least at the sight of the tiny, well-dressed alligator, Tay's stance remained firm.

"You…!" Tay growled, his anger suddenly rising exponentially in conjunction with the Dark Magic emanating off his bare skin. "Comin' t' help your little friend after cheatin' death, are you?"

"Indeed I am, you miserable cur! You and your motley crew of meddlers have caused me more than my fair share of grief!" Techno Baron shouted, pointing his gun at Tay without warning. "And now you come back to try and finish us under the command of that wretched pirate!? What a disgraceful turn of events… If the case really is that you're Risky's lapdog now, then that repugnant collar certainly suits you!" he very bravely remarked, sending his opponent's temper through the stratosphere in an instant.

"Sick burn, Techs!" Ammo Baron congratulated his fellow Baron, chuckling at the poorly timed joke at Tay's expense. "That got him go-!" he was about to further remark before a sudden, horribly loud, gut-wrenching *THRASH!* silenced him instantly. "…Hurgh… Aaaahaaagh…!" he grunted, doubling over in indescribable pain as he found what appeared to be a Dark Magic-covered fist digging hard enough into his abdomen that it almost felt like he'd been impaled. Before he had the chance to register what was happening, his supply of air was suddenly cut off by the sensation of a hand with the strength of a vice clutching around his neck. "Ghah…! Aaarrgkkh…" he choked out as he felt his feet leave the ground involuntarily.

"An' now, I know how Risky feels on not bein' able t' take a joke… Oops," he murmured with a most… unsettling chuckle as he strangled Ammo Baron with one hand before momentarily looking at his other wrist as though he was looking at a watch. "Oh, an' wouldn't you look at the time?" Tayshan coldly remarked, lifting Ammo Baron up higher by his throat with the same hand while the Ammonian leader kicked and grasped at his wrist. "I just realized you're past due for your execution. I'll fix that mistake right away."

"Let go of him, you barbarian!" Techno Baron shouted, aiming his gun and firing a few shots in the corrupted soldier's direction. Taking evasive maneuvers, Tay threw Ammo Baron to the ground to dodge the marbles hurtling toward him. Techno Baron kept firing as Tay rolled, hopped, and ducked past each of the lizard's potshots until the pistol ran out of ammunition.

"An' you! When I get ahold o' you, I'm gonna jam my fist down your throat, an' then I'm gonna TURN YOU INSIDE OUT!" Tay VERY viciously threatened, giving chase to poor Techno Baron. In response, Techno Baron turned tail and bolted in panic.

"Ugh, that's utterly revolting, morbid, and full to the brim with inexcusable vulgarity! Also, not even in your wildest dreams! My insides are fine where they are, thank you!" Techno Baron shouted, pulling out a grenade and tossing it backward to stop Tay from chasing him.

"Shoot! Flashbang…!" he noticed, recognizing the cylindrical shape of the explosive as he turned and sprinted as far away from it as possible. Ammo Baron, having since recovered from his brutal encounter with the business end of his enemy's fist against his stomach, rushed after him.

"Gotcha now, you punk!" Ammo Baron declared, catching Tay off-guard as he caught up and tackled him to the ground. The two hit the ground with a thick *PLOP* of sand with Ammo Baron landing squarely on top of Tay.

"Guhagh…!" the wayward serviceman grunted, having landed flat on his back. He wouldn't get much time to recoil from the impact, as his face was met with an immediate *POCK* of Ammo Baron's fist against it.

"Ain't so tough now, when you-!" the Ammonian general attempted to gloat as he threw another punch, only for this one to be caught in his opponent's hand. The instant Ammo Baron's fist was caught in Tay's hand, he felt an incredible burning sensation that he likened to sticking his hand directly onto a piping hot clothing iron. "Yow! What the heck!?" he bellowed, attempting to pull his fist away as Tay held on tight. "Your hands feel like they're on fire!"

"Get off!" Tay demanded, wasting no time hammering Ammo across the chin with a *THWACK* of his own fist against the general's chiseled jawline.

"Gack!" Ammo Baron grunted in anguish as he was flung back a short distance. Once he hit the ground, he took a moment to climb back up to a knee while massaging his jaw. Meanwhile, Tay sprang back up, his fists literally burning with a nigh-unquenchable desire to destroy everything in his path in the form of the swirls of Dark Magic coating them.

"On your feet, Ammo Baron! You won't have t' worry about that glass jaw o' yours after you're dead!" Tay demanded, earning a dirty look from Ammo Baron as he rose back to his feet and shook off the residual pain.

"Hmph," he grunted before spitting off to the side. "You've got a lot o' nerve, talking down to the mighty Ammo Baron the way you are. We just got started, kid, so don't you dare get cocky with me!" he shouted, tearing off his jacket to reveal the sleeveless red tank top he'd been wearing underneath. And, without saying too much, Ammo Baron revealed himself to be packed to the brim with glistening, rock-hard muscles that went unrivaled in their sheer size and density. Seriously, his arms alone looked like angry, super chiseled pythons with big, meaty hands attached to the ends of them! And don't even get me started on the muscles all over the rest of his body that threatened to rip his tank top to shreds if he flexed too hard. His bulging biceps and triceps tensed up as he put up his fists and stood tall, ready to fight. In terms of total size, he easily stood at least a foot taller than his opponent while also managing to have his rippling muscles appear twice as toned… and trust me, I have NO idea how you put a number on muscle tone, but the way these two incredibly hot, sweaty, muscly men certainly made me want to take up the challenge as they stared bullets into each other. Ooh, and don't even get me started on the films of rainwater on their bulky torsos that made their bodacious muscles glisten like jewelry sparkling in the sunlight... Er, s-sorry… I'll stop drooling over the 'gun' show we'd suddenly been treated to and get back to the point now. Heh...

"If you think you got enough left in the tank t' fight me straight up, then come on!" Tay challenged, gesturing Ammo Baron with a finger to bring it on. And with that taunt, Tay and Ammo Baron charged. The second they got within arm's reach of one another, Tay took the first swing. Ammo Baron responded by weaving and maneuvering his way under the soldier's extended arm before countering with a mighty hook to the serviceman's abdomen with a hearty *THUMP*. Ammo Baron followed up by throwing a hook with his opposite hand that landed heavily against the soldier's face, causing him to stumble back. Ammo Baron relentlessly pursued Tayshan, following up with a thrust kick aimed right at the orange-lit puncture wounds on his abdomen that, with another *CRASH*, caused the evil soldier to double over. Ammo Baron finished up by grabbing Tay, turning around, and tossing him over his shoulder with all his might. Tay went hurtling over, though he quickly reacted by twisting his body while he was in mid flight. Tay soon landed on his hands and feet with a *THUMP* against the mud.

"Still think I'm a joke, kid? I can do this all day!" Ammo Baron taunted, dusting his hands in triumph. However, rather than be amazed or surprised by Ammo Baron's power, Tay smirked as he shook off the residual pain and reset his stance.

"Sadly for you, we ain't got all day. You'd better give me everything you got if you wanna survive!" Tay demanded, charging at him again.

"Bring it, then! I'll show you exactly how I earned my mantle as leader of the Ammonian Army!" And with that, Tay and Ammo Baron clashed again. They were on more equal footing this time, with each of the two men matching blow for blow. When Tay landed a roundhouse kick to Ammo Baron's stomach, Ammo Baron responded by smashing his elbow into Tay's face. When Ammo Baron followed up and connected with a merciless knee to Tay's stomach, Tay responded by dodging Ammo Baron's next swing and throwing a two-piece jab-cross combo aimed directly at the cyclopean man's jaw to send him stumbling back. As though this wasn't enough, however, Tay and Ammo Baron continued to engage, throwing relentless, bone-crushing fists and soul-rending kicks at each other. The two of them soon picked up the pace, dancing around the war-torn, storm-addled Baron Desert as they kicked up wet sand everywhere they went. Try as each combatant might, neither could immediately get a definitive edge over the other. They continued to try and bash each other's guts out with *SMACK* after *THUMP* after horrifying *CRACK* as they sporadically landed punches, kicks, elbows, knees, and even headbutts on one another. It almost seemed like their grueling battle would eventually end with them tiring each other out before their combat eventually came to a momentary halt in a clearing where there were no unconscious Ammonian soldiers lying around. The moment they stopped dashing around the rain-drenched arena, Ammo Baron found the opportunity he needed in the form of Tay attempting to uppercut him and whiffing it.

"Whah…!?" Tay grunted in surprise as Ammo Baron dipped to the side of the incoming haymaker, forcing him to completely miss.

