Author's Note: Another chapter I definitely had some fun with. Poking fun at Convenient Video Game Items, another unintentional jab at recruitment fights, and the mildest of ship bait, to name a few things. (Also, while I haven't actually seen how it goes yet, apparently Masaru refuses to fight Cube because they're adorable, which is of course Correct, so I indirectly slipped that in, too.)

Chapter Three: Masaru and Cube, Part 1

"I really wish he'd stop doing that," Lei groaned.

She side-eyed Pogo as they strolled through the small village. They'd encountered several more monsters before reaching the town's gate. While they'd gotten through the fights just fine, she could still smell the aftermath of Pogo's last…'attack,' so to speak.

Pogo himself was cheerfully marching along aside them. It was unclear how much he understood of what they were saying, and Lei wasn't sure if that was good or bad in this case. Meanwhile, Oboromaru looked from Pogo to Lei and then shrugged.

"To be fair, it was useful," he said in a manner of someone who was trying too hard to sound positive.

Lei noticed that he'd tucked some of the herbs into his mask. Hypocrite.

Well, whatever; there was no use in complaining. They'd arrived at the castle by now, anyway. Lei and Oboromaru shoved the heavy doors open and cautiously glanced around.

There weren't any guards. Something about that made Lei uneasy. Then again, the houses had looked unoccupied, too… They'd only taken a few brief glances through the windows, but… Maybe everyone was a little further inside?

Their footsteps echoed around them, and Lei absently turned towards the right-hand hallway. There was another door, thankfully smaller and less heavy, and Lei could push it open by herself.

"A storeroom?" she mused as she entered.

There were boxes and barrels scattered around, along with a few weapons and suits of armor. Oboromaru followed her inside, curiously examining a sword hung up on the back wall. Meanwhile, Lei pried the lid off one of the boxes, raising an eyebrow when she saw its contents.

"…What is a pork bun doing in here?"

Oboromaru glanced up. He'd been handling the sword somewhat awkwardly; it must've felt different from the katana he was used to wielding. Regardless, he set it down, approached her, and peered over Lei's shoulder. Then, he opened another box and blinked.

"And a shrimp rice ball," he said in a vaguely-puzzled kind of way.

"Aiiieeeeee!"

Lei had almost forgotten about Pogo, but she looked over when she heard his usual shout. A barrel clattered to the floor after he sniffed and tackled it. The top popped off, and a huge slab of meat spilled out onto the floor.

"Hey, wait! Don't eat that!" Lei shouted.

It was too late. Pogo either didn't hear her or didn't care. He perched himself on top of the toppled barrel, happily gnawing away at his snack.

Lei and Oboromaru glanced at each other for several long seconds. Finally, Lei said dryly, "Well, I guess we'll know how safe this stuff is soon."

Oboromaru simply nodded. Lei couldn't blame him for not responding verbally; she wasn't sure how to react, either.

At any rate, they poked around the storeroom for a few more minutes. Some of the boxes might be useful for carrying things, depending on how long they were stuck here, Lei thought… And there were several small objects that looked like explosives. Perhaps they'd be handy if the group ran into any more monsters.

Lei pocketed some things before heading back into the hallway. Oboromaru and Pogo followed her out, and Lei glanced down at Pogo. He'd finished the meat, and so far he looked no worse for the wear… Hopefully he stayed that way.

At the opposite end of the hallway, they found a set of stairs leading downward. The air cooled slightly as they walked, and Lei wrinkled her nose. It was even mustier down here than it had been in the storeroom… And were those metal bars up ahead?

"If this is a prison, I doubt we'll find much, but…" Lei started.

She trailed off upon hearing another man's voice. The second cell had its door swinging loosely on its hinges, and its occupant did a series of stretches before throwing a kick at the wall. He sprung backwards, shouted again, spun around, and—

"Oh, hey!" he said brightly, finally noticing his company. "I see I'm not the only one here. And you look like you know your way around a fight, too!"

Lei blinked, not sure what to make of him. She was getting used to weird introductions by now… But why was he working out here of all places?

