Shantae: The Eternal Spirit Chronicles

by IllusoryNomad

Following Shantae's latest crusade against the forces of evil, a new Relic is revealed that has the power to LITERALLY change (or even DESTROY) the lives of all who come into contact with it! Added to the emergence of a rogue, vengeful half-genie, as well as the unwelcome return of a certain marauding Pirate Queen, the Half-Genie Hero and company must spring into action once again!

4. Vivacious Venture

Chapter 4: Vivacious Venture

Hello once again, dear friend! Glad to see that you've come back to hang out with me! So, you're probably wondering what's gonna happen next, right? Wondering what the big scoop is or how shocked and enamored you're gonna be and such? Well, don't you worry! I'll tell you all I have to offer, as per usual. Only this time, we're starting off somewhere just a BIT different. Rather than visit the sunny, open docks and shores of Scuttle Town, or take off on a seafaring voyage across the sparkling Sequin Land Sea, we'll find ourselves visiting an enormous concrete jungle whose wide, bumpy, noisy cobblestone streets were packed with pedestrians, camel-drawn carriages, and lucrative local businesses alike. This lively, bustling municipality whose name I don't rightly recall easily trumped Scuttle Town tenfold in terms of its size, population, and… most likely in economic sustainability, but that's a long, boring story you'd be better off getting from a realtor than from me.

Anyway, hidden within the crowded forest of prismatic onion-domed skyscrapers, fortresses, and apartment buildings was a particularly unusual one-story house. Cobalt blue in color with a midnight blue gable roof, and with box-framed windows and a MASSIVE garage… with a cobalt blue MILITARY TANK parked just outside on its concrete driveway! Yeah, this house couldn't be more of a sore thumb if it tried. It wasn't at all the norm for Sequin Land, and one could honestly mistake it for a monument or tourist attraction… that is, if it weren't for the fact that someone actually LIVED in this not-so-humble abode. At least the lawn, blue racoon-shaped mailbox, and picket fence in front looked stylish. That said, we're gonna… just go ahead and invite ourselves inside, so I can show you why we came here…

"So… Scuttle Town was kind of a bust…" a young, beautiful strawberry blonde-haired, orange-eyed woman remarked as she lay her curvy, jewelry-laden, dancing costume-adorned form atop a quilt-wrapped mattress neatly situated at the far corner of this spacious living room. Tell me if you don't already know who THIS wonderfully savage young lady is… "Gahh, I can still feel the stings from that awful battle…" she further complained as she painstakingly rolled over to face her teammate at the other end of the window-laden room.

"Tell me about it…" another familiar, yet objectively beautiful woman with long, wavy fire-red hair and emerald-green eyes seemed to agree. Wearing a burgundy sleeveless turtleneck sweater and form-fitting tan cargo pants, she obsessively scrubbed the disfiguring bite marks on her hand at the other end of the room. "I'd have never thought that that heinous assassin would be such a hassle… much less, his friends…!" she griped, washing her arm furiously as she let the warm, rushing current of her kitchen sink's water cascade over her numerous cuts, scrapes, and teeth marks.

"Friends? What, you mean that goofy, shambling monstrosity dressed in that tacky imitation genie costume?" the first woman questioned in surprise. "I won't lie… I didn't think you'd have so much trouble with her, Nila. Why couldn't you just flatten her like you said you were going to? What was the deal with that?"

"The 'deal' was that she was a LOT stronger than she let on," the redhead unsurprisingly revealed to be Nila countered as she gave up on washing what we could now presume to be zombie hero Rottytops's zombie germs out of her wounds for the moment as she turned the faucet off and grabbed a towel. Although, she kept scrubbing away at the bite wounds with said towel as she approached her friend and sat on the nearby sofa parked toward the center of the living quarters. "It was insane…! Something about the way she fought, too… She was WAY too coordinated for a simple zombie, and it INFURIATES me that she got the better of me…! It's worse that she apparently ALSO has superpowers to boot. Some weird voodoo disappearing and teleportation tricks, detachable limbs, and even flippin' SUPER SPEED AND THE STRENGTH OF AN ENTIRE UNITED SEAMS FOOTBALL TEAM, for crying out loud!" the Ammonian affiliate continued to complain, evidently not pleased with the result of her battle in Scuttle Town. "You HAVE to see where I'm coming from, right? It's completely absurd!"

"Please, you think YOU had it bad? I could've totally CRUSHED her if you'd have asked me to," the other woman fervently rebutted to Nila's displeasure. "Try getting your butt handed to you by some guy who, despite being DEAD, STILL MANAGES to catch you off-guard at every turn! Total shot to my pride as a half-genie…" the apparent half-genie further lamented, comparing her own troubles to that of her acquaintance. "Compared to that zombie, YOU got off light."

"Hm. To be fair, Hashanah, I DID warn you about him," Nila countered as she settled down, grabbed a bottle of soda resting on a nearby nightstand, and took a refreshing sip of the bubbly cola. "I've already told you my accounts of what I witnessed when I reluctantly joined forces with him, his goody-goody superhero girlfriend, and their motley crew of misfits against that despicable Risky Boots."

"Yeah, but I thought you were just exaggerating! There should be NO WAY any human, living, dead, or UNDEAD, should be that strong! It SICKENS me that I lost like that… I mean, I'm a GENIE, for Pete's sake! Do you know how disgraceful it is for a GENIE to be bested by a mere human!? Or worse yet, the GHOST of a mere human!?" the half-genie revealed to be the notorious Hashanah continued to gripe, evidently VERY unhappy with the result of her battle against the ghost hero known as Tayshan.

"I think I do by now, but I'm sure you'll tell me… AGAIN…" Nila flatly remarked with a roll of her eyes and a sigh as she relaxed, taking another swig of her fizzy beverage while she awaited an apparent rant from her teammate about why it was unbecoming of a genie to lose a fight to a human or a ghost.

"In short, Ni, it's awful. I'm supposed to be one of the strongest beings on this planet without question. If anything, I SHOULD be just as strong as Shantae, or at least as strong as Risky Boots… Yet, despite everything I sacrificed to boost my powers to where they are, I got FLOORED by none other than… than… Shantae's meathead CONCUBINE of a boyfriend!" she insulted with balled fists, using JUST the term we knew we'd hear… Hah! E-er, anyway… "He should basically be a total NOBODY! A pushover! An unworthy, pitiful walking sack of flesh that should consider himself HONORED that a genie would pay attention to him in ANY capacity outside of simply being able to breathe the same air as us! NO way should someone like THAT be able to even hold a candle to me! Yet, THIS is the one who ruined my reputation as Guardian Genie and got me fired and exiled…"

"Jeez, you wanna tone it down a bit on the 'genies are the master race' comments there?" Nila irritably countered, cocking an eyebrow at her friend. "Let's be mindful that not everyone in this room was 'blessed' with the privilege of having a genie for a mother."

"Sorry…" Hashanah apologized in response to being called out for her rather… unkind expressions as she sighed. "I'm… just so ANGRY at how that fight played out with that guy…! And how he made such a fool out of me… With his weird, crafty ghost techniques, and his absurd elephant-level strength, and his ridiculous bullet-level speed, and those funky martial arts moves he pulled on me… And don't even get me STARTED on the fact that he's apparently capable of using not only Light Magic, but DARK Magic as well… EFFICIENTLY, AT THAT! How could a lowly WRAITH of all things be so powerful!? Every other ghost I've ever dealt with could be beaten in just a few easy hits! It's an insult to genies everywhere that this particular 'ghost' has power that potentially rivals us!"

"Well, I don't purport myself to know everything, but I may have an idea on how the Assassin became as big of a problem as he is…"

"And what 'idea' is that?" Hashanah impatiently demanded to know.

"Rumor has it that he spent a huge chunk of his time in Sequin Land as a 'student' under Shantae, learning a bunch of his moves and abilities directly from her," Nila explained. "It's also rumored that after he died in the Clash of Arms conflict, he came back by some mysterious circumstances no one can rightly explain… that may ALSO have to do with Shantae. Maybe his time in the afterlife in conjunction with her teachings and influence boosted his power?"

"What!? No way, Nila! That's total hogwash!" Hashanah firmly and quickly shot down the assertion. "If any old human could just be taught how to use magic on the level of a genie, then EVERYBODY would be as strong as us! This world would have no need for us! Even we don't have the kind of ability necessary to grant such a massive boost to any run-of-the-mill, non-genie being, no matter the 'training' method. We wouldn't even grant wishes that allow anyone to get that strong! The best we can do is fuse our magic with one another for VERY temporary access to stronger abilities… and even THAT requires certain materials to be available. And no matter how powerful she is, if a hopeless halfwit like Shantae can produce a 'student' with THAT kind of unprecedented ability, then we're CLEARLY living in some sort of backwards, irreversibly screwed-up alternate timeline!" she angrily ranted on.

"Oh? Then what else could be the explanation? Because I'm all out of speculations to make," Nila dryly remarked, paying no heed to her partner's ludicrous 'alternate timeline' theory. How silly would THAT be, right? Having this entire sequence of events turn out to be part of some moderately branched-off alternate reality where, for some unusual reason, some major events played out differently than you might've expected if you saw things 'play' out from a um… a 'different' perspective… where you might've even had 'control' over the events in question… Way past outlandish, I think! Right!? Heh.. H-heh… Er… Never mind… Why don't we move on?

"My guess is that he found some secret Relic, Magic Lamp, or hidden technique that boosted his power level past the moon with Shantae's help. Otherwise, there's NO feasible method for Tayshan to become strong enough to defeat me," Hashanah readily denied. "There's got to be more to it than training with Shantae, dying for her, and then allegedly being resurrected by her with incredible power that he DOESN'T DESERVE! Especially if, UNLIKE Shantae, he can use both Light and Dark Magic. SHE can't even do that! It's supposed to be COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE for even a GENIE, much less a HUMAN OR A GHOST, to have that ability! The extreme polarity and volatility of the magics being used together should theoretically rip a person to shreds! No one else in this WORLD has ever come close to achieving such a feat… Whatever their secret is, I'm gonna find out, and then I'm gonna punish BOTH of them for it!"

"Much as I am on-board with that, it's clear that's we'll need more resources at our disposal," Nila reasoned, though it fell on deaf ears.

