On the way to the path, Maru noticed a large chest next to the shack. It was dark-colored wood with moss forming a sort of design on it. Maru stopped and opened it like when he opened the chest in Radiant Garden and received a map of the area. 'Good, it's sized for people like us,' he noted as he glanced at it. The area they were in was fittingly titled "Buried Bottle".
***OBTAINED Bayou Map***
Map of the bayou. The Keyblade icon indicates facing. Red lines indicate exits to other areas. Worldwide map part now viewable on the Touch Screen.
Maru, Figment, and Elliott had to face some more Heartless on the way there, going down the Moonlit Lane, as the map called it. It was simply a stretch of swampy ground surrounded by trees and grass. Maru decided to let Iso take a break and earn himself some experience.
-)-D-0-O-0-C-(-
A river ran by a small alcove, fog beginning to settle over the water. Visible through it were two lumbering shapes. They emerged in a moment—Brutus and Nero, the latter holding a teddy bear in his mouth by the arm, the former holding Penny upside-down in his by the panties. Penny scowled, but hung defeatedly. "Why'd you have to go and spoil everything like that?" she asked the croc, sounding more annoyed than scared. Brutus and Nero stopped a moment to look at each other and share a bemused chuckle. As they approached the river, she pointed, "Nero, you'd better not get my Teddy wet!"
As the crocs slipped into the water (Nero letting Teddy dip into the water), Bernard and Miss Bianca, far on the other side, gasped, running over. "Oh, dear, they've got her!" Miss Bianca despaired.
"Oh, that poor lil' young'n...She tried to run away again! C'mon, let's get to Evinrude, he's got the fastest vessel 'round these parts," Ellie Mae beckoned, going over to the alcove. The mice followed to find a large leaf in the water. Sitting on its upturned stem was a four-limbed green dragonfly in a blue sweater with what appeared to be some very thin black hair on its head and around its orange nose. "Evinrude, could ya take Bernard an' Miss Bianca here over to the riverboat?" Ellie Mae asked the dragonfly.
Evinrude looked up and nodded, buzzing. Ellie Mae ushered in Bernard and Miss Bianca. "Good luck, you two!" Ellie Mae bid, waving at them.
"Th-Thank you, Ellie Mae!" Bernard called back, waving after Evinrude began to push them out, using his wings to buzz them along like an outboard motor.
Ellie Mae watched them leave, holding her paws together. "Oh, Ah hope they'll be alright," she wished quietly.
"Ellie Mae!"
The muskrat turned around and raised her eyebrows as Maru, Figment, and Elliott arrived. "Oh! So y'all decided to help, after all, huh?" she asked, paws on hips. "Well, yer just a lil' too late—the only boat here just left with 'em."
"Boat?" Maru repeated, slowing to a stop by her and looking around. "You build boats to fit you all, too?"
Ellie Mae shook her head. "No, Evinrude the dragonfly pushes a big ol' leaf along, works just the same," she explained. "If y'all wanna help, you'd best find a leaf and some way to get goin'! I'm gonna go back an' make sure mah husband's on the alert. Good luck, y'all!" And with that, she trotted off again.
Maru looked around. The map called this area "Leaf Dock", and he noticed a few leaves lying around in the dreary greenery. "I'll find the biggest I can," he said, running over to the nearest one he saw. "You search, too!"
"Right!" nodded Figment as he and Elliott turned to look for leaves.
A moment later, they came back with large, teardrop-shaped leaves being carried awkwardly in their hands and paws. Maru looked around. "Alright, Elliott, yours is largest," he determined. "Let's see if we can use that."
Elliott raised his eyeridges at the leaf only a bit larger than he. "~But it's too small for me,~" he pointed. "~How will I come along?~"
"Ellie Mae said that a dragonfly pushes the leaf along," repeated Maru, tossing his leaf and grabbing Elliott's on his way to the water. "So we'll just have a dragon push ours along." He set it in the water, then beckoned to the other two. "And don't worry, I don't mean you, Figment," he added when he noticed the little dragon bite his lip.
"Wait, then you mean...?" Figment looked back at Elliott, who was frowning worriedly.
"Nope," Maru shook his head, and he let out Iso. Iso stood and looked around before turning to Maru like normal. Maru pointed to the stem of the leaf. "Iso, I need you to grab onto the stem there and fly us along while me and Figment ride in the leaf," he instructed clearly. "I also need you to pull Elliott, letting him hold onto your tail while he floats behind us." (Elliott started at this, going, "~What?~") Maru lowered his arm again. "Do you understand, Iso?"
Blank. Then, Iso slowly nodded. He turned and grabbed onto the stem of the leaf and waited. Maru and Figment hopped in, then Figment turned to Elliott. "C'mon, big guy! Time to go for a swim!" he called cheerily.
Elliott sighed. "~I'm comin',~" he replied in a resigned tone, reluctantly plodding over and picking up Iso's tail. Iso looked behind him when he felt this, eying him carefully.
"Alright, Iso, use Fly and push us along," Maru ordered. Iso spread his wings and flapped, jumping, then began beating steadily, going forward.
Elliott yelped and ran along with until he splashed into the water. To the passengers' amusement, Elliott bobbed up again, buoyed by his belly. Elliott blushed at this, glancing at his middle and up at Maru again with a sheepish grin while he hung onto Iso's tail. He then looked behind and noticed his own large tail, growling in thought. "~Maru, why don't I use my tail like a rudder while I'm in here?~" he suggested. "~I kind of have Iso's right now...~"
"Good plan," Maru nodded. "Sorry you can't hold onto the leaf itself—you might drag it down," he added.
Elliott shook his head. "~Could be worse,~" he said. As he continued to speak, his eyes slowly widened and his voice rose. "~Could have Heartless coming out of the water Maru TURN AROUND!~"
Maru turned and grimaced. Emerging from the river were huge (to them), deep reddish brown Heartless that greatly resembled lobsters. "Oh, great," he grumbled, summoning Wandereason. "Iso, focus on flying, you hear me?" he ordered sternly to the stern. He got a growling grunt in reply. "Figment, get ready! And Elliott, watch out, yourself!"
The dragons affirmed this before they began their fight across the river (titled simply "River" on the map). The lobster-like enemies, which Maru realized must have been based on crayfish, attacked by snapping at them with their claws or trying to get them to crash into them. Maru said to focus on getting across and not waste much time. 'How did the mice get across this without—oh, yeah, the Keyblade is a Heartless magnet...' They didn't stay to find out how soon the enemies went down, but Maru noticed they probably had high defense, judging by how much damage he dealt them. Navi later called them Crawpappies. Iso behaved, to Maru's surprise, and Elliott, who swatted away any Crawpappy that came near with his tail, guided them well.
"This fog is thick," Maru noted, looking around after they finally cleared the school of Crawpappies. He looked at Iso. "Iso, can you use Defog?" Blank stare. "...Nope, guess not..."
"Whoa!"
"Uwah!"
Maru turned to the sound. "That was the mice," he muttered.
"Full speed that-a-way, boys!" Figment pointed, standing at the helm.
"~Aye-aye, Cap'n!~" Elliott complied, turning the leaf while Iso flapped harder.
As they pushed through the fog, they saw the two crocs swimming away, undulating their bodies in perfect symmetry to each other and creating great turbulence for such small creatures as the two mice and one dragonfly were caught in the water between them. Bernard was just pulling up Miss Bianca from the water when the party saw them. The mice looked in horror as they saw the tails and the great disruption of water they made ahead.
They yelped as they crashed into it, the tails smacking water all around them and making them fly up as they passed by. When they landed, their poor boat had capsized. The three gasped out of the water and held onto their vessel.
"Great, the boat's been—been capsized," Bernard spluttered.
"It's sinking!" wailed Miss Bianca (whose hat was miraculously still on).
Evinrude buzzed in distress, trying to get out and fly it off with wet wings.
Suddenly, a patch of ice appeared on the water behind them. The mice and bug looked and saw Figment land on it. "Need some help?" he grinned, leaning down into the water and grabbing the stem before pulling it out, jumping off his breaking platform, and flying, pulling the boat upright. He landed back in his own boat, panting a little from the exertion. "Always wanted to try that ice platform trick!" he grinned.
"Thanks, Figment," Maru nodded to him. Figment returned a thumbs-up.
"You're helping us?" Bernard asked incredulously as he got back into the boat.
"Yeah," Maru nodded as Bernard helped Miss Bianca into the boat. Evinrude crawled up the side to the stem, panting, shook himself of water, and tested his wings with a couple buzzes. Maru looked behind him. "After some persuasion, I admit."
Elliott raised an eyeridge at him.
"Well, thank you all the same," Miss Bianca nodded, smiling. "And you are...?"
"Maru, Figment, and Elliott," Maru introduced, indicating each. "And running our boat is Iso."
"Well, hello there!" Miss Bianca waved happily to everyone. The dragons waved back, but Iso just looked at her blankly.
Bernard was a little unnerved at the Heartless-Pokémon. "We'd, um, we'd better get going," he advised, pointing, "before they get away."
"Right," Maru nodded, and the two boats went on.
-)-D-0-O-0-C-(-
The crocs came into the lounge of the riverboat. It was large, well-lit, and decently furnished, with a sofa, coffee table, vanity mirror, and, of all things, a pipe organ. A portly man in a yellow suit with sparse, odd brown hair, a thin mustache, and huge round glasses came in with them, raising his eyebrows and smiling. "Oh, well, you tried to run away, but it didn't work, now, did it?" he smirked, walking over to Penny as the crocs stopped. He had a somewhat pinched voice. He crouched down, tilting his head to a defeated-looking Penny and laughed.
