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!

21. Fighting Spirit

Chapter 8B: Fighting Spirit

Salutations! We're back at it again, ready like spaghetti to push on through another exciting adventure! …Eh, don't mind me. I'm just energetic… and a bit nervous as usual. Er, anyway, we last left off with the dominant dude duo Tayshan and Bolo embarking on something of a Sultana-approved bounty hunt in the distant Burning Zipper Volcanic Field. In case you don't remember, they were hunting for a particular Leopard Gal whose identity remained a mystery with the intent to stop her from potentially destroying Sequin Land's ecosystem by any means necessary. The boys had their work cut out for them, however, as danger lunged out at them from every zigzagging turn. Despite the numerous sizzling setbacks, however, they persevered and kept their hunt going strong. We're gonna see how the remainder of that hunt played out, of course, but… we have something of an interesting development emerging elsewhere. Rather than blab it out here, why don't we just… pop on in and take a gander?

At Mimic's Workshop…

"And you're sure you didn't come up with any concerning results with your experiments on Tay, Uncle?" asked a worried Shantae as she walked toward the front door of her surrogate father's laboratory. Rather than her regular dancer attire, however, the heroic half-genie was dressed in a much more casual ensemble of a white midriff-baring t-shirt with a stylish logo on it that read 'Wayforward' across her chest, bright blue form-fitting jean shorts, a pair of golden bangles on her wrists in place of her vambraces, her gold earrings, and a pair of low top red-and-white sneakers with transparent black tights that reached up to her thighs. She was also wearing a bright red baseball cap with her braided ponytail pulled through the back of It, whose panel had 'Shantae' stylishly stitched across it in gold.

"Uh… N-not yet, sweetie pie. I've still got a bit more research to do, though I will let you know if I come up with anything more conclusive," Mimic did his best to assure as he stood by his messy worktable and waved at her. He seemed… a tad nervous about the way he answered her, though I wasn't sure… "You go on ahead and enjoy your trip to Cape Crustacean with Sky now!"

"Will do, though I hope you come up with an answer soon," Shantae vocalized her continued concern. "Have you at least looked into that Astral Enhancement Tonic in case we need it?"

"I'm afraid not. I planned on figuring that out as soon as my research on the lad's condition was complete. That aside, cupcake, are you doing alright? It isn't like you to be so inquisitive…"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just… a little nervous is all, to be honest…"

"I understand that, but I… can't help but get a feeling it runs a bit deeper that you're letting on…"

"What? No, I'm fine, Uncle. I promise. If anything was really bothering me, I'd have told you by now."

"I suppose you would, though I have my suspicions that you still hold some things closer to your chest than others."

"What do you mean?" Shantae asked with a raised eyebrow, tensing up as she seemed to grow uncomfortable with her legal guardian's prying into her emotional wellbeing.

"…Nothing," Mimic dismissed after a moment of uneasy silence between the two of them passed. "Anyway, have you at least been getting enough rest and eating well over the last couple of weeks?"

"More or less… I'm still dealing with the nightmares, though…" the half-genie admitted with a tone of slight deflation.

"Ohh, Shantae… That is exactly what I mean. And I really do belie-!" the retired Relic Hunter was about to chide.

"I know, I know, it's something I should probably be talking to a professional counselor about, but it isn't that big a deal," Shantae tried to assure, though she couldn't sound more uncertain if she tried. "I can handle it."

"It isn't a matter of if you can handle it, girlie; it's a matter of how well you've been handling it," Mimic advised. "The fact that you're still being plagued with nightmares about that fateful day and tearing yourself to ribbons on the inside because of your misplaced guilt speaks volumes about how much you'd benefit from getting help. Your mental health is just as important as your duties as Guardian Genie."

"I get that, but what kind of Guardian Genie needs to sign up for therapy? That would make me look like I'm completely incapable of taking on the responsibilities of a hero like I'm supposed to. My image would be tarnished!" At that, the elderly researcher scoffed in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me? Shantae, listen to me. No one in their right mind is going to think you're weak for seeking counseling services. And even if anyone did, why would you care? Your friends and I would be on board, and the opinions of other people outside of our little family shouldn't have any sway over your interest in taking care of yourself. Your reputation is NOT that important. At least, not more important than your mental health. And as much as you trust Tayshan to be your guiding light in regard to keeping yourself in check, and as much as I appreciate the communication dynamic you two have with each other, he is unfortunately no substitute for a clinically trained therapist. Heck, the boy still has his own trauma to process, considering the terrible things Risky Boots did to him… I've seen it for myself how badly he starts trembling at the mention of-!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH, Uncle! I already said I'm NOT going to a counselor when I DON'T need one," Shantae remarked in a sudden rush of defensive anger that caught Mimic by total surprise. "Tay and I are fine relying on each other for support, and I'm especially okay to handle my issues without it interfering with the rest of my life. So is he. You don't need to worry so much."

"…Shantae…" Mimic called to her, growing even more worried in the wake of her explosive outburst.

"I know you're just looking out for us, but I swear I'm alright. I know I've still got a ways to go, and… maybe Tayshan does, too, but we'll get better. He's already moving forward without much of an issue. I've just gotta make sure I'm doing what I can to put the incident behind me as well…" she made her point with a sigh as she reached the door and opened it. Before leaving, however… "And… I'm sorry for losing my cool, Uncle. I'll make it up to you…"

"Hm? Oh, no need to wrack your brain over something so trivial. We may not always agree on everything these days, but that has never changed the fact that I love you like the wonderful daughter you've always been."

"R-right… Thanks for that, Pops," Shantae remarked with a disarming chuckle and wink, causing Mimic to crack a grin of his own. "I love you, too."

"Indeed. Alrighty, don't keep Sky waiting. You girls go and have your fun."

"Will do. See ya later!" Shantae bade with a smiling wave before exiting the workshop and shutting the door behind her, leaving her legal guardian to his devices. Only, he would not immediately return to them. Instead, he waited a minute or two before slowly and… rather hesitantly turning his attention to the vast assortment of notes on his table. And after silently reading through them as though he were studying for a test, he sighed out a heavy rush of concern…

"…What am I supposed to tell them? When am I supposed to tell them…? And how do I tell them without causing a panic…?" the scientist lamented, his face contorting into one of utmost worry as he stared holes into his notes. I… wasn't entirely sure of what he meant, but it sounded like he didn't exactly have good news to share. "I had predicted things would play out this way, but I had also hoped they wouldn't…! Confound it…!" he further grumbled, evidently a tad frustrated as he compiled his notes and stacked them neatly on top of one another before walking over to a nearby drawer at the corner of the room. He wasted little time opening the top drawer box to retrieve a certain corked vial of glittering turquoise-colored liquid. "Hm… I suppose there's no time like now to begin figuring out how to make more of this serum… if at all possible. The window of opportunity is closing… and it's closing fast…!" Mimic further urged himself as he turned around to go back to his worktable… when he was met with a most frightening sight. "GWAAAHAHAWWRGH!" he hollered in terror, nearly dropping the Astral Enhancement Tonic as his spectacles took in the sight of another individual standing there, staring at him. "Who in the blue blazes are YOU!? How did you get in here!?"

"Good afternoon," greeted the unknown 'visitor' with a soft feminine voice, though their appearance threw me ALL THE WAY off. So, get this… The 'visitor' in question was this rather thin, yet abundantly curvaceous woman with a skin tone and height not too dissimilar to everyone's favorite half-genie. Eh, maybe a bit taller. And more curvaceous. Instead of belly dance attire, however, this mysterious intruder wore a sleeveless, form-fitting royal blue sari with a mesmerizing gold paisley pattern on its edges that bared her midsection with a matching pallu draped over her shoulders, and a multitude of gold bracelets on her wrists and upper arms. The most telling feature about this unwelcome guest, however, was…

"Y-yes, good afternoon to you too, my… jackal-masked acquaintance," Mimic greeted back, however uncertainly as he stood in place, warily eyeing the woman up and down. As he pointed out, this woman was wearing this utterly FRIGHTENING black mask that covered her entire head. And as he also pointed out, the mask was shaped like a jackal's head… with glowing golden spheres for eyes. "How did you get in here without me knowing? What do you-?"

"Such questions are irrelevant, Mimic," the woman interrupted him, though the mouth of the mask… IT MOVED IN TANDEM WITH WHAT THE WOMAN JUST SAID! Okay, color me freaked out to the highest degree…

"What…? You… You know me?" the professor asked in understandable astonishment as he reeled back.

"I do, though I haven't much time to explain," the mystery guest cryptically answered, though the Relic Hunter took an additional moment to observe her before saying anything else. Noticing this, the intruder tilted her head. "What are you staring at?" she apprehensively asked.

"…Wait… I remember now… You must be that strange woman my niece and my nephew-in-law encountered during their last series of adventures," Mimic pointed out once more, dropping his guard a bit as he kept his gaze locked on the visitor.

"…I am," the woman confirmed, though she seemed reluctant to do so.

"I see…!" the scientist remarked in total shock. And yet… "I never thought I'd get a chance to meet you face-to-face… and yet… you seem so familiar to me in other ways, as though we've met before… Your voice reminds me of a certain someone I haven't seen in a long time…"

"Any comparison you draw between me and the person you're thinking of is irrelevant. I must act quickly. That potion you have in your hand…" she dismissed and changed the subject with a point of her finger to the vial in question.

"…What about it?" the retired Relic Hunter queried as he momentarily flicked his gaze to the serum in his hands.

"Simply put, I need it."

"Ah… well, you may be disappointed to know that I also need it," Mimic politely refused, tightening his grip on the potion. "You see, I have a… conundrum of sorts to figure out regarding the 'ghost' status of-!"

"That is exactly why I need it," the jackal lady cut him off again to inform. "I must take that serum with me for my own research, and anything you do with it would cause it to lose its effect."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because there have only been three vials of Astral Enhancement Tonic ever made in Sequin Land's entire history," the jackal woman explained. "And of the three, the first was used for its intended purposes, the second was rendered useless because some ill-informed individual carelessly tried to figure out how to replicate its delicate formula… and the last was entrusted to the demigod that would eventually become the guardian of the Cyclic Season Island."

"No fooling? THIS is the LAST one…?" Mimic queried, his mind almost entirely blown by the stunning revelation.

"Yes. And the fact that it is now in your possession means that Atem the Capricious Titan has been slain," the mystery lady coolly presumed.

"As far as I was informed, he was. It didn't have anything to do with this potion, however. He was killed for a fragment of the fabled Spirit Fuser, and his killer absconded with it after the fact."

"I am painfully aware of the threat of the Spirit Fuser and the genie traitor who seeks to round up its fragments for her own selfish purposes. I had hoped that its existence would be kept secret, but I have also foreseen this sequence of events potentially happening in one way or another…" the jackal-masked woman revealed again. Yet, rather than be shocked by this lady's uncanny wealth of knowledge this time around…

"Ah, right, you have the ability of clairvoyance. I remember being told about that," Mimic recalled with a nod, accepting the otherwise outlandish information as fact. I mean, I guess all we CAN do is roll with it, but no one said I had to pretend I understood any of it. Anyway…

"I would bet you have, though it's a bit more complicated than you might believe it to be," the jackal lady explained.

"Oh? How so?"

"In a few words, I can only see glimpses of possible futures, not THE future. That said, I will at least inform you that the Spirit Fuser is NOT to be trifled with should Shantae and her allies gather all five pieces. Their chances of achieving such a feat, by the way, are three in six hundred."

"Three in SIX HUNDRED!?" Mimic bellowed in continued shock at the apparent VERY low chances of our heroes' success in their mission.

"Yes, and even then, their chances of collecting them in time to have Tayshan restore his life are one in two…" she additionally informed him. At that, he perked up.

"Oh, well that's a reli-!"

"…hundred thousand," the clairvoyant intruder finished her statement, snatching the wind right out of Mimic's sails before they even had a chance to blow.

"Aaaaand just like that, you've rightly dashed my hopes…"

"My apologies. Mind you, those odds are measured in comparison to the two hundred forty-eight out of six hundred outcomes in which that renegade half-genie collects them and plunges the world into chaos in a power-hungry rampage that no one would be spared from… and the other two hundred in which Tayshan exhausts his time limit and winds up disappearing earlier than initially predicted… which yields DIRE consequences for Shantae in particular…"

"Ohh…! Just as I had suspected… and what would happen to Shantae if Tayshan disappeared early?" Mimic hesitantly asked, grasping the severity of the situation at hand.

