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!

18. Ominous Expedition

Chapter 7C: Ominous Expedition

Good tidings. Nice of you to rejoin me as I get set to regale you on the continuously kooky crusades of Half-Genie Hero Shantae and the wonderfully wacky warriors that were her friends. And just like always, we step right on into yet another truly bizarre and tumultuous situation of epic proportions. The sitch this time? Well, Shantae and her best friend Rottytops had successfully infiltrated the Ammonian sea vessel, the S.S. Blue Barbara, and were set to blow it sky high in a bid to clear out the paramilitary presence in an arcane, bubbly archipelago rumored to be hiding the location of the fourth piece of the fabled Spirit Fuser. In a last-ditch effort to stop them, soon-to-be-disgraced Ammonian Naval leader Admiral Nila fearlessly charged in after them, equipped with naught but her ferocious resolve… and a fancy mechanical exoskeleton designed to give her the edge she needed to even the playing field as much as she could. Last we left off, the three combatants were standing off in the vulnerable Engine Room of the S.S. Blue Barbara. There, the valiant Rottytops had offered to fight Nila alone to prove her worth as a hero, as opposed to fighting alongside Shantae. How did that turn out, you might ask? Well… Let's dig in and find ou-!

ROTTYTOPS VS. NILA, ROUND 2: DEATH-DEFYING DUEL!

"YAAAAAAH!" both Rottytops and Nila shouted as they sprinted ahead at one another, totally cutting me off entirely as they sought to destroy one another from the gate. It started off simple enough, with the adversarial women whiffing as they each ducked under each other's introductory punches, though Nila was quicker to capitalize. The Admiral stepped ahead and threw a powerful thrust kick that Rottytops blocked with a *PLOCK* of her boot against the zombie's crossed forearms. Despite having blocked the attack, however, Rotty was flung backward before hitting the ground with a dense *PLOOONG*. Nila immediately put the pressure on after the fact, dashing right at her opponent and lunging forth with a fist cocked back and ready to destroy. It was at this point that a *FWISSSSH* of her exoskeleton rang out, expelling steam from the elbow to give her an increase of force when she threw her next punch.

"TAKE THIS!" Nila shouted as she came bearing down on Rottytops, who'd taken the initiative to roll out of the way just as the Admiral's fist hit the ground with a startling *KATWOOORNK*, PUNCTURING THE GROUND IN THE PROCESS! "Shoot…! Missed…" she complained, quickly ripping her fist out of the thick, metallic floor as she glowered at the astonished zombie gawking back at her. Taking in Rotty's surprise, Nila grinned in confidence. "Already recognizing the trouble you're in, Corpse-Woman?"

"Hmph! Hardly! I was only surprised at how much CLUMSIER you are with those glorified compression sleeves!" Rotty defiantly hurled an insult at an unamused Nila as she climbed to her feet. "But since you wanna play rough right off the bat, I've got some KILLER techniques for ya! Starting with this…!" she trailed off as she reached for her own head and pulled it off with a *pop* and tossed it high at her enemy.

"Got you using your freakish zombie powers already, do I? Good, because I've got a few surprises for YOU, too…!" Nila remarked under her breath, though she paid more attention to Rotty's body than to her head sailing through the air toward her. And just as Nila seemed to expect…

"ZOMBIE ZOOM!" Rottytops hollered, causing her body to encase itself in a *FROOOSH* of Light Magic as it took off sprinting at breakneck speed to try and tackle Nila to the ground. Only…

"GOTCHA!" Nila announced as she braced herself. Rotty's body succeeded in reaching its target, though it was only able to push the Admiral back a couple feet with a squeaky *Skreeeeeeet* of Nila's boots against the cold, smooth surface of the Engine Room floor. Rather than be bowled over, however, Nila managed to stop Rotty's body in its tracks, followed by her raising her arms up high and clasping her hands together. And with another *FWISSSH* of steam from her exoskeleton, Nila wound up axe-handling the zombie girl in the back with a power-boosted *KAPROCK* that sent her opponent's corporeal form slamming into the ground.

"GAHAGH…! What the…?" Rotty grunted and murmured in a burst of excruciating pain as her head descended toward the ground… only to be caught in Nila's hand as the Admiral turned around. "What!? How did you-!?"

"Like I WASN'T supposed to learn from last time how your powers work…! Now, let's see how well that body of yours functions when I CRUSH YOUR SKULL! HRRRAAAAAH!" Nila shouted, holding Rotty's disembodied head high in one hand while cocking her other fist back with the intent to OBLITERATE the undead maiden's cranium in a single strike. Rather than panic or be alarmed, however…

"Fat chance! YAH!" Rotty's head challenged as she managed to roll herself out of Nila's grip just as the zombie's body picked itself back up and rushed ahead and delivered a jumping dropkick that hit Nila with a devastating *KATWOCK* in the back while she was distracted.

"GHOOH!" the redhead hollered in pain as she was propelled forth, landing flat on her face a few feet away with a dense *TOOOM* against the floor. Meanwhile, Rotty's body picked up her head and affixed it back onto her neck.

"Hah… Okay, so you're not quite as slow on the draw as I thought you were… I can give you that much…" Rotty commended as she stretched the kinks out of her back. "Of course, you still got caught slipping, so my expectations of you are still pretty low."

"You got one lucky shot, and suddenly, you think you're hot stuff…!" Nila jeered as she climbed back to her feet and faced Rottytops once more. "Typical of someone who relies so heavily on people far stronger than her to get cocky when they've got the upper hand."

"As if YOU'RE one to talk, Ms. I-Have-A-Half-Genie-For-A-Two-Timing-Girlfriend!" Rotty indignantly shot back, charging at Nila once again. Rather than engage directly, however, the Ammonian commander let her enemy close the distance and throw a punch. Nila weaved past the incoming strike with ease, which caused Rotty to try and deliver a follow-up roundhouse kick that Nila blocked with her forearm. Rottytops kept up her onslaught with a vicious hook that Nila leaned backward to avoid cleanly. This exchange quickly developed into a ballad of brutality, with Rottytops giving chase to her enemy all across the Engine Room as she tried to administer her own brand of justice. She would find it surprisingly difficult, however, as the Admiral used her agility to her advantage. *Whoosh* after *Thweesh* after *Prock*, Nila went on a purposeful defensive as she blocked and dodged an extensive flurry of punches and kicks from an increasingly agitated Rottytops.

"Rotty! She's starting to read your every move! You can't expect to hit her if you're too frustrated to think clearly! Pull back!" Shantae commanded from atop one of the engines, eagerly watching the fight from the sidelines. Her words would initially fall on deaf ears, however, as Rotty kept on attacking while Nila kept on dodging.

"Hah! If this bumbling, braindead bimbo needs advice from YOU, genie girl, then I guess that means she isn't as good as you talked her up to be! Feel free to jump in and save her anytime!" the cocky Admiral taunted as she kept on dodging Rotty's attacks, making the zombie girl angrier as she kept pressing on.

"Ooh, I am gonna make you eat the HARDEST knuckle sandwich for that! Rrrraaaaah!" Rottytops hollered, growing even more frustrated as she threw a particularly heavy haymaker at Nila's face when it looked like she let her guard down. However, with a resounding *PAPLOCK*, Nila caught Rotty's fist in her hand. "WHAT!? HOW!?"

"Because I'm not just some rank amateur, you rowdy little pup! Now, allow me to… DEMONSTRATE!" Nila shouted as she reeled her enemy in with one hand while cocking her other fist back as hard as she could. And with another *FWISSSH* and subsequent *KATHRAAAASHK*, knocking nearly ALL the wind out of the unsuspecting zombie as she was pounded so hard in the stomach that her feet left the floor. The merciless Admiral wasn't finished quite yet, however… "Chomp on THIS!" Nila additionally shouted as she stepped back, grounded her stance, and then… with a powerful starting step on her back foot and sideways thrust of her leading one, she delivered an utterly WORLD-CRUSHING superkick that slammed with a horrifying *THRACK* against Rotty's face. Rottytops's head went HURTLING off her body, where it hit the wall at the back of the room with such a forceful *THRAAANG* that it left a gigantic DENT in it before it hit the ground with a resounding *TOOM*. Meanwhile, her body was flung back a few yards before landing with an emphatic *THUD* against the floor.

"ROTTYTOPS!" Shantae shouted in horror, clasping her hands to her cheeks as she contemplated stepping in. Meanwhile, Nila laughed it up as she caught her breath.

"Heh! Not so tough when you don't immediately have someone backing you up, huh? You're JUST like that spineless little degenerate I nearly gutted in the Tangled Thread Temple! Weak, worthless, and PITIFUL!" Nila barked, showing no form of sympathy for her opponent as Rotty remained motionless…

"Grrgh…! You talk AWFULLY big, Nila, but you should look in a mirror if you wanna talk about 'spineless'!" Shantae angrily countered, pointing an accusing finger at the redhead. "You're doing all this gloating while you have a completely unfair advantage!"

"Says the GENIE with the unfathomable magic powers!" Nila shot right back, not caring a wit for the heroine's objections. "Don't you DARE talk to me about unfair advantages, ya hypocrite! It's no wonder your pathetic friends are always so eager to kiss the ground you walk on when you're around! At this rate, I'm only doing them a favor in reminding them one by one how USELESS they are without their precious 'hero' or that miserable ASSASSIN to bail them out!"

"Then… You should put your money where your mouth is, Nila…!" Rottytops remarked, rolling her head upright to show that she'd taken on a nasty bruise under her eye. In that same moment, the zombie's motionless body was taken by a skull-handed portal and warped to the head's location. With a presumably magic-borne *Woosh*, Rottytops put herself back together and rose to a capable stand. Wasting no time, she entered her battle pose once again.

"Still want more punishment, do you?" Nila remarked, turning her full attention back to Rotty. "Fine by me. I've got PLENTY to dish out for the humiliation you caused me back in Scuttle Town…!"

"Just as I've only gotten STARTED with punishing YOU for what you did to my friend in that temple…!" Rotty growled, her glare at her adversary intensifying. "I thought you were just misunderstood before, but now I see RIGHT through you…! You AND your cheating girlfriend can go straight to the DEEPEST pits of the underworld…!"

"You've got ONE MORE TIME to falsely accuse Hashanah of cheating on me before I send you to that same circle of eternal suffering, zombie…!"

"There's nothing 'false' about it, you dummy!" Rotty roared back. "She's a filthy, two-timing SNAKE who'd just as soon STAB YOU IN THE BACK as she would smile in your face. You're just too ignorant and caught up on whatever misguided power fantasy she has you trippin' on to see it for yourself! But you know what? I couldn't care less what happens between you and her anymore. As far as I can see it, you DESERVE each other…! I just thought I'd do you the favor of sparing you the trouble of having your heart broken before I break the rest of you!"

"What, am I supposed to take all that angsty blustering to mean you're gonna start fighting seriously now?" Nila incredulously asked with a snicker as she dusted herself off and prepared for the next phase of their titanic tussle. "Because for your sake, I sure HOPE you were only holding back up to this point. Not that it matters, either way. I'll permanently dismantle you all the same…!"

"You keep tellin' yourself that, you ketchup-haired witch…!" Rotty dismissed, taking another deep breath as she switched up her stance. "Looks like I'm gonna need to pull out some of my secret techniques if I want to win this clean…"

"Hm?" Shantae hummed, studying Rottytops's stance change. "Wide, grounded stance… open hands raised to chest level and partially extended forward… Wait…! That's… That's…!"

"HERE I COME, ZOMBIE! HRAAAAAAH!" Nila shouted, sprinting toward Rottytops with reckless abandon and nothing but hatred in those menacing green eyes of hers. Rottytops didn't make an immediate move, however. She waited until JUST the last moment as Nila came bolting in with a heavy-handed bunch before she dodged it by dipping her head to the side. Not at all bothered by the near-miss, the aggressive Admiral threw another punch with her other fist, though she'd come up short as Rotty ducked under it and hopped backward to create some distance. "Come on! You scared to attack me now!?" Nila taunted as she sprinted ahead, though she had a spur-of-the-moment idea. Using her environment to her advantage, Nila jumped to the side and kicked off the nearby railing to get boost in jump height. Following this, she propelled a foot forward to kick the living daylights out of Rottytops… who instead parried the incoming dive kick by swatting Nila's foot out of the way before delivering a powerful *THRASH* of a clothesline right to the other woman's upper chest. Nila hit the ground with a startling *PATOOM* as Rotty hopped back once again to distance herself. "Ghrrgh…! You…!"

"Well? You about ready to stop eating dirt and come at me again?" Rotty confidently taunted, keeping her newest battle stance strong. At that, Nila grinned as she pushed herself back to her feet.

"Heh… That ego of yours sure is easy to inflate after such a fluky counter. I guess I'll do you a solid in giving you a crash course in what it means to underestimate your opponent before I REALLY start breaking you down."

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up and get over here. We ain't got all day, and I plan to be done with you by dinnertime," Rotty demanded, causing Nila's face to contort into a most irritated scowl.

"Keep talking big! I'll knock your teeth out of your decaying face for it! HAAAAAH!" Nila animalistically hollered as she charged at Rottytops once again, engaging her opponent in another wild exchange of blows, with the girls bouncing all over the improvised arena. *PLOCK* after *THWACK* after bone-crushing *PRASHK*, Nila and Rottytops tore into each other like they wanted each other DEAD… well, DEADER in Rotty's case, but still! They mixed it up between throwing flurries of wild swings and punishing kicks at each other, grappling with one another and slamming each other against the walls and railings of the Engine Room with *TWIING* after *BWONNG* after *DWOOOONG*, and legitimately trying to KILL each other as they seemed to hold nothing back.