She finally settled on saying, "Well, yeah, I do."

It wasn't bragging if it was true, right? Besides, the man just nodded and grinned before going on.

"Right! I knew it. So, let me guess—you wanna pick a fight with me?"

…Well, at least he'd asked first. (Okay, not another jab at Oboromaru, Lei thought—or at least not an intentional one.) Besides, it was kind of refreshing to fight another person instead of those spirit-monsters.

So Lei shrugged and replied, "You know what? Sure. Why not?"

"Yes!" The guy did a double fist-pump before shifting into a battle-ready position. "Let's do this!"

Lei grinned in return before closing her eyes and readying another Sacred Dragon's Temper. Something told her this was going to be fun—now to see how it went.

Oboromaru hung back, closer to the stairs. It was simpler to sit back where he was less noticeable, really. Force of habit, and he'd never been much for chatter, anyway. Besides, this was clearly a one-on-one match, and it was easier to watch if he wasn't in the way.

Now that he could observe Lei properly, he could appreciate the speed of her movements. They were light and quick but precise—never sloppy or inaccurate. Powerful, too; she was more lightly-built than her opponent, but several of her attacks actually sent him stumbling back a few feet.

It was all very calculated, despite her enthusiasm. Obviously, she was someone who knew her art well. Perhaps elegant was a good word, though Oboromaru wasn't sure where that had come from. He cleared his throat and glanced aside as Lei delivered a swift, somersaulting kick to her target. It felt almost improper to be watching her so closely, but—

Oboromaru glanced down suddenly. Pogo was tugging on his leg; he'd almost forgotten the caveman was there. Then, Pogo pointed at Lei and cocked his head to the side.

"Aie?"

Oboromaru coughed and tugged his mask a little further up his face. "…Not quite."

Pogo blinked and grunted in confusion. Fortunately, Oboromaru didn't need to ponder the situation much longer. Lei approached them, and she shouted, "Hey, guys!"

Metaphorical bullet dodged, he supposed.

Well, that was fun. Masaru—he'd introduced himself after they wrapped up the match—was a skilled martial artist. He'd used a lot of strange yet interesting techniques Lei had never seen before. Perhaps a few more practice bouts were in order, if they could find the time.

At any rate, he'd agreed to come with them, so it was time to introduce him to Oboromaru and Pogo. Lei nodded when they glanced up at her, and she pointed to Masaru as she went on.

"This is Masaru, and he's going to help us out," she announced. Then, she gestured at her other two companions and told him, "That's Oboromaru, and that's…well, we've been calling him 'Pogo,' because that's kinda what it sounded like when he introduced himself."

"Uh-huh…" Masaru nodded slowly as he looked them over. "Well, this place keeps getting weirder. What are a ninja and a caveman doing in a European castle?"

Pogo blinked and grunted in confusion. Oboromaru pointed at Lei before saying very seriously, "I followed her here."

"Right, and I guess I'm as out of place as you are," Masaru mused. "But since we're all here, we may as well help each other out, right?"

Lei nodded again as she glanced around. Was this castle 'European'? It didn't look Chinese, anyway…

She paused when she realized everyone had fallen silent. Masaru was looking at her expectantly, like he was waiting for directions. Had he decided she was the one in charge? Well, Lei realized that she kind of was, since everyone was following her around…

"Anyway," she said, "we've looked around a bit, but there's still some of the castle we haven't seen yet. We figured we'd check it out some more."

"Makes sense to me," Masaru agreed. "Let's go, then!"

Everyone nodded, and they proceeded to walk out of the dungeon. The next door they passed through led to an overgrown garden that had probably been pretty once. Then, there was another short hallway that led to a few more rooms.

They were all empty, too… Well, barring a handful of other items, anyway. Lei wouldn't complain about picking a few more things up, but…

"This place is giving me the creeps." Masaru frowned as they poked around one of the bedrooms. "Where is everybody?"

"I don't know." Lei frowned in return. "You three are the only people I've seen here so far."

