As Scuttle Town became more clear to Shantae's vision, she could only groan in distress. She could see fires, smoke, and a few toppled structures, as well as what looked like a scuffle. "Great...just great..." she groaned as she stood up on Gojira's nose, shaking her arms to loosen them. "Not only have I just been through the most stressful day in recent memory, but it's not even over yet? Can't Scuttle Town stay safe for five minutes without me looking out for it? I wasn't even gone that long!" She rubbed her face as she got a feel for her mana. "Guess I'm Ret-2-Go, ready or not." Shaking her hips in a quick dance, she called up another of her lesser used forms, the Frilled Lizard. As the only ability this form had as an advantage was high speed dashes across water, she rarely had need of it as her other forms for aquatic maneuvering were far more versatile, as were her other means of moving fast in most cases. Crossing the ocean to get back to Scuttle Town, on the other hand, was tailor made for this form. As the light refracted by the spray glittered off her green scales, she stretched her much longer legs before taking off at her fastest sprint, easily outpacing even Gojira's swimming speed. Unfortunately, she didn't notice him lowering his head under the waves to increase his own speed to try and keep up.

As soon as she got to shore, she reversed her transformation before rushing into town, seeking the center of the catastrophe...only to nearly fall on her face when she saw what she had to deal with here. "Squid Baron? Really?" she demanded incredulously. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Oh, Shantae!" Squid Baron chimed in his high pitched, grating, innocently enthusiastic voice that always made it seem like he was a seriously overpowered toddler rather than a genuine menace, which always made him hard to deal with emotionally. "I've been looking all over for you! I asked the guards, but they said you weren't here, and that can't be, because you're always here after you finish dealing with Risky, and I knew that was the case since I saw the explosion out at sea. I knew you'd be here at least a day or two to recuperate unless someone else attacked, so I had to get here and see you before someone else attacked, but they lied to me! That got me so upset, I just had to let them know! Then I thought, wait! The Mayor is a real pain in Shantae's cutie bootie-"

"My what?" Shantae demanded angrily.

"That's what Rotty, Sky, Bolo, Risky, Ammo Baron, and Techno Baron all say when they talk about Mayor Scuttlebutt where I can hear!" Squid Baron offered defensively. "Why is that making you angry?"

"Uh...Shantae? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"You seriously said the Mayor was a pain in my 'cutie bootie'?"

"Only when Squid Baron's around to listen. You really think I'm gonna say a curse word around him? Even one as tame as-"

"You could have just said rear! Or butt, even! Heck, with how often I have one from transforming, you could have said tail!"

"...huh, you've got a good point there. Shoulda thought of that."

"Ugh..."

"But it's not like your bootie isn't cute!"

"Rot~ty!"

"What? It's a compliment!"

"...I never should have gotten out of bed this morning..."

"It's not that bad, Shantae..."

"Apparently everyone I know calls it my 'cutie bootie' around Squid Baron! Even Risky Boots!"

"Your Uncle Mimic doesn't!"

"He used to when I was younger as a term of endearment."

"...Bolo doesn't?"

"Considering where his eyes usually are when I talk to him, that isn't as much of a relief as you might think..."

"...right...maybe you should get back to what Squid Baron was saying?"

"...I suppose..."

"Anyway," Squid Baron continued, "I thought, what if other people are being pains in Shantae's Cutie Bootie, and that's why they told me you weren't here! It wasn't just about showing the guards I was upset about being lied to! I had to save Shantae's cutie bootie before it was plundered!"

"...I...I am so sorry..."

"Kinda hard to believe that when you're laughing so hard..."

"So that's why I'm here!" Squid Baron concluded. "I'm here to rescue you!"

Shantae did her best to control her mortification and resignation. This day cannot possibly get any worse, she thought - or perhaps prayed - silently.

"But now that you're here, I can get back to why I was looking for you!" Squid Baron continued with a wide grin. "I had this great new game idea I wanted to tell you about!"

I was wrong, Shantae groaned silently.

"You'd be playing as a squid - like me - but it would be a cooperative game, because you would be in it too!"

So very, very wrong...

"I would have told you about this game idea earlier, but Risky Boots, Ammo Baron, and Techno Baron all told me you absolutely could not be in a game like this until you were of age, and I heard you are now, so..."