"Now, let's see if you can handle this!" Ammo Baron gloated again, dipping in and thrusting a fist right into Tay's stomach with all his might. Tay was nearly winded with another *CRASH* against his ribs that sent him doubling over yet again. However, rather than let Tay recoil, Ammo Baron followed up by forcefully grabbing his adversary by his neck with one hand while placing his other hand on the soldier's back. "I'm about to hit you with the most brutal chokeslam you'll have ever been a victim of! And when you hit the ground, you'd be lucky if your spine's not busted and your skull's not crushed!" he threatened as he, with a mighty upward thrust of his body, lifted Tay all the way up into the air with his arms fully extended upward. "Hope you're ready for the ride into dreamland, kid! Now, go to sleep!" Ammo Baron threatened as he prepared to basically bury Tayshan under a mound of wet desert sand. However, Tay refused to give in. Just as Ammo Baron held him at the apex of the impending chokeslam, Tay cocked a foot back as far as he could and…

"Grrryaaah!" he hollered as he fired a last-second kick that you'd better believe was charged beyond capacity with Dark Magic. And before Ammo Baron knew what was coming, a grotesque, cringe-inducing *PWANG* of a metal boot sent him flying backward as he unintentionally let go of his would-be victim. Tay, riding the momentum of the vicious kick, somersaulted backward before landing on his feet and one hand with a *PLOP* of his appendages against the mushy, grainy texture of the sand beneath him. Ammo Baron did not fare as well. He hit the ground flat on his back with a nasty *THUD*, tightly clutching his face in inconceivable pain. He rose to a knee within seconds of hitting the ground, of course, but the way he was clutching his face made it all too evident that Tay really hurt him that time. Noticing Ammo Baron's agony right away, Tay smirked in a dark sense of accomplishment.

"Aw, did that hurt?" Tayshan mocked, causing Ammo Baron to glare at him before removing his hands from around his face. And, without fail, droplets of red came trickling down from the Ammonian general's face, staining the brownish gray sand they stood on. "Heh, I guess it did. In that case, I've got a ton more where that came from! Hrrrraaah!" he roared, dashing toward the injured Ammo Baron with reckless abandon before cocking his foot back when he got close enough. With another *CLANK* of his Propeller Boot against Ammo Baron's chest, Tay sent the defenseless man hurtling back another couple yards after punting him like a soccer ball.

"GURRR-HAGH!" Ammo Baron wailed in agony as his body pounded along the ground again. He was quick to climb back to his feet this time, however, as he noticed Tayshan continuing to aggressively approach him. "Heh… Hah…! You're despicable, kid… Gaahh…" he groaned, his chest aching like he had a wooden log smashed right into him. Ammo Baron took the extra measure to wipe the crimson leakage off his bottom lip, which caused him to notice that his shirt had been ripped top to bottom vertically. "Those attacks were completely uncalled for…!"

"Right, because I'm supposed t' feel bad for you," Tay dismissed, halting his approach only to wait for Ammo Baron to prepare himself once more. "It was either ram my foot int' your chin, or be hit with that oh-so-brutal chokeslam o' yours. An' the other kick was for good measure. Either way, this is supposed t' be you defendin' your right t' live! There ain't a thing out here that's gonna stop me from endin' you, so you'd be wise t' either go peacefully, or stand up an' fight me to the last breath!"

"Or, you can have a taste of this, you ruffian!" the voice of a certain reptilian creature as he came speeding in with an Ammonian tank under his command. Without another hint of a warning, Techno Baron fired a black cannonball directly at Tay from the side, mowing down tents left and right as he barreled through.

"Darn…! They didn't get all the vehicles…!" Tay grumbled, hopping backward to avoid the projectile while stealthily pulling out another explosive device. By the time he moved out of the way, however, Techno Baron was already mere yards away from bowling over the hero-turned-villain.

"Let's see how well you stack up against 35 tons of cold, hard steel!" the miniature reptile challenged, going full steam ahead to try and flatten the soldier in front of him. Having little option, Tay tightened his grip on the pine cone-shaped weapon and, with a deep breath, jumped as Techno Baron closed in. And, with a disturbing *CLANK*, Techno Baron collided with his target, decorating the tank with said target's body as he continued speeding along for at least a few extra yards before stopping dead in its tracks. "Yes! A direct hit! That fool never had a chance!" he cheered.

"Alright, Techs!" Ammo Baron cheered, picking himself up and breaking into a jog toward his ally as he reveled in their apparent victory. "Way ta show that punk what's what! You're incredi-!" he was about to further commend before he caught a most harrowing sight unfolding before him. As such, Ammo Baron stopped in his tracks. "Techno Baron, look out! Behind you!"

"Hm? What, is there something I-! WHAAAAT!? How are you still ALIVE after that!?" the conniving little gator bellowed in shock when he turned and noticed a thoroughly un-flattened Tayshan climbing onto the idling tank with a grenade in his hand. "I-I-I smacked into you at a speed of at least 70 miles per hour! You should've been turned to paste!"

"Yeah, that's the least o' your worries right now…!" Tay bitterly remarked, practically bathed in Dark Magic as he quickly climbing atop the vehicle as Techno Baron panicked and floored it with a mighty *VRRRROOOOM* to try and shake the soldier off. "Hagh…! Heh, nice try…!" he further taunted, the wind blowing hard on his back as the rain made it difficult for him to keep his grip. "I just hope you didn't expect this t' be your ace in the hole!"

"Get off of my tank, you unscrupulous reprobate!" Techno Baron demanded, turning the tank in all sorts of random directions at full speed in a last-ditch effort to shake Tay off as the serviceman held on with all his might. However much effort Techno Baron put in, however, Tay persevered, eventually getting just enough leverage to pull the pin on the grenade while both hands were tightly clung to the opening a the top of the war vehicle. Afterward, he dropped the grenade inside the tank and deliberately let go, allowing himself to be flung away as Techno Baron continued to haphazardly drive around the area like a madman.

"Harrrrrwwaaaaaah!" Tay hollered, bracing himself for impact as he helplessly hurtled through the air. Within a second, however, he hit the ground with a dense *PLACK* of his back against the grainy, muddy sand. Soon after, he was sent rolling across the ground a few feet before he eventually found himself flat on his stomach as he came to a screeching halt. "Urgh…! Ah…! Hah…" he panted, gingerly climbing back to his feet to watch the impending fireworks display. In the distance, he noticed Techno Baron's tank going completely out of control as the metal-headed lizard attempted to climb out of it. Just as he got a foot out of the hatch, the tank erupted with a massive *KABOOM!* that immediately kicked gallons of sand, fire, and shrapnel sky high. The vehicle was immediately incinerated, the raging fire sprouted from the explosion enveloping every inch of the wreckage. The probability of survival of an explosion so huge and so epic easily rivaled the chances of a cow actually jumping over the moon, or a dish running away with a spoon. However, this was no silly nursery rhyme. This was real life. And in this real life, an ambiguously reptilian dwarf creature with a metal bell on his head was sent hurtling high enough into the air that he may as well have soared over the moon if it was out at this point in time. One could only tell that he was up there by the thick smoke trail he left as he bulleted up like he was fired out of the doomed tank's cannon.

"Shoot…! I gotcha, bud!" Ammo Baron called out, wiping his mouth clean as he locked his sight on Techno Baron, who'd been busy screaming and flailing as he hoped that he'd be able to achieve bird-like flight within the next… give or take, six seconds. Ammo Baron positioned himself as best as he could as Techno Baron rocketed downward at the same speed he went up. Of course, neither of the two Barons of Sequin Land would find any time to coordinate a last-ditch rescue attempt.

"Keep your eye on the prize, Ammo Baron!" Tay shouted, long since having broken into a mad dash toward the Ammonian leader.

"Wha? Hey! Hrragh!" Ammo Baron grunted, dipping backward to narrowly avoid a ferocious roundhouse kick aimed at his jaw. He followed up by dodging his enemy's follow-up hook before spinning around to get behind him. "Nice try, kid, but you're not gettin' me by surprise again!" he challenged, quickly wrapping his arms around the waist of Risky's bloodthirsty recruit with the intent to bury him alive. The second Ammo Baron got his arms around Tayshan, however…

"Haaawrraagh!" Tay shouted, stretching his arm forward before twisting all the way around with as much might as he could muster in that moment. Before Ammo Baron could process what was about to happen, he found himself eating the nastiest elbow he'd ever been subjected to. Tay's elbow collided with Ammo Baron's face with a horrifying *CRACK*, forcing the army general to stumble back, howling in pain just in time for Techno Baron to reenter the fray in the most unceremonious fashion imaginable.

With a sudden *PLOKKLE*, Techno Baron came crashing into the injured Ammo Baron, knocking them both to the ground while the minuscule crocodile was still smoking from his latest brush with a fiery demise brought on by a doomed vehicle. If Techno Baron never operated another motorized vehicle again after what he'd been through, I'm certain no one would blame him. Either way, the two Barons lay sprawled all over the sand for a second, having accidentally knocked one another for a loop. It wasn't too long, however, before they both brought themselves back to their feet, groaning and shaking the pain away as they rose.

"How you're not a roasted pile o' meat by now, lizard man, is one o' the greatest mysteries I've ever witnessed," Tay snidely remarked, though he did nothing to hide his honest surprise at Techno Baron's survival.

"Yeah, well among other things, I've got very thick skin…!" the little reptile remarked, fixing his helmet before standing as tall as he could against the soldier. "…unlike you, who will be roasting on a skewer over a fire before we feed your carcass to the buzzards! Your luck is running out, and there's no way you can defeat the two of us on your own!"

"Oh, is that a fact?" Tay rhetorically asked, none too amused at the threat aimed his way.

