It was a quiet afternoon for Melissa. Rarely did she have a moment to sit down and enjoy herself without any prior engagements like training or whatever crazy invention Pandora wanted her to test. She sat outside the mess hall, enjoying a round of drinks with Marie, Marianne, Lillia, and Adenine, as well as a rousing bit of drama within Fort Lucus.

"Fabrice and Enora are dating?" Melissa gasped, clutching around her mug.

Marie nodded. "Oh yeah. Caught them making out during Enora's shift the other night. Oh, they thought they were being sneaky, but nothing gets pass ol' Marie."

Marianne raised her brow. "Why were you out in the middle of the night, anyway?"

"A curious mind like mine always picks up when there's loving afoot." Marie covered her smirk. "Though, I don't think they appreciated my offer to join them. I could've really spiced up the night if they wanted."

Adenine deadpanned. "Ya have such a dirty mind."

Marie giggled. "Guilty as charged."

Marianne gulped down her drink, then sighed. "I'm not surprised those two got together. Enora always talks about him whenever we share a shift. Girl definitely had the hots for him." She waved her paw around unsurely. "Can't say I see it. No offense to Fabrice, swell guy and all, but I don't normally find myself fawning over Marshtomp."

Lillia giggled. "It sounds like they got along, though."

"Oh, definitely. They became friends pretty fast when they first arrived. They have some of the best teamwork rivaling the Thievery Twins."

Melissa tapped her chin. "Oh yeah, they did work pretty well together during the invasion." She giggled and raised her mug. "Well, all and all, good for them." She sipped her drink.

Marianne sighed dreamily. "Reminds me of when Lucient and I got together. He's so sweet, caring, and so darn cute, even when he dazes off into one of his inner monologues." She chuckled lightly. "Yeah, that's…worrying to come home to, sometimes."

Adenine folded her arms and lay her head in them. "Y'all are lucky havin' fellers that are sweet on ya."

Marie grinned. "I'm sure any guy would be lucky to have you, Adenine."

The Kecleon chuckled dryly. "Not many go for the country bumpkin from some nowhere town in the Wick Kingdom."

"Well, I certainly think you're a catch~."

"Not goin' to happen, girlie."

"Aww…"

Lillia nudged Melissa. "What about you, Mels? Any guys catch your fancy?" Melissa spat into her mug in shock.

Marie lifted her head and flashed a devilish smirk. "Interest rising~."

Melissa raised her hands and laughed nervously. "Oh no, not at all. No one here I am particularly interested in."

"You sure? Jet's quite the catch."

Melissa laughed with a bit more irritation. "Though I value my newfound friendship with Jet, he is…way too intense for me."

"Hmm. Oh yeah, you're more into suave, sophisticated types." Marie hid her grin behind her mug. "Weren't you engaged to Prince Erasmus of the Senbo Kingdom?"

"He is not my type either. I do find him charming, but he values himself a bit too much." Melissa sighed and slumped forward onto the table. "Although, if there is one prince I desire more than anything, it would be Prince Darby." She smiled lovingly at the sky. "He is…amazing~."

Marie snickered. "You're crushing hard. And here I thought you'd be developing something for Jason."

"Yeah…" Melissa blinked and lifted her head sharply. "Wait, what?"

Marie waved her hand around. "Well, you have been using most of your free time to train with him. That's an honor not just anyone gets, you know. I figured you two had time to chat and stuff. Maybe get some other action on~."

"Marie!" Melissa exclaimed, covering her reddened cheeks. "He's—I mean, he is just training me! Do not be weird!"

Marie shrugged it off. "Just prying." She gulped down her drink and sighed in content. "I wouldn't blame you either way. Jason's gotten plenty of attention from the girls around here. Something about his serious, tough guy demeanor and distant attitude really draws a girl in."

Melissa tapped her fingers together gently. "He is not always like that. He is actually really sweet when he drops the tough guy act."

Marie smirked. He's actually letting his guard down around her. Melissa really does know how to get into someone's good graces.

Lillia looked up in thought. "You know, I never really had my eye on anyone. Growing up in a church kind of dissuades you from doing anything risqué before marriage."

"I can change that~," Marie offered.

Lillia laughed it off. "No thanks!"