SO VERY, VERY, VERY WRONG!

"So anyway, the game would start with the player - that's me - cornering the genie girl - that's you - and-" Squid Baron paused. "Did you hear a really loud crashing sound just now? Or feel a tremor? Say, why is everyone screaming so much all of a sudden?"

Feeling herself go pale, Shantae glanced up...and over the top of Squid Baron's squishy dome she saw something that was far more important than whatever inappropriate insanity Squid Baron was spouting now. Straightening up, she pointed forward and declared, "No! None of that!"

"Eh?" Squid Baron asked, confused. "But I haven't even told you the best-"

"Back in the water with you right now!" Shantae continued firmly. "Right this minute, mister!"

Squid Baron puffed up in irritation. "You aren't my mom!" he declared angrily. "That'd really make the game idea weird-"

"Not now, Squiddy, the big people are talking," Shantae chided dismissively before marching right past him.

"...eh?" Squid Baron asked as he turned to see what was going on...only to look up...and up...and up...

"You see this?" Shantae demanded, pointing at the ground under Gojira's lead foot as he lowered his head sheepishly. "You stepped on a building! Do you have any idea how many gems it costs to replace one of those? And I agreed to bring you here to keep you out of trouble, which means the damage you do could technically be made my responsibility! It'll take forever to gather enough to pay for something like this! I don't wanna get fired as Genie Guardian again!" As Gojira moved his foot, she groaned and buried her face in her hands. "And on top of that, it's the Mayor's house! He's enough of a headache to deal with when there isn't something he's upset about!"

Gojira ducked his head and let out what would have been a pathetic whine had it been a couple hundred decibels lower.

"Don't give me that look!" she chided. "Back in the water with you right now! I've been handling things here for years! I'll let you know if I need help and until then, you need to stay off shore so you don't break something, someone, or a lot of both, got it!"

Gojira sheepishly backed into the water, lowering himself until just his head was above water, looking up - well, down, given relative heights - at Shantae with eyes that were as big and soulful as he could make them.

Shantae growled under her breath before turning...only to see the entire town staring at her in something between awe and fear, and no sign of Squid Baron. "Nope!" she declared finally, unbuckling one of her bracers. "That's it, this day is done! I'm going to bed!" She completely ignored the fact that the sun was at zenith, she was done with the day.

Unfortunately, despite how frustrated, resigned, and done she was with the day, trying to sleep from noon was a lot less restful than trying to sleep until noon, leaving her groggy, restless, and overall miserable when she woke up the following morning. Without bothering to clean herself up, don her shoes, or grab her battle gear, she walked out to stare at the waves and hope that their calming noise would be soothing and she could have a day at least to adjust to it all...

"A vain hope, as it turned out," Shantae grumbled to Rotty as she put her face in her hands. Gojira let out what was plainly meant to be a comforting croon despite the force of the volume. "That was when Mayor Scuttlebutt showed up and...well, you saw that confrontation, so you're all caught up now, right?"

"Guess I am," Rotty allowed as she glanced back at Scuttle Town. "I was wondering how all that happened. Guess you've had a rough couple of days."

Shantae groaned and rubbed at her temples. "You have some idea..." she allowed ruefully.

Rotty nodded, and let Shantae sit in companionable silence for a time. Once it looked like the half-genie was starting to calm down, she decided to ask a few questions. "So...can you still take that giant form like the big guy?" she asked, gesturing to Gojira.

"I still know the transformation dance," Shantae allowed softly. "And I've still got enough magic to sustain it...but it is excruciating reigning my magic back in after that transformation, so I'm in no rush to do it again. Taking the Frilled Lizard form was actually a bit painful with how much my magic was trying to burst from my body. I'm not gonna be transforming for a couple days at least, and even then I'm not going to be in any hurry to take that form again."

"Not even if it were Risky attacking Scuttle Town instead of Squiddy?"

Shantae looked at Rotty in shock. "Rotty! I may not like Risky all that much and wish she'd stop causing so much trouble, but I'd never want her dead!"

"I meant just for intimidation!" Rotty insisted defensively.

"Not a chance, I don't want to give her ideas."

"Oh." Silence hung between them for a time. "So if that's not how the fuck, what is?"

"ROT~TY!"