Scuttle Town, Mermaid Falls
Last time, Philia, Flair, Samson & Shantae were in pursuit of the thief that took a piece of a defense mechanism of Scuttle Town, the Dynamo. When they arrived at the far end of Mermaid Falls, past the factory, they ended up encountering the thief and an accomplice; Gilgamesh, and the girl Philia recognized in the previous world.
"I've been waiting for this moment..." he stated, taking a step in front of the woman he was talking to. He hopped onto one foot, his left palm thrust out in front of him, while he readied his naginata behind him. "Philiaaaaa! I have been waiting a thousand years for our fated reunion! My eternal rival!"
"Gilgamesh?!" Philia addressed the man in front of her. She then frowned as she added, "It's only been over a year since we last met!"
"You know this weirdo?" Shantae asked.
"Yeah." she answered, "Gilgamesh and I have a bit of history."
"Only a bit. We sparred with one another on more than one occasion, twice being one-on-one, with you just barely coming out on top!" he explained, "Hence, I have declared you my eternal rival!"
Flair went closer to Philia as she whispered, "Does that mean he's not from this world?"
"Clearly." she answered, before raising her voice as she asked, "But what I don't understand is how you ended up here?"
"Oh, you want to know, don't you?" Gilgamesh asked, excited on the idea of explaining, "It was a long and perilous journey to reach this point, filled with all sorts of unusual sights, many foes to be vanquished, and-."
"Unnecessary for the situation." the woman interrupted, causing Gilgamesh to form a deadpanned expression on his face, "Now, we must initiate our trade. Hand over the dark crystal."
"No way! That belongs to us!" Shantae argued, "Now you give it back! Along with Bolo's flail!"
"Sorry, young lady, but I need Enkidu back, and she has it!" Gilgamesh retorted. pointing his naginata to the woman in the coat.
"Who?!" Samson asked.
"His Star Shard." Philia answered. She looked to the woman, who dug into her coat, before pulling out the said stone that was similar to Philia's, but it looked more intact, and it was still painted in a luminous green color.
"Only if I get the dark crystal from you." The woman told Gilgamesh, "Since I was the one who discovered the shard and suggested the transaction, it is only reasonable that I'd get what I desire first."
"But I dropped it by accident! It was mine in the first place!" the red-hooded man counter-argued, "Why do you even need the crystal in the first place. It has some creepy energy seeping out of it."
"Yeah, why do you need the shard?" Shantae asked, the woman, "Just who are you, anyway?"
"My name is of no consequence in this situation." she answered.
"It does to me." Philia argued.
"Same for me!" Flair declared, "What did you do with Carol?!"
"We demand answers, now!" Samson roared, raising his tendrils menacingly.
The woman looked at the situation, and massaged her head. "Analyzing the desires for each party." She told herself, "Party known as Gilgamesh desires Enkidu, which is currently in my possession. Party which contains the wielder of the Keyblade requests a flail owned by Bolo, which is apparently in Gilgamesh's possession. They also require information about my name and the location of one 'Carol' from me, which is not necessary, nor do I know this 'Carol'. They also request the dark crystal, currently in Gilgamesh's possession, which counteracts my request, which is for the same shard. Calculating best choice given the situation..."
"She's...very analytical." Shantae stated.
"And speaking very robotic-like." Philia muttered, mentally asking, 'What is her deal? Just who is she, really?'
"What do we do?" Flair asked, "I don't think there's a good way out of this."
"I don't know." Philia answered, watching the mystery woman, whose eyes seem to be glowing with numbers scrolling upwards, calculating a solution.
(Insert 'Catch the Moment' Amalee cover)
Music intro
(In the darkness, gold coins started to fall into a black darkness, with the words 'A story that takes place during Sword Art Kingdom II: Dimensional Bonds', followed by a blue Star Shard light that bounced about the falling screen, before hitting the center of the screen, and with a burst of light, the reveal the title.)
I sigh, saying that I'm fine with every breath of mine
This regret, it leaves another bitter taste, Yeah
(SAK: Heart's Origin Philia started off walking along a path of light in the darkness, the memories of her first adventure showing, her expression going from happy to painful, before stopping as she stops in front of the capsule of the sleeping Sora, before turning as tears fell from her, and she instantly donned the Organization's cloak.)
Why does the sun shine but only when I slip and make a new mistake?
'Cause I hate the feeling it's all a waste
(Philia is running along that path of light, as the many people of her past started to fade away, not remembering about her, with only Riku, Mickey, Naminé, DiZ, and Kairi the remaining people watching her run away. She suddenly found herself on the dirt path of the open grasslands, reaching the crossroad.)
If I could cut away my fate with this blade
I would if that'd let me re-start
But something tells me if that happened
I might not see you there
(Philia turns to one path, where Riku and Mickey in black coats were walking away from, before looking the other way, seeing PHox standing there, before looking behind to see DiZ and Naminé behind her. She looked down to the ground, thinking what the best path is, before Tinker Bell appears, flying in her face, and waving her to the path straight ahead, where Gretinal, Flair, and Samson are standing. Philia smiles as she races towards them. Gretinal points to the path ahead as Philia takes off her Organization coat, unveiling her new attire, with her friends by her side.)
I'm only held by the limit inside my soul
The voice in my heart
I trust it will break the mold that it holds
(Flair summons out her hairpin rapier, stabbing and slashing the Cyber Heartless, before Samson thrust his tendrils at a group in front of them, turning them into dark vapors. Philia flies through the vapor, slashing with her Keydagger, going into her 'Soul Burst: Sora' form, Keyblade in one hand as she tosses up three Summon Charms, which shines to reveal Sly, Sinon, and Tinker Bell in front, her hands held up high)
It will never end;
(The darkened appearance of Maleficent, Pete, Heartless Oberon and Vanitas appear.)
May it never end
(Dr. Tenma and the hooded Tears stand together, with Cyber Heartless and hidden allies behind them appear.)
No matter what's in store
(PHox appears, with fifteen more shadows behind him, as he pulled out his butcher knife weapon, and spun around, swinging it with blood red energy that unveiled his maniacally-enjoying face.)
