The Egg Phoenix had punctured Bright Moon's barrier, mounting its metallic talons on a tower of the castle. "Citizens of Bright Moon, your day of reckoning has arrived!" Eggman blasted a beam from the phoenix's mouth, striking a group of buildings as they were warped to a Pocket Dimension. "Once I control the unstoppable secret of your planet, the universe will tremble before me! Those who do not surrender will wallow in misery within 'Egg Space'! So, make your choice, Bright Moon! Surrender or be banished to the dimension you spawned from!"
Three teenagers were racing across a bridge leading from the castle to the central pillar: one was a blonde, ponytailed girl with a red soldier's uniform; another was a purple-clothed princess with pink, glittery hair; the third was a dark-skinned boy with a white, sleeveless shirt with an exposed belly, and a bow-and-arrow. "These robots don't look like Horde creations!" yelled Adora, the ponytailed girl.
"Whatever that bird robot is, it looks really powerful!" Princess Glimmer said. "I'll need as much energy from the Moonstone as I can get."
"Were there some remnants of the Horde after all?!" cried Bow, the archer boy. "What if they're sending a million tiny microbots into our brains to control us?!"
"Calm down, Bow!" Adora yelled. "Everything will be fine once we get to the Moonstone!"
The trio entered the central pillar and raced up a flight of stairs. They exited to the top—immediately blinded by the bright light of the Sunstone. "AAAAAH!" screamed Glimmer. "Where's that light coming from?!"
"Y'know, this planet feels too pale for my tastes." said a seductive voice belonging to a silhouette against the light. "I decided to light it up some. Get a tan, why don't ya?"
"I'll have you know I'm quite proud of my tan!" Bow shouted.
"Hm?" Varcrutis dimmed the light back to normal. "Oh, so you do. That's weird, is it some sort of moon tan?"
"Who the heck are you?!" Adora yelled.
"I'm just a humble visitor wanting to liven things up. I decided to make your Moonstone into a Sunstone! Like it?!" Var flicked her finger up like a light switch, repeatedly switching the light on and off.
"STOP DOING THAT!" Bow yelled. "Just what are you doing here?!"
"I'm here for two things: I want this Lightswitch Stone and I want She-Ra. We're just destroying your town for funsies, yeah."
"That is NOT something you do for FUNSIES!" Bow declared passionately, grabbing his signature weapon and pulling back an arrow.
Var swiftly yanked Bow over, smacked his bow away, and quickly bent and tied him into a bow shape. "Your parents spared no expense naming you~" she remarked, twirling Bow on her finger as he flung toward Adora. As she worked to untie him, Glimmer grit her teeth and began to rapidly warp around Var, shooting Sparkle Beams at the demon. Var grunted from the attacks, trying to catch her bearings on the foe—until she brushed her hand like a fan and stirred the air, scattering Glimmer's sparkles in a whirlwind.
"Whoa-whoa-whoooooaaaaa!" As Glimmer reformed, appearing as a stretched, distorted form, she crashed on the ground, feeling sick to her bent stomach.
Overcome with fury, Adora rose to full height. "Alright. You want She-Ra?! You GOT She-Ra! For the honor of GRAYSKULL!" The heroine whipped out a large sword and raised it skyward. In a flash of light, Adora grew taller, donned in white attire, and golden hair shining with hope.
"I feel a sudden surge of energy!" The Egg Phoenix flapped over and hovered near the platform. "She-Ra, the honored hero of Etheria. Can that little sword really match the two of us?"
"Save your energy, Eggy! This girl is nothing compared to ME!" Varcrutis swiped her claws at She-Ra, the heroine blocking with her blade. Adora leapt away and slashed rainbow beams, but Var seemed to whip out paintbrushes and colored the rainbows dark. She danced her way to She-Ra and dyed her hair black.
"What the-?!" As Adora questioned the effect, her powers seemed to die down as well. "Huh?! What did you do to my-"
Var kicked Adora off her feet and stomped her face. "And that's how you crush a hero!"
"You…you defeated She-Ra that quickly?! But my intel states she's fought hundreds of…"
"Hundreds, shmundreds, there's no hero in the universe that can top me!"
"Ho ho ho…then hiring you was truly the right choice. With you by my side, conquering the rest of Etheria will be a walk in the park!"
"Nnngh…ugh…" Hearing grunting, Varcrutis looked down as Adora pushed herself up. "I won't… lose to you…" Her black hair flickered with blonde.
"Spare yourself the trouble, sweetie." Var kicked her in the jaw as Adora fell back. "With me around, there is no victory! That's the reality of it! That is YOUR reality!" She raised her foot and stomped the Sword of Protection, shattering it.
"VAR! What have you done?! We need that sword to use the weapon!"
"Will you relax, I can repair it just as easily. For now, it's best to keep She-Ra out of commission. With this, I have achieved victory! I won, just as I did on that day! I am-!"
"You didn't win, Var."
Flinching, Var whipped around. Dimentia stood, her white hood covering all but her somber frown. "Well, you're taking the direct approach today. Hm, what's this…" She looked around. "…Where are the other Phoenios? They planning a surprise attack?"
"…" Dimentia raised both hands and snapped her fingers. At that instant, a tomato and an egg splorped out of space… and smashed against her own head. "In this universe… we get hit by the tomato and egg."
"…" Var truly didn't know how to react. She… really didn't know. "…Is this some new fashion trend?"
"There are no other Phoenios, Var. No Phoenios are going to stop you. Including myself."
"Good, then go away. I have a planet to conquer."
"I pity you, Varcrutis. You were given a great privilege… the ability to explore and observe any universe of your choosing. But instead, you choose to hurt them. You enforce your own sick reality over them. But you know what, Var? This reality isn't yours to abuse. In this universe, when an evil adult harasses kids… the kids fight BACK!"
"YAAAAAAHHH!" A scream rang from above: Var faced up, gasping as Rex and Pyra were falling from above, ready to splice her in half with a giant, flaming sword! Though surprised by their sudden appearance, Var bent reality to turn Pyra blue, her sword spurting water as it merely splashed over Var with no damage. She grabbed both friends by the neck and violently slammed them to the ground.
"Was that supposed to be a sneak attack?" Eggman chortled. "I expected the little Space Phoenix to return, but I didn't expect such mediocre help!"
"Ha ha ha! Just what was THAT about?!" Varcrutis cackled. "Did you seriously let a mortal get hurt on YOUR behalf?! So obsessed with upholding the law and you've gone and broken it! You really don't care anymore, do you?! Hah, you're no different from me! You're no-"
"-YAAAAAH!"
A flaming sword shattered reality and sliced Varcrutis down the front. As her body seared with the scalding flames of Pyra's sword, the fragments of Var's superficial reality flew past her eyes, glittering and vanishing as the duo's expressions brimmed with power and pride.
Var stumbled backward, coughing as she angrily brushed the soot off. "You…you brats… How…"
"We know how your powers work." Rex stated. "You distort reality in your own image, try to force us to give in to your designs, but the reality you bend isn't permanent! It isn't real! You bend reality to make it seem like we lose! Because it feels real, that's how you make people submit! But we… REJECT THAT REALITY!"
