The Legend of Heroes II: Trials by the Light

[Fox of Hearts]

Drych Lake Spa – Arena

"Do you think we can climb aboard that ship?"

Jett was all starry-eyed when he saw the Spa Team's massive vessel. His current predicament was completely forgotten. The young man ran after the armored boat all the way to the end of the pier. He continued fanboying over the boat until he heard someone yell for him. He whirled around and realized most of the Pride were in the boat.

"Sorry!"

He laughed guiltily as he stood in front of Estelle's boat. Her dour mood wasn't helping. Jett stepped towards Nani and Tobi's boat, but he realized it was full. He swallowed nervously as he shuffled back to the original boat. Aria was still on the pier and QT was walking over.

"Gnar Man! Glad we'll be sailing together."

The novice waited till Aria boarded followed by QT. He hopped on after them and Estelle's crew was complete. Jett laughed a little as he saw someone glaring at him. Yeah, jumping onboard a boat wasn't the smartest idea. He was really glad the boat was sturdy enough.

"Hey Wonder Kid! Are you excited too?" Jett grinned as he noticed the bubbly Trickster. "I am! My first time on a boat and it's a race!"

A loud tin shrill cut off the rest of the conversation. The engine purred and off they went. Jett gripped the sides of the boat. The wind was great! Happily the daredevil stared out into the distance. The Pride's second team wasn't too far behind. He waved towards Nani, Tobi, Captain and Lute.

"Good luck, guys!"

 

[Capt. Blu]

Cuttersbury: Drych Lake Spa- On the lake, in a boat

Nani chuckled at the idea that people were relying on her pirate skills now. Seeing the boat across from them, she tilted her head left and right, examining it. "Hmph, armor all around except for the inside... I'll figure something out. Maybe. It should have a weak spot somewhereee-." Seeing Tobi skip towards them she smirked. "I s'pose bein' a pirate ain't so bad now is it?" She laughed and then climbed aboard their boat. It was no pirate ship, and there wasn't even a sail to it, but that didn't matter! Nani was going to figure it out! To Syed's tentative question, she raised her hand and then saluted. "Don't worry! If anything, I can prevent us from capsizing!"

The only challenge she saw in their future was that pesky Rhoden. Everything else would be a piece of cake! "As I always say, all challenges can be conquered!" She laughed towards Moria's excitement...or anger, they seemed the same. It got Nani's adrenaline going, and she stayed by the engine. "Oi, Cap! This looks like one of those engines dad always tinkered with, yeah?" Cap squawked in response before landing on her head and nodding. "Sweet! I'll stick back here and steer!" Cap flew to their partnered ship and waved his wing.

"Time to set sail!" He squawked and saluted before heading back to the ship with his human companion.

"Alright guys! Our best bet is ta either get on their boat and ring them, or capsize their boat to avoid them doing the same. Just remember to-" Nani looked over as Penelope yelled at them. "What a ridiculous looking rat they have..." There was no more time for her to say just how silly the Varren looked, considering the whistle blew. Nani started the engine and the boat was off and headed towards the finish line. She timed it so they wouldn't be in front of the massive boat. After all, if they were supposed to ring them, being in front was going to give them the upper hand. "Yoho! We're off! Time to win this challenge!"

 

[Pachamac]

Drych Lake

With all of the preparations finalised, and with the blowing of Penelope's shrill, ear piercing whistle, the race began! The two smaller Pride boats jumped forwards with remarkable acceleration, whilst the Spa group's boat began with a slower start, thanks to the size of the ship. Not that a quick start was all that important – a part of the match's rules insisted that before any of the team's could cross the finish line, they had to completely subdue the opposing side with Penelope's strange life rings… and so having their opposition start ahead of them, making it easier for the Spa to aim at them, was in actuality probably more preferable, just as Nani had mentioned. She didn't expect the Spa's side to start slower at all – even with their boat's massive size, they had probably intentionally started slower as well!

"Curses!" Nani's voice could be heard ringing loudly, as she attempted to steer their boat back closer to the Spa team's. Opposite them, Estelle's group tried to do the very same, but their team was slightly less experienced with these kind of matters compared to Nani's. Aria had some knowledge of it to an extent, after a childhood spent with the occasional fishing in lakes such as this with her parents, but the last time they had done that was a long while ago.

"Looks like they're all coming into position," Rhoden mused, from his lazy perch atop the boat's railing at the front of their ship. With a sly smirk, he turned back around and looked at the rest of his teammates. With Harvey Jr tending to the ship's engine and rudder, and Jasper picking up their side's supply of rings delicately in his mouth to feed to Marcy and Tau, Rhoden had to stop as he looked at the old man, Gramps, who had been quietly sitting down atop the boat's deck, saying nary a word. That wasn't like him.

