"That's hot." Everyone stared at Lonk, who upon spotting their cross expressions, chose to shrug with a plain, "what? I'm not wrong."

He kind of was, but nobody wanted to open up the can of worms that was probably his doll kink - even though Linda had the unfortunate and spine tingling displeasure of hearing Warechu mumble something about a Compa figurine. Everyone else was more focused on the monstrous puppet, who's spidery limbs had already set to work by taking hold of various nearby surfaces along the buildings, and climbing herself up into a position between them all.

"Well..." Purple Heart seemed ready to say something, but dropped it with a puff, followed by a shake of her head. "No, never mind. This happens way too often for me to say this is new."

"New in the sense we've never seen it before? No." Blake Heart began, floating forward with a slightly irritated voice. "But new in that it doesn't understand the concept of basic decency? Absolutely."

Green Heart apparently agreed, humming and crossing her arms under her chest; if one were to look, they'd notice the slight bounce to flow through the orbs, as well as the mild twitch of White Heart's eye. "It is a little lacking in coverage. Perhaps we could string together some materials to dress it?"

"And waste time letting it play with the city?" White Heart threw in, taking her sight away from yet another calculated 'jiggle' on Green Heart's part. "Please. For once we actually have an excuse to beat the snot from one of these perverts. I'm not about to let this opportunity slide!"

Smashing her fists together, White Heart pointed up towards the gargantuan figure, exclaiming, "you hear that?! We're gonna kick your ass, you streaker bitch!"

Witnessing this, Boss leaned a little closer to Black Heart, questioning her about the odd scene.

"Is Lady White Heart always so... 'enthusiastic' towards such matters?"

Her reply merely consisted of a soft breath, followed up with a blunt rundown, all the while Green Heart was finding great amusement towards the sight.

"We sometimes make the mistake of letting our personal issues cloud our judgment of events. Rest assured though, we hardly need a proper excuse to topple a threat who's burning our nations, invading our lands, and exposing herself before our citizens."

He wasn't sure if that was supposed to explain why Lady White Heart felt the need to mention 'perverts' individually, but Boss just settled on letting the questions run off. If anything, it was interesting to learn that the goddesses weren't too far off from their citizens in terms of priorities and consideration... which was a nice way of saying they had strange obsessions that probably weren't meant to be seen or spoken of outside of private times.

It was okay, he wouldn't be judging the goddess; everyone had their quirks and hobbies.

Speaking of hobbies though, and seeing an opportunity in everyone's distraction, Boss stepped back a bit from things and popped open his phone. Ringing a particular number, he was greeted by the mechanically masculine voice of a more delicate dealer.

"Hello~"

"Pardon any interruptions." The Boss began, turning back to the scene about to unfold. "But may I request some assistance on your part?"

"Ooooh, I like the sound of that'' A short pause followed soot, and thus was asked. "What do you need darling?"

.

.

Uzume wasn't sure what she was seeing, or really, what they were going to do.

How can I save you now?

If Dreamsy really was set on making sure she couldn't be saved, then she was doing a darn swell job of it. From the outset, and following by its lack of reply to any of White Heart's declarations, the spider-esque mega-doll had forsaken its ability to speak... Well, either that, or she didn't much care for what the goddess had to say.

Still, even if she didn't have any idea how to go about things, Uzume knew she couldn't just stand by and do nothing. And so, with said 'nothing' on her mind, she twisted over towards Purple Heart, the one who'd first dubbed her 'Uzume', and asked, "how are we supposed to save her now?"

The taller one hummed, floating on the spot, before hitting back.

"I'm not quite sure." And then she looked over at the monster. "Do you still believe she can be saved?" Lowering herself just a little and turning back, the goddess started with an almost mellow level of serenity, and Uzume felt a little tingle in her chest. "Most would give up by this point and instead seek to defeat her, but you don't appear to follow along that path of thought. What makes you believe you'll succeed?"