"Darn tootin', it is," Ammo Baron interjected, spitting to the side and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand to reveal that he'd been bleeding from his mouth even more so than earlier. "Argh, my dentist is gonna want to have a word with you before we get to that," he further threatened, massaging his aching jaw and making sure he didn't lose teeth from his violent close encounters. "But believe me, when we get our hands on you, kid… we're gonna make you WISH either Risky Boots or Shantae were here to save your hide…!"

"In that case, why wait? Stop runnin' your mouths an' turn those words into actions if you can!" Tay dared, charging right in with hardly a warning as he continued to hunger for the destruction of Ammo Baron and Techno Baron. Within seconds, Ammo Baron stepped forward and swung a wild hook at the younger man, though Tay weaved around it and attempted to counter with a thrust kick that Ammo Baron sidestepped. The Ammonian general immediately took the opportunity to hook his arm around Tay's extended leg, locking him in place.

"Yeah! You've got him, A.B.! Now, allow me to assist!" Techno Baron cheered from the side before reaching into his coat and pulling out a metal baton that, when he activated it, surged with a *CRACKLE* of electricity. He took the first chance he could to go dashing in with the full intent to incapacitate his and Ammo Baron's shared enemy.

"Hrraah!" Tay shouted, jumping off his free leg while Ammo Baron held his other leg in place and wound up to punch him. Tay, while in midair, cocked his free foot back and launched a most vicious Dark Magic-infused thrust kick that pounded his enemy's chest with a resounding *THUMP* that threatened to crush Ammo Baron's sternum.

"Goo-hagh…!" Ammo Baron coughed out in a mixture of surprise and crippling pain as he instinctively let go of Tayshan's leg and stumbled back. He clutched his intensely aching chest with both hands, he was in so much pain. In that moment, Tay fell onto the ground, freely able to move. However, he caught sight of Techno Baron rushing in with the lightning baton to try and electrocute him. The deranged lizard was grinning with glee as he closed the distance, the taser extended and crackling with each droplet of rain that hit it while it was active. Without warning, Techno Baron jumped forward, ready to whack and shock Tay into submission.

"Let's see how well your bare skin conducts electricity when it's soaked in water!" Techno Baron called out as he descended upon a downed Tay. In a moment of pure adrenaline-fueled impulse, Tay grabbed a mound of wet sand, flinging it almost immediately before he found himself the victim of the most brutal electrocution he'd been dealt since his and Shantae's battle against Hypno Baron in Genie's Hem. With an incredible amount of luck, the glob of grainy mud struck Techno Baron right in his wide-open mouth with a gross *SCHLOP*. "Ack! Aaahhack! Urgh!" the unfortunate reptile choked out in a fit of coughing and hacking as he lost his focus. Tay rolled out of the way just before Techno Baron hit the ground, dropping the baton and clawing at his throat as he fell to his knees. As it appeared, Techno Baron was not the biggest fan of filthy wet sand as a mid-morning meal.

"What a shockin' turn of events that was…!" Tay practically growled while also sneaking in a pun, clamoring back to his feet and dashing toward the distracted Techno Baron. Picking up the baton, Tay activated it and, with a mighty swing, clobbered the defenseless crocodile with it. Upon contact, the device sent a jolting *CRACK* of electricity ripping through Techno Baron's tiny body, causing him to flash like disco lights as he stood and convulsed violently. The only reason he wasn't also screaming, however, was because he still had that mouthful of sand in his throat. Tay, bearing no mind to Techno Baron's condition, quickly punted him away like a soccer ball, his boot colliding with the lizard's helmet with a *PTWANG* of an impact. Tay followed up by deactivating the baton and breaking it with a *SNAP* over his knee just as he heard a *BANG* come from his side. Turning toward the noise, he was forced to hop out of the way of an incoming round fired from none other than Ammo Baron, who'd already been dashing toward him with a pistol in hand.

"That tears it, kid! You'll be lucky to be in one piece by the time we're through with you!" Ammo Baron threatened, angrily firing off a barrage of rounds that forced Tay to dodge and run in the opposite direction to create an appropriate amount of distance with which to react. "Tryin' ta leave so soon!? Don't be in such a hurry! Stay awhile why don'tcha!?" Ammo Baron taunted, hot on the soldier's tail as he relentlessly fired round after round after round at Tay. Yet, despite him landing sporadic hits on the soldier's back as he ran, he hadn't found much luck in taking him down.

"Grrrgh…! Can't fight me straight up, so you pull out a gun…! Hah…!" Tay again murmured, still sprinting as hard as he could while pulling out a flashbang grenade with the intent to activate and toss it before another round came rocketing in and striking his hand with a *POCK* against the back of it. "Dagh! Ow, darn it…!" he shouted in pain, the sudden impact of the round from Ammo Baron's pistol causing him to drop the explosive before he had a chance to activate it. He kept himself motivated enough to keep running, nevertheless. It would take far more than a few gunshots from a weakened pistol to topple him.

"Dang, these things ain't near as powerful as I thought they'd be…!" Ammo Baron grumbled, tossing aside the pistol once he discovered it wasn't getting the job done. It also didn't help that the *clicks* he heard with the last three or four pulls of the trigger signified that he ran out of ammunition. "Whatever. Just means I get to test out the perks of this bad boy…!" he confidently reassured himself with a most frightening grin, pulling out a semiautomatic rifle mounted with a grenade launcher as he chased after Tayshan. "Say hello to my little friend!" he called out, activating the grenade launcher and firing a round at his target.

"Huh? Aw, shoot!" Tay cursed as he turned and noticed the incoming explosive headed his way. Thinking on his feet, he turned and took a hurried swan dive to his side just as the projectile detonated with a *BOOM* against the ground, kicking up sprays of mud nearby. Knowing he'd be in for it from this point on, Tay, desperately scoured the battlefield as he ran, dodging another *BOOM* of the grenade launcher before Ammo Baron switched to simply using the rifle to unload an unforgiving swath of bullets in his direction. Despite being grazed a couple times as he zigzagged around the smoldering base, he managed nevertheless to dip and duck behind some of the scorched tents and crumbled-down towers before picking something up and ducking behind the remains of a particular tower that had not been as severely damaged as the rest in the area.

"Don't think you can hide for long, cretin! Our combined might will see you vanquished!" Techno Baron called out from behind Tay as he shielded himself from Ammo Baron's belligerent offensive. Turning around and sneering in burgeoning anger that was emphasized by the increase in Dark Magic surging out, Tay noticed a battle-damaged Techno Baron in the distance aiming what appeared to be a rocket launcher with a single round loaded into it, ready to annihilate the soldier right then and there. "Welcome to oblivion, you accursed human!" he shouted as he fired the rocket with a *FWOOSH*, giving his target just about no time to react.

"Argh, if I survive this, I'm gonna make sure you live just long enough t' regret this…!" Tay promised, using his Propeller Boots to jump as high and as far away as he could just as the rocket slammed into the wall. And, with a mighty, furious *KABOOM!*, the rocket completely floored the remainder of the tower, sending debris and sand flying in every direction. "Gaaaaahaaarrgh!" Tay shouted, having been blown away by the sheer force of the explosion alone. He hurtled through the air at blistering speed, having little control over his descent as he appeared to be plummeting toward the ground face first. Having no choice but to at least shield himself, Tay braced for impact by crossing his arms over his face before he landed with a *POOMPH* onto the sand. He slid and rolled an additional few feet, his body skidding across the sand as the storm raged on.

"While I strongly suggest you don't wreck this place more than it already has been, Techs, I gotta hand it to ya; that was a nice shot!" Ammo Baron conditionally praised his partner in crime as he ran toward Tay and unforgivingly fired the last remaining rounds in his rifle's magazine at him.

"Aaaghaaaah!" Tay shouted once more, having been struck with every single one of the rounds as he was trying to get up. He fell back to the ground in excruciating agony, though the swirling clouds of evil only grew more prominent as he writhed in agony.

"That should do it. Now then, let's go and finish this job, so we can move on with our revenge against Risky, eh?" Ammo Baron suggested with a heavy sigh as he marched toward the downed Tayshan, tossing the emptied-out weapon aside and brushing the excess sand off his towering, muscular form.

"You certainly said it," Techno Baron agreed, adjusting his helmet and dusting his tattered, sandy outfit off as he tossed aside the empty rocket launcher and also approached Tay. "Who'd have thought such an insignificant being could have proven to be such a nuisance?"

"No kiddin'," Ammo Baron agreed as they closed the distance on Tay, who'd somehow managed to climb to his hands and knees, panting heavily as he recuperated from the two-pronged assault. "Granted, this is ultimately Risky we're dealin' with, so there's no real surprises there. Either way, we've got a message to send her. Wanna help me figure out the right way to prepare it for her?" Ammo Baron asked, grinning with malevolent glee as he and Techno Baron closed the distance on the incapacitated young man.

"Lead the way, A.B., and I'll surely follow and make suggestions as we go along. Let's be sure to make our gift provide a most… thought-provoking impact on her when we finish wrapping it up for her…!" Techno Baron menacingly agreed with a toothy grin of his own.