We must be faster 'cause right now there's no more time
I fear at this rate, the world will leave us behind - And so I
(Philia runs along a starlit path, with the images of Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Mickey, Kirito, Asuna, Yui, Leafa, Recon, and Kairi passing by her, their smiling faces appearing as she passed them, followed by any characters she met since coming to the new dimension, with the rest in black outlines.)
Wonder how long I have left with you, in this life?
There's not a minute we should waste
Catch the moment
(In a dark, rocky environment, Philia and the hooded Tears fought one another in a powerful battle, with Tears striking her back with her greatsword, only for Philia to skid to a halt, before launching back and unleashing an Armor Pierce Dagger Skill that sent Tears flying away. However, she flipped in the air, and landed on a gigantic, shadowed monster, who roared down at Philia, causing her to brace herself.)
So will you seize today with me?
Because it's fleeting, like a dream
Catch the moment
(Philia tightened her grip on her Keydagger as she glared up at the monster, Flair and Samson joining her side, before leaping together at the monster, their bodies glowing a white hue, the Keydagger shining brightly, and she brought it down at the head of the monster. Upon the strike, the scene shifts to the black atmosphere with the falling gold coins, shifting from a top-down view to a face forward view of it falling into a treasure chest with a gold heart emblem on the front, before revealing Philia closing the lid of it, embracing it in her arms, holding it close to her heart, before the heart shine, blinding the scene.)
After a few seconds, the woman blinked, and stated, "Analysis complete. Best solution made based on desires and personality analysis."
"And that is...?" Gilgamesh asked.
The woman pointed to the girls, answering, "You must duel the party that has the Keyblade wielder in it." Everyone apart from her looked confused at this decision.
"Wait, why should WE duel one another?!" Philia demanded, "We have beef with you, as well!"
"Hold on, hold on!" Gilgamesh intervened, turning to her, "I just remembered; You did wield a Keysword before! That must mean you still have one!"
Shantae and Flair looked to Philia, who looked to them, before raising a hand, producing her Lock Breaker Keydagger. "Yeah. It's shorter than Sora's, and more of a dagger than a Key-BLADE. But it is one, nevertheless."
"Ah, I see..." Gilgamesh examined the blade, before proclaiming, "In that case... I demand a rematch with you, Philia! If I win, I will claim that Keysword for myself!"
"Wha- Seriously?!" Philia demanded, whipping her weapon back behind her, "You are seriously letting HER decide what to do?! Don't you want the Star...I mean, Enkidu back?!"
"If you manage to defeat these three, I will choose to hand you over Enkidu first before you give me the dark magic crystal." the woman informed the big brute.
"Well, you heard her." Gilgamesh told Philia, "I will get Enkidu back AND I will claim the Keysword as my own! A victorious reward if there ever was one!"
Philia felt like he was playing into the woman's hands. And the worse part was she didn't think she could negotiate out of the fight.
"If you want a fight, then fine!" Shantae barked, marching right next to Philia's side, "But if we win, we'll be taking back Bolo's flail AND the dark crystal!"
"Is it okay for us to join in?" Flair asked, standing on Philia's other side, "I mean, it is Philia who was called out."
"Doesn't matter, kid. We're involved in this fight, whether we like it or not." Samson told her.
"It doesn't matter how many of you there are. I will claim victory!" Gilgamesh told them, prepared to fight, "Our reunion has led to this very moment! Our rematch will be glorious!"
(Insert 'Prismelody: Class on Big Bridge -C-' from 'World of Final Fantasy OST)
Both parties readied their weapons, while the woman backed away slowly, before she was a good distance. She snapped her fingers, creating a barrier surrounding the combatants area. "Analyzing battle for future data." she told herself, watching the fight closely.
Gilgamesh charged forward, unleashing a double thrust with his naginata at the girls, specifically Philia. Shantae and Flair leapt to one side while Philia blocked as best as she could with her weapon, blocking the first one, but got stabbed by the second, knocking her back. "Philia!" Shantae shouted, unleashing a fireball spell at Gilgamesh, only for him to swat it away with his outstretched weapon, startling Shantae. He looked confident, before getting struck by Flair's rapier a couple times, causing him to double back.
"I'm getting the hang of this." Flair stated, looking at the hairpin rapier.
"Heads up, Filia!" Samson called out, causing the girl to look up and barely avoid a slash from Gilgamesh.
"Samson, what did I say about the name?" Flair questioned him. The parasite only huffed in response.
Philia got back in the fight, catching Gilgamesh when his guard was down, striking with her Keydagger. He retaliated by spinning his naginata in front of him like a propeller, creating a barrier that knocked Philia's weapon to one side, allowing him to retaliate with a strike of his own, knocking her away. She quickly retaliated with a Thunder spell, raining a lightning bolt down onto him to shock him.
"What's the matter, Philia? You are weaker than you were before?" Gilgamesh asked, "You are hardly the worthy rival I remember back in the castle!"
"And you're a lot weaker than before, too." Philia stated, making sure Shantae was a distance away, before asking, "What, traveling to another dimension also weakened you like it did for me?"
"What are you talking about? Travel dimensions?" Gilgamesh asked, looking confused, "I have no idea what happened. One day, Enkidu took me somewhere, and all of a sudden, I went through turbulent energy. I feared I was getting pulled back into the Void again! Instead, my strength was sapped away as a result. I can't even summon the weapons of the world in my state of being."
'So he ended up getting a reset like I did in this dimension.' she understood, dashing forward, "Meaning...we're in the same boat!" Gilgamesh did a double slash with his naginata, but Philia avoided the attack, getting in close, and slashed a couple times at him. This was followed by Shantae sneaking in from behind, and whipped him in the rear with her ponytail, making him jump. He retaliated by doing a spin with his blade, causing both girls to get sent flying.
"Hairball!" Samson roared, as he got himself and Flair into a front wheel spin, going at Gilgamesh and grinding into him. They backed off as he regained himself, and Samson thrust four tendrils at him, only for him to spin his naginata as a shield to parry off the attacks.
"Weakened, I may be. But I am more than a match for all of you!" Gilgamesh told the three girls,
"Keep telling yourself that." Philia answered, before the three girls came at him again.
Gilgamesh was definitely weaker than he was back in Castle Oblivion. However, he was still putting the trio on their toes with his skills with his naginata, slashing, spinning, twirling, and thrusting it at the girls. He was a physical brawler, just like Flair and Samson, but he was able to parry off attacks that were shot directly at him.