"Gramps? Ddaear to Gramps, you okay?" Rhoden asked, before finally realising what was happening with a low, audible 'ah'. The Pride were certainly in trouble now. Before, in the ball game, the Pride had gotten lucky when it came to Gramps… lucky that he hadn't begun to unveil his true strength!! Now, however…

As Gramps sat on the boat's deck, his legs crossed and arms stretched out to his sides, fingers curled together in a particular stance with his eyes closed, the rest of the Spa team could feel a certain… low hum, coming from Gramps, growing louder and louder. The air around him seemed to grow denser, and hotter, with looking at his body proving difficult now thanks to how blurry he was. It was as if some dark, purple aura was surrounding the old man, and was growing bigger, and bigger, and bigger. Harvey Jr smiled as he watched his grandpa at work!

"C'mon, Ari, just a bit closer!" Estelle called, holding one of the rings in her hands as she cautiously stood up, her eyes firmly fixed on their opponents. Trixie and Jett were beside her, doing the exact same thing, both Guilders ready to begin throwing their rings at the other boat when the timing and angle was right, all three Guilders swept up in excitement and anticipation.

Amy, on the other hand, sat away from the others, her arms folded across her chest, looking away from the action and gazing into the distance beyond. This was something she really had no love of to be participating in, but she hadn't had any real choice, had she? Refusal would have likely meant disqualification or some kind of penalty. So here she was, able to at least sit on a boat, but if any of the others thought she'd get more involved then this, they were dead wrong.

"Rarr!" Estelle, Trixie and Jett all threw their rings at the exact same time, the little donuts flying through the air towards Rhoden, Marcy and Tau. None of them moved an inch, every single one of them simply smiling and unconcerned. Estelle couldn't understand it, at least not at first. Not until…

Jasper went flying through the air, effortlessly catching each of the thrown rings in his mouth and protecting his dear friends! After catching the rings, he'd put them onto the bundle of rings their own team had, resupplying their group's 'ammo'. That little pooch was really good at catch! He had traded his role with Harvey Jr from the last game – he was now the Spa team's most able defender!

And in the center of the Spa team's boat, the still sitting, still eyes closed Gramps' aura grew stronger and stronger and…

 

[Bunanigans]

Drych Lake

Nani's boat lurched to the side as she pushed upon the steering shaft with complete and utter confidence. Unlike Estelle's group, who were much more cautious with their control under Aria's tutilage, Nani was pretty much throwing her team right in there.

The rest of the team didn't share her sea-legs. Or her confidence.

"Oh fuck I'm gonna chuck!" Moira bellowed gruffly, the part of her face not covered in that luxurious braided beard going bright green as she leaned over the edge. While boats themselves didn't bother her, the motions always made her feel seasick. She didn't like Nani right now. She didn't like anything oh gods-

Syed meanwhile was clutching onto one of the boat walls practically for dear life, paleing quite quickly. "Nani, please be careful!" he called out with more than a little fright. Nonetheless he steeled himself and shakily stood up, his balance not particularly confident thanks to his high centre of gravity and clumsy nature, his hands held out like he was on a balancing beam.

The water spashed and their clothes and hair whipped around them as they slowed enough to level with the Spa's much larger, armoured boat. They were all going at a decent speed now, steam clouds pluming behind them. They could hear the other team on the other side, along with just about see a few of the spa-members stood above. They did seem to have their attention mainly on the other boat, something which would give them a decent advantage...

He picked up a ring cautiously, looking towards the others on their boat. He gestured to them, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Which probably wasn't nessessary over all the noise. Tobi understood, leaping up onto his feet too as he snatched up a ring himself. It seemed his experiance riding the roofs of trains sure was coming in handy. "Come on everyone!" he cheered loudly to the others - much to Syed's dismay - bringing his ring back to throw...

Rhoden still stood upon the rail at the bow of their ship, a relaxed smile on his face as he looked down to the two teams they opposed. Oh, this was too easy. Waaaaay too easy. The Pride won't even know what hit them. He gave them a wink as he simply brought his arm up into the air, before swiftly bringing it down.

"Fire!"

"Yes, sir!"

There was a clatter as suddenly panels opened on each side of the Spa's ship, revealing a row of cannons on both sides. Syed faltered in horror at the sight, not really knowing what would come next but dreading it all the same. Tau waved at Nani's team, while Marcy leaned over the side to shake her fabulous booty at Estelle's boat as a taunt. That booty go-

BOOM!