"Grgh…! Grrr…! Haahh…!" Tay panted, trembling as he remained on his hands and knees, practically radiating with an unsettling heat that permeated the air around him. This went barely noticed by his tormentors-to-be as Ammo Baron cocked a foot back and, with a sudden *PLOCK*, kicked the defenseless soldier in the stomach. "Ooh-ogh!" Tay grunted aloud, clutching his stomach as he curled up and hunched over.

"A modest start, I suppose…" Techno Baron commented, walking over to grab a fistful of the serviceman's collar to force him to look up. Tay's eyes were squeezed shut as he reached a hand toward Techno Baron to get his hand off him. Techno Baron, however, had other plans. "Keep your filthy mits off me, you cur! It's time you were taught how to properly heel like the dog Risky made you out to be!" he arrogantly shouted as he tugged hard on the collar with one hand and cocked his other tiny, scaly fist back to throw a punch. Only, before he got the chance to attack, the blurry, lightning-quick image of a hand racing toward him. And, within milliseconds… "Gaaahhck…!" Techno Baron choked out, much to Ammo Baron's shock as he tried to process what happened. All he could see in that moment was Techno Baron kicking, jerking, and flailing as he gasped for air while Tayshan was strangling him with one Dark Magic-shrouded hand.

"The day I let a couple o' brain-dead rejects like you do me in, is a day that will only ever exist in your wildest fantasies…!" Tayshan growled, his voice somehow even more distorted than before as the ominous aura around him intensified. Holding his grip tight around Techno Baron's throat as the poor reptile struggled for air, Tay straightened himself up on one knee.

"Let him go, you punk!" Ammo Baron warned, cocking a fist back and launching the hardest haymaker he could manage. His incredibly potent punch landed with a powerful *THWACK*… against Tay's other hand as the increasingly corrupted serviceman caught Ammo Baron's fist mid-flight. "Ergh…? What the…?"

"HaaaaaAAAAAH!" Tay roared loud enough to potentially rupture eardrums as he quickly wrapped the hand he caught Ammo Baron's fist with around the general's wrist. Rising to a stand faster than he could register in that moment, Tay yanked Ammo Baron forward while cocking his other hand, still holding the suffocating Techno Baron in it, all the way back. With a sudden, dense *PLANG*, Tay struck Ammo Baron in the face using Techno Baron as a weapon, sending both of his enemies rolling across the ground in collective agony. As Ammo Baron writhed in unspeakable pain while clasping his hands to his face and Techno Baron reintroduced himself to the gift of oxygen, Tay stood over them, snickering with malicious joy as he stared directly at them with his luminescent silver eyes. The soldier's pants were ripped and scorched in various spots and he bore a series of new scratches and bruises earned from his ambush of the Baron Desert, but he stood tall regardless. "An' as far as 'dogs' go, Techno Baron…" Tay trailed off, immediately stepping forward and grabbing the cowering little lizard by his leg and hoisting him up to eye level. "I might be wearin' the collar, but your partner here is much, MUCH closer t' bein' a dog than I'll ever be."

"Let me go, you barbarian! I swear, you'll regret tangling up with the combined might of-!"

"An' y'know what? They say those who lie with dogs gather fleas. An' boy, do you seem like you could use a flea bath after spendin' so much time around the dirtiest, most disloyal mongrel around…!" Tay continued to speak through Techno Baron's shaky attempt at intimidation.

"Wh… Wh-wha-?" Techno Baron tried to ask, mortified by the cryptic threat.

"So, why don't you go ahead an' take one!?" he shouted, turning toward the ocean nearby, holding Techno Baron out like a football. He then took a couple steps to prepare as he dropped the lizard. Soon enough, with a mighty, Dark Magic-powered *THUNK* of his foot against Techno Baron's stomach, Tay delivered a mighty punt that sent Techno Baron hurtling high and far through the air. In that same instant, Techno Baron had suddenly come down with a bad case of Boss Battle Explosions as he soared toward the shoreline for his impromptu flea bath.

"Hey! What the heck's your problem!? He was completely defenseless!" Ammo Baron complained, gingerly climbing up off the ground as he held a hand to his face as he found himself disgusted with the evil serviceman's brutality toward Techno Baron. "Don'tcha think that was a bit overkill?"

"…An' as for you…" Tay trailed off once more, turning toward Ammo Baron, who'd been clutching a hand over his face as he rose to a knee. "Get up, you pathetic sack o' garbage! I want t' properly beat you int' submission man t' man before I deliver your head t' Risky. I won't accept you takin' your well-deserved punishment layin' down, either."

"What, you think you're tough or something now, kid?" Ammo Baron dared to question, though he took the opportunity to rise to a stand as requested. "Because you came here unannounced with help from Risky, blew up my base, got lucky a couple times, and picked up some ridiculous unfair advantage with that weird magic? Huh?"

"This, comin' from the fool who thought he could schmooze with Risky Boots, then use his two right-hand girls t' sell me out for a few guns instead o' stickin' together an' workin' on a proper way t' take her down?" Tay asked back in a most condescending tone. "You ain't exactly what I call 'tough' in my book with that track record, so don't be surprised when I say your opinion doesn't mean squat t' me."

"Kid, you know for a fact that isn't true!" he indignantly responded. "She forced us to work with her under the threat that she'd destroy us if we didn't! We know what she's capable of, so we thought we were playin' it smart by teaming up with her like Hypno Baron did! That's been explained to you more than once! Yet, look where we are now!" he further addressed, stretching his arms to gesture around him. "We followed her commands to the 'T,' and she still set out to destroy us! Not in the way I imagined, seeing as she sent you, but still!"

"An' as I told you before, this was my idea mainly as a result o' your betrayal," Tay reminded him, shocking him as he remembered their tense conversation earlier. "Whether Risky threatened t' destroy your base or not, you an' your cronies had an opportunity t' save your club an' the rest o' this country. You still would've gotten what you wanted out of it in the long run, minus the threat o' bein demolished if you didn't follow the plan. You could've prevented this situation from ever goin' down the way it did. But no. Instead, you let your greed an' opportunistic tendencies lead you right down a rabbit hole that only went so far before you hit a dead end. An' now, because o' your own terrible choices, I'm here t' remind you of why it's a bad idea t' cross those who wanted t' work with you before you die here today. Risky simply gave me the green light t' eliminate you before you tried anything funny with her."

"Right, you're holding a nasty grudge over what happened yesterday, and she let you take it out on me. Fine, then. That's acknowledged. Regardless, if the case is that you're still salty about us handing you over to Risky, then why don't we start anew? Why don't we quit this senseless squabbling while we still have the chance and form another alliance to stop her now?" Ammo Baron suggested, having identified by that point that there may not have been a further need to fight. "At the end of the day, she'd want us to destroy each other anyway, so she'd be that much closer to her own goal of taking over Sequin Land. You have to know that! And knowing Risky, she wouldn't care if you eliminated me or not, as long as it meant she got what she wanted! There's no way you're willingly working for such a miserable shrew after everything that's happened!"

"Well, you should've thought about that before that disaster of a set-up in the Inseam Municipality," Tay coldly remarked, staring Ammo Baron dead in the face. "You don't know what kinds o' gruelin' torture she put me through over the course o' the followin' eight or nine hours after you helped her capture me an' Shantae's friends. You don't know what I had t' lose t' make sure things didn't go farther south for them…! You don't have even the slightest clue o' how badly you an' your dumb gun crew screwed up by settin' us all up t' fail! An' for that, Ammo Baron, I'll personally end you…!"

"Okay, fine, whatever! Just hold your horses! We can still turn this around if we-!"

"Yet, even now… Even now, you're only bringin' all this up an' stallin' in another desperate attempt at savin' your own skin when you realize you messed up hard enough for you an' your little punk lizard friend t' suffer the consequences…! An' you know what, Ammo Baron? That's what disgusts me the most about you. You act like a brave an' methodical leader, but it's all a front. At the end o' the day, you're a spineless coward an' a traitor. Where I'm from, treason is punished harshly an' with extreme prejudice, so count yourself lucky I'm even wastin' my energy tellin' you what's gonna happen t' you next."

"Spineless coward!? Come over here and say that to my face, since you're so sure you can take me on! I tried to give you the easy way out, but if you want to go down kicking and screaming in Risky's servitude, then bring it!"

"When I come over there, Ammo Baron, you're gonna wish you hadn't made that very ill-advised suggestion. The second I step foot toward you…" Tay paused as he took one step forward. "…is the second that this battle continues. An' trust me, I won't stop until you're crumpled up, squirmin', an' gaspin' for air at my feet!" Tay challenged, dashing toward Ammo Baron without a hint of hesitation with his fists up at the ready. "Hrrrraaaaaaah!"