Penny scowled over to Brutus. "Put me down, Brutus!" she growled. Brutus gladly complied, Nero dropping Teddy as well. "Creepy old dragon," she muttered as she got up from the floor, collecting Teddy.
The man stood up and smiled at Brutus, patting his muzzle. "Good job, boys, good job," he said. The crocs snarled at him, growling, and the man began stumbling backwards. "N-Now, now, boys, steady, boys—steady—heel! Heel!" By this time, he had been backed over to the couch, where he crawled up the back and tucked in his legs. The crocs grinned evilly up at him, snapping now and then.
Penny smiled at her teddy bear, dusting him off. "Now, now, Teddy, don't cry," she assured him gently. "I won't let them do that to you again." She hugged him.
The man, on the floor again after the crocs let him go, rolled his eyes as he went carefully around the crocs. He waggled his finger at Penny, frowning. "Now, you stay here this time, or I'm gonna feed your precious little teddy bear to Brutus and Nero," he threatened.
Penny shook her head and announced defiantly, "No, you will not! I'm not scared of 'em—like you," she pointed, "Mr. Snoops!"
Mr. Snoops frowned and pointed at Penny. "Now, don't you sass me!" He shook his head and, after adjusting his glasses, pushed Penny between the crocs to the stairs. "Ah, boys, take this naughty little girl to her room."
Penny stopped and turned, hand on hip, miffed. "I can go by myself," she informed shortly. She stamped her foot. "Thank you." And with a spin on the heel, she did just that.
-)-D-0-O-0-C-(-
A few moments later, they heard a loud booming sound above, and they looked up. "GOT GIRL" was being spelled out in fireworks. "No! They got her again," Miss Bianca snapped her fingers. "Come on, we should get as close as we can! Hurry, Evinrude!"
Evinrude, panting again, nodded and buzzed harder, resolute-faced.
The group made land, shoring their boats up to the shore. As the mice disembarked, Evinrude staying behind and wheezing hard, Maru and Figment got out of their own boat. Elliott released Iso's tail and walked up the slope, emerging soggily from the water, but stopped midway, looking behind him, ears perking up. "~What's that?~" he muttered.
"Good job, Iso, thank you," Maru was saying, returning him. He looked at Elliott when he spoke. He heard something, too...a roaring. That was getting louder. As Figment fluttered up to see, too, Maru peered through the fog to see headlights and a dark shape coming right towards them. "Uh-oh..."
"Hit the dirrrrt!" Figment cried as Madame Medusa, wearing a scowl, suddenly flew over them in her swampmobile, hitting the shore like a jump (and miraculously missing the leaves). Everyone slammed to the ground as she went by. A moment later, she skidded far off across the sand, still blasting along, making it to the gangplank ahead.
Maru got up, brushing himself off, and frowned after her. "I wanna kick whoever taught that woman how to drive," he grumbled.
"C'mon, we've got to get to Penny," Miss Bianca beckoned. The group nodded.
The map called the area "Mangrove Path", fittingly—along the sides of the long, wide path were the unique trees, spreading their spidery roots through air and water. Maru let Iso out as they encountered more Heartless, then realized that the mice couldn't defend themselves. "I have to make sure they're protected," he realized in a low voice, looking over his shoulder.
"Great, an escort mission," Navi groaned, having come out when Iso came out, ready to watch for back attackers.
Maru looked at Iso for a moment, then the Heartless. Some were Crawpappies, he noticed. He frowned uncertainly, then sighed. "Iso! Look after yourself!" he ordered.
Iso looked over his shoulder at Maru. Blank. Then, he nodded with a grunt and went off on his own. He gave a mighty Dragon Claw to a Crawpappy, doing a decent amount of damage.
Maru, who had long ago extended Scan to keep a mental eye on his comrades' health when not even looking at them, monitored Iso's health offhand, ready to recall him. He was already a sixth from fainting, so he had to be ready for anything. 'No Ice attacks, no Ice attacks...' In the meantime, he went nearby the mice, who had huddled together, holding up an umbrella that, to Maru's amazement and relief, successfully defended against frontal attacks. It had a recoil, however, so quick follow-ups could harm them. 'Makes this a bit easier, then...' He decided to watch their health as well.
Midway through the brawl, Maru sensed Iso take another hit, barely withstanding it. '1 HP!' "Iso, return!" he called, whipping out his Monster Ball and recalling Iso (incidentally feeling a chance in the Keyblade when he did this). The white beam shot out and homed in to Iso with a little light telekinetic help. (He noticed Iso had also entered Hyper Mode again.)
They discovered that Crawpappies were (naturally to Maru) weak to electricity, so Figment used Thunder on them. They were also slow and awkward on land, but their high defense and strength—and their huge claws—made them formidable in close combat. After clearing the path without too much damage to the mice, the group went onwards to the gangplank.
After clambering up the widely-ribbed board, they found themselves on the riverboat. It looked as if, long ago, the boat had been truly resplendent, but now, half-sunken and the headquarters of a deranged middle-aged woman, it had become another part of the gloom that surrounded Devil's Bayou. Before them was the brightly-lit lounge of the boat, visible through the open doorway. They saw Madame Medusa, hair and ugly dress revealed, inside arguing with Mr. Snoops about his inability to look after Penny while he took off her boots. She held a cane like a simple scepter in her hand.
The group looked through for a moment before Bernard looked at them. "We should find another way in so we don't get caught," he whispered. He waved his arm to the side of the boat. "Let's—go around. Then we can listen for any, uh, clues."
"Good idea," Miss Bianca agreed. The group jogged after. Maru noted that his map didn't cover the riverboat.
They didn't encounter any Heartless as they trotted around to the port side. The two humans' argument could be half-heard through the walls. "Wait, there, look!" Bernard pointed. The group looked to see...
"...Shoot, I forget what these are called," Figment muttered as they went over to it, crossing his arms. "These big, metal, J-curved things sticking out of the decks of steamships and riverboats and the like, kinda like a cross between a pipe and a phonograph or something...All out in the open for some stupid little kid to fall down them..."
"Well, point is, this'll get us into the ventilation system," Maru said as he watched Bernard take a mouse-sized grappling hook, swing it, and then throw it up to the rim of the J-pipe. Maru crossed his arms. "I have a feeling things might get hairy up ahead..."
"Then we'll go when you're ready," Miss Bianca said. "But please, hurry..."
Maru nodded and trotted around to the other side of the J-pipe. He looked around. 'Doesn't seem like there are any enemies coming,' he thought. 'I don't feel the hairs on the back of my neck or anything...should be safe. Now, what did Chip and Dale tell me to do?...' A short moment later, he had set up a temporary save point (the kind with the geas spinning around, which he can't use to access the Gummi Ship) and used it to heal him and the dragons. He found that it healed Iso, as well. 'Good, that way I can conserve my remaining Potions from home...though I suppose the Potions around here work, too...'
"Let's get going," Maru nodded as they jogged back from behind the pipe. The mice went up the rope first, then Maru, then Figment, then (gulping at such a thin cord) Elliott. Bernard collected his hook, then they slid down the pipe and into the ship.
They found themselves in a very dimly-lit passageway lined with metal. 'A ventilation duct,' Maru realized, feeling the gentle breeze of air flowing about. The group had a short Heartless skirmish along the way (Maru decided to save Iso for a larger space), but they eventually made it to the end—which appeared to be a dead one. Above, slits of light filtered through, and they heard the arguing again. 'A slatted vent cover...'
"H-Hold on," Bernard said, striding forwards. "Gimme some, ah, room..." After everyone cleared, he swung his grappling hook up again, and the group climbed up. The slats were tight, but flexible enough that the mice, then everyone could squeeze past them.
"Elliott, suck it in," Maru hissed when he saw his corpulent comrade have some trouble getting through.
As Elliott exited the vent, Maru looked around. They were underneath the vanity mirror set against the wall of the lounge. Ahead, they saw the crocs resting by the couch, where Medusa and Mr. Snoops were talking. Medusa was reclining in stocking feet while Mr. Snoops was standing. The taller members of the group crouched down and began to eavesdrop.
"Well, it was your idea to use a little girl for this little caper, if you'd-a listened to me—" complained Mr. Snoops, waving his arms around.
"Snoops?" interrupted Medusa with an edge. When she had his attention, she sing-songed, "You're not think-ing..."
Mr. Snoops sighed and bobbed his head. "I know, I know, she's the only one small enough to fit down the black hole," he admitted.
"Yes," Medusa nearly moaned, starting to scowl again. "But why can't she find my big diamond?"
"I don't know," Mr. Snoops threw up his hands, walking over to the vanity (making everyone step back). He gathered up a handful of various gems and strings of pearls with a smile before going back to Medusa. "But—But look at these beauties she's brought up from the cave! Heh, they'll sell for a lotta cold, hard cash!"
Medusa smacked his hands with her cane, making him drop the treasure, sending them flying. The group had to dodge away from stray gems before they were hit by what, to them, were essentially expensive shaped boulders. "OWWwwwWW!" Mr. Snoops whined, shaking his hands as this happened. He sucked his fingers. "I wish you wouldn't do that..."
"She's insane," Miss Bianca commented. "Utterly mad!"
"I want that diamond," Medusa shook her cane. She squeezed her eyes and waved her arms up and down, in and out. "I've got to have the Devil's Eye!" She opened her eyes and pointed at Mr. Snoops, getting up. "You didn't leave her down in the cave long enough," she accused.
"She doesn't take orders," complained Mr. Snoops, backing up. He stopped when Medusa's long-nailed finger pressed his big nose.