"Come on, Rotty! You've totally got this!" Shantae cheered from the edge of her seat, all the way invested in the life-versus-death brawl to end 'em all between the two presumable rivals. "Keep the pressure on, and you'll beat her in no time!"

"Oh, is THAT what you think…!?" Nila asked as she weaved under a hook from Rottytops and tried to counter with a steam-propelled uppercut that the zombie maiden parried in the nick of time before trying to counter with a thrust kick… at which point, Nila dodged and CAUGHT Rotty's leg in her arms.

"Gah! Hrrgh…! Let me go!" Rotty demanded as she hopped in place, trying to escape.

"GLADLY…! HyyaaaaaaAAAAAH!" the Admiral shouted as she yanked her enemy closer to her and used a leg to sweep her other leg out from under her with a *TWACK* of her boot against the back of the zombie girl's sneaker.

"Whoaahah!" Rotty bellowed as she hit the ground with a *DWOONG* of her back against the floor, though that would be the least of her troubles. Nila quickly ensnared Rottytops's feet, pinning them to her sides with her elbows as she began to whirl around like a tornado. "Wooaoaaoahaaaaaaaah!" she continued to scream as Nila spun around faster and faster with every successive revolution. It took mere seconds for her to reach a speed rivaling that of the wheel of a vehicle going at least 50 miles per hour.

"HRRRRRAAAAAH!" the Admiral shouted as she flung Rotty as HARD as she could toward a nearby wall. Within seconds, the unaware revenant hit the wall with an EXTREMELY dense *PATWOOONG*, followed by her crumpling to the floor in unspeakable agony. Doing her best to ignore the debilitating pain, however, Rottytops grabbed onto the railing near the spot where she landed to pull herself up… only to see Nila lunging at her once again with a steam-powered fist cocked, aimed, and ready to totally decimate everything in its path.

"Shoot…! HAH!" Rotty grunted as she hopped back JUST in time for Nila to punch another hole in the ground with a resounding *TWAKRAAAANG*. Not at all deterred, however, the red-haired naval officer dashed in with absolute vengeance on the brain as she sought to tear the zombie apart. Thinking as quickly as she could, Rottytops did her best to adapt as she ducked, dodged, weaved, and painstakingly blocked punch after punch that came raining in like a hailstorm of angry, steam-powered fists. "Hooh! Whahah! Whoof!" she grunted again and again with every attack she narrowly avoided.

"Stand still and let me DESTROY you already!" Nila demanded, still wildly throwing and whiffing haymakers left and right despite having her opponent on the ropes. "You're only delaying the inevitable playing stupid games like this, zombie! If you know you can't beat me fair and square, then why do you keep dragging this out!?"

"Don't make me laugh! You seriously need your head checked if you think you're actually winning here!" Rotty challenged, dodging one punch right before blocking another with a *PLOCK* of the Admiral's fist against the zombie girl's forearm. Rotty countered by landing a *THRASHK* of a thrust kick to Nila's chest that sent her stumbling back a bit. Rather than take such disrespect lying down, however, Nila charged ahead once again with a fist cocked back. Meanwhile… "Yeah, that's right… I'm about to ruin your ENTIRE day…!" Rottytops remarked with a grin, entering that same grounded, open-handed defensive stance as she patiently waited. And within the following second or two…

"YAAAAH!" Nila shouted as she, with another *FWIIISSSH*, threw possibly one of the most powerful punches she'd ever thrown in her entire life. If this were a slightly different scenario, then it would've been safe to say the Admiral would have come out victorious after landing her deadliest technique. Because it was, in fact, NOT a different scenario, however, it played out like this…

"GOTCHA!" Rotty proclaimed, parrying Nila's attack by trapping the redhead's arm in between the backs of her hands. She swiftly followed up by grabbing Nila's wrist with one hand… and the back of the Admiral's head with the other. Utilizing the momentum from her opponent's missed attack, Rottytops spun around and… "RRRYAAAAH!" the zombie girl shouted as she gripped into Nila's hair as hard as she could and oh-so-courteously directed the other young woman's face… into one of the rails nearby. And with just about the most MIGRAINE-INDUCING, resounding *PRATWOOOOOONG!*, Rottytops SLAMMED Nila's face into the rail at nearly the speed of sound. Rotty followed up by pulling Nila back, wrapping an arm across the Ammonian affiliate's neck while turning and sticking a foot out behind her adversary's, and… "TOOOOH-RAAH!" Rotty let out another instinctual shout as she spiked the other young woman to the floor with another reverberating *PATWONGOPROUGH*, sending her rolling along the floor. As soon as she stopped rolling, however, Nila covered her face with her hands as she writhed in inconceivable agony.

"Ooh… THAT looked like it hurt…" Shantae remarked once more from the sidelines, cringing in understandable shock from having witnessed one girl turn another girl's head into a living hammer to bang against the extremely thick metal rails of the Engine Room. "I see Tay's taught her some of his best counters… though I didn't think she'd be THAT efficient… or quite so BRUTAL with that one…!"

"Ghaawgh…! Ahagh…! Hrgh…!" Nila breathlessly grunted and groaned, rolling along the floor as she tried to recollect herself.

"That… hah… That was for Bolo…" Rottytops declared, taking the moment to catch her breath, though her expression communicated nothing but unmitigated anger at the Ammonian commander she was staring down. "Now, the REST of this fight is gonna be all about me…! GET UP!" she shouted, immediately entering her battle stance as she waited for her opponent to rise. And however gingerly she did so, Nila did eventually… partially acknowledge Rotty's request. Rising to a seated position, Nila removed her hands from her face, revealing an EXTREMELY angry, teary green-eyed glare… and a nose that was suddenly swollen and crooked, and smeared in red.

"Why, you…!" Nila practically growled as red liquid oozed from her broken nose. YIKES… I knew she hit that railing hard, but I didn't think she hit it THAT hard… And what was Rotty's reaction, you may ask? Well…

"Hah! Looks like I busted the ketchup packet wide open! Baahahahahahahaaah!" she announced, her mood shifting almost immediately as she wound up pointing and laughing hysterically at her opponent. "Now your face matches your hair, Ketchup-Head!"

"…I will tie you up and toss you into an OPEN FLAME!" Nila threatened with an intensified glare, picking herself the rest of the way up while clutching her bleeding nose with one hand.

"Rotty, that isn't nice," Shantae admonished, nowhere near as amused.

"What? Come on, snack cakes, she totally asked for it!" Rottytops defended herself as she turned to her teammate, still chuckling a bit as she settled down.

"Whether she did or not, let's not rub salt in the wound by making fun of her for it," the half-genie adamantly stood her ground. "You don't need to kick her while she's down."

"Oh, fine…" Rotty acquiesced with a sigh and shrug despite her disagreement. "I guess I'll lay off. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this 'Boss Battle' is as good as fi-!"

"Rotty, LOOK OUT!" a suddenly frantic Shantae warned as she urgently pointed in Nila's direction.

"Huh? What do you-!?"

"RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Nila shouted loud enough for anyone within five nautical miles of the S.S. Blue Barbara to hear as she raced ahead with unprecedented speed and hammered… and I mean HAMMERED Rottytops in the face with the MEANEST, most EXPLOSIVE, most steam-propelled *KABWAAAAANG* this side of Sequin Land. The unsuspecting zombie went BULLETING all the way across the engine room, sailing over all the machinery before hitting the wall on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROOM with a *KADOOONG* before falling to the ground with an additional *TOOM* of her body against the floor.

"Oww…! That tears it…! I'm… I'm gonna knock this arrogant diva into next MONTH…!" Rotty angrily vowed, pushing herself up to her knees as she pressed a hand to her aching head.

"Oh, no…! Rottytops! Are you alright!?" Shantae called as she prepared to climb off the engine to check on her friend before…

"Stay RIGHT where you are, genie girl!" Nila shouted her command to the half-genie's surprise.

"What? What do you mean 'stay right where I am?' You hurt my friend!" Shae argued, though she didn't move from her spot.

"And I'm gonna hurt her even MORE in a second, because now this is PERSONAL!" the Admiral declared, tolerating no form of interference whatsoever.

"Ohh, is it? Does that mean you're considering Rottytops to be your new rival?" the genie girl asked in a much calmer tone, evidently intrigued by the development as she… oddly settled down.

"'Rival?' Don't be stupid! SHE BROKE MY NOSE, IN CASE YOU COULDN'T TELL!" Nila indignantly shouted, not at all entertaining the idea of her and her opponent striking up some arbitrary competition from their battle. "And the only way I'd ever consider that decrepit CORPSE-WOMAN a rival of mine is if she actually had any real chance of beating me! Which she DOESN'T!"

"Yep, that sounds like a very 'rival' thing to say," Shantae observed to Nila's chagrin as the half-genie turned toward Rottytops, who'd been busy gingerly climbing back to her feet. "Ya hear that, Rotty? You have a new rival now! This is a true testament to your ability as a hero! I'm so proud of you, girlfriend!"

"Well, that's just peachy…" Rotty remarked in evident distaste as she caught her breath. "Of ALL the people you could pick to be my rival, I get the goose-stepping, raccoon-loving jarhead with hair and eye colors inverted from my own. Laaaaaaaaaame!"

"Aw, I know it's not your ideal matchup, but-! Wait…" Shantae trailed off, distracted by something in the middle of her statement as she glanced at Nila on one end of the room… before glancing at Rottytops on the other. And with that, as well as an overly excited gasp, she followed up with… "Oh, wow! That's so cool! You two DO have inverted hair and eye colors! I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner! If that doesn't mark the two of you as destined rivals, I don't know WHAT would!" Huh… The logic this girl uses to draw such strange conclusions is truly a sight to marvel, that's for sure…

"…Okay, ENOUGH of this foolishness!" Nila cut in to spoil the moment of fun before turning her attention directly to Rotty while pulling out her Combat Knife. "Get over here RIGHT NOW, zombie, so I can SLICE YOU TO RIBBONS like I promised!"

"Not before I finish pounding your face like ground beef!" Rotty defied as her body suddenly became coated in a familiar, glittering red aura. "And trust me, it'd be an IMPROVEMENT over how you normally look!"

"Then put your money where your brain-munching mouth is and prove it!"

"Why don't YOU try and prove with your BOOT-KISSING mouth whether you really have what it takes to 'slice me into ribbons'! Because I'm feeling pretty unsliced right about now, not to mention unintimidated!"

"Trust me, we'll fix THAT in no time flat!"

"…Yep. Rivals," Shantae confirmed, crossing her arms and giving an approving, smiling nod. Odd that she didn't seem all that concerned about the fact that the Ammonian affiliate had just armed herself with a dangerous weapon to harm her best friend with, but… I digress.

"NO, WE'RE NOT! HRRAAAAAAH!" both Nila and Rottytops simultaneously denied as they went dashing past all the machinery from either side of the Engine Room to engage in battle just one more time. This time, however, Rottytops's ominous aura rapidly grew more intense while Nila gripped her knife and raised it with the intent to do some serious damage… Oooh, this is about to get UGLY…

"SHRRAAAH!" Nila shouted as she swung the blade with a *SCHWING* that her enemy narrowly dodged.

"Are you really THAT desperate to win that you ACTUALLY need that knife?" Rotty impertinently asked as she hopped backward to avoid another *SCHWISH* of the knife while Nila gave chase without giving an answer. "I knew you were a coward, Nila, but I didn't think you'd stoop THIS low! Not that I'm surprised in the slightest!"

"Check your facts, zombie! A 'coward' wouldn't come down here by herself to deal with a pair of ignorant superpowered teenagers looking to wreck her property! YAH!" Nila challenged as she continuously swung and jabbed the blade forth with *SCHWING* after *SCHRISH*, being met with empty air on every attempt as Rotty dodged and danced around the arena while trying to create some distance. "As if I even need to…! RAAH! …Explain myself to you! HAH!" Despite Nila not getting a clear swipe or stab in, it… was becoming increasingly apparent that she was getting close, as she managed to slice away bits and pieces of the zombie maiden's shirt along the way.

"Make all the excuses you want! All you're doing at this point is proving that you can't beat me without a handicap!" Rotty taunted, though she found herself backed into a corner as her back hit a rail before she could notice it. Wanting to capitalize, Nila raced ahead and tried an overhead stab that the zombie blocked by catching her adversary's wrist in her hand with an astonishing *PROCK*. Rotty tried to counter by punching Nila in the face, only for the naval officer to catch her fist in her hand with another frightening *PLOCK*. "Grrrrgh…!"

"You wanna talk handicaps when you've got your absurd magic tricks and the support of the country's strongest half-genie on your side…!? All things considered, I'm evening the playing field!" Nila shouted back as she lifted a leg to try and thrust kick Rotty in the stomach. Acting as quickly as she could, Nila propelled her boot forward, landing a gut-blasting *THROCK* of a kick that sent Rotty slamming against the rail.

"Gahagh…! Shoot, that hurt…!" she complained as she clutched her stomach with a hand. In doing so, however, she finally took notice of the aura surrounding her. "Hm… Looks like what I have in store for YOU is gonna hurt a lot more, though…!" the zombie murmured with a most devious grin as she refocused and reset her fighting stance just in time to see Nila charging at her with the knife again.

