Gamelover41592: Thanks
Matt (Guest): That was actually going to happen in my original version of the story, because I thought them not realizing who Fillin really was was just Shantae being stupid for plot reasons. However, I saw someone point out on TV Tropes that Shantae doesn't actually think of Rotty as a zombie. She thinks of her as her human self(as shown by Friends To The End). As such, along with her and Jasmine not knowing much about half-genies, it is reasonable for them to think that Fillin could have been telling the truth.
Okay, so time to get moving. Also, Bolo's going to do something again!
"Nope, nope! Can't get in there!" Jasmine panicked. Upon waking up and readying themselves for the day(and yelling at Sky for being a lazy bum), the girls had taken up an offer from the scientist lady to go into her and her team's lab. Of course, what she didn't mention was that they were using a submarine, The Metal Fish, to get in and out. Just looking at it was making her claustrophobia flare up.
"Jas, it's fine!" Shantae said, rubbing her older sister's back. "I'll just go down in the sub and you can swim down. I'm sure there's a way in."
"Alright. I hope you're right," Jasmine said, still trying to calm down a little. Giving a wave, Shantae entered the sub, which began to sink into the water. Jasmine changed into a shark and followed. Everything was mostly smooth to start, before something suddenly grabbed the sub and started banging on it.
"Crikey! I've got to get that thing off the sub before it kills Shantae and the others!" She thought to herself. Not wanting to rip it to shreds, she changed into an electric eel. Thinking quickly, she rushed over to the creature and bit down, zapping it. With a cry of pain, it left. The sub docked soon after. "Now, I just need to get in."
"Stupid Squid Baron, stupid ball things, stupid video game…" Shantae grumbled to herself. Because he did whatever he wanted, Squid Baron decided to block the way through the lab so that he could tell Shantae about his video game idea. And by tell, he meant forcibly make her do a mini version of one of the quests he had planned for the game.
"So what did Squid Baron do?" Jasmine asked as she returned back to a normal size. She had to turn into a shrimp to get through a leaking pipe.
"He won't let us pass until we find these three dagron balls," Shantae grumbled, showing off the two she had already found.
"Well, he's a bogan anyways," Jasmine said. "Sorry it took so long to get in. This place is in surprisingly good shape. Couldn't find a leak anywhere."
"You're fine," Shantae assured her. The third one wasn't hard to find(let it be said that Squid Baron sucks at hiding things) and they found the warp squid waiting. He took the dagron balls with little problem and left.
"Weird he didn't want to fight," Jasmine noted.
"And for once, I wouldn't have minded it," Shantae grumbled. Cutting of their complaints with the entrance into another dungeon. This time, it was that living creatures were not supposed to be there. The place was boiling hot. Lava was everywhere and most areas were hot to the touch. Within ten minutes, Shantae and Jasmine were both caked in sweat.
"The sirens aren't messing around…" Shantae trailed off. She would have given anything to be back in the mines they found Vera in. As bad as those were, they weren't like being inside the sun!
"We're gonna have to get out of here quick!" Jasmine said. Suffering from heat exhaustion or stroke was bad enough normally, but it was really bad if you had to fight giant sirens. Thankfully, there were a few pools of water scattered around. They weren't cold or anything, but they kept both girls from passing out. A few were decently cool, which let the girls soak and rest. They were worried for the half genie they would find here.
"Hold it, runts!" Risky snapped as she dropped down in front of them. Thankfully, the room was manageable for a fight.
"Mate, you have some explaining to do!" Jasmine said, trying to sound like she wasn't on the verge of passing out.
"You're so demanding!" Risky hotly replied. "Ha. Very well. I'll answer one question and one question only."
"Okay then…" Shantae began. She would let Jasmine speak up.
"Why are you on the island?" Jasmine asked after taking a few seconds to think about her question. "Did you really come just for treasure?"
"Shame shame. That sounded like two questions to me," Risky replied after facepalming.
"Those girls vanished at the same time you showed up...that's too close to be a coincidence!" Jasmine pointed out.
"I'm feeling generous," Risky said. "If you can beat me...I'll give you the answer."
"Sounds fair to me!" Jasmine said, having used some of Vera's magic to recover. She noticed Shantae do the same. Risky charged. Slowly, it felt more and more like she was putting more effort into fighting. This time, she had added in more spread shots and more bomb shots.
"Stop!" Risky barked out. The girls backed off, waiting for answers. "Dear me. Stubborn as ever!"
"You promised, Risky!" Shantae exclaimed. "Tell us!"
"Oh very well," Risky scoffed. "Like I told you both before, I'm here for the treasure!"
