Disclaimer: PoM and ToS do not belong to me.
"A cursed weapon. Kills the weak with one glance."
When Marlene awoke the next morning, she was smiling, her mood good. She had just had a dream about what would happen should they find the rest of the Devil's Arms. Marlene had used their power to make her home a castle, complete with her friends by her side, helping her use the weapons to bring peace to the world. Private was the only one who hadn't looked happy; he had seemed on edge, glancing at the weapons as though they were pointed at him. But now that she was awake, she forgot that detail and aimed to make her dream a reality.
Joining the others in the Baboons' habitat, Marlene made herself comfortable next to Julian. There they waited, until the baboon entered, smiling kindly. "Greetings, those who accept," She turned to the tree, and posted a map of the city on it. "Now, I know that all the Devil's Arms are somewhere within this city. The closest one is the Evil Eye. It's sealed somewhere within the zoo. All you have to do, is look for it."
Marlene raised an eyebrow. "How can you know that?"
The baboon turned to her, "I have my sources. Magic isn't so easy, but once you know what you're doing, you can find almost anything."
"So how come we have to do the dirty work?" Skipper asked skeptically.
For a moment, her smile faded. "I said ALMOST anything. I can't penetrate the magic on the weapons. They're stronger than any protection on the Earth... even your bases defenses." The otter rolled her eyes, clearly not as shocked as the penguins. Their 'defenses' weren't so great; she got in there on her own almost every day.
"Anyway, you eight go look for it. I'll distract Darla; we can't have her finding out." Marlene and Skipper exchanged a glance, while Maurice asked why. The baboon sighed. "If she finds out, she'll stop the whole expedition. She doesn't know anything about the Devil's Arms, and therefore believes they're too dangerous to handle. But I've spent my whole life researching these things, and I know everything there is to know about them. So get going!" With that, she jumped up into the tree, leaving just as suddenly as she had came.
Now that the Baboon was gone, Skipper took control. Not surprising, Marlene decided. "Alright, we're going to split up! Teams of two; Marlene and Julian; Maurice and Mort; Rico and Kowalski; and myself and Private. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" The four teams took off. Marlene and Julian strayed towards the Lemur habitat.
"So," Marlene asked, just to break the silence, "What would you do with the power if we get it?" She could already hear his response, but hated the silence surrounding them.
As she predicted, Julian responded, "Why, use it to expand my kingdom, of course! It's what any good king would do." Wow, so close. Two words off this time. Did Marlene know her friends or what?
The two entered the habitat of the lemurs. It was made up of a dais in the center with a hut and plenty of room on the ground for a moonbounce and more. The king's throne sat at the top of the dais, along with a smoothie bar usually operated by Maurice. Julian sat on his throne, sighing in relief. "All that searching was making me tired. I think it's time for a break."
Marlene glared at him. "We haven't even started yet."
"AH! Must I do everything?" He snapped at her. Marlene sighed; why was she paired up with Julian, of all people? That was disaster waiting to happen.
So, the search began. Marlene climbed around the habitat, looking for anything out of the ordinary... besides the lazy lemur. Who, meanwhile, was lounging on a nearby chair, occasionally criticizing her work. Just when the otter thought she was on the brink of throwing him off the dais, she noticed something.
"Hey Julian?"
The lemur jumped down, standing next to her. "Yes?"
"Was this strange symbol thingy always here?" Standing back, one could see that engraved on the side of the dais was an odd symbol. A circle with twelve little circles surrounding it. They both cocked their heads to the side, trying to determine what it meant and/or was. Eventually, Marlene began to run her paw on the smooth surface of the inner stone. Once she determined it wasn't some kind of trap, she put her head to it and tapped, nodding when she heard the echo that meant it was hollow.
"I think we've found it," She told the delusional king, who grinned ear to ear in excitement. "Not sure how to open it, though. Think the smaller circles have something to do with it?" They stood back, examining the rune on the side of the dais.
Running solely on curiosity, Marlene felt one of the smaller circles, surprised to notice it bulged a little. As did the next one. And the next. And all of them, really. The otter tried to find if they moved in someway, but ultimately failed in that aspect. She growled.
"There has gotta be a way to open this!" She mused. Julian looked at it, clearly irritated by the puzzle at hand.
"Eh, we should get the smart penguin to do it. Or-or maybe the explody one! Ah yes, good times," He sighed in nostalgia, though for what reason Marlene couldn't say. Ignoring that, she shook her head.
"We can't give up! We're so close; I can feel it!"
Pressing down on the stone bulges didn't accomplish anything. Frustrated, Marlene started trying to pound them in with her fists. Which also didn't get anything done. Taking deep breaths, she reached to grab one to steady herself, and it turned within her grasp. She blinked.
"They're knobs?" She asked. Tired, she began turning this one, until she heard the faintest of clicks. The stone knob stayed in place. As Marlene repeated the process for the next stone. And the next one. And all of them, really.
Once done, a harsh grinding, like a mechanism in motion, started. The lemur and otter were pushed to the ground in what felt like a small earthquake. Getting to her feet, Marlene looked to the ruin, smiling when she found it wide open. Ignoring Julian's 'request' for her to help him up, she ran as fast as she could towards the hole. And peered inside.
The weapon was green, looking more like the fibers of a once living being than any metal Marlene had ever seen. The item was round, like a discus, and came in a pair like Nebilim. It wasn't perfectly round, though. Coming off of it were spikes, made of some sharp looking purple material that Marlene thought made it look like it had claws. That fit, actually. But these things weren't what was creepy about the weapon. In the center of it was a massive eye, with spikes surrounding and protecting it. The eyeball was red, and seemed to stare at your soul.
Marlene couldn't look at it too long. It made her feel scared.
Four penguins flipped into the habitat, while the other two lemurs just walked in. Skipper grinned at the two of them. "Great, you found the Evil Eye!"
"Well, I know where it gets it's name from." Marlene mumbled, showing the others the weapon. "Don't look directly into the eye," She warned. Mort stared straight into the eye of the weapon... and passed out.
Maurice examined him. "He's fine."
"Skippah, do you think these things are dangerous?" Private asked. Marlene noticed his expression, grave and scared...
It matched the one he had in her dream
The lead penguin grinned cockily at the youngest of the four. "Of course I do! If I didn't, we wouldn't be on this quest! Now let's go take this to the Baboon lady." The eight walked out, each talking about the Devil's Arms.
Marlene noticed the only one who didn't say anything was Private.
Okay, a few notes:
Each character gets a chapter centric to them. Marlene went first, because I have trouble writing about her. Sorry; we just don't connect. Skipper and Private get two chapters (Private's already had one)
Now for those of you who are ToS fans, feel free to leave ideas. Because I've only got two down for sure; this chapter and Private's.
The note at the beginning of the chapter is the weapon's description. Comes with the game; I did not make that up.
Now, excuse me while I go wake up my friend who's sleeping over.