"Reject that reality?" Adora repeated, staring at her broken sword. "It isn't real? …It isn't REAL!" The heroine grabbed the severed hilt, throwing it skyward as it grew back and shattered the false reality.
"I KNEW this wasn't humanly possible!" Bow remarked at his tied form. "Just because my name is Bow, just because I use a bow, I am not a bow! I REJECT THIS FORM!" He shattered and sprouted up to full height.
"I am the future queen of Bright Moon!" Glimmer declared, shattering back to her normal proportions. "I won't lose to you!"
"No!" Var shouted. "Th-that…that's not how it works. No no no no no no! My reality is the law! I'm the master of reality! You're nothing to my powers! I'll break you all!"
"Go ahead and break us." Nia stated, using waterbending to heal Team Adora's injuries. "I'll fix everyone right up. Want us to wash that off?"
Before a response could be delivered, She-Ra whipped her sword like a bat and blasted Var off the pillar, crashing against the shore across the lake. Scratch and Grounder were buried under a wave of sand. "Ursula, Song Road!" Nia ordered.
"Right!" (Play "Xenoblade Medley" from Smash Ultimate!)
Boss fight: Varcrutis Depraritas
Rex, Pyra, Nia, and Adora surfed the Song Road to the shore. Var growled and, from her distance, snapped the road like scissors, but even after splashing in the lake, Nia brushed them to the shore with her bending. Rex and Pyra charged first, slashing fire waves at Varcrutis, who smacked the flames away and ran toward the couple. She looked up at the moons and smacked them away, bringing darkness and cold to the world. It seemed to hinder them as Rex started shivering, but he kept proud and true and relied on Pyra for warmth. The Blade flicked fire sparks around Var that burst quickly, surrounding the orca in smoke.
"Cough, cough!" She quickly ran out of the smoke and made it become a heavy oil, but was bashed in the head by She-Ra's sword. The princess rapidly slashed her sacred blade, struggling to muster power despite the apparent lack of moons. Var countered her with a flurry of scratches, swinging her arms around the sword to cut her face. With each blow, Adora's sword sparked with magic, and when the dark sky shattered and revealed the moons, a burst of power blew Var into the woods, knocking down a line of trees. She kicked up and dashed to slash Adora's stomach, and when Rex tried to attack, she dodged and slashed his cheek, then leapt to grab and slam both faces into each other. Quick on recovery, Rex grabbed Adora and lifted to swing her into Var sword-first, sending her across the beach. It was only then Var realized Nia was projecting an aura field over the group to heal them.
Var "popped" the aura like a bubble, but Nia rushed her, drawing a scimitar with a watery design as she slashed deadly waves at Varcrutis. "You know I'm a whale, right?!" Var remarked, easily splashing the waves out of the air. "I don't mind getting a little wet!" She jabbed her claws at Nia in attempt to stab her, but the Gormotti was a swift and fluent dodger. Var then noticed Ursula singing a carefree song, helping Nia move gracefully in evasion. Var decided to dance as well, grabbing hold of Nia and blowing into her cat ear, blowing her up like a balloon. "Let's see ya dance after I pop ya—HUUUOOO!" Var's eyes suddenly swelled up, her vision becoming stretched and blurry. "HEY! What the hell is this?! What did you…"
"I wasn't just splashing you just now!" Nia remarked. "I increased the reproduction rate of your cells. Ya should get a checkup on that."
"Let's go, Beary!" Ursula danced onto her companion as the polar bear charged at Var with a flurry of claw swipes, grabbing and throwing her to Adora, who batted her away. Var splashed in the lake, but deflated her eyes and swam back with breakneck speed. She dove and shot 50 feet out of the water, aiming to headbutt Rex like a bullet.
"KOS-MOS!" Rex swapped Pyra out for KOS-MOS, who blocked Var's attack with a Light Shield. Adora was quick to slam Var to the ground after the fact, then Rex began pelting her with light bullets from KOS-MOS's blaster. Var stretched her arm and grabbed KOS-MOS's visor, pulling a curtain down to block her vision. Adora quickly slashed the arm, Var pulling back as she began pulling moons down to throw at the princess. Adora blocked, but was unprepared as Var grabbed the castle itself and smashed it over all of them. Adora pushed the castle up with her own strength, smashing it like glass as the real castle returned. She spun at Var with a Hurricane Spin while Nia slashed her from behind. Varcrutis jumped away from the two, poking a hole in herself to let out any unwanted cells.
KOS-MOS unloaded Light Bullets onto Var. She ran to them, but was intercepted by Adora, the heroine jabbing her with the sword before kicking back. Var saw Ursula dancing in the air and making Music Notes, and Leic was dancing with her as well. "Aluben showed me this one! It's called the Skeleton Dance! 'Course, it works better if you're a skeleton."
Ursula cast the notes down at Var, some hitting while she grabbed two of them by the tails. She stretched and whirled them as bludgeons as she bashed Nia and Adora's heads. Nia tried to heal, but Var grabbed and slammed her into the sand—Adora stabbed at her, Var grabbing the sword and pushing back. She squeezed the sword and cracked it, but Adora was still determined to push her. The sword crackled with blue static, and its cracks disappeared. "It should be breaking! Why doesn't it break?! If I could puncture the Noah, this cheap sword should…"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but we went through a lot of trouble to rebuild this thing." Adora said. "I won't let the likes of you break it!" With a pulse of strength, she shoved Var away, but KOS-MOS was ready to catch her and release a Light Explosion. Adora used her own powers to heal Nia herself.
Dimentia was sitting patiently on the Moonstone's pillar, watching the bout. "That firebender girl isn't even using her powered-up form. I think we may be overpowered, Plex."
"But what do you plan to do about that one?" Plex indicated the Egg Phoenix. Tora and Poppi had appeared after the battle started, the robot Blade shoving the Phoenix away with her drill. Bow had been shooting Sticky Arrows at the robot's wings while Glimmer was warping around it to shoot Sparkle Beams from unsuspecting spots. "That machine feels powered with your chi!"
"I guess Eggman managed to steal one of my feathers. And since he's a native of this universe, he's not technically hindered by the same rule."
"Excuse me, ma'am!" Bow yelled to Dimentia. "I assume you're a good guy, so could you possibly help us?"
"Don't mind me!" Dimentia raised hands. "I'm just a retired principal. But if you win, I'll let you try my bow." She presented said weapon.
Bow gazed at it with brightened, emotional eyes. "I'll try my hardest!"
Poppi launched rockets at the Phoenix, but it warped away. "Behind you!" Glimmer yelled, but the mecha-bird swatted Poppi with its wing. Glimmer warped to catch Poppi and return her to the pillar, but Eggman was quick to warp himself and smash them under its talons. The Phoenix lifted the two and flew to slam them against the castle.
"I was told a Space Phoenix's feathers are beyond compare! Even one gives me the power to breach dimensions! You snot-nosed hooligans are going to be smothered between-"
"Poppi! Activate QTπ Mode!" Tora commanded.