"I'll cut you down once and for all! HRRAAAAH!" Nila roared as she raced forth once more, raising the knife over her head. As soon as she closed the distance, the Admiral forcefully thrust the knife downward with the full intent of slicing her opponent in half with a single strike.

"Bad move, Ketchup-Head! YAH!" Rotty confidently shouted as she reached a hand upward, catching Nila's wrist just as she descended upon her. The intuitive zombie girl swiftly spun around, slipping under the other woman's arm with her wrist still fully ensnared. Rotty pulled Nila's arm behind her back and twisted it with one hand while wrapping her other arm around the redhead's throat. "DROP THE KNIFE!"

"Hrrgh…! Graaaaakh…!" Nila grunted and choked, struggling as hard as she could to break free as she pulled on Rotty's arm with her free hand. Try as she might, however, she couldn't immediately find leverage as she found herself overwhelmed by her enemy's immeasurable physical strength.

"I SAID DROP IT!" Rottytops demanded, pulling harder on Nila's arm until the weapon in question fell out of her hand, where it landed with a series of *Twings* and *Plings* as it tumbled on the floor. Noticing it right away, Rotty moved one of her feet to kick the Combat Knife as far away from them as possible to avoid Nila being tempted to reclaim it.

"I'll take care of that…" Shantae remarked, hopping off the engine to pick up the knife as it was sliding across the floor. She further took the liberty of grabbing the weapon in each hand by its dull side and its handle. "Hrrrraah…!" the half-genie let out an effortful grunt as she, with unprecedented strength, bent and twisted the blade beyond usability before it eventually snapped in half with a *TRINK*. Eliminating the threat in its entirety, Shantae discarded the weapon before climbing back up on the engine to continue spectating. "Come on, Rotty! You've almost got her! Just a little more!"

"Get… your dirty hands off me…! Ghaaaaaaaah…!" Nila demanded despite being choked out.

"Only after you go down for a little nap…!" Rottytops set her condition as she kept her submission hold strong.

"You first…! RAAAH!" Nila found it in herself to shout as she reached her free hand forward. Within the following half-second, she flung her elbow back as hard as she could, BLASTING her captor in the stomach with a disturbing *THRACK*.

"Gurgh…! Ahh…!" Rotty grunted, loosening her grip ever-so-slightly as she was caught off-guard. Nila repeated the motion, slamming her elbow with another, much harder *THWOCK* that visibly shook the zombie girl off her game. Unable to take the brutal abdominal punishment, Rotty accidentally let her grip slip just enough for Nila to begin freeing herself.

"Take THIS!" the Admiral shouted, flinging her elbow high and backward to nail Rotty in the forehead with a most headache-inducing *KAPRACK* that sent her stumbling back. Finally free, Nila capitalized as she whirled around and charged at Rottytops again. "YAAARAAAAH!" she shouted as she threw possibly the MEANEST steam-boosted uppercut of this entire battle, ramming her fist into the zombie's exposed abdomen with a horrifying *KATHRASH* that sent her doubling over. Nila wasn't quite done, however, as she reached over and grabbed a mighty handful of the undead maiden's hair to yank her back up.

"Gaaaah…! Y-you…!"

"THIS IS WHERE YOU MEET YOUR TRUE END! TYAAAAH!" the determined Admiral shouted as she flung her other fist forward with a *FWISSSHK* of her fancy mechanical arm enhancements. And with an utterly EXPLOSIVE *BABWOOORGH*, Nila punched Rottytops hard enough in the face to send the zombie girl flying at least a few feet before she hit the floor and went tumbling more than halfway to the other end of the Engine Room. Growing weary nevertheless, Nila took the moment to catch her breath as she pressed a hand to her hotly aching nose. "Hah…! M-man, this is taking more out of me than I was hoping… and I… I still have to deal with the genie after this… Gotta finish this up…!" she urged herself as she began to walk forward, only to be stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw Rotty's body flare up even harder with that strange red aura. "What… what IS that…?"

"Urgh… Whooh… Gotta admit, this was definitely one heck of an exercise… but I've gotten my fill by now…" Rotty also remarked, equally as tired as she shakily picked herself up and wiped sweat from her brow despite that ominous aura surrounding her like devilish, sparkling crimson flames. Rather than immediately engage Nila, however, the zombie maiden turned to Shantae. "Hey, snack cakes. Think I should finish this now? I feel like we shouldn't drag this out much longer…"

"Hm? Yeah, go for it, girl," Shantae permitted with a nod, still making no move to interfere. "Just be sure not to overexert yourself. And don't let your guard down until you see the Boss Battle explosions."

"Noted. I'll do my best to wrap this up as quickly as possible, then…"

"As if YOU'RE the one with the advantage in this fight!" Nila shouted in offense as she prepared herself. "You may have scored a few decent hits, but I've CLEARLY been dominating you this entire time!"

"In what universe!?" Rotty shot back. "A busted, bleeding nose, tired beyond belief, gasping for air, AND one good uppercut away from being knocked out cold… Yet, you STILL think you're winning? Hah! Gosh, how DELUSIONAL can you be, Ketchup-Head!? I think you may have lost too much blood if THAT'S what you think by now!" she further jeered, snickering all the while.

"Grrgh, STOP CALLING ME 'KETCHUP-HEAD!' What are you, seven years old!?"

"16 going on 17, but I don't see why that matters to you."

"It SHOULD matter to you, because you behave like a spoiled little kid! Your immaturity knows NO bounds!"

"What!? This, coming from the stuck-up, petty she-devil who recently bombed a city full of innocent people and tried to legit STAB SOMEONE TO DEATH over a senseless grudge she's too short-sighted and arrogant to drop!? Let's be real, Nila: YOU'RE the immature one here! Not me!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, let's see how 'immature' you think I am after I've RIPPED YOU INTO SO MANY PIECES, YOU'D NEVER BE ABLE TO BE PUT BACK TOGETHER!" Nila threatened, preparing to charge in with nothing but ferocious anger in her every motion.

"Proving my point right there, but sure," Rotty remarked with a shrug and sigh before entering a battle stance in which she chambered a fist at her side and extended her other hand forward. "I'm about tired of going back and forth with you anyway, and my knuckles are ITCHING to get another taste of that glass jaw of yours…!" And with that, the two so-called 'rivals' engaged in one final tornado of blows, with Nila wildly throwing steam-boosted punches with *FWISSSH* after *FWISSH* after emphatic *FWIIIISHH* in a last-ditch effort to dispatch the intruder once and for all. Meanwhile, Rottytops dodged and countered as best as she could, avoiding most of Nila's shots and throwing punches of her own that were either dodged or blocked with *PROCK* after *KRACK* after loudly echoing *KAPLOCK* as the two young women tussled all over the arena.

"I can't lose to you…! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU! EVERYONE'S DEPENDING ON ME! HYAAAAH!" Nila vowed to herself as she increased the speed and aggression of her strikes to put more pressure on Rottytops. "EVERYTHING I'VE WORKED SO HARD FOR…! I… I REFUSE TO LET IT ALL SLIP AWAY HERE!"

"Hrgh…! Hah…! Why are you talking like YOU'RE the hero here!?" Rotty questioned in mild confusion as she weaved past an incoming hook and attempted a pair of jabs that were blocked with twin *PLOCKs*. Nila's latest thunderstorm of steam-powered punches was a merciless one, as she punched the air hard enough to potentially make her fists spontaneously combust!

"Because I've got people to protect and a career to save…!" the Ammonian affiliate answered, still swinging away at the elusive zombie.

"People to protect? Did you forget you're in cahoots with devious criminals more heartless than YOU are? You aren't doing any 'protecting' in linking yourself up with the likes of Ammo Baron! And don't even get me STARTED on the harm you've caused palling around with that manipulative Hashanah girl! Especially not after what you two have been up to in the past month! Think of all the people whose lives you totally RUINED for your own selfish motives!" Rottytops shot back as she did her best to keep pace with her opponent. Despite eating a shot or two here and there, she remained determined as she dodged, blocked, and countered wherever she could.

"You don't know anything about us, so keep your sanctimonious lectures to yourself and mind your own business! And I told you to keep Hashanah's name out of your mouth!" Nila demanded, growing angrier as she increased the aggression in her rampant attack.

"Fine! I'll just call her what she really is as I pound the lesson into your head, then! The Cheater is using you, Nila! Otherwise, she'd be here herself instead of sending you out here knowing you'd eventually run into us again! Wake up and smell the coffee already, would ya!?"

"For the last time, NO, SHE ISN'T! AND I'M SICK AND TIRED OF YOU HURLING THAT ACCUSATION AT HER, SO LAY OFF!"

"Then be prepared to go down WITH OR WITHOUT her, Ketchup-Head! Whether you wind up getting your heart broken or you wind up getting stabbed in the back after you outlive your usefulness to The Cheater will be on YOUR shoulders, and YOUR shoulders alone!" Rotty further drove her point in as she dipped under a particularly hatred-fueled haymaker and leapt backwards, her aura on full display.

"THAT DOES IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! RUUYAAAAAAAAAH!" Nila roared as loud as she could, having completely lost her temper as she lunged at Rottytops with the intent to smash the zombie girl's head into a billion pieces. Cocking her fist back as far as she could as she soared through the air, the Ammonian Admiral prepared to land the MOTHER of all haymakers. Unfortunately for her, however, so was Rottytops…

"Now's my chance…! This'll be a counter that would make stud muffin proud…!" the determined zombie vowed, tucking a fist in at her side as she patiently waited for Nila to descend upon her. And descend upon her, Nila did.

"HRAH!" the Admiral shouted, launching her fist forth with the speed of a hummingbird and a steam-enhanced *FWISSSH*. She would find no one home, however, as Rottytops waited until the very last second to perform a graceful spin move to NARROWLY avoid her adversary's attack. "Wh-what…!? How…?" Nila tried to ask, though it was FAR too late to get a conventional answer. Right after the elegant pivot, however, Rotty grounded her stance, pulled her aura-bathed fist all the way back, picked her target, unintentionally intensified the aura from her Devil's Omen Earrings… and…

"SAY GOODNIGHT, NILA! UPPERCUT FROM THE UNDERWORLD!" Rottytops shouted the name of a patented new technique as she flung her fist upward with utterly BLISTERING speed and DIAMOND-CRUSHING strength… not to mention the bone-chilling *FWAKROOOOOSH* of the aura that coated her fist. And with an utterly DEMOLISHING, explosive *KRAKATHRAAASHK* boosted by the power of her Devil's Omen Earrings, the zombie girl BURROWED her fist into Nila's chin before the Admiral had a chance to defend against it.

"GHWAAAAAAAHAAAAAAARGH!" Nila hollered in unrelenting agony as she suddenly caught a case of explosions. *BOOM* after *BOOM* after increasingly rapid, spontaneous *BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOMBOOMBOOM*, the defeated Admiral was hit with detonations all over her body until a final, much more extravagant *KRABWOOOOOM* sent her hurtling upward until she hit the ceiling with a monstrous *KATWOOOOOM*. Shortly afterward, she plummeted down toward the ground with nothing but solid steel to break her fall… That was, until…

"HOOM!" the heroic Shantae effortfully grunted, leaping off the engine she was sitting on to catch Nila in midair before landing with an authoritative *DWOOONG* of her feet on the Engine Room floor. Gently setting the unconscious Ammonian commander on the floor after the fact, the half-genie turned to the weary Rottytops as she was hunched over with her hands on her knees, breathing hard to regain her composure. Interestingly enough, the ominous aura that previously surrounded her had completely disappeared as her earrings began to flash on and off once more.

"Hah… Whew… M-man, that took SO much out of me…! I'm gonna need to sleep for the next WEEK to recover from this… Now, I know how Tayshan must've felt the other day…" Rotty complained through her ragged breaths, seeming ready to pass out herself.

"Rotty! You did it! You really, really did it! I'm so proud of you, girl!" Shantae cheered with absolute enthusiasm as she ran over to pat her best friend on the back. "Your first solo Boss Battle, and you handled it like a pro! You didn't even need to call me in for an assist!"

"Heh… Th-thanks, Shantae…" Rotty accepted the boundless praise with a shaky thumbs-up as she did her best to stay on her feet.

"Here, you should probably heal up. You totally earned this," the half-genie remarked, reaching into her top and pulling out a gigantic Hero Sandwich that had me BAFFLED as to how she fit a footlong sub into her costume without any hassle… but then, I'm sure we'd be asking questions like THAT all day, considering what we've witnessed up to this point. Anyway, Rottytops got Hero Sandwich from Shantae and…

"WAAAAA-GOOMP!" the zombie maiden hummed as she… ate… the ENTIRE SUB… in a single bite… Oh… my… go… "Mmm-Hmmmm~! Oooh, that hit the spot like always! Oh, I LOVE those sandwiches! It even had all my favorite toppings on it! Bacon, tuna, banana peppers, AND olives! Mmmh~!" she excitedly gushed, gaining some of her strength back as she licked her fingers. "How'd you know what to put on it?"

"Hm? Oh, I didn't make that sub. It was in the supply stash from Tay's house."

"Oooh~! Well, then… I owe him BIG for looking out for me," she remarked in pleasant surprise as she stretched and shook off some of her post-battle fatigue before looking down to see that, among other forms of damage, her shirt had been torn asunder to the point of completely revealing the top of her gold-and-blue Bikini Armor breastplate… that just looked like a fancy metal bra that was BARELY doing its job of covering the zombie maiden's… sensitive areas. "Hm. Lousy Ketchup-Head SHREDDED my favorite shirt… Ah, well…" she remarked with a shrug, not at all minding being totally indecent.

