If you played Xenoblade Chronicles 3, you will know that strange aircraft with insane acceleration functions in Agnus castle.

Well, could be part of some lazy game design, but...

It made me think...

What if the ship actually flied like that?

Enjoy.

(After one heck of a homecoming, Agnus Castle)

"So…we're going where?" Lanz blurted out, with his hands raised up to behind his head.

"Back to the Cadensia region, you spoon, come on, Mio told you just a second ago!" Eunie said.

"Wha? Who're you calling a spoon?"

"Of course you, you spoon."

"Calm down, Eunie, it was necessary for the exposition of this chapter," Noah said, putting his hand on Eunie's shoulder.

"Exposi…wha…?" Sena scratched her head.

"It means 'the act of explaining something'." Taion sighed.

"Ooooh…. Hard vocab, huh?" Sena let out a forced laugh.

"Anyway, how are we going back to Cadensia? We're like…floating way up in the sky." Lanz shrugged.

"That's when The City comes to action!" A familiar voice interrupted.

"Ghondor?"

"Yeah, who else? I've known M for some time, so I thought I could accompany you! Plus, I'm probably the only one who knows the way besides M." Ghondor said.

"Well… That was pretty unexpected but great! So The City will provide transport?" Lanz asked.

"Nope! The castle will!" Ghondor said proudly.

"Then what was that 'The City into action' thing?" Eunie said.

"Oh, that? Well… Uh… We made the castle do it!"

"….." The party blankly gave Ghondor a blank stare.

"A…anyway! Follow me! I'll take you to the ship!" Ghondor quickly changed the topic.

"….Can we really trust her?" Taion said.

"Don't worry, she's trustworthy enough." Long-haired Mio smiled.

"Well…if you say so yourself…" Eunie sighed.

"I trust her too! Come on, guys, let's go! The Sun's gonna go down if we stay here too long! Yippee!" Sena shouted, as she dashed out to the stairs.

Only to trip and fall straight down.

"Sena!"

(After 5 minutes of preparation)

"Hi, how can I help you?" An Agnian female soldier, who looked like a pilot of the aircraft next to her greeted the party.

"Uh, Hi, and we would like to go to the Cadensia region," Mio said while patting Sena's head who was in tears from the fall.

"Oh, so you're the Ouroboros! Then please follow me, I'll help you board the craft!" The soldier nodded.

"Thanks! So where's the door?" Lanz asked.

"Calm down, Lanz, she's gonna tell you eventually." Eunie said with a facepalm.

"The door's right there, have a seat after you enter, and… Oh, one thing." The soldier said.

"Hmmm?" The party turned their head towards the soldier.

"The aircraft has…some…unique functions, so…some caution could be necessary." The soldier said.

"Caution? Nah, we're been through a crap ton of things, nothing's possible now!" Lanz announced proudly.

"Well…if you say so yourself… Then all aboard! We're taking off!"

(Inside the aircraft)

"Well, it's not different from the ship we used in the sea!" Eunie said, making herself comfortable on her seat.

"Hmmm… Yeah, and it's the usual Agnus transport we always used!" Taion said, scanning the room.

"What could go wrong, it's definitely better than the cell room!" Ghondor laughed.

"You guys all aboard?" The soldier said from the pilot room.

"Yeah!" Sena exclaimed.

"Then…Let's….go!" Right after the soldier's announcement, the craft started to shake.

"Oooooh, we're taking off!" Eunie said in excitement.

"Always love this moment. It makes my heart beat in anticipation! Innit, Noah?" Lanz said, facing his ponytail friend.

"….Lanz?"

"Yeah?"

"This…feels a bit different from the other crafts we rode."

"Of course! We're in Agnus, remember?"

"No, not that, I mean…"

"Ready for acceleration in 3…2…" The soldier's voice echoed through the small room.

"Acceleration? Now that's new." Lanz chuckled.

"1!" The soldier said, and the craft accelerated.

But this acceleration was some next-level shit.

It raised its altitude at the speed of light, and soon reached its top speed within seconds.

"Holy sparks! What the…." Lanz shouted, but it was too late.

"Hope you had your seatbelts on!" The soldier said.

"You're telling this too late, you sparker!" Ghondor cursed.

(Back in the landing site)

"And…. A happy landing!" The soldier said through the microphone. She managed some settings to ensure the craft's safety, and finally pushed a button to open the door.

"The door's open, guys! Thank you for using Agnus airlines!" The soldier announced cheerfully, but the situation inside the room was not cheerful like her.

"Sparking finally! I was about to reach homecoming in this hell of a cra… Urgh…! Ueeeaaagh!" Eunie tried to run as far as she could but soon squatted down and retched out her insides.

"Mimi, are we there ye…" Sena said, her eyes slowly opening.

"Sena… You alright…? You blacked out mid-flight…." Mio said with Sena's head on her lap. She didn't look oh-so-good as well.

"Thank the sparking flames… We're finally… Noah…you in there…?" Lanz said, shaking his unconscious friend.

"M….Mio… Not there…. M….i…."

"What the spark are you dreaming ab…Hrrp! Oh, sparks, gotta get outta… You look sick enough..." Lanz murmured, carrying Noah with one hand. He spotted Ghondor, whose usual brown face turned into pale blue. He swiftly kicked her out of the craft with one action, and soon got out of the hellish craft. Mio soon followed him with Sena.