"You are too soft," smirked Medusa slowly, wiggling his nose.
"But the tide was coming in," Mr. Snoops continued, waving both arms, "the water was rushing up, and all she did was stand down there and whine about her teddy bear getting wet..." He stood and shook his head mockingly at this last part.
"Snoooops," Medusa cooed, turning his face back to her with her cane as she sat at the other end of the couch. Her pets came over. She was smiling, speaking softly. "You don't have a way with children." She put her cane down and motioned with her arms towards her, "You must gain their confidence—" she reached and hugged one of the crocs (who smiled), "—make them like you..."
Mr. Snoops smiled and raised an eye. "Yeah? How d'you do that?" he asked.
"You force them to like you, idiot!" Medusa suddenly snapped, swinging her cane and making him duck. She put it down again, pointing downwards and smiling once more. "At the next low tide, I am going to put her down there..." She pressed her hands to herself. "...myself, and I will keep her there until she finds it." She took her cane again and prodded it at Mr. Snoops, frowning yet again. "And it is as simple as that."
Mr. Snoops stared at the rounded tip, cross-eyed, for a moment before going, "Well, uh, simple as that, huh?" He chuckled. "Well, you're the boss, uh...boss."
"Yeess..." Medusa rose and started to walk out, swaying her hips side to side with a bounce while carrying her cane over her shoulder. "Now, come along, my pets..." She began humming. Mr. Snoops left out another door.
Maru looked daggers at Medusa as she departed. 'That bitch...She's taking advantage of a poor girl for her own gain...!' He suddenly realized something that made him blink, then give a full-on Glare at her as she closed the door. 'She's just like Giovanni, when he took advantage of me, when I was still confused...' He looked down shamefully. '...Except I wager I was...more clueless than Penny...'
"We gotta get Penny outta here tonight," asserted Bernard, turning to the group.
"Right, but how?" asked Maru, crossing his arms and frowning in thought like Bernard. "We're a bit on the small side, and there're those two crocs, and we don't even know where Penny is..."
"Well, we can use our size to our advantage," Miss Bianca smiled. "We can hide behind a lot of things you humans normally can't." She cocked her head. "Why are you so small, anyway?" she wondered. Behind them, Brutus and Nero started to follow their mistress, passing by the vanity.
Maru sweatdropped, glancing at Figment, who shook his head. "Ahhh..."
"~We should get going,~" Elliott suggested quickly.
"Yes, we should get going," Maru agreed. He watched the crocs. "Just as soon as those two pass..."
Just then, one of them stopped. "?" He closed his eyes and began sniffing.
Bernard looked at this in horror. "Oh no...Bianca," he whispered, glancing at her. "They smell your perfume..."
"Oh, dear," Miss Bianca gaped, "oops" written all over her face as she pressed it with her paws.
"See? This is why perfume is a bad idea," Figment said, waggling a claw and frowning a bit. "And coming from me, that's saying something."
By now, the other croc had come alongside his partner, and both were sniffing the air, perhaps pleased looks on their faces...before both raised an eyeridge and smirked as they looked down and to the side behind them. They began prowling over, one low to the ground like a dog on the hunt.
"This can't be good," Figment muttered as they pressed against the wall, the green snout pushing up the vanity.
Bernard, protecting Bianca, tried whacking away the snout with the umbrella, but his sweater got snagged, and he was pulled away, yelling. The croc pulled him up and smirked down at him triumphantly. Then Bernard smacked him on the snout, making him open his mouth and drop the mouse. As soon as he landed, Bernard set off at a run.
"Oh, for the love of—" Maru set out at a run after them. The dragons ran behind.
The crocs snapped at Bernard for a moment before suddenly being hit in behind by a spray of tiny stars. They stopped and turned at this odd pain to see Maru standing there, Wandereason in hand. "Hey, you leather-heads!" he mocked, beckoning. "Over here!" He turned and began running with his teammates.
The crocs gladly took chase. Meanwhile, Miss Bianca crept out and ran to Bernard, then both ran to the pipe organ between the twin sets of stairs. They got underneath the pedals and disappeared.
Maru, meanwhile, ran to the wall, reaching a window with purple curtains. He saw the curtains and got an idea. "Figment, get those curtains down!" he pointed.
"Right!" Figment jumped to Elliott, who caught him and hucked him to the curtains. Figment sailed as high as he could, then flew the rest of the way up. He readied a few cards before, with a grunt, releasing them at the curtain rings. They broke, dropping the sheet right onto the crocs below, who had just caught up with the other two. Figment dived, then retrieved Maru and Elliott from the curtain and the two thrashing crocs. "Nice plan, Maru!" he complimented as they ran to the organ.
"Thanks, I'm glad it worked," Maru nodded back. They soon reached the organ and went under the pedals, too.
A moment later, Bernard peeked from within a pipe to look out. The crocs had extricated themselves and had come over to the organ. He hid away when one got close, pressing against the wall of the pipe, Miss Bianca close to him. A reptilian eye appeared in the hole of the pipe, looking around inside, while Bernard and Miss Bianca waited. It dipped down, and they sighed in relief, still panting.
'Glad that's ov—' Maru began to think in a pipe of his own before the organ began to be played. The air pushed everyone up and out of the pipes. A green paw snapped out at them, but missed as they fell back down inside. Outside, while Brutus(?) sat and energetically played the organ with wide eyes, somewhat reminiscent of a playing cat, Nero(? it's impossible to tell the two apart) stayed on the landing above the organ's pipes, ready to snatch. Nero made a "darn" air punch when he came up dry.
"What the—?" Maru muttered as he landed again. He looked out and saw the croc at the keys. "...He looks like he's having fun...This is all a game to them? Whoa!" He shot up again, his pipe played when Brutus made a rapid scale up. He turned in midair, cloak fluttering up around him, and saw the other's paw flying towards him. He snarled and swatted it away with his Keyblade, making Nero grunt and whip his paw back. Maru fell down into his pipe again and snarled up and behind him. "Well, then, we'll just have to beat them at it," he asserted.
The "game" began. All the time, the music was quite interesting, being almost random as Brutus tried to get the right notes to shoot someone out. 'There's no possible way I can have Iso help out,' Maru thought. 'The arena is too confined...' Maru realized he had two options for movement after a few launches out of the organ and feeling some chances in the Keyblade: He could switch pipes in midair when he was fully out by a quick boost of telekinesis, or he could duck and dive out of the slat at the bottom when grounded, grabbing edges and jumping between pipes (there was too much distance between slat and running surface, that being the music stand) before re-entering other pipes. He noted that Figment and Elliott could also switch pipes in midair, and Figment could potentially escape out the slats; Elliott doing the latter, however, was questionable at best. Maru had to avoid getting grabbed by Brutus when low and snatched by Nero when high. Everyone also had to deal with Brutus poking in every now and then.
"We have to aim for their heads," Maru called to his teammates when they were in midair the next time after they began. "I doubt we can knock them out at this size, but we can at least daze them both and make a break for it!"
Figment, switching pipes to be nearer him when Nero tried to get him, nodded. "Right! Let's see what happens if we hurt ugly here's paw a lot," he suggested, pointing to Nero. They dropped again as Brutus stopped playing.
"What about the mice?" Navi asked from Maru's cloak when he landed.
Maru peeked out and saw Brutus playing, looking into other pipes with an excited smile. "We should be more interesting, I would think," he replied, ducking back in when Brutus came around. He went too quickly for Maru to hit, and he was blown up when he came by, too. In the air again, he noticed that sometimes, Bernard and Miss Bianca would get blown to different pipes, occupying them. 'I doubt I can enter a pipe that one of them occupies.'
Maru began working on Nero, since he was the greater threat. Nero didn't always go for him each time; he sometimes swiped at the mice, who were too quick and nimble to get caught, and whenever he swatted at either dragon, his paw was repelled. Sometimes, he tried with both paws—in that case, the victim would have to switch pipes quickly to avoid getting snatched. After enough hits on a single paw, Nero would growl and rest it over one of the pipes nearby whoever hit it last, resting it for a moment. Maru was the one to do so the first time, so he switched over to it, landing on top of the paw.
He quickly raced up the arm and jumped onto Nero's head. He noticed he had about 400 HP. 'This is gonna take a bit,' he grumbled. He managed to land a few combos between the eyes, techniques, and moves, taking off a considerable chunk, before Nero tossed him up with an annoyed flick of his snout. (The reason he hadn't attacked before was because he was A) too busy trying to grab weird little animal things from the pipe organ with his other paw and B) pretty sure he'd hurt himself or the toy he wanted to play with longer if he tried to snatch him off his face.) While airborne, Maru felt a chance as he glanced at Nero's widening jaws. "Nice try!" Maru scoffed, giving a quick Strike Raid to the nose. This caused Nero to snap shut prematurely, letting Maru land safely on the snout before being thrown towards the organ again.
Later on, poor Elliott, still unable to use any ranged attacks or figure anything out in time when he was victim to this tossing and biting attack, found out what would happen should Maru or Figment fail to bop the nose in time: He was snapped up, taking a good deal of damage, but he fought hard enough to get spat out again towards the pipe he had come from. The same tossing up happened whenever one wasn't able to smack the paw away in time and they were caught, except the grab caused damage, as well.