"It is with utmost certainty and no room for variance that it would break her heart and her spirit… I-it would break her entirely…" the jackal woman somberly informed, her voice cracking as she shared her premonition. "She either loses her will to be a hero and relinquishes her status as Guardian Genie forever… or she becomes so overwhelmed with grief and self-hatred that she embarks on a similar path to darkness that the other half-genie has taken. She would, in a few words, let her passions burn her past a point of no return, which I CANNOT allow to happen under any circumstance…! I additionally CANNOT let Tayshan vanish from this world… Shantae's fate aside, I… I owe it to him after all he's done for her… after all he's sacrificed for her and for Sequin Land… at my request…" she further explained, the waver in her voice clearly communicating a sense of deep remorse. I wonder why…?

"Hm… I would certainly not want such a scenario to happen either… and all things considered about the emotional burdens the two of them are already shouldering, I can see how those possibilities could come to fruition…"

"I… I know… And Shantae is in so much pain that I cannot bear to ignore or hope simply washes away… I wish I were able to speak to her myself, but…"

"…It is still not yet time?" Mimic queried, seeming to pick up on something.

"Unfortunately not…" the jackal woman worriedly confirmed. She seemed so worried, in fact, that it almost sounded like she was holding back tears… "This is ultimately her journey to embark on, and the best I can do from this position is occasionally help steer her in the right direction from the shadows…"

"Well, if anything, we've faced unfavorable odds before and somehow pulled through okay. We will do our best to make sure this is no different. Yet, just out of curiosity… What did you see in the remaining one hundred fifty-one futures?"

"…Do you REALLY want me to tell you?" the fortuneteller hesitantly asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"The fact that you even have to ask that is quite ominous, but… yes…" Mimic confirmed, gulping as he braced himself for what he was about to hear.

"You asked for it," she warned. And with a deep sigh, she let him have it. "In the remaining one hundred fifty-one possible futures, Risky Boots assembles the Spirit Fuser. And in half of those, she absorbs Tayshan into it and uses his power in tandem with her own to overwhelm and destroy Shantae and her remaining allies. She also enslaves the other half-genie and conquers Sequin Land…"

"Oh, goodness…!" Mimic remarked with a gasp as he adjusted his goggles. "And the other half…?"

"In all but one scenario, Risky Boots absorbs or otherwise injures Tayshan badly enough that he vanishes early, causing Shantae to become corrupted into her evil form through her grief over losing him a second time, as mentioned before. Shantae murders Risky Boots in revenge, but then she loses control and destroys Sequin Land in its entirety… including you and her other friends…"

"Good groveling gophers! With THOSE sorts of potential outcomes, we're nearly in a no-win scenario! Is our future truly so bleak!?" Mimic asked in understandable concern, aghast at the grim nature of the predictions he was handed.

"Unfortunately, yes if we do not act now. This situation is a perfect recipe for disaster in many different ways. That is why I must request that you hand me the Astral Enhancement Tonic. If we move fast enough, we can potentially improve the odds of success."

"Well… with everything you're explaining, I'd be crazy not to hand it over to you," Mimic acknowledged as he approached the woman and conferred the Astral Enhancement Tonic to her. "You're sure you can do something with it that'll ultimately help us along, though?"

"Indeed, though we've only got but so much time for me to make this work… and even then, I can't make any guarantees because of how delicate this concoction is. As for the Spirit Fuser, I would have preferred that Shantae and company did not even bother with it, but it was only through the hunt for it that the location of the final vial of Astral Enhancement Tonic could be revealed. And thank the stars that, of the seventy-five different possible futures I saw, the ONE where the tonic wasn't lost, destroyed, or rendered inert would have it instead be safely brought to you."

"Hm. Wow, such incredibly low chances… which, ironically enough, fills me with hope because of this fortunate encounter."

"I must agree, though we would still do best to keep pushing forward regardless of the odds. On that note, I must take my leave…" the jackal lady shared as she began to rhythmically rock her hips from side to side with her arms stretch outward, at which point her body became encased in a glittering golden aura. "Oh, and if there is one more thing I must mention?"

"Go for it."

"You did not see me here. At all. Neither Shantae nor Tayshan must know I visited this realm at this time. I trust you understand."

"More than you might give me credit for, believe me," Mimic remarked with a small chuckle. "Just… take care of yourself, alright? It's been a long time since I last saw you, and Shantae's grown quite powerful over the years. She's absolutely beautiful, too. You'd be proud to see her, and she really wants to meet you."

"…And what reason would she have to do something like that?" the jackal lady nonchalantly asked after a notable pause despite her continuing to dance.

"I think you know the reason. And her curiosity has only grown since she got ahold of a certain scrapbook following our most recent vacation. The longer you make her wait, the antsier she gets about it."

"This is entirely irrelevant to me. She and I have no feasible connection as you imply," the jackal woman sternly denied, brushing off any notion that she had any reason to directly contact the Half-Genie Hero.

"Oh, I'm very sure, which DEFINITELY explains why you're here, trying so hard to help her and her boyfriend…" Mimic sarcastically shot back, grinning with delight as he got a read on the woman standing before him.

"…Shut up," the 'guest' tersely and VERY wordily retorted, not at all willing to give the elderly man an inch.

"Ah, I struck a chord there. My apologies," Mimic laughingly offered his repentance. "I must ask, though… You don't want to be gone so long that you'd potentially wind up missing her wedding, now would you? Because should this all play out the way it needs to, there's a pretty high chance you'll see her with a ring around her finger in the near future… Of course, you're the psychic. Tell me how many possible futures you've seen with THAT outcome…" he further teased, causing his guest to stop her dance dead in its tracks as she stared at him.

"…I-I have NO idea what you're talking about. Have you finally gone senile?" the nameless woman rather impertinently shot back after a moment of stunned silence, sounding VERY uncertain in her response as she hurriedly continued on with her magic dance. "Quit confusing me with some other random woman whose identity I don't know, you old coot." At that rude remark, Mimic burst into a fit of hearty laughter, presumably not taking offense in the slightest. "And for the record, I have certainly NOT peeked into any irrelevant futures you're implying. Because they're irrelevant. Also, my abilities do not work like that."

"I'll take your word for it for sure, dear."

"You'd better. Anyway, I will return as soon as I do what I need to do with this serum. I can't promise that will be any time soon, but I will work as quickly as I can. At the very least, make sure Tayshan keeps his magic use in check in the meantime. I fear that his Dual Magic grows stronger by the day with no discernable end point in sight. His ability to control both Light and Dark Magic simultaneously remains a total mystery with no prior research available, and those vambraces you gave him may not be enough to truly contain it. As far as you're concerned, we're all treading entirely new ground with him…"

"Ah… Indeed. I will let him know. Additionally, I relish the challenge of blazing a new trail with my research on the lad," Mimic promised as he puffed out his chest and confidently nodded.

"Good. Like I said, though, don't tell either of them I was here. Seriously."

"Don't worry, lass, I still know how to keep a secret… That aside, I really do hope you know what you're doing with that tonic. As it stands, we're counting on you in case this Spirit Fuser debacle doesn't clear up the way we need it to…"

"I am aware, and I promise you that I will work tirelessly and diligently to provide my assistance. I won't allow her to suffer any further. And… I… I won't fail him again… That aside, it was… good to see you again, professor…" the jackal lady swore and bade her farewell before striking a pose and vanishing with a *POOF*, leaving Mimic alone one more time. Breathing out the heaviest of sighs, the retired Relic Hunter returned to his workstation and once again began sifting through his notes.

"Hm… You and she are just alike, Shantae… How I long for a day during my lifetime where you two may finally get properly acquainted with one another…" he murmured, drawing some sort of arbitrary comparison as he vocalized his thoughts. "That said, I only hope that mysterious woman makes good on whatever it is she plans to do with that Astral Enhancement Tonic… because at THIS rate, we may run out of time before any of us knows it if we aren't careful…" he further lamented, studying a particular page of his notes with a furrowed brow. "Here's to hoping that lad is appropriately restraining himself while he's on that quest of his, though it won't make the news I have to break to him any easier to relay upon his return…" And with that, Mimic buckled down and… almost got back to work before…

"Oh! Dagnabbit, I forgot to ask her what the outcome of that one scenario was…!" the disgruntled researcher complained with a snap of his fingers. "Hm… It could be just about anything, considering how grim most of her other predictions were… Here's to hoping that whatever it is, it's favorable for us…" he further soliloquized with another sigh before truly getting himself back into gear to continue his research…

On the Burning Zipper Volcanic Field…

Jumping back into the swing of things, we rejoin Tayshan and Bolo as the boys continued their arduous trek through the extremely hot and hazardous, rainbow lava-flooded Burning Zipper Volcanic Field. Since we left off, our indomitable pair of adolescent warriors had made a most… uncomfortable emergency landing on the other side of the island after braving an utterly insane lava-based obstacle course. And let me tell you, this 'obstacle course' would've killed ten thousand regular folks within twenty steps across a crumbling stone bridge suspended over a massive river of magma. As if I even NEED to mention the supernatural rock monsters and giant lava-spitting ants… Anyway, the boys had dusted their adventure-damaged outfits off and pressed on with hardly an issue as they scanned the immediate area with their eyes. And as the two young men absorbed the view…

"Hm… The farther we go along, the more dead animals we find… an' the stronger the stench o' decomposition becomes…" Tayshan remarked, his guard all the way up as he and Bolo kept themselves on high alert. As he mentioned, the travelers trudged their way across a massive field of miniature volcanoes that bubbled, sizzled, and boiled past their brims with thick, goopy rainbow-hued liquid… a view accentuated by the abundance of colorful plant life and ponds full of ocean water surrounding the area… and jarred into the realm of the ominous by the limp, lifeless, viciously desecrated husks of flamingoes, giant iguanas, giant lava crickets, rabbits, sharks and other beached marine life, vampire finches… and even of the occasional Giga Ursid and Magma Ant… Heck, there were even a couple of deceased Nagas and torn-up flowers abound.

"No kidding… This Leopard Gal DOES NOT discriminate when it comes to her diet, that's for sure…" Bolo remarked in an understandable sense of fright as he and Tayshan continued to traverse the dangerous landscape. "You think she knows we're here?"

"If she does, then that would mean we'd really need t' keep our guard up," the golden-armored wraith remarked as he kept his eyes peeled behind the visor of his helmet. The two young men were largely silent and deliberate in their movements as their collective anxiety washed over them like a waterfall of mental torment. The tension would only exponentially increase when they happened upon a pile of skeletal remains dressed in tattered clothing. "…Shoot… I hope that ain't what I think it is…" Tayshan murmured as he approached the unsettling sight.

"W-wh-wha-what the heck are these…?" Bolo did his best to keep his cool as they stopped in their tracks to visually examine the remains. It… wouldn't take long before Tayshan spoke up.

"…These are bones. HUMAN bones…!" Tay affirmed to Bolo's shock and horror. The golden-garbed ghost knelt for a moment and picked something up from the pile of scratched up, crumbling, ash-covered bones that used to be a person. And once he got a closer look at what he picked up… "I.D. Tags belongin' to a huntress named Raji. Well, that confirms it. We just found our first human casualty…" he somberly informed.

"Oh… A-are you sure?" the frightfully curious young man asked his partner.

"Yeah. The tattered uniform an' the I.D. Tags tell the story. This is… or, was the body of a huntress who was sent here before us. With the condition this body is in, it looks like the Leopard Gal mauled her an' licked her bones clean wherever she could. There ain't a skull here, though… I can only guess that means the Leopard Gal collected it as a trophy…" Tay revealed as he stashed the I.D. Tags into his pocket and rose to a stand. Bolo nearly panicked on the spot as he processed what was just shared with him. The younger adventurer managed to reel himself in with a few tense, deep breaths as he did his best to avoid overthinking about the VERY dangerous predicament they were in. "Come on. We won't do ourselves any favors just sittin' here."

"R-right…" Bolo agreed, at which point the boys slowly traversed the hostile landscape. Within a few steps, however…

"More piles o' human remains…!" Tayshan warned, spotting a slew of similarly disturbing sights all around. He noticed the bodies of more deceased hunters mixed in with the numerous decomposing bodies of deceased animals as he and Bolo looked around. "Presumin' every human that made it this far was killed by her, this Leopard Gal was completely merciless…! Those bodies are mangled beyond recognition…! An' not a single one o' them has their head…!"

"…Ohh…" was all Bolo could think to say as he grew even tenser with the longer they marched through this macabre, soot-bathed graveyard. It… was safe to say that hearing about the condition of the previous bounty hunters did him (as well as myself) roughly ZERO favors in making this situation less absolutely terrifying. Yet, they carefully trudged on. And while they did so…

"…It looks like some of the bodies have been charred an' at least partially disintegrated by the lava, too. We won't be able t' collect all their I.D. Tags like this, provided all these bodies even HAVE 'em…" And at that point, Bolo had heard enough. With a sigh of immeasurable discomfort, the headbanded hunter turned to his partner as they walked along.

"…Tayshan?" he called to his teammate.

"What's up?"