"Do you know how long he's had access to that kind of power? Or at least how he got it?"

"He had access to at least some of that power before he died, as you're already aware, but I don't know much else beyond that. The fact that he has that kind of destructive power at all is an issue all on its own… Hm… If only he'd stayed dead…!" Nila venomously spat as she glowered with bitter resentment toward the wraith in question.

"Wait, that reminds me… Do you know how he died, Ni? You have to at least know that much if you fought alongside them back then. Maybe there's a weakness we can exploit?"

"I'm… not entirely sure, to be honest," Nila confessed with a shrug, though the sour look on her face told something of a story in itself. "I was knocked unconscious and taken off the battlefield before the war reached its conclusion, so I don't really have any explicit details. I didn't witness the final battle. All I remember hearing from my colleagues in the Ammonian Army during debriefing back then… was that the Assassin suffered a fatal injury while he and Shantae were fighting Risky Boots in her old base of operations," she further shared. "As a matter of fact, there's another rumor going around that he sustained said fatal injury because he stepped in and saved Shantae from certain doom…"

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"Hmm… As far as I remember being told, Risky Boots got desperate during the battle and resorted to using an attack powerful enough that it very well would've killed Shantae in a single strike if it hit. The Assassin apparently wound up jumping in the way at the last second, and he took the blow in Shantae's stead," she explained, which honestly sent chills up my spine to hear. If that's what happened, then oh, my goodness…! "How they still managed to beat that insufferable pirate after the fact is up for discussion, but I was told he was barely clinging to life once it was over. By the time I regained consciousness, I'd heard he was already dead."

"Oh, REALLY?" Hashanah remarked in surprise, undoubtedly intrigued by the claim as her eyes widened.

"Yep. That's all I know, though, so you'd be out of luck trying to press me for more info," Nila dismissed, wanting to talk no further about this fateful incident. Huh…

"Not a problem. I've got ALL I need there…!" the rogue half-genie assured with a most… pensive look on her face, though it was clear she had no good intentions for the information she received. "Of course, that still doesn't explain why I had such a tough time…! Gah, that makes it even MORE infuriating!"

"Ah, what now?" Nila asked with a tinge of perturbance in her tone.

"I still should've been able to take him! If anything, he should be WEAKER as a ghost, not STRONGER! Yet, he matched me blow-for-blow like it was nothing! I EVEN IMPALED HIM WITH AN ENERGY SPEAR at one point in our battle! But you know what happened after that, Nila?"

"Enlighten me."

"Not only did this freakish 'wraith' get up and shrug it off like I only scratched him, he also got ANGRIER and POWERED UP because of it! Dude's existence alone should be a crime against NATURE! It shouldn't be possible in the slightest! And even STILL, Shantae is supposedly STRONGER than him!? That says FAR more than I care to acknowledge! Dang it…! If I can't even beat HIM, then how the heck are we supposed to exact our revenge on them!?" she ranted with no small form of frustration dripping in her every word.

"At ease, cadet," Nila calmly suggested of her partner in crime as she finished off her soda and set the bottle back down on the dresser. "We'll get our revenge soon enough, but bellyaching about our loss isn't going to get us any closer to achieving that goal. The question is how we plan on getting the edge we need… Clearly, Shantae and her friends are stronger than they look. We merely miscalculated, but that doesn't mean it's impossible to take them down. It's just a matter of figuring out their individual weaknesses… or at least using a more creative element of surprise and/or gathering more useful materials…"

"Hm. I could easily eliminate all of them if I just had more power," Hashanah bragged, absolutely confident in her own abilities in the face of her stiff opposition.

"Power alone doesn't win fights, Hashanah," Nila chided. "Besides, we've already visited enough hidden temples, ancient shrines, and trap-infested dungeons to last a lifetime. You've been gathering power-ups since before we even met. How many other ways do you think you can get stronger before you consider yourself strong enough?"

"Trust me, Ni, there are still a bunch of different ways a genie can become more powerful. Our potential is limitless! As a matter of fact, you just reminded me…" the rogue half-genie perked up as a most… chilling grin crept onto her face. "There even exists a certain legend that there are these five temples that each guard a piece of a sacred, highly powerful Relic… A Relic that, now that I'm reminded of it, can be used to ABSORB the life-energy of almost any living thing and add its power to the wielder!" Oh, no… And NOW it seems this is where things get even hairier… provided she was talking about what I think she was talking about.

"Ugh, ANOTHER one of your crackpot Relic myths?" Nila groaned with another roll of her eyes.

"Oh, no. This is not just some folk tale," Hashanah assured. "A secret notebook my mother left me explained it in full, complete with the exact locations of each piece AND the security measures taken to protect them… and of course, the functions of this Relic when the pieces are combined…"

"Okay, and you expect us to do what with that information? Because I'm not taking you to another worn-out, shambling, monster-infested dungeon to nearly get myself killed for you again. That wasn't exactly part of our deal."

"Aw, don't be like that, Ni!" the genie girl prodded her teammate. "If you want revenge on that obnoxious ghost for ruthlessly slaughtering your comrades and almost killing your boss, then your best bet is to stick by me and let me do the heavy lifting for you!"

"Let's not get it twisted, Hashanah; I DO NOT need you to achieve my goal of destroying The Assassin. I can do that myself. You and I are only paired up for the sake of convenience."

"Right, because you looked SO strong and capable when you got thrashed by that ditzy zombie chick," Hashanah countered, much to Nila's dismay as she glowered at the other woman. "Besides, you know full well that our partnership is FAR more than just 'convenient.' Otherwise, how do you figure you'd even get CLOSE to our targets without them or the authorities sniffing you out and dragging you off to jail once they caught you? I didn't forget that you're wanted as a Person of Interest after what your little gun club did to my city…" the rogue half-genie hinted as she narrowed her eyes at the apparent war criminal. "You should be so lucky I'm choosing to overlook the Ammonian Army's role in Inseam's destruction because of our common goal."

"I personally had nothing to do with that, so your beef there isn't with me," Nila firmly retorted. "You'd have better luck digging up details from Ammo Baron himself on what that was all about, in case you were looking for any. The authorities are on my tail purely because of my association with the A.A. and because of some other 'private' dealings I had with them that landed me my spot in their ranks. So, if you're gonna try and hold Inseam over my head, you're barking up the wrong tree, girlfriend." At that, Hashanah nonchalantly sighed and shrugged. Or rather, she SEEMED nonchalant about it.

"Hm. Either way, I'm doing you a HUGE favor in keeping you safe and protected while we figure things out about how we're taking down Shantae and Tayshan. You're even luckier that I no longer care enough about my old reputation to be worried about associating myself with a 'criminal' like you. Oh, and considering the alarming number of enemies your crew's made in recent times, it HASN'T been easy keeping you out of harm's way… and don't even get me STARTED on the fact that you're out here getting beat up by idiotic screwball zombies when I'm not around to bail you out…" Hashanah took the liberty to bitterly remind her partner as they each glared at one another for what felt like an eternity… only for Hashanah's face to suddenly contort into a surprisingly cheerful, toothy grin. "That aside, you know I've been crazy about you since we met!" she further confessed, catching Nila off-guard as the flustered redhead also dropped her tense facial expression. "We get along so well, and I KNOW you like me as much as I like you, Ni! I honestly wasn't expecting us to hit it off like we did, all things considered, but I really am glad to have you in my life! We totally click, and the times we've had together have been a lot of fun! I hope we get to have more as we work together, of course. You can't deny that after what we've been through together." At that, Nila paused with a mildly confused expression on her face as she stared Hashanah in the eye. After just a few seconds, however, the Ammonian affiliate shook her head and sighed.

"…Hmph. Whatever. This alliance for more than just convenience. There, I said it. Happy?" she barely found it in herself to concede, though it burned her up something FIERCE as she furrowed her brow and turned away from Hashanah. It… was also worth note that Nila was… blushing. "And as for the zombie, that was a fluke! Decrepit little minx caught me by surprise is all… If I'd known a bit more about her abilities, she would NOT have gotten the edge over me."

"Make all the excuses you want, but the fact is that we NEED the extra advantage to wipe Sequin Land's favorite genie/wraith couple out of the picture. THOSE two are our priority, as we discussed previously. The zombie hardly matters outside of the fact that she beat you. The only feasible way to get the advantage we're looking for in as little time as possible, though… is for us to visit these temples, collect the pieces of that Relic, and wield its awesome power at our sole discretion! Or at least, use it in a way that we'll be granted enough strength that NO ONE would be able to challenge us without the threat of being obliterated. And then, I'll claim my rightful place as the most powerful genie in all of Sequin Land! No one would DARE shun, disrespect, or disgrace me again!"

"…Rrrrriiiight," the Ammonian affiliate droned, narrowing her eyes at her partner in crime.

"Plus, as we agreed upon, I will grant you three rule-free wishes once I achieve the power to do so~!" the renegade genie teasingly added with a cute wink, flustering her friend once again in the process.

"Gahh, you WOULD bring that up… Hmph. Fine, then," Nila acquiesced, though it became apparent what one of the primary drivers of this… 'partnership' was. "What's in it for me in the shorter term if we go through with searching for you fancy old toys?"

"Good question…" Hashanah asked with a most… suggestive inflection in her tone as she sprung from the mattress and approached her teammate with a grin on her face. "And to answer that…" she trailed off, planting herself right next to Nila on the sofa and cozying up to the Admiral by clinging to her arm. In response, Nila blushed and scowled as she attempted to turn away. "…What if I told you I'd… take care of you in other ways that only a genie could~?"

"Hmph. You're not going to butter me up with that sugary shtick," Nila adamantly rebuffed, though she didn't put much effort into fully separating herself from the other young woman. "If… if you're serious about dating me, then you'd understand that I don't respond well to people trying to seduce me into doing what they want."

"Aw, come on, Ni~!" Hashanah pressed on, snuggling up closer to a staunchly resistant Nila, who'd begun to glower at her partner (girlfriend, perhaps?) as her face grew redder. "Maybe you're right, though. Maybe I shouldn't be using my irresistible charms to win you over…"

"Nice of you to realize, because it wasn't going to work anyway."