"Your loss."

"MAIL!" The girls jumped in surprise as Petra came speeding to their table, crashing into a bowl of sweet buns they had along with their drinks. The Ribombee lay sprawled out over the table before sitting up and shaking her head. "I'm okay!" She pulled her large mail carrier off and plopped it down. "I bring mail!"

Marianne smiled. "Oh? Letters from home?"

"You betcha!" Petra picked up a sweet bun without even thinking and shoved it into her mouth, easily swallowing the whole thing. She opened the carrier and dove inside. "Let's see! Here's a letter for Marianne!" She handed it to the Luxray before diving back in.

Marianne held up and smiled. "Aww, it's from Mom and Dad."

"Adenine, for you!" She handed the Kecleon a handful. "By the way, your mom makes a delicious pie! I actually didn't eat the whole thing in one bite! I wanted to savor the taste! Me! Savor the taste of something! Crazy, right?"

Adenine giggled. "No one can say no to Ma's pies. Thank ya, Petra." She took the letters and shuffled through them.

Petra dove back into her carrier. "Let's see, what else…ooh, letter for Marie!"

Marie stopped drinking and raised her brow. "I have mail?"

"I know, crazy, right? I didn't expect it either, but I found something addressed to you." She poked her head out. "Well, I think it's addressed to you. It has some weird chicken scratch on it. The post office just told me to give it to 'that Mawile'." She handed Marie the envelope.

Marie took it and read the front. Her eyes dipped into a glare. "…Yep, it's for me."

"Great!" Petra shuffled through the letters. "Oh wait, I think I have one more for Adenine." She dove back down.

Melissa leaned over to Marie to read the letter. While Petra's definition of chicken scratch was a bit off, the envelope was written with different characters. She believed it was the dominate language of the Great Gate Empire.

"I did not know you were from the Great Gate Empire, Marie."

"Uh huh." Marie pinched the top of the envelope with both hands…then ripped it in half!

Melissa gasped. "Huh?!" She watched in horror as Marie meticulously ripped the envelope and letter to shreds. "What…What are you doing?"

Marie looked at her and smiled. "It was just junk. Nothing to concern yourself with."

"But…you sounded surprised that you got a letter. Why would you rip it up like that?"

Marie gently patted Melissa's cheek. "Oh sweet, sweet Melissa…there was nothing in that letter worth my attention."

"B-But…you did not read it."

"I didn't have to." She dropped the paper scraps onto the table, then resumed her drinking.

Melissa frowned worriedly. "Are you okay, Marie? Who was the letter from?"

Marie pulled her mug away and sighed. "Melissa, it's nothing. It was just junk mail. Nothing to worry your head over." She narrowed her eyes, then mumbled to herself, "How the heck did they find out my name?"

"Huh?"

"Nothing~."

Melissa narrowed her eyes. "If…If you say so." She awkwardly went back to her drink, but stopped as something caught her attention from the corner of her eye. Many Foresters were gathering around the fort's message board with quite the commotion. "Hmm? Hey Petra, what is going on over there?"

Petra turned after handing Adenine a pink envelope. "Hmm? Oh, that! Yeah, you should really check that out. It's an announcement for the Woodland Rangers."

"Really?" Lillia asked.

Petra nodded excitedly. "Oh yeah! It's kind of like Career Day at schools, but…better!"

Adenine chuckled. "She's not wrong. Y'all may have gotten through yer trainin', but ya can't laze around the fort all day. It's kind of like yer apprenticeship with Shade, bein' his alchemist-in-trainin' and such. Heck, if ya become our head doctor, ya'd be trainin' the new doctors."

Melissa rubbed her chin. "I see. But I thought those were given to you when you start out."

"Well, ya had a special interest in medicine already, so that's why ya got to work with Shade. With this, however, ya get to work with the leadin' experts that keep this fort afloat. It's somethin' for the all the rookies." Adenine smiled. "For me, it means extra hands to make the uniforms."

"That's not the most important part of the advanced field assignments, though," Marianne added on. "It's your chance to take up a position in one of the higher ranks if you so choose. A Weald Ranger or a Greenwood Leader."

