"So, Pyra ran off with Rex, stole a ship, and you have no real idea where they are?" Morag went over the events that had just been relayed to her as they sat in a briefing room aboard the Ardainian flagship.

"Sounds like she's off her rocker," Zeke commented from off to her side, "Think this is related to her new look?"

"It would make some sense for the two to be related," Brighid raised a hand to her chin, "Rex said that this didn't happen before. We're in uncharted waters. I've never heard of anything like this though. Azurda?"

"No, I'm afraid I don't know what's happened to the poor girl, but at this rate, I'm afraid of what she might do."

"Agreed," Morag nodded, "I'll send out the order to be on the look out for the stolen ship."

"I would suggest telling them not to get too close though. We don't know if she can control Siren, but either way, she could be dangerous."

"Understood."

"Um," Tora raised a wing, "What if we have to fight Pyra?"

"I don't like our odds," The Special Inquisitor admitted, "But we need to try and talk, or beat, some sense into her."

"Tora not like the sound of that, but Tora have idea for something before we fight."

This garnered the nopon plenty of intrigued looks. Not the least of which was Poppi's.

"What masterpon talking about?"

"That surprise for now! We should go to home. Daddypon might be able to help."

"Well, we have time before we find them. If Tora's idea can help, it may be worth the effort," Morag agreed, as did the others. Might as well hear him out.

"Here you go," Pyra smiled as she sat a plate down in front of Rex, "It's not much, but I worked with what I had."

"Er, it looks great, Pyra. Um, do you mind me calling you that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The Aegis giggled, "It is my name."

"So…you're not…both of you?"

"Hmm? No, don't you worry. It's all me. No Mythra to spoil your day."

"R-right. What happened to Mythra then?"

"Never you mind. She shouldn't be interrupting us."

"Pyra, don't you see that something is wrong here?"

"Wrong?" Pyra tilted her head, "What do you mean?"

"Just," Rex frustratedly flailed his arms, "This! This isn't like you? You stole a ship! Attacked our friends!"

"Supposed friends," Pyra replied, "Really, I'm disappointed in myself for not getting you away from them sooner, but don't worry, I'm determined to keep you safe."

"I appreciate the thought, but what about Malos?"

"So long as he doesn't get ahold of our core crystal, he shouldn't be able to use Aion, right? Not to mention his weakened state."

"Well, yes, but there's also Amalthus."

"Oh, he should know better than to bother us now," Pyra said with an almost disturbingly happy tone and smile.

"Okay, but what about the land?"

"Really, Rex, you shouldn't have to worry about solving all the worlds issues on your own." Pyra carefully ran a hand over his cheek, "You've been through so much. Just let me take care of you."

Rex swallowed from the personal attention, but he quickly pushed his own embarrassment aside. Pyra was not well, "Pyra, please, stop this. Come back with me to meet with the others. Maybe we can find out what's wrong–"

"No!" Pyra suddenly stood from the table, "No, I won't let them take you. Why? Why won't you just stay with me? Is it…me? Would you rather have Mythra? Or Fan? Nia, perhaps?"

"What? No! Of course not. It's just…" Rex's voice fell, "Pyra, I'm worried about you."

Pyra's expression changed to a soft smile as she once again gently touched his cheek, "That's sweet, but don't worry about me. I've made it my mission to protect you. Even…even if you like another girl, I'll still protect you. I promise."

"Pyra…"

"I'm no expert," Morag held the schematics up, "But this looks incredibly impressive. Tora, you designed this?"

"Yes, yes!" Tora bounced happily, "Tora base design off of Pyra after seeing her in battle, and then refined it after seeing Mythra. Tora rather pleased with result."

"Incredible," Dromarch was rather shocked, as was pretty much everyone else, "You designed your own Aegis?"

"Tora is the best artificial blade builder in the world."

"Alright, furball, calm down."

"Yeah, do you really think that this could stand a chance against Pyra as she is?" Zeke folded his arms.

"Meh meh. Tora not actually sure what Pyra and Mythra's actual maximum output is. Most of design admittedly…guesses."

"Masterpon not instilling confidence."

"Don't worry about it. New model for Poppi will be super-duper strong."

"Aegis strong?" Pandoria raised a brow.

"Well, I mean…it better than nothing."

"He's right," Morag agreed, "If we can improve our fighting force, all the better. If this comes to blows, well, I'd like to be prepared."

"Wonderful!" Tora hopped up and down, "Now, Tora could use help with supplies."

"Special Inquisitor Morag!" An Ardainian soldier saluted as he entered the office that she was currently occupying in the military base. After Tora had taken considerable resources for his project, Morag had devoted much of her time to organizing the search for Pyra and Rex in addition to continuing plans for how to deal with the Praetor and Indol.

"Speak," Morag looked up from the reports.

"The Aegis' ship has been spotted."

"Good work. Give me the full details."

"They're in Urayan territory," Morag stated as she walked into Tora's house, "Clever to stay away from Ardainian controlled territory."

"Then how'd you find them?" Nia raised her brow.

"The Urayans. They nearly caused an international incident. It seems that Siren has been firing warning shots at anyone trying to stop them or get too close. Fortunately, none of the shots have connected, but this complicates matters. His majesty has secured us permission to attempt a boarding operation. I don't need to tell you how difficult that will be. Is your project done, Tora?"

"Tora putting the finishing touches. Should be ready to go in no time!"

"Are you forgetting about the giant death laser?" Zeke folded his arms. He was all for acts of bravery, but this seemed more like suicide.

"Unfortunately, our best bet seems to be outfitting a small and fast vessel for stealth. Other than that, hope she doesn't actually hit us."

"I don't like this plan," Pandoria spoke up.

"Perhaps I can help," Azurda offered, "If I can talk to her, it might distract her."

"Thank you. We will be taking our best crew, but evading Siren will not be easy if we are spotted. Any assistance would be appreciated."

"What if it comes to blows?" Dromarch asked. They all knew despite their brave faces that they probably did not really stand a chance.

"Focus on finding Rex," Azurda told them, "If anyone can talk some sense into her, it'd be him. He may at least be able to have her spare us."

"Indeed," Morag nodded. "We leave at dawn. Be ready."

A/N: I think I saw a comment about Poppi QTpi being designed to be like the girls or something. Don't think I've ever seen it in game, but it works here.

And as for Pyra and Mythra in Smash, yes, I do rather enjoy their playstyle. I do tend to stick with Pyra who I seem to maybe do better with. I do tend to like heavy hitters anyway, and I'm pretty biased toward Pyra. I don't want her to be invalidated by Mythra as she largely was in XC2 gameplay wise. Not to say Mythra can't be fun, but I tend to prefer using Pyra. Also, anyone think Rex's model might actually be better than some fighters' models? Like Chrom and Shulk?