"I know, because you've got such a strong sense of moral integrity that I couldn't HOPE to knock you off your game…" the renegade half-genie remarked, planting a light, tender kiss on the other woman's cheek that sent her body temperature into the stratosphere. "And now that I think of it, maybe I should be showing you my appreciation for being with me instead of trying to convince you to do something you don't want to…" she continued, planting another, more intimate kiss on Nila's blushing cheek closer to her… intended target. Highly bothered by Hashanah's flirtatious antics, Nila reluctantly turned to face her while attempting to maintain her stance.

"…You think you're being so slick, but I know what you're doing. Don't patronize me, Hashanah…!" Nila warned, still scowling at the other young lady as said lady took the liberty of climbing onto her lap, straddling her on the sofa.

"Come on, you know I wouldn't do that to you…" Hashanah pleaded her innocence as she upped the ante by cupping her (definitely) girlfriend's face and directing her gaze so that they met eye-to-eye. Her heart thumping furiously in her chest as she tried to keep herself under control, Nila fought the temptation as hard as she could… only to find herself placing her hands on Hashanah's curvaceous hips, causing the rogue half-genie to giggle in delight as she pressed their noses together.

"…Cut this out, Hasha," Nila demanded while addressing Hashanah by an endearing nickname, her breath catching in her throat as the distance between the young ladies' faces steadily closed. "I… I'll help you find these silly Relic pieces or whatever, so there's no need for you to put on these obnoxious theatrics…"

"Aw, I knew you'd come around! You're the best, Ni!" Hasha cheered as she closed the distance between them to place a strong, albeit quick kiss on Nila's lips while remaining seated on her lap. "I promise you, I'll keep you safe as always. We'll be in and out of the first one, no problem!" she further assured as she tried to climb off the other woman's lap… only to find resistance in the form of Nila locking her in place with her hands. "Eh? Er… w-what gives, babe? You're… squeezing me kinda tight here…"

"You think you're just going to work me up like that, and then when you get what you want, you stop everything and hop back into minding your own business?" the flustered Admiral dared to question, causing her lady friend to grin in a mixture of coyness and delight. "That isn't how I roll. If you start something with me, then you'd better be prepared to finish it…" she further warned, leaning forward to kiss Hashanah once more. The corrupted half-genie did little to resist at first, allowing Nila to pepper her with kisses to her cheek, neck, and lips and even returning the favor with some of her own. Before long, however, Hashanah suddenly disengaged and slithered her way out of Nila's grasp, standing on the floor in almost a millisecond.

"Trust me, we'll have PLENTY of time for that after we complete this first trip," Hashanah assured once more, seeming not to be in quite as playful a mood as she initially let on as she began to scour the room for supplies. "The sooner we get started searching, the better! Come on, let's head out now!"

"…S-sure…" Nila… rather somberly agreed, though the sore disappointment was beyond evident on her face. As the redheaded young woman sat for a moment and gazed at Hashanah, she could only see that the genie girl was too preoccupied with excitedly gathering materials for their expedition to notice. With a heavy sigh of dismay and a roll of her eyes, Nila gathered up the motivation to peel herself from the sofa and assist her partner with gearing up for a trip that, truthfully enough, she didn't want to go on… "So, where are we headed first?"

"The place I think we'll have the least trouble with is…"

Elsewhere, much later…

"Alright, we've finally arrived!" announced everyone's favorite Half-Genie Hero Shantae as she and her adventuring partner set foot on the grounds of their first adventuring destination.

"So, this is the Tangled Thread Temple, eh?" asked her trusty sidekick Bolo as he visually scanned the area see a stunning, though archaic moss-covered temple with dilapidated stone pillars holding up the entrance way. Its glimmering marble structure gleamed in the broad afternoon sunlight as the gigantic sanctuary floated precariously in the Sequin Land Sea as though it would sink at any moment.

"Yyyep." Shantae confirmed, looking at a map to gauge what she and her teammate would be dealing with. "Seems like we made it just in time, too, because this place only had one more day before it vanished for the next five months, according to Uncle."

"Y'know, I was gonna ask for more clarification," the young warrior queried. "Why exactly is it that the sirens never mentioned this Spirit Fuser thing during our time on Paradise Island? We asked them time and again about special means to revive the fallen, but almost none of the ones I remember us talking to gave us any leads. And what exactly is it with these special Relic locations randomly appearing and disappearing like they do?"

"We were dealing with the threat of a soul-sucking Empress Siren who, as far as I could guess, probably didn't want there to be any competition as far as her turning the world into her feeding source goes," Shantae explained. "And aside from Lobster Siren, none of the sirens were exactly on-board with helping us with OUR problems when they, in tune with Risky Boots, were keen on causing problems for us and the other half-genies."

"Ah… I suppose that makes enough sense."

"Yep. And as for these temples disappearing and reappearing at their own special intervals, Uncle explained that it could be some sort of failsafe because of how powerful this Relic is. Anyone who got their hands on this thing with evil intent would potentially become a threat to EVERY living thing on the planet without question. I personally don't blame whoever came up with the idea to split it up and seal it away like this to prevent anyone from even trying to reassemble it."

"That, I totally agree with you on…" the blue-haired adventurer concurred with a pensive nod. "An artifact with the power to let its user steal the souls of anyone unlucky enough to be on the business end of it… It honestly gives me the chills, considering the fiasco we JUST went through…"

"Yeah… It's a really scary thing to consider," the half-genie acknowledged. "But my hope is that we can make these quests quick and clean, so there's as little chance for any hiccups as possible. I have faith that we can do it."

"Sure, but… do you think this is safe in a general sense? Or that Tay of all people would agree with the idea of infiltrating these dungeons and rebuilding this dangerous Relic to revive him, knowing that we'd potentially be putting the world in danger ourselves if Risky Boots, the Barons, or anyone evil enough caught wind of its existence?" At that, the half-genie reeled back in surprise at Bolo's unexpectedly intricate question. After a moment of silent, albeit deep contemplation…

"...It's tough to say," Shantae answered with a sense of uncertainty that astonished Bolo. "This is definitely an adventure with a HUGE gray area, and I personally know that Tayshan and I have had our conversations in the past about the needs of the one or the few versus the needs of the many… but… I feel like this is our best bet to save Tay unless something more convenient comes along. We don't have much time left to consider any alternatives. Plus… I'm thinking that… that if we're extra careful, we'll do everything we need to do without drawing any unwanted attention our way, and give Tay the chance he needs. After that, we'll break the Spirit Fuser apart again and either return the pieces to their temples, or hide them ourselves. No matter what, though, Bolo… I… I can't let this chance slip by…" she further asserted, though the waviness in her tone and the immeasurably worried look on her face told all we needed to know about the dilemma she was wrestling with in her head. Reading his sworn sister's concern, Bolo paused for a moment before giving his rebuttal.

"Hm. In that case, sis, I'm behind you all the way," the fledgling treasure hunter assured with a reassuring smirk and fist pump. "We'll get these Sprit Fuser pieces, save our friend, and keep this excursion under wraps without a hitch! I'm sure of it."

"Thank you for understanding, bro," the worried genie warrior expressed with a smiling sigh of relief. "And I promise that we'll knock these quests out of the park in time for us to enjoy the upcoming summer. I owe you one for helping me out here."

"You bet!" Bolo confidently assured as he and Shantae turned once more toward the Tangled Thread Temple. "Also, you don't owe me a thing. I'm just glad to contribute, as usual. On that note, I'm hoping that whatever's waiting for us in this temple isn't too hard to handle."

"Me, too. At a glance, it just looks like any regular old temple, but what's inside it might surprise us… as is the usual. Of course, I'm more surprised that this place was so far south of Scuttle Town. If it wasn't for that fancy new speedboat of yours, it might've taken us at least a WEEK to get here, and we would've completely missed our window! You really outdid yourself on the design of it!" Shantae cheered, finding herself reassured of their purpose.

"Naturally," Bolo 'nonchalantly' accepted his best friend's praise, rubbing his finger under his nose.

"Of course, you'd still be mindful to NOT floor it from start to finish to save gas. I wasn't sure if I was gonna hurl from the motion sickness, or BE hurled off the boat and into the ocean," she joked with a chuckle, though she rubbed her stomach. She must've been a bit queasy…

"Sure, but you gotta admit that getting here was a breeze," he countered with a shrug.

"No, getting here was a hurricane with a little bit of earthquake thrown in," the impetuous genie quipped again. "Seriously, bro, that speedboat is WAY too fast for its own good. It doesn't help that you STILL didn't even put in seatbelts or rails! My hands hurt from clamping onto the sides the entire time!"

"Ah, quit your bellyaching," Bolo dismissed with a shake of his head and a swat of the air with his hand. "We survived the trip, didn't we? Plus, bonus points for the boat not exploding on the way here like last time!" he… oddly pointed out as though that would make the half-genie stop roasting him. And speaking of 'roast,' a sudden *FWOOORSH* nearby, followed by a sudden orange lightshow equipped with some thick black, billowing smoke erupted from… well, wouldn't you know? The speedboat our heroes rode in on spontaneously combusted. Hearing it, Shantae and Bolo turned around to see the damage. "Aw, COME ON!"

"Ahh… I knew this would happen…" Shantae groaned and sighed in expectant dismay as she raised her hands above her head and began to gyrate her hips. Within a few seconds, and with a sudden swirl of her magic… "Transform!" she announced as she, with a *POOF*, turned herself into a mermaid. Without missing a beat, Mermaid-Shantae waved a hand across her chest, magically commanding a wave from the ocean to wash over Bolo's speedboat and put out the fire with a sizzling *TSSSSSSSSSSCHHHhhhhh* that solved the issue in a flash… mostly. Bolo hurried across the base of the tiny island to inspect the docked vehicle for… I guess whatever part WASN'T damaged beyond repair, only to find that the engine had been melted.

"Uhhh… Shoot…" he cursed as he turned toward Shantae, who'd transformed back to her regular self with another *POOF*.

"We're stuck here until we finish this quest… aren't we?"

"Ah… S-so, you MAY not like what I have to say to that…"

"Save it for the fishes, Handyboy. We've got work to do, and we won't get anywhere by standing around and wondering if you'll eventually come up with a decent excuse for this. We've dawdled enough as it is. Now, let's get a move on." Shantae irritably commanded of Bolo with a nudge of her head, none too pleased with his latest blunder.