"…Um… Do you think this was… maybe a little TOO dangerous a mission for us to take by ourselves?" Bolo asked as quietly as he could, his burgeoning fears about their quest beginning to get to him.

"No. It's because the mission was too dangerous for anyone else who came before us, that they sent us," Tay confirmed as confidently as he could, though he was experiencing his own brand of anxiety in the form of his hands trembling. Doing his best to remain calm, he clenched his fists and took a deep breath to ease his nerves.

"How… very reassuring that WE'RE the cavalry here…" Bolo sarcastically remarked, though neither young man laughed. They were both VERY much focused on figuring out how they'd get through this harrowing ordeal in one piece. Before anything else could be said between them on the topic, however, the sound of rustling foliage in the distance cut the conversation short.

"Hmm…" Tayshan hummed in as low a tone as he could muster as he grew warier of their surroundings. Carefully, he scanned the immediate area while making no sudden moves.

"Something up, bro? You-!" Bolo was about to ask before Tay held up a hand without looking at him to silence him. "…You see her…?" the younger man whispered, tensing up quite a bit as he clutched his Morning Star tighter in his hands.

"I ain't sure, but I see somethin' shiftin' around in the flowerbeds… Keep your eyes on your twelve an' stay calm… We need t' keep movin'…" he warned, keeping his gaze on the shrubbery a fair distance away as it shifted and rustled despite there being no wind wafting through the area. He nonverbally gestured his hand toward Bolo to instruct him to stay close by. Nodding in return, Bolo followed the command and inched closer to his teammate as he TIGHTLY contained his overwhelming anxiety. Just then, the rustling grew louder as its well-hidden source drew closer.

"Whoa…! Dude, I think I see her stalking us…!" the increasingly nervous young adventurer pointed out through a harsh whisper, prompting Tay to glance at him before returning his focus to the potential adversary.

"Bolo, chill out. You're attractin' her attention with all that sweatin' an' shakin'. These things can smell the chemical changes you emit when you start gettin' nervous or scared, an' she's gonna pounce if you don't get it together."

"Wha? N-no, I'm not scared… I swear. I'm just… a little hot. I uh… I-I think this heat from all these volcanoes is finally getting to me…"

"Hm. Well either way, be ready… She's approachin'…" he warned again, slowing his pace down as he kept a keen eye on their potential predator. Bolo, trying his best to keep his composure, clammed up and took some hurried deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart… which one could hear from ten kilometers away because of how deathly silent the atmosphere was aside from the boiling magma from the multitude of mini volcanoes surrounding them. And as the ghostly bounty hunter made his very deliberate movements, he noticed another shift in the flowerbeds that indicated their target was moving behind them. Bolo went to turn around as he noticed the shift before… "Hey…! Keep your eyes ahead…! DO NOT make eye contact until she moves to attack…" Tayshan urged him.

"R-right… but why…?"

"She thinks she has the element o' surprise, an' we're gonna use that t' our advantage. We just need t' coordinate… An' YOU need t' bring your heart rate down."

"I'm trying, but it isn't like I have full control over it… How exactly are YOU staying so calm in this scenario?"

"Calm? Bro, I'm just as anxious as you are," Tay admitted to Bolo's surprise. "What we're doin' is extremely dangerous, but we can't let our nerves get the best of us. Oh, an' here's a pro tip: Control your breathin' if you want t' keep your heart from poundin' out o' your chest."

"That's what I've been doing, dude, and it isn't working."

"Because you're breathin' like you're about t' have a heart attack out here…"

"And how exactly do I breathe like I'm NOT about to have a heart attack in this situation…?" Bolo grumpily remarked.

"By breathin' slower, deeper, an' with your diaphragm instead o' your upper chest. I'd demonstrate if I-!"

"GROWWOWOWOWWWWLLL!" the stalking predator roared loud enough to pierce the heavens as they emerged from the foliage and began sprinting toward them on all fours with the speed of a semitruck, startling both boys out of their wits. Or at least, Bolo was startled. Tayshan? Well…

"Right on cue…!" he murmured as he whirled around and entered a battle stance, charging two extended fingers on one hand with a subtle *Crachock* of purple lightning, turning his digits into a makeshift shock baton. "Bolo, get behind me! An' get some o' those Pike Balls ready in case this doesn't work!"

"Agh, ah, o-okay!" the frantic headbanded man obliged as he hurriedly scrambled behind his partner and began rummaging through his pockets before he looked ahead and caught a glimpse of the predator advancing on them. And at that point… Bolo froze, paralyzed with fear…

"WRAAAARRGH!" the stalker, revealed to be just the gigantic, black-haired, voracious (not to mention voluptuous) Leopard Gal the boys were looking for, hollered out as she lunged and bared her claws to rip her prey to shreds.

"About time the cat came scramblin' out o' the bag! TYAAAH!" Tayshan remarked as he narrowly dodged the *SCHRIING* of a claw swipe aimed squarely at his face and countered by trying to jab the monster girl with his electricity-charged fingers.

"RYAAOW!" the Leopard Gal growled again, swatting the wraith's hand out of the way with a *THWAP* of her tail before she turned and lunged at him again with another claw swipe.

"Shoot, she's FAST…! HRAAH!" Tay observed as he blocked the incoming strike with his Inhibitor Vambrace. The resounding *SKRATRING* sent sparks flying out of the metallic accessory as the Leopard Gal managed to leave claw marks in it. The force of her attack also forced Tayshan to stumble back to the point of nearly stepping on the carcass of a victimized flamingo. The Leopard Gal's assault would continue, however, as she slashed and sliced away at him, forcing him to go on a HIGHLY pressured defensive of blocking or dodging her many RAPID claw swipes with *SCHRING* after *SCHWISH* after instinct-driven *SKARTWIIIING*. It took little more than 1.3527 seconds before this malevolent creature found herself chasing her opponent all over the volcanic field.

"ROAAWWOAWOWOWWL!" the Leopard Gal roared in increased determination to gain her next meal as she doggedly pursued and slashed away at her prey. As the wraith and the chimera engaged in this disastrous dance of death, they found themselves hopping over many of the numerous volcanic pits as Tayshan tried to use the soot as a diversion to get her to relent on her assault. It would serve to be fruitless, however, as the Leopard Gal continued slashing away with rapid-fire *SCHRISHes* and *SCHWEERSHes* like her claws were made of steel. And despite Tay's best efforts to protect himself, she eventually scored a hit when she sliced him across the chest with a *KRASCHREERSCH* of her claws against his armor.

"DUWAGH!" Tay grunted in a mixture of surprise and pain as he was knocked nearly off his feet. Hopping backward over the body of a deceased Giga Ursid, he began to charge up a supply of Light Magic in his hand as the Leopard Gal came blitzing toward him again.

"PERISH, HUMAN!" the Leopard Gal yelled, finally speaking with words as she pounced again with the idea to slash at her enemy's throat. Yet, with a powerful *TWAARRSH*, Tayshan stopped the Leopard Gal's claw swipe in its tracks by catching her hand. She tried to slash at him with her other paw, only for him to catch her by the wrist with his other hand. There, they entered a fierce grappling match that saw neither one of them budging. "Ah… Not bad…! I didn't think human males could be so strong…!"

"Trust me, I'm full o' surprises…!" Tay rebutted, holding his ground firm as the standoff continued. "Good t' know you can talk, though, because we need t' have a 'chat' about the mess you made around here…!"

"Your only way of finding out what happened here is meeting my prey in the next world…!"

"Wrong answer, cat lady…! But listen… You don't really have as good a chance o' killin' me as you think…!"

"Oh? And why might THAT be…!?"

"Because you're gonna be in for a huge SHOCK…!" he punned (not exactly the pun I thought he was going for, mind you) and hinted as his hand became engulfed in jolts of electricity. Noticing right away, the Leopard Gal acted quickly… by wrapping her tail around the wraith's leg before he could launch his attack. "Gah…! What the-?"

"YAH!" the crafty animal woman yelled as she yanked her tail back toward herself, throwing her enemy off his balance, causing him to let go of her wrists. As soon as the opportunity arose, she followed up by slashing at his head with her razor-sharp claws… only to be denied a killing blow yet again with a *KRATWIING* of her claws against his Inhibitor Vambrace. "What!? How-!?"

"Take THIS!" Tay announced as he once again launched his counterattack in the form of jabbing the wild monster girl with two electricity-charged fingers. He managed to stick his fingers onto her neck, at which point a sudden, startling *KRATWIKAZAAP* of electricity ripped through the Leopard Gal's body for a split second. The attack, however nonlethal it was, was enough to get her to stagger back as she winced and pressed a hand to her shoulder.

"Ghaaaah…! What was THAT…!?"

"You'll only find out AFTER I take you down!" Tay announced as he charged ahead, his index and middle fingers on both hands surging with magic-borne electricity. At that point, the wraith and the Leopard Gal engaged in another hazardous waltz that consisted of him trying to shock her into submission and her relying on her agility to duck, weave, and swerve around his attacks. "Hyah! Shoot, you're more…! Yah! …agile than I thought you'd be…!" he complained under his breath as he kept his efforts up.

"Naturally for an apex predator such as myself. But what is the meaning of this? Are you another poacher? RWAARGH!" the Leopard Gal questioned as she tried to counter by slashing at the ghostly hunter, only for him to block it with a *SKRATWIIING* of her claws against his vambrace.

"Not exactly. All you need t' know is that I'm somethin' of a… 'conservationist-for-hire,' an' you've made yourself a major threat t' the ecosystem here," Tay cryptically explained as he avoided another pair of claw swipes from the ornery cat girl, though she landed a powerful third slash with a startling *KRATRIIRRSCH* of her claws against his chest armor once again. "GWAHAGH!" Tay yelled in shock, staggering back a few steps as he pressed his hand to his chest. It was then that he noticed Klawdia had ripped through the side of his chest plate.

"Oh, so THAT'S what this is about. You are running a fool's errand then, human!" the Leopard Gal proclaimed as she charged ahead and began a barrage of claw swipes that immediately put Tayshan on the defensive again. She chased him all around, the two of them hopping over animal carcasses, flowerbeds, and ditches alike as she swung, slashed, and sliced away. *SCHRISCH* after *SCHWING* after *KRATWISCH*, the hybrid monster girl showed no mercy as she let loose a primordial fury upon the presumed 'bounty hunter' trying to do her in.

"Hrgh…! Twah…! Fwooh! Tyah!" Tayshan grunted with nearly every move he made to dodge or otherwise defend against his adversary's relentless assault. He would find himself tightly contested, however, as the chimera upped the ante by throwing in the occasional tail whip to try and trip him while he seemed distracted. Learning from the previous instance, however, Tay did his best to adapt as he worked to create enough distance to avoid her sneaky tactic.

"My, my…! HRRYAAH!" the wild cat girl commented and shouted as she tried another trio of claw strikes that Tay avoided. "You are more skilled than I thought you were, and this battle is more challenging than I could have hoped!" she further praised as she narrowly missed a *SCHRING* of a claw swipe aimed at his face, followed by the metallic *TATRIING* of her next claw slash being parried by one of her opponent's vambraces. "RYAAH! Despite you fighting me alone, you completely outshine the last group of would-be poachers that tried to threaten my life! The thrill of this life-or-death struggle excites me to no conceivable end!" she further cheered, her eyes glimmering with a depraved excitement as she continued slashing away at her opponent.

"Glad t' know you're havin' fun, but…!" Tay began, trailing off as he suddenly stopped retreating and ducked under a claw swipe that came close enough to graze his helmet. "TrrrrrRRRAAGH!" he further roared as he raced in and attempted to grab the animal woman's legs while his hands were still charged with magic-borne electricity. Adapting quickly herself, the Leopard Gal hopped backward and narrowly avoided being taken down. "Darn it…!"

"Nice try, bounty hunter, but I am FAR more talented as a warrior than any human could recognize! RAAOOWOWOWWOWWWL!" the determined Leopard Gal proclaimed and roared again as she lunged forth while Tay was recoiling from his missed attack. She attempted to bat him to the ground with twin downward claw swipes that likely would've ripped him to pieces.

"RRAAAH!" Tay bellowed as he hurriedly rose to his feet and, while grounding his stance, stopped Klawdia's attack with simultaneous *KAPLOCKs* of her wrists against his open hands. It was at this point that the two of them entered a tense power struggle as they matched their brute strength up against one another. And on a side note, the height difference between the two of them was insane! This Leopard Gal towered over Tayshan by at least a foot and a half, though it seemed not to matter to either of them as they struggled against one another.

"Impressive…! You are a most unusual specimen…!" the feral hybrid vocalized her intrigue as she continued to push forward with all her might. It seemed neither of them would budge for the other if they could help it. "Regardless, you will NEVER kill me!"