"So, you about ready to literally blow this popsicle stand?" Shantae asked as she pulled out the Replica Frag Grenades, each with lines of thick, smooth, silky spider webbing woven through the keys in them.

"Oh, like you wouldn't BELIEVE, snack cakes. I'm SO over this tacky warship. It was killing the view of these wonderfully bubbly soda-scented islands," Rotty joked, sharing a laugh with Shae in the process.

"You said it, girl. Alrighty, let's end it off with a bang. Here, take these two and lay them under the engines on the right. I'll do the left," she explained as she handed her sidekick two of the four Replica Frag Grenades. "After we do that, we'll do exactly as we planned."

"Pull the pins all at once with one tug of the string, then Warp Dance back to the first island?" Rotty asked for reassurance as she quickly got set to plant the explosives where she was directed to do so.

"Yep," Shantae confirmed as she made her preparations in an equally short amount of time before walking over to grab the conked-out Nila by the hand to drag her over to the center of the Engine Room where there were lines of webbing stretching in multiple different directions.

"Hm? What gives? Why are we taking her with us?" Rotty asked in mild confusion as she joined her teammate in the center of the chamber.

"Because we're not going to leave her here to be caught in the explosion. That would just be heartless," Shantae explained despite her initial surprise at her teammate's question.

"Fair, but it isn't like she's gonna be happy to wake up knowing we blew up her ship. Who's to say she won't go trying to look for revenge or become a worse criminal after this?"

"Rotty, we don't know that's going to happen with her," the genie took the moment to explain, evidently not liking where the conversation was headed. "This isn't Risky Boots we're dealing with here, and even if it was, we can't be so cold as to leave someone to die or kill them because we don't like them or how they operate."

"Then where do we draw the line? Especially after what happened on that other island between Risky and Tayshan?" Rotty asked, surprising Shae even more. "How many times are we gonna let bloodthirsty creeps like Nila and her goons get away with the terrible things they do before we eventually have to put them down for good?"

"We can't 'put them down for good' unless they've become too big a threat to be stopped in a less lethal way," the genie clarified. "And… while I do think Tay almost killing Risky is an extremely RARE case of that happening… That's… That's not how we're normally supposed to operate as heroes. In much less serious cases like this, we can at least bring them to justice and let them fall under the hammer of the law."

"Okay, but where are we bringing them to justice in cases like this?" the undead young lady countered. "We're in the middle of a series of uncharted islands with no laws, and we don't exactly have the ability to just drag a bad guy over to a guard or police station and expect them to figure out what to do with them for our convenience."

"And killing them isn't exactly an appropriate alternative, Rottytops," Shantae sternly rebutted. "This isn't a case where that's the 'right' thing to do. You're right in that we can't just bring Nila to any old law enforcement agency unless she commits a crime in their area of jurisdiction, but we still have to be mindful of our own actions as heroes. And despite what she's done, Nila isn't irredeemable. She still at least deserves a chance to change her ways… Hopefully, THIS will give her the wake-up call she needs." And after a moment of contemplation as the girls looked each other in the eye…

"…Hm. I guess, but I still find it a little hard to swallow that we always have to be the ones to show so much mercy and generosity to crooks and degenerates who have tried time and time again to kill us. It's even worse when you consider that they routinely fail to show any remorse for it and then cause more chaos and destruction as soon as the next day…" the uncertain zombie girl remarked with a sigh and shrug as she momentarily cast her gaze elsewhere. Little did she know, her comment shook her half-genie best friend right to her core as Shantae widened her eyes at her.

"…That… That's a fair point…" the ponytailed heroine agreed, suddenly casting her own gaze to the floor of the Engine Room. After a moment of thought, however, she shook her head and refocused as she looked back at her partner. "But it just means… w-well, that we need to set a better example that they can learn from and follow. Especially people like Nila."

"By putting her to sleep in the most vicious way imaginable after breaking her nose? Yyyeah, the only 'change' I think she's realistically gonna go through at this point is that she'll wake up thinking she and I are ACTUALLY rivals… all thanks to YOU…" Rotty jokingly accused, pointing a finger at the other young woman. At that, Shantae let out a mirthful laugh as the joke did its job of lightening the mood.

"Sorry, but this really DID turn out to be the perfect opportunity for you to score your very own bad girl counterpart. You have to admit that much, at least."

"Sure, and I guess I can't be picky about it, but I'd MUCH prefer to have a 'rival' that doesn't give off the vibe that she probably secretly cuddles teddy bears and unironically dresses like a fairy princess when she thinks no one's looking…" she complained, looking down at the Admiral with no small amount of disdain.

"That's… SOME vibe you're picking up there. Well, here's to hoping you'll warm up to her after you've had a few more solo battles against her. No doubt she's gonna be gunning for you when she wakes up."

"Yeah, I'm totally QUAKING in my new kicks over here," Rotty remarked with a comical eye roll and shrug.

"Nice to know you'll be ready for her next time. That said, I was hoping she'd still be awake for us to interrogate her more about what Hashanah might've told her about this place…"

"Well, we can try waking her up right now."

"With the way you knocked her halfway into space? We'll be lucky if you didn't wind up putting her in a coma," Shantae half-joked, though it didn't stop her from kneeling for a second and lightly tapping and poking the Ammonian affiliate's cheek. "Nila! Nila? Helloooo~! Anyone home?"

"Hey, Ketchup-Head! Wake up, so we can squeeze more info out o' ya!" Rotty additionally yelled, kneeling to grab Nila by the shoulders and violently shake her to no avail. "Seriously, get up! Um… Ah! Ammo Baron's here, and he's totally gonna fire you if you don't scrub his crusty toes and get his bubble bath ready!"

"…What?" Shae laughingly asked with a raised eyebrow as she immediately stopped her prodding and glanced at Rotty.

"I was hoping to scare her awake, but… evidently, it didn't work," the zombie maiden remarked as she rose to a full stand once again. "I'm declaring it here. This girl isn't just K.O.; she's A.K.T.F.O."

"And… what exactly does that stand for?" the curious genie asked with a raised eyebrow as she followed suit in rising back to a full stand.

"Absolutely Knocked the F-!" Rottytops was about to inappropriately blurt out.

"Okay! Got it, got it…" Shantae hastily interrupted, plastering a hand with a *PLAP* over her best friend's mouth. "Also, watch it! You're gonna get us in trouble saying that!" she further reprimanded after removing her hand and breathing a sigh of relief.

"With who? It isn't like anyone with any real authority would seriously think to punish us for using colorful language," the potty-mouthed zombie nonchalantly remarked with a shrug.

"I… still wouldn't test the boundaries there, just in case," the not-so-potty-mouthed genie sagely advised. "More importantly, we've still gotta set a decent example for people who may be watching us…" she further cryptically hinted, subtly flicking her eyes at those who may be watching (*cough* You *cough*) before turning her attention back to Rottytops. "And you know I'm personally not a fan of foul language. We're too cute to be sullying our vocabularies with such filth…" At that, Rotty sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, you've been spending WAY too much time around Sky lately. You sound just like her, endlessly squawking on about the morality of talking like we were raised by butlers and politicians… Seriously, what the f-?"

"ROTTYTOPS!" Shantae shouted, scowling at the zombie maiden for refusing to follow orders.

"Relax, will ya? I was gonna say 'fudge,'" Rottytops laughingly remarked, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"That… doesn't make it much better."

"Eh, it's still within the unspoken rules about what words we're allowed to use, so you'd have to debate me on what the problem would be there. Anyway, you about ready to set it off in this motherf-?"

"Yes, I'm ready to blow up the ship," the half-genie calmly, yet frantically interrupted, drawing a most inappropriate giggle from her foul-mouthed sidekick. "That one, I'm pretty sure you got from Tayshan…" she further remarked with a sigh of bemusement.

"I did, but don't tell him I told you. He'd kill me… or, like, double-kill me."

"Noted. I'll double-kill him some other time. Anyway, get ready…"

"On your mark, snack cakes…" Rotty affirmed with another chuckle as she got herself into position.

"Alright… Three… Two… One… GO!" Shantae counted down and announced, giving the web strings a mighty tug. As planned, four simultaneous *plinks* sounded out, signifying that their VERY short countdown had begun. "Okay, grab my hand," she further requested, prompting Rotty to lock her fingers in with the half-genie's. Meanwhile, Shantae grabbed Nila's hand and quickly began to rock her hips back and forth like the world's most mesmerizing pendulum. She briefly closed her eyes to focus as she shook her bodacious hips before reopening them and-! "Warp Dance!" she announced, striking a sassy pose we could only see for a split second before she, Rottytops, and the incapacitated Nila vanished with a smoky *POOF*. And all things considered, we'd better 'Warp Dance' our way out of here as well before we get caught in the explosion. Although, if the girls had waited just a second or two longer, they'd have seen the ethereal glowing platform sprouting up at the far end of the room. Hope that wasn't too important…

One Emergency Warp Dance later…

We rejoin our dynamic debutante duo as they reappeared with a most glamorous, smoky, glittering *POOF* at the area they first began their expedition. With the incapacitated Ammonian Admiral in tow, Shantae and Rottytops scoured the vicinity to take in the mildly war-torn, but otherwise colorful and (literally) bubbly atmosphere. Immediately within their line of sight, however, was the sizable collection of astonished Ammonian soldiers who'd all previously been busy with various tasks around the beach that included tending to the wounded, attempting to patch up battle-damaged vessels along the shoreline, and contacting other soldiers through their transceivers for support. Upon seeing the genie and zombie with their defeated leader in their clutches, some of them reacted by immediately taking up arms as they warily approached.

"Whoa, whoa… Listen, we've done enough fighting out here," Shantae was the first to speak, letting go of Nila's hand to raise her own outward in front of herself. "We won't engage any further unless you make us."

"What did you do to our leader, you degenerates!?" one of the soldiers angrily demanded, pointing his rifle at the girls as he held his ground.

"Same thing we're gonna do to YOU if you don't-!" Rottytops was about to argue.

"Rotty," Shae called to her to stop her from challenging the Ammonian forces as she also took her hand and slowly backed away by just a few paces.

"Oh. Got it, boss," the zombie girl obeyed, following the half-genie's nonverbal order to back away from Nila's unconscious form.

"She's still alive and well, but she's gonna need medical attention. We're gonna need some answers before we let you go, though," Shantae requested of the Ammonian soldiers as they continued to approach, though it was clear they were FAR more interested in reclaiming their leader than they were in starting up another potentially disastrous battle. And just as the subordinates of the Admiral reached her and began taking measures to check her vitals, an utterly eardrum-obliterating *KRABWOOOMBWOOMBOOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOOMBOOMBOMMMMMMMMB!* in the distance ripped through the air like someone set off a nuclear warhead. The initial explosion was followed by a long, loud series of additional *KABWOOOMs*, *KRABLAAAAMs*, and especially frightening *PAPWOMBOMBOMBOMMs* that sent a HUMONGOUS smoke cloud billowing miles upon miles high into the air.

"WHOA…!" Rottytops hummed in wonder as she, Shantae, and all the Ammonian soldiers in the vicinity turned and watched the S.S. Blue Barbara go up in a terrifying ball of flames, debris, and carnage. While the girls were captivated by the fireworks display of their own making, however…

"…Shoot, they actually DID IT…! They destroyed our main battleship…!" an Ammonian soldier sourly muttered under his breath before turning to his comrades. "Come on, let's get Nila to safety A.S.A.P…!" he ordered through a whisper, prompting the other soldiers to jointly lift the Admiral up onto their shoulders and sprint toward an undamaged, unmanned speedboat wading by the shoreline as fast as they could without being noticed.

"Yikes… I didn't think it'd be THAT big of an explosion…" Shantae murmured in awe as the ship was quickly engulfed in an unforgiving cyclone of fire and smoke. "Whelp, that should do it. Now, then… Where's our Stage Clear platform?"

"Um… Shantae?" a most uncertain Rottytops called, prompting the half-genie to turn toward her.

"Yeah?"

"Two things… One, those Ammonian goons took Nila and totally booked it on us while we were distracted…" she first pointed out as she turned her gaze toward the speedboat racing away from the area with a subdued *Vrrrooooooooooommm* in the distance as its passengers sailed along the modest, fizzing waves.

"Ah, shoot…!" Shantae cursed, clenching a fist in frustration. "They got away fast… We still didn't even get to ask them what they might've known about Hashanah…"

"Yeah… And this may arguably be worse…" Rotty warned once more as she walked over toward a shattered piece of glowing rock and picked it up to show to the heroine… who, as one might expect, gasped in surprise as her eyes widened to the sizes of satellites.

"That's…! That's part of the Stage Clear platform!" she hollered in total astonishment. "Are you KIDDING ME!? THE STAGE CLEAR PLATFORM WAS IN THE SHIP!? AND WE BLEW IT UP!? No…! That means we're STRANDED here unless we call Sky!"

"And calling Sky would be bad because…?"

"Don't you remember? Calling her for a lift means we forfeit the quest! We'd have to do this all over again!"

"Oohhh… R-right…" Rottytops droned in realization, though I… must admit that I wasn't too clear on what the problem was. "Uh… so, what do we do now? Can't you just Warp Dance us back to Scuttle Town?"

"No… We're too far out, and I can't remember the directions Sky took to get us here… Darn it…!" Shantae complained, pounding her thigh with a fist as she angrily stared holes into the sand beneath her feet.