"Y-yes, ma'am…" 'Handyboy' complied, sulking a bit as he joined his team leader at her side, readying his trusty chained flail while she summoned a small surge of Light Magic to prepare herself. With a light, high-pitched, windy *FWEESH*, she was ready for action. Noticing this, Bolo glanced at his teammate to see the utter determination on her face as she stared ahead, anticipating the challenges ahead. "Powering up from the beginning? Wow, Shantae… you seem like you're really pumped for this."

"Of course, I am! Aren't you?" she questioned as she glanced back at him, surprised that he'd even ask.

"Y'know what? Yeah. Yeah! Yeah, I'm pumped, too!" Bolo excitedly replied, quickly getting the message as he readied himself for battle.

"That's the spirit! Now, then…"

"On your mark… Get set…!"

"Ret-2-Go!" Shantae uttered her famous catchphrase as she dashed ahead without a hint of fear.

"Hero Time!" Bolo additionally announced, following closely behind the half-genie with equally as much determination. Within seconds, the dynamic duo dashed through the decaying entrance to the Tangled Thread Temple, where they found themselves greeted with a long, azure, sparkling hallway not unlike one seen in a cathedral. Racing past the alabaster, reptile-themed stone pillars and the almost endless rows of Gothic stained-glass windows (some of which were shattered), Shantae and Bolo kept themselves vigilant as they scoured the vicinity for potential threats. When none appeared right away, the fledgling warrior and the half-genie pressed on. The only real danger they spotted right away was the floor being divided up into a series of winding paths that intersected one another at different points while leaving a TON of room for anyone unsteady on their feet to go tumbling into the abyss below… which spewed smoke clouds shaped like little skulls and crossbones from the floor gaps. The added obstacles included the fact that some of the floor had additionally been chipped away, as well as parts of the floor Shantae and Bolo stepped on crumbling away behind them with *KRAKUMBLE* after *KRAKAKRARGH* as they went along.

"This place is awfully fragile… Better tread lightly," Shantae observed, picking up the pace as she jogged in a zig zag pattern to follow whatever parts of the floor had not already been eroded. When she encountered segments of the floor that had already been broken off, of course, the lithe young lady put her acrobatic skills to good use as she gracefully hopped, vaulted, and somersaulted her way over the mundane obstacles. "Hm. So far, so good," she further encouraged herself as she quickly got into the groove of basically torching this section like she was just spending a day at the playground. Seriously, the heroine made it look EASY! Smiling with newly ignited determination all the way as her body continued to radiate her sparkling Light Magic glow, Shantae parkoured her way through the hallway without an ounce of hesitation or fear in even a single one of her movements.

"H-hey! Slow down a bit!" Bolo requested as he did his best to keep up. While nowhere near as flashy in terms of his presentation with navigating the crumbling, winding, disjointed corridor with its missing chunks of floor, the young adventurer still held his own. His weapon on-hand, Bolo also hopped, skipped, and leapt his way through the dangerous hallway. To his credit, however, he improvised wherever he needed to. When he encountered gaps in the floor that were too wide for him to leap across, he opted to get a running start, jump as far as he could, and then… Whoa! He would whirl his chain mace around at the speed of a helicopter about to achieve liftoff! With a continuous, whirring *WHREENGWHRWEENGWHREENGWHREENGWHREENG* as the chain links of his mace beat against the thick, musty air, Bolo levitated as he glided himself across the gaps before landing safely enough to continue following Shantae through the corridor. As it appeared, neither member of this indomitable duo would find much trouble finding their stride in exploring the Tangled Thread Temple.

It wasn't terribly long before the duo cleared the section and found themselves standing on solid ground that didn't crumble away under them. After the initial hallway, they were immediately greeted with a wide, empty room with heavily damaged stone pillars and blown-out stained glass windows. They were also met with a gigantic chasm with a darkness-filled abyss below and only one other way out of the room in the form of a doorway at least 20 feet above and across the perilous chasm. Before they got set on conquering the next challenge, however…

"Shantae, take a look over there," Bolo suggested as he pointed toward a sparkling scarlet treasure chest on the far end of the platform they were standing on.

"Hm?" the half-genie hummed as she listened to her partner's observation and peered in the direction he was pointing in. Lo and behold, the treasure chest he spotted, sitting all by its lonesome as she and Bolo approached it. Only, when they got a closer inspection… "It's already been opened?" Shantae asked with a raised eyebrow as she visually scanned the desecrated box.

"Forcefully, at that. Check out the burn marks all over it and the surrounding area… and even the condition of the lock…" Bolo further pointed out as he also performed a thorough visual scan. As they saw, the treasure chest had evidently been brutalized. Scorch marks were burned into the floor around it, the lock was broken and misshapen, and the box itself appeared to be cracked and dented in various spots.

"Yeah… Wow… Whoever did this must've seriously had a rough time with it," Shantae acknowledged as she peered inside the treasure chest to find nothing inside. "Whatever the case was, though, they pried it open and got into it. They didn't leave a trace of anything that might've been in it."

"Huh. Isn't it normally the case that only YOU can open treasure chests like this one, though? Or at least, someone qualified enough to do so?"

"Yeah, though someone strong enough could potentially break into one with extreme force like we're seeing here…" At that, Bolo began to warily scan the immediate area with his weapon ready in case they weren't alone. It was then that he noticed the poor condition of the room at large. The busted windows, the crumbling pillars and walls, the crushed and shattered statues… the burn marks smattered across the area from its mile-high ceiling to its walls… Yet, he couldn't quite make sense of what he was seeing. When he could find no present or apparent threats despite the condition of the room, he turned back to Shantae.

"…You think it might be possible that someone else came in here before us?" Bolo got the idea to ask, suddenly on high alert as he pondered the possibility that they were not the only ones to explore the Tangled Thread Temple

"I would hope that isn't the case…" Shantae answered with a tinge of concern in her tone as she ceased inspecting the vandalized treasure chest and turned toward the obstacles ahead. "For all we know, though, that treasure chest could've been broken into LONG before we got here. Possibly by one of the residents of the temple, if nothing else."

"Hm. I… suppose that's true, too," he acknowledged, considering the likelihood that the damage they'd been inspecting was old. As such, he chose not to press the issue further.

"Either way, we'll remain on our guard. We'll most likely find more clues with the more we explore this temple. You ready to keep going, Bolo?" Shantae asked, eager to make more progress.

"Sure thing," he confirmed as he joined her in refocusing on the task at hand. "I'm right behind ya. So, how do we get past this part? I don't see any floating hooks or platforms, and this gap is obviously WAY too wide for either of us to simply jump across…"

"Don't worry. I've got this!" she confidently proclaimed, raising her arms outward to her sides and rhythmically shaking and gyrating her hips in such a mesmerizing fashion that it could very well hypnotize you if you stared for too long. And trust me, I KNOW you're staring… Just… don't let her catch you. I heard she's ironically shy about that sort of thing. You didn't hear that from me, though…

"Gonna use your Fusion Magic to create some platforms for us to cross this giant gap with?" Bolo asked, seeming to already know what she was up to.

"No, actually…" she denied to Bolo's surprise as she, with a *POOF*, transformed into the periwinkle feathered chimera known as Harpy-Shantae. "We're simply gonna fly across. Hop on!" she suggested as she lowered herself to allow him to mount her.

"Fly across just like that? Huh. I had a feeling this would be more complicated… Okay, sure," the blue-haired adventurer obliged with some humored surprise as he climbed onto Harpy-Shantae's back. With a mighty *FWOOF* of her wings, Harpy-Shantae took flight with hardly any issue despite having to adjust for the extra weight of her partner. "Whoahah!" Bolo yelped in slight fright, tightening his grip on his partner's shoulders as she gracefully soared across the room. It wasn't long before they found themselves clearing the gap and completing the next section in record time… I suppose? Once they landed, Bolo dismounted Harpy-Shantae and readied himself to continue.

"Hang on a sec, Bolo. I'm gonna do a quick bit of investigating before we go on ahead," Harpy-Shantae ordered as she took flight and glided toward the reptile-themed doorway, which had also shown signs of significant damage as it crumbled and chipped away without prompt.

"Oh? Taking the cautious approach, eh?" he asked once again in surprise as he obeyed her command to hang back. He noticed, however, that something seemed to be amiss about the doorframe as he began to visually inspect the phenomenon. "Hmm…" he hummed as he waited for his team leader to finish her part of the investigation. "Something about the damage here… It seems… way too fresh for it to be simple wear-and-tear…" he murmured to himself as he tapped the frame with two of his gloved fingers. Upon contact, the part he tapped crumbled away with an emphatic *KRAKRUNCH* as the rocky fragments rained to the floor below. "Yep… and… it… kinda smells… like burning meat…?" he further observed as he took a quick whiff of the busted-down entranceway. Within a minute of him conducting his own investigative research, however…

"This next corridor's completely dark. Keep your mace ready, and we'll get through this next part together," Harpy-Shantae instructed as she returned from the confines of the opaque corridor they planned on traveling through together.

"How do you plan on going about that?" Bolo asked as he paused his own research and refocused his attention on his partner.

"Like this…" the feathered chimera began as she flared her wings and her tailfeathers to begin another belly dance number that involved her wiggling her hips as she stood in place. In an instant, the harpy-formed half-genie found herself enshrouded in an arcane light blue aura.

"Wait, what are you doing? I thought you-?" Bolo was about to question before, with another *POOF*, Harpy-Shantae transformed into a tiny purple bat with big yellow eyes… known oh-so-familiarly as Bat-Shantae.

"I'm gonna use my Bat form's Sonar ability to scout for any potential dangers that might be lurking around. I couldn't see much of anything in there, but I saw enough to know that we're not exactly gonna be taking a leisurely stroll. Get ready, Bolo," she instructed, her voice coming across as light and squeaky in accordance with how small she was as a bat.

"S-sure thing, but why go through this next section in that form if it's just dark? It shouldn't matter if we're careful, right?"

"It's a bit more complicated than that. There are a ton of super dangerous obstacles in this hallway that weren't in the last one, in addition to the obstacles we did see back there. They make it impossible for us both to get through without us potentially putting ourselves or each other in a bad spot," Bat-Shantae explained as she flittered over to Bolo and perched on his shoulder.