"Hrrgh…! Heh…! Lucky you, I ain't exactly here t' kill you despite the mess you made here. I WILL be takin' you in, though… You'd be wise t' not make it too much of a headache," Tay remarked as he poured his focus into trying to overpower the adversarial chimera.

"Take me in…? Ohh, I see what you're hinting at…" the Leopard Gal seemed to realize as she grinned in a sudden sense of delight.

"Glad you understand…! Grrrgh…!" the wraith acknowledged as he kept on holding his ground.

"I most certainly do… and I must say I'm quite flattered that you'd venture so far out just for me… However, if you expect to be my mate, then you'll have to show me just a little more of your capabilities," she clarified as she snatched her hands from her enemy's grasp and hopped backward to create some distance. Rather than pursue her, however…

"…Whoa, what? N-no, that's not-!" Tay tried to object, having been thrown off by the arbitrary proposition.

"I must say, I am quite… 'interested' in your abilities, but I will NOT be tamed and made into your domestic partner so easily!" she proclaimed, standing tall and pointing a finger at him.

"Okay, no. Hold on a-!" the flabbergasted ghost tried to object again, dropping his battle pose to wave his arms in front of himself to FIRMLY deny the accusation.

"Plus, I am already carrying the progeny of another worthy human male who has beaten you to the punch," she went on to unnecessarily explain. "If only we had met just a week prior to this encounter, Mr. Bounty Hunter…~" she kittenishly (pun half-intended) taunted, wagging her tail as she winked at him.

"…So, she is pregnant… Gah, dang it…!" Tay cursed to himself, clenching his fist in frustration over the disheartening revelation.

"You needn't be disappointed," the Leopard Gal smilingly reassured, misunderstanding the context of Tayshan's ire entirely. "In three months' time, I will bear the first members of the next generation of Leopard Gal. Soon after that, you and I may-!"

"Ah! No! No, no, NO! Not interested! I'm happily taken, thank you! Don't get this twisted! I am here to CAPTURE you, NOT make babies with you!" he VERY hastily clarified as he shook his head rapidly enough that his dreadlocks were repeatedly whipping his face. (Un)Surprisingly, Tay wanted NOTHING to do with the Leopard Gal's offer of starting a family. Such a mystery why, though… TOTAL mystery.

"Mraawww, is that so? How unfortunate, though it does little to dissuade me… In that case, you will either walk away empty-handed or simply NOT WALK AWAY PERIOD…! That is, unless I can do JUST enough damage that your escape would be impossible, but where you'd still be conscious enough to become mine anyway…" she… still went on to declare, laying claim to him despite his refusal and revelation that he was spoken for. Jeez, Leopard Gals are RELENTLESS! "It stands to reason that you have proven yourself a worthy mate. Possibly worthier than my last one. Your genes would serve the new-and-improved Leopard Gal race wonderfully…"

"…An' this is why I HATE dealin' with monster girls…" Tayshan remarked with the most exasperated of sighs and disgruntled shakes of his head. "Throw me a THOUSAND more o' those rock golems from earlier before I have t' be put into another awkward situation like this again…" he further griped, which… Wait, this has happened to you BEFORE!? "Don't ask. Seriously. PLEASE don't ask. I still get nightmares about the other times…" Tay adamantly… if not a bit sheepishly refused to elaborate while confirming my suspicions in the same breath of air. I'm gonna be wondering about THAT for a hot minute. Meanwhile…

"…Are… Are you KIDDING me…!? How could she just…" Bolo murmured, evidently quite bothered by what he'd just overheard. "…Did she use me, too…?" he further… peculiarly asked himself. And suddenly, I've got a BAD feeling about how the rest of this interaction would carry out…

"Hey! Bolo! What's goin' on!? Stop starin' off int' space an' get over here!" Tayshan commanded, turning toward his teammate to notice that he hadn't moved a muscle this entire time.

"Bolo…?" the Leopard Gal queried, perking up almost immediately as she turned around and noticed the other young man staring at them from a short distance away. "Oh! Bolo! Long time, no see, darling~! I did not recognize you with that silly mask on!"

"What the…? This Leopard Gal knows him? How could that be? Unless…?" Tay questioned as he warily watched the chimera casually approach his teammate. Rather than greet her warmly, however, Bolo stepped back when she got close. Recognizing this, the Leopard Gal stopped.

"Mrow? Something the matter?" the curious cat girl asked as she observed the young man.

"Yes. I heard everything you just said to him…" Bolo pointed out, much to his lover's shock. "I… I thought we made a connection when we last met… And now, you're here flirting with my teammate as though you and I never did what we did?"

"O-oh, no, not at all! You must have misheard me. I was um… I-I was merely trying to distract him!" the Leopard Gal frantically tried to explain her actions as she sunk a little bit into herself.

"With propositions of trapping him here and having kids with him, Klawdia? Come on!" Bolo argued, not at all pleased with what he'd witnessed… while also revealing the identity of the guilty Leopard Gal in front of him.

"N-no, darling, I promise!" Klawdia… surprisingly tried to assure him as she crouched to meet him at eye level and extended her tail to graze his face. "This wayward poacher was trying to capture me, so I had to find a creative way to distract him! I was trying to create an opportunity to either escape or land a decisive blow that would ensure my victory!"

"Much as I'd like to believe that, why would THAT have to be the thing you'd go for?" he asked, though he quickly recognized that Klawdia's flirting with Tayshan was the LEAST of his concerns. "Actually, wait… There's something more important."

"Something important like what?"

"Well… um… Are… Are you actually… y'know… what you said… You… have… uh…?" he tried to further inquire, though he QUICKLY lost his nerve as his heart sank into his stomach. Reading his sudden extreme apprehension as she looked into his eyes, however, Klawdia knew something was amiss.

"What is the matter, sweetheart? Why are you suddenly so hesitant with your words? What is it you wish to ask me?" the Leopard Gal pressed, her concern growing as she inched herself closer to the point of them nearly pressing their noses together as they gazed into one another's eyes.

"…An' just like that, we've hit a point o' no return. Alright, it's time for THIS saga t' end…! IMMEDIATELY…!" Tay murmured as he pulled a ball of metallic rope from a pocket in his utility belt and dashed forth while charging the index and middle fingers on one hand with electricity. And while Klawdia didn't initially notice the approach of the ghost man behind her… Bolo did. As such…

"Whoa, whoa, Tayshan, wait! Don't!" Bolo tried to warn, inadvertently tipping off Klawdia as she spun around to see the wraith advancing on her.

"RRAAWWRGH!" Klawdia roared as she bared her claws again and struck a battle pose, forcing Tay to stop in his tracks. "You thought you could get the drop on me, human!?"

"Gahh…! Bolo, WHAT THE F-!?" a noticeably agitated Tay shouted before being cut off, though he remained highly alert with the net in his hand.

"Thanks for the warning, darling… Now, let us combine our abilities once more to vanquish him," the Leopard Gal interrupted the 'poacher' and requested of the headbanded young man, expecting him to comply.

"What? H-hey, hold on a sec! We don't have to fight!" a highly uncertain Bolo tried to neutrally object.

"It appears that we do," Klawdia countered, never taking her eyes off of Tayshan as the ghostly hunter in question sighed. Soon after, he grounded his stance, stretched one arm toward Klawdia while chambering his other arm with the rope ball still in his hand. "I shall make up for my previous lapse in judgment by disposing of this vile bounty hunter forthwith! And then, we shall be together as we were destined…"

"Huh!? What exactly do you-!?" Bolo was about to ask in utter astonishment.

"Oh, don't feed him that trash!" Tayshan angrily remarked, locking himself in as he prepared to strike. "Your little game o' manipulation won't go a step further as long as I have anything t' say about it!"

"Manipulation? I haven't a clue what you mean, and you are insane to hurl such a baseless accusation at me!" Klawdia defensively shot back as she crouched low and prepared to reengage her ethereal adversary. "I know not what the true meaning of this encounter is, but I will NOT allow you to interfere with my plans to reestablish the Leopard Gal race OR to get between me and my darling! Prepare yourself, poacher! I will add your skull to my collection as I have hundreds of others foolish enough to challenge me!"

"Believe me, I'm more prepared than you know…!" Tay ominously remarked through a particularly ferocious growl. "If you want t' take my head like you did those other people, then come over here an' try, cat lady!"

"Hm. Such cockiness in one so woefully unprepared… Maybe I was wrong to presume you were worth keeping alive if you could be so… unbelievably stupid. Certainly not Leopard Gal-worthy traits at all. Nevertheless, I shall grant your death wish!" Klawdia threatened, however… peculiarly as she charged forth with all her might.

"NO! Klawdia, stop! Don't-!" Bolo tried to warn, though he was FAR too late.

"Fell RIGHT for it…! PHANTOM BLITZ!" Tay remarked and announced as he thrust his chambered fist forth. And with a powerful, windy *FWEEERSH*, he sent forth an all-too-familiar shockwave that went ripping through the atmosphere.

"WRAAAOWOWGH!" Klawdia wildly roared again as she rapidly closed the distance, none the wiser to the impending danger headed right toward her. Just as she got close enough to take a swing at him, she was hit with the disorienting *WHOOOORSH* of the shockwave. Stopped dead in her tracks, Klawdia stumbled backward and began to stagger on her feet like she'd been spun around a hundred times. "Grragh…! Woooh…"

"Perfect…! Now, t' end this hunt! HYAARRAH!" Tay hollered as he dashed forth under his own power, his index and middle fingers on each hand charged up with Light Magic once again.

"TAYSHAN! DON'T HURT HER!" Bolo pleaded, though his warning would come too little, too late. The wraith swiftly closed the distance and began his counterattack by jabbing the Leopard Gal with his fingers. He delivered six very quick, yet very deliberate strikes one by one with his extended fingers. *KRAZAP* after *TWAKAZAP* after *KAZATHRACK*, the ghost warrior struck each of Klawdia's shoulders once, followed by her lower neck, after which he delivered two deliberate strikes to each of her thighs. He finished up by delivering the final *TRATWAKAZAAAP* of a two-finger strike to her solar plexus.

"GHRAAAHAAARGH…!" Klawdia groaned in unbelievable pain and discomfort as she fell to her hands and knees. It was worth note, however, that she seemed to struggle to keep herself up as crackles of electricity ripped through each of her limbs. "Aagh…! I… I can't move…!"

"HWAH!" Tay shouted once more as he backed up and flung the rope ball at Klawdia while she was down. And with a dense *THROCK*, the rope ball hit her square on the head… after which it immediately burst open into a gigantic metal net and wrapped itself all over the incapacitated Leopard Gal. With a sudden *KATRINKLOK*, the net secured itself as the captured Klawdia fell to the ground.

"GRRAAAAAAOWWAAAOOOOWWWL! Let meow-t of here! I will tear your flesh and gnaw on your BONES! I CANNOT be captured! GRRRAAAAGH!" the instantly furious Leopard Gal shouted and roared as she tried to scratch and claw at the net, only to find that the net's material was particularly unkind to her claws. She additionally could not find the strength to try and tear her way out due to the halo-adorned shinobi's previous sneak attack. Tay quickly grabbed the endpiece of the net and pulled on it to tighten its hold on her. Struggle as she might, Klawdia appeared to not be going anywhere our two-man team of bounty hunters didn't want her to.

"Haah…!" the wraith breathed an exasperated sigh as he took the moment to recollect himself. "Thank goodness this was quick…"

"Um… W-wait… Are… you sure this is necessary, Tay?" Bolo found it in himself to ask, prompting his teammate to turn toward him.

"Bolo! Darling, I… I require your assistance!" Klawdia pleaded for the younger man's help when it became apparent she wasn't able to break free under her own power. A sinking feeling of worry hitting him like a stack of bricks falling off a speeding airplane, Bolo cast his uncertain gaze toward the Leopard Gal as he tried to figure out what to say or do. "Please! Don't let him do this to me! I must be free! I beg of you! Help me!"

"Don't listen t' her, bro," Tayshan immediately warned, already recognizing the dissonance in his partner's mannerisms. "She's only tryin' t' protect herself now that she's the one bein' hunted."

"But… Why do we have to capture her?" Bolo dared to question, though he made no move one way or the other. This hesitation shocked Klawdia nearly speechless. Yet…

"You… You were AIDING this poacher in his quest to capture me?" the Leopard Gal asked in total surprise, the feeling of betrayal written all over her face.

"N-no! No, not at all," Bolo denied, confusing Tayshan in the process. Rather than call him out right away, however, he remained silent for the moment. "I-I had no idea you were even out here! Actually, what are you doing here?"