'A close to mid-range fighter, and he is physically stronger than all of us.' Philia analyzed, avoiding a slash from Gilgamesh, 'But he is vulnerable between attacks. Plus, I haven't even used my full potential!'
"Let's call in some help!" Philia declared, pulling out a summon medallion, raising it high, "Summon: Peacock!" In a cutscene, in the streets of New Meridian, Philia stepped back as a black hole appeared, with Peacock popping out of it, with her crew's bandwagon popping out, with the said crew joining her side. She tipped her hat to Philia, before they prepared to fight.
"Ring ring! Peacock's Destruction Service, rolling in!" the Anti-Skullgirl weapon greeted, "You certainly called me in quickly!"
"I felt like your brand of destruction was needed here." Philia answered, looking to Gilgamesh, "Think you can help take down this guy with us?"
"Soitenly!" she answered, pulling out her pistol, while her summoner backed off to her team.
"Where did they come from?" Shantae asked.
"Peacock's a friend back home." Flair explained, "She's helped us out quite a lot recently."
"Still a crazy thing." Samson huffed.
"Trying to defeat me with numbers? I thought you were better than this!" Gilgamesh told Philia, before thrusting his naginata at Peacock. However, this was blocked by a raised stop sign from the cartoony character. As she started shooting her, Philia got the instinctive ability on knowing what to do with the summon. She turned to Andy Anvil, and using the magic of her Keyblade, she warped him up into the air, before he crashed down onto Gilgamesh, damaging him quite a bit. Andy came back to Philia's side as she followed this up with George Bomb, dropping him down onto the same target, causing it to explode upon impact.
"Lets give Peacock support!" Flair called out, going in with Shantae as they distracted him alongside Peacock, while Philia continued to drop Peacock's crew onto Gilgamesh, damaging him over and over again. He was getting overwhelmed by their assault, but didn't give up as they fought.
"This bozo needs to sleep with the fishes!" Peacock told Philia, as they performed their final attack, suddenly putting Gilgamesh in a knapsack, before the two girls and Peacock's crew started to stomp and pound on top of him. They backed off as George Bomb continued to whack him with a bat. Peacock lit a cigarette as she tossed it back, while Philia pointed her weapon back behind her and shot a Fire spell. Both the cigar and spell connected with George, causing a big explosion, while the pair gave off evil grins in the shadow of the explosion.
"Catch ya later, Philly." Peacock told Philia, raising a hand to her. She tried to take it, but Peacock pulled it upwards, pinching her nose with the other, and created another black hole to dive into, as she and her crew vanished.
Gilgamesh was grimacing as he got back up onto his feet, stumbling backwards as he propped himself up with his weapon. The three girls gathered together, their weapons still out and at the ready. The barrier surrounding them suddenly vanished.
"Do you give up, yet?" Philia asked.
"No fair!" Gilgamesh grimaced, emotionally still full of life, despite his state, "You only beaten me because you had numbers! This battle doesn't count!"
"What do you mean 'it doesn't count'?" Shantae asked angrily, "We had to give it all we have against you! You lost, so we get Bolo's flail and the dark magic crystal back!"
"Fork 'em over!" Samson demanded, waving a tendril to usher in their prize.
Gilgamesh grumbled, not wanting to admit it. Still, he had to own his end of the bargain, digging into his armor, before pulling out a flail weapon, tossing it to the ground in front of the girls. Shantae raced forward, and grabbed the flail in both hands, glad it was back in her possession.
"And the crystal?" Philia reminded Gilgamesh. He dug into the other side of his armor, digging for the crystal. However, he suddenly noticed it was not on his person, feeling all about his body. "What's wrong?" the treasure huntress asked.
"The crystal! It's gone!" he exclaimed.
The girls were stunned, before Samson barked, "Don't lie to us!"
"I am not! At least not this time!" Gilgamesh answered.
Philia suddenly thought of something, and looked outside the barrier. Sure enough to her thoughts, the woman was there, absorbing magic energy from the said crystal, gathering it into an open hand. "She has it!" she accused her.
Everyone looked to the woman as Flair asked, "When did she get it?"
"Give it back!" Shantae barked as she and Philia charged forward, going after the woman. She noticed this, and stopped her gathering of darkness, dismissing the orb of darkness as she summoned out a claymore weapon, blocking Philia and Shantae's combined assault.
"Mission has been completed." the woman stated, holding up the crystal, "Acquirement of darkness from this world has been achieved.
Philia growled. The woman's weapon was very powerful, and she handled it so easily. As she was about to get around the weapon, she saw Shantae perform a belly dance. In an instant, she transformed into a purple-furred monkey, climbing onto the claymore, jumping over it, and with a magical dash attack, she snatched the crystal out of her hands, turning back to human form a good ways away from her.
"Nice one, Shantae!" Philia cheered.
"She made a monkey out of her." Samson chuckled, with Flair giggling at the joke.
The woman turned to Shantae, pointing her claymore at her as she demanded, in a monotonous voice, "Return that to me."
"I don't think so!" the half-genie answered, "My uncle needs this!"
"If you want it, you will have to go through us!" Philia growled, getting the woman's attention as she and Flair looked ready to fight.
This was interrupted by Gilgamesh as he pushed Flair and Samson aside, demanding, "Wait! What about Enkidu! I want him given back to me!"
The woman looked to him, before sighing, and pulling out Gilgamesh's Star Shard, saying, "Despite how brief I had it, our transaction was settled. I claimed the dark crystal. Thus, Enkidu is returned to you." She tossed the shard to him. He put his naginata away, catching the shard, which almost bounced off of his hands hand he not made a fumbling catch for it.
He raised the shard high, proclaiming, "At last! Enkidu has returned to me! Now, to claim the keysword!" He turned to Philia, and was about to go towards her. It seems like losing their fight didn't dampen his goals to claim the weapon.
"Stop it, Gilgamesh!" Philia growled, causing him to freeze up, "You lost our fight! You have no right to it!"
"That's because you cheated!" Gilgamesh argued as Philia stepped away, going towards the woman.
"Now, to the party with the chosen wielder of the Keyblade..." the woman continued, addressing the heroines.
"Stop calling us that!" Philia argued, "I have a name, and it is Philia! I am more than just the weapon I wield!"