"Sorry, but we'll need more then that!" Jasmine snapped. She was done with Risky's game!
"Then how about this?" Risky snapped. "The real treasure...is the SUNKEN CITY ITSELF! And I intend to TAKE IT!"
"Wha? Huh?" Shantae questioned for both girls. How do you steal a city? One that was underwater no less!
"How do you reckon you'll steal a city?" Jasmine asked once she could process what Risky said.
"I believe that's enough questions for now," Risky said, dodging the question. "Tah-ta!" With that, she was gone.
"Something is off. And more then normal, I mean," Jasmine said as she tapped her chin with her boomerang.
"Let's just go. I can't think in this heat," Shantae groaned. Jasmine realized that the magic had clearly worn off, heating both girls up. Thankfully, Zapple was only a few rooms over. Much like Plink and Vera, she was passed out. Unlike them, however, she was heavily sweating and had goosebumps all over her skin.
"Can't say I'm surprised she has heat exhaustion from this," Jasmine muttered to herself. She remembered Bolo getting it for playing outside too long when they were kids.
"Zapple! Are you okay?!" Shantae cried when she saw the sorry state her friend was in. Jasmine opened up the cage with ease.
"You…." Zapple staggered to her feet. She was not in good shape. Beyond what the girls had already seen, she was swaying back and forth and holding her hand to her head, nursing an unseen headache. "Where am I?"
"Deep inside the sunken city," Shantae answered.
"Under the island, huh?" Zapple asked, now leaning on the wall. "Figures. We need an escape plan. Take this," She then handed Shantae another fusion coin. This time, it had a picture of a strange turtle on it. "I'm in no shape to be of any help, so you'll need to take that. It's a bonker tortoise. They are a special kind of tortoise that allows you to slam into rocks, breaking them on impact! But they can't swim." As soon as she finished speaking, she tried to walk towards the girls, only to fall after a few steps.
"Mate, don't push yourself. I don't know how you haven't hit heat stroke levels yet, but we need to get you out of here fast!" Jasmine said as she helped Zapple to her feet, even allowing her to lean on her.
"Hang on, I'll make us a way," Shantae said before using her new form to make a hole in the floor. Thankfully, it was pretty close to the entrance.
"Go find her. I'll be fine here," Zapple assured Jasmine.
"Just...don't go too far. We'll help you get back to the surface," Jasmine said with a smile before running back after Shantae. She had already managed to find the siren's chamber.
"Is Zapple okay?" Shantae asked.
"She's fine. As long as she's out of here, she should be okay," Jasmine said. With a nod, the two entered the chamber. They were confronted by several sets of glowing eyes. Jasmine didn't even bother to stop Shantae from clinging to her legs. From out of the shadow, a siren with several monstrous tubeworms attached her appeared. This one actually tried to use a strategy. Namely, the girls had to hit enough of her tubeworms to get to her to actually confront them. Then, they had to slam down on what they could only guess was an eye to actually get the siren somewhere they could hit her. Thankfully, the girls were used to working well together and to hitting certain weak points, meaning the siren was no problem for them.
"You made it," Zapple noted once she saw the girls arrive. While she did look a little better, she was overall still not up to snuff. Jasmine and Shantae both silently agreed not to mention the vomit on the floor near where Zapple had been sitting.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Jasmine asked, even giving a joking flex. Zapple went silent.
"Wh-what is it?" Shantae asked. Why was Zapple looking at them like that? "Did we do something wrong? You're creeping me out a bit."
"Nah…" Zapple replied. "Just wondering...I'm guessing your sister got you out of your cage?"
"I was never in a cage," Shantae said. "I wasn't captured during the performance."
"You're the ONLY one that wasn't captured?" Zapple asked. "That's awfully suspicious."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasmine nearly snapped. She towered over Zapple and made sure she knew it. No one implied Shantae was a bad guy. When Scuttlebutt tried, she gave him nightmares.
"Jas, she's right. It is strange…" Shantae pointed out. With a grunt, Jasmine backed off.
"Where are the others?" Zapple asked. If she was scared of Jasmine's threat, she wasn't showing it.
"Well...we rescued Plink and Vera...so I'm guessing Fillin and Harmony are still trapped down here somewhere," Shantae admitted.
Zapple gave a nod, bringing her hand back to her head. That headache she had was killing her. "Something about this doesn't feel right. I'm going to have a word with Plink and Vera,"
"Need any help getting back?" Jasmine offered.
"I think I should be able to teleport back," Zapple said, even though she wasn't all that sure. "When you're ready, meet me in Armor Town. It's at the far east side of the island. I'll be waiting for you there." With that, she teleported away.