"As we discussed when we last met, I escaped the Cyclic Season Island alongside some of the other residents there," Klawdia explained, relenting for the moment on trying to break free. "A few of my allies, including the Magma Ant Formiricus, washed ashore on this volcanic field. I have been stranded here since a short time after the Cyclic Season Island collapsed. I am not certain what fate befell Formiricus himself, but a great deal of the Magma Ants that swore to protect me perished over the course of the following week…"

"Jeez…"

"I… I have been all alone, fending for myself while I figure out a way to get off this island without the assistance of the allies that did not survive the pilgrimage to this place…"

"I… I see."

"Yes. So, why will you not help me? Why must you stand idly by as this evil man so brazenly takes me as his war trophy? Bolo, please… I beg of you to help me as I have helped you…" At that, Bolo gazed deeply into the pleading eyes of the vulnerable Leopard Gal he initially didn't believe he would find himself so connected to. And after a tense moment of heavy contemplation… he opened his mouth to respond. Yet…

"That's enough o' that," Tayshan cut in, reading into the situation from a different perspective once he'd heard enough. "As unfortunate as your situation is, Klawdia, you cannot be allowed t' roam this place with all the damage you've done to its ecosystem. An' you'd better believe you ain't goin' nowhere after you killed the other people who came out here t' get you. It's time for us t' go," he further decreed as he moved to pick the Leopard Gal up. Before he even took a single step, however…

"Tayshan, wait," Bolo spoke up, turning his gaze to the taller man.

"Wait? Wait for what?"

"I… I know this sounds crazy, but… I got to know Klawdia on a personal level. I understand her. She isn't just some random monster girl out to cause a mess for us to clean up. She's not a bad person…" he tried to vouch for the Leopard Gal, appalling his teammate in the process.

"Not a bad person? Bolo, take a look around!" Tayshan ordered, gesturing his hand toward the sulfuric graveyard of Klawdia's making. "This Leopard Gal has completely RAVAGED the other wildlife here! She murdered other human beings in cold blood without a thought for their wellbeing! An' if we didn't stop her, she'd have kept on goin' until there was nothin' left livin' here! DO NOT stand there an' tell me you're thinkin' about lettin' her go!"

"I… I get that, but… it isn't like she did all this out of malice… Right, Klawdia?" the younger man asked.

"No. At least, not by my definition," Klawdia answered as she read the sympathy on her lover's face. "I am carrying my daughters… OUR daughters… My appetite has increased dramatically, and I need to keep our babies nourished. And those other humans tried to hurt me. I-I needed to protect myself. I did not have any other choice… I apologize for the inconvenience, but please let me free! We can raise our family together!"

"OH… R-right… I uh…"

"…WHAT?" Tayshan immediately queried, suddenly fuming with anger as he glared at Bolo through the helmet and facemask. For Bolo's sake, it was probably a GOOD thing we couldn't see his face. "Tell me I DID NOT just hear what I think I just heard."

"Ah! U-um… S-so, let me explain…" Bolo stammered, already snitching on himself before he needed to say anything.

"Oh, for the love o'-! BRO!" Tay shouted at the top of his lungs, even more incensed at the shocking discovery. "YOU'RE the one who got this Leopard Gal pregnant!? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?"

"H-hey, I didn't know! I swear, I didn't! I'm only finding out just now!"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! It's one HUGE thing for you t' have cheated on Rottytops with this woman, but for you t' be THIS irresponsible about it!? Rotty would absolutely RIP YOU T' PIECES if she found out you did this! I can't even imagine how Shantae an' Sky would react!"

"I-I know, and I'm not sure at all what to do about that, but-!"

"Oh, an' it's even BETTER that it turns out THIS ENTIRE TRIP we had t' take was all because o' YOUR mistake! If the Sultana found out what you did, she'd have you EXILED to the driest desert in Sequin Land an' have you starve t' death in front o' guards who'd watch for confirmation! That, or she'd have me straight-up ASSASSINATE you for it!"

"Yeah, but I-! Oh! O-oh, jeez…!" Bolo was about to argue before being jarred and startled out of his wits by the gravity of the potential consequences.

"…Ah, there's no point chewin' you out for it right now…" Tay remarked after breathing out an agitated sigh. "Listen, you're LUCKY we caught this Leopard Gal as early as we did. It's too late for the animals an' people she already got her paws on, but this place will hopefully replenish its population in a matter o' months… An' the hunters that were lost… We need t' let their families know…" he further theorized as their Stage Clear platform appeared at the far end of the volcanic field. "Now, let's go. We've spent enough time messin' around out here, an' we need t' get this problem taken care of IMMEDIATELY." With that statement, Tayshan moved to pick Klawdia up as she began to writhe and squirm to try and escape the net once again.

"W-wait!" Bolo requested, stopping Tay in his tracks once again as he ran in front of the taller man to block his path.

"What are you doin'?"

"Come on, man… Do you really need to take her away? Where would she go? And what if we could just talk to her about minding her diet and letting her go in an area where she'll be safer?"

"Bolo, now is NOT the time t' start drummin' up half-baked ideas on how t' spare this Leopard Gal," Tayshan warned. "Now, move. We need to-!"

"No!" the younger man refused, standing firmly in his position as Klawdia watched on in worry. "At least, not until I know she'll be safely let go somewhere. Or we can at least try to talk this out."

"…Bolo…" Klawdia murmured her lover's name. At that, Tayshan sighed and shook his head before offering a reply.

"She's already in the net, an' I ain't lettin' her out until we get where we need t' go."

"Then where do you plan on taking her?" Bolo demanded to know.

"We're takin' her t' the Sequin Land Palace first. An' when we get there, we're gonna organize a transport for this Leopard Gal t' be sent to the United Seams Endangered Monster Refuge overseas," he explained.

"And what would happen once she went there if that's the plan?"

"As far as I know, she'd be kept there at least long enough that she'd be able t' have her cubs. Of course, that'll have to come AFTER we dig int' her about what she might know about the Spirit Fuser, all things considered about where she came from."

"Spirit Fuser? How in the world does HE know about…?" Klawdia murmured, though she trailed off as she listened in on the boys' conversation.

"Oh. Well, that sounds promising enough…" Bolo remarked in momentary relief, though he found himself compelled to dig a little deeper. "But then, what happens after that?"

"After that, she'll most likely be sterilized to avoid her attemptin' t' have more cubs. On top o' that, she AND her cubs would be kept there t' be domesticated. They'll never see life outside of a zoo, but they'll be 'safe.' An' for that matter, so will the rest o' the world. That is, unless she does somethin' that convinces them t' euthanize her instead…" Tay gave the rest of his supposition.

"…Oh. W-why would she be stuck at the wildlife reserve forever and have to go through all that?"

"Because of a mixture o' factors varyin' between her bein' from the wild, the generally high threat Leopard Gals pose to the ecosystem because o' their status as an invasive species, an' the fact that Leopard Gals give birth to as many as EIGHT cubs in a three-month span. The cubs only take a year t' reach maturity, an' by year three, they're ready t' have cubs o' their own. Left unchecked, we'd be dealin' with an infestation in as little as five or six years. An' we already see how much damage just ONE o' these girls can do to an ecosystem. Oh, an' let's not gloss over the fact that Leopard Gals can live up t' FORTY YEARS long."

"Ohh… Wow, I… I had no idea…"

"How is it you know so much about Leopard Gal biology, human? Who told you of our ways?" Klawdia dared to ask.

"Trust me, there's a LOT of information available in places you'd never think t' look," Tayshan answered with just a tiny bit of contempt in his tone before turning his attention back to Bolo.

"Oh, is there…? Hmmm…" Klawdia hummed in wonder.

"I… I understand where you're coming from, Tayshan…" Bolo spoke up once more. "…but… I don't think Klawdia would be happy cooped up in some zoo halfway across the world with no freedom. And however 'safe' that sounds at a glance, there is NO WAY I can overlook the possibility of them putting her to sleep simply for not obeying their presumably strict rules. She deserves better than that. She's not just some animal."

"Then YOU feed her an' take care of her, since you seem t' be so concerned about her," Tay quickly shot back, only growing more irritated with Bolo's stalling. "Find her a home where she can feast on droves upon DROVES of other animals an' monsters alike t' the point where they're faced with extinction, have YOUR EIGHT cubs, an' then feed those cubs more o' those other animals an' monsters until they cease to exist. An' then when THOSE eight cubs wander off an' have EIGHT MORE cubs PER LEOPARD GAL in three years' time, YOU round 'em all up an' try t' keep them from completely DEMOLISHIN' an entire civilization in the time it takes a human kid t' graduate from the fourth grade."

"Dude, you know what I mean. You don't have to get so standoffish with me," Bolo argued. "I just don't agree with the idea of having her shipped off to live out the rest of her days under surveillance to the point where they'd realistically kill her if she doesn't follow their orders! Let's just think about this a little longer! I'm sure we can come up with something more humane for her! I… I don't want her to be hurt… A-and there's gotta be a way to keep her alive while preventing all that stuff from happening!"

"The only other option we have is t' kill her here an' now," Tay coldly remarked to his teammate's shock, his patience having been worn out. "She CANNOT be let go with the hope that she'd control herself, Bolo. I listened t' you enough that I captured Klawdia here in the LEAST harmful method I could think of instead o' doin' things the Sultana's preferred way. Now, you need t' listen t' me when I say we're takin' her t' the Sequin Land Palace t' arrange that trip for her. Now, if you ain't gonna help me lift her up, then get out o' the way," Tay demanded as he tried to move past Bolo to pick Klawdia up… only for Bolo to step in the way again.

"Tayshan, I'm serious. I… I know this might not sound like the best of things for me to say, but I won't let Klawdia be made into a captive and be resigned to a potential fate worse than death! That's not how we should roll as heroes, dude, and you know it! If we're following Shantae's example, then we'd be finding a solution that works for everyone! Don't make this more difficult than it already is!" At that, Tayshan clenched a fist at his side as he tempered himself.

"…With all due respect t' her, followin' Shantae's old 'example' without a clear boundary has sometimes caused more harm than good. It's precisely why she an' I have both agreed t' change things up movin' forward," Tay countered, shocking Bolo even more. "An' right now, THIS would be one o' those times where more harm would be done than good if we went about it the old way. We need t' think a bit more pragmatically than that." At that, Bolo scoffed.

"Are you kidding!? That's Shantae you're talking about! YOUR girlfriend! Also, the hero who led us out of Sequin Land's darkest times when no one else could! Multiple times, at that! And you're QUESTIONING her methods!?"

"I'm not questionin' her methods. I specifically JUST told you that she doesn't think that way anymore. However, I AM questionin' YOU on why you're so keen on stickin' up for this Leopard Gal when, as I'll remind you again an' again, she has more blood on her hands than a family o' vampires."

"While also telling me that you don't believe in Shantae's way of handling things as the leader of our team? That's insane! Dude, how could you stand there and be so cold and unemotional about potentially ruining Klawdia's life!? Shantae would NEVER condone that! Even for what the situation is, I expected FAR better from you! Shantae would be APPALLED to hear-!"

"Don't you DARE finish that statement, Bolo…!" Tay cut him off with a menacing growl in his voice, causing the younger man to flinch and clam up. "You have NOWHERE NEAR as solid an idea as you think you do about how Shantae moves an' makes her decisions, so you DO NOT get t' speak for her. An' if you think I'm gonna stand here an' let you try an' use her name t' gaslight me int' makin' an exception for you because you want t' save a woman you CHEATED on Rottytops with, an' who CLEARLY showed you she'd just as quickly find another 'mate' as she would seduce you for her own selfish purposes, then you're SADLY mistaken."

"And who are YOU to tell me how well I know MY best friend!? I've known her WAY longer than you have, and we BOTH know she wouldn't agree with you on this either!" Bolo argued back, his temper flaring. "And I acknowledge what I did, but that DOES NOT mean Klawdia has to suffer for it! And despite what you believe, this has more to do with our ethics as heroes than it does my personal relationship with her! As a hero, you need to set a good example! Especially with YOUR track record!" he further harshly accused. It went without mention that Tayshan… did NOT appreciate the statement in the slightest.

"Ohh, so NOW you wanna call my 'hero' status into question over this as you lecture me about how t' be perfect, do you? Goodness, how EASY it must be for you t' look down on me because I did things you don't find fittin' for the image of a beacon o' justice an' good moral virtue! How about this, then: If bein' a 'hero' means ignorin' the law when I see fit an' makin' exceptions an' excuses for people because I don't wanna hurt somebody's feelings, then I guess I'm NOT a hero! At least, not as good a hero as YOU apparently are! An' even STILL, you're only pickin' this fight t' protect Klawdia because o' your personal feelings for her! An' it's worse that you're doin' this despite it bein' made abundantly clear that she USED you! She might be carryin' your kids, but she doesn't actually love you, fool! She needed you as a means to an end! Wake up an' recognize when you're bein' played!"