Poppi transformed into a more mature form and used enhanced strength to push the Phoenix off, while Glimmer had warped to the pillar. Poppi unloaded a storm of missiles onto the mech, but Eggman warped to her side to deal a ram attack. Poppi dodged, then Glimmer warped onto the Phoenix's eyes to block his vision. "Get off my windshield, you dirty fly!" Eggman struggled to shake her off, but Glimmer only did so just as Poppi was charging to push the Phoenix with great momentum, smashing it against the shore. Eggman swat her away and flapped to recovery. He looked to Var's battle as Rex had switched back to Pyra, trying to surround her with smoke while Adora stopped her from escaping. "Do you need a little help, Varcrutis? Seems like you're outnumbered."
"Worry about your own battle, Egghead! I can handle my own just fine!"
"If you insist. They won't have any fighting spirit after I banish their Moonstone to Egg Space!"
"I am Seeeea Hawk! I am, I am! If you're looking for adventure, then I am your man!"
The sound of an accordion rang from the distance. Eggman turned with confusion as some sort of hi-tech vessel was flying their way. "If you want to ride on the waves of deepest blue, to perilous winds, then I got you. Some say I'm a HERO! Some say I'm a MAN—AAAAHH!" The vessel's captain cried when Eggman launched a beam, the ship barely dodging.
"Sea Hawk?!" Bow exclaimed.
"He's using the abandoned Horde ship we found?" Glimmer asked.
"So, another nuisance has come to join the party?" Eggman asked.
"I am no nuisance, villain!" Sea Hawk proclaimed. "Let me demonstrate the power of the Dragon's Daughter XI! A little fire blaster will scorch those feathers~" He pushed a button beside a flame icon. The ship's jet boosters dramatically ignited, exploding as the vessel caught fire. "Whoops. Meant to get those fixed. MAYDAY! WHOOOOAA!" The captain struggled to maintain control as the burning ship spun downward.
"How incompetent can you be? Now then, back to warping the castle." Eggman set the Phoenix's sights on the castle again, but as Sea Hawk pressed all manner of buttons to save himself, the ship tilted and launched upward. "GEEEEEEHHH!" The keel punctured the chest of the Egg Phoenix. "NOOO! What have you done?! Get out! Get out of my robot!" Eggman frantically warped the bird around, but Sea Hawk merely came with him each time, the fires spreading to the Phoenix. The others could only watch as they warped from one side of the sky to the other repeatedly.
"Uhhh…see, it did work out." Dimentia said confusedly.
Var crossed her arms to defend from She-Ra's next flurry, the Sword of Protection close to cutting her skin. "THAT'S IT!" Without warning, Varcrutis clasped Adora's head in both hands. "I'm through playing around! IT'S TIME TO MAKE YOU RED PASTE!" And she squeezed with such force that Adora's head splattered. A fountain of blood came spewing out. "HA HA HA HA! This is the reality you live in, brats! In the grand scheme, all you are is-"
"I REFUSE!" Adora broke from the imitation of her own corpse and SLAMMED the sword powerfully onto Var's head.
"NOW, REX!" Pyra yelled. She and Nia, on either of Rex's sides, held hands with him, their swords in-between. "NEXUS FORCE!" They SMASHED the blades down onto Var, followed by a swing from Pyra's, a strike from Nia's, and one final cross strike that blew Var to the sky.
"AAAAGH!" She regained herself and remained airborne. "FINE! You want to see real power, fools?! Let's see how you like it when I-"
The Egg Phoenix suddenly warped out from her side—Varcrutis was rammed by the crashed Dragon's Daughter, forced into the burning ship as she hit Sea Hawk, and they were further shoved into Eggman's cockpit, bonking him as well. The Phoenix became a body of flames instead of space, the pink wings becoming embers. "NO! MY BEAUTIFUL WINGS!" They were like a flaming fan as they were descending directly toward the woods.
"Hold tightly, my beautiful Fishwoman!" Sea Hawk hugged Var fearfully.
"NO!" Var struggled to shove him off. "NOT LIKE THIS! I won't go down like-!" (End song.)
The Phoenix violently crashed through the trees and along the ground, pieces flying off before they came to a sudden stop. Sea Hawk was propelled into the air, his head having gone through his accordion, which played one last, despairing jingle before he crashed headfirst into the robot's upturned opening.
A bunch of other operatives had hurried to the battle site and ran to observe the wreckage. Among these people was a muscular, purple-skinned Etherian woman. Dimentia warped over and rejoined Leic, going to see the results with the others. …It seemed Sea Hawk's legs were sticking out of the robot.
"Sigh…alright. It seems there's no other way out of this." Sea Hawk could be heard saying. "Johnny? Alberto? Do your thing."
And with that, the Egg Phoenix exploded. Sea Hawk went rocketing to the sky, his expression cool and charming as he became like a shooting star.
Amongst the smoking wreckage of the machine, Eggman and Varcrutis were fallen. Their expressions were clear with exhaust. "…Ugh…" The Daemonis helped herself up, coughing soot. "You… How dare you humiliate me like this…" Var glared at them with seething rage. "I am a Blood Knight, you worms! The Devil of Distortion is my father! I'm higher than ALL OF YOU!"
"No, you are not." Dimentia stated firmly. "Neither you, nor the Phoenios. You are not higher than anyone. The universe you hail from is no better or worse than any other universe. You are as equal to these mortals as they are to you. But if you had bothered to read the rules, you would know that visitors from another universe have their Power Levels tweaked to befit the world they're in. This way, the Multiverse helps maintain balance and peace. It's not your place to hurt these people, Varcrutis. And these operatives only represent a small fraction of the universe's power. And you are not wanted here."
Var's pupils shrank with anger. "I'm not wanted here, am I?" She closed her eyes and smiled. "Do you think I haven't heard those same words, over, and over, and over, and over, and OVER AGAIN?!" She flew up and PUNCHED Dimentia in the jaw. "And what makes you Phoenios so special?! Why do you get to go around and tell everyone WE'RE the bad guys?! You're no different than we are!" She punched Dimentia left and right, the woman merely standing and taking it. "Going around to wherever you want, looking for Invieres and making friends with all the benevolent gods, all for your self-benefit! Why should YOU be the only one who makes FRIENDS, Dimentia?!"
Dimentia grabbed her arm, holding it in place. From under her hood, she glared at Var with cold eyes. "Dimentia?" the purple-skinned woman whispered.
"You made that choice, Varcrutis." Dimentia stated. "You chose to attack my daughter, and Cheren, and Maddy, Melody, Aurora, and April. You chose to hurt them. This is your last chance, Var. You are going to look these children in the eyes and say… 'I'm sorry for my rudeness.'"
Varcrutis clenched her orca teeth. "I… will never say that. I am sorry… for NOTHING. I am above you wretched mortals. I could make you all my slaves if the gods would allow me! All of you are WORMS!" She yanked her arm away. She pointed at Rex, Adora, Bow, Ursula, and Leic, "You, and you, and you, and you, and you, and y-" Then at Eggman.
She stopped herself. It seemed the scientist had recovered from the crash. "…" He merely stared at her with a disapproving look. "So, that's how it is, eh? Hmm…" He shook his head with disappointment. "Var… You're fired."
". . . . . . ." Her arm dropped. Her expression was rather frozen. "…Fired? Did…did I not just get you a phoenix feather… like I promised?"