"Jeez, what is up with this guy…!?" Ammo Baron questioned as he prepared for potentially the final part of their violent confrontation. Before he could conjure up another thought, he raised his arm in front of his chest to block an incoming haymaker. The intense, forceful *THWACK* of his adversary's Dark Magic-bathed fist against Ammo Baron's bare skin felt like he'd taken the full force of a wrecking ball that was doused in gasoline and set ablaze. "Garragh…! Ergh…!" he grunted, stumbling back a few steps as he recoiled his hand in pain, trying to shake it off. He wouldn't get the time to inspect the point of impact, however, as Tayshan belligerently rushed in, throwing a rapid flurry of hooks, jabs, and uppercuts as Ammo Baron dug his heels in and raised his arms to defend himself. With each successive *CRACK* of the enemy soldier's fists against his arms and torso, Ammo Baron grew more and more aware of just how seriously he would have to take this fight if he expected to thwart Risky's latest plot to dispose of him. Worse yet, each devastating impact pushed him a step or two back as Tay carried on with punch after punch before he eventually switched things up by launching a most brutal knee that found itself buried in an unprepared Ammo Baron's gut with a massive *PWORGH* that nearly knocked the general off his feet. "Urgh…! Why, you…!"

"Now, eat this!" Tay roared, running in yet again to try and break Ammo Baron's jaw with a single punch. Ammo Baron was prepared, however, as he recovered just in time to catch Tay by the wrist with one hand. Knowing that time was of the essence, the weary Ammonian leader pulled the extraterrestrial soldier in and pummeled his gut with a vicious uppercut that landed with a mighty *PLARCK*. He followed up by throwing a nasty hook that caught Tay right in the face, though he didn't release the enemy soldier from his grasp. After that, Ammo Baron cocked his leg back and delivered a horrifying knee right into Tay's chest, his gigantic leg crashing right into the soldier's exposed chest, which caused him to double over.

"I'm a lot tougher than I look, ain't I!?" Ammo Baron gloated, wrapping his arms around Tay's abdomen while he was hunched over.

"Gwaah! Hrgh!" Tay grunted as he felt Ammo Baron yank him high into the air as he was flipped around until he found himself propped up way over his enemy's head.

"Time for a little dirt nap!" Ammo Baron roared, jumping as high as he could before flinging his target downward with all his might. And, within a second, Tay hit the sand with a grotesque wet *PLAP* so loud and so intense that his body left an indent at least a couple inches deep.

"Haaagh! Grrrgh…!" the younger man howled in agony, knocked almost completely breathless as Ammo Baron attempted to bury him alive. Ammo Baron was far from finished, however.

"Here's another treat for ya, you disgraceful little amateur!" the general shouted, coming in fast by intentionally descending upon the disadvantaged soldier with a fist cocked all the way back. Ammo Baron's intent was to hammer his adversary's face into the dirt before taking full control of the situation. However, Tay just barely had enough time to move his head to the side, allowing Ammo Baron's fist to hit the ground with a sandy *THUMP* as the general fell on top of him. The very instant the opportunity presented itself, Tay hooked an arm around Ammo Baron's extended fist, locking him in place as his opponent attempted to recover. Just as Ammo Baron realized what was happening, however, Tay launched a malicious, speedy fist that struck the Ammonian general in the face with a disturbing *PLOCK*, disorienting him in the process. Tay followed up by reaching and twisting his free arm so that his wrist wrapped around Ammo Baron's neck facing in the opposite direction.

"Grah!" the serviceman shouted, yanking Ammo Baron down and to the side by his neck, causing the cyclopean warlord to attempt a counter by planting his free hand against the ground. With this move, Ammo Baron hoped to gather enough leverage to pull himself away from the guillotine choke Tay appeared to be trying to implement. In doing so, Ammo Baron found his face coming within inches of the ground, though he demonstrated that he had enough power to pull himself out. However, the newest minion of Risky Boots had other plans in mind. In a sudden burst of energy, Tay swiftly pulled his arm from around Ammo Baron's neck, only to reach across himself for a wind up. And, with a terrifying *CRACK*, Tay elbowed Ammo Baron in the face as he was trying to get back up.

"Agh! I swear, when I get the chance, I'm gonna knock all your teeth out for that!" Ammo Baron vowed, thoroughly fed up with getting hit in the face as Tay threw another elbow that landed with another *SMACK* that immediately told the bigger, burlier fighter that he needed to either turn the tables or disengage. Tay threw a third elbow that Ammo Baron anticipated. Ammo Baron quickly craned his head to the side, causing the elbow to miss. Taking the chance, the army general pushed himself upright with his free hand, though his progress was halted by the fact that Tay still had his other arm locked. In an effort to pull his arm free, Ammo Baron cocked his free arm back and threw as hard a punch as he could manage in his compromised situation. Tay blocked the incoming attack with his free arm, shielding himself as he squeezed Ammo Baron's other wrist tighter under the grip of his opposing arm at the elbow. Never one to give up, Ammo Baron threw punch after punch after punch, trying as hard as he could to free himself from Tay's grip. The longer he took to break free, however, the more fatigue he began to feel as he also tried jerking his ensnared limb out of his enemy's grasp. Someone so comparatively scrawny should not have had this kind of strength. It was preposterous to even imagine it! Nevertheless, Ammo Baron eventually went for one more solid hook, cocking his free arm back with the hopes that he'd knock Tay out cold in one fell swoop. Only, as soon as he pulled himself back…

"Gotcha now!" Tay shouted, springing up and wrapping his free hand over and around the shoulder of Ammo Baron's trapped arm. Tay followed up by shifting his grip with his opposing hand to a position where he grabbed tightly onto Ammo Baron's wrist. And, with one fluent motion, Tay arose for a moment and grabbed one of his own wrists with the opposing hand after intricately wrapping the corresponding arm over the back of Ammo Baron's arm. Afterward, the corrupted serviceman pushed his opponent's wrist upward while he pulled down with the other arm while it was still wrapped around Ammo Baron's. The maneuver became locked in when Ammo Baron's upper body was forced downward as Tay twisted toward Ammo Baron, contorting his arm in the process.

"Gwaagh! Aaaaarrrragh!" Ammo Baron hollered out in pain as he felt the full effect of Tayshan's horrific maneuver. Particularly, the compromised warmonger felt a nonstop jolt of excruciating agony shooting up through his entire limb as Tay engaged a merciless chicken wing submission hold (AKA that infamous Kimura lock that Tay had always been so fond of) on him. Ammo Baron's anger and fatigue quickly turned to desperation as he hurriedly began trying to punch his enemy repeatedly in the stomach from his disadvantaged position. "Gagh! Ergh! Let me go! Do you have any idea what you're doing!? Aaagh…! St-stop!"

"Hope this wasn't your dominant arm…!" Tay menacingly commented as he drastically increased the strength of the submission hold, causing Ammo Baron to writhe in increasingly excruciating torment as he desperately tried to escape. Evidently, our hero-in-training-turned-villain had nothing but the most… unsavory intentions for engaging in such a cruel and unsettling act of unbridled, wrathful aggression.

"N-no! Kid, wait! Ow, ow, ow, ow! Stop! No-! Haaaaaaaaaaaaarraaaagh…!" Ammo Baron pleaded as Tay continued to put on the pressure with seemingly no intent to let his arm go. One could only wonder what was going on in the soldier's mind as he began to torture Ammo Baron with this deplorable submission technique. Would he eventually let up once Ammo Baron tapped out? Would he continue until it was too late? It had me covering my eyes and turning away, hoping to the high heavens that it was the former and that this situation would wash away in a somewhat sensible manner… which reminds me.

Speaking of 'wash'…

"Pwagh! Agh! Ugh, ack! Hagh!" a certain recently-bathed sentient alligator hacked up a lung as he painstakingly clawed his way back to shore after being punted all the way across the Baron Desert into the ocean. He had been thoroughly worn out, having been beat up, exploded, kicked, exploded some more, kicked a couple more times, strangled, and then Boss Battle-exploded all in a matter of a few hours. Once he climbed far enough onto the rainy beach that the storm-driven tides wouldn't sweep him out to sea, he spent a few moments recuperating by coughing up at least a gallon of saltwater he unintentionally swallowed as he wrung his clothes dry… well, dry-ish, considering it was still raining and his entire outfit was coated in it. He'd also tilted his helmet in various ways to let the excess liquid pour out of it like lemonade out of a pitcher. "Hah… D-Darn these obnoxious little brats!" he cursed as he slowly regained his composure. "If I never see another one of those irritating, snot-nosed, hormonal, adolescent rapscallions again, it would be at least a hundred years too soon…!" And with that, he set out to see if he could find Ammo Baron before a sudden noise filled the air.

"Gaaaaaaaawwaaaaarrrraaaaagh!" a voice shouted in the distance, perking Techno Baron right up as he instantly recognized its agonized sound.

"Ammo Baron! He's in trouble!" the tiny lizard deduced, though he froze in horror. "But, if I go back over there unprepared, that brutish, rampaging teenager will be certain to make leather boots out of me…! If only I had a way to…" he trailed off, scouring the environment before he noticed the perfect tool off in the distance at least a dozen yards away from the base. "Ah, that'll do perfectly…! That is, if it's still in full functional order…" he murmured, scurrying his way through the sand to get a further inspection of the object of interest. With little more than the unpredictable rainfall in his way, the injured little reptile hurriedly hobbled and limped his way across the beach until he reached what appeared to be a vehicle with a tarp draped over it.