Marie smirked. "Weald Rangers are the defenders of Fort Lucus while the Greenwood Leaders operate the inner workings and rules for the leaders. You learn everything that's to be known from both jobs. Weald Rangers teach you the proper scouting routes and the secret to our perfect camouflage—"

"I still do not know how you do that," Melissa pointed out.

"—and Greenwoods teach you the procedure for running the fort and how to lead a team."

"Lead a team…"

Marie nodded. "Oh yeah. It's the prime opportunity for you green-footed Woodlands to spread your wings and find your place among us. Of course, you will have to take a test before you're officially certified into either position. This is just a trial run."

"Have you ever done one, Marie?"

Marie leaned back on the table. "I'm still a Woodland Ranger. Actually, you could say I'm retired on account of this here busted leg of mine."

Melissa frowned. "So, you do not do anything?"

"Eh, I do odd jobs here or there, but I don't have an official place among the Foresters."

"How come?"

"Wouldn't you like to know~?"

Melissa pouted. "You're as bad as Basil."

"Did someone call my name?" Melissa screamed and jumped out of her seat, landing in Marie's arms. Basil sat beside Melissa's previous spot, munching on a berry. "Hello~."

"S-Stop doing that!" Melissa yelled, shivering in Marie's arms. She then froze upon noticing something. "…Marie! Get your hand off my rear!"

Marie sighed in amusement. "Fine." She dropped Melissa face first.

"Thank you," she groaned. Melissa pulled herself up and groaned. "Basil…what do you want?"

Basil chuckled. "Just making sure you and Lillia get signed up before the best spots are taken."

Lillia grinned. "Why? Want us in your group?"

Basil sighed dramatically. "Alas, after that unauthorized mission I took you guys on, I have been banished from hosting a field trip!"

"Shocker," Melissa deadpanned.

Basil chuckled. "I am serious, though, prietene. Take this opportunity to better yourself. You said you wanted to become a strong leader, right? I suggest signing up right now. As thrilling as being Shade's assistant is, you can do so much more learning from your superiors. Don't waste this chance," he said, booping the Buneary on the nose.

Melissa looked back at the message board as more Woodlands crowded around it. She narrowed her eyes and nodded firmly. "Right! Come on, Lillia! Let us carve our roads to destiny!"

"There's the fire, girl!" Lillia cheered, springing from her seat and following her friend.

Adenine smiled. "Heh, Ah remember when Ah was that enthusiastic. Though, wait until they start regrettin' it."

Marianne chuckled. "Oh, I look forward to it myself."

Basil tossed the last of his berry into his mouth. "Training for them, entertainment for me. Win-win in my book."

Melissa and Lillia squeezed through the Woodlands to get up to the message board. A few spots cleared up once people started signing up. Upon reaching the front, they were met by the rest of their rookie group.

"Hey guys!" Wyatt exclaimed, pulling the girls closer to the board. "Check it out! We get to train with our seniors! Isn't that awesome?"

Avel scanned the board quietly before adding, "It seems to have an impressive roster of Foresters to work with. A chance to broaden our skills."

Lucient tapped on the board. "This should be very educational, though I'm not sure what to sign up for, or with who."

Melissa chuckled. "Yeah, you got that right." She looked over the list of groups to join, then frowned. "Wait, Pandora's hosting a group?"

Lillia traced her finger along the group name. "Pandora's Evil Minion Course…and/or Inventor Course (whichever doesn't get me in trouble with Jason)." She giggled. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"So, Pandora's hosting a course to train new inventors," Lucient noted with interest.

"You want to be an inventor?" Lillia asked.

Lucient shrugged. "Well, no, but…I am curious about it. Could be a useful skill to learn."

Ragger groaned, leaning against the message board while clutching a bottle of brandy. "Please! All of this is just standing guard or boring…rule ordering…stuff. I want something with adventure and excitement, not this!"

Leon rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, because everyone here is a thrill seeker like you."

Ragger bent down and patted Leon's head roughly. "You know me so well, my friend." He gulped down a large sip of brandy.

Kenny tugged Melissa's skirt, then signed, "Which one are you interested in, Melissa?"

Melissa scratched her chin. "Well, I do not think I would make a good Weald Ranger. Plus, it sounds kind of boring. But…Greenwood Leader might be the thing I am looking for. It is not too different from leading a kingdom, right?"

