Shantae immediately got to work getting as many people to safety as she could. Her bat form's sonar allowed her to find anyone who was stuck in one of the buildings or didn't have an easy way to escape the conflict between the giant beasts, allowing her to determine the best way to get to them. If they were on the ground floor and couldn't get to an exit, elephant form would make an exit for them as she smashed through the wall before grabbing them with her trunk and plopping them onto her back before taking them out of range of shrapnel-based collateral. If they were on a roof, harpy form could carry them down if they were alone or lightweight. If they were inside the buildings on the upper floors, arachne proved most useful in retrieving them as her newly discovered webbing ability, wall crawling, enhanced physical strength, and taur-style body meant she could easily transport several people out windows very quickly. Even her succubus form proved useful in calming the emotions of people and getting them to work together to get everyone to safety with the slightest application of its charm aura-

"Your what form?!"

"...yes, Rotty."

"You...you have a..."

"Yes, Rotty, I have a...succubus form. It's physically weaker than my normal body, lets me hover, and comes with a charm aura to pacify enemies. Not very useful most times, and super embarrassing..."

"How come I've never seen it?"

"Because I have a hard enough time keeping you from trying to take a bite out of me normally?"

"...fair enough. Still, I can't wait to-"

"Not oneword about this, Rotty! I mean it!"

"Aw, come on! Imagine the look on-"

"Imagine what Risky will say or do if she catches wind of it."

"...yeah, you're right. You don't need those insults on top of everything else."

"Thank y-"

"Spoilsport."

"Rotty!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! So, you got all the civilians out of the way. Then what?"

"Well..."

Once she was certain all the civilians were clear, Shantae made her way back to the center of the struggle. The saurian beast and fire breathing giant turtle were still going at it, each plainly strong enough to keep the battle up for quite some time. While the saurian had an insane advantage in terms of raw power, the turtle had the advantage in maneuverability and speed in that he was able to actually fly around by pulling into his shell and breathing fire out one - or more - of the holes. The first time Shantae had seen that, she'd nearly fallen off the building she'd been clinging to. She genuinely didn't know at the start if either of these beasts could be considered a 'good guy', and was not looking forward to trying to take them both down...but during the evacuation she'd noticed something.

The saurian took no notice of his surroundings, having no compunction against knocking a building over if it got in his way, and unleashing blasts of energy from his maw that felt dangerous to even be near even excluding the sheer devastation they could cause. The turtle, on the other hand, was not nearly as reckless for what he charged through, frequently ducking around buildings in an attempt to distract or confuse his opponent in order to gain an advantage. However, one moment had made her decide whose side she would be on. At one point the saurian had unleashed his breath weapon...but instead of dodging out of the way as he had before, he spun so his shell was to the saurian and tanked the blast. Shantae had taken to the air to find out why...and saw a yellow vehicle labeled 'school bus' full of children in the direct path of the blast, one that would have been obliterated had the turtle not taken the blast. She would aid the turtle.

Of course, staring up at the massive forms of the beasts, she couldn't help but wonder exactly how she would manage it. "Well...not the first time I've faced something gigantic in battle," she said, as much to herself as to anyone who might hear. "I'm...I'm Ret-2-Go!" she insisted before charging forward.

Her first instinct was to charge the beast's ankles in elephant form in an attempt to make him lose his balance. This notion lasted until she got close enough to discover that his ankle was higher up than the top of her elephant form. "Well...that's not going to work..." she murmured before taking monkey form and racing up the beast's body. Maybe she'd find a weak point somewhere she could hit to get his attention? Not that being the center of attention for such a huge creature was necessarily a good idea, but what else could she do?

Eventually, she managed to start climbing up the beast's spine. Since the fins on his back glowed when he used his breath weapon, she'd considered the possibility of trying to damage them to try and disable that ability. However, even getting close to them left her feeling burning hot as her mana went into overdrive to protect her from...something. She had to go even further away from them when they were glowing just to keep from losing her transformation and falling to what would assuredly be her death. With that out, she raced the rest of the way up to arrive on the beast's head.