"And what a lot of good it did." He remarked sarcastically. "Besides… I'm the one who caught the phoenix."
"…" It almost seemed like she wasn't sure how to react. "Nobody… fires me. I decide… who gets fired. And I do not get fired." She slowly ascended to the sky. "And this planet… has no more… USE FOR ME."
There was an incredible surge in power: Varcrutis was growing to a tremendous size, her body morphing into a terrifying orca demon. As she rose beyond the atmosphere, the sky was completely eclipsed: Varcrutis had become the size of a planet.
"Oh… my…" Bow was internally, terrifically panicking.
"Now, do you see? All of you… miserable insects… and your inferior forms. I am higher than the universe… I am the master of reality… I…I…I… can't… move…"
She had become frozen, slowly orbiting. The denizens were questioning this phenomena. "IIIIIiiiiiiii… dooooon't… Whaaaat iiiis… Whaaat did yooouuu… dooooo… tooooo… meeeee…?"
"I'm sure the rules mention somewhere that when you undergo a dramatic size increase, your body and brain become impaired." Dimentia said. "I kind of did that once. Heh, I must've sounded pretty goofy. In her own universe, Var has no trouble with this, but I guess that rule takes precedence for her, too."
"So… what do we do?" Bow asked.
"She'll shrink down in a few moments. …But until then, want a shot with my bow?" She presented the weapon to him.
"Ab-so-lutely…" Bow cried, fondling the elegant weapon.
"Just aim right up and take your best shot." She crouched down and pointed up. Bow pulled the arrow back and aimed at the massive target.
"Dimentia," Plex replied, "that boy couldn't possibly muster enough strength to-"
The arrow flew like a comet. It struck Varcrutis's tremendous body… and warped her in an instant. "…Perhaps I spoke too soon."
"So… where has she gone?" Rex asked.
"To her talk." Dimentia answered.
Sometime later
Following the battle, Dimentia and Leic went for a walk in the Whispering Woods. They found a beautiful setting by a river with flowers and butterflies and decided to stop and rest. Leic lay on the flowers; though his spiritual body didn't crush them, he nonetheless enjoyed their softness. Dimentia could only smile at his carefree self, sitting in the flowers as well. "That was pretty careless of me, letting Eggman get this." she said as she studied the small feather in her hand. "But it failed the same way that Var did. I wonder if that's because I'm considered an outsider or because the KND were bound to beat him regardless."
"Nonetheless… you've proven your point quite clearly." Plex said. "So now that it's finally done, I guess it's about time I make amends with Cheren then."
The Zathurian stared at him, sensing some hesitation on his end. "Don't worry so much about it! You'll be just fine."
"But what if he doesn't?"
"Of course he will, why so nervous now? You made friends with Leic just fine."
"W-well, it's just that it feels so different. Like a much bigger hurdle than before." Plex landed quietly in her open hands.
"Hmm, I think I know what you're saying. You're just getting cold feet 'cause you have to take up with someone you've offended first." Dimentia smiled softly as she placed a hand on his head. "Don't I know how that feels, and I almost blew up the universe with everyone in it! Just think of it like jumping in a cold pool, it'll feel absolutely horrible, but you gotta hold on and eventually you'll notice that it wasn't as bad as you expected." She then lifted him up to her eye-level. "If the worse really happens and they hate you, then I'll stick by you. Even so, I can't be the mediator for you all the time, so you need to make the first step. But if you really need that push, then here." Dimentia lightly kissed his forehead.
"Huu!" Plex blushed hard before floating up once more. "Okay, I got it. I'll go meet him now, and I'll bring those booklets as requested. And once I do, I will explain to him the truth. And I will… set a better impression for us."
"Good. I leave the rest to you, Plex."
"Then until later, Dimentia." And so, the chibi bluenette disappeared from her mind.
"Hmmm…" Leic sat up, looking quizzically as he shook his feet. "So, are we all done? Can we rest, yet?"
Dimentia giggled. "Yup. I just hope from here on, we won't have any more trouble from the Daemonis."
"But even if we do, we'll always be ready to kick their butts!"
"You're right on that! But maybe now, they'll leave us alone and let us have good, simple fun. Like this!" Dimentia morphed into a phoenix and shrank to the size of a pigeon.
"Hahahahaha!" Leic happily picked up the pigeon and nuzzled her against his cheek. "I sure wish I could keep you! You'll go great with my friend's pet pterodactyl!"
"It sounds like there's quite a bit I still don't know about you, yet~"
"Haha, then how about I tell you about my own adventures?"
"That sounds like a…?" Dimentia sensed a familiar energy and looked up at the sky: a bright star twinkled and began shooting down.
"Oh, a star! I wonder if it heard my wish?"
"Could it be…?"
Dimentia's suspicions were confirmed when the star burst with light and took the form of Jirachi. However, there appeared to be a black-clothed figure riding him. Dimentia grew back to normal, both she and Leic upright as they readied to "welcome" this visitor. Jirachi landed, and Bayonetta assumed a firm posture. "There you are… Dimentia."
"Dimentia, it's Bayonetta!" Leic yelled. "She's dangerous! But what's she doing here?!"
"…I have no idea." Dimentia whispered, walking forward a bit. "Unless… you suddenly recognize me."
"So, back at the hotel, you knew who I was, didn't you?" the witch asked with a scowl. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"I…I don't like bringing up past conflicts. Besides, you had never said anything to me."
"I had no memory, genius. But now I remember. I used to be an operative under your command. However, when I combine that knowledge with what I've learned since then… you were a liar, weren't you? There was no disease, you were only abducting kids to serve your own selfish ambition."
"Uh…Dimentia's not really like that, anymore." Jirachi inferred with concerned eyes. "Didn't you know that?"
"And why should I care about that?! Just because YOU'VE forgiven her, Jirachi, doesn't mean I have! But my memory is still fuzzy about those last moments. I need you to explain to me what happened. When I suddenly woke up from bed, you were being attacked by a monster. Tell me what that monster was!"
Dimentia sighed in shame. She really wasn't hoping or expecting to deal with this all of a sudden. "That was your mom. She came looking for you, but I couldn't risk her finding you. So, I had Jirachi turn her into a monster and-"
That was all Bayo needed to thrust a Demon Fist into her. Dimentia slammed against a tree and fell on her front. Bayonetta rushed up and pounded her with two rapid fists. She then grabbed and bashed Dimentia around the ground, then tossed her up to be munched in a Demon Snake's mouth. The snake spat her on the ground before head-slamming her.
Bayonetta summoned no other creatures as she marched up to Dimentia with a gun drawn. "Not just Mother… but my father was there, too. Because of you… Father disowned me. He stripped me of my memories."
"Your father? That other creature?" Dimentia asked hoarsely, her eyes growing hazy.
"Balder."
"Balder…Balder is your father?! But he died nearly a million years ago."
"I don't really know the details, but regardless, it's true."
"Hmm…you should know that I was responsible for his death back then-"
Bayonetta shot her in the stomach three times. "Hey, stop it!"