"Mimi… You alright…?" Sena said. She was finally capable of walking now. Instead, Mio was the one who needed real help.

"I think…my dizziness is getting worse after I touched la…"

"Mimi…?" Sena said with a worried face as Mio suddenly covered her mouth.

"Whoo! What a flight, eh? It's been so long since I've actually flown an aircraft! You guys alright?" The soldier finally got out of the craft after turning the thing off after landing. She took off her goggles to take a look at the party, which was in…

A rather terrific shape.

Noah was lying on the ground like a dead corpse, Lanz was hurling his guts out while a half-dead Eunie rubbed his back next to him. Mio was doing the same while Sena took care of her extraordinarily long hair. Ghondor was no different, except that she was knelt down on the ground.

"Uh… Okay? That was… Unexpected….?" The soldier slowly stepped back.

"What the spark do you mean by 'unexpected'? It's pretty damn expected if you accelerate the vehicle like th….*cough* *cough*" Eunie shouted.

"I did say that this craft had a special function…."

"Who the spark expects 'that'?"

"Ahem, anyway…."

"Anyway my ar… Ugh, all this shouting makes me wanna hurl agai…"

"Aaaanyway… Where's your…friend with glasses? Didn't he…"

"Find him yourself… I just wanna go home now…." Eunie groaned.

"O…kay…? Is anyone there….?" The soldier said, entering the passenger's seat. And right after that, she found Taion. Who was just literally frozen in his seat.

"Uh… Hi? You alright?"

"Do…not….talk to me right now…." Taion said as slowly as possible. He had his glasses off, and they were in his hands.

"Uh…do you want me to help you off…?"

"No, I…will…black out as soon as I mo…Hrrp!"

"Well, you're going off, whoo!" The soldier quickly grabbed Taion, and threw him out of the craft.

"Taion! Dammit, how could you literally thro… Waaah!" Eunie tried to run towards Taion, but she fell down after staggering.

"E…Eun….Eunie…." Taion struggled out as his head was probably bleeding out.

"…..Uh….guys….are you guys alright?" Noah said as he slowly woke up.

"…" The party stayed silent. But the soldier broke the silence.

"Of course! They are all completely fi…"

"SPLASH BLAST!"

"Gah!"

(Omake)

"Samon proudly presents…. The ultimate ship that could even traverse the harshest oceans!" The yellow nopon said.

"Dammnn! So now we can go to that…. You know, Origin?" Lanz said.

"Of course! Although Samon forgot to put in some additional functions, it will work just! Fine!"

"Excuse me, but did you say… 'Some additional functions'?" Taion interrupted.

"Uh…yes?"

"Tell me what exact function did you miss while making this ship." Taion quickly turned into interrogation mode.

"Why did friend turn suddenly scary….?"

"Because this is some serious stuff right here, hurry up and answer this muppet," Eunie added.

"O…kay…? Uh…additional colors for the added engines…?"

"Pass."

"Wipers….?"

"….Fair enough, pass."

"Horns….?"

"…Okay, pass."

"And…a stabilizer?"

"Stabl…. Wait, that sounds extra important. What does it do?"

"Uh…simple! It…prevents…shaking? I guess…? But it is completely unnecessary for a successful flight!"

"No." Taion said.

"Huh….?"

"No stabilizer, no Origin. We're not going without it." Taion said, and the party all nodded.

"But….. If the ship goes to stable… It no fu…." Samon tried to mutter more words, but he saw Noah's hand reaching his sword. Not his blade, his sword.

"O….Okay! Samon will start working on the additional functions right now! Friends do not worry! Everything is in Samon's hands!" The nopon quickly disappeared into the ship after rapping his last sentence.

"Phew… One problem solved…." Sena sighed.

"Oh! By the way, why do friends want the ship to b…." Samon said, slightly opening the ship's door.

"TAKION SL…."

"Very sorry!" And that was enough to make the yellow nopon shut up.

"Great job, Noah. I never knew you were talented in threatening people." Taion said.

"Well… I do not enjoy these kind of stuffs usually… But… We do not want to experience that again."

"Yes, indeed. We are not foolish enough to repeat the same mistake." Taion nodded.

"Oh? Hey, guys! Is the ship ready to g…." Ghondor shouted as she ran down the stairs to reach the little port.

But….

"TAKION SLASH!"

"AAAAHH! What the fuck!?"

"I had to do that." Said Noah.

"WHY?!"

"Beats me."

"….?"

Ghondor's brain froze.

And she stopped thinking.

Okay, long time no see, eh?

Okay, long time no see, eh?

So you might ask why was I inactive for most of January...

And here's the answer!

I...was actually playing Xenoblade 3.

Yeah! I actually never played the game before like mid-December or something! And I wrote like a million chapters in that state.

So, I thought it was time to actually play the game since I have some spare time with me nowadays.

I just started chapter 7 today, and completed, like a million quests yesterday. And that experience really made my brain work. Ideas, this time including some gameplay jokes, came flooding in (whether they were good or not), and I had to restart writing as soon as possible. Plus, I missed writing stuff during my...game break?

So, yeah. There goes my...excuse! Hehe...

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!