"I don't know." Uzume had no idea what she was supposed to say, only what she could say. Looking back out to White Heart, who was still mouthing off the uncaring giantess, Uzume chose instead to speak her mind. "I don't even know who she really is to me... but... there's this small beeping in the back of my mind, an alarm, telling me I should know who she is, and that she does matter. I... I can't just give up on her."

Purple Heart grinned, and for some reason, it made Uzume's chest flutter. "That's a commendable reason." And then she turned back to the monster with a frown. "However, without a plan, rushing in may get you killed. You need at least some idea to work with, anything at all that might turn the tides or present a straightaway to the goal."

It was here that Green Heart floated closer, leaning in and offering her own two credits.

"Perhaps she could go the way of the valiant heroine, and pour her heart out to Dreamsy?"

This drew curious faces from everyone else, aside from White Heart who was still bitching at the unmoving beastess. However, while most looked at the idea with doubt, and Uzume herself sported a mild blush at the thought of doing something so cliché, Boss offered a strong clap and nod.

"It is not a terrible idea." Everyone focused on him, with Warechu butting in.

"You're not serious, chu."

"I quite am." He replied, turning to face Uzume now. "Beforehand, Dreamsy made it obvious that you meant something to her, and I believe that sentiment goes both ways, even if you do not yet recognize it yourself."

"I guess..." Uzume couldn't quite deny it, but she had no idea what exactly it was she could possibly do with that feeling. Strangely, Linda herself agreed with, and voiced, this unspoken concern.

"Not to question your judgment boss, but I'm pretty sure Dreamsy herself made it clear she wanted nothing to do with Kurome anymore." The woman then eyed the aforementioned, and turned back. "Or Uzume, whichever one we're going with here. Even if she does break through that thick thing's head, I don't think Dreamsy will be all that welcoming."

"Maybe not." Boss said, setting his eyes squarely on Uzume. "However, if Dreamsy does recognise your voice, it may force her to slow down and listen for a while. Even if it doesn't help defeat her directly, that extra time will give us a chance to come up with a strategy to hopefully deal with her, or at the very least force her to revert forms."

Black Heart hummed, not really being addressed, but agreeing verbally anyways as if her input would help add merit to the idea. "Extra time would at least allow for us to assess damages and potentially prevent them."

"Precisely." Boss clapped again, turning one final time to Uzume. "You don't need to be perfect with what you do, or even really succeed. All we need is a distraction, and anything extra you unlock in Dreamsy's heart is just an added benefit. Are you willing to give it a shot?"

Uzume paused for a moment. Turning back to the haunting doll, she noticed how, despite its lack of response to White Heart who seemed to have moved on to the topic of 'legal exposure in predetermined places' for some reason or another, it actually had lines along the side of its mouth stretching towards its chin. This implied that, while she didn't show it, Dreamsy in her new form could open her mouth, which meant that speech was a possibility.

That was, if Dreamsy even wanted to talk to her in the first place.

"I'll do it!" But what-if's and worry were meaningless; she had to try, whether it worked out or not.

The problem then was reaching her... for all of about ten seconds, which is exactly how long it took her to realize she had four different aids in the flying department; well, three, as White Heart was now having a staring contest with the massive Dreamsy, who for unexplainable reasons continued to do nothing. Uzume, not wanting to waste anymore time - several minutes of chatter was already too much - called for Purple Heart's aid.

"Think you can get me a bit closer? I'm not sure if she'll hear me from down here, and as much as I like shouting my lungs out..." A spirited glance to White Heart, who was huffing and puffing in her movement-free showdown. "I'd rather not lose access to my vocal cords anytime soon."

"Yeah." The near lavender tinted goddess stifled a chuckle. "Sure."

Coming around back, Purple Heart took into possession Uzume's hands, and following a gentle lift-off from the ground, started off past her snow colored counterpart towards the stilted giant. Picking up speed, the goddess redirected her pathing once she'd successfully earned the focus of the monster, who's eyes followed the pair perfectly as they neared one of the taller buildings next to it. Riding the winds against one of the city's monumental structures, Dreamsy's whole body spun and twitched along its joints in response to their trip, and its arms moved. Digging its claw-like fingers into other buildings as well, the giantess repositioned herself. Dreamsy continued to stare harshly, and emotionlessly, at the pair who by that point had reached the roof, and Uzume was plopped down.

