Gamelover41592: Thanks

Matt (Guest): That's one way to put it.

First off, I'm sorry for the lack of updates. Applying for college has been a total bi**h. But I want to get this story finished before the end of the month. Second, Happy (Late) Thanksgiving! So anyways, it's time to save Rottytops.


"You brought the bracelets!" The ghost dog greeted the girls as they returned to the seal. "May I sniff them?"

"Knock yourself out," Jasmine replied as she held the bracelets out.

The ghost dog began to sniff them, pulling away after a few moments. "They smell fine. But I reek of lies and deception. For you see…I am not truly a ghost dog." Suddenly, the dog transformed into the ghost of a genie. "In life, I was a guardian genie!"

Shantae gasped. "No way!"

"My job was to protect his island," The ghost continued. "But when the seven sirens came, I was unable to save my people. I sank the siren's vessel and using my magic, buried it deep within the island itself. Thinking I'd trapped the sirens for good, I took their power rod and broke it into two parts. I hid the pieces in the mines where only my quake magic could find them. This way, the sirens could never again power their vessel." Jasmine picked up on two details. One, she was pretty sure she knew whose mother this was. And second, she knew what the sunken city really was.

"So...the sunken city…" Shantae began. Clearly, she'd hit at least one of the same conclusions as her older sister. "All of this...is their ship?"

"Yes," The ghost answered. "You two have learned the secret of this island. Now, I will combine the two bracelets to form the power rod once more. Take it," She handed the power rod over to the girls. "Though I had them trapped, I was not powerful enough to defeat the sirens. I battled their leader, the seventh siren, and lost. All I could do was rob her of her physical form before I fell. For many years, I have remained down below as a ghost. In all that time, I have watched helplessly as the sirens lured my people down to the depths to meet their fate. I want you two to put an end to this madness. Take that power rod, and re-activate the siren's vessel. Sail it away. Take it someplace where the sirens won't be able to harm anyone again. Only you two can do this. Now, I will remain as a mangy dog."

"Do what you want...but there's someone on the surface that might want to see you," Jasmine said as the ghost turned back into a dog. The ghost looked thoughtful.

"Harmony…." She then turned back to the girls. "In its current state, the power rod is useless. You must restore power to the rod somehow...and then, take it to the control room directly above us!"

"Restore the rod's power?" Shantae questioned. "How do we do that?"

"Perhaps a person with a scientific mind can lend assistance," The dog offered.

"I think I have a few ideas," Jasmine noted. Grabbing Shantae, she rushed out of the pit.

"Hey, Jas. Why did you tell the ghost that there's someone on the surface who might want to see her?" Shantae asked.

"What magic did she say she had?" Jasmine asked. She was going to lead Shantae into this.

"Quake ma-" Shantae began to say, only to realize. "OH! She's Harmony's mother!"

"At least, that's what I think," Jasmine said. "But we can focus on this later. Right now, we have a somewhat annoying zombie to save!"


"This should be it," Shantae said as she placed the power rod into a section on a panel. They had found another scientist to help them with powering the rod up. "Here goes nothing!" The room was quickly lit up.

"Looks like it worked," Jasmine noted with a smile.

"Hello? Anyone there?" The girls gasped. That was Mimic!

"Uncle! Where are you?" Jasmine called out.

"Jasmine, is that your voice I hear?" Mimic replied.

"Yes! And Shantae is with me!" Jasmine exclaimed.

"Listen, a strange machine just rose up from the ground! Almost knocked me right off my feet!" Mimic revealed. "Hmmm...seems to be connected to the city below. Some kind of control console with a round display. I'm using it to communicate with you! Is this your doing?"

"It must be!" Shantae said. "We're looking at something similar down here!"

"Listen…" Jasmine began. She needed to warn everyone. "The city isn't a city at all. It's a ship!"

"A SHIP?!" Mimic exclaimed.

"I think this ship is what Risky has been after all along!" Shantae added in. "And that's not all! Rottytops is trapped down here, too!"

"Eh? Your zombie friend?" Mimic asked. He thought Shantae said she couldn't invite her.

"We need to mount one last rescue!" Shantae vowed.

"Wait...before you go...I can see an image of an airlock on my panel," Mimic began to explain. "Maybe there's a way to open it! Is there a switch or a lever on your side?"

"Yeah, a few!" Shantae replied. She was grateful Bolo wasn't around. As much as she loved him, she knew he would have started playing "mash random buttons or switches and hope for the best".

"Okay, now before you pull-"

"I pulled it," Shantae said before Mimic could finish that sentence.

"WHOOOOAAAAHHH! IT'S CRUSHING MY BONES!" Mimic cried out.

"UNCLE!" Both girls exclaimed.

