Family

Chapter 477 Next Action

By: Major144

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. This is just a story for fun.

After the battle aboard the Typhoon, Spirit had quickly located Sammy, Grodus, Medusa, and Marina gathered them up and together with Smithy, Mr. Dark, Dark Corvo, Molly, Fawful, Midbus, and the four Dark Bosses they portaled over to the Lady Lucktopus to see Siren, discuss recent events, and to plan their next move. They all sat awkwardly around a table that had been setup backstage. Siren and DJ Octavio sat near Spirit as she and Sammy told them about recent events. Siren was very shocked to hear about the deaths of Cyan and Jelly-Chan.

"Our organization has suffered some fairly serious losses lately. First we lost Fay Soff and Cinder, now Cyan and Jelly-Chan. That's four of the Shadow Queen's daughters dead. We also lost Dr. Cranken and his lab along with the majority of his forces to the Legion of Light, who seem to have gotten help from the Doctor's forces as well as some mercenaries. Not to mention we lost three Crystal Stars to some travelers who fancy themselves as heroes." Said Spirit turning to everyone at the table and looking at them with her featureless face.

The room was silent for a few moments before Spirit spoke agin.

"I'm afraid word of our recent losses will spread like wildfire through the Underground. Our enemies will believe we are now weak and vulnerable and come after us. The Legion of Light has already made a bold move against us with aid from the Doctor and his goons, plus some mercenaries. There's a very good change that the Legion of Light and the Doctor will form an alliance to come after us. There's also a possibility the Legion of Light might seek to form alliances with other powerful players and parties. Not to mention that the Royal Guard are probably working with those heroes that have been giving us some trouble lately."

"Haven't both the Legion of Light and the Doctor taken heavy casualties in recent fights with us?" Asked Siren.

"The Doctor lost several soldiers, one of his elite warriors was killed, another heavily injured, and the Queen Womant was killed, so the Doctor can't reproduce any more Mants. All that happened in a attack on the Doctor's base." Said Spirit.

"The Legion of Light lost several soldiers, as well as three of their officers. Mr. Shine, Mr. Bright, and Traitor Lord. All that happened, when they attacked Dr. Cranken's lab." Said Grodus.

"So they're both weaker now?" Asked Sammy.

"Not necessarily. The Legion of Light still has a few powerful officers at their disposal, so of them haven't been seen in a while, but are probably still alive and active. They are probably on a mission in another part of the Underground and will rejoin the main force once it is done. The death of Traitor Lord gives the Legion of Light a chance to form an alliance with the Mantis Lords and their forces." Said Spirit.

"Aren't the Mantis Lords neutral and didn't they have a fallout with Traitor Lord and banished him and his followers because they were against the Radiance being freed?" Asked Siren.

"They did have a fallout with Traitor Lord, but they still loved him and I don't think they'll be too happy to learn about his death and who is responsible." Said Spirit.

"I see." Said Siren.

"It gets worse. There have been rumors that Hoaxe is attempting to try and marry one of the Mantis Lords and combine their forces, so if that happens we will have a bigger problem on our hands. And let's not forget about the Doctor and his crazy forces, they'll be sure to come after us as well." Said Spirit.

"What about these heroes you mentioned earlier?" Asked Siren.

"They're new to the Underground and have proven to be quite troublesome. They ruined the attack on Snowdin and they have three of the Crystal Stars in their procession." Said Spirit.

"Why are they after the Crystal Stars?" Asked Sammy.

"They most likely don't want us to free the Shadow Queen." Said Spirit.

"Maybe, but perhaps not." Said Mr. Dark.

"What do you mean?" Asked Grodus.

"I mean these heroes may wish to purge the Underground of evil like the Shadow Queen and the best way to do that would be for them to collect the Crystal Stars to free the Shadow Queen, so they may destroy her." Said Mr. Dark.

"We cannot allow this! They must be destroyed!" Said Spirit.

"I agree, but maybe we can use these heroes and their desire to destroy evil to our advantage." Said Mr. Dark.

"How so?" Asked Spirit.

"Well they've probably encountered some locals who gave them a bit of history of the Underground, so they probably know a bit about both the Radiance and the Doctor. If we carefully manipulate the heroes we can have them attack and destroy our enemies or vice versa." Said Mr. Dark.

"Interesting idea, that could work. And after the dust has settled, we can claim the Crystal Stars the heroes have." Said Spirit.

Before anything else could be discussed Spirit's communication crystal went off and she answered it. It was Beldam requesting a portal for a pickup. A location was given and Spirit used her powers to open a portal. Beldam, Marilyn, Doopliss, and some X-Nauts exited the portal and joined the meeting. Spirit closed the portal and looked at the new arrivals and took notice of Beldam who was fidgeting nervously.

"Report. Did you deal with Vivian and those heroes?" Said Spirit.

"Um...not exactly. There was...some complications." Said Beldam.

"Explain." Said Spirit.

So Beldam told Spirit and the others everything that happened. She talked about the battle, the arrival of Necromancer, and the arrival of the Legion of Light and how they forced Beldam and her allies to retreat. Spirit was not pleased by this and she then asked a question.