"Eh…maybe?" Lillia guessed.

"Sure?" Kenny signed unsurely.

Leon glared. "If all Weald Rangers have to do is stand guard, sounds like the perfect job for me." He tried to jump for the quill provided on the board, but was too short to reach it. Ragger grabbed the Aron's head and lifted him up to the quill, much to his annoyance. "…I'm not thanking you."

Ragger smirked. "Your words and face say no, but your compliance says thanks." Leon rolled his eyes, grabbed the quill, and scribbled his name in.

Wyatt tapped his foot anxiously, his eyes flying all over the board. "Oh man, so many choices! They all look so cool, too!" He pressed his hands against the board. "Tank's offering a course on blacksmithing, but Pandora's course looks so cool, too! Oh, but leading my own team would be pretty neat! AH, but being a guard sounds super important…!"

Lillia glanced at the deadpan Shellder on Wyatt's head. "Err, do you have any input?"

Avel shook his head. "Whatever Wyatt decides is fine with me."

"GAH!" Wyatt stepped away and clutched his head. "I can't choose! How can I make such an important decision here and now?!" He punched his palm and huffed. "Avel, clear your schedule! We've got a decision to make! We'll need charts! Lots of charts!"

Avel rolled his eyes. "Alright—"

"Excellent!" Wyatt dashed off, accidentally knocking some Woodlands over. "I am SO sorry!" he yelled back before turning a corner.

The rookie group looked at each other, shrugged it off, and turned back to the board. Lillia picked up the quill and wrote her name in. "Being a Greenwood Leader doesn't sound so bad. I'm signing up for the group that deals with the fort's internal affairs first. Sounds more my speed." She handed the quill to Melissa.

Melissa tapped the quill on her chin, then smiled upon finding an interesting group. "Ooh, Fabrice is hosting a Greenwood group to focus on leading a team. That sounds perfect for me." She wrote her name in.

"You? Leading a group?" Ragger questioned, barely hiding his smirk.

Melissa stuck her tongue out at him. "Laugh all you want, but this will be good for me. You will see—" Upon finishing, the quill was plucked from her hand and wrote on the line below her name. "Hmm?" She turned and faced the sickly Morgrem standing behind her. "Oh, Klaus."

Klaus sniffled and wiped his nose. "Hey."

Melissa gingerly took a couple steps away from him. "You are also…signing up for Fabrice's course?"

Klaus nodded. "Yeah. I was hoping Percival would be hosting something, but his group was already filled out."

Melissa looked at the board again and skimmed the groups at maximum capacity. Any group hosted by a higher up or Nature Spirit had been completely filled. "Oh my, should have seen that coming."

Klaus sniffled. "I really look up to Percival, so…I'm hoping becoming a Greenwood would give me a leg up."

"I see." She chuckled awkwardly. "Well, it seems we will be teammates for the time being."

"Sounds cool." He held his hand out to her. Melissa recoiled in disgust, pulled her handkerchief out, and used it to shake his hand. He wasn't bothered or offended by the action, thankfully.

"Move aside!" Melissa felt two bodies snake past her. She turned and gasped as Gold and Jewel wrote their names into the same group. They set the quill down and grinned at Melissa. "Hello, Princess~!" they greeted slyly.

Melissa stepped back and instinctually clutched her hidden locket. "You two?! You want to be Greenwoods!"

They nodded. "That's right. My sister and I—" Gold started.

"—are very interested in this particular position," Jewel continued.

"With our cleverness—"

"—and lust for the shiny things—"

"—we would be allowed to go wherever we want unsupervised!" they ended excitedly.

Melissa frowned. "Yep, that explains it."

Klaus raised his brow. "You know that kind of behavior got Basil in trouble, right?"

The twins waved it off. "Details, details."

Ragger glared, backing away as he hugged his brandy. "I got my eye on you brats."

The twins smiled innocently at him. "Are you still mad we stole your alcohol?" they asked cutely.

"Yes. And stop talking at the same time! It's creeping me—" Ragger stopped and spotted Valentine and Sid over his shoulder as they passed by.

They appeared to be deep in conversation, mostly for their ears only, but Ragger heard something that caught his attention. Some mention of prison and investigating the outlands. He narrowed his eyes with a rare, genuine curiosity.