The turtle paused briefly as she reached the head, and then continued its assault, focusing on the saurian's torso. Shantae, for her part, looked to see what she could do. "Maybe I can seal his mouth shut with webbing as Arachne...?" She paled as he went in for a bite and she saw a tooth was taller than she was. "Maybe not..." She frowned as she caught sight of him blinking his eyes briefly. "But then again..."

When the turtle next sent fire the saurian's way, Shantae leapt into the air. As the beast closed its eyes to block the flames, she changed into her Arachne form and launched her webbing. She then landed on his snout as the flames faded before charging forward, applying more webbing and slamming it down into the gap between the lids, doing her best to seal the eyes shut. The beast let out a roar and shook its head back and forth. Taxed beyond her ability to grip with her spider legs, she was sent flying...

...only to land in the turtle's paw, gently cupping around her form.

Ah, another Guardian, a voice echoed in her very magic, not bothering with passing her ears or mind to be heard. I had thought as much when I saw you protecting the innocent. However, your attempt here was foolhardy.

"Best I can do," Shantae complained as she reverted to her base form. "My biggest form doesn't even come up to his ankle!"

A shape changer? the turtle asked in surprise. How versatile is your ability?

"Umm...I think I've got nearly two dozen different forms I can do," Shantae replied thoughtfully.

There might be something we can do after all, the voice continued, only to stop as the saurian brought his hands up to his face and dragged the webbing - and a good amount of scales - away from his face and roared his rage. Fetch one of those scales while I hold this one off! With that, the turtle tossed her away before charging the beast.

Yelping in shock, Shantae tumbled for a bit before taking Harpy form and swooping down on where the scales had been cast aside. Landing, she raced forward in human form and grabbed one of the scales...only to wince as she felt the unfamiliar mana pulse even in this tiny a shedding. Admittedly, the scale was nearly as large as her torso, but comparatively it was tiny. "Now what?" she called out, struggling not to be overwhelmed by the fierce, untamed mana in the scale.

The turtle did not respond, nor did the voice. Instead the struggle continued...but the turtle was beginning to lose.

Shantae glanced from the battle back to the scale, taking a few calming breaths. "Right...shape shifter...Guardian...scales..." Her eyes widened as she realized what was intended. "Well, guess it's time to see just how strong a half-genie actually is..."

Closing her eyes, she took a few calming breaths...and opened her mind and magic to the energy within the scale. As she felt it all but overwhelm her, she began her dance, letting the new mana guide her steps. The dance was much more fierce, more intense, more forceful than any other dance she'd done before, but she felt her mana shifting, twisting, flowing freely...and the light blazed.

"...you...you didn't...?"

"I...I did..."

"...no freaking WAY!"

"Hehehe..."

As the light faded, Shantae looked down at herself. She'd felt her magic surge, flooding to fill the massive form that the dance had granted her. To her surprise, she didn't feel at all short of magic...but she could tell that it would be a strain bringing her magic back in check when she changed back. However, now she was plainly the same species as the saurian beast the turtle was fighting, but with pale pink scales over most of her body, the fins on her back the exact purple of her hair. She clenched her fists, feeling the claws. She dug with her feet, feeling the ground shred from her overwhelming might. She waved her tail, feeling the raw power of her form...

She opened her mouth and roared, declaring her dominance as she readied herself to take down the invader if she had to thrash him to within an inch of his life.

"Did you?"

"...no..."

As she surged forward, the saurian beast she saw as her foe pulled back from the conflict, taking several steps back from her. She paused in her charge, wondering what would have caused this...only to notice something that nearly undid her concentration. The beast kept looking at her before looking away, his hands brought up so the clawtips of each hand touched those of the other repeatedly as he glanced around as though looking for something. She tilted her head in confusion...

Seeming to spot something, the beast perked up and walked over to a massive signboard displaying - among other things - a bouquet of flowers. The beast dug his claws in and carved the bouquet out of the sign before walking back over and holding it out to her, looking hopeful.

...seriously? she demanded in shock, her eyebrow twitching. The turtle brought both hands to its face, shaking its head ruefully.