"Of course… That's what I get for opening my big mouth a second ago…" he remarked with a bemused sigh, mentally kicking himself for jinxing his luck with the temple's travel difficulty. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

"Under normal circumstances, I'd use the Luminous Aquamarine I got from Giga Mermaid to help us see or use my Spider form to crawl across the walls to avoid the obstacles. Neither of those methods account for you the way I'd need them to, though, sooo…"

"Sooo… what?" Bolo dared to ask with a raised eyebrow.

"I hope you're okay taking point on this part while I guide you through," she revealed, much to his surprise as his heartbeat quickened and his eyes widened.

"Wait… WHAT? You mean…"

"That this part's gonna be especially difficult, so we're gonna need to coordi-!" she was about to explain before being cut off.

"That I get to be PLAYER ONE on part of an adventure with you!?" the young fledgling adventurer cheerfully asked, though it… begged the question of what he was so excited about out of nowhere… Raising an eyebrow herself as she dismounted from her teammate's shoulder and took flight, Bat-Shantae appeared to also be a bit taken aback.

"Er… I-if you see it that way, homie, then sure!" she brightly confirmed with a supportive… if not somewhat befuddled smile as she flittered toward the entranceway. "You uh… I-I hope you enjoy being the uh… the 'leader' of the team for this section as we push ahead," she further uncertainly assured him, only gassing him up even more as the cheesiest grin plastered itself across his face.

"Awesome! In that case, this is a perfect opportunity to make the teamwork dream work, Shantae! Just leave it to me!" Bolo vowed in redoubled determination with a celebratory fist pump as he readied himself with the eagerness of a child who'd just received his best birthday gift yet.

"I'm… not sure that's how the saying goes, but I'm glad to know your enthusiasm's always right where it needs to be, Bolo. Now, then…" Bat-Shantae acknowledged with another grin as she turned toward the next section. Meanwhile, the excitable blue-haired explorer got himself ready right behind her. Only…

"Wait… I just realized something," Bolo paused for a second to ask a question. "How did you wind up transforming directly from one form to-?" he tried to pose his query.

"Come on!" Bat-Shantae commanded, soaring off into the opaque corridor with hardly a warning, alarming her sidekick into rushing forth after her.

"Ah! Got it!" he assured as he readied his weapon for combat. As expected, the next corridor the two heroes found themselves traversing was nearly pitch black, save for the sunlight barely illuminating the entrance. Even more concerning for the two, the shadowy hallway was also exceptionally quiet, save for the rhythmic flaps of Bat-Shantae's wings and Bolo's footsteps, in addition to the rattle of his chained mace. Within a few yards of slowly, but surely navigating the dark hall, Bat-Shantae let out a powerful *KASHREEECH* that sent… waves of what looked like LIGHT ripping through the air across the corridor that dissipated within a second of them appearing.

"Bolo, watch your step!" the tiny bat suddenly warned, causing Bolo to freeze before he got the chance to take one more step forward. Acknowledging this, the young adventurer attempted to tap his foot forward, only to find nothing making contact with his appendage from below.

"Huh… Thanks for the heads-up, Shantae…" Bolo offered his gratitude as he reached into his pocket and pulled out… well, something small and presumably useless. It was too dark for me to figure it out, but he definitely pulled something out of his pocket. "Gonna toss this screw down to see how far down this ditch goes," he informed as he threw his screw into the presumable pit in front of him to gather some insight into how far his drop would've been had he taken just a couple steps farther. Seconds upon seconds went by, with each passing one sending a steadily increasing sense of worry through each of the travelers… which is to say, this was one REALLY DEEP hole. Eventually, an extremely distant *tock* could be heard, signifying that the screw had landed on solid ground… much like Bolo himself would've done with a much less… aesthetically pleasing sound effect, had he moved just one or two centimeters forward. YIKES…

"Whew… That was a close one…" the half-genie observed with a sigh of monumental relief.

"You're telling me…" the frazzled sidekick added, also taking a much-needed breath of fresh air to quell the sudden rush of anxiety coursing through him.

"Yeah. Also… You may not like hearing this, but there are at least ten more giant holes in the floor between here and the end of this hallway. At least, as far as I can see from here…" Bat-Shantae warned, frightening Bolo nearly stiff as he glanced at her and gulped.

"I… I see," he warily acknowledged as he attempted to look ahead, only to be reminded of how little he could see. "And to think one of the only things I didn't pack today was a flashlight… Say, what if you transformed back into a Harpy and carried me across?"

"It wouldn't be the best option here. I wouldn't be able to see a thing, for one," Bat-Shantae explained. "Another concern is the giant, floating Pike Balls high and low that are hovering back and forth, side to side, and even around and around. And trust me when I say that they're EVERYWHERE. We'd both be goners if we didn't have the mobility we needed to get through. One hit while I was in Harpy form, and we'd be history. I'll need to stay specifically in Bat form to guide you across while also keeping myself airborne to avoid crumbling the floor any more than we need to. You'll need to be mindful of your footing the whole time, and we'll have to move VERY quickly."

"Hm. Awfully difficult start for a new adventure, no?" Bolo asked with an understandable energy of burgeoning terror at the idea of blindly (literally) running through a long, trap-infested, pitch-black hallway riddled with holes big enough that cars could probably go plummeting into them.

"We haven't seen anything too bad yet. This'll be a cinch! Now, come on!" Bat-Shantae dismissed and urged as she let out another *KASCREEEEECH* that sent a light shockwave bouncing off the walls, floor, and extremely dangerous obstacles all around. "You'll want to take about four big steps to the left, continue forward until I say 'Stop,' and get your flail ready. There's three floating hooks for you to swing across another giant gap just ahead. Also, keep your head low. A few of those levitating Pike Balls are just above you, and I'll be sending out more signals as I dodge them myself."

"Roger," Bolo complied, absolutely trusting in Shantae to lead him along the way. Following her orders, he readied his mace, took the required steps to the left, and cautiously pressed ahead. He couldn't help but feel like he was walking on a tightrope, as the path seemed to be quite narrow. Meanwhile, Bat-Shantae let out periodic screeches to make full use of her ability of echolocation. Uttering her bat cries every few seconds, the half-genie bat nimbly dodged the incoming hazards while keeping Bolo in her sights. However coordinated the two were, of course, it still took them a hefty few minutes to clear enough of the corridor before…

"Stop," Bat-Shantae ordered Bolo, prompting him to halt on a dime.

"Got it," he acknowledged, awaiting her next instruction as he began to swing his mace in preparation.

"Alright. So…" she trailed off before taking a breath and uttering another *KASCREEEECH* aimed upward to momentarily reveal the locations of the floating hooks for him to memorize. "Did you see where the hooks were?"

"Kinda…" Bolo admitted, a pit forming in his stomach as he anticipated the perilous task he'd have to take on. "I saw where the first one was, but is it too much to ask that you keep using your echolocation to remind me of where the others are?"

"No problem!" Bat-Shantae happily agreed. "Buuut, you may want to keep yourself moving instead of taking too long on any one hook."

"Why's that?"

"Because from the looks of it, the hooks aren't exactly very stable. They may only support your weight for a second or two before they begin to crumble away. Also, there are more floating Pike Balls between each hook, so you'll also have to time your jumps accordingly."

"Oh. Aw, jeez…"

"Don't be discouraged, Bolo! I'm here for you. I'll keep screeching, so you have enough of a view to make your moves as fast as you need to. Okay?"

"Sure. Y-Yeah, I got it. No biggie," he attempted to assure, though the young man's uncertainty was palpable.

"Great! Now, tell me when you're ready."

"Well, there won't be a point where I'm not ready. So, let's get this done."

"You got it, bro!" Bat-Shantae acknowledged, seeming not to pick up on Bolo's reservations against potentially throwing his life away in some sparkly, abandoned, crumbling temple in the middle of nowhere. Nevertheless, she uttered another *KASCREEEEECH* to remind Bolo of where the first hook was… while also revealing the floating Pike Balls that were moving up and down between the first and second hooks ahead.

"Got it. Going for it now! Hyah!" Bolo announced as he bravely lunged off the edge and, with a mighty swing of his chained flail, latched onto the hook with a successful *KLANG* after it… somehow extended by a good five to ten additional feet? Huh… What an interesting weapon he has there…

"Perfect! Now, onto the next one. Here goes!" Bat-Shantae praised and advised, letting loose another *KASCREEECH* to reveal the second hook, the Pike Balls floating between it and the one Bolo was precariously swinging from, and another set of stationary floating Pike Balls ahead.

"Heard! Toryaah!" Bolo hollered out as he quickly made his next move. Swinging as hard as he could from the hook as it began to crumble away, Bolo swung his mace forward again in midair. This time as well, the mace extended forth like some sort of grappling hook, where it made another successful *KRANG* of a connection with the second hook. "Whoa!" he yelled as he swung forth, narrowly missing a floating Pike Ball that whizzed by with a voluminous *WHOOSH*.

"Almost there, homie! You've got this!" Bat-Shantae cheered as she continued to flitter about, avoiding the Pike Balls herself as she emitted another *KASCREEEEECH* to assist Bolo in identifying the final hook's location. "Now, let's finish strong! That next one's a little high up, but not too high for you!"

"I see it!" Bolo acknowledged, getting into the spirit as he hurriedly swung himself forth with his mace… perhaps a bit TOO hurriedly…

"Bolo, wait! You forgot about the-!" Bat-Shantae was about to warn before a sudden *KAPLAAANG* rang out, followed by…

"OOHAGH!" Bolo yelped in what sounded like unbelievable agony, sending his half-genie teammate into a panic as she hurriedly fired off a series of bat screeches to try and gain an idea of where Bolo might be. All she could really see, however, was the Pike Balls that, with every flash from her echolocation technique, changed their positions. This wasn't helped by Bolo's subsequent pained grunts followed each time by a *KAPLONG*, *WHAPANG*, and *TWAAANG*.