"Ah… This is… quite the pickle we're… hm?" the zombie girl trailed off as she picked up the sound of an engine roaring from above. Turning her attention upward, she noticed the image of a biplane circling around as though to make a landing. "Is that another Ammonian airplane?"

"What? What do you mean?" Shantae asked, following her friend's gaze to notice the same incoming flying object. "That IS a plane, but… it's not blue like an Ammonian one would be… Instead, it's… purple and gold? And the pilot doesn't seem to be wearing any Ammonian-themed clothing… Who the heck is that? And why are they landing HERE of all places? Also… Is… Is that a halo hovering over their head?" she asked as the mysterious plane steadily descended, using the surface of the island as a landing strip. With a powerful, windy *VWIIRRRRRRH*, the plane made landfall, gently skidding across the grainy sands of the Crackling Crystal Castle isle until it came to a complete stop just a few yards away from our heroines. And once the plane was brought to a halt and parked, its pilot turned the engine off and hopped out of the cockpit. And wouldn't you know it? It was none other than…

"TAYSHAN!" both Shantae and Rottytops called to their potential savior in unison as they sprinted over toward the wraith in question.

"Yo! What's happenin', homegirls?" an excited Tay greeted them as he waved and adjusted his goggles to where they were strapped around his forehead.

"What are you doing here? I thought Uncle said you weren't allowed to leave town for the entire week!" Shantae questioned first.

"Yeah! And… what's with the snazzy outfit?" Rottytops additionally asked, taking note of the ghostly pilot's surprisingly flashy formal attire. An azure muscle fit dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the collar spread, a stone-gray waistcoat and golden tie to bring out his eyes, and matching stone-gray slacks with shiny jet black dress shoes… Goodness, he was dressed to the nines! Of course, one needn't forget the stylish (if not entirely mandatory) Inhibitor Vambraces affixed to his wrists, but still… "You look like you just stepped out of a high-stakes business meeting!"

"It's a bit of a long story, but in a nutshell, Sky told me you two would be here," he began. "She asked me t' come check up on y'all in case y'all got stuck because she got swamped with work on her end. It helped that I was on my way back from a conference I attended on the Sultana's behalf in Genie's Hem. Mimic made that one of VERY FEW exceptions, provided I didn't get int' any trouble that would provoke me t' fight. That said…" he trailed off, taking a good look at the giant Ammonian-themed mess scattered across the prismatic, bubbly islands. He especially took note of the smoldering remains of the S.S. Blue Barbara. "It looks like you girls were VERY busy out here. Mind givin' me a rundown o' what happened?"

"We'd be here all day if we started telling you about it now," Shantae advised. "The long and short of it, though, is that this is the location of the next Spirit Fuser fragment. There's supposed to be this place called the Crackling Crystal Castle that's set to appear here, though we don't know when it's supposed to appear. Rottytops and I cleared out most of the Ammonian opposition here because it turned out Nila was staking the place out with her naval unit."

"Hm… I could figure as much from the looks o' things out here. Did y'all happen t' run into Nila herself?" Tay queried as he turned his attention back to the Lethal Leading Ladies.

"Yeah, and get this: Rotty totally crushed her in an epic Boss Battle all by herself!" Shae proudly shared, much to Tay's approval.

"Really, now? Shoot, I can't wait to hear the story on that! Good work once again, Rotty!" he cheered, smilingly offering the zombie maiden a fist bump that she accepted with gusto.

"Thanks, stud muffin! Nila was a lot tougher this time around, I'll admit, but our training really pulled me through!" Rotty excitedly proclaimed, evidently quite proud of her accomplishment.

"Glad t' know you could put it t' good use," he acknowledged with a nod of affirmation. "Where is Nila, by the way? Did y'all lock her down somewhere or at least dig int' her for more info after y'all beat her?"

"Ah… N-no… We were going to do that, but she was unconscious after Rotty defeated her," Shae shamefully admitted, some of the wind suddenly taken out of her sails upon hearing the question. "And… well, some of her soldiers took her away while we were distracted and raced off in a speedboat after we brought her out here from the ship…"

"I see… Well, darn. That's really unfortunate…" Tay lamented as he lowered his head and crossed his arms in disappointment.

"How come?"

"Well… Had y'all kept hold of her, we could've pressed her for a lot more info once she woke up if she was the one spearheadin' this operation," Tay candidly explained. "We also could've taken her with us back t' Scuttle Town for further questionin.' She has a warrant for her arrest out that way, an' takin' her in would've also given us a chance t' try an' flush Hashanah out o' hidin'. From there, we could've possibly gotten the chance t' take the other two Spirit Fuser pieces off Hashanah an' make the rest o' this hunt a lot easier in the event she tried t' come an' rescue Nila."

"…Oh…" a deflated Shantae remarked in a sudden and intense feeling of disappointment in herself. Rotty, despite not saying anything in the moment, exuded much of the same vibe as she frowned and lowered her head. "W-wow, I didn't think about ANY of that. We… w-we REALLY blew that chance…" Taking notice of this right away, Tayshan changed his tune.

"Ah, h-hey, it's alright! I'm just brainstormin', don't mind me. Y'all did a fantastic job out here regardless," he nervously assured, cupping the half-genie's cheeks with his hands and lifting her head up to meet his worried gaze. "We can still press one o' the soldiers here for info an' walk away with some insight on what to expect about this place, at least."

"Ah. R-right, we can do that. Good idea, Tay," Shae acknowledged, breathing a sigh of relief as she found her spirits lifted.

"Yep. Matter of fact, I'll go ask right now. Mind watchin' the plane for me?" he suggested and requested, though he made sure to pat Rotty on the head to cheer her up before he got set to embark on his errand. Rotty's response… was to blush as she cast her smiling gaze toward him. Huh…

"That won't be an issue, but are you sure it's a good idea for YOU to go over there? You ARE aware of how the Ammonian Army feels about you by this point, aren't you?" the half-genie queried, uncertain of his bold suggestion.

"I guess, but I'd imagine at least SOME o' these folks have half a brain t' think beyond the rumors an' the stories," the wraith confidently answered with a shrug. At that, Shantae shot him a glance that communicated that she knew better.

"…Tayshan, honey. Consider who we're talking about. If they DID have any ideas that weren't pummeled into their heads by Ammo Baron, they wouldn't be members of the Ammonian Army."

"Fair point, but I'd still like t' at least give it a shot."

"Oookay, but just be prepared for a not-so-warm reception. That aside, I'm hopeful they'll know something… or at the very least, I hope they don't attack you on-sight," Shantae acknowledged and pondered.

"We'll see. Be back in a flash," Tayshan assured as he jogged across the beach toward the shoreline where a bunch of wary Ammonian soldiers were seen watching him. "Yo! One o' y'all got a sec?"

"OH, LORD! IT'S THE ASSASSIN! IT'S THE ASSASSIN! HE'S BACK FROM THE DEAD TO FINISH OFF THE AMMONIAN ARMY! EVERYBODY RUN FOR IT!" shouted an especially panicked male Ammonian soldier, prompting the rest of the group to scatter in a plethora of different directions, screaming bloody murder and panicking all the while.

"N-no, wait! I ain't here t' fight! Slow your ro-!" Tay tried to request as he also scrambled around in hopes that someone… ANYONE would stop and listen to him.

"EVERY MAN AND WOMAN FOR THEMSELVES! WAAAAHAHAAAAAARGH!" another Ammonian soldier hollered out like he was mere SECONDS away from being brutally tortured as he ran across the beach, dramatically flailing his arms all the while. Joining that soldier was a bunch of others as they also panicked, flailed, screamed in terror, and booked it toward their boats to take off with various *VROOOMs* and *VWIIIIRRRRs* offshore to survive the INCREDIBLY MERCILESS ONSLAUGHT of the legendary 'Assassin.'

"Are y'all serious right now!? I just said I ain't here t-!" the EXTREMELY INTIMIDATING ghost tried again to reassure, though he had quickly lost sight of which direction to scramble in to get someone to talk to him.

"GET AWAY FROM US, YOU MALICIOUS ANGEL OF DEATH! WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! THE POWER OF THE HEAVENS COMPELS YOU! THE POWER OF THE HEAVENS COMPELS YOU!" a female Ammonian soldier chanted as she took out a flask of what I presume to be a blessed liquid and frightfully sprinkled it around herself to ward off evil spirits.

"…Really?" Tayshan stopped in his tracks to remark in disbelief as he deadpanned at the panicked soldiers clamoring over each other to escape or apparently trying to exorcise him like the demon they perceived him to be.

Meanwhile…

"…Whelp, this wasn't EXACTLY what I was expecting to happen, but… I gotta admit, this is pretty hilarious…" Shantae observed, snickering at her boyfriend's spectacular failure at NOT inciting doomsday-level fear by simply approaching people with a request for information.

"No kidding! Hahah, they're panicking like they've just seen a ghost!" Rottytops additionally pointed out through her laughter… though, I wonder if she knew how literal her comment was. Either way…

Back within the chaos…

"Jeez, how am I supposed t' get even ONE o' these morons t' stop wildin' out long enough t-?" Tayshan was about to ask himself, sighing and scratching his head in vexation as he continued to watch the hapless Ammonian soldiers run for their lives. His question would find itself… 'answered' in a way when…

"I WON'T LET YOU TERRORIZE US AGAIN, FOUL APPARITION!" a particularly 'heroic' soldier armed with a weapon dared to step up and challenge the wraith, prompting him to whirl around in mild surprise.

"Yo! Chill out! Listen, don't do anything you're gonna regr-!" Tay tried to warn as he held his hands up, continuing an apparent trend of not being able to finish a sentence before being interrupted yet again.

"BURN!" the soldier shouted as he aimed his weapon, a flamethrower, and fired a *FWOOOOOORSH* of flames directly at the undead warrior.

"See, now we gotta do this the hard way…! REAPER WIND BURST!" Tayshan shouted as he hurriedly charged a supply of Light Magic into hand, reached his arm all the way back, and delivered a powerful upward swing. With an utterly astounding *WHAFWOOOOOOOOOOFFF*, a powerful gust of wind kicked up, blowing sand all over the place as the soldier's flames were directed all the way upward.

"Whoa…!" Shae remarked in her own brand of surprise, totally blown away (pun intended) by the technique.

"That's a new one…" Rotty additionally observed in equal intrigue.

"WHAT!? HOW DID HE-!?" the soldier was about to shout in total shock before he was suddenly greeted with the image of the golden-eyed ghost man sprinting at him from the side at a speed he couldn't have hoped to react to.

"TU-RAAH!" Tay shouted as he grabbed the soldier's flamethrower and ripped it out of his hands, flinging the weapon so far into the distance that it wound up landing with a *Ploosh* in the carbonated water behind them. Following this, the well-dressed 'Assassin' grabbed the soldier by his collar and lifted him high into the air.

"GRAGH…! U-unhand me, you malevolent specter! If I fall here, a HUNDRED more Ammonian soldiers would take my place! You will learn to fear the wrath of the-!"

"HEY!" the ghost warrior shouted to get the officer to stop blathering on.

"…Huh?" the soldier hummed in frightful wonder as he stopped freaking out long enough to meet his assailant's gaze.

"I am NOT here t' haunt the Ammonian Army… This time," the wraith rather… ominously revealed, though it didn't do this poor soldier's nerves any favors as he continued to flail and squirm to set himself free. "I just need a little bit of info, an' you can go free after you tell me what I need t' know."

"And what makes you think I'll spill any of our secrets to a bloodthirsty phantom like you!?" At that, Tay glowered at the superstitious soldier for a moment before getting an idea of sorts… And once the idea was had…

"Well…" he began, lowering the soldier to eye level and pulling him closer. "If you do tell me, I'll set you free. If you DON'T tell me… I'll… er, I'll PLAGUE YOUR SOUL, as well as the souls of all the other Ammonian soldiers you've ever known… And there will be NO form of exorcism that would rid you of my wrath as it… uh, a-as it ubiquitously transcends the bounds of space and time…!" he 'threatened,' trying to keep a straight face as though he couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Whah! O-okay! What do you need to know? I-I'll tell you anything you want to hear!" the soldier frantically offered his assistance, the fear of all supernatural things etched into the very essence of his being.

"Good. So, in a few words, tell me why your army annexed these islands. What are you lookin' for? And who put you up to this?"

"Ah! U-um… Well, I-I don't know if I should tell you that…"

"Oh, ya don't? Then, allow me t' reiterate…" he trailed off as he closed his eyes for a second… only to reveal that they turned silver once he reopened them. "IF YOU DON'T SPILL IT, THEN I'LL TORMENT YOU AN' EVERYONE YOU KNOW FOR ALL ETERNITY! AN' YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE YOUR SOUL WILL SUFFER FOREVER IF IT TURNS OUT YOU'RE LYING TO ME…!" he warned once again, his voice taking on a doubled effect as he glared paranormal DEATH at the defenseless subordinate of Ammo Baron.

"WAH! A-alright, I got it!" the soldier agreed, desperate to save his own life from eternal condemnation. "My commanding officer, Admiral Nila, told us that there was supposed to be some ancient shrine or fortress or some structure called the Kooky, Cruising, Cockamamie—er, Chaotic Cavorting Cathedral or something along those lines that would appear here in exactly two weeks from today! She said she had a 'favor' to do for some 'special friend' of hers whose identity we don't know, and that this friend of hers was some sort of archaeologist or treasure hunter! The friend is apparently supposed to be able to get into the place in question to retrieve some supposedly powerful Relic from it! W-we don't even know what the Relic is! That's all the intel I have, Mr. Assassin-Revenant-Demon-Sir! Nila didn't tell us anything else! I-I promise! Now, please! L-let me go! I'm sorry I tried to burn you! I-I didn't know what I was thinki-!"