"WATCH IT, TAYSHAN! You're pushing it, and I already told you I'm NOT gonna let you cart Klawdia off to some random zoo to be spayed and stuck in captivity for the rest of her life! And… And if I have to stop you myself, then I'll do just that!" Bolo challenged, brandishing his Morning Star as though he was about to attack… Ah, man…! Things are going so sour, so quickly between these two… And despite Tayshan reeling back at the display of obstinance his teammate showed…

"…So, THIS is the hill you wanna pick t' die on?" the wraith asked after getting over his initial shock at Bolo challenging him to a fight right then and there.

"If it means sticking by my morals and saving someone from a fate she doesn't deserve, even if that fate was dealt by YOUR hand, then yes. You're gonna have to get through ME before I let anything bad happen to her."

"…D-Darling…!" Klawdia murmured once again, worriedly looking on as she took it in that Bolo was defending her.

"I can't believe you could be such a doggone FOOL…! It's like EVERYTHING we talked about on the way here went in one ear an' out the other! What a complete waste o' time! I feel so much worse for Rottytops now…" Tayshan lamented, unknowingly stinging Bolo as the younger man flinched in reflective guilt. Nevertheless, Tay took the moment to stretch away his frustration and… and ENTER A BATTLE POSE!? Oh, no…! "An' now I need t' slap some sense int' you for her sake AND for the sake o' this mission. I presume we're still friends, an' I don't want t' hurt you. But if you're gonna become a traitor over your own personal hang-ups about the job we took, then don't expect me t' pull my punches, Bolo. That's your only warning."

"Y-yeah, well… I-I'm not gonna pull any punches either, bro. With the way you're acting, you're coming across like you've lost your way since you started working for the Sultana! That, or you've actually been an ANTIHERO this entire time, considering how cold and ruthless you can be when we least expect it! I should've picked up on it from when you tried to kill Risky Boots the other week. Finally, I've gotten a read on your TRUE colors!"

"Antihero? Hm… That's a new label," Tayshan acknowledged as calmly as he could, though one could see from the glint in his eye through his mask that Bolo's accusation only served to agitate him further. "An' think whatever you want about what happened with Risky. You know the context, but if you're gonna use that as leverage t' condemn me anyway, then go for it." At that, Bolo… surprisingly relented as he heard the somberness in his former teammate's tone.

"W-well… maybe that's a bit of a stretch to call you evil for trying to do what you thought was right back then, but I still don't approve of your methods. Either way, it's about time someone other than Shantae showed you what a REAL hero looks like!" he declared, partially retracting his previous statement. "Prepare yourself, antihero!"

"Fine. If that's what I am in your eyes, then so be it. Enlighten me on what it means t' fight for the truly 'right' reasons, 'hero.'" Tayshan… accepted his 'title' as an antihero and welcomed his teammate's challenge. Within the same instant, the Stage Clear platform in the distance vanished pretty much on-cue. And just like that…

BOLO VS. TAYSHAN: FRIENDLY FIRE FIASCO!

"SHOW HIM THE ERROR OF HIS WAYS!" Bolo announced, kicking things off as he pulled out a trio of his Homing Pikes and dashed ahead.

"Alright… For the first time in a while, I'll go back t' the basics…" Tay murmured to himself took a deep breath… at which point a flash of magic shined around him… but completely vanished immediately afterward. And just as he braced for impact, Bolo flung his Homing Pikes at him. The wraith reacted accordingly by backing up to create distance and waiting for the projectiles to lock onto him. And when they did, he raced toward Bolo.

"What the…? Why is he coming TOWARD me?" Bolo asked himself as he halted his approach and prepared for Tay to attack. Rather than do so right away, however, Tay hopped over Bolo and went straight for Klawdia. "HEY! Leave her alo-!" the younger man was about to shout before he was hit with three successive *POCKs* of his own weapons that nearly knocked him off his feet. "Gaah…! Never accounted for THAT to be a thing…" he complained before shaking it off and getting ready to pursue his friend-turned-opponent. He would be surprised, however, to see that Tay had carried Klawdia a few yards away and set her down in a seated position while she was still tightly restrained in the metal net.

"Such a shame that he's gonna get himself knocked out over YOU after what you did t' him…!" Tay contemptuously remarked to the Leopard Gal.

"This would not be happening if you listened to him, and I have done nothing to harm him. You are fighting a battle you know you cannot win, nevertheless. My darling will destroy you, poacher!" Klawdia shot back. "And if I were free from this infernal contraption, we would take you down together!"

"Hm. Can't say I'm surprised you're still keepin' up with that phony 'one true love' act t' keep him in your pocket, but soon enough, he'll know the truth. HRAH!" Tay shot back before leaping back into action.

"…It is not an act…" Klawdia muttered, though no one would hear her. Her thought process would be interrupted, however, by the rumbling *KRUBLUMBLOOM* of the mini volcano she had been placed next to. Hm…

Back on the Battlefield…

"That should keep you from gettin' any funny ideas about lettin' her out o' that net," Tayshan proclaimed as he resumed his duel with his teammate-turned-opponent, eliciting a small sense of surprise from him. "Now, come at me with everything you've got! Trust me, you're gonna need to."

"Fine! You asked for it! HYAAAAH!" Bolo challenged as he raced ahead and swung his Morning Star at Tayshan. The wraith, unintimidated by the dense, heavy, chain-attached Pike Ball hurtling toward him, ducked under the first swing as it whizzed over his head with a rattling *WROOOOSH*. Bolo followed up by swinging low the next time, only for Tayshan to hop backward to avoid it. The headbanded warrior quickly adapted to the situation, however, as he slyly pulled out a blue Pike Ball before committing to an overhead, downward swing of his Morning Star. As Bolo seemed to expect, Tay sidestepped the weapon swing as the Pike Ball smashed into the ground with a *PLAAAANG* hard enough to dent the soot-covered ground. "GOTCHA!" Bolo announced as he flung the Stun Pike at Tayshan while he wasn't looking.

"Huh? Shoot, it's one o' those blue-!" Tay was about to point out in sudden panic before the explosive went off with a *KAPOW* right in his face. "GAGH!" he grunted, stumbling back a bit as he grasped his helmet with his hands.

"YES! Now's my chance! HYYAAAAAH!" Bolo observed and yelled as he raced toward his incapacitated enemy with the idea to punish him for letting his guard down. Yet, when Bolo closed the distance to throw a hook aimed at Tayshan's face, the ghost man reacted by blocking it with one hand and countering with a *KATHROCK* of his own hook right to the younger man's face. "DWAAGH!" Bolo grunted, staggering back to the point of nearly tripping over an ash-covered shark carcass behind him before he caught his balance. "Grrgh…! How is that possible? He should've been rendered blind and deaf for at least the next ten seconds…!" he complained, rubbing his aching cheek.

"I figured you'd have recognized that those Stun Pikes wouldn't work as well on me while I'm wearin' this helmet an' mask," Tay vocalized his disappointment in Bolo's apparent lack of insight, tapping a finger to the accessory in question.

"Right… Darn. In that case, I'll have to improvise…!" Bolo urged himself as he shook off his pain and pulled out a handful of green Pike Balls. "Here I come!" he further announced as he raced toward Tayshan again, dashing toward the smoke billowing from a mini volcano placed in between them to obscure his movements.

"Hm. Usin' the environment t' his advantage, is he?" Tay observed as he watched a series of tiny green Pike Balls zoom through the thick, dusty smoke in multiple different directions, including high above him. Before he could figure out what Bolo was planning, however, he also spotted three more red Pike Balls zipping toward him while Bolo himself jumped through the smoke and over the mini volcano with his Morning Star at the ready. Doing his best to adapt, Tayshan… for some reason, opted to turn and run a safe distance away before changing direction toward a boulder sticking up from the ground.

"Huh…? Why is he using that boulder for coverage instead of…?" Bolo asked, evidently also thrown off as he watched his red projectiles crash into the boulder with another trio of *POCKs*. "He must be up to something, and I'm gonna put a stop to it before he gets the chance…!" he further presumed as he pulled out an orange Pike Ball and activated its timer. He waited just a few seconds before flinging the Dynamite Pike in Tay's direction, though he raced toward his adversary all the while. Within another second, the Dynamite Pike stuck to the boulder as it beeped through its countdown sequence.

"Gah…! Oh, SHOOT!" Tay cursed as he hurriedly dive rolled away from the boulder before it was blown to smithereens with a glorious *KRABWOOOOM* of Bolo's Dynamite Pike detonating. He wouldn't get much chance to recover from the evasive maneuver before…

"GET A LOAD OF THIS!" Bolo announced as he performed a spinning jump over another mini volcano and flung his Morning Star with all his might. The chains on the flail extended accordingly with a *KLINKLINKLINKLINKLINK* before utterly SMASHING its target in the face with a DEVASTATING *KATHRUNK*.

"DWOHAAGH!" Tayshan howled in agony, knocked nearly off his feet as chunks of his helmet's visor went scattering off his face and all over the ground.

"Got him! Now, to capitalize…!" Bolo remarked, his determination growing as he retracted his chain mace and threw another Stun Pike before readying the mace for another decisive strike.

"Grrgh…! That one really rung my bell…! An' it looks like he ain't done…!" Tay remarked as he shook off the sudden headache and looked up to see another blue Pike Ball zipping toward him. He was more prepared this time, however, as he picked up a chunk of the previously exploded boulder and hurled it at the Stun Pike. He succeeded when the projectile clung to the ashen brick before said brick went sailing into the nearby mini volcano whose rainbow-colored lava swallowed it up with a bubbling *BABWOBWOBWOOIIIISSSSH*. Immediately after, the ghostly bounty hunter noticed yet another trio of red Pike Balls zooming toward him. "Hm. He's awfully reliant on these things… An' it's gonna be his downfall in a minute…!" he observed as he turned and sprinted away to create some more distance… only to notice that the series of green Pike Balls Bolo previously threw had begun expanding in size across the arena. "Ah… Clever, but whatever it is you're plannin', it ain't gonna work…!"

"Good, he's backing himself into the trap I set. Just a couple more seconds before my Scatter Pikes go off… but just in case those don't keep him occupied long enough…" Bolo continued to analyze as he pulled out a pair of yellow Pike Balls and prepared to hurl them toward Tayshan while he was distracted… or, so it SEEMED Tayshan was distracted.

"Let's see how YOU like bein' pelted with spiky little marbles!" the wraith declared as he… he RAN TOWARD one of the growing green Pike Balls, lifted it up over his head, and… "GO, SCATTER PIKE!" he announced as he launched the beach ball-sized Pike Ball right back at its owner. The Homing Pikes that were previously chasing him collided with it along the way with another series of *POCKs*, after which the Scatter Pike kept on sailing toward its (un)intended target.

"W-WHAT!? HOW IN THE HE-!?" Bolo was about to yell his question in total surprise as he was forced to stop dead in his tracks and try to change direction to avoid the incoming projectile. Before he could get away, however, the Scatter Pike exploded with a *KAPWOOORF*, sending dozens of smaller green Pike Balls rocketing in all directions. "GHAAAAH!" Bolo shouted in pain as he shielded himself with his arms to avoid being hit in the face. The Pike Balls certainly did a number on him nevertheless, as they ripped and scratched away at his arms, legs, and clothes. His troubles wouldn't end there, however…

"My turn…!" Tay ominously muttered as he sprinted toward Bolo while the other Scatter Pikes exploded behind him with subsequent *KAPWOOORFs* that sent other flurries of green Pike Balls flying in all directions… including toward Klawdia, where one of them struck the net she was trapped in with a *KRATRISHK* and damaged it.

"Mrow…?" the Leopard Gal hummed, noting the damaged cords of the metallic trap. She would only get to ponder for so long, however, before the mini volcano next to her rumbled with another *BROWBLOOMBLOMBLONG* as though it was about to erupt. "Curses…! I must escape from this miniature prison and assist my beloved before this volcano erupts with me right in its path…!" she urged herself as she began desperately scratching away at the weak spot in the net.

Meanwhile…

"Shoot…! I didn't expect him to-!" Bolo was about to observe before he noticed Tayshan RAPIDLY closing the distance between them. "No way, dude! YAH!" he challenged once more as he flung his Morning Star forth with the intent to halt his teammate's approach. That would serve to be his undoing, however…

"TORAAH!" Tay grunted as he dashed in low and swung his arm upward, parrying the chained mace with a *KATRINK* of the Pike Ball off his Inhibitor Vambrace before continuing his dash.

"Gah! Shoot…!" Bolo cursed as he retracted his weapon while also attempting to reach into his pocket for another. By the time he slipped even one finger into his inventory, however, his rival was already right in front of him and ready to deliver some harsh punishment.

"Hope you like the taste o' my ash-covered knuckles, 'hero'!" the antihero proclaimed as he threw a lightning-quick cross aimed right for his target's mouth.