The woman paused on these words, before continuing, "Very well, party with Philia. I will let you off with this warning; Do not get in the way of my mission."
"And what would that mission be?" Philia asked cautiously.
"That is irrelevant." she answered.
"But..." Flair intervened, "How would we know if we were getting in your way if we don't know what it is?"
'Good thinking, Flair/kid.' Philia and Samson mentally complimented her.
The woman paused for a few seconds, thinking. Finally, she answered, "Logical reasoning. Very well then." She stabbed her claymore into the ground in front of her, placing both hands on the handle of her weapon as she started, "My name is Tears. My mission is to gather darkness from multiple worlds for my father in order to achieve his goal."
"So...her name is Tears." Philia muttered, finally getting a name, along with her goal.
"Multiple worlds?" Shantae questioned, "What does she-"
"What is your father's goal?" Flair asked, "And what does Carol have to do with it?"
"I am unfamiliar with who this 'Carol' you speak of is, nor do I have any need to give you any more information." Tears told them, "I already predict you will be an interference. I shall stop you with these." She raised one hand upwards, and a couple of High Crowd Heartless appeared before her.
"More of those dancing Heartless?!" Flair asked.
(Insert 'GET READY' from Tribe Cool Crew OST)
The music started up and the two Heartless readied their bodies. Without saying a word to them all, Tears created a dark portal, and vanished into it. The moment she vanished, the two Heartless started their dance, their stomps and punches causing dark shockwaves around, making everyone else brace themselves.
"What...is with their dancing?!" Shantae grimaced, enduring the dancing, "It's making my head hurt!"
"Waaa!" Gilgamesh exclaimed, stumbling backwards from the shockwaves, but regaining his footing, "That lady summoned these formidable monsters?"
"Oh, right. I forgot you were here..." Philia muttered.
"I've been staring at him the whole time!" Samson argued, seeing as Flair's back was turned to him all this time.
"I have Enkidu back, but I cannot have my rematch with my rival until these beasts are gone!" Gilgamesh stated, putting the Star Shard away, and readying his blade.
"Wait, Gilgamesh!" Philia shouted, "Those Heartless cannot be beaten by normal means!"
"Normal mean?" he questioned, "Are you saying they are too powerful for you to defeat?"
"That's not what I-!"
Gilgamesh cackled, saying, "So there are monsters that are too much for my rival! Very well then. I shall defeat them in your stead! When I do, I shall take the Keysword as a reward!"
"Would you listen to me?!" Philia asked him. He didn't, and instead charged at the High Crowds as they continued to dance, surprisingly pushing well through the shockwaves they unleashed. He jumped and dropped down naginata-first to the Heartless. However, the moment he got close, they created a shockwave so strong, he was sent flying backwards, flipping uncontrollably in the air.
At the peak of his flight, his pocket where the Star Shard was started to glow. "Enkidu?" he asked, "Why are you acting on your own?! I didn't ask to leave! Stop! I must finish these monsters, and claim the Keysword!" His words were pointless, as his Star Shard glowed brighter and brighter, until he was enveloped in it, turning into a ball of light that shot into the sky like a comet, bouncing about until he vanished into the atmosphere.
"Well...that's one way to get rid of a nuisance!" Philia stated, before another shockwave got her attention back to the Heartless, "But now we need to deal with these!"
Suddenly, the ground started to shake all about them, not from the shockwaves of the High Crowds, but from what felt like something from the waters around them. "Now what's going on?!" Flair asked.
The water started to bubble up nearby Shantae, and she looked as several mermaid suddenly popped out of the water, enraged by the music unleashed by the Heartless. However, there was a large bubbling area in the center of all the mermaids. There was a geysers of water as from the depth came a gigantic mermaid. Like the others, she was green-skinned, and she had long dark blue hair fanning all the way down her back to her hips, a pair of jellyfish hair ornaments, a red gem on her forehead, fish fin ears, and her eyes were red and demented. Her figure was curvaceous and endowed, a pale blue strapless seashell bra with a gem fastener, gills on her waist and arms, light blue fins around her waist that looked belt-like, pink fins underneath them, and a dark green fish tail.
"Oh, no!" Shantae gasped, see her enraged expression.
"What is that?!" Flair demanded.
"One HUGE mermaid!" Philia answered.
Shantae scampered away as fast as she could, getting away from the giant mermaid, around the High Crowds, and to the other girls. "That's the mermaid queen!" she explained, "Looks like she's gonna go out of control!"
"The High Crowds dancing and music are causing them to go out of control." Philia understood.
"I already faced her once before, and she was not easy to calm down back then!" the half-genie explained, looking to the girls, "Please tell me you know how to stop those dancing monsters!"
"Yes. We have to out-dance them." Philia explained, "With the power I have, I can stop them."
"Wait. We just need to beat them in a dance competition?" Shantae asked.
"More of a 'dance battle', but it's the same thing." Philia corrected.
"Then this is definitely up my alley." Shantae put her hands on her hips, stating, "With my belly dancing, I can definitely beat them!"
"Then let's combine our powers." Philia told her, "Your dance style and mine, plus my powers, and we'll clear them out!"
"I'll step back on this one." Flair spoke up, "I'm not good at dancing, so I might be a hindrance."
"I ain't no dancer, either, kid." Samson added.
"No problem." Philia answered, "I can teach you some other time." She drew a circle with her foot, creating a circle of light, prepping the energy she needed to engage the enemy. She analyzed how much dance energy they needed to defeat them, before nodding in confidence. "Let's give them a show. You ready to dance through the danger, Shantae?"
"Ret-2-Go!" Shantae answered, standing next to her.
"Dance Stage on!" Philia chanted, stomping the ground, creating the field to dance on, with her garments
Stage: A withered stone ruins platform like the stone in the Mermaid Falls, with vines intertwining the columns around them. The Giga Mermaid was right behind them, still enraged, while the other mermaids were in the waters behind and in front of the pair.
Music: 'Dance Through the Danger' by Jake Kaufman
(Instrumental)
(Shantae started to bounce her body to the beat of the music, while Philia had her eyes closed, listening to the feeling of the music. Then, once the music started to pick up, they went into their dance, led by Shantae.)