Dimentia's hazy vision saw a pair of slender legs under a white robe, their angel wings spreading like a protective shield. "It's okay, Leic… this was bound to happen. Just let her take out her anger."
"Nuh-uh! We came all this way together and we worked really hard! You don't deserve this!"
"Yes I do. Leic, it's okay. I promise I'll warp myself if she tries to deal a fatal blow. But you have no reason to get involved. I'm just an outsider, after all. I'm not someone who should be protected."
"Yeah-huh!!" Leic argued like a stubborn child. "You're still from this universe! And besides, this lady's on our wanted posters, so I still gotta fight her, anyway!"
"Listen, I'm too nice to hurt kids." Bayonetta smirked, gun still aimed. "The lowest I'll go is teenagers. But you can bet I'll sure as hell rock you to sleep if you don't step aside."
"Actually, I was -13 when I died." Leic smiled. "But I was always quite small for my age."
"Just move it, kid. This is a grown-up matter."
"Wanna see a magic trick?" With that, Leic spewed a swarm of butterflies at Bayo, the witch frantically swatting them away. Leic spun and focused energy over Dimentia, quickly morphing her into a butterfly.
When Bayonetta's vision was cleared, a flock of butterflies began to flutter above the air. "Where did she go?!"
"I turned her into a butterfly!" Leic beamed, clutching his sword with a smirk. "And the only way she'll change back is if I go down!"
"You're going to regret not listening to her, kid."
An injured butterfly was tucked cozily under the base of his feathery wings. "That's okay. I'll take my chances." (Play "Power of Jin" from Xenoblade 2.)
Boss fight: Bayonetta
Bayonetta lashed her swords at the angel, Leic nimbly dodging as he struck the taller opponent in the legs. Leic ducked between the legs and poked her rear, sporting a giggle, while Bayonetta angrily spun and kicked him away. Leic jumped upright, but dodged the Demon Arms that tried to grab him. He slipped his way back to Bayonetta, releasing butterflies from his sleeves as he scampered around her. Two of those flies morphed into Soul Beams and struck her, one became Pale Lightning, and two were Pale Fire. Leic zipped up to pummel Bayonetta with chi-blocks, weakening her bending. He proceeded to dodge her attacks as he slashed the witch. Bayo jumped away and summoned multiple, smaller Demon Arms to massage and fix her chi paths.
Bayonetta opened a glass portal behind her and jumped through, entering "spirit" form. With this, she used Witch Time to more quickly dodge Leic's attacks, and he only had brief windows of time to both dodge and strike her. It seemed that Bayonetta couldn't attack him while in Witch Time, but she switched it on and off repeatedly. He struggled to land a hit, while Leic himself suffered cuts. He couldn't even escape Bayonetta as she used Witch Time to pursue him. Leic decided to unleash a swarm of butterflies from his robe, completely shrouding himself. Bayonetta leapt and cut straight through—some butterflies burst into Pale Lightning and electrified her, while Leic seemed to remain hidden. Was he able to transform, too? She slowed time and tried to search for any distinct butterflies, but when her arm bumped one, it changed and burned her with fire, plus time resumed normal flow.
"So, not only can you not damage me in your Witch Time, but if you touch any living thing, you come out of it!" Leic proclaimed, revealing himself.
"These aren't even real butterflies, how… Never mind. That may be true, but I can still do this!" Bayonetta shot her gun and slowed time. She controlled the bullet's trajectory as Leic tried to dodge, but the young angel was grazed in the leg. He slumped, and Bayo rushed to strike, but some Steelflies latched around Leic to shield him. Bayo also found her shoes stuck to the ground by sticky butterfly remains, then Leic opened his palm to shoot Pale Fire. Bayo escaped and started shooting rapid bullets, but as Leic evaded, she noticed flies fluttering around her. They changed into attacks as she predicted, so Bayo dodged them, then she shot another Witch Time bullet. However, a butterfly had landed on her rear and was brought into Witch Time as well. It exploded into a Thrust, pushing her forward as her power disabled.
Leic could dodge the bullet thanks to this and ran to slash Bayo's stomach, followed by nimble chi-blocks on her legs and back. Bayo maneuvered away and used small Demon Arms to massage herself. She evaded Leic's butterfly attacks, until one of them became a small mass of purple energy that struck Bayo, quickly enveloping her in flames. Bayonetta dispersed the flames and willed eight Demon Arms to emerge and surround Leic, ready to grab him if he tried to fly out. Leic dodged their punches and stayed in the center, channeling power to his sword. "Slicing Flower Ring!" When he spun, he slashed a flower-shaped circle that expanded out and sliced all the arms.
However, Bayonetta got behind and shot darkness on his wings, preventing him from flying. The witch grew wings and flew herself, thrusting Demon Heels at Leic. Using Thief Style, Leic leapt and balanced on a heel, so when it retracted, he leapt onto the next one, repeating the steps until the last heel brought him to Bayonetta. He leapt to grab her leg and climb to her head, sticking his sword in her ear to make butterflies crawl through. Bayo grabbed and hurdled Leic off, bonking the flies out of her. A group of flies had amassed under Leic's feet, propping him in the air. They flew to wherever he stepped as he chased Bayonetta, the witch shooting bullets as she flew backward.
Some butterflies formed slippery slopes and ramps for Leic to slide down and launch, catching up to Bayo for quick attacks. Bayonetta bombarded one of those ramps with bullets, but they became lightning attacks that tried to zap her. "Madama Butterfly, we must not let these lesser insects do us in!" The spirit of her Zanpakutō attained form and flew to kick Leic, blasting him back, but a wall of his own flies stopped him with a soft impact. The butterflies enveloped and wrapped him in a cocoon, afterwards carrying him away. Bayonetta attempted to slice the cocoon, but the flies were quick to evade while some exploded into Thrusts and kept her at bay.
"How about THIS?!" Bayonetta shot another bullet and controlled it from Witch Time. She maneuvered it around the butterflies and was a "second" from puncturing the cocoon, but one of the flies used a Thrust to blow the bullet off course. Bayo gasped and struggled to regain control, having to make a tight swerve around to get back to the cocoon. Unfortunately, by the time it arrived, the cocoon had already ruptured on its own, and the bullet slipped off the target. Leic had assumed his Butter-Hybrid form. The angel zoomed behind Madama and struck the spirit. Bayonetta caught him in two Demon Fists—he slipped out easily.
Leic sliced those fists and butter-fied their chi, and as Bayonetta tried to pummel him with fists from every direction, he diced them all into flies. Madama flew behind and was able to grab the boy, so Bayo flew to stab him. Leic kicked Madama off with both legs and evaded the stabs, clashing against Bayonetta's swords and spreading butter along them. "You can't transform Madama Butterfly, you fool! She already IS one! Your technique is…ah ha ha ha. Hahahahahaha! M-My chest feels funny! It f-feels like I breathed laughing gas!"
"Your butterfly just hasn't enough butter, silly!" Leic laughed. "So, I decided to give her some!"
"Y-You little brat! Just because you covered my sword in butter, it shouldn't be making me laugh like this!"
"Silly goose! Don't you know butterflies are supposed to make your soul laugh? Don't they make you happy?"
"Hahahaha…Madama Butterfly…no!"