"Should we go after her?" Shantae asked.
"I just hope she made it," Jasmine admitted as the girls started to head back to the sub.
"We meet again," Zapple said once she saw the girls come in. She had switched out of her armor into what the girls could only guess was her pajamas. A bathtub was off to the side, as were several bottles empty of water and a fan, which was still running. "I did some checking...both Plink and Vera shared their powers with you."
"It's true," Shantae said, even showing off Plink's seer magic. "It's because of their powers I was able to find you!"
"You saved them," Zapple said. "They probably felt obligated to give you their power. I feel no such obligation." Before Shantae or Jasmine could speak up, she continued. "But I'm willing to trust them. Bring me a fusion stone and I'll share my magic with you. Then, I'll see these heroics for myself."
"Deal!" Shantae exclaimed before heading off. Jasmine followed, giving Zapple a bit of a glare on the way out. Once outside, the girls were directed to another house. Inside was a cyclops dressed in fancy red armor with a yellow scarf.
"Greetings friends!" He announced once he saw them. "Armor Baron's the name! Defense is my game!"
"Armor Baron?" Shantae repeated. "You're not by any chance related to Ammo Baron from back home, are you?"
"Can you believe it?" Shantae and Jasmine turned around to see Sky rush in. "Ammo Baron has a brother! And he's a stud muffin."
"Mate, when I said to get off your ass and do something, getting another boyfriend was not what I meant!" Jasmine protested as she watched Sky hug his legs.
"You said nothing could make you leave the pool!" Shantae pointed out.
"Your uncle is worried sick!" Sky fired back, not caring that she completely changed the topic. "He said Shantae fell into the city, Jasmine went after her and something about Risky Boots and sirens...why didn't you tell me about this last night? If I'd known, I would have dropped everything and rushed to your aid! To think...I could have met this rugged stallion two chapters ago!" Jasmine face palmed.
"Is he really Ammo Baron's brother?" Shantae asked.
"I know, right?" Sky gushed. "He must've got the good looks in the family, eh?"
"Nope, don't trust him," Jasmine bluntly stated.
"There's not need for concern, I assure you," Armor Baron promised. "I am not the belligerent, bellowing, buffoon that my dear sweet brother is. Love him though I may, his actions weigh heavily on my heart."
"You mean you're a good guy?" Shantae asked. She had always been more willing to turn the other cheek then Jasmine was. Jasmine had no idea if it was because she was always like this, or because of Total Drama.
"Listen, friends…" Armor Baron began. "May I call you friends? I understand your concern. But please, withhold the harsh judgement my namesake has surely earned. Give me a chance to demonstrate my pure intentions. After all, it is the mature thing to do." Sky started swooning. "In addition, your lovely friend Sky has made me a proposition. She proposed…"
"What, wait!?" Jasmine exclaimed.
"...that I dedicated my craft..." Armor Baron continued. "...my knowledge of defense to create the ultimate half-genie armor from protect you from harm. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to create one for your sister."
"It's fine," Jasmine said, still trying to make it look like she trusted Armor Baron, even if she didn't. There was something off about him.
"Wow! Half-genie armor!" Shantae gushed.
"It will be the greatest armor my town has ever forged!" Armor Baron declared proudly. "And forging of armor we have done! For many years! The creation of durable, sleek, snug, and sturdy body armor has been the shared goal in the life of every citizen of Armor Town. We are forged in the life of forge. And so we forge forward each and every day!"
"That's a lot of forging," Jasmine grumbled.
"But we cannot accomplish this task on our own…" Armor Baron said as he eyed up Shantae. "To forge the ultimate, xtreme, half-genie armor, we will need three ore chunks! These chunks are forged by the relentless heat of the white sand dunes around the island. Bring me three ore chunks and I will forge you the ultimate, xtreme, powers unleashed half-genie armor!"
"You'd do that for me?" Shantae asked.
"Of course!" Armor Baron replied. "Consider it a gesture of good will. My way of apologizing on behalf of my dear, misguided brother."
"Wow! That's awesome!" Shantae gushed. "Thank you, Armor Baron!" With that, she rushed out.
"As for you, could you bring this to the mayor of Arena Town?" Armor Baron asked Jasmine as he held out a book. "It's a codebook to the sunken city. The mayor wants to seal it up."
"Alright, I'll take care of it," Jasmine said. She didn't trust Armor Baron, but this seemed harmless enough. With that, she was off.
"The codes!" The mayor exclaimed once he saw the book. "Our neighbors in Armor Town spoke of this! Finally, some good news! The Sunken City is a complex siren, and much of it is sealed off. My hope is that with a better understanding of how the city is built...I can block the advance of those creatures."