"Hm. Figured as much…" Tayshan calmly acknowledged, blinking a few times to return his eyes to their normal golden hue. "Alright, you're free t' go," he further permitted with his normal voice, gently setting the certifiably traumatized soldier back onto his feet. "Now, leave this place along with your peers, never to set foot on these grounds again!" he further dramatically ordered as he pointed toward the remaining boats and frightened soldiers along the coastline anxiously waiting for the end of the encounter.

"Y-yes, sir! Wha-huh! Hah! Wuwwawaaaaahaaagh!" the panicking serviceman obeyed as he sprinted toward his colleagues for safety, at which point they gathered themselves up, boarded their boats, and left without further incident.

"Whew… Alright, that's done…" Tay acknowledged with a sigh as he walked back to the plane where the girls were waiting. "Okay, did y'all get all that?"

"Yeah, but… Tay, when the heck did you pick up that move you just used? And where?" Shantae immediately asked. "I've never seen you do that before…"

"Classified information, sweetheart," he oh-so-lovingly refused to answer, shooting her a smiling wink. "Besides, you'd probably learn it in a day an' wind up usin' it better than I can. Can't be out here spillin' ALL the info about my 'secret' techniques t' you now…" he added, much to the genie's chagrin as she pouted at him.

"HAH! That's so true!" Rotty agreed, laughing it up as she did so. In response, Shantae scoffed as she also comically glowered at the undead young lady. "Seriously, snack cakes, let us have SOME of our moves to ourselves!" she further teased, nudging her best friend with her elbow as she and her fellow undead hero guffawed at the half-genie's expense.

"Hardy-har-har," Shantae flatly remarked, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes before turning her attention back to Tayshan. Noticing her agitation, the young man cut his laughter short and cleared his throat.

"Oh, alright, I'll tell you when we get back home," he caved in an instant as he settled down. He was evidently not a fan of upsetting the half-genie when she wanted something from him.

"That's all I ask," the lavender-haired lady remarked with an approving nod as she chuckled a bit.

"Understood. That aside, we've got our mark for the next big quest. Any ideas on what t' do with the information, Shae?" Tay asked, shifting topics.

"Mm-hmm. We come back here in two weeks and potentially intercept Hashanah while laying claim to the next Spirit Fuser piece," Shae laid it out in a few words. "With any luck, we'll take the other two pieces off her, too. Chances are, that'll be a quest either you and I will handle, or that all three of us will take on."

"Thankfully, I'll be off your uncle's 'probation' period by then, so I'm all for it," he affirmed with a nod.

"Awesome. And what do you say, Rotty? Wanna join us?" she asked, turning to their mutual teammate.

"Oh! Ah… I'd have to clear my schedule, but… yeah, I'd be down for that! There's safety in numbers, after all," Rotty agreed with an ostensible nonchalance, though she couldn't help but smile brightly at the idea of being included on such a pivotal quest alongside her two favorite people.

"Then it's settled. Our next trip to the Crackling Crystal Castle will include all three of us," Shantae locked it in with a determined fist pump. "Thanks for shaking down that soldier, Tay. I'm not sure we'd have gotten the idea or that info otherwise."

"Don't sweat it. I'm glad to assist," he casually assured.

"And I'm glad to have your assistance. Speaking of which, why didn't you tell me you knew how to fly a plane?" she couldn't help but ask out of the blue.

"Because you never asked…?" Tay remarked with a shrug and a raise of his eyebrow, causing Rottytops to giggle while Shantae scowled at him again.

"Ugh, that is SUCH an 'Uncle' answer, Tay! Seriously, why didn't you ever bring it up?" the comically agitated half-genie reiterated her request.

"Heh, sorry…" he apologized through a chuckle of his own. "I guess it's because we never got t' talkin' about my experiences with flight school, what with our busy schedules an' such. Plus, I've only recently started flyin' on my own about a month ago. That said, we should probably get goin'. This plane is a rental, an' this detour's definitely gonna run me over the time I booked it for."

"Oh! Well, shoot, I don't want to make you pay any late fees," Shantae understandingly acknowledged. "Yeah, let's head home."

"Most def. But first, I gotta address the elephant in the room…" the wraith trailed off as he turned his attention specifically to Rottytops.

"…What?" the zombie girl asked, tensing up a bit as her gaze met his.

"Rotty, why ain't you wearin' a shirt? I know you like t' show off 'the goods,' but come on… This is goin' a LITTLE bit far, don'tcha think?" he asked, shocking both young ladies in the process. Yet, whereas Shantae busted out laughing at his incorrect assertion, Rotty scoffed and blushed hard enough that she looked like she would burst with embarrassment.

"It isn't like I did this on purpose!" she frantically defended herself, shooting Tay a sour glare. "That licorice-haired psycho Nila sliced my shirt off while we were fighting!"

"Oh? Huh… That… must've been… intense…" At that, Rotty deadpanned at him. Shantae kept on fighting the good fight by plastering a hand over her mouth as she calmed down to avoid laughing further.

"I know how that sounds, but I'm being for real this time! Do you seriously think I'd be THAT uncouth that I'd just walk around in public like this, parading my massive fun bags for all to see!?" the zombie girl dared to ask, expecting a reasonable answer. What she got instead was…

"…Uhh… W-well… If you want me t' be for real…" Tay hesitantly contemplated his reply as he tugged his collar and darted his eyes around.

"DAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAH!" Shantae laughed even harder, losing that 'good fight' in the process as she doubled over, clutching her sides.

"Oh my GOSH, stud muffin! You're such a GOOF!" Rotty further angrily protested, charging at him to playfully pound her fists all over him with the meanest of flustered pouts on her face. In response, Tay tried oh-so-desperately to defend himself by crouching and covering his face with his arms… while trying (and failing) to avoid laughing himself.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry! You're the classiest of classy ladies, Rotty! I promise! Now please, go easy on me!" Tayshan begged for mercy, unable to brave the tremendous assault from his equally undead comrade.

"Hmph… You'd BETTER think that of me…" Rottytops agreed as she calmed down enough to stop beating up the haloed young man. And as Tay rose to a full stand, Rotty gestured an open hand toward him.

"Hm? What? Do you want somethin'?"

"Yeah. Your shirt. Gimme," she used her classiest manners to demand, causing him to reel back in mild surprise.

"What? Why do I always have t' rip my clothes off whenever one o' y'all has a wardrobe malfunction?" he protested, revealing that this… wasn't the first time this happened. "I thought we outgrew that phase by now…"

"Evidently not," Rotty countered, repeating her gesture once more as she flexed her fingers. "Now, hand it over, stud muffin. It's getting a bit nippy out here, and I'm sure you wouldn't want a cute girl to freeze to death because you were being stingy."

"Well, excuse you!" Tay protested, resisting the urge to laugh himself. "Where are your manners? I expect as much brazen disrespect from Shantae, but you? I'm honestly flabbergasted."

"Hey!" Shantae yelled in offense as she approached, though it appeared Rotty got some humor out of the joke. "You got something to say to me, homeboy?"

"Ah… I-I mean… I-I expect you to be as courteous and respectful as Shantae…?" he tried to save himself as a nervous grin formed on his face. At that point, however, it was too late for him.

"Nice try, boyfriend, but the damage has been done. And just for that…" the half-genie trailed off, taking a deep breath and striking a dramatic pose for added effect as she pointed a finger at him. "I wish you would give your shirt to Rottytops!"

"Aw, come on! You're really gonna make me undress in front o' y'all AGAIN over that!?" the disgruntled ghost objected, a flustered blush plastering itself all over his face.

"Yep! Now, go ahead. Take it off…" she further demanded, though she was unable to hide the mischievous grin on her face.

"Wow, Shantae, I don't think I've ever heard you sound so assertive…" Rotty teased, grinning just as widely. "It's actually kind of awesome to hear you give Tayshan commands with such bass in your voice!"

"What can I say? I have my moments," the half-genie joked with a smiling wink and shrug at her best friend, prompting both girls to giggle it up. Perturbed, Tay shot each of the girls a most disapproving, pouting scowl, though the look didn't hold for long before he softened his expression and acquiesced.

"Hrrmmmph… Fine. Your wish is my command," he played along with a roll of his eyes as he unbuttoned his waistcoat and untucked his shirt before moving to undo his tie. And as the girls very casually (by which, I mean eagerly) watched their mutual male friend be subjected to a fate worse than death… "How embarrassin'… Will there EVER be a point where you two get tired o' makin' me strip for y'all?" he complained with a sigh as he got set to unbutton his shirt. And… as one might imagine, his female companions each perked up with curious (read: VERY unsavory) wide-eyed looks on their faces as they glanced at each other… and then back at him.

"Well, when you put it THAT way…" Shantae began, grinning a bit as she cleared her throat and scratched her cheek with a finger.

"…Nope! Not to say we do it on purpose, but we appreciate the bonus show we get from you every time this happens," Rottytops finished, snickering all the while as she patiently waited. Meanwhile, Tayshan froze in the middle of the unbuttoning process as his jaw nearly hit the floor. He additionally wound up looking at Shantae for confirmation that what he heard wasn't what she was thinking, but… he was instead greeted with the sight of the blushing genie girl kittenishly batting her eyes away as she pursed her lips and continued to suspiciously scratch her cheek with her finger. At that, Tayshan cocked an eyebrow and pouted once again in mild annoyance.

"…Wow… Y'all are TERRIBLE."

"The worst," both the genie and the zombie remarked in unison as they each shot him grinning stares, thereby confirming that they… liked to routinely make Tayshan strip for them… JEEZ, so much for wholesome… Oh, and just in case you didn't think this was going to get lewder…

"…An' you wonder why people keep callin' me your 'concubine.' But fine… If that's how y'all wanna play it, then how do y'all like this?" he remarked as he… widened his stance and began to seductively gyrate his hips like he was belly dancing, finishing the unbuttoning process along the way. Even better, he made direct eye contact with the girls as he initiated this… utterly OUTLANDISH impromptu teasing routine.

"TAYSHAN! What the heck are you DOING!?" a HOTLY flustered Shantae demanded to know, her face heating up like a freshly fired-up engine as she pressed her hands to her reddened cheeks while she gawked at him.

"Grantin' your wish, Master…" he remarked with a noticeable… deep, velvety sultriness in his voice as he continued to dance, turning around and hypnotically rocking his hips side to side as he… ah… so very tantalizingly looked over his shoulder to keep his eyes on the thoroughly flustered girls. It… went without saying that they weren't looking at his eyes as they stared at him… Whoo… Uh, s-so anyway, uh… Slyly grinning at them, he spiced it up as he slid the shirt off each of his shoulders to expose his toned, muscly arms. "Shall I make things even more interestin' for you~?" he teasingly asked as he turned back around and… and spiced it up EVEN MORE by opening the shirt all the way up, revealing the stunning, irresistible physique of a seasoned athlete… Ooh, boy… I uh… was NOT expecting this…

"…What… in the…?" Rottytops barely found it in herself to mumble as she never broke her mesmerized gaze away from the wraith. Her glimmering ruby eyes scanned him up and down as a most… prominent blush formed on her face and her breath seemed to catch in her heaving chest. Meanwhile, he continued to engage in this… honestly VERY… well-coordinated and exotic dance as he undid his Inhibitor Vambraces, letting them hit the sand with twin *Ploughs*. Next, the young man slipped his shirt off and began to twirl it around over his head… while still rocking his hips and gliding a hand down his burly, chiseled, scar-riddled chest from his collarbone down to his… uh… Ahem… p-pelvic area as he grabbed hold of his belt. It… was worth note that he was making direct eye contact the entire time with this… utterly enrapturing mischievous grin on his face. And as the girls… and I took in the unfathomably sensual dance show…

"Is this what you wanted t' see, baby? Or do you want me t' come over there an' give you a closer look…~?" he asked Shantae with this… absolutely buttery smooth, enchanting low, breathy tone in his voice that just made anyone within two miles of him want to melt on the spot as he kept on dancing. Shantae found herself flustered beyond words as she tried to keep her composure. The furious, wide-eyed blush on her face told the story on how successful she was, of course… Meanwhile…

"Oh… my gosh… Best… day… ever…" Rotty further spoke for all of u—er, I-I mean, murmured in continued amazement as a most… 'intrigued' grin crept onto her blushing face as she bit her lip and kept on staring… to the point where she seemed to begin to sweat as her chest heaved up and down. Seriously, the poor girl looked like she was about to have the messiest nosebleed imaginable as she ate up Tayshan's… incredibly tantalizing display. Overhearing the comment, Shantae glanced over at Rottytops. She immediately drew in a sharp gasp, totally shocked beyond belief to see the HIGHLY… er, 'captivated' look on the zombie maiden's face as she ogled every inch of the male entertainer that was the half-genie's boyfriend. And how did our main heroine react to this, you may ask? Well…

"Okay, that's enough! Wrap it up!" Shantae hurriedly interrupted, stopping the sensual dance routine in its tracks as she leapt upward and glomped Tayshan in a heartbeat. "I didn't teach you those sexy dance moves just to have you put on a show for people other than me! You got that!?" she admonished, inadvertently revealing another juicy secret about the couple's romantic life. Recognizing that his point had been made, Tayshan laughed it up as he hugged the giggling half-genie back and FINALLY stopped dancing.