"Why did Vivian turn against you?"

"Um...I don't know." Said Beldam.

"I believe I can shed some light on this." Said Mr. Dark before he went into details about the conversation he had witnessed between Beldam and Vivian.

"That's a lie!" Cried Beldam.

"Is what Mr. Dark said true?" Asked Spirit looking at Dark Corvo.

"It is." Said Dark Corvo.

"I saw it too." Said Doopliss.

"I...can explain!" Cried Beldam in desperation.

Spirit's right arm shot out and grabbed Beldam by the throat and lifted her up in the air. Beldam gasped for air and desperately tried to pry Spirit's fingers open, but she couldn't budge them. Marilyn watched on with horror not sure what to do. After a few seconds Spirit loosened her grip and allowed Beldam to breath.

"You really disgust and disappoint me, Beldam. I take the bonds of sisterhood very seriously and the way you treated your sister was shameful. Your sister has turned her back on us and sided with the enemy. Vivian knows crucial details about our organization! She knows where our headquarters is, who our key members our, and the operations we have going on! This puts us all in danger!" Said Spirit.

"Please Spirit! Give me another chance to fix this! I'll deal with Vivian!" Begged Beldam.

Spirit was silent for a few moments and then she spoke.

"Fine. You shall be spared and allowed to prove yourself and fix the mess you caused." Said Spirit as she dropped Beldam to the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you! I won't let you down!" Said Beldam as she got up and bowed her head.

"Oh don't thank me just yet. You and your sister are now demoted and from here on out, you will take orders from Mr. Dark. If you serve him well and work hard you may be forgiven and get your job back." Said Spirit.

"Your life and fate are in my hands." Said Mr. Dark with a chuckle.

"Thank you master." Said Beldam with a slight grumble as she bowed her head to Spirit and Mr. Dark.

"Now I have a bit of good news." Said Mr. Dark.

"What's that?" Asked Spirit.

"Well as you already know, I've located the door the Shadow Queen is behind. Once we free the Shadow Queen, she will be a bit weakened and require a host body to house her for some time to regain her full strength. I already found a worthy looking host." Said Mr. Dark as he produced a picture of Wendy.

"Yes, she'll do. Capture her once we have all the Crystal Stars." Said Spirit with approval.

"As you wish." Said Mr. Dark.

Grodus's communicator went off. He answered and saw it was Crump, who informed him that he retrieved a Crystal Star from Valefar's Vault and was heading back to base. Both Spirit and Grodus were pleased by this news.

"Good job Crump." Said Grodus as he ended the call.

"So what exactly is our next move?" Asked Siren.

"I suppose, we can continue you with the concert, but I'm leaving the Dark Bosses, Dr. Cranken's three lab assistance, and Necromancer behind to help you and add extra security." Said Spirit.

"They'll be a nice addition to my security team." Said Siren as she eyed the eight warriors.

"So what should the rest of us do?" Asked Sammy.

"We should return to the base and plan and prepare for an attack." Said Spirit.

"Why not send me into the field to deal with our problems? I can deal with our little traitor problem and deal with all our enemies. Heck I can go retrieve the Crystal Star from Hotland and go end Hoaxe and the Mantis Lords for good measure." Said Smithy.

Spirit briefly considered this. Smithy was indeed the most powerful warrior in her forces and could probably destroy the traitor as well as all the enemies and get the Crystal Star, but there was the risk of exposure and attracting unwanted attention. Smithy was loud and didn't care for subtly and when go got around to returning to base, he could end up luring enemies back to it. Spirit supposed she could just portal Smithy back to base to prevent that from happening, but she really had her hands full and mind on other stuff.

"No I need you to remain at the base to protect it and prepare the troops for battle." Said Spirit.

"Fine." Grumbled Smithy.

"Mr. Dark, I want you to head to Hotland to assist Jota and the Axem Rangers in getting the Crystal Star from the Colosseum of Fools. I know Axem Black entered a tournament to win it, but incase something goes wrong I want you to steal it. Also while you there you can kill Hoaxe." Said Spirit.

"Leave it to me. With the aid of the Shadow Sirens and Dark Corvo it'll be a snap. I will also take Doopliss along, his abilities could be useful." Said Mr. Dark.

"What about the Mantis Lords?" Asked Grodus.

"I think I have a asset that I can turn on the Mantis Lords and keep them off our back." Said Spirit.

"It seems like we have all our bases covered then." Said Grodus.

Spirit opened up a couple of portals. Mr. Dark, Dark Corvo, Beldam, Marilyn, and Doopliss went through one portal and it closed. Grodus, Smithy, Fawful, and Midbus went through the other portal. Spirit and Sammy looked at Siren. Sammy ran up to Siren and hugged her.

"Good luck sis, hope your concert is a complete success." Said Sammy.

"Thank you sis." Said Siren.

The two stopped hugging.

"Be very careful Siren." Said Spirit before she and Sammy went through the portal and it closed.

Siren looked at the forces that had been left behind to aid her.

"I'm going to put on a show like no one has ever seen! It'll be the biggest hit in the whole multiverse!" Declared Siren.

To be continued.