They say we live in the darkness
They say there's trouble ahead
Every day there's sorrow: today, tomorrow
But I'm dancing instead
(Shantae started to perform her Turkish-style belly-dancing, with Philia watching her dance, seeing her movements, from her hand gestures, her footing positions, and her gyrating hips. She decided that it would be best to match dance styles with her partner, regardless of her dance attire not matching the style. In the last verse, she started to get the feeling of her dance style, and started to join in.)
'Cause I can dance through the danger
The magic flows through my soul
All around, it's seeming in the dream I'm dreaming
A better day
can't be far away
(Philia joined alongside Shantae as she performed the same belly dancing-style. She was rough at first, not matching her at first. However, thanks to her hardcore dance training from the Blossom Bullets, plus the power of the Dance Stage, she was able to quickly synchronize with Shantae.)
So I will dance through the danger
And fly away to the stars
Take my lead and I'll start it to the beat of my heart
I'll never give up in my fight 'til the future is bright
(The two were in sync with one another, with Shantae stating, "Wow! I didn't know you could belly-dance, too!" Philia answered with, "Just watched and learn. But if you want to see how I really dance, let me show you.")
(instrumental)
(Philia stepped to the front of the stage, and started to perform her Blossom Bullets dance style, mixing House, Jerkin' Footwork, and Vogue together, drawing Shantae and all the mermaids attention. "That's a different style!" Shantae noticed. "Go, Philia!" Flair cheered from the sidelines. Her dance was starting to get some of the mermaids out of their rage state, now cheering for the performance. Once she did her solo dance, she backed off next to Shantae, nodding to her as if to say, 'Lets dance together again!')
So we will dance through the danger
Together we'll never fail
We will forge a path to our destiny
I ask you to dance with me, so the world can see
(The pair continued their belly-dance, their skills in full display, as was their beauty. Their enthusiasm and shining hearts of joy were spreading amongst the mermaids, causing them to cheer for the girls. The Giga Mermaid queen was watching them from behind, before she started to grasp her head, the dance of the High Crowds and the girls' dance fighting for control.)
That we can dance through the danger
Together we will set sail
For a time and space with a faster pace
Seeing the world as a happier place
(Philia ended up mixing a bit of her own dance skills into her belly dancing, but making sure they mixed together with Shantae's dance style, creating a greater display of dance energy from their performance. This finally broke the Giga Mermaid free of the High Crowd's control, causing her eyes and jewel on her forehead to turn blue. She smiled as she watched the duo's dance.)
Yes, we can dance through the danger
And fly away to the stars
Come along, don't miss this
'Cause I know that this is our time
(The two girls could see that their dance routine paid off, saving all of the mermaids in the vicinity. "You guys did it!" Flair cheered. "Nice going." Samson added. The two girls continued their dance until the last verse, in which they struck a pose as the music faded away, with Shantae standing on one foot with an arm raised, while Philia bent over, her hand on the knee of her left, stretched-out, planted foot.)
Philia gathered up the dance energy from their performance on one foot, before stomping the ground, sending the energy as a wave at the High Crowds, throwing them off their feet, turning into darkness that faded away. The mermaids all cheered for the dance, while the Giga Mermaid queen smiled as she lowered her body into the water, reaching the upper part of her chest.
"That worked out incredibly well!" Shantae stated.
"It's always a lot of fun." Philia agreed, "Plus, now I've learned a bit of belly-dancing. Might add that to my routines."
"I can't help but feel a little left out." Flair muttered, looking sad, "I would like to learn to dance like you guys."
"When we're done here, I can teach you how to dance." Philia assured her.
"It would be pretty useful to learn it, I guess." Samson muttered.
"No need to be coy about it, Samson." the Key-dagger user stated, only getting a huff in response from the parasite.
"Well, I'm just glad that we saved the queen again." Shantae noted, looking at the said giant mermaid, before pulling out what they got from Gilgamesh & Tears, "And we even got back Bolo's flail and the Dark magic crystal. I'd say we cleared this whole thing up."
Philia approached the queen, bowing to her as she said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble. I hope this doesn't happen again to you." The Giga Mermaid shook her head, smiling as if to say it was alright. Philia looked relieved that she was okay, but suddenly jolted when she lifted her chest above water, nearly in her face. Her figure was jealous-inducing, and Philia was no exception. She turned to the other girls, looking red in the face as she stated, "Let's head back to town again."
"Sure. I know a teleportation station ahead of us." Shantae told the group, and she led the others to the said platform. Once they stepped onto it, magic enveloped them, and they were whisked away from the scene.
They made their way back to Scuttle Town once more, making their way back to Shantae's uncle's home again, where her uncle Mimic, Sky, Bolo, and Rottytop were waiting for them. They delivered both the dark crystal and Bolo's flail to their respective parties.
"Thanks for getting this back." Bolo thanked Shantae, putting his flail away, "But next time, it will be ME who gets something back for YOU. Maybe your hairband or something?"
"Hate to break it to you, but I don't lose stuff that easily." Shantae pointed out.
"Yeah. She isn't as bad as you, Bolo." Sky argued.
"Oh, come on! That was unnecessary!" the boy argued.
"Now now..." Mimic intervened, holding the dark crystal in his hands, "What matters is that we have the last component ready." He went and placed the crystal back where it belongs on top of the Dynamo machine. He then checked every part of the machine, stating, "Alright. Everything is in place. I even crafted the hamster wheel while you were gone." He pointed at a device that looked like a crank should be at. Instead, there was an iron hamster wheel in that spot, the outer part of it looking like a gear for the mechanism.
"Why would you make one of those?" Samson asked.
"You'll find out." Mimic answered, turning to the zombie girl, "Rottytop, is the hamster ready?"
"Hamster?" Philia and Flair echoed, looking to the zombie girl.
"Right here!" Rotty answered, pulling out the said hamster. Unlike a regular hamster, this one looked rotten on parts of his skin and fur.
"That's no ordinary hamster, is it?" Philia asked.
"Of course not." Rotty answered, "This is a zombie hamster. It never tires out, no matter how much it runs!"
"A perfect energy source." Mimic stated.
Philia, Flair, and Samson looked to Shantae. "Is this really a good idea?" Philia asked, "I mean, I shouldn't doubt your uncle, but..."
"I'm a little trepidacious about this, too." she admitted, "But if it works, it works."