"BOLO!" Bat-Shantae shrieked in horror, though she kept on firing off echolocation shouts to see… a bizarre sequence of the young man being flung from one Pike Ball with a *KATWAANG* to another Pike Ball with another painful *PWAAANG*, where he pinballed off yet ANOTHER one with one more *PLAAAANG*, only to be flung upward and forth to… you guessed it: ANOTHER Pike Ball that he met with a forceful *PRAKAANG*. Oh, and just when one would assume he was a goner, his fall into the abyss was broken immediately… by ONE MORE Pike Ball traveling upward that met the poor guy's face with a most… melodic *PRAAANG* that sent him hurtling across the rest of the pit… where he landed on the platform leading to the next section with a (dis)graceful *THUD* flat on his back. Worried beyond belief because she watched the whole sequence in a series of sonar-themed snapshots, Bat-Shantae flittered her way through the rest of the deadly obstacle course to the platform where Bolo landed. Staying in Bat form to keep herself prepared for danger, she remained afloat as she visually inspected her best friend's condition. "Hey, you alright? You took a pretty nasty spill there, bud…"

"Gahhahaaaaagh…" Bolo blearily groaned, though he was surprisingly quick to pick himself back up. Dude still had his chain mace in his hand, even! Wow… "N-never better, Shantae. Never… ever gonna do anything like this ever again for the next two weeks… Owww…!" he changed his tune, eliciting a giggle out of the superpowered bat girl.

"Glad to see your determination isn't as broken as your nose might be from all those Pike Balls you took to the face," she joked, relieved to see he was alright. "You need a second to heal up or catch your breath?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'm just glad we made it. Let's keep going!" he suggested, shaking off the aches and pains all across his torso and face as he readied himself for more action. Never one to question Bolo's indomitable, if not outright reckless resolve, Bat-Shantae took his comment at face value.

"Okey doke! Follow me, then," the bat-formed half-genie instructed, flittering ahead while giving additional signals of echolocation down the next pitch-black hallway. "Move to the right by two or three steps, then stop for another hook swing across another small gap," she informed Bolo. "And this time, PLEASE mind the Pike Balls. The farther we go along, the more of them will appear."

"Got it," he obliged, following her every direction with careful precision to avoid being taken for another brutal, hazardous ride. With another metallic *KRAKAANG* of his weapon, Bolo successfully latched onto the next hook, at which point Bat-Shantae let loose another *KRASCREEEECH* to reveal Bolo's next landing spot and the Pike Balls that unpredictably hovered in his way.

"Did you see what you needed to?"

"Sure thing, Shantae. Here I go. Hah!" Bolo valiantly declared once more, swinging ahead at just the moment to NARROWLY miss being hit by another Pike Ball. With a triumphant *THUMP* of his feet on the platform, Bolo made it across.

"Awesome work, Bolo!"

"Naturally!" he bragged, taking the moment to bask in his very, VERY temporary success.

"You may want to get running, though. From here on out, any part of the floor you land on will crumble under you in almost immediately," she warned.

"Alrigh-! Wait, WHAT!?"

"Aaaand you've got to do the same thing two more times, after which you run out of floor, and you have to swing across two more crumbling, floating hooks. Oh, and jump across the next gap directly in front of you, take two steps to the left, jump over another gap, step once to the right, then slide under a Pike Ball before continuing with the hooks… which ALSO have Pike Balls upon Pike Balls floating all around them."

"…I'm gonna die here. Aren't I?" he questioned, evidently already reaching his limit for how much platforming-based insanity he could take.

"Not if you remember what I said and get a move on. Speaking of which…" she trailed off as a sudden *KRAKRUMBLE* sent echoes rippling through the corridor, accompanied by the platform Bolo was standing on starting to quake.

"Aw, jeez! Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot…!" he cursed over and over again in a frenzy as he made a beeline toward the other end of the pitch-black, trap-infested corridor.

"We may not have seen any enemies here so far, but I'm sure this MORE than makes up for it…" Bat-Shantae murmured before letting loose another series of echolocation signals as she closely followed Bolo to make sure he took the correct path. Despite Shantae's numerous pinpoint-specific directions being given as casually they were, Bolo managed to follow them at his own peril… with a HUGE emphasis on 'PERIL.' He did his best to zip, zoom, stumble, fumble, and mad dash his way through the deteriorating tunnel while Bat-Shantae gave him occasional hints on where to go using her Bat Sonar when she could. There was uh… there was a LOT going on here, and with it being so dark, it's… a tiny bit INCREDIBLY difficult to keep track of anything that couldn't be seen by way of Shantae's Bat Sonar. Trust me, though, when I say our hazard-plagued heroes were avoiding spiky metal doom and miles-deep, pitch-black disaster at every twist, turn, bounce, swing, and footstep. Buuut, in case you were wondering just how well the heroes were doing…

"Ah! O-okay, run, run, JUMP! Go to the left, then run, run, run, JUMP! Whawahahhahah! Go to the right, run, run-! WHOA! That Pike Ball almost took my head off… Oh, wait, the floor! Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, Wraaaaaah!" Bolo frantically rambled as he scrambled through the corridor like a madman, every step he took accompanied by the wondrous *KRAKRKRUKRUKRUKRUKRUKRUKRUMBLE* of the floor rapidly breaking apart behind him. Sooooo, yeah. They were having LOADS of 'fun.'-+

"You've got this, Bolo! Almost there! Here come the last couple hooks!" Bat-Shantae encouraged before letting out another *KASCREEEECH* to show her teammate where to aim his mace as he sprinted through the hidden path. Without a word, Bolo dashed ahead, ready to tackle the next challenge of swinging across the foreboding gaps just one more time. "Oh! Wait, Bolo! Don't forget about the-!" the genie girl tried to warn before a sudden *KRAPLAAAANG* of the young man's face smacking RIGHT into the broadest side of a floating Pike Ball cut her off. "…Pike Ball…"

"GAHAHAAAGH! Ow, ow, ow, ow, OW! Gaaah, that hurt…! Way to let a guy know what's up, Shantae!" Bolo complained, though he remained aware enough to keep running as he kept the crumbling floor and the incoming hooks in mind.

"Sorry! I was so busy dodging the Pike Balls above that I forgot to remind you…" she apologized, taking responsibility before she let loose another *KASCREEECH* once more to let her partner see where he needed to go.

"I see it! HaaaRAH!" the young warrior shouted as lunged ahead and flung his mace upward once more. With another *KRACLINK*, he successfully latched on and immediately swung himself ahead. Keeping in mind the abundance of Pike Balls in his way, Bolo opted to fling himself up and over to where he last remembered one of the Pike Balls was.

"Hey, hey! Are you crazy!? What do you think you're-!?" Bat-Shantae was about to scold, though she heard the *TAANG* of Bolo's feet on the floating obstacle as it hovered back and forth.

"Just thinking a little outside the box, is all! Use your Sonar again!" Bolo humbly requested as he did his best to keep from being flung off the platform that was NOT supposed to be a platform.

"Okay, but be careful!" Bat-Shantae complied, uttering one more *KASCREEECH* to reveal the final hook and the other Pike Balls in the way. Using the brief flash of light from his teammate's special ability to judge what he had to do, Bolo made his move with hardly any hesitation… mainly because if he hesitated, he'd have slipped off the floating, moving Pike Ball he was balancing himself on for dear life. Nevertheless…

"For the folks back HOME!" he uttered what I guess was some sort of heroic war cry as he leapt from the Pike Ball as it hit the apex of its cycle. "Hyah!" he shouted once more as he employed what appeared to be his signature technique of using that fancy chain mace like a jungle vine. All that was really missing was the loincloth and the ridiculous, impractical, obnoxious yelling. Anyway, with one more decisive *KLANK*, Bolo latched onto the final hook of this miserable death pit and swung himself across as carefully as he could to avoid the other Pike Balls. "OOOAAOHOAOAOOAOAOAOHH!" he… ugh, yelled like he was really in the jungle… Ah, I shouldn't have mentioned that…

"Heh, sounds like he's finally found his groove," Bat-Shantae comically acknowledged with a laugh as she hovered her way toward him. Meanwhile, Bolo of the Heavily Vegetated Leafy Area landed with a commanding *THUMP* of his feet on the platform at the end of the corridor. "Impressive work there, homie! You did it!"

"Hah! No need to state the obvious, Shantae! I'd never let you down! Or myself, for that VERY LITERAL matter…" he joked with a chuckle, though I'm pretty sure I could hear his knees rapidly knocking against each other from how terrified he must've actually been. One would also be remiss not to notice he was panting like he'd just gotten done holding his breath underwater for five straight minutes. "Also, I've got to point this out… Why do you keep calling me 'Homie'? That's not a word you normally use…"

"I know already that I can count on you, Bolo. Believe me," Bat-Shantae assured him as she took it upon herself to perch on his shoulder once more. "Aaaand… a certain someone's been rubbing off on me lately, so I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not! I'm used to Tay saying it to the point where it's natural for him. I just think it sounds kinda funny coming from you. You don't exactly give off that 'street' energy, y'know?" he remarked with a laugh that Bat-Shantae… did not share. I presume because she was going for a 'cool' factor instead of a 'funny' one. But, I digress.

"Hm. Well, get used to it, because I've been using it a lot lately. And I've TOTALLY got 'street' energy! I'm just as street as Tayshan is! Don't front on me, homeboy!" Bat-Shantae argued, swearing up and down that she was about that life as her boyfriend had apparently been. Unfortunately, she wasn't as convincing as she hoped to be.

"Yikes… The more you try to sound like him, the farther away you are from ACTUALLY sounding like him," Bolo teased, cringing as he tried (and failed) to stifle a chuckle at her expense.

"D'oh…! Shut your face!" she demanded, making Bolo laugh even harder. Having had enough of needing to prove her street cred, the half-genie irritably decided to move on. "Anyway, you ready for the next part up ahead?"

"You bet. Let's go!" the young warrior confirmed as he dashed forth through the exit with Bat-Shantae still on his shoulder…

A tiny bit later…

Their trek through the next hallway would be a short and thankfully SAFE one as they neared the next section of the temple. Even MORE thankfully, the next section they came across yielded ample light as the gigantic, EXTREMELY LONG chamber they entered was bathed in sunlight shining through the… completely shattered stained-glass windows. As with the natural theme of this new and exceedingly dangerous dungeon, there was no floor except the tiny little platform our heroes found themselves standing on. There was more to see, but as the two of them made their effort to investigate…

"Whoa… This room looks like it's been totally trashed…" Bolo observed in a mixture of wonder and worry as he scoured the area. "All these dragon statues have been totally destroyed…"

"Yeah, and so are all the windows…" Bat-Shantae pointed out as she took flight off of her teammate's shoulder and looked around herself. "And check out the scorch marks all over the walls and the ceiling…"

"Hmm…" Bolo pondered, making special note of the scorch marks as he did some further visual inspection to notice wisps of smoke billowing from various cracks in the walls and ceiling. "So, my hunch from earlier was right. Whatever happened here, this damage is recent. Like, VERY recent."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Bat-Shantae asked in wonder, turning her attention to him as he continued to study their surroundings.