Meanwhile, Maru landed again and found himself facing Brutus once more. 'I should spread the damage evenly between them if I can,' he strategized. 'That way, once one is dazed, I can quickly take care of the other and get us out of here.' He exited his pipe and baited slaps and snaps by Brutus, hitting in time, as well. (If one was caught by Brutus, the same tossing sequence Nero put them through occurred.) When he struck his paw enough times, he also set it down, this time on the music stand (which had some music in front of it). Figment was the first to do this, this time, and he went in to strike. Maru followed soon after, and they dealt a good 100 or so HP of damage before both were thrown. Figment tossed a couple cards at his muzzle to shut him up.
Neither Brutus nor Nero tried anything special during the brawl, focusing only on playing catch-the-critter. Aside from the tight quarters of the pipes and the randomness of being blown upwards (as well as the higher difficulty in attacking Brutus' paws, though smacking his fingers when he stuck them into the pipes occasionally counted as significant damage for that paw), the only truly annoying part of the skirmish was that Maru, Figment, and Elliott couldn't tell what each other was doing at all times. This was how they ended up dazing Brutus well before they did Nero. When they had dazed the organist, his eyes swam in circles while he played completely randomly, and the fighter leapt back to the organ. This random playing allowed them to reach Nero. However, by the time they had dazed Nero, his fellow reptile had roused himself. Maru noticed two things: It took about 30 seconds for Brutus to revive (which itself was a fairly sluggish action), and after he had, his HP had only been restored to 150. 'Well, that's some consolation,' he thought. 'But half a minute isn't much time...Oh, I wish I had Disable or Confusion...'
It was tricky, but eventually, the final hit was given to one croc before the other recovered. As it was, it felt as if time and space had slowed, every movement lagging, blurring as it continued at fractional speed for a moment. Maru realized the same thing had happened after he had defeated that beast from Nightsky City.
)))Maru BONUS GET! Attack Up)))
)))Figment BONUS GET! Attack Up)))
)))Elliott BONUS GET! Attack Up)))
Brutus stopped playing, swayed, and fell backwards. Nero hung his upper body over the railing of the landing.
Maru dipped his head out of his pipe and looked around. "Bernard! Miss Bianca!" he called. Bernard poked his head out of the pipe directly left of his, while Miss Bianca stuck hers out of the one directly right. "C'mon, we need to run while they're dazed!" Maru beckoned, jumping down.
"Right!" Bernard agreed, hopping out. Miss Bianca did the same, as did Figment.
"Are we all ready?" Miss Bianca asked, looking at everyone. "Wait, what about—"
"Urk!" Heads turned to see Elliott trying his best to squeeze out of the hole, sucking his belly in as far as he could.
"Elliott..." Maru groaned, running over to him. He jumped up, grabbed an arm, and yanked as hard as he could, assisted by gravity. "H'oof!"
Elliott popped out with a yelp, landing on top of Maru. "~Sorry, Maru,~" he apologized sheepishly, quickly getting up off of him.
"Shut up and let's go!" Maru urged, beckoning as he got up. The group dashed out, hopping down onto Brutus' belly and then to the carpet.
"To the door!" Miss Bianca cried, pointing to the front door, which was still ajar. They raced at top speed.
"What is all this racket?" demanded Madame Medusa, broom in hand, as she strode in from another doorway, scowling. She looked at the organ and blinked at the sight of her incapacitated pets. "Huh?"
'Uh-oh,' Maru thought, looking up in horror as Medusa came in.
Medusa noticed the movement below and screeched, backing up against the wall and dropping the broom. "EEEYAAAAHHHHHHH! MIIIICE! SNOOOOPS! SNOOOOOOOOOPS!" She pointed and got up on a chair.
Mr. Snoops came immediately, and the crocs were roused instantly by the screams. "I'll get 'em, Medusa!" Mr. Snoops assured, stomping over and picking up the broom.
"Scatter!" Maru hissed to everyone with an arm swing, and they split off before the broom head came down on them.
Mr. Snoops swung down at Maru and Elliott with his broom as they tried to go to the front door, then tried stepping on Figment as he came over to try and distract him by dashing around his feet. Meanwhile, the crocs were trying to get to the mice, failing; they were just too nimble for the large reptiles.
Brutus was in mid-lunge when suddenly, a loud shot rang out and his resilient rump was hit by a black object, flipping him up.
Everyone stopped and turned to see Madame Medusa had taken a rifle and was firing at the mice. Which meant everything. Maru looked at her, then at the mice, who were moderately close to the door. He nodded, getting out Iso after hiding under the coffee table. "Iso! Use Fly and grab Bernard and Miss Bianca, then carry them out that door!" he ordered quickly, pointing to the mice, then to the door. "Hurry!"
Iso grunted and flew off at top speed. The mice squeaked as a giant arm wrapped around each of them. Iso lifted off, flying to the door.
Medusa, who had forced Mr. Snoops and the crocs to take cover behind furniture, looked up as she saw the black thing flying off with the mice. "Oh, no, you don't!" she seethed, taking aim.
Maru's eyes widened to dinner plates. "No!" He ran out, trying to get her attention, looking at Iso...
BLAM.
Maru's heart caught as he heard the shot. Things seemed to move in slow motion for a moment again. The bullet soared to the Heartless-Pokémon. 'Iso...!'
Then, time zapped back to normal as Iso zapped out of existence—then back in a little bit away. He had blurred away, like a dodge during Quick Attack.
Maru stopped and raised his eyebrows. "What the...? I didn't tell him to dodge..."
Medusa blinked for a moment before snarling and firing again, making sure to keep aim. Iso flitted away once more. Her eyes grew enormously wide, fury blazing from them, as she aimed and fired, aimed and fired. "Hold—" BLAMzip! "—still—" BLAMzip! "—you—" BLAMzip! "—pest!" BLAMzip!
Maru watched in fascination as, each time, Iso appeared to teleport away at the last second. He wasn't even looking behind him while he did this. 'This is incredible,' he marveled. 'He's dodging bullets like it were nothing...Is this an Ability?'
Suddenly, a hollow click was heard. Medusa looked at her gun, snarling and grumbling. "Fool thing's jammed," she declared before muttering incomprehensible curses under her breath as she tried to get it to work. Mr. Snoops and the crocs cautiously peeked from their shields of an upturned table and the sofa.
Maru, having snapped his attention back to her, nodded. "C'mon!" he called to the dragons, and they all dashed out, Figment behind Maru, then Elliott behind him. They made it out the door a moment later, first Iso with the mice, flying over to the water and down, then Maru, then Figment, then Elliott. Elliott looked behind him, seeing her with the gun and getting a bad feeling, before gasping and putting on a burst of speed. He grabbed up his allies in one arm each before jumping. The bullet from the unjammed gun flew under him and blew a hole in the railing of the boat. He fell down into the water below, out of range as they all splashed into the night bog.
Maru gasped for air when they bobbed up again. He looked at a wheezing Elliott, who was kicking as hard as he could. "Thanks," he nodded. Elliott nodded back.
"We should be thanking you, Maru," Miss Bianca said. The trio turned to look at Iso hovering over the water with the two mice in his arms. They smiled and waved.
"Yeah, if it weren't for your pal here, we'd be, ah...in deep trouble," Bernard commented, smiling nervously. They heard a buzzing and looked. Evinrude was pushing his boat over. Bernard waved. "Over here, Evinrude!"
"No problem," Maru smiled, looking up at Iso, who gave that same blank stare back. "Iso's strong and faster than you'd think."
"Faster than I've ever seen, is more like it," Miss Bianca commented as Evinrude came below. She looked up at Iso. "Iso, dear, could you please let us down now?" Nothing.
"Iso, let them down now," Maru commanded. Iso set them onto the leaf before coming back to Maru. Maru looked at him as Miss Bianca continued.
"When that madwoman Medusa shot at us, Iso suddenly jerked aside so fast, I thought my neck would snap," the mouse continued, adjusting her hat.
"Yeah, it was almost like magic," Bernard agreed.
Miss Bianca chuckled. "Bernard, dear, you sound so surprised! We're dealing with a tiny little purple-haired man and three dragons," she pointed out bemusedly.
"Oh, uh..." Bernard blushed, holding his paws and looking down. "I, uh, guess you got a point, there..."
"We should get to shore," Figment advised. He looked worriedly at Elliott, who was starting to sink a little. "Before our boat sinks..."
Maru sighed and looked over at Iso again. "Iso, was that an Ability?" he asked.
Blank.
Maru smirked. "I bet it was," he said. "I've never heard of it in all my life. For the moment, I'm going to call it 'Bullet Dodge'." He looked at Elliott. "Now, Iso, please help fly us to shore." Iso complied, grabbing Elliott by the shoulders and dragging him along through the water as Evinrude pushed the mice to shore.
The group made land at a small alcove of dirt on the shore, surrounded by an equivalent eight feet of earthy walls. Trees grew all around, and grass covered the upper portions. The map included it as part of the bayou, calling it just that, "Alcove". Evinrude, breathing heavily again, stopped as the mice got out of their leaf, somber-faced.
"Did you see that? She tried to shoot us," Bernard gesticulated, turning and sitting on a pebble sticking from the ground.
"Bernard?" Miss Bianca walked over to him, uncertain. Behind her, Iso pulled the others up, Elliott dropping the purple ones before dropping onto his back on land, panting hard. Iso landed, breathing a little hard, himself. Maru waded out and crouched to squeeze the water from his pants.
Bernard sighed. "It's just...I'm not so sure about this, anymore, Bianca," he admitted.
Miss Bianca frowned a little, sitting on another pebble nearby him. "It's hard, indeed, Bernard," she admitted. She looked down. "It's such a big job...and we're so small..."
Maru heard this and looked up. "A big job..." He looked down at himself, face falling. "That's right..." He looked up at the stars above. "Trying to save my world...somehow, someway...It's a really big job..." He looked at himself again, pressing his chest. "And, compared to it all, I'm...I'm so small..."