"Just kidding," Mimic assured them. "But that could have happened! So don't pull anymore! According to my screen, you have just opened some kind of docking bay. I will send help to you. Head to the city's lowest point!"

"Roger that!" Jasmine said as she and Shantae headed back down.


"You've done it!" The dog said once she saw them. "Power to the city is restored! Be very careful down there. There's no telling how many of the sirens there truly are!"

"We know...but we don't have a choice…" Shantae trailed off as she walked over to the button. Jasmine put her hand on her shoulder. With a smile and a nod, Shantae hit the button. The seal was opened. The girls entered, not sure what they would find. Thankfully, it was mostly empty. They found the way into another siren lair, along with the Metal Fish, the scientists and Sky and Bolo.

"Sky? Bolo? Science people, too?! What are you all doing down here?" Shantae asked once she saw them.

"Don't ask me," Bolo admitted with a shrug.

"I can explain," The female scientist said. "Your uncle requested that we bring your friends here at once! They have a very important mission!"

One of the male scientists then spoke up. "Yes, according to your uncle, Mister Mimic...whatever you did reactivated the power core beneath the island. It will soon heat up to dangerous levels!"

"We're sorry, but we had too!" Jasmine protested.

"It's our only chance to save Rotty!" Shantae chimed in. As if on cue, Sky gave a disgusted look.

"Ugh! Do not get me started about Rottytops!" She snapped. "I'm sure this is all her fault, somehow!"

"Lazy bums get no opinions on this!" Jasmine snapped back.

"Just follow us, and hurry!" Sky ordered, deciding this wasn't worth fighting. She and Bolo raced off, Jasmine hot their heels. Shantae took a second to say sorry to the scientists before coming as well.

"So what's the plan?" Shantae asked.

"Listen...there's not much time," Sky warned. "According to your uncle, when the core power reaches its max capacity, the release valves need to be opened. That way, the energy can flow into the rest of the city. If the valve isn't open by the time core goes critical-"

"KA-BLOOEY!" Bolo chimed in.

"Shush!" Sky ordered. "So you need to find that switch, grab Rotty, and get out! Are you ready to do this?" The sisters shared a look. Two nods.

"We're ready,"

"Bolo and I will stay here to regulate the energy flow," Sky assured them. "Your time starts…" She then hit a button on the panel they were next too. "NOW!" Without missing a beat, the girls rushed in. The area was full of sirens and other monsters. Alarms blared and Jasmine was pretty sure she was going to have a serious migraine when this was over. Much to everyone's relief, the girls were able to get things stabilized.

"Man, I have never sweated this much from nerves!" Jasmine admitted, taking her hat off to fan herself.

"I hope Rotty's okay," Shantae said. The girls then entered the area they had just opened by turning on the power release valve. There were a few more sirens, but nothing the girls couldn't handle. But before they could reach Rotty, Risky appeared.

"I knew you'd come," Risky scoffed.

"Risky, you need to turn back!" Shantae warned. "It's too dangerous to be down here!"

"Never!" Risky snapped. "Not when I'm this close!" She then lunged forward, beginning another fight. She was fighting her hardest at this point. Her attacks were at their strongest and more numerous then before. But yet again, she chose to cut the fight short. "This is my final warning...stay out of my way!"

"Risky-" Shantae tried to protest, only for Risky to cut her off.

"Soon, my men will repeat their repairs. And the power of this city will belong to me!" Risky boasted. "Me! Risky Boots, queen of the seven seas!" With that, she fled, laughing all the while.

"C'mon. We need to hurry," Jasmine said. Whatever Risky was planning couldn't be good. Thankfully, Rottytops was in the next room over.

"Rottytops!" Shantae said, grateful her friend was already awake.

"You are in BIG trouble, mate!" Jasmine snapped.

"Who's Rubby Chops?" Rottytops replied, still trying to keep her act up.

"Don't play dumb! We know it's you!" Jasmine barked as she opened up the cage. "How'd you get here!? And why were you pretending to be a half-genie?"

"You didn't invite me!" Rottytops revealed, her voice cracking. "You planned to go on vacation and leave me behind! So I hid in the luggage and stowed away! And I dressed like a genie so I'd be included in the fun stuff!"

"Hold up!" Shantae began. "I didn't invite you because I couldn't find you! Probably because you were hiding in the luggage!" Behind her, Jasmine facepalmed. This was not happening!"

"Oh...that does kind of make sense!" Rottytops admitted. She then realized something important. "Awwww, you were going to invite me after all!"

"Well, from now on, we're reconsidering!" Jasmine snapped.

"Look at the fussy faces!" Rottytops jokingly cooed. "Here, this will cheer you up!" She handed over a fusion coin with a strange octopus on it.

"So, what's this?" Shantae asked.