"The cracks in the walls and ceiling are still smoking as though someone had just tried to set fire to them," super-sleuth Bolo explained as he rubbed his chin with a hand. "I noticed the same kind of damage on the frame of the entrance to the last section. And come to think of it, the damage we're seeing all over this room is identical to the damage in the last one. On top of that, the shapes of the scorch marks here…"

"Yeah… Now that you mention it, it looks like those marks were caused by explosives… or possibly fireballs…"

"My thoughts exactly. There's hardly a need to get a closer look to see that there was some sort of battle fought here. Worse yet, the varying sizes of them look like monsters big and small were taken down here…" he further explained as he took the moment to sniff the air. Within the first few nasal intakes of aerial samples, Bolo exhaled and waved an apparent pungent stench from his nostrils. "Ugh, and the smell…"

"What about the smell?" the bat-formed half-genie prodded, curious to know what else he could dig up.

"There's this noxious odor of burning material in here," he hypothesized, though he remained preoccupied with clearing the smell from his nose. "Almost like burning meat…"

"You sure that's not just the natural aroma of a temple left to stand the test of time as it floated out at sea for hundreds, if not thousands of years? I mean, hardly any of the places we've ever traveled through have exactly given off the smell of fresh roses or cotton candy…"

"True, but I know the smell of something burning when it registers," the blue-haired human K-9 unit countered.

"Considering your recent experience with burning things, I suppose you WOULD be an expert on that…" she half-joked with a small giggle, though her teammate did not laugh with her.

"Very funny, Shantae, but hear me out," he addressed her with utmost seriousness in his tone as he turned to face her. "The same smell has been lingering since we entered this temple. If anything, it's stronger now than it was before. The smell would NOT be so foul and so strong if it was from natural wear-and-tear or the buildup of any moss, asbestos, mold, or any naturally occurring organic growth."

"Oh? How do you know that?"

"I'm a something of a carpenter in training, remember?" he reminded her. "One of the detective skills I picked up in my time working with your uncle is an enhanced sense of smell that also allows me to differentiate between different odors. That's how I can tell that the overwhelming stench in this temple is unnatural."

"Is THAT right? Hm. The more ya know…" Shantae acknowledged, impressed with Bolo improving upon his abilities in ways she didn't expect. "That's pretty cool, Bolo!"

"Glad you think so. That said, the smell being so strong and the damage here looking so new makes me think that something happened here… Something BAD…" he cautiously informed his teammate as he gave the heavily vandalized room another once-over. "And based on what we're looking at, whatever happened was anything BUT peaceful or constructive…"

"Hmm… You're right. I wonder if that means we really weren't the only ones to get the idea to come here for the first piece of the Spirit Fuser…" Bat-Shantae pondered as she also scanned the vicinity. A sense of dread setting in, the half-genie was none too fond of the idea that someone else was rampantly destroying the interior of the Tangled Thread Temple, much less potentially doing so while they sought to gather the pieces to the fabled Relic. "But then, who else could possibly be-?" she was about to further ask before a series of *Ratatats*, *Kabooms*, and *Krablams* rang out from FAR deeper within the cavernous temple, alerting Shantae and Bolo into action. "That confirms it…! Someone else IS here!"

"Yeah, and chances are, they're wiping out all the monsters here as they go along!" Bolo further deduced. "That explains why we haven't been seeing anything to fight! We've gotta get going! Only…" he trailed off, looking ahead to see the enormous chasm before them, with the only thing that seemed to be able to get them any further into the temple being a… massive, curvy, twisty, turn-riddled, and highly unorthodox water slide that had a powerful, rapidly flowing current pouring in from an opening in the ceiling like a waterfall. "How the heck do we push ahead? There's no way this giant, wacky water slide is the-!"

"The only way for us to travel from here on out? Looks like it," Bat-Shantae readily acknowledged, accepting the challenge without a hint of fear as she wiggled her… little bat body and, with another *POOF*, transformed back into Harpy-Shantae.

"Ah, I had a feeling…" Bolo groaned with a sigh of apparent dread before he thought of something. "Hey, how is it you're switching between forms without needing to turn back to your human self in between?"

"I picked up the ability while we were on Paradise Island," Harpy-Shantae informed as she approached Bolo to give him another lift. "I figured it out from while I was getting used to using my Fusion Magic."

"Neat! So, you can transform into your monster forms that much easier now?"

"Yep! Only, I'm back to using my regular forms by dancing, as well as relying solely on my own strength," she explained further. "I wound up losing all my Monster Cards in that chaotic battle against Risky and Empress Siren, and I could only use Fusion Magic when I combined my powers with the other half-genies using those Fusion Stones and Fusion Coins."

"Oh, I see. That sounds like kind of a bummer that you basically didn't get to keep many, if any of the new powers you gained from our vacation…" Bolo offered his condolences as he climbed aboard Harpy-Shantae's back as she flared her wings.

"Yeah, but on the plus side, my regular forms got a permanent power boost from the Primordial Burst Tonic I found on Naga Mountain a few months ago. And to add to that, I'm still at my maximum possible Heart Holders! I've also made sure to keep myself in tip-top shape thanks to my endless, grueling training before we went on that trip. You'll be surprised to see how much I learned, on top of how much stronger I've become! There's a reason I dealt with Risky and those sirens as quickly as I did."

"Everything you did during on Paradise Island, and you're telling me you've STILL got tricks up your sleeves? You totally whomped every siren AND Risky Boots AND every boss in between in record time! I swear, it was over as soon as I blinked! How could you POSSIBLY still be stronger than what we saw of you over the past week?"

"You'll have to wait and see, but the long and short of it is that getting into regular military-styled training routines AND improving my fighting skills since last October REALLY paid off. I haven't missed a step! I even started off our Siren adventure with full health, all my maximum hair and magic upgrades, AND with most of my abilities from when we averted that interdimensional weapons crisis with Risky last year!" Harpy-Shantae confidently assured as she, with a *FLOOF* of her wings, took flight and carried Bolo over to the beginning of the absolutely horrific-looking water slide they were about to ride. "Case in point…" she trailed off as she hovered above the platform at the beginning of the water slide while wiggling her hips in midair.

"Hoo… H-hey, wait a second. Are you about to tran-?" Bolo was about to ask before Shantae struck a pose.

"Traaaaaansform!" the half-genie announced with unmistakable vigor as she, with another *POOF*, morphed directly from Harpy form to her undeniably stunning Mermaid form with Bolo still on her back. She landed on the platform with a *PLAP* of her marine half on the smooth, wet marble surface as the current from the waterfall behind them brushed on by.

"Whoa! No way! You really just switched in midair while I was riding you!" he announced in awe, though Mermaid-Shantae didn't seem to share the same excitement as she glanced back at him in disapproval.

"Eww… Mind working on your phrasing there, dude?"

"Hm? What do you mean? All I said was that you switched while I was riding you. What's the big deal there?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Stop saying it like that!" Mermaid-Shantae scolded, her cheeks turning a mite red as she glared at her friend. "It sounds… weird…"

"Weird? In what way? There's no reason for you to get bent over something like this," he suggested, which oddly made the mermaid genie blush even harder as her glare intensified.

"That's even WORSE!" she shouted, having none of her teammate's tomfoolery… or something? Because I'm not even sure what the big deal was.

"How!? I'm not even saying anything that should get you all hot and bothered like this!" Bolo understandably challenged as he climbed off his friend and cocked an eyebrow at her, letting his confusion be known. "Why are you being so hard and stiff with me out of nowhere? I sure wouldn't be this upset if you were riding me."

"BOLO!" she yelled, basically ready to set the poor guy on fire with just her death glare. The blue-haired adventurer was startled by his team leader's unprecedented ire for a moment as he tried to figure out what was wrong. And then… that's when he noticed her cheeks practically GLOWING red with embarrassment.

"…Shantae, I don't think I like what you're implying," he decided to point out at his own peril for what the flustered half-genie might do to him in response.

"What!? I'm not implying anything! Just watch your phrasing, okay? Jeez…" she demanded, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself down… with negligible result.

"If that was true, then you wouldn't suddenly be making such a big deal out of a simple statement. You're the one making it sound weird… You're totally plunging yourself in my throat every time I open my mouth." At that… peculiarly worded complaint, Shantae practically FLARED with tangible embarrassment as her face grew hot enough that you might've been able to roast s'mores just by being within 500 feet of her.

"Ugh, for the love of-! Bolo, we don't have time for this. Hurry up and let's get a move on before it's too late!" Mermaid-Shantae commanded, evidently finding no form of comfort in her partner's antics.

"Hey, this isn't MY fault! I'm over here still wondering why you're suddenly all flustered about a comment I made about riding y-!" he was about to argue, though he quickly got an idea as he perked up. "Oooohhh… Wow, Shantae. That's REALLY dirty… I expected as much from Rottytops, but you? My, how the tables have turned…"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," she tried to deny through clenched teeth, though her cheeks grew redder (because THAT was somehow possible) as she suddenly found it difficult to look at him. Scowling, she looked away to appear as 'innocent' as she was trying to imply.

"Look, I know you and Tayshan have been having your fair share of 'fun' together lately… if not a ton more than that, judging by the way you two constantly flirt with each other when we all hang out, but that shouldn't be a reason for you to get all paranoid about how things sound when other people say them," he teased with a smug grin, seeming to finally get it. "It sounds to me like you're acting like this because you're thinking about 'riding' T-!" Detective Bolo was about to make his next grand observation before a sudden, watery *VWOOOOWNG* of a gigantic air bubble forming around him cut him off. Stunned silent, Bolo wordlessly looked around to see what had just happened to him.