Elliott, hearing this, frowned. He sat up and looked first at the depressed mice, then the angsty teen. He humphed loudly, drawing their attention, and he crossed his arms. "~Nope,~" he grunted, shaking his head and giving them a look that said all that he needed to.
Miss Bianca raised her eyebrows before closing her fist, nodding resolutely. "Bernard," she addressed, looking down at him. "We can't give up now! The Rescue Aid Society is relying on us!"
Bernard blinked at this. "You're..." He shook his head and beat a fist in his palm. "Bianca? You're right!" he declared. "Everyone's counting on us—the Rescue Aid Society and Penny!" He stood up. "We can't let a little setback stop us. We can't give up when people are counting on us. We can't let them down."
Maru stood, too. 'Counting on us...on me...' he mulled, holding his chin. He nodded and turned to the surrounding trees. "We've gotta get back there," he stated, crouching and jumping to the ledge. He grabbed the edge and hoisted himself up, disappearing. "Penny's waiting for us, and Bernard's right—" He reappeared, hopping down with another large leaf in tow. "—Letting someone down so easily when they decided to put their trust in you, of all people, is unforgivable."
"That's the spirit, Maru!" Miss Bianca smiled, clapping her paws. "Let's go back and save Penny!"
Maru went over to Iso, smiling up at him. "You've been a real trooper, Iso," he said. "Thank you so much. I don't know if you're counting on me, but...you can be sure I'm counting on you."
Blank.
After Iso had set down the leaf in the water, everyone took a moment to rest a little (all their wounds healing as if they had hit a save point). Everyone went about their own thing, and Maru decided to check how everyone was feeling. Iso stood at his leaf, waiting, and said nothing when Maru approached, though he looked at him. 'Is he ever going to speak...?' Maru wondered.
"~Penny's under the control of someone so unstable...I'm worried,~" Elliott mumbled when Maru checked up on him. "~We need to save her quick, Maru!~"
"Man, I hope we don't get leeches from being in the water that long," Figment commented. "Though Elliott's the one in the most danger, having to drag through the water like that..."
"I don't know why or how you got so small, but I'm glad you're helping," Miss Bianca said.
"I'm glad he helped us, but Iso's kinda...well, no offense, but he's...well, unnerving," Bernard admitted.
Finally, Maru went to Evinrude. He perked up when he got close. 'He looks like he's wondering if it's time to go,' Maru thought. He nodded, and Evinrude buzzed affirmatively.
The party got back into their own boat while the mice got into Evinrude's. "We need to find another way onto the ship," Miss Bianca asserted. "Maybe we could climb up some ropes?"
Maru's boat led them around the bayou, the map calling the waters around the boat just "Bayou". As they went through the water, more Crawpappies and Bloodsuckers appeared, and Maru had to keep an eye on the mice's health again while fighting with Figment. Eventually, they made it around to the other side of the vessel. They found a rope sticking into the water, leading up to other ropes on that side. As they approached it (exiting the Bayou area on the map), the mice looked up.
On the third-level deck, Penny stood against the railing outside, looking around with a dejected look on her face. She was in a yellow nightgown, Teddy in her arms.
"Look, it's Penny," pointed Miss Bianca.
Bernard looked at the ropes, following them with his eyes. "Looks like these ropes lead to her level," he noted. "Evinrude, park us by the rope, please." Evinrude buzzed a nod.
"Evinrude, could you keep an eye on our boat, too?" Maru asked as he recalled Iso, having parked his own boat a moment after the mice. Evinrude nodded to him, too. "Thanks."
The group made their way up the rope, the mice fine as they scampered along with their claws. Maru kept his balance very well. 'I guess my jumping and agility aren't the only feline traits this body inherited,' he mused as he trotted along. Elliott had to go up slowly, Figment walking only slightly faster than him.
On the way up the moderate series of ropes on the side of the ship, Figment stopped, looking to the bow of the ship. He saw Brutus and Nero pacing about by the gangplank. "Uh-oh," he muttered. He turned to Maru behind him. "Maru, check it out—the crocs are guarding the gangplank," he reported.
Maru looked and frowned. "So they are...This might complicate things." They continued up.
By the time the group had made its way up, Penny had already returned inside. The ropes led to a window into the room she had gone inside. Judging from the position on the boat, Maru guessed it to be the pilot-house. They looked down from the window to see her kneeling at her fold-open bed, hands clasped in prayer. A little nightcap was on Teddy. The candle behind her on a crate was out.
"Dear God," she began. "Please look over Teddy, Rufus, and all the kids at the orphanage—Jennifer, Bobby, Mary, and Joey...and please let someone find me a father or mother, or some way out of here, because running away isn't working. Amen." By now, her voice was starting to crack. She turned to Teddy and patted his head. "Don't worry, Teddy," she assured him, tears starting to come down, "we'll...we'll be...alright!" She put her face to her arms on her bed and began to cry.
The mice had gotten through the window by now, coming through a hole in the glass. They frowned in worry at Penny and each other, then scurried down to her. Maru grunted as he got through the window behind them. The mice went around the perimeter of the room, going down to the bed. They landed on the pillow and approached her. "Oh, dear, don't cry," Miss Bianca cooed as she neared.
Penny slowly lifted her head and turned to the mice. She didn't seem surprised to see the talking rodents. "Who are you?" she sniffed.
"I'm Bernard," Bernard introduced, putting a paw on his chest.
"And I'm Miss Bianca," Miss Bianca supplied, smiling and doing the same. Behind the mice, Maru, Figment, and Elliott were busy navigating the room to reach them. Elliott wore a very worried face, looking at her when he didn't need to look where he was going. "We're from the Rescue Aid Society. We're here to help you, Penny."
Penny wiped her nose. "Really?" The mice nodded. Her eyebrows went up. "How'd you find me?"
"The Rescue Aid Society got a message, in a bottle," Bernard explained.
"That was your message we got, Penny," Miss Bianca pointed. "We did some investigating and found out you were here."
"Didja hear that, Teddy?" Penny enthusiastically stood, holding her teddy bear and smiling. "Our bottle worked!" She looked back at them. "Didn't you bring somebody big with you? Like the police?" she asked.
At this point, Maru, Figment, and Elliott had arrived. Penny raised her eyebrows at them as she saw them. The mice solemnly shook their heads at the question, then turned to follow her gaze. "I'm sorry, Penny," Miss Bianca apologized quietly, frowning at her. "The only other people with us right now are Maru and his dragons."
"And, well, they're not exactly 'big'," chuckled Bernard.
While Maru frowned at Bernard, crossing his arms, at this, Elliott ran as fast as he could over to Penny, stumbling over the covers once. "~Penny! Are you alright? Have you been hurt?~" he asked breathlessly when he reached her, breathing heavily. He gazed at her with a face wrought with concern.
Penny giggled at the little dragon. "I'm okay," she assured him. "But that stupid Brutus..." She stood and turned, lifting her dress with a frown. Her panties had a few holes in the back. "He ruined my pants!"
Elliott breathed a huge sigh of relief, putting a paw to his chest. "Hrroooooo! ~That's good. I was so worried about you...~"
Maru looked at him in interest. 'He's never even met her, but he sounds sincere...why?'
Penny knelt down again, frowning a little. "But..." she trailed off.
Miss Bianca smiled and shook her head. "Oh, Penny, if we all work together, and have a little faith, we'll get out of here," she insisted.
Penny raised her eyebrows, smiling. "Yeah, you're right," she said, waggling a finger. "Just like Rufus said!"
"Rufus, the cat?" checked Bernard thoughtfully. "Bianca and I questioned him during our investigation..."
"You, now—You listen to me, darlin'," a gruff, yet kind voice said. "You're something extra-special."
"No, I'm not," Penny's voice replied dejectedly.
In the orphanage one late afternoon, Penny was leaning on a windowsill, depressed. Rufus, an old tan cat with spectacles, a red scarf, and a bushy white mustache made his way up a chair by the window, insisting, "Why, someday, a mom and a papa will come to the orphanage looking for a—" He paused to get up onto the windowsill. "—pretty little girl just like you."
Penny looked at him, showing the gap in her front teeth. "Honest?" she asked quietly.
"I'll bet my whiskers on it!" assured Rufus, making her smile. "But...you've got to believe it," he added. He touched his face to hers, both smiling. "Keep the faith, sweetheart." They looked out the window together. "You see that blue bird?" he asked.
Outside, on a sparse-leaved tree, buildings with hanging clothes between them behind it, sat a little blue bird. "Yes, I do," Penny replied.
"Heh..." The blue bird hopped to a branch, then flew off as Rufus spoke, the two looking up to a star beginning to shine in the slowly-darkening sky:
Faith is a blue bird
You see from afar
It's for real, and for sure
As the first evening star
You can't touch it, or buy it
Or wrap it up tight
But it's there just the same
Making things turn out right
"Yup! That's what he said!" Penny giggled, holding Teddy. "Faith makes things turn out right."
Maru, having listened to the mice recite the poem and hearing this summary, held his chin. "'Faith makes things turn out right', huh?..." he mumbled. 'Faith...Maybe I should have a little more faith, too...'
"Penny, I know it's late, but...we have to go tonight," asserted Bernard, getting down to business as he put his fists on his hips. "They're going to make you go out again tomorrow morning..."
Maru shook his head. "That's not going to be easy," he pointed out.
"When we were climbing up, we saw Brutus and Nero guarding the gangplank," Figment informed. "And I doubt we could swim for it..."