"You knew about the sirens!?" Jasmine cried. What was this galah thinking?!
The mayor sighed. "You see...the town was already here. I purchased it in hopes of creating the ultimate vacation destination. The cost was low and they were eager to sell. I even had the island renamed. After all...no one would want to spend their vacation on Siren Island!"
"I think that name should have been a tip off," Jasmine deadpanned.
"I'd heard the rumors," The mayor continued. "But I didn't believe them! Dear, oh dear. I was such a fool."
"Sir…" Jasmine trailed off. She had been too harsh on him. Everyone makes mistakes. "I understand that you wanted me and my sister to stay here, but we went down there."
"You did?" The mayor asked, his mood having perked up.
"We were the ones who freed Plink, Vera, and Zapple," Jasmine replied pridefully. The mayor gasped.
"But...how could you accomplish this?" He asked.
"The other half-genies used fusion stones to share their magic with Shantae and my necklace picked up traces of it," Jasmine answered.
"Fusion stones...very clever," The mayor admitted. "And the other two magical girls...are they still down there?"
"They won't be for long!" Jasmine boasted, even raising her boomerang to the air.
"Young lady, I owe you an apology," The mayor stated. Jasmine raised an eyebrow. "I underestimated your abilities because you were a normal human. And your sister is one of the younger half genies. Please, do whatever it takes to find those girls and stop those sirens! I will do what I should have done long ago. Prepare the island for evacuation!" With that, the mayor headed off. Jasmine was about to head back to Armor Town, until she remembered she still needed to get Zapple a fusion stone. As such, he headed back into the sunken city.
"I'm too nice for my own good," Jasmine mused to herself as she toyed with the fusion stone. She had promised to help a ghost captain get her doll back. Granted, unlike the Pirate Master, the girl didn't seem too bad.
"Jasmine!" Jasmine turned around to see Bolo rushing towards her, out of breath.
"Mate, what's up?" Jasmine asked, her voice full of concern.
"This cyclops guy! He had Shantae and Sky in these cool suits of armor and he was talking them to who knows where!" Bolo frantically explained.
"Armor Baron! Knew we couldn't trust him!" Jasmine roared, cursing herself for leaving Shantae with him. "Bolo! Did you see where they went?"
"Uh...underground I think," Bolo said.
"Great! Take me to where you saw them go!" Jasmine ordered. Bolo nodded and the duo raced off.
"Sky! Shantae!" Bolo and Jasmine both exclaimed once they found the girls. It happened to scare off a smaller siren.
"Guys!" Shantae cheered.
"What took you so long?" Sky demanded.
"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked.
"We think so. Armor Baron tricked us!" Shantae explained. Jasmine just nodded.
"Who was that girl we scared?" Bolo asked. "She didn't look like a half genie,"
"We...don't know," Shantae admitted. "She was already close to running off when we tried to question her."
"Well, she seems to be on our side," Jasmine noted. A siren ally could come in handy.
"Let's get outta here!" Sky said, annoyed.
"We already took care of the guards, so that should be easy!" Bolo bragged. Jasmine fingered the doll she had picked up. While she knew that it wasn't the doll she needed, it would still come in handy. The group make their way back to the surface of the island. Sky ran back to Arena Town, complaining about having a "long day"(earning herself eyerolls), while Shantae went to go find Zapple.
"Mate, you wanna give me a hand with something?" Jasmine asked.
"What do you need?" Bolo replied.
"You wanna come help me teach Armor Baron...a lesson?" Jasmine asked, mischief in her voice. Bolo quickly caught onto it.
"Well, I'm a pretty good teacher…" Bolo trailed off as they snickered.
"MOMMY!"
"What was that?!" Shantae exclaimed. She had just gotten Zapple's electric magic when a high pitched scream filled the air.
"It was probably someone taking revenge on Armor Baron," Zapple replied dismissively. "The only reason he's still in charge is because he's normally harmless and he does do his job as the mayor here pretty well. The only reason he pulled the armor trick on you and your friend was because I wasn't feeling well."
"Great…" Shantae groaned. It was getting late again. She already knew what Jasmine and Bolo did. They had pulled the same prank all the time when they were kids. They would wait for it to get dark, Jasmine would change into a dragon, Bolo would sit on top of her and they would pretend to be some dark being. Of course, they had never actually gotten physical with someone. Then again, Armor Baron had it coming.
Is it just me, or should Zapple have totally not been feeling well in game? She was locked in a lava filled dungeon for (at least) a day. Magic or no magic, that would have left her with heat exhaustion at best. Anyways, pointless rant over. Next time, we head after Harmony! See you then!