While they weren't exactly 'above' their target, they were at least now eye-level with her.

Down below and now ignored, the rest of the crew were chatting. Wondering what would happen, Lonk started a bet.

"So..." He grinned, nudging Linda in her side with his elbow. "Fifty credits says she'll get her talking."

Linda smirked, accepting the offer. "I'll double it. Seeing how Dreamsy's more like a nerd statue, I'm betting it'll probably just swat at her."

Warechu, unlike the two, was just standing by with Uzi and Sonya, both of which were witness to his own unbridled disappointment. Slapping a hand - paw - over his face, he muttered his frustrations.

"And so we're reduced to placing bets while a pair of lunatics attempt to talk the giant psychopath out of killing everything in sight. What went wrong, chu? When did my life become a cartoon?"

Uzi did not have the answer, but by the goddesses she tried. "Well, maybe that means you'll get your own fan club!"

Far too excitable for someone making a claim based on school-girl logic. Sonya, on the other hand, was more or less in a discussion with the candidates, who were doing fairly well, all things considered.

"So they embraced before the light merged them together?" He asked, and Uni nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Interesting..." He unlinked one arm from across his chest, rolling his wrist as he questioned, "and you've never seen anything like that before?"

"Nope." Ram tossed out, floating around and stretching her arms wide; whether this was done to accentuate the event remained unknown to all but her. "The red lady was all like, "I'll kill you," and Uzume was like, "no don't," and then BAM! Kurome showed up and took the arrow herself!"

As Sonya listened intently, throwing out a few miscellaneous probes every now and then for more detail, Boss had taken to the other goddesses - including White Heart, now that she was no longer yelling her throat out.

"Are you certain of this?" Black Heart asked, and Boss nodded.

"Just get into position, and when the time comes, I'll make the call."

"Not that I'm questioning your methods." Green Heart slipped in. "But how do you know such an opportunity will show itself? What if things don't exactly go your way?"

"Then we'll merely force them too." He spoke, not overly hostile, but firm. "You can see it as well, no?"

"Yeah." White Heart interrupted with a huff. " But how do we know it isn't just aesthetic?"

"Because all the other joints have shown themselves functional." Boss pointed out. "Therefor, its reasonable to assume the mouth must also be capable of use, even if only to screech or growl."

"Then it all comes down to timing." Green Heart told, cutting out the others and taking center stage. "How quickly will your call be reacted to?"

"He's never failed me before." Boss seemingly stood firm in this belief. "Despite how he may seem, speed is one of his greatest assets."

Green Heart sighed. "Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try, regardless of how strange it sounds."

"Thank you." Boss bowed politely, but when he rose again he hit them with one final question; a thought that had been on his mind. "If I may: how are your own nations faring? Don't misunderstand, I'm thankful you're all here to aid us against Dreamsy, but what about your own homes?"

This time, Black Heart answered for them. "From the messages sent directly my way, it seems that all of the undead who were running amok in Lastation have vanished."

"And how did you get this news?" Boss was then presented with the sight of Black Heart reaching into her cleavage and whipping out a cellphone. She must have taken his curled brow and restrained confusion as disappointment, because she immediately defended herself. "W-what's with that look? We helped make this technology, so of course we're going to use it!"

"I'm not bothered by that. I'm merely concerned about why you carry your phone in such a place." He then hit her with, "is it not always at risk of falling out?"

"O-of course not!" Black Heart then, as if it were perfectly normal, shoved the phone back down within the fleshy hills of symbolic fertility; back in the day such a saying was artsy, but now it was just plain creepy - this message was brought to you by Big Nep, who sits ignored in the background as her friends debate questionable storage spaces. "I have a pocket in the front of my suit that's perfectly sized to squeeze and hold it in place."

A better choice of words would have served her the second round of weird looks, but Black Heart just brushed them off with an off-handed exclamation of, "P-perverts."