Mimic placed the hamster into the wheel, before telling everyone, "Time to gather 'round! Let's fire this up and see what happens!"
"Finally!" Bolo stated as the teens all gathered together around the machine, with Shantae front and center in the group.
"If this works, it'll help protect your town against monsters, right?" Philia asked.
"Bet that would also work against Heartless, too!" Flair added.
"We're ready, Uncle!" Shantae spoke up.
"I hope it explodes!" Rottytops wished.
"Don't say that!" Samson argued.
"Here goes!" Mimic spoke up. He coaxed the hamster to start moving, who began running on the iron hamster wheel. This caused the gears to shift, causing the magnet and crystals on top to activate, the energy surging from it. The team were in awe of the machine working.
"So far, so good." Mimic muttered.
"It just might work!" Flair stated happily.
Suddenly, the machine started to smoke and spark, black and purple electricity arching about it. The gears were wobbling about, and moving faster, uncontrollably. Everybody looked startled, slowly backing off from it.
"I don't like the looks of that." Mimic noticed.
"Maybe you'd better shut it down, Uncle!" Shantae suggested in a panic.
"I have a really bad feeling about this..." Philia muttered, while Tink poked her head out of Philia's clothes, looking nervous.
"There's some bad magic coming from that!" Tink noticed.
"Too dangerous! Look out!" Uncle told the group.
Suddenly, a surge of darkness shot from the machine into the air, before it arced and came back down...right on top of Shantae! She screamed in pain as she was caught in the darkness, unable to do anything.
"Shantae!" Philia shouted.
"She's trapped!" Sky exclaimed.
"What'll we do?!" Bolo demanded.
"I can't switch it off!" Mimic called out.
"Samson!" Flair shouted, bending her head down as Samson shot his tendrils to Shantae, trying to pull her out. However, the energy repelled his tendrils.
"I can't reach her!" he exclaimed.
Out of nowhere, there was sudden feminine haughty laugh, causing everyone to look around. Something abruptly fell from the rooftop, in between the teens and Shantae. She was a woman with the look of a pirate. She had light purple skin and an hourglass figure. Her eyes were red, and her purple hair was tucked underneath her red and purple pirate captain's hat, which had a skull and crossbones on it, red worn-out ribbons going down the back of it, and golden looped earrings. Her attire was skimpy, composed of a purple bra that was skull-shaped in the front, accentuating her bosom, exposing her cleavage and midriff, purple harem pants that were a lot like Shantae's, with a bone-like top to it, a broad brown belt with a gold buckle, purple heels, and purple and red cuffs with gold cufflinks.
"Where did she come from?!" Flair asked as the newcomer made an ojou-sama laugh.
"Dunno!" Philia answered, mentally noting, 'But I can definitely feel the darkness in her heart. She has to the be the pirate the others were talking about; Risky Boots!' Tinker Bell hid herself away in Philia's pocket.
"Just look at you poor, confused simpletons!" Risky Boots addressed the group.
"This is your doing, isn't it?!" Mimic barked, "If you harm my little girl, I'll-!"
"You'll do what? Build another machine to stop me?" Risky asked, amused, "You really are an old fool!"
"You're Risky Boots, aren't you?!" Philia demanded, prepared to fight, "What did you do to Shantae and the Dynamo?!"
"Oh, look! You have more friends to be responsible for what I got you to do." Risky told Mimic.
"What?!" Flair asked, startled by what she said.
"You'd think I'd return the blueprints willingly?!" the pirate asked.
Philia was confused, before remembering what Sky said when they first met.
(Flashback) "I mean, Risky Boots tried to steal the blueprints before. They must be dangerous if she is trying to take them."
"But she gave them back once I destroyed her ship." Shantae stated, looking confident at that note.
"You...you swapped blueprints!" Mimic realized.
"That's right!" Risky answered, "You've been building the machine to MY specifications! Your design was flawed from the start! It's true that your Dynamo is capable of generating great quantities of electricity. But as a byproduct, it also produces a significant counterflow of negative energy with each rotation! So I simply altered the plans to turn that negative energy into dark magic!"
"Then...that would mean that Shantae...!" Philia realized, turning to the petrified half-genie, the machine's power already taking affect onto her. Her skin turned the same light purple as Risky, her hair turned red, her gold ornaments turned silver, and her pants and shoes turned purple. The darkness from the machine stopped, but Shantae fell to her knees, her eyes opening to reveal them to be pure red. Darkness surrounded her body, looking like it was possessing her.
"Why would you do this?!" Philia demanded the pirate.
"An experiment, of course!" Risky replied, "As you can see, I successfully inverted the runt's magic! I've changed her from good to evil!"
"You monster!" Sky growled.
"Let her go!" Bolo demanded.
"Ha! I have no intention of keeping her!" Risky answered, "The runt has served her purpose! Next, I'm going to modify the Dynamo to generate dark magic on a major scale!"
"Generate dark magic on a major scale?!" Philia echoed, "But why?!"
"The power to corrupt a single half-genie is fine, I suppose. But why stop there?" Her expression became malicious as chains from above suddenly came down and connected to the top of the Dynamo, before she finished, "When I can use this machine to reverse the magical polarity of the entire Genie Realm!"
"The Genie Realm?!" Flair repeated.
'Bet that's connected to Shantae's parents, given that she is a half-genie.' Philia mentally noted.
"Impossible!" Mimic gasped as the Dynamo was suddenly carried upwards.
"Not anymore, thanks to all of you!" Risky answered, turning to Philia and Flair, "I have to thank you again for your timely arrival. As a present, I'll let you tell the little brat goodbye for me. Though with all that evil magic coursing through her, I'd say she's more of your problem, now!"
"Why you!" Philia growled, summoning her Key-dagger, and thrusting it at Risky. She jumped out of the way, grabbing the bottom of the Dynamo machine, before flipping herself onto its base. "Ta-ta!" she called out as she and the Dynamo were carried away from view.
"That inhuman fiend!" Mimic growled.
"Forget her!" Bolo argued, seeing Shantae rise to her feet again, "What about Shantae?!"
"Is she really evil?" Rottytop asked.
Just then, Shantae started to chuckle in a low, but sinister tone. "Such incredible power..."
"What do we do?" Flair asked.
"What CAN we do?" Sky followed up.