"Yeah, I got it, babe…" he concurred, calming himself down before gently putting the ponytailed young woman back down on her feet. Afterward, he approached a thoroughly bewitched Rottytops and handed his shirt over. "Here ya go, Rotty. Hopefully, it's warm enough for when we fly back home."

"Oh… Er… Th-thanks, Tay… I… um… I-I appreciate it. All of it…" she… rather nervously offered her gratitude as she got Tayshan's Button-Up and slipped it on to reveal that it was maybe three or four sizes too big for her. She… also had to take a moment to cool herself down as she pressed a hand to her chest and processed the enthralling performance she oh-so-luckily bore witness to.

"Cool," Tay nonchalantly acknowledged as he turned around to have Shantae hand him back his Inhibitor Vambraces. He wasted no time clamping them back onto his wrists with *clack* after *clack* before tossing his waistcoat into the cockpit of the plane. Perking up out of nowhere in the moment, Shantae moved to speak once again.

"Tay?" the half-genie beckoned.

"Yeah?"

"I just remembered. These vambraces… Is… Is it really true that they're designed to restrict your powers?" she asked, grabbing one of his wrists and observing one of the objects in question.

"Yes, ma'am," he casually confirmed. "Your uncle made them for me not long before y'all went on vacation. I'm surprised you're askin' me about 'em now, though. I thought I mentioned it to you when we met up outside my house the other day."

"We didn't go into detail, though I'm now realizing what you meant when you said your power was 'half-restricted' when you spoke about your fight against Risky."

"Ah… Right, we did kinda gloss over that. Well… In a nutshell, these fancy wristbands are designed t' help me control my magic by placin' a strict limit on it, regardless of if it's Light or Dark," he explained to the best of his knowledge. "This magic's been growin' so much more powerful over the past year, these last couple months especially… on BOTH forms of it, no less. It's like, the more powerful the Dark Magic in me becomes, the more powerful the Light Magic in me becomes to try an' counteract it…"

"No way…! You serious?"

"Yes. That's what it's been feelin' like, at least… It's as if both forms are in an endless war with each other, slowly an' steadily buildin' up power within me as each form prepares t' eradicate the other… but neither form is ever able to get the edge. An' so, they keep gettin' stronger an' stronger without a reasonable limit. It started off hittin' a point where I'd either constantly overexert myself durin' jobs without meanin' to, or I'd wind up losin' control of either form o' magic whenever I activated it… It's been increasingly difficult for me t' rein it back in once I started usin' it, too. Worse yet, it eventually got to the current point where it's always active, even when I don't want it t' be unless I have these vambraces on. It… seemed t' stop matterin' what emotional state I'm in, an' it's only ever calm without the vambraces on after I've already burnt myself out like I did the other day…"

"Ohh… I see," Shantae hummed in wonder and… a mild tinge of worry, continuing to observe the ethereal piece of jewelry. "In that case, we'd better make it a point to block out another day for us to train together soon. We were making major strides with your magic training, but we tapered off in the last two months. We never did get to the point where I was supposed to teach you how to naturally suppress your magic in casual situations, now that I realize it…"

"True…"

"Yeah, and I'm kicking myself for not making it a priority if it's gotten to the point where you need to basically take on a self-imposed handicap. It's worse that we're in such unexplored new territory with this Dual Magic being a thing for you, and it only reminds me MORE of Uncle's warnings about what could happen if we don't get this under control sooner than later."

"It ain't your fault, babe, an' I'd appreciate the assistance, no less," he humbly accepted her offer. "If anybody can show me how t' keep this magic under control, it's you."

"Aw, come on, Tay…" Shae shyly remarked as she finally let go of his arm. "I appreciate you for that, but even I still have some work to do on controlling my magic. We already know from recent experience…"

"Well, I'll teach you as you'll teach me," he confidently assured, affectionately cupping her face with a hand and giving her a nod of utmost faith. "An' we'll both become stronger for it."

"Heh… Count on it, honey," she agreed in equal confidence as she smiled at him and nuzzled her face into his hand. The two separated after the moment passed, at which point Tayshan turned and approached the plane. He realized something important in that moment before he climbed inside, however…

"Uh… I hope y'all won't be mad at me for this, but… uh… As y'all might have seen, this plane only has one seat. I… hope y'all don't mind squeezin' int' the cockpit together," he uncertainly informed his passengers with a scratch of his head as he turned to them once again.

"Hm… That much was obvious as soon as I got a good look at this thing," Shantae acknowledged with a sigh. "It's better than us being stranded here, though…"

"Stranded?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow. "Actually, I'm reminded o' somethin'. Y'all said y'all completed the mission before I got here, did y'all not? Couldn't y'all have just stepped on the Stage Clear platform when it showed up?"

"Yeah, but… it turns out we destroyed the Stage Clear platform when we blew up Nila's battleship. The stupid thing spawned in there instead of out here for some reason…" Rottytops spoke up as she held up her chipped-off piece of it for Tayshan to see, surprising him in the process.

"Yikes… Didn't even know that was possible…" he remarked, chuckling a bit.

"Whelp… We found out the hard way that it apparently is…" Shantae affirmed with a bemused sigh. "HOW it's possible is beyond me."

"Interesting… I still don't get how it all works with those platforms, but… I guess this is a freebie in this case? At least, technically speakin' since I'm here instead o' Sky," Tay surmised, crossing his arms as he continued to wonder.

"Looks that way. I won't question it further at this point, though," Shae dismissed with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm just happy to know you can help us out as an additional mode of transportation in case Sky isn't available."

"I guess, but that's on a limited basis until I can buy my own personal plane. An' even then, it's still gonna be a matter of where I park it…" he pondered as he put his goggles back on and climbed into the cockpit to take his seat. Afterward, he grabbed two additional pairs of goggles and tossed one of them to Shantae.

"You can park it by my lighthouse," the half-genie suggested as she got Airplane Goggles and put them on. "There's plenty of room for you to work with over there," she added as she climbed into the cockpit alongside him… and found out pretty quickly that the only comfortable spot to sit… was directly on her boyfriend's lap. Taking little issue with it, Shantae planted herself right on top of him. "It's a bit of a snug fit in here, but I think we can manage…"

"…Er… y-yeah, I guess…" Tay uncertainly 'agreed,' though he quickly grew hot in the face as he tried to figure out how to get comfortable.

"Alright, Rotty, come aboard!" Shae called to their mutual companion as she took the other pair of goggles and lobbed them over to her, prompting the zombie maiden to wordlessly put the protective eyewear on and climb up into the plane to join them… only to find a similar issue.

"Uh… It's… just a LITTLE cramped in here, is it not?" Rotty expertly pointed out, standing as she tried to figure out a… less 'close and personal' way to get comfy in the not-so-spacious lone plane seat. "Um… S-so, I don't want to be the one to make the suggestion, buuuut…"

"Yeah, I already know…" Shantae acknowledged, scooting over to where she was sitting on Tayshan's right leg, allowing Rottytops enough space to sit on his left.

"…Whoa, wait a second. I-I don't know how well that's gonna-!" Tay tried to protest before the zombie girl plopped herself onto his leg. "Ahh… Aw, maaaaan…"

"Hmm… Sitting like this the entire time is gonna be a major pain in the butt… literally… Let's try… this instead," Rotty murmured as she turned to where she was facing toward him, her legs spread over his left as she hooked a hand around his neck. "There we go! I think this'll work a little bit better," she surmised, planting her knees on the cushioning of the seat as she lowered herself onto the pilot's leg.

"…Ummm…" an increasingly flustered Tayshan tried once again to object, though he would find it VERY difficult to come up with the words necessary to vocalize his… 'discomfort.'

"Ah, that's actually not a bad idea, Rotty! Good thinking," Shantae approved of her best friend's position choice as she moved to mirror it. Shifting to where she was straddling Tayshan's right leg, the half-genie scooted closer as she also pressed her knees into the seat cushions and wrapped an arm around the back of the wraith's neck before lowering herself as well. "Yeah, this should work well enough! What do you think, Tay-Tay?"

"…I reserve my right not t' speak on the matter," the monumentally nervous ghost boy shakily offered his response, practically trembling as he… seemed to run into another 'problem.' Worse yet, this problem was quickly noticed when the zombie maiden flinched in surprise. And upon looking down…

"Uh-oh… Shantae, I think this arrangement might be a little too hot for our boyfriend to handle~!" Rottytops wasted absolutely NO time to point out with a knowing grin and giggle, causing Tayshan no small form of embarrassment as he blushingly glared at her. "Or… maybe a LOT too hot to handle, based on what I see… I know you're 'excited' to see and get this close to us, but you really need to tame that monster, Tay-Tay…~"

"Cut it out, Rottytops…!" the randy wraith oh-so-humbly requested of his zombified friend, though she could hardly hide her amusement as she… blushingly covered her face with a hand and continued to giggle at him. If I didn't know better based on her reactions to him this entire time, then… Ah, I'm probably just seeing things or just reading too deeply into it. Never mind...

"Ah… Should've seen THIS coming, too," Shantae understandingly acknowledged with a mildly flustered sigh.

"No need to be so bashful, stud muffin! It happens. No one's judging," Rotty assured, ostensibly also from a point of understanding.

"I would hope not. I don't want t' wind up makin' either one o' y'all uncomfortable," Tay tried his best to offer his vote of confidence.

"Of course not. We're all friends here, so I think I can speak for all of us when I say you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"Oh. W-well, thanks for that, Rotty."

"Don't mention it, sweetie…" the zombie girl nonchalantly acknowledged his gratitude… before a mischievous grin found itself creeping onto her face as she focused her gaze on the ghost boy. The genie girl, perceptive as she often was, caught on right away. "Besides…"

"Rottytops, don't you da-!" Shantae tried to warn.

"…I'm pretty sure it goes without saying that, based on what I see down there, you really don't need to be ashamed…" Rotty continued to tease, only growing more lascivious with each awkward moment that passed.

"…What exactly does that mean?" Tay warily asked, already getting an EXTREMELY bad feeling about how his comrade was going to follow up.

"Come on, I think you know… but in case I need to say it, I'll put it like this. In a few words, you really put the 'coc—'!'" Rotty tried to utter another one of her LURID innuendos before she was met with a *PLAP* of her best friend's hand over her filthy, FILTHY mouth. Meanwhile, Tayshan deadpanned at his fellow member of the undead as though he expected her to turn what could've been a sweet moment into another inappropriate joke.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! ARE YOU SERIOUS!? WHAT DID WE JUST TALK ABOUT IN THE SHIP!?" the HIGHLY indignant half-genie yelled as she glowered at the other young woman. Rotty responded by giggling up a storm.

"…This girl is just plain unbelievable…" Tay muttered, shaking his head in total dismay as Shae removed her hand from Rotty's face. "It's like the DEFAULT setting for you is 'trippin''," he further complained to Rotty as she continued unabashedly snickering at his expense.

"Yyyeeeaah, that's true. I can't help but to be trippin' when I see such a massive, girthy opportunity underne—er, I mean, in front of me, though. Sorry," the giggly zombie apologized as her blush deepened while she flicked her eyes downward for a split-second, letting out a few more chuckles at the fact that he told her she was trippin' again.

"…" the half-genie loquaciously remarked, her eyes wider than frisbees and her cheeks redder than pomegranates as she soaked in the overwhelming lewdness of this entire conversation. I feel like I'm gonna need a bath after this…

"…You think you're so slick, but I know what you just did there…" Tay remarked toward Rotty, glowering at her with nothing but comical contempt on his face.

"I have no idea what you mean…~" the lustful zombie oh-so-bashfully feigned ignorance as she smilingly batted her gaze away. At that, the wraith merely shook his head and sighed.

"Aaaaanyway, Tay, I get that this is a bit of an… adjustment," Shantae thankfully cut in to move the conversation along. "If nothing else, I guess you'll have to bear with it for as long as you can manage. We'll… try not to shift around too much, but just… I dunno, go to your happy place while we're in the air. You'll only have to endure it for… uh… Actually, how long will it take us to get back home?"

"An hour and a half…!" Tayshan fought through tempestuous waves of… 'excitement' to remind the girls through gritted teeth as he took deep, heavy breaths to calm his nerves.

"Ooohh… Yikes…" the half-genie acknowledged after sucking in air through her teeth for a second. "Um… W-well, the sooner we take off, the sooner we can get home! Heh… S-sorry, that's the best I can do for consolation. I'm… not sure what else we can do for you, hon…"

"Let's… just get out o' here before I wind up passin' out from the lack of oxygen t' my head…"

"…Which 'head,' stud muffin~?" Rotty teased once again, failing to resist the urge to make things worse.

"ROTTYTOPS!" both Shantae and Tayshan shouted in unison, making the mischievous zombie crack up. It was worth note, however, that Shantae was resisting the urge to laugh as she cracked a slight grin that she had to cover with a hand.

"My bad, my bad," Rottytops apologized, calming herself down just enough to settle in as she pressed slightly closer and rested her other hand on his bare chest. "I DO have to say, though, Tay-Tay, that this is KINDA what you get for giving us that spectacular private 'dance show.' If Shantae and I have to be hot and bothered this entire time, then it only makes sense that you have to be, too…"

"What!? H-hey, what do you mean by tha-!?" Shantae was about to vociferously object, beyond flustered by the lascivious suggestion as her face grew hotter than the inside of a volcano.