Melissa noticed and tapped his cheek. "Ragger? You okay?"

"Hmm?" Ragger shook himself awake. "Eh, yeah, fine, whatever. Uh, you all continue with…whatever this was again. I've got to take a leak." He shuffled off after the two Nature Spirits.

Melissa looked at her friends confused. "What was that about?"

Lucient shrugged. "Who knows? Ragger's always been an odd nut to crack. Kind of just showed up one day and demanded to be a Forester. We couldn't exactly get rid of him, but the Foresters had no reason to refuse his request either."

"Hmm." Melissa shrugged. "Well, it is none of my business, I guess."

Lucient picked up the quill and wrote his name under Pandora's course. "I want to check this one out. I'm hoping Pandora can help me with something I want to work on."

Melissa giggled. "Be careful with her. She may look cute, but she claims to have a black heart."

"I'll take my chances."

"So, the plan is to get information from the authorities about where Althalos and his cronies were shipped off to?" Sid asked.

Valentine nodded. "They have to have records of some kind of transfer. He could have been taken to a special prison in the Algus Kingdom. Heard the toughest one they have forces you to endure the cold, upper winds. Not fun."

"What if they were an Ice-Type or, you know, okay with the cold?"

"Don't know, never heard anything about imprisoned Ice-Types."

Sid laughed awkwardly. "Comforting." She stroked her chin. "Okay, but how are we going to get Althalos to talk this time? Or any of his goons for that matter? We may have got one of them to spill the hideout's location, but we were still unsuccessful on obtaining info on the Wraith."

"Well, if we tell them we know it's a poison, we could trick them into coughing up the rest of the information. I'm sure if we stick our heads together, we could find a decent solution."

Sid shrugged. "Eh, fine with me." She scratched her chin. "We'll need plenty of supplies. We don't know how long this trip will last. Could take us weeks just to find them."

"I have faith in my tracking skills. All you need to worry about is dealing with the guards."

Sid nodded. "Alright, so if that's the plan, we need to set up a budget for the road. Let's assume—"

"Hey-O! What's good?" The duo stumbled forward as Ragger hooked his arms around their necks, wearing a cheeky grin. "You two sound like you've got some exciting plans going on!"

Sid narrowed her eyes. "Yes. Exciting…" She peeled his arm off. "…and private."

"Well, you shouldn't have been announcing it out in the open."

"We didn't expect anyone to actually eavesdrop on us."

Valentine grinned. "You must have good hearing, Ragnarok."

"Please, let's not be formal. Ragger's just fine." Ragger pulled away from them and matched their pace, walking backwards. "When you lived the adventurous life I had, you have to prepare for an ambush at any given moment."

"Impressive," Valentine praised. "So, did you come over here to satiate your curious appetite or…?"

"Better question," Sid politely interrupted. "Shouldn't you be signing up for a field assignment?"

Ragger waved it off. "Bah! None of that crap really caught my attention. Why should I waste my time leading a team or guarding shit? I prefer to act in the moment, not overcomplicate stuff. You could say I'd be perfectly happy staying at the lower ranks."

Sid raised her brow. "Alright, but what do you want?"

"Well, in my unfortunate eavesdropping addiction, I couldn't help but be drawn into your plans. You mentioned something about heading through the outlands?"

Sid stopped, causing the other two to halt as well. The Drilbur crossed her arms and raised a suspicious brow at Ragger. "Yes…I suppose we did mention that at some point. Familiar with them?"

"A term for uncontrolled land even in kingdom territory? Yeah, I'm pretty familiar. You could say I was raised in them."

Valentine chuckled. "That doesn't surprise me. I expected a rough and tough fellow like you to come from such a harsh part of Virdis. But why this sudden interest in our assignment? This is, after all, strictly Nature Spirit work."

"Maybe I have a special interest in joining the Nature Spirits," Ragger suggested slyly.

Sid tilted her head. "Okay, even you know that's not how that works. You don't sign up to be a Nature Spirit."

Ragger scratched his chin. "You don't? Oh gee, must've slipped my mind."

Sid glared. "Uh huh. Ragger, is there a particular reason you're asking?"