"I know...what you can do." Shantae answered, getting confused looks from everyone. She suddenly produced dark flames as she bellowed, "YOU CAN ALL SUFFER! YOU CAN SQUIRM LIKE THE PATHETIC MAGGOTS YOU ARE!" She threw the fireballs her friends and family, only for Philia and Flair to produce their weapons, slashing the flames, making them prematurely detonate, but still come out unscathed.
"We have to bring her back to her senses!" Philia told the team.
"But how can we do that?!" Bolo asked.
"You're her friends, right?" Philia asked, "Reach out to her, and pull her out of the darkness!"
"WALLOW IN TORMENT AND PAIN FOREVER IN OBLIVION!" Shantae, or rather Nega-Shantae, bellowed, more flames producing from her hands, "Now BEG! BEG FOR YOUR LIVES!" She unleashed a surge of darkness that surrounded the interior of the building, trapping everyone inside. Mimic, Bolo, Sky, and Rottytops went to the outer parts of the field of darkness, while Philia, Flair, and Samson readied themselves to combat the corrupted half-genie.
Philia and Shantae launched forward as Nega Shantae started to dance, before transforming into a shadow of her monkey form. She leapt high, spinning about and shooting herself at the two, encased in energy. They dodged out of the way, but she didn't stop her pursuit, going after Flair and Samson. "Kid!" Samson barked, using his tendrils to block the attack, but getting pushed back all the same. Shantae came at them a couple more times, eventually breaking their guard, making them phased out for a moment. Just when she went for another blow, Philia unleashed a Blizzard spell to stop her, before going into an Armor Pierce Dagger Skill to push her away, transforming into her human form again.
"You really think you can save the weak version of me?" Nega Shantae asked Philia, while Flair got to her feet, "She is forever swallowed up in darkness, and will be there for all of eternity!"
"Seems like the darkness has a sense of self." Philia growled, "Well, regardless of that, I know she is still deep within you, fighting against the darkness! And we'll make sure to break her free from you!" She thought back to Riku, and when he fell into darkness when Ansem took control of his body. 'If HE could break free of it, then I don't see why Shantae can't!' she mentally finished, before charging forward, with Flair right behind her.
Nega Shantae danced and suddenly disappeared, causing the two to stop and look about. "Above you!" Sky shouted, just as a large shadow appeared underneath them. The girls looked up and made a mad dash out of the way as the evil half-genie became a larger version of the elephant, stomping down to the ground from above. The shockwave threw the pair off their feet.
Samson used his tendrils to give Flair a safe landing before turning to face the detransformed Shantae. "You're gonna pay for that!" Samson growled.
"Banshee!" Flair shouted, entering their mothgirl-like form, and doing a flying dash into Shantae, with rapier in hand. She jabbed her, carrying her with her dash, before getting knocked away when she stopped her attack.
"Nice attack, you two!" Philia shouted, racing in and unleashing a couple Fire spells onto Nega Shantae before she closed the gap, unleashing a combo of slashes, knocking her closer to where Sky was at.
"Shantae, listen. It's me, Sky!" the birdkeeper called to her as she got to her feet, "We've been best friends for as long as I can remember. I know you are confused right now, and that the dark magic has you surrounded. But you've got to fight it! Remember who you really are! Find your loyalty and honesty! Break free of the darkness and follow your heart!" Suddenly, Sky's heart started to resonate with Nega Shantae's, causing her to falter.
"That did the trick!" Philia understood.
"What did?" Samson asked as Philia shot forward and slashed her while she was not able to move.
"I think I get it." Flair understood, "We need to get her over to her friends so they can call out to her."
"Think that will work?" Samson asked.
"We've got to try it!" Flair answered, before joining Philia with her fight against Nega Shantae, who transformed into her mermaid form, using her tail to leap high and shooting bubbles down at Philia, hitting her with a bubble that exploded like a bomb, knocking her away. She tumbled along the ground, but regained herself as Flair passed by her, using a potion to heal herself before pursuing their enemy.
Nega Shantae's primary ability was basically her transformations, using her monkey form to dash at the girls, her mermaid form to shoot magic bubbles from above, or slamming down on them with her elephant form. However, she had other forms, such as her harpy form, which she did dive bombs with her talons outstretched, and her bat form, in which she made everything around her pitch black, with only her glowing eyes visible for the girls to see and evade. She also could dance and teleport about the stage, leaving a lightning bolt where she was at. Philia, Flair, and Samson unleashed their attacks straight back at her, trying to strike her towards her friends.
Finally, they managed to push her towards Rottytops, knocking her off her feet so she could be still for a moment for her. "Shantae..." Rotty started, "I know I can be a rotten friend, and that I mess up a lot. But... I want you to know that I've always believed in you! You're a friend to everyone. Even to someone like me, who everyone else is afraid of. Remember who you really are! Find your kindness and compassion! Break free of the darkness and follow your heart!" The zombie girl's heart resonated with Shantae's, causing the evil version to falter and stumble back, bracing her head.
"It's working!" Philia called out, before getting in with her dagger, making it glow as she unleashed her Cross Edge Dagger Skill, slashing her a couple times to knock her back while she was phased, only to be caught by Samson's tendrils binding her tightly, before slamming her to the ground.
Nega Shantae got back onto her feet, transforming into a harpy again, and started diving at the pair of girls, causing them to dodge out of the way. Flair ended up getting slashed by the attack, causing her to keel over, injured from the attack.
"Flair! Samson!" Philia called out.
Tink suddenly flew out of her best friend's pocket, saying, "Philia, let me in on it! Summon my powers!"
"Okay!" she replied, not questioning her, and just deciding to go along with it. She pulled out the medallion for her friend and raised it up, shouting, "Summon: Tinker Bell!" The energy surged, creating a ring of energy that Tink flew right through, causing her to glow brighter, with pixie dust falling about the field, specifically on Philia. She looked at her body as she started to glitter with the dust, before seeing Tink fly down to her, around her body, making her float off the ground, before maintaining a floating stance a foot above the ground. She settled floating next to Philia's head, ready to work together.
Nega Shantae danced and became a monkey again, before leaping up, spinning in the air, and dashing at Philia. She evaded with her flying powers, body regenerating her stamina. She kept dodging the monkey dash attacks, before she reverted to normal, and started doing aerial slashes and stabs with her weapon, pulling reversal tricks by dashing around behind her, making her evasive and tricky to get away from. Nega Shantae tried to use her teleport lightning to get around her, and Philia did end up struck by the attack, but was able to recover and pursue her. Flair also pursued her, catching up and striking with a hairball technique on her, damaging her.