"WHOA!" Bolo yelped, NARROWLY missing having his teeth punched into his throat through his mask as he weaved to the side to avoid the attack. Tayshan wouldn't be discouraged, however, as he threw a flurry of jabs, crosses, and hooks that his fellow adventurer committed almost entirely to dodging or blocking with the occasional *Plark* of the wraith's fist against the human's forearms. Despite being rushed down, however, Bolo eventually found his opportunity to turn things back in his favor as he blocked one more heavy-handed cross and immediately wrapped his arm around his opponent's fist.

"Whah…!" Tay grunted, surprised at the countermeasure Bolo took, though he would soon find out its depth when Bolo flung his foot up to strike him with a *KATHRACK* of his boot against his chin. "GWOARGH!" the wraith grunted in unbelievable pain as he was sent stumbling back.

"Yes…! Now, THIS is gonna hurt! SHYAAAH!" the heroic Bolo announced as he capitalized on his momentary advantage. He started off with the strongest cross he could muster, landing his punch with a *THRASHK* against his rival's stomach to send him doubling over. Bolo followed up with an uppercut that crushed his enemy's jaw with an additional *PRATWACK*, after which he dashed ahead and landed a whirling crescent kick that connected with another powerful *PROOSHK* against Tayshan's ribs through his armor. And just as Tay went stumbling to the side, Bolo raced forth one more time and grabbed him by the wrist, rushed behind him, and jumped onto Tay's back with the wraith's arm still gripped tightly in his hand. Crossing his legs around Tayshan's waist, Bolo locked in a most creative submission hold as he wrapped his free arm around the wraith's neck to try and subdue him. "Try getting out of my deadly Dragon Lock, Sayvrax…! Hrrrrgh!" Bolo—er, the valiant 'Lou Krane' taunted as he committed himself to choking Tayshan—er, the fearsome 'Sayvrax' out with all his might.

"Gagh…! Oh, so that's… how you wanna play it…? Let's see how you handle THIS…!" the ghost ninja managed to proclaim through restricted breaths as he hurriedly reached his free hand up to his adversary's arm and began to pull on it. And much to Bolo's surprise, Tayshan had little trouble actually undoing the hold as he pulled the younger man's arm off his throat and began to redirect it outward. Just as Tay was about to figure out a counter, however…

"No, you don't! I'll put you to sleep before you get the chance!" Bolo announced as he snatched his arm out of Tayshan's hand, let go of the wraith's other wrist, and shifted into a position where he wrapped one arm around the wraith's neck while pressing his head forth with the other hand. "If the Dragon Lock won't work, then the Koala Windpipe Crusher will!" he further claimed, naming another bizarre technique as he poured all his strength into strangling his rival.

"Grrrgh…! Tighter grip than… I… Gackh…! Thought… But it… ain't over…!" Tay defiantly challenged as he quickly slipped one hand up through Bolo's arm to give himself just enough room to breathe. In that same instant, he raised his other arm high above his head… and at a moment's glance, he clenched his fist and threw a VICIOUS elbow backward. And with just the MEANEST *KRATWOOSHK*, Tayshan BURIED his elbow into Bolo's ribs.

"GWOHHOAGH…!" Bolo grunted in an understandably unfathomable torrent of sudden pain as he tried to hold on. He would see no such fortune, however, as Tayshan repeated the measure four more times while trying to keep his airways open. *THRUNK* after *PLACK* after *DOORSHK* after bone-crunching *KAPLARCK*, Tayshan made Bolo feel EVERY BIT of the counterattack. And as soon as he landed the fourth elbow strike, Bolo inadvertently loosened his grip JUST enough that the wraith was granted the chance he needed. Acting quickly, Tay grabbed one of Bolo's arms and pulled it forward while pressing his hand against one of the younger man's legs. He took one step back, yanked Bolo's leg off from around his waist with one arm, and then whirled around while pulling on the headbanded warrior's arm in one fell swoop. "WHOAOOAAAWAAAAAH!" he shouted as he found himself forcibly removed from his submission hold.

"SHWWWOOOOAARRRRAAAH!" Tayshan howled in determination as he used both his arms to swing Bolo up over his head before slamming the blue-haired fighter onto the ground with a resounding *WHAPLOUGH* flat on his back.

"UHWAAGH! Gah…!" Bolo grunted, feeling the sting of the rocky, flowery surface of the ground beneath him. He wouldn't get much of a chance to recover, however before…

"GET UP. This fight ain't over until you're too injured t' move, you learn your lesson an' give up, or you're on your way t' the dream world…!" Tayshan demanded and taunted, really playing up the antihero role as he walked over and snatched Bolo up by his vest. Rather than attack him at this point, however, he shoved the other man while standing him up on his feet. "It's YOUR choice how the rest o' this Kyller Melee transpires, 'Lou Krane,' an' if you want t' save your 'girlfriend,' then you're gonna have t' do a LOT better than that!" he further challenged, after which he struck another battle pose. And despite Bolo initially finding it difficult to recover, hunching over as he tried to catch his breath…

"Oh, that does it! You're IN for it now!" the highly agitated headbanded adventurer quickly stood tall and barked before charging ahead to challenge his teammate/rival straight up. "TYAAAH!" he further yelled as he threw a punch that Tayshan parried with an open hand. Tay attempted to counter with a punch of his own, though Bolo dodged it and tried to counter with a spinning kick. The kick, however quick it was, found itself blocked with a *TWACK* of Bolo's shin against Tayshan's Inhibitor Vambrace. Tay tried to move in and strike with another hard-knuckled punch to Bolo's face, though Bolo would fortunately be nimble enough to block it while stepping back to relieve some pressure.

"Where you goin'!?" Tayshan oh-so-humbly requested to know as he charged at Bolo to keep the pressure on. As soon as he closed the distance, Tay planted his hands onto the flowerbed they'd fought their way into and attempted to sweep Bolo's legs from under him with a capoeira-styled windmill spin. And with a windy (no pun intended) *FLIRSSCH*, the wraith sliced through a ton of multicolored flowers with his legs.

"SWOOHAH!" Bolo grunted as he reacted by doing this strange, yet… oddly stylish spinning backdash move while pulling out his Morning Star. Meanwhile, Tayshan spun himself back to his feet and raced forth again, hoping to keep Bolo on his toes. As soon as he took as little as two or three steps, however… "FOR THE KNOCKOUT!" Bolo further proclaimed as he spun around and whirled his mace as HARD as he could with the intent to send his rival to the previously mentioned dream world. Yet, JUST when it looked like he would connect…

"SHRAH!" Tayshan grunted as he ducked and weaved under the Morning Star's Pike Ball JUST in time to avoid being blasted into oblivion. It was SO CLOSE, as a matter of fact, that a spike from the mace grazed his helmet with a *CHISK*, whizzing by with enough speed to cause a spark.

"DARN IT! I thought I-!" Bolo was about to complain as he retracted his mace and stashed it into his inventory right as Tay closed the distance and delivered an enormous *PRAPLACK* of a palm strike to Bolo's chest that sent him stumbling back to the point of nearly falling into a mini volcano that was at least a few yards behind him. He'd BARELY caught his footing as he felt his heel slide off the edge, kicking gravel into the sweltering lava pit. And with minuscule *Friiissssshes* and *Bwabwoorglorghs* of the pit below, Bolo was reminded of just how lucky he was that he didn't fall. "Gwaaah…! Whoa, that was a-!"

"PAY ATTENTION!" Tayshan shouted as he raced forth and tried to bash Bolo's face in with a MEAN haymaker.

"WHAHOW!" Bolo bellowed, NARROWLY avoiding being knocked into another dimension as he ducked JUST low enough that Tay's fist grazed his hair. Bolo quickly rolled away from the mini volcano and toward another stony, craggy clearing. Tay relentlessly pursued, however, as he lunged ahead and performed a jump kick that Bolo had a reasonable amount space to dodge. Sidestepping the incoming attack, the younger warrior moved to counter with an uppercut… that Tay blocked with a *THWACK* of Bolo's fist against his forearm. Tay tried to capitalize with a knee aimed at Bolo's chest, though Bolo was able to block with his own knee. Bolo next tried to deliver a hook that Tay leaned backward to avoid, followed by Bolo attempting a crescent kick that Tay blocked with another *Twogh* by lifting his knee up in front of himself. At that point, both combatants got similar ideas to throw haymakers at one another. And as one might expect, they both landed their shots with twin *KRATHRACKs* to each other's faces, causing one another to stumble back. Neither of them would be shaken up by the exchange, however…

"Heh… You really ARE a good martial artist. You're definitely not given enough credit, if it means anything t' point that out," Tay complimented as he quickly reentered his battle pose.

"Thanks. I could say the same of you," Bolo complimented right back as he also got back into his fighting stance. "I can see why Shantae always seems to have so much trouble against you, though I'm starting to suspect you're still not showing me everything…"

"Much appreciated, though Shantae ain't who you should be thinkin' about right this second. It's ME you're fightin' here, not her. If you think you can beat me, then that's all that should matter t' you right now. An' as far as not showin' you everything, that's just how I am. You'll have t' MAKE me show you more o' my abilities if that's what you wanna see."

"Fair point. In that case, bring it on! I'll show you what I'm made of!" the younger warrior brazenly welcomed the challenge. And just like that, the boys went silent as they entered an old-fashioned martial arts standoff. Mind you, the standoff in question would only last a few seconds before they charged at one another once again to continue their battle.

At that point, though, I… kinda started to lose track because of how much was happening between the boys. They suddenly began moving almost as quick as hummingbirds as they locked each other in combat once again. Punches, kicks, dodges, whirls, parries… The two of them REALLY went at it as they bounced all around the battlefield, trying their hardest to best one another. I WILL say, though, that while it seemed roughly even at a glance, one good look would tell you that Bolo was being a LOT more aggressive. Tayshan, on the other hand, had seemed to practically VOLUNTEER to be on defense throughout the kerfuffle as he seemingly refused to capitalize on opportunities to counter and instead dedicated himself to dodging and parrying most of the other young man's attacks. Heck, I hadn't even seen him glow with magic, now that I think of it… Yet, the exchange would only last but so long before…

"SHOOM!" Tayshan grunted as he did a backflip to dodge an incoming roundhouse kick from Bolo. And right as Tay finished the maneuver and got set to rise…

"Gotcha now!" Bolo announced as he raced in and tried to land a most BRUTAL uppercut to Tayshan's seemingly vulnerable chin… only for Tay to lean back and extend a hand forth to redirect Bolo's punch upward to completely throw him off-balance. "UHWAH!" the unsuspecting warrior yelped in surprise as he was sent stumbling back. That would be the LEAST of his worries, however…

"DORYAAH!" Tayshan grunted once more as he closed the distance, grabbed Bolo by his wrist with one hand while cocking the other one all the way back and planting his feet into the ground. And in one fell swoop, Tay pulled Bolo in and just… absolutely PULVERIZED the younger man's stomach with an earth-shattering *KATHRASHK* of an uppercut that propelled him into the air.

"Gwaaaaaahaaaagh…!" Bolo barely eked out in understandably nauseous agony as his eyes bulged out of his head. And yet, the 'fun' wouldn't end there for him…

"AN' THIS IS FOR ROTTYTOPS!" Tayshan declared once more with surprising conviction as he followed up with an overhead elbow strike that crashed with a *KAPLOCK* against the back of Bolo's head to send him hunching over, after which he jutted his knee up to hit the younger warrior with a *THRACK* against his chin that forced him to stand back up. He then struck with a *THRASHK* of a hook that sent the headbanded young man stumbling to the side. The wraith finished up by grabbing Bolo's wrist once more, pulling him upward off his feet, and delivering a spinning hook kick that belted the blue-haired young man in the chest with a definitive *KRATHOCK*.

"GAHWAAGH…!" Bolo grunted as he was sent tumbling across the sooty volcanic field with a rumbling *PLOUGHLOUGHLOFFF* before he found himself face down in unbelievable agony.

"Hah…!" Tay sighed, taking the moment to catch his breath as he adjusted his damaged helmet. He didn't take his eyes off Bolo, however, as the fighter in question gingerly and very shakily rose to his hands and knees. "Give up yet?"

"You…! YOU…!" Bolo growled, evidently FAR from happy with what just happened as he heavily panted.

"What's the problem now? Are you upset that I got some shots in for Rotty?"

"No…! You're not taking this SERIOUSLY…!" Bolo accused as he finally lifted his head to glare piping hot death at Tayshan. "At least, not as seriously as you SHOULD be…!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're pulling your punches despite what you said earlier! Why are you treating me like some stupid little charity case!? Like I don't know when you're holding back!?"

"But I'm NOT holdin' back," Tay explained through his confusion. "The way you look an' feel right now should be proof o' that."