Miss Bianca frowned, fists on hips. "Oh, those vicious monsters! They oughtta be locked up, in a cage!" she grumped.
At this, Penny's face lit up. "I know, I know!" she said brightly, then beckoned. "C'mon, I'll show ya!"
Maru, sensing that the pilot-house was safe, set up a save disc by the candle and used it. Everyone else took the opportunity to rest a little bit, talking to each other, while Penny stood by the bed, waiting patiently. He noticed that there was a large chest next to an old telegraph (used to relay messages to the boiler room). He made his way over to it and opened it. "Ah, finally!" he smiled as he caught the map to the boat.
***OBTAINED Riverboat Map***
Map of the riverboat. The Keyblade icon indicates facing. Red lines indicate exits to other areas. Worldwide map part now viewable on the Touch Screen.
According to the map, they were, indeed, in the pilot-house. Maru went down and, because he felt he should try and at least act social, spoke with everyone again, like at the alcove. "So, wait, Bernard, Miss Bianca, you, Navi, AND Penny can all understand Elliott, but I can't?" Figment complained. "That's kinda unfair..."
"~I'm so relieved that Penny's okay,~" Elliott said, smiling. "~She must be really tough.~"
"If we can't get out tonight, what'll we do?" Bernard wondered.
"All this humidity is making it hard for my fur to dry," grumbled Miss Bianca. "I hope we can get Penny out of here soon!"
Maru also found Navi hanging out near the save disc. "I've decided to hang out nearby save discs when we're in safe places like this, where we can all talk and stuff," she explained. "Go ahead and ask me how we're all hangin' in there and stuff!"
Maru nodded. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. He wondered what to ask about for a moment. "...How much farther do you think we are to the Keyhole?"
"The Keyhole? Hmmmm...Well, I'm no expert, but I'd say we're maybe halfway there?" Navi guessed. "Anything else?"
"...Any predictions on what's ahead?"
"I'm feeling like we're going to have some time on our hands pretty soon. We might wanna go and train a bit. Anything else?"
'I wonder...' "...What's your opinion between me and my pokémon right now?"
"You mean Iso? Lemme see him." Maru let him out, and Navi examined him for a moment. "Let's see...As you can see, his shadowy aura has gone down significantly since you caught him," she began. "We'll measure this by something I'll call a Heart Gauge. That said, looks like he's been purified by...62% already? Wow!" She looked at Iso again. "Hmmm...I'd say that calling him out of Hyper Mode is the best way to purify him, though battling with him is a close second. Since he's still a Shadow Pokémon, I can't tell if he likes you or not." She flew down again. "Anything else?"
'I bet having him out so much helps, too, and with all the help he's been giving us today...' Maru nodded, returning Iso. "Thanks, Navi. What's on your mind?"
"It's kinda stuffy in that collar, what with the humidity here, but I'm fine. And don't worry about me, I'm safe and sound in there, as is all your stuff," she added. "I've been using some minor magic to dry things off when you get wet."
"Really? Thank you!" Maru smiled. Navi bobbed and Maru went over to Penny.
"Um...You're Mr. Maru, right?" Penny checked when he spoke to her from the edge of the bed. "Whenever you're ready, I got somethin' to show you!"
Maru nodded. "We're ready, Penny," he said.
"C'mon, follow me!" Penny beckoned excitedly. They followed her out the door to the balcony from before, at the stern of the ship. She pointed down a set of stairs, leaning on a railing, and they saw a portion of the middle deck cut away to reveal an old, wrought-iron elevator. Its gates were wide-open, and it was quite large. "Look, see?" Penny pointed.
"Oh, it's a perfect cage, Penny!" Miss Bianca praised as she looked at it.
Bernard got down into it and looked around. "It looks like it'll, it'll work out fine," he called back. He frowned. "But what do we use for bait?"
Penny batted her hand, wrinkling her nose. "Oh, they'll eat anything."
Figment, following the others down the stairs, snapped his claws. "I've got it! Bianca," he pointed to her, "your perfume!"
"That's what I was thinking, Figment!" Miss Bianca said, reaching Bernard. "They'll follow the scent right into the elevator!"
"And I'll slam the door!" Penny added. "Won't that make Medusa mad!" She began imitating Medusa, using a broom instead of her cane. "'Brutus! Nero! Did you let that little brat escape again? You're too soft!'" She whacked the air. "Whap! Whap!"
Maru, down near the mice with the dragons, couldn't help but smile as the others laughed.
"Heh-heh, hey, that's not bad," Bernard complimented.
"~Though I'm kinda unnerved,~" admitted Elliott, who was chuckling despite himself.
Penny even imitated Medusa's funny little walking jig from before, then stopped and pointed with a scowl. "Track her down, boys! Bring her back!" she pointed downwards.
"And we'll be so far ahead, they'll never catch us," Miss Bianca added.
Maru frowned at this. "Wait...What about that thing she drives? That...swampmobile?" he asked.
Penny thought for a second, then smiled, "We'll swipe it! I've always wanted to drive it!" She then proceeded to act like she was driving it, making sounds like such, hands up as if holding a steering wheel.
"W-What if Medusa w-wakes up, while we're starting it? W-We're in trouble," Bernard pointed out. "We-We gotta stall 'em somehow."
Penny smiled mischievously and leaned down. "What about Mr. Snoops' fireworks?" she whispered, pointing. "We'll shoot 'em off in her bedroom! That will keep her busy!"
"Oh, Bernard, it's so exciting!" Miss Bianca giggled, turning a little circle and shaking Bernard's arm lightly. "Perfume, crocs, swampmobiles! It's just got to work!"
"It's our only chance, but...we're gonna need help," Bernard said, starting to walk off.
"SNOOPS! Snoops, get down here!"
Everyone froze as they heard Medusa's strident commands. Mr. Snoops raced down some stairs, mumbling, "Wh-What seems to be the problem?" before racing inside. The door slammed, shutting out the light from within. Medusa started shouting at him while the group came to a railing nearby to look on.
Penny held onto the railing. "I bet they're up to something," she accused. She shrank back a little. "I don't wanna go down that...awful black hole again..."
The rest of the group looked worriedly at her, then each other. "~Penny, get dressed,~" Elliott said gently.
"We haven't got much time," Miss Bianca added.
Bernard ran over to the side. "Evinrude?" he called, looking out. "O-Over here." Evinrude came buzzing up from below. "We need help," Bernard said. He pointed. "Go get Ellie Mae! And-And hurry!"
Evinrude balled his fists and nodded, resolute, before turning and zipping off through the night.
Maru went over to the side, watching, as Bernard left to rejoin Miss Bianca. Evinrude flew along as fast as he could. He looked like he would make it...until the bats arrived. "Oh, no..." Maru muttered, slowly facepalming. Evinrude eventually escaped by squeezing through the bottle in Buried Bottle. The bats tried to get to him, but the glass kept them at bay. Maru crossed his arms, turning. "Shoot..." 'And here I am too weak to handle them. There are just too many of them, and even with all of us...damn.'
From the shadows, a strange figure watched these events before backing up into the darkness, vanishing.
-)-D-0-O-0-C-(-
Back in the pilot-house, Figment was sitting and bouncing his leg, a (normal) hand in hand. Across from him sat Bernard, holding a hand, as well. Both were frowning. "Got any jacks?" Figment asked.
"Go fish."
Figment growled and threw his hand in frustration. "It's been two hours!" he complained as the cards fluttered down. "When's that stupid bug gonna come back?"
"I told you, he had to hide from bats," said Maru, lying on the bed on his stomach. He grunted and winced as Elliott pushed against his back. "Umph! You sure you're massaging me and not trying to crush me?" he asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
"~It's not my fault your back has more knots than a Boy Scout camp,~" Elliott scoffed, raising an eyeridge back. Beside him, Iso watched them, seeming strangely entranced by the massage.
'Actually, it partly is...'
"You think he's come out of hiding yet?" Miss Bianca asked, sitting on the other side of the bed by Penny (who was still in her nightgown).
Maru motioned for Elliott to get off him, nodding to him in thanks. He paused and raised an eyebrow at Iso's look before returning him. "Hang on..." He went out to the stern, climbed a railing, and pulled out a small pair of binoculars. "Good thing I found these on the Gummi Ship...Knew they'd be handy," he muttered as he peered through them. He saw Evinrude still inside the bottle, a few bats batting at the glass now and then. He shook fearfully. Maru sighed and lowered the binoculars. "No dice," he reported.
Bernard put a finger to his chin, frowning. "Drat...At this point, we'll-we'll have to wait 'til morning," he said. He looked around at everyone. "We'd better, well, stick together."
"Don't worry, Penny," assured Miss Bianca as the girl's face fell. She smiled. "Everything will be fine."
"Okay," Penny mumbled. She yawned.
"Well, we're all a bit tired, anyway," Bernard chuckled, noticing this.
"We're not," Figment shrugged.
"Well, I've been wanting to take a look at that swampmobile, anyway," Maru said, walking back in.
"Me and Bernard will stay here with Penny," Miss Bianca decided. "Come back up when you're ready."
Maru, now joined by the dragons, nodded. "We'll be back soon." They turned and trotted out the door.
Out on the stern, which is what the map labeled the area as, they could go out onto the broad back balcony, but it didn't do much. They could, however, go down through pathways on either side of the boat after going down the stairs to the elevator, then down another set of stairs on either side on that middle deck. They could also battle Heartless that appeared up on the balcony. Maru got out Iso and set to work.
They could see the outsides of the ship through the railing, so they saw which side the swampmobile was on. So, they went down to the first level again, going down along the starboard deck. There, they found more Heartless, and the party fought their way to the strange watercraft.