"I don't exactly see how that counts as 'fair,' Princess," Tayshan griped with a heavy, shaky sigh. "That dance only lasted a minute or two before it was cut short. THIS… is a whole different avenue entirely."

"Hmm… I suppose that's a decent point to make, but I'd dare to say it ain't holdin' up as well as you might want it to. On the bright side, though, this is basically a dream come true!" 'Princess' countered, giggling all the while as she drew circles on his chest with a finger.

"Hmph. It's more like another scandalous 'incident' we're gonna forever be sworn t' secrecy on…" he shot back, not even an ounce less flustered than he was when this soon-to-be-called Airplane Incident began. "As if the sleepover thing wasn't enough…"

"True that…" Shantae agreed, still trying (and failing) to resist chuckling as she also settled in. "Alright, you about ready to start the hardest journey of your life, babe?"

"That's not funny," Tayshan comically complained, pouting at Shantae as though he knew she was implying something… impure. Meanwhile, Rottytops cracked up yet again. She clearly couldn't get enough of this extremely awkward situation. "An' here I was, thinkin' I only had t' deal with dirty jokes from ONE o' y'all."

"Sorry… I hoped that one would've been harder for you to figure out…" the witty genie admitted with a giggle of her own.

"…Oh, my goodness…" Tay griped, sighing as he sulked in continued embarrassment.

"Nice puns, snack cakes," Rotty complimented, enjoying herself quite a bit.

"Thanks, girl. They were pretty hard to conjure up, but y'know…" Shae kept on punning it up to Rotty's amusement… as well as Tay's endless chagrin as he intensified his not-so-intimidating glare at her.

"…Keep that up, Shantae, an' I'LL give you somethin' hard for you…" the disgruntled ghost 'warned,' though it… didn't exactly have its intended effect as the half-genie gasped and blushed.

"OH, MY… TAYSHAN…~" the immensely flustered genie barely found it in herself to remark as she looked her boyfriend right in the eye and pressed a hand to her face… which must've been, like, a thousand degrees in that moment. Reading this, Tayshan's expression quickly switched to one of mild confusion as he looked her up and down. As for the zombie? Well…

"BAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAH!" Rottytops busted a gut, tears of delight seeping from her eyes as she hugged Tayshan. She was absolutely eating up this INCREDIBLY lurid banter.

"What? What did I say that y'all are…? Wait…" Tay was about to ask in confusion, though he had a VERY swift epiphany after a second of thought. Reeling back in surprise and immeasurable disappointment in himself as he realized what he'd just said, he lowered his head and slapped a hand to his face with a most emphatic *PLAP*. "AaauuUUUUGH…!" he groaned like he'd been told to do the most back-breaking, time-consuming, labor-intensive chores imaginable.

"Tweehhehehehaahahahah!" Shantae ALSO began to crack up, patting her boyfriend on the head with one hand while covering her blushing face with the other.

"Oh my gosh, you two are the absolute best! Wow, I really needed this… Whew! This really is the best day ever! Hahahahaah, I love you both so much! Hahahahahaaah!" Rotty professed as she kept on cracking up.

"…Errrgh…" the disgruntled ghost sourly grumbled, his face growing hotter than a burning skillet as he sunk into his seat.

"…S-see, I know that wasn't SUPPOSED to sound hot, but…" Shantae was about to point out, giggling up a storm as she fanned her face with a hand and… curiously shifted herself for comfort.

"Alright, we're goin' now!" Tay declared, having had far more than enough of the girls' rampant teasing as he started up the plane with a powerful, revving *CHAVROOOOOOOOOM*. Immediately afterward, the fresh new pilot pressed and twisted a bunch of buttons and levers before wrapping his arms around the girls' waists to reach the yoke. Doing their best to settle in, the heroines scooted just a bit closer… to the point where uh… w-well, where their busty chests threatened to obstruct their pilot's view, though he seemed hardly bothered… or rather, Tay seemed SO 'bothered' that he had already reached his limit for how much he could react to it before he lost himself in the close-quarters experience. And yet…

"Ooh… Talk about a tight squeeze… Mmmph…!" Shantae complained as she tried to shift herself to a slightly more comfortable position… only to wind up pressing her breasts squarely into Tayshan's face while brushing her leg up against… an unmentionable area of his between his legs. In response, the unfortunate wraith winced and shivered like someone put an ice cube on his back.

"Ghaaahah~! Haaah…" Tayshan… moaned? Oh, boy… Evidently realizing it himself, he plastered a hand over his mouth, his eyes wide open as he stared at the yoke of the plane in total blushing embarrassment.

"Oops! S-sorry, honey… I-I didn't mean to make that happen now of all times…" she tried to apologize, her face redder than tomato sauce and her eyes wider than satellites as she hugged him. Meanwhile, a HIGHLY flustered Rottytops gawked at the two of them, nearly frozen in place as she tried to register what entirely astonishing phenomenon she'd just seen… and heard.

"Grrrgh…! Whooooh…" Tayshan grunted and sighed, having been further compromised by the enticing close encounter as he did his best to reorient himself. As such, he slowly removed his hand from his mouth. His face, incidentally enough, was also redder than tomato sauce. "It's… okay. Just… a circumstantial thing. No harm, no foul, sweetheart…"

"…What was that?" Rottytops dared to question, blushing QUITE furiously herself as she… appeared to let her ideas run wild.

"Don't ask," both the genie and the wraith hurriedly responded in unison, hoping to get the zombie to forget what she'd just witnessed. And though Rotty said nothing in response, the deepening of the blush on her face in conjunction with the widening of the toothy grin she wore as she stared at her friends pretty much confirmed she figured it out anyway. Nevertheless, he strapped everyone in as best as he could with the limited amount of seatbelt they had to share, engaged the plane for liftoff and steered the vehicle on its course. With an even louder *VWWIIIIIIRNG*, Tayshan set the plane in motion as it rolled along the beach. And within a minute, the trio had achieved liftoff, setting the course for a safe… if not risqué trip back home.

Now, you'd think that's where this excursion would end, right? Well… What if I told you that there was… someone ELSE to take into account here? Someone we all know and love (or hate), and who had a VERY nasty habit of showing up right when no one else wanted her to? Why am I asking that, you may inquire? Because one of her Tinkerbats was watching the entire exchange while hidden in a tree in the background. And as soon as this Tinkerbat watched its sworn enemies take off in their fancy purple plane, it hopped out of the tree, put away its binoculars, activated its propeller pack with a *VWIIIIRZH*, and took off to parts not-so-fondly known…

Just a few miles away…

"Ugh… The putrid stench of carbonated beverages is making me sick to my stomach…! And just a mere GLANCE at this eyesore makes me want to blow it all to pieces…!" complained the one, the only, the unabashedly rotten to the core Pirate Captain Risky Boots as she sat within the crow's nest of her heavily patched-up pirate ship and peered ahead at the archipelago ahead. From the seems of it, she had apparently healed up from both of her recent near-death experiences and had thus wasted no time reentering the Spirit Fuser race. "I just wonder what the deal is about this place that the Ammonian Army locked it down… and I ESPECIALLY wonder what secrets it must hold if that meddlesome genie brat took it upon herself to get in their way…" she further pondered, taking note of the dense, billowing smoke clouds and wrecked remains of Ammonian sea vessels littered across the islands. In that moment, however, the Tinkerbat that had gotten a bird's eye view of the situation came hovering into the crow's nest to give a status report.

Upon landing and disengaging its propeller pack, the Tinkerbat quickly took the moment to make a series of gestures to communicate that Risky was going to appreciate what it had to tell her.

"Well, why don't you just spit it out instead of wasting time trying to build up the suspense?" she impatiently asked, scowling at her minion.

Flinching in fright, the batty little henchman did as it was told, giving a bunch of charades-like gestures that included dancing like a genie, the number two, and the raising of a roof… or something? I-I wasn't too sure. Forgive me. Either way…

"Is that so? The location of a Spirit Fuser piece will appear here in two weeks to the day, and Shantae and company plan on paying the place a visit to try and collect it… Heh. Figured as much. There was no way that miserable wench would've stayed clueless about this thing forever. In that case, we'd better intercept them and swipe it right from under their snotty little noses…!" Risky conspired with a sinister grin, though she paused after remembering a detail. Curious, she turned her attention back to the Tinkerbat. "Hang on… Did… Did you say something about there being ANOTHER half-genie searching for the Spirit Fuser fragments as well?"

The Tinkerbat nodded in confirmation, after which it gestured the number two again and flailed its arms around to communicate another message.

"I see… How VERY peculiar…" the Pirate Queen murmured as she momentarily shifted her gaze elsewhere and rubbed her chin with a hand. "Hmm… And… you're sure you heard that this other half-genie has already laid claim to TWO Spirit Fuser fragments?"

Once more, the Tinkerbat nodded.

"Ah… Okay, then. I would hope it isn't one of those other insufferable little pests I lured to Paradise Island. Did they happen to mention this genie's name?" Risky pressed just a bit more.

The Tinkerbat nodded once more, this time drawing out a series of letters in the air to divulge the requested info.

"…Hashanah? That's a new one…" Risky remarked in mild surprise as she raised an eyebrow. "I don't seem to recall ANY of those other genies having that name. Hm. She must've slipped through the cracks, then. And… you said that this 'Hashanah' was likely going to appear for this Spirit Fuser piece, too?"

The Tinkerbat nodded yet again before making a few additional gestures that ended with it linking two of its fingers together.

"…And she's in cahoots with the Ammonian Army somehow? Odd… Why would a half-genie other than Shantae ally herself with those hapless, raccoon-worshiping buffoons? What could possibly be this genie's end goal that she's so eagerly collecting the fragments of this Relic herself, on top of making Ammonian soldiers stake this place out on her behalf? My, oh my, things are starting to get REALLY interesting now…" Risky Boots acknowledged, chuckling to herself as she rose to her feet, leaned forward and rested her arms on the rim of the crow's nest, and peered into the smoke-blotted sunset with a most… unsettling sense of evil excitement in her eyes. "I would've preferred this to be simpler, but it is what it is… If we have to dirty our hands exterminating a different filthy little magic-dependent halfling on our way to total conquest, then so be it," she further acknowledged with a sigh as she reached her right arm forward and flexed her fingers.

The Tinkerbat, seeming concerned, nervously approached its leader and tapped on its right arm to ask her how she was feeling.

"The arm's back to normal, thankfully," Risky affirmed, though she didn't turn to the Tinkerbat when she made her assertion. How she knew what it said without needing to look at it, of course, is BEYOND my comprehension… "I'm just about in tip-top shape to ANNIHILATE those irksome scalawags if they try me again…!" she additionally vowed revenge with a flair of anger as she clenched a fist tightly enough that she could've bent steel in her grasp. "They've got it coming to them for sure…! Anyway, is there anything else you have to report?"

At the question, the Tinkerbat took a moment to think as it scratched its head with a finger and peered around toward nothing in particular. After a few seconds, however, the Tinkerbat perked up as it pointed a finger up at the sky for a second.

"Hm? What is it?" Risky curiously asked as she craned her head to cast her gaze upon her minion. And… what she saw honestly astounded her.

The Tinkerbat made a most eccentric series of gestures that included drawing a ring over its head, forming the letter 'T' with its fingers, and then… a-and then pressing its hands to the back of its head while gyrating its hips like it was imitating one of Shantae's iconic belly dances. And despite her initial shock and confusion at her lackey's odd mannerisms, Risky quickly found the humor in it as she… chuckled? As in, she didn't diabolically cackle like she normally would. She… she LEGIT CHUCKLED! Oh, boy… somehow, that's even SCARIER… N-nevertheless…

"Oh-ho, my… So, that foolish dog has truly immersed himself in his role as that little minx's concubine now, has he? That must've been one truly EMBARRASSING show to witness, I'm sure," she casually acknowledged. "I'm definitely going to use THAT information to my advantage, however much it irritates me to know that they're still getting along without an issue… Guess I'd better step up my game on destabilizing their relationship…" Ah, there it is… The sweet, delectable taste of blackmail ammunition… Yum… "Alright, we've got a mission to prepare for. Go on down to the deck and let the others know what's on the agenda. We'll need to make some adjustments, and we'll need to make them soon."

The Tinkerbat stood tall and saluted its captain with utmost pride before climbing down from the crow's nest to give Risky Boots her alone time. Risky herself said nothing else as she let the smile disappear from her face and continued to stare into the sunset as though she'd lost herself in thought. The ambience of the ocean's crashing tides, the creaking of the pirate ship, and the squawking of gulls in the distance filled the air as Risky and her crew prepared themselves for yet another potential plunder…

And just like that, folks, we've gotten to the point of wrapping up the latest chaotic quest for this enigmatic Spirit Fuser. Oh, MAN did it look like worlds were set to collide on this one, though. Hashanah and Nila getting an early jump on the location of the fourth piece, Shantae and the S.L.A.P.S. squad intercepting and thwarting the Ammonian Army's attempted annexation of the peninsula said to house the Crackling Crystal Castle with plans to return there to visit the place proper… and Risky Boots preparing to catch EVERYONE off-guard as soon as the opportunity arose… I feel like things are going to get SO much more hectic and catastrophic before we draw the conclusion of who would ultimately win the three-sided Battle for the Spirit Fuser… But, as I always say, stick around and keep your eyes and ears open, folks! You wouldn't wanna miss a beat. See ya later!