"Ha ha ha ha…sorry, Bayonetta… I…" The dark wings of the spirit had turned bright and rainbowy, and the moon designs became smiling suns. Her black texture had become white and her red eyes blue.
"Y-You… cursed brat!" The veins on Bayo's face creased as she struggled to show her anger, but her mouth was stitched into a smile. "That bitch tricked me into killing my own mother… and you expect me to laugh it off?! What the hell are YOU doing with her, anyway?! Why are you so buddy with her?! I don't care if the rest of the universe forgave her, because as far as I'm concerned, she never received justice!"
"I know she talked about making a lot of mistakes in the past, but she never seemed like a bad person."
"Then you're just ignorant, aren't you? She never did you any wrong in the past, so you've developed a bias for her, haven't you?"
"I guess you're right, but… I just don't like seeing her get beat up!"
"Then why don't you just fly far away, so you won't have to see or listen to the beating, brat?"
"Fine… but can you really look at this cute little thing and tell me you wanna hurt it?"
Bayonetta cocked a brow as Leic seemed to reach under his wing and retrieve a butterfly with pink wings. She flew closer to observe it. The butterfly appeared to be injured, but its beady, mismatched eyes possessed the tiniest twinkle of life. Its antennas twitched in an adorable fashion. The creature looked so harmless and peaceful in Leic's gentle hands. The sight of such a precious creature in such pain would tug at any soul's heartstrings and make them wish with all prayer that the butterfly would make a full recovery-
A flock of flies amassed above Bayonetta and morphed back into one of her Demon Fists, punching their own creator toward the ground. More flocks were already in position, punching her to the next and so on, until she slammed against the ground. Leic dove at her with a drill attack and exploded out butter upon collision, binding Bayonetta to the ground. "I didn't think you would, but just in case!" Leic beamed, his skin morphing back to normal. (End song.)
"You…you wretched insect!"
"What's going on over here, anyway?" a voice called. The group looked to see a muscular, purple-skinned woman come out of the woods. "Hmm…I kept hearing a lot of noise. Wait… who are you?"
Both Leic and Bayo were invisible to her eyes, but she acknowledged Jirachi's presence. "Oh, hello." He greeted. "Uh…nothing's happening over here! Heheh…"
"That voice… JIRACHI?!"
Bayonetta gasped: she made another glass portal and entered the Mortal World. "Huntara?!"
The woman gasped and stumbled back. "W-Where did you come…" She narrowed her eyes. "Cereza?"
"Huntara…" Bayo got up and rushed up to the Etherian. "Why… it's been ages. You've gotten so big."
"I could say the same about you." Huntara cocked a brow. "You always were tall for a human, but… Man, what happened to you? One day, we were told you were kidnapped by Irkens or somethin' and you were killed."
"Oh, is that what she told you?" Bayo sighed. "It's a long story, Huntara. In fact, I was in the middle of giving her a piece of my mind."
"Do you mean…?" Just as she spoke, Leic morphed Dimentia back to normal, the woman collapsing on the ground. "It really was you… Dimentia."
"Hi, Huntara." She looked up with a weak smile. "How've you been? I didn't see you after I… died the first time."
"Well… after that happened, I wished for Jirachi to warp me to wherever Etheria had ended up. He also allowed me to start aging normally again. A lot of crazy things happened after I got back. I teamed up with the local KND, and we got the planet out of its sub-dimension or something… After that, I tried to catch up on intergalactic events. It took a long while, but then I heard, like… you apparently died a SECOND time?"
"Yeah… I'm basically a spirit warrior now."
"A spirit warrior?" Bayo asked. "I don't recall ever seeing you with the Angels."
"It's kind of complicated. Look, girls, I…I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I've done a lot of bad things to a lot of people. But you can rest well knowing I'm dead, and… well, you won't really be seeing a lot of me after this. I'm technically breaking the law just by talking to you…"
"Hm…I don't even feel like it, anymore." Bayo huffed, turning away from them.
"Do you forgive her?" Leic asked.
"No, of course not. It just feels like being mad at her isn't interesting, anymore. It makes me feel outdated. But it is good to see you again, Huntara."
"Yeah… you, too." Huntara was still trying to process this sudden and bizarre reunion. "Everything been going okay?"
"That remains to be decided, doesn't it? I wonder… just what am I, in the end? Am I still a KND at heart or did I grow up and become a true Umbra Witch? I spent so long trying to get my past back, but now that I have it, I haven't decided my future."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Dimentia sighed, the pain fading away as her spiritual body healed. "Still, I shouldn't be here to corrupt your future any more than I already have. Leic, take us up to Spirit World."
"Hm…okay." Leic held the woman and Ascended them in a ray of light.
Huntara watched her leave with slight remorse. "Well… you feel like staying here a while? We can catch up. Honestly, it feels like you and me went through similar experiences."
"…Yes, I'd like that." Bayo smiled.
Underworld; Sanzu River
Reeeee! A fishing line loosed and landed in the River of Souls. It would be one of dozens to sink below the ghastly green surface and into the ghostly depths.
"This reminds me of the good old days when I took my boys fishing." Nigel Uno smiled, seated beside Nolan.
"You don't need to rub it in, dude." Nolan said.
"Relax, Dillon wouldn't have liked fishing, anyway. I tried to take Aurora, but she wasn't into it either. Cheren seemed to really have fun though, heh!"
Numerous KND sectors lined the shore of the Sanzu River, fishing rods in hand. Yusuke, Botan, Jin, and Rinku of Sector YU; Joshua, Beat, Rhyme, Neku, and Shiki of Sector REAP; Maka, Black Star, and Ellen of Sector SCYTHE; Hollow Knight and Ori of Sector SILENT; or Ruby Gloom, Misery, Skull Boy, and Iris of Sector GLOOM.
"Alriiiiight! Time for fishiiiing!" Leic Spirithive hummed to himself as he blissfully skipped along the cold, lifeless ground.
"Don't fall in." Dimentia grabbed his robe before he could walk off the edge.
"Whoops, haha! It's hard to see with my eyes closed in a gleeful manner!"
"Don't fool around, Leic!" Yachiru scolded him. Leic sat beside her and cast his lure into the Sanzu. To their right were Sector GLOOM, and Nolan and Nigel were on their left.
"So, you guys are trying to rescue souls from the river?" Dimentia asked.
"Well, not just any souls." Yachiru answered. "We're looking for the souls of Maria's family."
"Yeah, the little witch from my sector." Nolan told her. "Remember her?"
"A little bit."
"Yeah. They were illegally thrown into the river before receiving a proper judgment."
"But how are you supposed to find them amongst all these souls?"
"Maria gave us special bait!" Leic grinned. "We attached Ushiromiya heirlooms to our hooks. We do things like that in case we need to rescue souls from the Sanzu."
"So, you've done this before?"
"A few times."
"But it isn't that easy." Yachiru mentioned. "The Sanzu River is vast and always flowing. We've been told this is where the souls were originally dropped, but that was at least 30 years ago. We have no idea if we'll be successful."