Green Heart then took the reins.

"Ignoring my friend's dirty habits." Black Heart stuttered and gasped silently, appalled by such a claim, whereas White Heart just rolled her eyes. "From what reports we've gathered, it seems Dreamsy's transformation banished her armies all across Gamindustri. Expectedly, they were mainly destroying areas and objects containing portions of share energy... and eggplants, but we're assuming the latter is due to a natural dislike rather than any strategic reasoning."

Boss hummed, mulling something over before speaking back up. "We'll see how true that rings soon enough." He clapped his little hands. "Now them, if you would, please take up your positions. We will only have one opportunity for this and so we must get it right."

With all of them in agreement, the three goddesses of the land flew up, spreading out and at the ready around the massive Dreamsy.

Up top however, Purple Heart was oblivious to whatever scheme her fellow leaders had in mind, and was floating next to Uzume, who stared down at their enemy. Uzume then, after taking a short breath, opened up and raised her voice a little higher to cut through the winds of the elevated altitude.

"Hey, Dreamsy… Can you hear me?"

The doll merely stared, motionless aside from the tips of her hair gently flowing in the wind. From their much closer distance, her eyes appeared just as glossy as her skin, and the sparse fibers of thready tendrils painting over her dignity pulsed with fleshy life. Although not covering much, both observers could tell the interconnected and mostly bunched patches of webbing over Dreamsy's naughty bits were just as much alive as she.

Technically, this meant she was naked.

"You know..." Uzume whispered to Purple Heart alone. "I'm kind of wishing we picked somewhere a little further away. I didn't need to know her pasties were a part of her."

"Sadly, any further back and we risk your voice not being able to reach her." Purple Heart, despite saying this, had a tiny part of her brain giggling with mischief. Sure, she'd never dare say it aloud, but the idea of a living suit intrigued her. But she wasn't so squeamish as Steamax once was, so it never got to her. Still, she couldn't help but giggle as the thoughts spoke themselves alone to her.

Sucky sucky~

Uzume called loudly once more. "It's me, Uzume!"

The massive woman just kept staring.

"Look, I know things aren't exactly going all that great." Disastrous, as a matter of fact, but Uzume wasn't concerned with the specifics. "But it doesn't have to be this way. I don't know who you really are, and I'm sorry I can't remember, but that doesn't make me any different of a person than I am now."

Debatable, but Dreamsy never commented, so Uzume just kept going.

"I want to help you, I really do." Unintentionally, Uzume's voice lowered a tad, and she looked sadly at Dreamsy, who just kept staring. "The others think we need to fight, and that I need to defeat you... But every time I hear it, I get this gross bubbly feeling in my gut. Hurting you feels wrong, no matter how much bad you've done. It's stupid, right? I don't even know who you are, and yet I want to help you in every way I can."

It made no sense, but then again, Uzume figured these things rarely did.

"I guess that means you were special to me, huh?" A little chuckle escaped her lips, but it didn't feel all that scandalous or bad. "I have no recollection of what we meant to each other, but even without those memories, I still want to help you." Cocking out a tiny grin, Uzume asked, "how lame is that?"

Dreamsy's form shook a little, and her arm slowly reached up. This, naturally, alerted Uzume to her surroundings, and her mind went haywire. Was this it? Had she actually gotten through to her? She watched in awe as the hand passed her by, raising up and up before stopping in the sky. Dreamsy's bottom lip clicked as it moved, shaking and slowly descending towards her chin, along the articulation just as all her other movable joints did.

The arm fell, fast, rocketing towards her, and in those precious seconds before the impending impact, Dreamsy's raspy voice pounded within the back of her skull.

"Fucking Poser!"

Author's note

...

Not gonna lie, a part of me was tempted to make some of this an action scene, seeing as Uzume's all powered up in her original form. But considering she wants to save Dreamsy, as opposed to beating her ass, I think this is fine for now.

Sorry if some of the comedy falls flat here, I'm pretty tired at the moment.

Ah well, we're calling it here for now; hopefully next time I'll have more energy.

Anyway, until next time.