"Just by looking at it, it seems to have been spared total annihilation in the ambush. My projections don't yield too favorable an outcome in this scenario, but with enough luck, we can escape this forsaken wasteland with our lives…" he soliloquized, quickly getting to work on removing the protective covering off the mystery vehicle.

Meanwhile…

"Gaaah…! Aah, aarrgh! Hrrrggh…!" Ammo Baron grunted and panted, standing as tall as he could as he held one arm with the other. The arm being held was hanging limp as though he'd been unable to use it. Probably because he was unable to use it, thanks to a certain someone who may have caused that problem moments earlier. The army general had small streams of blood running from both corners of his mouth. His eye appeared swollen and bruised around his lower eyelid. His hair was loose, wild, and unkempt. His shirt and pants had been ripped and tattered in various spots from top to bottom. Despite his battle-weary, haggard condition, however, Ammo Baron still seemed like he wasn't ready to go down just yet. He'd been glaring at his opponent, who'd also been run ragged, panting and glaring back at him from a couple yards away in the middle of the thunderstorm as they both set themselves into battle stances.

"You should do us both a favor an' keel over already, so you can save me some o' the effort," Tayshan oh-so politely suggested, the magic surrounding his body toning down to a simmer as he placed all his focus on his opponent.

"Fat chance, you insufferable brat…!" Ammo Baron quickly rebuffed, wincing as the pain in his injured arm plagued him relentlessly. "Errgh…! I could never have been the great leader I am if I didn't know how ta get my own hands dirty every once in a while. That said, I can still take ya, kid. Breaking my arm won't…! Ahagh…! Stop me… I'll do whatever it takes to bring you down. I owe that to all my men that you took out."

"The desperate, foolish ramblings of a man whose ignorant pride is about t' earn him his fair share o' karma," Tay dismissively spat, not at all impressed by Ammo Baron's sentiment as he stretched his own arms out. "If you think you're still able t' keep goin', I won't convince you otherwise. My only word of advice before we continue is that you'd better at least keep that other arm o' yours out o' my reach. I'm not sayin' that's my next move, but if you don't go down so easily after what happened t' the first one, then you know you were warned."

"Goodness… Breaking one arm wasn't enough? You'd really consider trying to break the other one instead of just fighting me straight-up and seeing if you can beat me fairly? Hmph… You're kind of a sicko, aren't ya?" Ammo Baron taunted with a pained grin.

"No," Tay bluntly remarked, his wrathful glare never faltering as he began to slowly approach his hated enemy. "I just have no sympathy for people like you. Like I said before, your selfish choices put other people's lives in jeopardy. An' as one o' those other people, I consider myself lucky t' be alive right now; especially after what happened yesterday…"

"And yet, you still won't agree to form an alliance? You'd rather try to kill me for Risky's sake instead of banding together and attacking her when she least expects it? Don't be stupid! Think for ten seconds and get it through your head that your real beef is with her! Mine is, too! We could've helped you settle that score!"

"Don't insult me! Your crew had two chances t' work with the likes o' Shantae an' her gang t' fight against Risky, but you blew it both times! I've been made t' look shamefully foolish enough with that many chances. I'd be irrevocably stupid t' let you deceive me a third time. Also, if you think Risky's so simple t' read that you'd believe teamin' up with each other now would earn you anything but an early grave, especially after you alerted her t' your intentions t' get revenge after she burned you on that ill-fated deal you made with her, then you're pitifully misguided. An' at this point, I know FAR better than t' trust a bunch o' filthy weasels like you an' your company now. I wouldn't have even 'joined' Risky's side if it wasn't for you. So unfortunately, it stands t' reason that you still need t' be paid back in full. In your case, of course, you deserve every bit o' what's happenin' t' you right now."

"Hm. You're letting your petty grudge blind your judgment, kid. Nothing good can come of rubbin' elbows with the likes of her, and you know it. I know it from experience. Besides, I told you that what we had to do for her wasn't personal. Get over it already and understand the opportunity you're throwing away by doing her bidding here!"

"First of all, my 'grudge' is not as 'petty' as it is justified, based on what you did t' royally sabotage me an' my former allies an' save your weak little army that couldn't even handle one guy an' five well-trained Tinkerbats. Oh, an' just so you REALLY understand where I'm comin' from..." he trailed off, hesitating as his gaze momentarily fell to the sand beneath his feet. Growling in burgeoning anger as he appeared to be contemplating something, he soon resumed hatefully staring at Ammo Baron once his mind was made up. "...It's thanks in VERY large part t' you that she forced me t' 'rub' FAR more than 'elbows' with her... an' then made me do it again, an' again, an' again after she chained me up in her cabin an' tortured me until the sun went down yesterday…!" he flat-out admitted in sheer disgust with a horrified shudder as he momentarily stopped his aggressive approach.

"…Aw, jeez… I had a hunch she liked 'em young, but yikes…!" Ammo Baron murmured in shock and stark disgust, receiving the message loud and clear. Meanwhile, the mere thought of his time with Risky only angered Tayshan further as he immediately resumed marching toward his adversary. In response, Ammo Baron backed away as he hurriedly began thinking up ways to defend himself.

"You have no idea how humiliatin' it was t' be turned int' her plaything without an ounce o' power t' stop her. The horrible things I'm gonna be forced t' always remember, no matter what I do from here on… The fact that my access t' my own body was completely violated because she… she… Grrrgh, just thinkin' about it infuriates me t' no end! An' it's YOUR fault I was even in that position! So you can peddle that 'just business' garbage all you want, but when your 'business' puts other people in harm's way, you'd better believe it becomes personal right off the bat for anybody that ain't you. Now, I've just about had my fill o' jivin' with you. Time t' pay the piper, Ammo Baron."

"Shoot…! There's no making this punk see the light…" the Ammonian leader grumbled, letting his broken arm hang as he prepared the rest of his body for what could potentially have been his last stand. Just as Tay was ready to pounce…

"Not so fast, you repugnant ne'er-do-well!" a voice called out as the air suddenly became filled with the increasingly voluminous *WHIRR* of an aircraft that had been fast approaching. "Let's see you try to blow THIS fine piece of machinery apart with no explosives in your possession!"

"What…?" Tay muttered, turning around to see Techno Baron nosediving toward him in what appeared to be a fully functional Ammonian biplane. "Gaah, useless Tinkerbats missed another one…! Darn it!" he further complained as he took off running while Techno Baron chased him down.

"Thank goodness…! Agh…! Techs with the save…" Ammo Baron remarked through a sigh of total relief as he fell to one knee, wincing again in debilitating pain radiating from his disabled appendage. "Ow…! Urrgh! Crud, how did things end up like this…?"

"Come back here and let me splatter you!" Techno Baron shouted, raucously cackling as he steered the plane toward his target, who'd been sprinting as hard as he could through the sand. No matter how hard he tried to evade the airborne vehicle, however, Tay found it nearly impossible with the given environment to outrun an airplane traveling at least five times faster than he could conceivably run. Within maybe a minute of Techno Baron toying with his prey, the deranged gator straightened his plane out, coursing it for a landing while also hoping that Tay would get mowed down in the process.

"You better hope you kill me with that thing, or else I-! Gah!" Tayshan was about to threaten before he felt something snag his foot, causing him to trip and plant his entire face into the mud below with a most unceremonious *FLOP* right as Techno Baron grazed the soldier with one of the plane's wings. "Goohogh…! Ohwaaagh… Augh…" he groaned in a sudden burst of agony as he remained glued to the ground.

"Score! The filthy demonic pirate mongrel has been neutralized! Finally!" Techno Baron cheered, excitedly pumping his fist in the air as he turned the plane around, letting it cruise along the ground. "Now, then, to go and fetch Ammo Baron and beat a hasty retreat. This place has been compromised too severely for us to bother sticking around any longer." And with that, Techno Baron swiftly (if not a bit hastily) steered his rescue vehicle toward Ammo Baron, who'd been watching in awe as Techno Baron eventually pulled up beside him.

"That was incredible! Where'd you even find this plane, Techno Baron?" Ammo Baron asked as he very carefully pulled himself back to his feet.

"I'll save the explanation for later, A.B.! Just get in here and let's go! I've got a terrible feeling that Risky's going to be gunning for us, and we'll need to find somewhere safe to regroup!" Techno Baron urged.

"What? No, come on! I can't leave my men here-!"

"Don't be a fool! You appear to be badly injured, so you'd be no good to them in your condition! You'll eventually be able to tell them through the Ammonian Transceivers what happened! That brute and those rotten Tinkerbats left most of them alive, from the look of it, but we can't pile them all onto one plane!"

"Right, but Techs, that's not a good look for-! Aaagh! Ow…! Th-that's not a good look for me…"

"Who cares about the look!? Your health is more important! Get in the flippin' plane, Ammo Baron! Your soldiers would do best to scavenge for emergency rafts amongst the wreckage of this base! Come on!" Techno Baron very strongly encouraged, growing frustrated with his business partner, who'd spent a moment looking around to take in the unspeakable carnage wrought all over the Baron Desert. The burnt, smashed, smoking tents, the crumbled down surveillance towers, the demolished war vehicles, the droves of Ammonian soldiers sprawled about, many of whom were groaning as they barely managed to stir awake… it crushed the general to see his army in such disarray. Yet, in that moment, there was only one person he could think to blame for such a tragic disaster… Risky Boots.