"There's no way we'll find them." Misery said. She was a banshee girl with big black eyes, purple hair that matched her gown, and lighter-purple skin. A black umbrella with a spider was propped beside her. "We're gonna be here the rest of our afterlives…"
"You know you can leave whenever you want to, right?" Skull Boy asked. "This mission is purely voluntary."
"But we should at least try." Ruby smiled. "Maria's been without her family all this time. She's probably really worried!"
"That's why I can't leave." Misery sighed. "That would make me feel too bad."
"Well, fishing is a good way to take our mind off of things, at least!" Leic beamed.
"Hmm…" Dimentia stared thoughtfully into the ghastly river.
"You aren't seriously thinking of doing that!" Chibi Plex popped up.
"I was barely thinking anything! And what happened to mental privacy?"
"You were thinking of looking for Cereza's mother, weren't you?"
"She was?" Leic asked.
"Oh, I forgot, you can still see me."
"What are you two doing?" Nolan asked.
"Talking to Dimentia's imaginary boyfriend." Leic answered.
"You know I'm not imaginary!"
"Hey, you can fish with me!" The playful angel grabbed Plex and set him on his lap. "Haha! I feel like a big brother teaching my baby bro to fish!"
"For your information, I am very proficient at—whoooaa!" The chibi was suddenly drawn away by a magnetic force, Leic being pulled with as he held onto Plex's arm. "Dimentia, where are you going?" The woman in question was walking away.
"I'm going to visit Balder. Leic, his office is in the First Church, right?"
"Yep! You gonna ask him to fish, too?"
"No, just gonna ask him for bait."
First Church
"And why in the world do you need Rosa's possessions?" Balder questioned.
"Because I…I want to try and fish for her soul in the Sanzu River."
"That's completely out of the question!"
"Because it's overstepping my boundaries?"
"No, because it's simply impossible. Rosa has been floating down there for the better part of 400 years. Souls who float down there for too long are bound to lose their sense of identity or self. They become an unrecognizable spirit."
"But it's my fault that she ended up down there. She shouldn't be…"
"Indeed, it is." Balder's scowl slightly narrowed. "But even if Rosa had died on her own terms, her fate as an Umbra Witch was already sealed. Her tainted soul served to nourish the river, as she had vowed. Besides… it isn't as if Cereza would be allowed to meet her."
"But if I could find her… would you let Cereza meet her?"
"Hm…considering the circumstances of her birth, I suppose I could allow it just once… but like I said, it's impossible."
"But I have to try! I've been trying so hard to forget my past, but it keeps coming back. I tried to put Cereza behind me just like everything else… but after she came back, all that guilt came crashing back. I let her vent her rage at me, but I still don't feel satisfied. I want to try and find her mother… to give her one last meeting."
"Come on, Balder!" Leic pled, still lain on his back with his arm holding Plex's. "Let her fish with us!"
"And just what are YOU doing down there?" Balder questioned. "Huff…in any case, I kept only two of Rosa's possessions." He stood from his desk and opened a compartment in the wall. "Oh, how did you get in there?" he asked the Kittentia inside. She pounced out, revealing the pair of butterfly motif glasses and twin guns. "These are her glasses and her Zanpakutō, Unforgiven. Well, I guess that's three possessions. And frankly, I don't feel comfortable about either being sunk in the Sanzu River."
"Don't worry. I promise to keep them safe on me."
"Safe on… What are you insinuating?"
"You're planning to dive in there yourself?!" Plex exclaimed.
"Yes. I'm planning to dive in there myself."
"You're going to what?!" Balder shouted.
"Balder, are you going deaf?" Leic asked.
"If I had all those possessions on me, I would be perfect bait. And besides that… if there was someone or something that souls in the Sanzu greatly despised, could those be used as bait, too?"
Leic quietly began trying to repeat that sentence three times fast, his tongue tied by all the S's. "In theory, it is possible." Balder answered.
"Then… I'm sure Rosa's soul would feel vengeful against me all the same."
"Hmph…alright. If you want to risk your afterlife this way, then so be it."
"Dimentia, even I could barely sense or distinguish anything down there." Plex told her. "That water is so dense that it must hinder sensory abilities. Not that we would be allowed to help, anyway…"
"Then I'll just have to survive by my own will." Dimentia smiled. "And Leic… can I trust you to reel me up?"
"You got it!"
"But first… allow me to point to where you can search." Balder spoke.
Pools of Confinement
Balder led them down to an area of the river where rusted chains seemed to line the bottom. Some souls were still chained. "This is where Rosa was contained. Many souls who had signed an oath to the demons were sentenced to be chained here. But over the years, their souls withered to a point where they slipped out of their chains." One of the chained souls in question slipped away. "Afterwards, they're hardly distinguishable with others that had been here for centuries. This is the best I can do to narrow down your search. The rest is up to you, but I expect to have those items back in at least 24 hours." With that, Balder flapped his peacock wings and flew away.
Leic helped to tie his fishing line around Dimentia's hip, Rosa's guns attached to it. She had the glasses fixed to her face. "Whoa!" Dimentia perked as the line glowed brightly. "Glow-in-the-dark fishing rod?"
"It's reacting to your chi. That's how we know we got a bite. When you're ready to come up, just pull it and I'll give you a reel. At the same time, the glow will die out if you're losing energy or faint. I'll pull you up then, too."
"I'm going to come here in person later." Plex said. "Be careful down there, Dimentia."
"I will." She smiled. The Zathurian turned to face the ledge, Leic seating along it with his legs hung over. With a deep breath, Dimentia dove into the Sanzu River. Chibi Plex immediately disappeared.
She felt the weight of the Sanzu quickly close in around her. She heard nothing but the currents in her ears and her specialized senses were all but blinded. She swam bravely, further and deeper into the abyss of souls. The adrift spirits turned to her with mindless stares. The thousands of them were barely distinguishable from each other, and no clear goal lay in sight.
Will Rosa even recognize her items… Would she recognize me… I could be down here for years and never find her… Oh well… it's the least I can do, after all… I wonder what Nebula is doing now… Hopefully, something more fun…
Sometime later
"Someone or something souls in Sanzu despise~…" Leic hummed this to himself with an innocent smile, legs swaying above the eerie river.
A tall, broad man in a white uniform and blue gem hair approached him. "Is Dimentia still all right?"
Leic bent his head backward to face him upside-down, his smile compressing. "Hey, you're big now. Yeah, I think she's alright."
"What do you mean you think?"
Leic sat up. "Well, the light from the string was kinda dimming out, but it's still on. Plus, I can feel her still swimming."
Plex merely stared at the rod with suspicion, glowing faintly as the reel unraveled at a moderate pace. "…!" The line suddenly glowed purple. "Whoa! That's a different color!"
"Don't just stand there, reel her in!"
"Okay!" Leic began reeling—"WHOOOAA!" He was nearly yanked off the ledge, having to mount himself on his feet and tug more forcefully. "Yikes! I think I got a big bite!"
"I thought you were fishing for Rosa!"
"Rosa must be pretty big! Wait, it's coming this way! Look at that!"
"RAAAAAAHH!" A gigantic, black, worm-like fish with several layers of buzzsaw teeth and swollen red eyes emerged from the river, the fishing lure going down its throat.