"I mean, if nobody's using this stuff, then I guess it's okay to take," Masaru said fairly. "But I still feel kinda weird about it, you know?"

"Yeah…maybe we should get out of here."

They left the room and headed back down the hallway. On the way out, Lei saw one more door she hadn't noticed earlier. May as well see what was out there, she thought. She pushed it open, and everyone obligingly followed her outside.

They'd arrived on a small balcony that faced out to the south. The view was kind of nice, Lei admitted… It was pretty in a quiet sort of way, and the fresh air felt good after being in the musty old rooms.

She shook herself and noticed that everyone else had spread out to examine the balcony. Pogo sat near the center, gnawing on some item he'd picked up and Lei couldn't quite see. Oboromaru poked around at the left side of the balcony while Masaru headed off to the right. And then—

"Oh my God, you guys! Look! It's so adorable!"

Masaru was crouched down near something in the corner. Lei curiously went over to see what it was, and Oboromaru followed her. Pogo finally noticed everyone was gathered together, and he darted over to them. He grunted as he shifted around and tried to peer over their shoulders.

Lei knelt down and examined the object in front of them. It seemed to be some kind of…metallic spherical device. A small red hat was perched on top of it, and there were yellow frames around the eye-like slits on its front, though both were slightly crooked. It had a pair of small, wing-like flaps at its sides, and were those…tiny wheels on its feet?

The contraption was one of the strangest things Lei had ever seen. But somehow, the more she looked at it, the cuter it got. Lei leaned back and grinned; she could see where Masaru was coming from.

"I guess it's kinda cute," she admitted. "But…what is it, exactly?"

Masaru frowned lightly and rubbed his chin. "Looks like some kind of toy robot. Not sure how it got here, now that I think about it… Maybe there's someone else like us who dropped it?"

"A…robot?" Lei repeated uncertainly.

"Yeah! You guys must have wanted your own robot before, right?" Masaru paused, glanced at Pogo, and added, "Well, I guess he wouldn't have one, but—"

He was cut off when Oboromaru carefully pulled the contraption towards them. There was a light scraping noise, and he turned the device to the side. A lid on the back had come loose, exposing some odd buttons and cords. And near the center, there was a small rectangular hole.

Lei squinted at it. "Looks like something's supposed to go there, doesn't it?"

Masaru and Oboromaru nodded; Pogo was still blinking in confusion. Lei leaned closer to the contraption. The more she looked at that gap, the more it reminded her of something…but what?

"Oh!" she finally said. "I saw this…weird thing back up on the mountain, but I didn't pick it up because I wasn't sure what it was. Maybe that'd fit in there?"

"A weird thing?" Masaru repeated. "What kind of weird thing?"

"Like…some kind of little box? I don't know; it just reminded me of that, now that I'm looking at it."

"Well, it's not like we've got any other ideas." Masaru shrugged and stood up. "You remember where it was?"

"I think so." Lei stood up as well. "Might as well give it a try, right?"

Oboromaru nodded. He carefully slid the contraption back towards the niche it had been sitting in. He stared at it for a few seconds before straightening up.

"Does it work like a karakuri puppet?" he said, glancing at Masaru.

"Oh, I've heard of those! I guess so. I mean, I don't know exactly how they work, but—" Masaru paused. "What made you think of that?"

"…Oh. There was…one the puppet master left behind, and…"

Lei thought Oboromaru was frowning beneath his mask, but it was hard to tell.

"It had a slot in the back like that," Oboromaru finished simply.

"Uh-huh…and it needed some kind of…thing?"

Oboromaru nodded, and Masaru scratched the back of his neck.

"Something tells me there's a story there," he said. "But let's get going. Gotta find the thing Lei's thinking about, right?"

Lei shook herself. She had no idea what a karakuri puppet was, but…sitting around for too long was probably a bad idea anyway. Everyone followed her back to the door, and she shoved it open.

Hopefully the thing was still up on the mountain, but…they'd just have to see, she supposed.