"Well, if the Nature Spirit thing is off the table, would you be interested in inviting me along?" Ragger asked.

Valentine shook his head. "As Sidney mentioned, this is a private mission for Nature Spirits only. Could be too dangerous for you."

Ragger gasped and recoiled. "I am offended! You think I'm not tough? I could prove it right here and now!" He raised his fists at them.

Valentine calmly pushed Ragger's fists down. "As amused by the thought as I am, we're under orders. Sorry. But hey, I'm sure you'll find something useful to sign up for." Valentine patted Ragger's shoulder, then he and Sid walked past him.

Ragger looked over his shoulder as they started walking away, then groaned. "I need to go to the outlands," he finally admitted.

The two stopped and turned back. "Meaning…?" Sid asked.

Ragger groaned louder and faced them. "Okay, look, I just need to…do something that I haven't done since I got here. It's really the whole reason I came here in the first place. I was hoping the Foresters would help me…look for something, maybe get me into places I haven't been able to check."

Sid crossed her arms. "You're looking for something?"

"Yeah. Something…" Ragger mumbled. "I've checked pretty much everywhere I could legally and…mostly illegally get into. There's a lot of ground I've yet to check, but I've mostly covered the outlands…save for the prisons. I told Jason about all this and he said he'll help once I've gotten more experience. Frankly, I'm too impatient for that shit, so I see this as a prime opportunity."

"So, just to be clear," Sid started, "you want to come with us, even if it means risking your life, to look for something you've been searching for your whole life?"

"Well, not my whole life, but…yeah, pretty much."

Sid frowned. "Ragger, I'm sorry, but we aren't obligated to bring you along with us. Plus, we can't waste our time helping you search for something when we have our own tasks to fulfil—"

"If it's anywhere along the way, it's fine!" Ragger interrupted. "If you're going to break into a prison eventually, I want to be there just to get some information of my own. Anything!"

"We can't help you if you don't tell us what you're looking for."

Ragger huffed. "I don't want to get my hopes up over nothing. It's better I keep it to myself until I have a hint of confirmation." He groaned and shook his head. "Look, I don't normally do this, but…please take me with you. I'll do anything, even if it means not bringing my alcohol along!"

Their eyes widened. "You're serious?" Valentine gasped.

"…" Ragger paused for a moment and thought it over. "Err…I'm exaggerating a lot there, but the point stands. I just…need to do this."

Sid sighed. "Rags, I don't think—"

"Actually," Valentine interrupted, "I say we bring him along."

Sid's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

"Really?!" Ragger exclaimed excitedly.

Valentine smiled. "We could consider this a personal advanced field assignment for one special Woodland."

"You do realize he could get killed, right?"

"Eh, same thing with the invasion. Besides, it's not like we have to hide what we're doing. Ragger knows about Wraith and the Dukes, too, even helped take some of them down. As long as he doesn't do anything brash, I say we let him tag along and sort out whatever issues he needs to."

Sid frowned. "This seems really dangerous. We might get in trouble."

Valentine raised his hands. "I'll take full responsibility for it and say you had no involvement in it." He pointed at Ragger. "Of course, you need to be on your best behavior. This isn't a mission to beat people up. You understand that, right?"

"Can I still bring my alcohol?" Ragger asked.

"…Absolutely."

"Then I'll be the stealthiest drunk you've ever seen!"

Sid facepalmed. "I'm going to have Rusty keep an extra special eye on you." She sighed, then smiled. "If it's that important to you, Ragger, I suppose I'm in agreement, too."

Ragger grinned. "Thanks a million! You have no idea how happy this makes me!"

"I'll bet," Valentine chuckled. He and Sid turned away, giving the Hakamo-o a short wave. "We'll tell you when we plan to leave. Be sure to be ready by then."

"You got it! I'll have plenty of liquor with me, too! May even bring my own brewing equipment!"

"Looking forward to it!" The Nature Spirits walked off.

Ragger crossed his arms and chuckled to himself. "Well, that went better than I expected." He pulled out his brandy bottle and went for a sip. He stopped short of touching his lips, then frowned. He pulled the bottle away and glared at his reflection in the side.