"We've dawdled around enough, and I DO NOT need to hear you being trifling with your dirty thoughts! Now, let's go!" Mermaid-Shantae ordered, blaming Bolo for all the awkwardness exhibited here as she had her hand extended toward the bubble. Evidently, she trapped him in it to avoid him blurting out some… apparently super personal secret she didn't want him to reveal. All things, considered, I'm pretty sure we already know what it is… "Hey! I heard that! Knock it off, you! And you didn't hear ANY of what was discussed here!" Mermaid-Shantae further shouted at me as she pointed directly at me… Wait, what? How… How in the heck did you do that!? And how did you even know I was…? Ah! Ah, and before I got even ONE answer to the thunderstorm of questions I had for her, Mermaid-Shantae jumped onto the water slide with Bubble Boy Bolo in tow. And with an aquatic *SWOORRRSH*, they were off to the races.

Almost instantaneously, the mermaid and her bubble-ized human captive went zipping through the tumultuous water slide as though they'd just jumped onto a roller coaster. It started off with them sliding downward at almost a 90-degree angle for a solid five seconds, picking up a massive amount of speed. Immediately following this was two HUMONGOUS shuttle loops that Mermaid-Shantae rode through without a hitch, after which came a portion where the slide twirled over itself like a licorice rope. The *SKWOOOOOOORRSH* of the ubiquitously rushing current against the marble path going strong like it was being sprayed from a pressurized fire hose, Mermaid-Shantae and Bolo did their best to enjoy the high-speed ride. Or rather, Shantae was. Bolo was too busy being jostled, tossed, turned, and flipped all around inside the bubble his half-genie companion trapped him in.

"WHOOO-HOOO!" Mermaid-Shantae cheered as she found herself speeding down another steep incline, having the time of her life. It was certainly a relief to know she was enjoying herself, because this crazy ride was only going to get crazier. While she was going down the incline, the first series of obstacles made themselves apparent in the form of floating Pike Balls and stone slabs either hovering or being jammed right into the path. "Alright! Hold onto your pants, Bolo!" she warned as she ducked under the first airborne Pike Ball and nimbly swerved through a trio of stone roadblocks. Soon after, she found that the path took a sudden curve upwards, leading to what seemed like a dead end… only for her to be flung forth after she reached the crest of the ramp. With a most emphatic *FWOOORSH*, the heroic duo went sailing through the air, where they were graced with the reward of a series of gems conveniently floating at the exact angle in which they were launched. After a few seconds of hangtime, Mermaid-Shantae landed on one of two diverging paths, though she took note of the other one that seemed to lead lower into the shadowy abyss beneath them. Unable to stop and inspect the mystery of the splitting slide paths due in part to being whisked away by the water slide's turbulent rip current, she did her best to keep her focus as she found herself greeted by more floating Pike Balls and stone roadblocks.

"Getting more challenging, I see… Okay, let's improvise a little…" she murmured, taking in a deep breath. With a mighty *THWOOF*, she shot a steamy water ball from her mouth at a Pike Ball directly in her path. With a sudden *SKISSSSSH*, she made direct contact, dissolving the obstacle in a literal second. "Perfect!" she cheered as she went down another incline, zigzagging through a much, MUCH longer line of stone slabs along the way. Before long, though, the difficulty REALLY ramped up. As she approached her next shuttle loop, Mermaid-Shantae was confronted by a series of wider roadblocks that she couldn't dodge by simply weaving around them. "Oh, boy… This form's jump was never the strongest, but here goes nothing… HAARAAH!" she hollered as she put all the strength she could muster into leaping over a row of five long stone blocks in one bound. Clearing it and landing back into the rip current with a decisive *SPLOOSH*, the adventurous mermaid sped along with hardly a sign of hesitation. Granted, she was also getting the swing of zipping through additional roadblocks and melting Pike Balls that had begun to home in on her with *SKISSSSH* after *SKRRRIEEEEESH* after *SKWOOOORSH* of her Mermaid form's Boiling Bubble attack.

"Here comes another loop… Here I GOOOO!" she announced in increasing excitement as she leapt over another row of five longer stone blocks and, with one more *SPLISHH*, found herself being propelled forth even faster. Speeding through the loop was no issue for her, though her focus was on what was ahead… Another massive ramp leading to more floating gems hovering toward a higher path that seemed to be partially destroyed… and… a mysterious item floating in midair toward a lower path that… at a glance, appeared to be a golden headband with a sparkling ruby embedded into its front. Though she had little time to make her decision on where to go, Mermaid-Shantae noticed the strange object first and opted to veer toward it as she was launched through the air once again.

While in midair, Shantae got Crimson Laser Headband, which had affixed itself to her forehead in place of her regular golden headband as she suddenly stopped all forward momentum… while IN THE AIR to strike a celebratory pose. Once said pose was completed, all forward momentum continued, where she soon landed on the next tornado-twist section of the extremely perilous water slide with another *PLOOSH*. Not long after, she found herself dodging more stone slabs and melting more Pike Balls with her bubble attack as she went spiraling through the next completely insane piece of this amusement park ride from the underworld. Yet, her next challenge was on its way.

"Yikes! The next part of this path is 90 degrees UPWARD!? How in the world am I supposed to manage that!?" she asked as she resisted the urge to get dizzy from the extensive, high-speed spiral and hopped over three more rows of long stone slabs in rapid succession. Immediately following this was another steep drop as though she was plummeting from outer space. She found herself dodging and jumping more stone slabs and melting airborne Pike Balls with increasing frequency, though she kept her composure as best as she could. However, when she was faced with not one, not two, but THREE bunches of Pike Balls orbiting all around one another that posed far too much of a threat for her Boiling Bubble attack to handle… THAT'S when things got real.

"Oh, boy… I-I suppose this is where this fancy new headband comes into play…! But how do I work this thing…?" she urged and questioned herself as she pressed her index fingers to the jewel embedded in the headband. The instant she touched it, it began to glow and shine an increasingly bright, blinding hot red as it began to also emit a humming *Ooooowwwweeeeesh* sound. "Huh? Is… Is this thing starting to charge u-?" Mermaid-Shantae was about to ask before her headband fired a lightning-quick projectile with a startling *KAKWAAARRRSH* that caused the young lady's head to jerk back a bit while she sped forth through the nightmarish water slide. "WHOA!" she bellowed in shock as she watched the light show before her. In an instant, and with an utterly ear-piercing, flashy, and astonishing *KRABLOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOOOOM*, the energy beam from Shantae's new headband destroyed an entire collection of orbiting Pike Balls, sending scraps of burning metal pieces scattering all over the place.

"WHOA-HO-HO! THIS THING IS SUPER STRONG!" Mermaid-Shantae declared, marveling at her newest power-up while she kept her focus dodging and jumping over stone slabs and melting singular Pike Balls along the way. "It took a few seconds to charge, though, so maybe…?" she trailed off, touching her index fingers to the ruby once again as she made sure to take aim and brace herself. Sure enough, the ruby charged up once more with another *Ooooowwwweeeeeesh* as she jumped another stone slab row. Just as she landed, the ruby fired another massive, almost blinding *KAKWAAAARSH* of a laser blast directly at the next line of floating Pike Balls. Another *KRABLOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOOOOM* ringing out upon contact, the Pike Balls completely exploded, further clearing the path.

"AWESOME!" the enthusiastic half-genie cheered as she kept on going with racing through the water slide, bracing herself for the final set while she continued to hop, Bubble blast, and swerve down the steep incline. "Whoo, I'm having a blast right now! How about you, Bolo?" she asked her teammate, though it took little more than a glance back at him to get an idea. The bubble was evidently soundproofed, so she couldn't hear her partner bouncing around, shouting, and potentially panicking as he was rocked, rolled, and rumbled all over the inside of the watery sphere. "Oh, right… I forgot about that…" she sheepishly acknowledged with a nod as she turned forward. "It's almost over, though. Just hang in there, and I'll get us where we need to go!" And with that, Mermaid-Shantae touched her fingertips to the ruby in her fancy new headband, triggering the *Oooooowwwweeeeesh* of its charge once more. Locking the final row of Pike Balls in her sight, she was all but assured that she would eliminate the obstacle. The only thing stopping her from focusing all the way was another row of stone slabs in the path and a single Pike Ball levitating just above it.

"Ah. Okay, I see…" she murmured taking a deep breath and tightening her stance. "Here goes! HYAAAH!" she shouted as she, in one fell swoop, leapt over the rocky roadblocks, fired a Boiling Bubble from her mouth, and shot another *KAKWAAAARSH* of a laser blast from her headband. Without fail, the singular Pike Ball was disintegrated with a definitive *SKISSSSSSSH* while the row behind it went up in a glorious *KRABLOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOOOOOM* of pure chaotic flare. Immediately afterward, Mermaid-Shantae landed with one more *PLISSHH* as she reached the base of the slide, only to be ROCKETED upward once she hit the 90-degree turn upward. With a powerful *KERFWOOOOORSH*, she found herself further swept up by the current.

"WHOAAAHOHOHOHOO!" she bellowed in… possibly excitement? Or was it more surprise? Whatever the case was, she went zooming up the sharp incline at least twice as fast as she had been traveling moments earlier. After a solid fifteen seconds of endlessly zipping up the slide, she found herself being propelled through one more gigantic shuttle loop before she was launched off the ramp that immediately followed with an emphatic *THOOOSH*. "WAAAHAHAHAAAAH!" she cheered again (I think) as she and the baffled, bewildered, bumbled, befuddled, bubbled Bolo went racing off into the next section…

WHEW! What a wild ride THAT was, eh? Goodness… Yet, you may be surprised to have me tell you that Shantae and Bolo's adventure through the appropriately named Tangled Thread Temple wasn't over yet. Or maybe you wouldn't be surprised, considering what the two of them happened to discover along the process of their investigation. Either way, it seemed like something was about to go down. Something BIG. Whatever it is, I hope you'll be interested enough to come back and find out! In the meantime, I'm gonna go take a nice, soothing shower in a room that DOESN'T have a heart attack-inducing amusement park attraction in it. You may want to get yourself freshened up, too. And when you're ready, feel free to come back for more! I'll be waiting. And trust me… it'll be a SPLASH!

…No need to show me the door. I know where it is…