"Mark my words, Risky… One of these days, your time will come…!" Ammo Baron vowed as he eventually made the decision to climb into the plane's passenger seat. He found it difficult, however, as he only had the use of one arm. Wincing heavily as he fought through tidal waves of excruciating pain, Ammo Baron clamored into the plane, where his weary, ragged form hit the seat with a *PLOPH* before he set his broken arm into a position where it hurt the least… which wasn't saying much, all things considered. Even in its most comfortable spot, he could find no form of relief. "Agh, my arm feels like a mountain fell on it…!" he complained as he carefully strapped himself in. "Thanks for the lift, Techs. If you don't mind, though, we're gonna need to head to Scuttle Town."

"Scuttle Town? Why?" he asked as he got the plane into gear and began the liftoff process.

"Twitch and Vinegar took refuge over there, according to a conversation I had with them in the middle of our battle," the injured general explained. "They're supposed to be on a sabbatical, but they're our best hope for us getting back on our feet if we plan on at least surviving long enough to plan a counterattack against Risky. With or without the help of that rambunctious little genie minx and her friends, we can't take this layin' down."

"I agree with you there, but as a mere ally to the Ammonian Army, I can't say I share the same desire to directly get back at Risky the way you're imagining," Techno Baron informed his partner as they began lifting off the ground as the rain finally began to calm down a bit. "Besides, I hope you understand that our friendship still takes a major backseat to the thousands, if not millions of gems you owe me for all your exorbitant expenditures and the many, MANY destroyed pieces of technology I've provided for you for the month of September alone."

"I'm good for it, bud," Ammo Baron assured… sort of, as he quietly gulped as though he wasn't sure of himself. "As soon as we clean this mess up, I'll pay you. Until then, let's uh… focus on getting to Scuttle Town."

"Indeed," Techno Baron conclusively obliged. Of course, as the two Barons discussed the possibility of Ammo Baron needing to enter a long-term payment plan for his partner's technological services in the wake of their perceived reprieve from a certain evil soldier's murderous wrath…

"Hmmmmmrrraaaaah…!" said evil soldier growled in determination as he bolted toward the plane with all the speed he could muster. It's worth mentioning that Tayshan had gotten up and, despite being chased a very sizable distance away from Ammo Baron before being hit, tripped, or hit and tripped, had begun his Magic-boosted mad dash almost as soon as Techno Baron stopped to pick up Ammo Baron. By the time he got close enough to reach them, the two of them had just finished talking about their plans to fly to Scuttle Town as the plane got moving. Even then, it took a great deal of his energy just to catch up to them as the combined volume of the plane's propeller and engine concealed the sounds of his tireless approach. Even worse, he nearly missed the opportunity to hitch a ride himself… Notice how I said 'nearly' there? Yeah? Well, here comes the crazy part. Or, one of the craziest parts of this whole ordeal. "You two clowns ain't slippin' away from me that easy…!" Tay vowed, though he could barely be heard over the plane's noise. Nevertheless, he just BARELY managed to, with a last-ditch leap of faith, grab hold of the biplane's tail piece just as his enemies had achieved liftoff.

The second the plane left the ground, however, the serviceman-turned-pirate knew without a doubt that he had little to no option but to hang on for dear life. In response to his desperate need to escape the doomed desert without an alternative method of transport, the magic in his body intensified, allowing him to dig his fingers into the metal of the plane and provide himself with a most painful anchor that that would at least allow him to make it to Scuttle Town… if not at the cost of his fingers by the time Techno Baron and Ammo Baron arrived there. Even then, his chances of hanging on for an entire trip from the Baron Desert to Scuttle Town in the middle of a thunderstorm weren't exactly what I'd call high. Not even close. But hey, we've seen crazier and more unlikely things happen despite impossibly low odds, so who's to say he could hang on for however long the ride would be? It was tough to imagine… especially considering that, within minutes, the Ammonian biplane had been at least a few hundred feet in the air, soaring low as the storm appeared to be subsiding. Still taking no notice of their stowaway, however, Ammo Baron and Techno Baron continued to revel in the fact that they narrowly avoided grisly demises as the very first task on their hefty to-do lists for the day while they rolled through Sequin Land's turbulent skies at a casual pace. Oh, what would happen if our troubled, corrupted extraterrestrial soldier succeeded in enduring the grueling trip ahead and landed in Scuttle Town with the Ammonian general and his surprisingly resilient reptilian comrade.

Alas, while I know this is sort of a weird note to leave off on, I am afraid we are out of time, dear reader. But hey, this was quite the pickle our heroes and villains alike found themselves entangled in. Risky turned Tayshan evil and sent him out on a merciless rampage that only ended when his primary targets barely managed to escape… and even then, that was only after they barely managed to avoid being ripped apart… at least, up to this point. However, if you were paying close attention throughout this barbaric bloodbath of a battle between Risky's forces and Ammo Baron's troops, you may have caught a small, but very important detail… that detail being that one of the Tinkerbats that accompanied Tayshan was last seen being chased off by Ammonian soldiers just before Tay and Ammo Baron locked horns.

This particular Tinkerbat, having miraculously survived the calculated, cold-blooded, stormy operation, climbed out from behind the shattered remnants of a surveillance tower somewhere near the scuffle between its team leader and their targets. It emerged with a rifle in tow only after the noise had settled. As it peered around to get a better idea of what unfolded, the Tinkerbat noticed most of the Ammonian soldiers present in varying states of distress, pain, and consciousness. Some were out cold, some were badly injured and trying to gather themselves or help other soldiers, and some were warily patrolling the area. All alone, the Tinkerbat dared not attempt to confront them.

Also picking up the buzzing noise of a vehicle being used, the Tinkerbat peered up into the sky to see that its team leader had been whisked away on the back of an Ammonian aircraft that, upon closer inspection, seemed to also be carrying Ammo Baron. Realizing that the operation was as good as botched despite its apparent success, the Tinkerbat looked around to find an appropriate escape route from the Baron Desert with nothing but its propeller pack. Faced with few options, the Tinkerbat opted to flee the scene by running as far away from the Ammonian soldiers as possible. As soon as it got to a distance it judged to be far enough away that they wouldn't be able to catch it if they saw it, it activated its propeller pack and hurriedly took flight to embark on a long, tumultuous journey back to Risky's hideout to report on the situation.

Later…

LOCATION: RISKY BOOTS'S BASE, ?, SEQUIN LAND

DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, 16 P.G.F.

TIME: 1143 HOURS

"Okay, so the storm's finally cleared up," Sequin Land's most notorious criminal informed her numerous troops, who stood at the ready in front of her. In the middle of the spacious, dingy cavern was what appeared to be a battalion of Tinkerbats, standing as tall as they could in organized rows and columns as Risky authoritatively stood before them. "Avast, men! The time is finally at hand! The time where I, Captain Risky Boots, lead us to a most dominant and irrevocable victory the likes of which our enemies could never even dream of! The time where we as a crew, come together and crush our enemies beneath our heels without a shred of hesitation! The time where we establish ourselves as the single most dominant force this pitiful country has ever known!" she announced, marching back and forth while keeping her eyes on her loyal crew. They remained silent as they watched her and listened intently to every syllable that left her lips. "Too long, have we been deprived of the chance to accomplish our goal! Too often, have we been dealt blow after humiliating blow to our otherwise unstoppable resolve! Too many times, have we been granted the insufferable misfortune of coming face to face with a certain despicable genie brat, who has at this point proven to be the sole obstacle in our path to greatness! Well, no more! Do you hear me!? NO MORE!" she basically roared, prompting her Tinkerbats to collectively pump their fists in agreement with her speech.

"Today is the day we finally show anyone who dares stand in our way that it would be the last mistake they ever make. Today is the day we reclaim the respect we deserve! Today is the day we take our first big leap toward world domination… and you know what? Today is the day we finally launch Operation: Bombardment of Artillery Rainstorms!" she announced, revealing that she was finally ready to take Sequin Land by complete surprise. "And on this day, and with these most wonderful 'gifts' from another dimension, we shall assert our status as the only suitable rulers of Sequin Land that this world will have ever known! And when we do, men… we will do so with an iron fist!" Risky emphatically declared, pumping a semiautomatic rifle in the air; a move mirrored by her loyal followers as they grew progressively more excited to carry out her nefarious orders. Though her minions were unable to speak in the conventional sense, one could still feel the electrifying energy garnered from them by Risky's pulse-pounding motivational speech.

"…Oh, no… She's gonna wreak havoc all over Sequin Land with those weapons…!?" Sky muttered to herself as she held the sleeping Wrench as tightly as a child would hold a teddy bear in a time of apprehension. "No… How the heck could things turn out like this? What are we gonna do…?" she frightfully asked herself as she found herself awash with dread. "Shantae… Where are you right now?" she further asked before she felt something—a cold, clammy hand—grabbing her by the shoulder. "Wah!" the bird tamer bellowed before clasping a hand over her mouth to avoid drawing Risky's attention. Sky also turned toward the source of the sudden uncomfortable sensation and realize that Rottytops's body had moved on its own. "What the… Rottytops? What…? How…?" Sky tried to ask, though she realized she would get no answer due to Rotty not having her head on her shoulders.