Prisons of the outlands…filled with the vilest scum out there. Murderers, marauders, bartenders who sell shitty alcohol…slave traders…

He bared his teeth as he clenched his bottle tightly.

Give me some sort of sign that I'm on the right track this time. Something. Anything.

CRACK!

His eyes widened as cracks formed in his bottle, leaking the brandy. "AH! Save the liquor!" He held the bottle over his face and dripped the leaky liquor into his mouth.

"Mwuahahahahahaha!" Pandora cackled over her workstation. "Advanced Field Assignments! The perfect chance to raise my evil army by teaching budding evildoers the art of villainy! This'll be the chance of a life time!" She threw her head back, laughing harder. "Mwuahahahah—AH!" In her excitement, she leaned too far back in her chair and fell over. "Ow…"

The Growlithe picked herself up and shook her head. "Right, no more evil laughing in chairs." She propped her chair back up and sat down. "But this won't ruin my mood! I'm looking forward to teaching these do-gooders the true path to glory! Mwuahahahaha—AH, tipping again!" She balanced herself out until the chair settled. She sighed in relief. "Right. What was I doing again?"

She looked over her workstation and found the schematic laying in front of her. A rough sketch of a sword, but far different than any of the ones made by Tank. This one appeared more mechanical in nature, as well as the mechanical scabbard drawn alongside it.

Pandora grabbed a piece of graphite and jotted her notes down. "Melissa wants the perfect weapon to complement her copy style. Something like that would be impossible to the common mon, but I am NO mere commoner! I am 'Overlord' Pandora, the greatest mind ever born! Surely, I can create something worthy of my bestie!"

"Whatever you say, Ms. Cackle-ate. And don't call me Shirley."

Pandora's eyes widened. She looked around the hut, but found no one in sight. "Who enters my secret laboratory that is also the bedroom I share with my roommates?!" Pandora turned her gaze down, then raised her brow at the rug under her chair. "Wait, has that always been there?"

The rug bristled, then flowed out from under the chair into a purple goo. It shaped into a body, transforming into a smug Indeedee with a red cloak. "You know, I assumed you were putting on an act, but it seems you act like this even in private."

Pandora pouted. "Ah. JoJo."

"Hello~!"

"When did you get here? I thought you were away on business for Jason."

"I was. Came here to give my report as per usual."

"Don't you normally send letters?"

JoJo rolled her eyes. "I got bored. Turns out when you have friends that actually respect you, you end up missing them." She stretched her arms. "So, I decided to pay you guys a visit."

Pandora snorted. "Swell. And what business do you have in my secret lab?"

"Honey, you're hunched over in the dark of your own bedroom. Let's not get crazy." JoJo leaned over the workstation and admired Pandora's schematics. "As for why I'm here, I paid your blacksmith of a visit and he mentioned something about you inventing some super-secret project. Naturally, I can't keep my ears to myself."

Pandora smirked. "If you must know, this is a request submitted to me by Melissa."

"Hmm, is that right?"

"I am making her a weapon worthy of her talents. After all, the perfect weapon for my evil knight."

"Of course, of course," JoJo agreed half-seriously. "Well, I must say, this looks impressive. Looks like something you'd find in the Senbo Kingdom."

Pandora scoffed. "They'd be licking my paws just to earn a shred of my intellect. I can outpace any one of those so-called inventors of theirs and create weaponry beyond their comprehension! I cannot be matched!"

JoJo smirked. "Oh? What's holding you back, then?"

Pandora slammed her head on the table. "Resources…"

"Point for Senbo."

"Hush!"

JoJo took the schematics and sat on Pandora's station. "Man, you're packing everything you can into this."

"Best I can, anyway. Getting the resources won't be that big a deal, but there's a key element I'm missing."

"That is…?"

"Alchemy."

"Don't you have an alchemist?"

Pandora shook her head. "It's more than that. I need to unearth the secrets to a special alchemical technique that only a select few know. I've only heard rumors of it, but it's supposed to give great power to those who know it." Pandora groaned. "On top of that, I need a pretty big source of something to complete it."

JoJo read the schematics closely, then frowned. "Ah. You need elementium."

"And a lot of it. It'd take me forever to scrounge up the little bits found in other metals. It'd take me a year just to find enough to form a marble."