"I'll show you," Rottytops said. "Just gotta change clothes first!" Jasmine promptly covered Shantae's as she looked away, closing her own eyes for good measure. Thankfully, Rottytops finished quickly. "That coin bears the mark of a jet octo! They can't swim, but they can boost through the air on jets of ink vapor. You can use it to save me and the island!"

"Alright, can you get out of here without us?" Shantae asked.

"Yeah, good luck!" Rottytops promised. "Oh, and one more thing?" When the girls turned back around, they saw Rottytops giving her a remorseful smile. "Thank you,"

"Next time, wait a little to get invited," Shantae said as she returned the smile.


"Okay...this is new," Jasmine said, bewildered at what she was looking at. It was a siren hanging out inside the brains of a giant octopus. The siren didn't care about fighting, leaving the traps around the arena to do the work. The girls, however, quickly found themselves annoyed. There were six brains around the arena, in order to release a larger brain. And they had to be hit in a certain order. While the seer dance helped, it was still annoying. And the traps were still firing away.

"That was annoying," Shantae grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Jasmine agreed.


"You're okay!" Rottytops cheered as she saw the girls come out of the den.

"Nothing to i-" Jasmine began to explain, only to get interrupted.

"YOU'VE GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!" Squid Baron roared as he made his way over. "WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"What was what?" Jasmine asked.

"WHAT EXACTLY WAS THAT BACK THERE!?" Squid Baron snapped again.

"Again, what was what?" Jasmine asked again.

"Don't you give me that malarkey!" Squid Baron snapped again. "HUGE OCTOPUS BOSS!? RADICAL HOT BABE CHILLIN' OUT IN THE BRAIN JUICE?! DISTRACTING HEY BABY!?"

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Shantae asked.

"YOU STOLE MY GAME IDEA!" Squid Baron roared. "IDEA STEALER!"

"Idea thief," Sky corrected.

"Hey, we didn't steal anything!"

"YOU DID!" Squid Baron protested. "My idea is RUINED now! And that makes YOU the BAD GUY! Why don't you just explode or something!? You haven't seen the last of me, ladies!" With that, he stormed off.

"...That happened," Rottytops deadpanned.

"Who was that guy?" Bolo asked.

"Forget about him! We've got to get aboard the Metal Fish, fast! Befores those Sirens realize that their main control systems are back online! C'mon!" Sky ordered as she and Bolo raced back to the submarine.

"Hey…" Rottytops began. "I just want to say that...I'm really sorry about stowing away. I should have known you'd invite me."

"You can apologize later, Rotty," Shantae promised. "Right now, we-" Suddenly, something started rumbling.

"Huh, what's that rumbling?" Rottytops interrupted. Suddenly, rocks fell, blocking the way back to the Metal Fish.

"We're trapped!" Jasmine cried. "Looks like we need to take the long way out,"

"You guys okay!?" Sky called out.

"Sky? Bolo?" Shantae called back. "I can barely hear you!"

"The path is blocked!" Bolo yelled out.

"Can you get out the way you came in!?" Sky asked.

"We think so!" Jasmine called back. She could already feel her claustrophobia beginning to spike up again. "You guys take the sub and get out of here!"

"I see an exit!" Rottytops announced. "It's this way! Follow me!" Rottytops ran off. Realizing that they had no time to debate this, the girls rushed after her. They noticed that the ghost dog wasn't around, guessing she must have fled as well. Now, several more places were blocked off and there were sirens everywhere. Things had gotten dangerous. The girls just hoped none had made it to the surface. Much to their surprise, the girls found Risky in a control room of some sort.

"Risky Boots!" Shantae exclaimed. "Releasing those creatures was part of your plan all along! Wasn't it!?"

Risky merely let out one of her trademark laughs in response. "Not at all. THIS was!" She then hit a button on the control panel. The girls couldn't see what was going on, but they could tell it wasn't good.

"What did ya do!?" Jasmine exclaimed as Risky went into another laughing fit.

"These energy collector towers will collect the sun's rays and convert them into fuel for the ship's engines!" Risky explained/boasted. "The power that once belonged to the Seven Sirens...will now belong to Risky Boots! QUEEN OF THE SEVEN SEAS!"

"Risky, stop!" Shantae begged.

"Ta-tah!" Was the reply given before Risky fled.

"Shantae, we need to get out of here! Maybe we can stop the launch if we can destroy those towers!" Jasmine pointed out.

"You're right!" Shantae realized as they raced out. Only this time, Jasmine had something she wanted to ask.

"Hey, why do you care so much about Risky? Sheila's nothing but trouble if you ask me!" Jasmine questioned.

"I know, but after we had that adventure to stop the Pirate Master, I feel like there's at least some good in her!" Shantae replied.

"You have a good heart," Jasmine said simply. They managed to catch up with Rottytops pretty quickly.