"HARDLY!" Bolo fervently denied as he angrily pushed himself back to his feet and dusted himself off… before lifting up his mask and spitting a gob of… what looked like blood onto the ground. YIKES, that combo must've done some serious damage… "You haven't used a single magic-based attack since we started this fight! And I'm not going to be satisfied until you show me your REAL power as my rival!"

"What? Bro, we are LITERALLY fightin' for an entirely different reason than settlin' some score for our 'rivalry.' As in, you wanna save your new girlfriend from a fate you think is worse than death. An' you're upset with me now because I won't use magic against you?"

"Yes! I mean, I'm still not letting you send Klawdia to an overseas animal jail for the rest of her life, but darn it, I WILL NOT tolerate you going easy on me because you think I can't handle you at full strength! Fight me like you mean it!"

"…You… have the ODDEST sense of 'honor' out of anyone I've ever met…" a most befuddled Tayshan remarked, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "An' not t' insult you, but why would I start usin' magic now when you've been strugglin' t' deal with me when I'm not usin' it?"

"I wasn't 'struggling'! I had you on the ropes almost this entire time AND I cracked your mask! You call THAT 'struggling'?"

"Jeez… Always so ready t' argue a moot point," Tay lamented with a sigh as he momentarily rested a hand on the cranium of his helmet. "But alright. Fine," he further acquiesced. "You want me t' start usin' magic? You got it."

"Good! And this time, you-!"

"Slow down," Tay cut in to advise. "I'm gonna give you a choice o' WHICH magic I use. Just be prepared t' have a bad time either way before I end this battle in the next minute or two. So… Light or Dark?"

"O-oh! Uh… I-I didn't know we were gonna go about it like THIS. But uh… Just for curiosity's sake, what would be the difference? And why not both?"

"I only use Dual Magic on true enemies, an' even then, I have t' use it sparingly. My fight with Risky Boots in the Phantasmagoric Forest should be all the proof you need. All things considered, I'm not about t' do that t' you, bro," Tay sagely gave his warning. Just as uttered his words, however, the form of that same giant glowing bird from earlier sailed over the vicinity. What it was doing there, I'm not sure. It… seemed intent on circling the area like it was waiting for an opportunity to attack, though no one noticed right away…

"…Fair."

"Glad you understand. An' I'll explain the differences in game terms if it makes it easier t' comprehend."

"Yeah, I was actually gonna ask you to try and make it simpler this time around," Bolo agreed. "But go on. What are the differences?"

"Well… Light Magic gives me a manageable boost in attack, defense, an' speed dependin' on how much I use at a time. As long as I don't overuse it, it helps me keep an edge when I need one. I also use Light Magic for certain non-lethal defensive moves like my Specter Flash an' Reaper Wind Burst."

"Ah… Okay. Good to know."

"On the other hand, Dark Magic gives me a MUCH bigger increase in attack, but doesn't do as much for my speed as Light Magic does. On top o' that, Dark Magic actually DECREASES my defense an' drains my health over time. An' it's worth mentionin' that Dark Magic gives me access t' more aggressive, more… lethal moves o' mine like the Sniper's Judgment an' that Banishment Blast you saw earlier. There's… also the added quirk that Shantae would sense it if I used too much. I wouldn't be surprised if she sensed it in some capacity by now, as a matter o' fact…"

"I see…"

"Yep. So, pick your poison, homie. Light side or Dark side?"

"Hm… I think I'll pick—!" Bolo was about to make easily one of the worst decisions of his life before a sudden, collective *BRAKABWOOOOOORSH* of multiple mini volcanoes went off, spewing prismatic magma all over the place as the volcanic field began to quake a bit. One of those tiny volcanoes… happened to be the one Klawdia was situated next to. "Whoa…! Man, this place is ACTIVE…!" Bolo acknowledged as he kept his footing and peered over to where Klawdia was… only to see her sitting directly in the path of a river of lava slowly washing over the surface of the volcanic field toward her. "Oh, NO! KLAWDIA!"

"Ah, darn it…!" Tay cursed, awash with worry as he recognized his mistake and made a move to try and rescue the Leopard Gal… before the *KASNAP* of the net that was holding her stopped him. Soon after, Klawdia scampered and clawed her way out of the device and began a full sprint toward the boys. "Huh? How in the world did she break free from the net…?"

"DARLING!" the cat lady called to Bolo, closing the distance in no time flat as she hopped and lunged over multiple streams of rainbow lava along the way.

"Whoa! Wow, you managed to get out of that net by yourself!" Bolo excitedly praised, running toward her as she cleared the last stream of lava separating the two. Just then, that bird I mentioned earlier came zooming in toward them.

"What the…?" Tay murmured as he peered upward to notice the incoming threat. He initially saw the bird silently diving toward his teammate and said teammate's lover, though the sudden *ZHROAULNG* of the bird transforming into a humanoid creature with a ball of purple lighting in midair put him into high alert. And as soon as he registered the potential danger, he sprang into action. "Bolo, wait! Contact at our three!" he further called as the *KAPWOOOOOORSH* of the lightning ball being launched toward them ripped through the air.

"Hm? What do you me-? WHOA! What the heck are you-!? GAH!" Bolo tried to ask before being tackled to the ground by his ghostly partner. And while the boys would be safe… Klawdia… was a different story. As in, a devastating *KAPROKAZAZZAZZZAAAAAP* filled the ears of all who were around to hear it.

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" the unsuspecting Leopard Gal howled in indescribable, unspeakable agony as she was directly struck by the blast. Electrocuted from head to toe, the poor cat woman hardly knew what hit her.

"KLAWDIAAAA!" Bolo shouted in horror as he clamored his way out of Tayshan's grasp to rush over to her. He would find no opportunity to tend to her, however, as the Leopard Gal's body collapsed right in front of him. Yet, before she even hit the ground, the Leopard Gal's form vanished with a sudden *POOF*, replaced with a floating, transparent astral projection of her standing before him. "N-no…! K… Klawdia…?" Bolo called to her again as he gazed in shock at her newly ethereal form. Rather than speak back to him, the ghost of Klawdia only offered the young man a look of soul-crushing sadness… before turning her frown into the most comforting smile she could muster as she crouched low enough to rest her hands on Bolo's shoulders. And just as her form began to glitter and glow bright, the deceased Leopard Gal planted one final kiss on the young man's lips. Frozen stiff, Bolo could only register the surprising warmth of his lover's embrace as he watched her disintegrate and fade from view, her gentle and affectionate touch being the last thing she left him with… And within a few seconds, Klawdia was gone without a trace… Poor Bolo could only stand and stare into the distance, devastated by the sudden loss…

"…Bolo…" Tay somberly uttered barely above a whisper as he bore witness to his teammate's despair.

"Heh… My aim needs work, but I can't be disappointed in my heightened power…!" spoke an all-too-familiar orange-eyed, strawberry blonde-haired young woman. Dressed in a midriff-baring bustier of a gradient salmon-pink and gold, form-fitting short shorts of alabaster with a rose-buckled black belt, fingerless long gloves of goldenrod that matched her earrings, and salmon-pink sneakers that matched her top, the woman took a moment to marvel at the tragedy she'd just caused… and grinned in macabre delight. "One less filthy animal to pollute this crowded, flowery graveyard," she further remarked as she adjusted the gold headband on her head to make sure it did its job of keeping her long, free-flowing wavy hair out of her face.

"An' what in the world are YOU doin' here?" Tayshan asked, his tone low and full to the brim with seething vitriol as he climbed to his feet and confronted the intruder.

"None of your concern, Sayvrax, though I've got quite a few questions for you based on what I overheard. But first… Since when were you able to jump out of your manga series and invade the real world?" the young woman nonchalantly asked back as she stretched and ran her fingers through her hair. Evidently, she didn't recognize the man standing before her, though she recognized his outfit. "And what's with the halo? Last I checked, you were a bad guy."

"Hm. Good t' know you're a fan, but it's a real disappointment t' see you're as short-sighted an' brash as the last time we met, Hashanah. Otherwise, you'd recognize who it is under this mask an' realize that YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE…!" the ghost ninja cryptically and insultingly shot back, naming our unwelcome guest in the process.

"What are you talking about? How do you know me? At what point did you and I…?" the renegade genie was about to belt out another bombardment of questions before 'Sayvrax' pressed his hands to his helmet and mask. With a series of *Clicks* and *Pops*, he detached the pieces of the mask and slowly pulled them off his head. And as soon as our dreadlocked, scar-faced wraith antihero revealed his true identity and glared at her with his piercing golden eyes… "TAYSHAN…!" Hashanah growled, her curiosity turning into a mixture of surprise and bitter disdain in an instant as she immediately struck a battle pose.

"At your service. An' since you was so kind as t' crash our party an' add another name t' your senseless kill list, we should spend a little bit o' time catchin' up… AFTER I take you down an' bring you in for questionin'!"

"Hm. You can certainly try, but I've got a few new tricks up my sleeve for you THIS time. And this time, I'm gonna enjoy TEARING YOU LIMB FROM LIMB after you cough up what you know about the Phantasmagoric Forest…!"

"There's nothin' I have t' share with the likes o' you. An' I'm aware o' how busy you've been since we last fought, which only gives me more reason t' stop you. Now, prepare yourself. I'm not goin' nearly as easy on you as I did last time, an' you better believe that your obnoxious antics will be put to a SWIFT end here."

"'Not going nearly as easy,' you say? Gosh, you're so full of yourself!" Hashanah remarked with a laugh. Reading this as a challenge, Tayshan took off one of his Inhibitor Vambraces and charged a notable supply of Dark Magic into his hand that ignited with an ominous, crackling *KRAFROOOOOOWSH*. "You just got lucky last time because of your cheap ghost tricks. Don't you dare get cocky with me! What makes you think you're so tou—?" she was about to ask before…

"SHRRRRAAAAAAAH!" the wraith roared as he aimed his open hand at a blimp-sized boulder off to the side, grounded his stance, and, with a crackling *KRAKABWEEEERRRRROOOOSH*, he fired an enormous beam of swirling purple light that went ZOOMING toward its intended target. Within the next few seconds, and with a deafening *KRATWOOMBLOMBLOMBLOMB*, Tayshan's magic attack OBLITERATED the boulder in an instant as rocky debris scattered in all directions. The blast continued on through, incinerating everything else in its path whether it be flowers, the ground beneath it, or remains of animals that had previously served as food sources for the late Klawdia. Only when the attack began skidding across the ocean did it finally dissipate. "GHAAAH…! Hah…!" he groaned and drew in a deep breath as he recoiled from the demonstration. Standing tall nevertheless, he put the Inhibitor Vambrace back on and returned his gaze to the genie girl.

"…What…? H-how…?" an astonished Hashanah tried to ask as she recovered from shielding herself and tried to process the freak occurrence for herself.

"You think I'm playin'?" Tayshan sternly asked, wiping sweat off his brow as the arm he launched his attack with crackled with purple-hued electricity for a few seconds longer. While Hashanah found herself entirely surprised, she took a deep breath of her own and recomposed herself after a moment.

"Hmph. I'm not impressed. I can do that too," she claimed, scowling at him all the while. "And if that was your pathetic attempt at intimidating me, then you'll be disappointed to know it didn't work…!"

"Oh, really? Well, that just grinds my gears," he flatly remarked as he assumed another battle stance. "Guess the only other way t' make you see that you can't beat me is by givin' you a chance t' tire yourself out tryin' before I arrest you. An' you better believe I ain't lettin' you slink away this time."

"Ooh, now THAT'S a challenge if I ever heard one. Fine, then. I'll simply take this as an opportunity to show you that YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE UNDERESTIMATED ME! And since you won't tell me what I need to know when I use my manners, I have no issue FORCING the information out of you if that's what you want me to do, Tayshan. Oh, and I'll be sure to tell your soon-to-be widow Shantae you died again trying your best after I'm through with you…!" Hashanah threatened with a sneer as she pulled out her Spirit Fuser Fragment and steeled her nerves. One… could tell by the sweat trickling from her forehead and the slight trembling in her hands, however, that she felt the overwhelming pressure that came with challenging Tayshan again. She brushed her nerves aside in the wake of pursuing her goal for confronting him, no less.

And that should just about do it for this go-around… MAN, did things get super tense, super quick. I was almost sure things would go smoothly this time! Grand reveal after grand reveal after surprise friend-against-friend Boss Battle after grand reveal, I was on my toes this entire time! And as much as I despise cliffhangers… and as much as I'm sure you ALSO despise cliffhangers, I know you'd be overloaded if I kept on going. And so many questions! Who was the jackal woman that visited Mimic and took the Astral Enhancement Tonic? How's Bolo doing after having just lost someone he seemed so close to? And… how much time does Tayshan actually have left? Ohh, I am ITCHING to tell you more! But it'll have to wait till next time… I think. Either way, please come back for the next exciting installment! Sayonara for now!