JoJo squinted. "No kidding. I've heard commoners gain extensive notoriety just because their homes had a large vein of the stuff under them. Even the Subterra Kingdom doesn't always find any, and they live underground."

Pandora huffed. "I could just use regular metal…"

"Buuuuut…" JoJo continued curiously.

"But I want to make the best weapon possible for Melissa. Even if she will be my evil knight someday, she's also my friend. She deserves the very best from her future overlord."

"Wow, that's rather sweet of you. Strange, but sweet." JoJo slid off the table and rolled the schematics up. "I think I might have a way to help you out."

"You have elementium?!" Pandora guessed excitedly.

"Does painted glass count?" Pandora facepalmed and slammed her face back onto the table. JoJo rolled her eyes. "I think I know someone who knows the formula for that alchemy trick you're talking about."

Pandora's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

"She never actually showed me, but I guessed from context clues. She does a lot of shady deals on the outskirts of the Senbo Kingdom, though I can't blame her. Her financial situation is pretty bad. That poor chick can't manage her money at all, I swear."

"Take me to her!" Pandora pleaded, shaking the faux Indeedee so hard that she involuntarily changed into a Dartrix.

JoJo pushed her hands off. "Slow down, crazy. I can't take her to you."

"Why?!"

"Well, for one, aren't you hosting some weird class thing or something?" Pandora frowned hard. "And two, that acquaintance of mine isn't a fan of strangers. She has, uh…"

"A bounty for her swift and immediate death?"

"Crippling anxiety, actually."

"Oh, that's much worse."

JoJo waved her wing around. "Fainted at the sight of me. Then…fainted again because she didn't recognize me. And again. And again. And…again. Honestly, took about seventeen transformations before she caught on I was the same person. Brilliant alchemist, collapses like wet paper mache trying to articulate words to someone."

Pandora sighed. "If you can figure out a way to get me the secret formula, I would be eternally grateful. Ooh! How about being my evil royal assassin?!"

"Meh."

"Evil royal chef?"

"Meh."

"Evil merchant?"

"…" JoJo shrugged. "Eh, sure. Not too different to what I'm already doing."

Pandora rubbed her paws together excitedly. "This is so awesome!" Her eyes widened in realization. "Wait, didn't you also say you could get me elementium?"

"Ah, that. That one's a bit trickier. I do know one place that could have elementium, but getting through may be difficult even for me."

"Go on."

"I've heard rumors that there's this dungeon located in the Wick Kingdom, right in the outlands. It's remote and isolated from civilization for kilometers. From the rumors I heard, they may be forcing prisoners to dig a secret cavern that's said to have elementium lining the walls."

Pandora pressed her paws together pleadingly. "You have to get me that! As much as you can!"

JoJo rubbed her feathers together. "I don't know. Sounds like a lot of work."

"Ugh, you're so stingy!"

"Comes with the territory, honey."

Pandora rubbed her face and groaned. "How much do you want?"

"Well, since I'm nice and we are teammates, I'm willing to drop the price down to a hundred bits."

"A hundred bits?!"

"Need I remind you obtaining elementium legally could cost you thousands?"

"…What I meant to say was, oh boy, a hundred bits? What a steal!" Pandora cheered.

"That's better." JoJo spun around, transforming into a Togedemaru. "I'll make sure to get you that elementium, or any I can scrounge up. I can't promise a filled burlap sack, but something to work with."

"At least enough to make Melissa's weapon."

JoJo tapped her chin. "Right, so…a lot. I'll see what I can do. You have my word as a dishonest merchant."

Pandora smirked. "I'm suddenly seeing a wonderful friendship between us, JoJo."

"You and me both, sister." JoJo bowed to her. "Now, I'm going to mingle a bit and see if I can sell some promising wares. You have a wonderful day, oh mighty overlord of all evil!"

"Was that sarcasm?"

"Of course not, Your Majesty~!" JoJo sang, skipping out of the hut.

Pandora smirked. "Definitely sarcasm." She sighed. "Well, she can laugh all she wants so long as she gets my elementium. And that secret alchemical formula." Pandora pushed her schematics for Melissa's weapon off to the side. "I guess now I can focus on my next, truly diabolical invention: exploding sandwiches! MWUAHAHAHAHAHA!"