Philia and Tink finished it up their attack by Tink flying into the sky, disappearing from sight, before Philia turned and saw Hook's pirate ship, glowing gold with pixie dust, flying into the scene, unleashing cannon fire from the deck onto the area in front of her, blasting Nega Shantae with the cannonballs, damaging her heavily, and sending her flying towards Bolo, the last of her friends to call out to her.
"Shantae, you're here." Bolo spoke up, "Look, I know you're just acting weird because of the dark magic inside you. But your uncle is really worried. We're all worried. I know you'd never give up on us, so we won't give up on you! Remember who you really are! Find your strength and courage! Now wake up! Wake up, and fight!" The young man's heart resonated with Shantae's, causing the evil version to falter once more. However, this seem to do the trick, as all three of her friends' resonations with her heart merged together to completely stun her, making her fall to one knee.
"Now it's our turn." Philia told Flair, who nodded in response, with Tink and Samson understanding what needs to be done. The leader turned to Nega Shantae, calling out, "Listen, Shantae. I know we've only met each other just recently, but I can see how strong your heart is. How dedicated you are to doing the right thing. And it shows from your friends, as well."
"You were compassionate with me when I kept goofing up before." Flair added, "Honestly, I know I'm still gonna goof up, being so new to all of this adventuring and stuff. But with Samson, Philia, Tinker Bell, and people like you supporting me, I can keep moving forward!"
"Yeah! If my girl can get through this kind of stuff, there's no way you can't deal with a bit of dark magic." Samson egged Shantae on.
Philia smiled at her friends, before glaring at Nega Shantae, "Shantae, let your heart shine. Show us all what your friends know you have; your loyalty, honesty, kindness, compassion, strength, and courage. Now come back to us!" She and Flair glowed as Philia pointed her Keydagger at Shantae, and unleashed a beam of light from it, hitting Nega Shantae. She cried out in pain, and everything was consumed in the bright light.
Next thing they knew, everyone was back to normal in uncle Mimic's lab. As for Shantae, the darkness faded from her, her magic returning to normal as he body reverted back to her old self. She was back with them again.
"What...what happened?" Shantae asked, "Where am I?"
"You're back with us!" Flair cheered.
"Thank goodness." Sky sighed in relief, "You had us worried, you know!"
"Are you okay?" Rottytops asked.
"I was afraid that you'd..." Bolo started.
"No need to finish that." Philia intervened, "The fact of the matter is that she's okay."
"Shh...give her a moment." Mimic hushed them, before asking, "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine, I think..." Shantae answered.
"You were overcome by dark magic." Mimic told her, "It was my fault, I'm afraid."
"No. It was mine." Shantae responded, "I knew the Genie Realm was in danger. I wanted to be the hero and save the day. But I wanted to do it on my own. I guess, deep down, I had to make up for my human half. But without the strength of my human friends, I'd be lost, right now."
"There's no need to prove yourself just because of what you are." Philia stated, walking over and crouching down in front of her, "It doesn't matter if you are full human, full genie, or half of each. Everyone needs help, no matter how tough they are. Your bonds with your friends are what truly make you strong. And who says wanting to act like a hero isn't a bad thing. You're just following what your heart says is right."
"Philia..." Shantae muttered, before looking down, muttering, "I put you all in so much danger. I'm sorry."
"We're the who wanted to help you." Flair argued.
"What matters is that you're okay." Mimic assured her, "And if you ask me, your human half is the stronger version of you."
"Heh. Thanks, Uncle." she thanked him, standing up, and saying, "Thank you, everyone." Philia, Flair, Samson, Tink, and all of Shantae's friends and family smiled in response to her thanks.
"Hey, what's this on the floor?" Tink asked, flying down to look at a scroll of paper, before rolling it open.
"A map?" Philia noticed as Shantae picked it up.
"It's a map to Risky's hideout!" Shantae read it, "She must have dropped it when she stole the Dynamo! This is where she plans to attack the Genie Realm!"
"Then we don't have a minute to lose." Samson told her, "If we don't stop her now, she'll consume that Genie Realm with dark magic!"
"Whoa, slow down!" Sky intervened.
"Yeah. We don't know anything about her plan!" Bolo pointed out.
"You could be walking into another trap!" Rottytops argued.
"They're right. We can't go flying off the handle, this time." Philia stated, "We got to plan this out, and not act hastily." She turned to Mimic, asking, "We know that Risky was responsible for swapping the blueprints. She knew about how it was made, right?"
"That's right. She also said she needed to improve it." Mimic answered, "If we had clues on how she would modify the machine, we can create a device to counter her plan."
"But with every second we delay, Risky gets closer to corrupting the Genie Realm!" Shantae pointed out, "If my mother is really inside that place, this could be my last chance to find her!"
"Which is why we're gonna split up and search for clues." Philia told Shantae, getting her attention, "You said it yourself; without your friends, you would've been lost. If it'll take too long to get the clues on your own, rely on all of us to spread out and get those clues. She still has to modify the Dynamo, so she needs time to get that set up, too."
"That's true..." Shantae agreed. After thinking about it, then looked to her friends, asking, "Please, everyone. Help me find clues so we can stop Risky Boots!"
"Roger that!" "You bet!" "I'll get Wrench ready to fly!" Bolo, Rotty, and Sky answered respectively.
"I'll do my very best!" Flair answered.
"Let's stop that pirate!" Samson declared.
"A pretty standard ordeal for me." Tink stated, since she and Peter Pan dealt with Hook all the time.
"We're going to save the Genie Realm!" Philia told Shantae, who nodded in response. With that, all of them raced out the door, going out to town to search for clues.
"By the way, are you going to tell me about that pixie of yours?" Shantae asked, "And I think I remember something about other worlds?"
"Oh..." Philia realized Tink was out in the open, and there were clues from Gilgamesh, Tears, and the others on the other subject, "Well... I guess I'll explain a bit."
Next Time on 'Sword Art Kingdom: Treasured Memories'
Unified! Pirate Queen Risky Boot's Attack!