"Rotty! Those energy collector towers sound like real bad news!" Shantae said, despite knowing their friend hadn't heard the conversation.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Rottytops said simply. "But the path out isn't blocked anymore!"

"Then we need to get back to the surface, now!" Jasmine barked.


"Crikey…" Was all Jasmine could say. The towers were huge! She, Shantae and Rottytops had managed to gather everyone up in Arena Town's square.

"Mayor! Everyone!" Shantae began. "Thank goodness you are all safe!"

"Did you see it?" Sky asked. "Those towers rose right up out of the ground!"

"How could we see it?" Jasmine questioned. "We were underground!"

"And this is the control panel I was talking about before!" Mimic chimed in, pointing to said control panel.

"I pushed every button on it, but nothing happened!" Bolo proudly admitted.

"Touch it again and I will hogtie you!" Sky snapped.

"Risky is behind all this!" Jasmine blurted out. "She tricked us into restoring power to the systems. And now she's using those towers to power up the engines!"

"Engines?" Plink questioned.

"Why would a sunken city need engines?" Vera added in.

"It's not a city," Jasmine began. "It's a ship!"

"A SHIP!?" Zapple exclaimed.

"Yes! And Risky Boots is trying to power it up and sail away with it!" Shantae concluded.

"Unthinkable! How would a ship come to be stuck beneath the island?" The mayor asked. Jasmine noted his tone sounded a little forced, but shrugged it off.

"Indeed…" Harmony trailed off.

"How it got there, moving the ship can't be good for the health of the island!" Sky pointed out.

"When the ship tears free of the earth…" Harmony trailed off. Everyone got the idea.

"My home will be destroyed!" Vera wailed.

Rottytops began looking at the panel. "According to this panel, it won't be long before the ship reaches full power!"

"In a time of crisis, only the half genies working as a team can save the day!" The mayor said hopefully. "Right?"

"Not this time," Harmony said, turning to face Shantae and Jasmine. "As it stands, Shantae, and by extension, Jasmine, carry all of our magical powers!"

"No problem!" Shantae said. "I'll just return all your magic and we can fight together!"

"No, your friend is right!" The mayor exclaimed. "You and your sister's instincts have served us well at this point! This is a job for a spectacular half-genie superstar and her human sister superstar! It's your time to shine!" Suddenly, the smaller siren from before appeared.

"Huh?" Bolo asked for everyone. "Who's this?"

"And what's she wearing?" Rottytops chimed in. "And where can I get one?"

"A SIREN!" Sky yelled out before Jasmine or Shantae could even get a word in.

"That's a siren?" Bolo questioned.

"This is the creature that's been terrorizing my village?" Vera asked. She and Bolo didn't look convinced.

"No...this is a friendly one...we think," Jasmine explained. Said siren made a few noises, but still shied away from everyone looking at her.

"I think she's trying to speak!" Sky realized. The siren made several more noises.

"It sounds like she's trying to help!" Shantae realized.

"No! Peel and eat her!" Rottytops cried. The siren promptly dove behind Jasmine's leg.

"Knock it off, Rotty!" Jasmine barked before turning back to the siren, putting on a warm expression. "Don't be afraid. My mate is very stupid-"

"HEY!"

"You're saying you want to help us, right?" Jasmine said softly. The siren nodded.

"Unless she knows how to shut down those energy towers, any help from her is too little, too late," Sky scoffed.

"Sky! That's mean!" Shantae chastised when she saw the siren taking offense to it.

"I will talk with her," Harmony offered. "Meanwhile, your mission is clear: shut down all four towers while there's still time!"

"We're on it!" Both sisters said at the same time. With that, they rushed off. The tips of the towers were at the top of the island and the system to disable each of them was the same: Knock off the safety gate and wail away at the core. The towers had defense systems, which let it rain lightning bolts down from the sky, but it was rather easy for the girls to deal with. Soon, they were back in the town square.

"You're back!" Sky exclaimed with relief.

"I knew you could do it!" Bolo cheered. "Um...did you?"

"Yeah! All four energy collectors are down for the count!" Jasmine said proudly.

"That should stop the flow of power into the city!" Mimic said.

"If that's true, then how do you explain this?!" Rottytops frantically asked. Everyone turned to look at the control panel. "We're already too late! The ship is about to-" Her sentence was cut off as everyone watched the ship rise out of the ground and into the air. It was an airship!

"It worked!" Risky exclaimed from her spot on the anchor of the ship. "The power of the sirens belongs to me!" She cackled as she was returned to the ship.

"She's charging up the weapon systems!" Rottytops exclaimed. "She's gonna blow up the entire island!"


CLIFFHANGER! I'm so mean, I know. Anyways, I'll see you all next time where we finally take Risky down and end this monster of a story! See you then!