Nevertheless, the headless form of the zombie girl, in a sudden and very frightening move, wrapped its arms around Sky, who'd VERY STRONGLY resisted the urge to completely freak out. Within seconds of this, however, an arcane swirling vortex formed under hers and Rottytops's position. And before anyone knew it, a series of skeleton hands reached up and grabbed both girls.

"Whoawhoawhoa, what the heck is going o-!" Sky was about to question in sheer terror before the girls were suddenly sucked through the portal with an emphatic *WHOOSH*, leaving nothing behind within the confines of the cage.

Just then, the Tinkerbat that had beat a hasty retreat from the decimated warzone that was the Baron Desert flew in, thus cutting off Risky's pep talk as she turned and cocked an eyebrow in surprise at the Tinkerbat. The creature landed in front of Risky, appearing somewhat frantic as it seemed to anticipate her reaction to seeing it back without its crew.

"Okay, what happened this time?" she expectantly asked. "What, did that foolish 'recruit' of mine decide to suddenly switch sides and team up with Ammo Baron? Or maybe you're gonna tell me he failed his mission, and now we have to get our hands dirty finishing the job in his place? Oh, I know. You're gonna tell me something truly maddening, like Shantae showed up there and mucked things up. Aren't you?"

In a series of panicked flailing motions, the Tinkerbat informed Risky that none of her proposed situations was accurate. Flailing some more, the Tinkerbat gave her a nutshelled update on the situation.

"Ah, now that's… interesting," she remarked with a scratch of her chin. "So, despite most of your group perishing in the ensuing ambush, you guys actually succeeded in your mission to annihilate what was left of Ammo Baron's base, but the boat you rode in on was destroyed by Ammo Baron once he saw it. And… you're also telling me that Tayshan actually attempted to assassinate Ammo Baron as he said he would, but that slimy little tin-headed newt Techno Baron aided Ammo Baron in the battle? And as of this very moment, Techno Baron and Ammo Baron are in a plane headed toward Scuttle Town, with Tayshan clinging onto the back of it as he tries to finish the both of them off? And, for that matter, Techno Baron is, in fact, ALIVE?"

The Tinkerbat nodded in confirmation. At that, Risky merely sighed and shook her head.

"Well, it isn't like I expected everything to go completely right with that operation. When you want something done right… you make someone else do it for you, set them up for failure, and then do it yourself and take all the credit. So, it looks like, as usual, I'll have to finish the job that someone else started… of course, with the potential added bonus of dragging that filthy reptile over here, so that maybe he can help me fix this Tinker-Portal. Only thing is I'm not sue how likely it is that we can get there before Tayshan kills him. Shoot. Now I wonder if I should've made that lizard at least take a look at the Tinker-Portal first, or if it really was the right call to send him and his dragon machine out to destroy Naga Mountain and grant me the opportunity to capture most of Shantae's peasant pals...?" she mulled with another sigh before another Tinkerbat came in from her side, flailing its arms in sheer panic. "Hm? And what's got you all riled up that you look like you're being chased by hyenas?"

This second Tinkerbat, in a show of unmistakable fear, waved its arms around, pointing toward the cage that was supposed to be holding Shantae's aforementioned 'peasant pals.'

"Gone? What do you mean they're gone? That cage is entirely impenetrable from the inside! How...?" she was about to reply before she glanced at the cage in question and saw that it was empty. "What? How…? How did this happen!? Where are my hostages!?" she shouted, immediately hot with rage as she stormed over toward the empty holding cell and saw for herself that it was empty. She inspected the door to see that the lock remained intact and showed no signs of tampering. She also studied the cage up and down to see that the bars were completely undisturbed. "How did you morons let them escape!?" she demanded to know, glaring at the Tinkerbats that were responsible for guarding Sky and Rottytops while they remained in captivity.

Three of Risky's minions, shivering with fright, either shrugged their shoulders or tried their best to explain it in a way that would keep their captain from tearing them limb from limb.

"You don't know? You DON'T KNOW!? IS THAT SOME PATHETIC ATTEMPT AT A JOKE!?" she hollered loud enough that the entire base seemed to quake for a second. "You were supposed to be WATCHING THEM THIS ENTIRE TIME, YOU BLUNDERING IDIOTS! You'd better start giving me SOMETHING of an explanation, because this cage doesn't look like it was tampered with one bit! We specifically designed them to be inescapable! The only way anyone could get out without my permission is if-!" she yelled, set to go on a full-blown rant until she spotted a single magenta-colored feather sitting on the floor of the prison cell. The odd thing about the feather, however, was that it was stuck halfway into the floor as though it had been drilled into it. "…Hmm…" she pondered for a moment, her train of thought changing course as she thought back to the arrangement that had been made shortly before a certain 'recruit' of hers set out to dispose of Ammo Baron. And, while she still didn't know exactly how the two girls inside the cage disappeared with hardly a trace without anyone noticing, she identified just who might've been responsible for it.

The Pirate Queen's men in the immediate area alternated between staring at her in a collective mix of anticipation and dread, and glancing at one another to figure out what she was thinking. Their wait wasn't long, however, as Risky chuckled and shook her head while her eyes were closed. Even more frightened, the Tinkerbats backed away to avoid being directly caught in the whirling inferno that was Risky's wrath. She remained composed nevertheless, as she threw her head upward and breathed out a sigh hot enough to melt rocks into lava. Afterward, she clenched her fists, which had begun to exhibit a swirling black and purple aura that we all knew was too ominous to ignore. Even worse, the Pirate Queen's face had contorted into just about the vicious, vengeful glare that could potentially incinerate anyone she aimed it at. Yet, the scariest part of this situation… was that when Risky Boots opened her eyes, they revealed a glow that could be compared to lasers ready to utterly obliterate everything in their path.

"Change of plans, boys…" she started off, so eerily calm that her men knew at that exact moment that she was the COMPLETE, TOTAL OPPOSITE of calm. As such, they stood at attention, ready to obey any command she gave. They knew that when she got like this, even the slightest slip-up could cost any one of them not only their job, but also their life. It went without saying that they respected and feared (but mostly feared) their leader more than enough that they'd do just about anything to make her happy, but still… "We're shoving off directly to Scuttle Town effective immediately," she announced, thereby declaring war in a single statement. "Based on what was just shared with me, and if my hunch is correct, then that means our new 'recruit' has reached Scuttle Town himself and was either defeated in battle, or he's changed sides and reunited with that repugnant little genie brat. I also factor in the unfortunate development that the squad I sent out to kidnap the rest of that brat's friends or at least detain and potentially capture her properly earlier hasn't returned by now. Either way, I suspect that the disappearance of our hostages can be tied directly to who was supposed to be our newest crew member. I certainly hope for his sake that it's because he was defeated, because that'll make the only difference between us razing that filthy little village to ashes once and for all… and us absolutely BOMBING it into a smoldering crater to be swallowed up by the very sea that it so precariously floats upon before we march on and storm the Sequin Land Palace," she ranted, making it evident that she'd been forced to make a few huge adjustments to her original plan.

"Whatever happens, it'll serve as the perfect back-up plan that'll still lay the groundwork for me to rightfully claim my status as the true most powerful being in all of Sequin Land…!" she continued. "I was hoping I had a little more time to gather resources and 'allies,' as well as conquer a few smaller territories around the country before eventually making my way toward the Sequin Land Palace to make my hostile takeover a bit less cumbersome. It's an annoying set of tweaks to make on such short notice, but at least my ultimate plan is still mostly on-track… for now. I just can't take any more chances with that meddling genie and her friends at this point, so their total elimination now has to take priority above all else. The best way to lure them out of hiding, of course, is to annihilate their home…" she concluded as she turned and marched toward her ship while signaling her men to follow her with one hand. Without question, Risky's crew immediately shuffled into a line and boarded the ship, armed to the teeth with just about every last weapon of mass destruction deemed necessary to get the job done… which appeared to be roughly half of the dwindling arsenal she had left.

It went without saying that at this point, Risky meant business. One could only wonder what unspeakable atrocities she was willing to commit, as long as she got her way once all was said and done. It appeared that the time was at hand, no less. No more waiting. No more planning. No more tricks or traps. She was ready to go all-out this time. With time not necessarily being on her side, and with a fleeting supply of weapons, the only saving grace was the potential condition that Shantae was out of commission. Regardless, Risky's ultimate goals were clear; those goals being the destruction of her much-despised archenemy, the fall of the nation's capitol, and the true, indisputable establishment of her reign of terror. And nothing would stop her this time, as far as she was concerned. If our heroes had anything… ANYTHING at all in terms of a plan to save a soon-to-be-doomed Scuttle Town from its impending destruction, then they would need to act fast. Yet, even through all of this, we still never found out exactly what happened to Sky and Rottytops that they suddenly vanished from the confines of the cage. I mean, there may be a clue or two to scope out, but until next time, we'll remain in limbo. Well… hang onto your seats, folks, because it just got real. See ya soon!