"Leic, get behind me!"
"WHEEEEE!" The worm suddenly slurped the fishing line up and the angel with it. Leic immediately vanished behind the buzzsaw teeth.
"LEIC!"
Plex sprung up ice shards to defend himself when the beast dove at him. It backed away and was about to charge again… when it felt a strange, buttery feeling in its stomach. Its body began to scatter into butterflies, with a flock of them carrying Leic and an unconscious Dimentia back to shore. "Hahahaha! I guess this worm decided to skip the cocoon phase!"
A mound of swallowed souls covered Dimentia's form as she was rested on the ground. Plex hurriedly brushed the souls off her, sensing several gallons of water inside her soaked form. Plex began to push the water out of her. "Kueh, kueh, cough…"
"Leic, let's bring her to the church!"
"Good idea!" He and Plex both lifted Dimentia and flew away.
First Church
Dimentia was fully awake by the time they arrived, rested in a bed as her energy recovered. Even as the weight of the Sanzu River cleared her body… the weight on her heart hadn't disappeared. "You're a little under the weather." Plex said, leaning along the wall. Leic was lain along the side of the bed. "Is Sanzu water really that sickening?"
"More than Dream Water. But it's not that. Sigh…I couldn't find Rosa after all. I guess it really was pointless…"
"Dimentia, it wasn't pointless. You-"
"Of course it was pointless!" The door was suddenly kicked open by Bayonetta, startling Plex.
"WAH! She's here!" Leic panicked.
"Cereza? Why are you here?"
"Balder called me. Honestly, I didn't think you would be desperate enough to try and make up with me, let alone try to find my mother's soul."
"I wasn't trying to 'make up' with you. I just thought it was something you deserved…"
"She just wants to be friends again, Bayo!" Leic insisted. "Isn't it the thought that-"
"Shut it, brat! You're acting as if she only broke my glasses! Sigh…Dimentia, you're right to think that I'll never forgive you. Even if by some miracle you could find my mother, I still wouldn't. Even so, I don't want you to spend the rest of your existence suffering, let alone to some hopeless task. Understand?"
"But I…I just can't get over it. What I did to you…"
"And I can't get over it, too. But you're already dead, twice, so I don't care to yell at a corpse. Good-bye." Bayonetta brushed the air and walked away.
Dimentia sighed. "Nothing was resolved after all."
"Perhaps that is your curse." Balder said, entering the room. "But more importantly, why weren't Rosa's glasses on your person?! Don't tell me you lost them!"
"Huh?! Oh…uh-oh."
"I guess they're down floating in the Sanzu now." Leic figured.
"You'd better be willing to compensate me, Miss Winkiebottom!"
"Sigh, can I do it later? I'm beat for today." Dimentia pushed herself off the bed and lazily exited the room.
"Where are you going?" Plex asked.
"Fishing with friends."
"You're going in again?!" Leic exclaimed.
"No, silly. The old-fashioned way…"
Sanzu River
Dimentia fetched herself a fishing pole and cast her lure into the river, taking her place on the left of Nigel and Nolan. "So, I guess it didn't go well?" Nigel asked.
"Not really. Just got an earful of ghost fish." Dimentia released a somber sigh. "Honestly… I don't know what I was thinking. I'm already dead, so it's too late to make up for most of the things I did. I guess it's because Cereza showed up again out of nowhere that I had to try…"
"Well, no one blames you for that." Nolan said. "But honestly, even if you did find her mom, it's not like she would-"
"Don't remind me."
"I know this might sound weird, but don't stress over it too much." Nigel said. "Between us and the others, we were all your friends and we know you've changed. You don't have to prove yourself to everyone."
"But even when we were still alive, I felt so weird hanging out with you. I felt like I didn't belong, and I didn't deserve-"
"'EY, mates! Sorry Oi'm late!" The unmistakable shrill sound of Marine's voice ripped the stiff Underworld air. The sloppily-dressed raccoon Mobian pranced up to the ledge and jumped into a sit beside Dimentia. "Hey, Dimentia! Didn't think you were into fishin'."
"I've suddenly developed a kinship for it." Dimentia smiled awkwardly.
"Strewth! I can't wait to see what beauties we nick from this river." Marine cast her lure into the river. "I hope they're good eating!"
"Marine, you know we're fishing for Ushiromiyas, right?" Nigel asked.
"Eh? I never heard of that kind of fish, but it sounds yummy. By the way, I brought extra sodas, any of you want a swig?"
"Nah, I have some milk." Nolan replied.
"I have cherry soda!" Nigel raised his bottle.
"I could use a drink." Dimentia figured.
"Haha, I knew you would!" Marine passed a bottle to her.
"Eheh, you knew I would?"
"Our little sheilas are soda-drinking pirate mates. I'll bet Nebula didn't get her sugar-levels from her dad!" Marine cracked open her bottle and took a drink.
"So, just because Nebula and Sheila shared a soda?"
"Yeh! They're brethren now, so we're brethren!"
"If you say so!" Dimentia chuckled, drinking from her bottle.
"So, what were you going to say, Dimentia?" Nigel asked.
"Huh? Oh, uh…" Dimentia had been so caught off-guard by Marine's jovial arrival that she felt bad about douring the mood. "Ah, forget it."
"Come on, mate, tell us what's got you!" Marine encouraged.
"Eh, I was just complaining about the past, and… there's this girl I did something bad to, and like, I tried to do something to make up, but it didn't work, and…"
"Ah, friendship's a pain in the knockers, isn't it? Oi, I couldn't tell ya how many blokes got tired of me."
"I'm sure you didn't do anything remotely horrible."
"Yeh, but when we got this many mates, who needs more, eh?" Marine grinned and took another drink.
"Heheh…" Her cluelessness was pretty remarkable at times. Dimentia couldn't imagine she would be as chipper if she stole Marine away from her family and home. Though, technically, she wanted to explore the universe, anyway. In fact, did Marine have any parents? Either way, the only reason Marine was being so friendly now was because their daughters were friends. Otherwise, Marine may not really care for her at all. Not that Dimentia ever really approached her either on casual terms. Marine was never an official operative, so-
"Oi, what's bummin' you now? If you ain't gonna talk, then drink."
"Haha, I'm just thinking!" Dimentia said with a light start. "Um…hey, Marine, one of my friends from the Phoenios is coming to visit. We were gonna hang out, but do you wanna join us?"
"Ooo, are we exploring the multiverse??"
"Still can't do that!"
"Whatevuh~ Sure I'll tag along! It's gonna be ripper!"
"It's a date then!" The weight of the previous interaction slowly lifted off Dimentia's heart. She would have liked to find Rosa or to make up with Cereza, but after already doing what she could, perhaps she should accept what's in front of her. Not only did she have the Phoenios to make new friends, but she still had friends in this world, Marine included. Even in the dark Underworld, they made her heart sunny.
…
The mound of souls that had been pulled up with Dimentia lay haplessly along the Sanzu's shore. …One of the souls lazily floated off the ground, the butterfly glasses over its dead eyes. It looked about brainlessly, failing to get a scope of things through the unique lenses. The spirit released a hiss through its hanging jaw before floating away with no real goal in mind.