Maru came back after searching under the hood, walking onto the dash. "I don't see any reason it shouldn't work below," he reported. "I fixed a few loose wires, and we might want to refuel it, but that shouldn't be too difficult."
"Well, I think I found something that might," Figment pointed.
The party turned and started. "!"
The steering wheel was gone!
Maru crouched to look at it. "What the...? Why didn't I notice this before?" he muttered. He stood again and looked at them. "It should be an easy fix if it's still in one piece, though. Let's start searching at the stern."
They made their way back to the stern. They got rid of any Heartless they had missed before since they explored more of the area. After all the Heartless were defeated, they searched the area fairly thoroughly. "Nothing," Figment sighed.
"~Maybe the, uh...~" Elliott began, looking for the word.
"Port?" Maru supplied. Elliott nodded. "The port deck sounds like a good place. Let's hope it's not by the gangplank..."
When they reached the port deck, they found only a few Heartless on the way, as well as...
"The wheel!" Maru pointed. The steering wheel lay on the deck, totally intact. The party ran over to it. "Elliott, think you can lift—" Maru began before the hair on the back of his neck stood on-end. He put a hand to it. "Uh-oh..."
A swarm of Heartless appeared around the steering wheel. Maru summoned Wandereason and got into stance. Figment groaned. "Looks like we've gotta take the wheel by force," he observed.
The battle was fierce, and Maru had to use a couple items. (He was thankful that, when they had appeared in the world at first, for some reason, a holographic moogle appeared by the save disc. Talking to it revealed it to be a shop. He had bought a few items there before heading off into the bayou.) He ended up calling Iso out of Hyper Mode a couple more times, too; he had done so another time beforehand, as well, in the battles on the other parts of the boat. However, with another time-slowing effect, Elliott dealt the last crushing blow to a Large Body.
)))Maru BONUS GET! HP Up)))
)))Figment BONUS GET! HP Up)))
)))Elliott BONUS GET! HP Up)))
Penny sat on the bed, looking out the window to the sky above. A star shone down at her, and she smiled. The mice were sitting by her.
Suddenly, she turned and gasped, a horrified look on her face.
On the wall hung a little drawing of two stick figures labeled "MOM" and "DAD".
-)-D-0-O-0-C-(-
Back at the starboard deck, Maru and Elliott were placing the steering wheel back in its spot. With a clunk, the mechanism locked back into place. The two stood on the dashboard with Figment, mopping their brows. "Phew! There, now we can escape tomorrow," Maru said.
"~And Medusa won't think Penny did something and hurt her,~" Elliott added.
Figment turned as he saw the lights on the boat go out. "Hey, looks like the bad guys are goin' to bed," he noticed.
The others turned. Maru nodded. "Yeah...We might want to turn in, too. We should rest up for the ordeal tomorrow morning, and it's getting late."
"Even though it's afternoon for us..." Navi muttered from his collar.
The party returned to the pilot-house with no additional conflicts. "~We're back!~" chirped Elliott as the party ran in through the door. Maru, first, then Figment, then Elliott stopped after entering, however, all looking in alarm. Nobody was inside the room except them. Elliott's face changed the most, having been smiling cheerfully. He glanced left and right. "~Penny? Penny?~"
"Penny?" Figment called.
"Penny!" Maru shouted, cupping his mouth. Suddenly, he stopped, hearing a tapping. "Wait..." He ran over to where the telegraph was. It was moving. He held a hand back to silence the dragons before both started calling, shushing and closing his eyes.
It took a long, painful few moments, but soon, the message finished. Maru opened his eyes, scowling.
"What did it say?" Figment asked. "I'm rusty on my Morse code..."
Elliott stepped over and in front of him, almost frantic. "~Where's the child?~" he demanded.
Maru sighed. "'Meet me at the stern,'" he relayed. He growled, clenching his fists tightly. "Dammit! I should've known...That steering wheel was a distraction!"
"Well, it did seem kinda fishy..." Figment raised an eyeridge.
"~What are we waiting for? We need to go!~" Elliott urged, trotting to the door again.
"Wait, Elliott—we should make sure we're ready, first," Maru stopped him, holding his hand out.
"This guy's got the cards we need...and we've got whatever one he's asking for," Figment nodded. "It won't do to go in blindly. That's what he wants."
"Surprisingly correct," Maru said, looking at Figment. "You can be mature."
Figment crossed his arms, frowning. "Well, of course I can!" he retorted. "I just usually don't 'cuz it's less fun."
Maru sighed and shook his head.
The party split up again, being near a save disc like they were. Maru spoke to everyone again to see how they felt. "Why would someone want Penny? It can't be Medusa—she's already got her..." Figment muttered.
"~Hurry up and get ready! They might get impatient and do something to her—!~" Elliott worried.
Maru checked in with Navi by the save disc. "I think we're getting pretty close to finding the Keyhole. Be ready for anything!" "I sense a big fight coming. You'd better prepare yourself." "Looks like Iso's 89% purified. Keep at it—his heart is almost open! Remember, calling him from Hyper Mode and battling with him are best."
'I can tell he's close to finally opening his heart,' Maru thought, 'but he still hasn't shown much emotion...' He looked at Iso in interest.
Blank.
"I hope Penny's alright..." was all Navi had to say for herself. Maru nodded and used the save disc before going out the door. Seeing this, his comrades came over to him.
Maru ran out and looked around. "Where are you!" he shouted, glaring at nothing and summoning Wandereason.
"~WHERE'S PENNY?~" roared Elliott, already in his armor and looking ready to kill.
"Patience, little man," a smooth, jeering male voice admonished. The party turned to the stairs down to the elevator and saw him walking out of one of the stairs to below. He was another figure in a strange mantle and tentacruel mask. He had black gloves and wore thick, long, loose black cloak sleeves, though, unlike the one from Nightsky City, these had some color: A few sparse dark teal circuit-like lines. They saw this because he was currently holding onto an upset Penny, who was holding Teddy in one hand. They saw the mice holding onto the hems of her dress. He walked up the stairs to meet them.
"Let me go!" Penny fought, struggling.
"No." The figure walked to the balcony, going past Maru and the dragons. "So...Maru, is it?" He appeared to speak with more emotion than the figure from before, as well...this emotion being malice. "A young man with a Keyblade. How troublesome."
Maru glared at him, eyes glowing very slightly. "You are with the man that took my powers," he said darkly. "What are you? Who are you?"
The figure stopped at the end of the stern and chuckled. "True, I am with him," he admitted. "But I won't tell you who I am."
"Why not?" asked Figment, drawing a hand.
"Because I am simply..." The figure turned around and gazed at them with that dark mask. "...Indecipherable."
"Indecipherable...?" Maru repeated, muttering.
"You're so small, yet you think you can fight me?" the figure scoffed. "Hah! How droll. Regardless, make one move..." Maru stopped, having reached behind his back for Iso's ball. "...and her life is forfeit."
Maru grimaced, bringing his empty hand out again. "You cowardly..."
"You're calling me a coward? You think that you can make your way through anything with a bit of faith, huh?" He sounded like he was sneering. "You act so mature, yet you refuse to accept reality...how childish and cowardly. You belong with this girl."
Maru growled, clenching his Keyblade tightly. "You...!"
"Yeah! It's true!" Penny interjected. "Faith will make things right!"
The figure looked down at her. "Penny. Do you really believe that," he asked gently. "You've been orphaned for your whole life. Nobody's given you a second glance." Penny stopped fighting and looked up at him with eyes that grew wider and wider. "All the kids around you get taken by new parents, but you get left alone. And now when you get taken by someone, it's a kidnapping. You're forced to go down into a deep, scary hole to find a treasure for 'Auntie Medusa', and she yells at you when you bring up priceless gems."
"~STOP IT!~" roared Elliott, stamping a foot. Smoke was starting to come from his mouth, face contorted in a rage that frightened Figment and alarmed Maru. "~Penny! Don't listen to him!~"
"Oh, but you know it's true, don't you," the figure chuckled.
Penny closed her eyes and looked down solemnly. "...Yeah..." she said quietly. "It's true..." Her grip on Teddy was loosening.
The figure gazed down at her, her reflection visible in his mask, and hissed, "Nobody likes you."
"~SHUT UP‼~" erupted Elliott, a few flames darting from his mouth. He started to charge, but Maru and Figment grabbed and held him back.
"Elliott! Don't! He'll hurt Penny if we try to stop him!" Maru reasoned, grunting against the large dragon's strength. "We can't do anything!" He glared at the figure. "You brought us out here for something. What is it?"
The figure laughed. "Nothing," he said. "I just wanted you to see how futile your little 'quest' is." He used one hand to reach behind him and pull out...a pokéball. "Come, Exexitt," he commanded, lobbing it. Maru noticed the ball was entirely clear, although you couldn't see what was inside it. It opened with no flash of light, but the pokémon or whatever inside materialized nonetheless.
What appeared before them was a short, strange, plant-like creature. It was colored white and silver. It appeared to bear three, knobby, odd legs. A few antennae-like things stuck out from it, each ending in what appeared to be a leaf. Two of these "leaves" were red, and one on either side of these had a symbol akin to a heart and a cross on it. And, of course, it was normal-sized—meaning it was bigger than the party. Maru gasped at it. "What is that? A Nobody?" he asked.
"Somewhat," the figure answered. Penny was looking at it in horror, trying to get away from it. He pointed. "Now! Exexitt! Take this little girl's pain-ridden heart and unleash the darkness within!" (He pronounced this strange word "ex-egg-ZEET")
Maru widened his eyes. "You son of a—!" he gaped. He let go of Elliott (who began barreling towards them) and began charging with him. "He was gonna hurt her anyway!"
The exexitt turned to the humans and extended a pair of white vines.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Miss Bianca muttered, scowling up at the figure. She and Bernard scampered as fast as they could up the dress. The vines kept getting closer to Penny, the tips beginning to glow.
"HELP!" Penny screamed.
"You're too late, Maru," the figure gloated, looking at the approaching party.
"But we aren't!" Bernard objected as he and Miss Bianca reached the hand still holding onto Penny. Together, they opened their mouths, showing their long teeth, and champed down onto his fingers.
The figure cringed and howled in pain, dancing back and letting Penny go, shaking his arm. The mice flew off and Penny instantly ducked the vines that had shot where her chest had been a second before. She ran as fast as she could to the other side of the balcony, putting her back against the pilot-house. The mice soon came over to her.
Elliott saw this, wide-eyed and motionless, and bugled victoriously. "~Well-done, Bernard and Miss Bianca!~" he cheered, pumping an arm.
Maru breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close..." He looked at the creature and narrowed his eyes, grabbing his Monster Ball. "C'mon, Iso, let's go!"
Iso appeared as usual. However, as soon as he saw the enemy before him (who had turned to face the new threat), he began to snarl and growl deeply, getting into his battle position.
"You...!" They turned to see the figure stomping back over to them. "I'll exterminate you vermin for that!" He stopped as he saw Iso and crossed his arms. "So...we're going to settle this the old-fashioned way, huh?" he asked. He noticed the ball in Maru's hand. "What an interesting Light Ball..."
"Light Ball?" Maru repeated, raising an eyebrow as he looked at the Monster Ball.
The figure pointed. "Very well, then. I challenge you to a battle, Maru! Whoever's pokémon falls first must fight, himself!"
Maru tossed his Keyblade up, dismissing it. 'A Slasher-style battle...' "Sounds good to me!" he accepted. He looked at Elliott. "Elliott, I know you wanna cream this scumbag, but this is a formal battle. To interrupt it and target the Trainer him- or herself is contemptable."
Elliott looked at Penny. "~No one should say things like that and get away with it.~" He turned back and lowered his face to Maru's, eyes narrowed. "~Kick his ass, Maru,~" he growled quietly, nodding and dismissing his armor.
Maru raised his eyebrows at the swear. "Figment, I can't repeat that with children around," he said without even seeing the purple dragon open his mouth. The Trainer looked back at the figure. "Who goes first?"
"You," the figure gestured.
Maru nodded and took a deep breath. Then, he pointed, commanding, "Iso! Start off with Dragon Claw!"
Rage blistering his visage, Iso roared with a bit more vehemence this time and began to charge, reeling back his arm.
"Dodge and use Magical Leaf," countered the figure calmly.
Exexitt leapt out of the way, pumping its three legs and flying up. It made no sound. As it seemed to hover, it whipped its head at Iso and sent huge multicolored leaves at him. "Brace yourself!" Maru called, but Iso could barely look up in time before the guaranteed-hit attack struck. His Heartless-Pokémon was propelled back quite a ways before skidding. 'I'm going to have to get creative...That thing is bigger than Iso, so its stats are enhanced...' thought Maru furiously.
"Exexitt," the figure pointed, the odd pokémon landing, "Take Down." It rushed off.
Maru raised his eyebrows. 'That's it!' He pointed. "Iso, Low Kick!"
"Then jump and use Vine Whip instead!"
Exexitt dodged Iso's kick and sprang up, soaring high. Suddenly, Maru felt something within himself as he looked at Iso. Iso's eyes flashed at the same time as the feeling. 'A chance...?' Maru pointed. "Grab!"
As far ahead as Exexitt was, Iso's long arms were, indeed, long. Iso grabbed it with all the strength that his silvery forearms and black paws could give, a look of burning hatred in his eyes, and dug his talons and tail into the deck, fighting against the giant plant's momentum. With a roar, he held on and made it slam to the floor, causing a great deal of damage from its size. The figure started. "What...? Get up, Vine Whip!"
Maru smirked. "Looks like Low Kick worked," he mused. He pointed. "Quick, Fly!"
Iso sprang up, spreading his wings, pulling a loop. However, suddenly, halfway into it, his paws exploded. Iso yelped in pain, paws smoking, but kept on his path...with glowing eyes as he entered Hyper Mode. He dodged the vines that Exexitt was sending as it got up.
"What the—?" Maru started, his turn to be shocked. 'And dammit, Hyper Mode again!'
"Thorn Spore," the figure stated with a chuckle. "An Ability that damages any pokémon that grab Exexitt." He pointed. "Hurry and whip it, Exexitt!"
"Every rosebush has its thorns, I guess..." muttered Figment.
"Iso!" Maru watched as Exexitt flailed its vines around. Iso tried dodging, but eventually he got struck down and away, flying off. He righted himself and growled. Maru tried again, "Iso! Snap out of it!" Iso merely roared and tried an aerial Shadow Rush.
The figure thrust out his hand. "Time to end this!" he declared. He slowly dropped his hand, bowing his masked head. In a quiet voice, he ordered, "Sinister Sundown."
Immediately, Exexitt disappeared. The Heartless-Pokémon bowled past, then air-braked to a halt as he realized he missed. He looked wildly around, then roared in agony as, suddenly, a rain of silver-white energy bullets hailed from the air around him. One big bullet struck him from behind, sending the poor guy flying away. He landed with a skidding halt in front of Maru. Behind him, Exexitt landed neatly in front of the figure, who chuckled. "That's an attack unique to Nobody Pokémon," he explained with a dark tone. "It's super-effective on Heartless."
Instead of listening, however, Maru was running to Iso. "Iso! Are you alright?" he asked, putting a hand on his arm. Iso's face was screwed up in pain, and he was breathing hard. Maru felt his heart beating faint in his proud chest and looked very worried—both for the only other pokémon around and for the battle, though mostly for the former. "C'mon! Are you just going to let that thing do that to you?" he coaxed, resting his hand on Iso's chest. "You can't let a Nobody defeat you! That's worse than anything, since you'd be defeated by absolutely nothing!"
Still, his eyes remained shut.
The figure chuckled. "I think it's unable to battle," he said, taking a step.
At those words, something clicked. Iso's eyes shot open, and his red aura wavered. Maru grinned. "Iso! Let's go!" he cried, and the aura snapped—leaving a black aura so faint, it was almost non-existent. 'His aura...!'
'His Heart Gauge is completely empty!' Navi gasped from Maru's collar.
Slowly, Maru stepping back,Iso got up to his feet. Looked up at the around 4' Nobody-Pokémon. And, instead of roaring, merely whispered one thing:
"Terrone."
~Author's Note~
Cliffhanger, mwah-hah-haaaah! ...Well, alright, not like you don't know what's coming if you read the original story. Sorry for recycling the battle against Cardixa, especially given the huge difference in size this time, but I don't have much time. Most of my comments will be on the other chapter. But I'll just say one thing here: The battle against Brutus and Nero was probably one of the hardest parts of this entire episode. Oh, yeah, I should probably explain how I'm dividing things up:
- Chapters are chapters, like this is chapter 10. Each chapter's title is marked with one or more letters depending on who's focused on in it, then the number of the Piece(s). It can contain any number of focus switches.
- Pieces are basically the "real" chapters. Each Piece usually covers a full episode for a party (the parties being Ash, Maru, or one of the cheer squads), but if, say, all three parties don't end up doing much that day, the whole shebang ends up being one Piece—Chapter 8 comes to mind. Sometimes, two important things happen in the same Piece to different parties, but only if the Piece doesn't stretch across too many chapters. This is why Ash's first episode is combined with the EBA episode soon after. (Read: I haven't thought this out entirely.) It's also why I'm keeping Ash's episode in the same Piece as Maru's today—it's very short compared to Maru's chapter.
- Episodes are pretty much the events of a full world visit (as in the games) or a mission for the cheer squads. They can take anywhere from one to six (though I hope not, this time) chapters in length, going across multiple days. Most of Maru's and, when he gets going, Ash's episodes will take multiple chapters, but if I can help it, the cheer squads' episodes won't take more than one each. That said, I may or may not add them to the same Piece as the directly previous episode. (i.e., I may or may not have them share Piece 5 after we wrap up Maru's chapter next; I probably won't.) Episodes sometimes intersect, such as the first cheer squad episode and Maru's Nightsky City episode.
- Days are, well, days. I've now added days to the previous chapters. I only mark the start of a new day once, regardless of how many times I switch parties. These act as reminders for what day it is since Maru's quest to restore his powers began. The events described in this fic all happen simultaneously on the same day, and it can be hard to keep track of who does what when, sometimes. At least for me. And if the author's confused, then he's doing it wrong—I mean he's fail—I MEAN you'll probably get confused. A day can span multiple Pieces, though sometimes one Piece is a full day, such as Chapter 8. When a day changes, I may or may not give you a cliffhanger by interrupting one character's episode to go to another's.
Anyway, all that said, whatcha think of my doing the random-party-member-conversation-at-save-disc thing? It's fluff, but I find it amusing. And I'm mostly writing this for fun (heck, aren't all fanfictions just for fun?), so yeah.
8D OMAKE 8D
*FerreTrip is writing the next chapter.*
FT: *writing* . . .naive|
FT: *writing* . . .naïve |
FT: *thinking* Good, it's an auto-correct wor—
*OpenOffice red-squiggly-underlines it*
FT: ...lolwut