The cannons all fired, shooting multiple rings flying with alarming speed towards both boats. Syed pretty much immediately fell to the floor with his hands over his head, shaking the boat a little in his haste. One of the rings smacked into Lute, knocking him over but fortunately only coming to a stop inside their boat harmlessly. Moira... Moira was simply feeling too sick to really care. Crap! Both boats were directly in the cannons' line of fire! How the heck was that even fair, no matter what Pen said to justify it?! What kind of cannon takes safety buoys as ammo?! And what was that ominous feeling of dread building up in him?

What should the Pride do?

 

[Rapidfire]

Drych Lake Spa

Man, when it rained round here, it poured.

So, while the rules of this game were not objectively unknown to Quentin like the last one, they were incomprehensible on a subjective level. The idea was something about knocking people out of boats with inflatable life rings. The water mage was almost afraid to find out what sort of horrible thing would befall the first person to be penalised.

At Aria's insistence, Quentin had joined the illusionist's boat. The mage's face shifted in a frown upon seeing his opponents' much larger vessel. It was hard to tell what kind of game these people were playing at; Quentin had seen people tip the scales and all, but this was pretty over the top. Jasper's effortless retrieval of the rings that Trixie, Estelle, and Jett threw only made it plainer how much the deck was stacked against the Pride right now. The mage cracked her knuckles and...

Huh? Wait! Could that be it?

"Estelle!" Quentin cried, waving her hands frantically. "I think I have an idea. The only thing we were told to do to eliminate the opposite team was to hit them with these rings, right? What if..." and here she lowered her head and looked around conspiratorially, "...we boarded their ship and took the fight to them?"

The mage looked up at the Spa ship. It was going to be tough to board the ship without being a sitting duck - haha, water fowl jokes were foul at a time like this - but Quentin was not one to chicken out of a fight. She just hoped that this idea met with Estelle's approval. The Pride was clearly at a disadvantage on the sea like this. Quentin reasoned that this was the best way to even the odds. Technically, nothing about the idea went against Penelope's rules...

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Drych Lake Spa – Arena

At Estelle's signal, all three Guilders began tossing the life rings at the Spa Team. Jett was the first to realize something was wrong. Believing he heard an all too familiar excited ruff, the young man grabbed hold of the ring Trixie was about to toss. Both the trickster and the daredevil stared at the fluffy furball catching every single ring. Wonder Kid booed loudly.

Jett puffed his cheeks cutely and shook his fist at the oh-so-adorable-oh-so-annoying-fleabag. "Dang it! We gave them most of our ammo."

A loud creak brought his eyes down towards the towering stern. His eye twitched rapidly as a whole line of cannons poked out of the porthole. The rings came at a relentless pace. Jett whipped out his yo-yo and grabbed several rings. Swinging his weapon with both hands he cleared away whatever the rest didn't block. Dozens of rings clattered onto the deck and many more floated about in the water.

He heaved a sigh of relief as he allowed five rings he snagged fall onto the floor. "High five, Wonder Kid! You were awesome."

The respite was short-lived. A second wave was launched at them. The life rings were even bigger this time. While the energetic trickster-daredevil combo cleared a third of the onslaught, one of the large hoops was homing in on Aria.

"Noooooooooo!" Jett screamed dramatically.

Jett leaped forward to grab the ring the same moment Aria looked up. She knocked away the ring and stared in shock as her fellow Guilder came flying towards her. Both of them screamed as they collided into each other. No amount of floundering and grabbing could stop the inevitable. There was a loud splash as the pair went overboard. Neither heard Quetin's plan.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Cuttersbury: Drych Lake Spa- At the lake!

When they took off, she didn't expect the Spa's boat to be so slow, granted even if it was massive. She looked back, watching as the ring nearly captured Lute in the beginning of the match. Hearing them all complain, Nani yelled at them. "Oi! Man up and worry about the boat! I am being careful. Trust me, I can get reckless, it's possible!" She steered, trying to avoid being in front of the Spa's boat. "Look you landlubbers, all ya gotta do is center your balance and when you feel like your gonna fall, lean the opposite way!" It wasn't obvious?

When they got to the side, Nani looked at the boat and then called to Cap. "Anything?"

"Dog's catching rings!" The bird informed before frantically flying down towards Lute when the cannons were revealed. He would have mentioned Gramps too, but he wasn't exactly sure what was going on there.

"I'll be damned...Those wenches are cheatin'! No way! Actually...This should've been expected." Before Nani had time to complain more, the cannons fired. They had to get out of there, and fast. "Alright! Everyone down, it's time ta be reckless!" She yelled out, giving them all a split second to move to the center of the boat before Nani steered making the boat jerk and U-turn the opposite way. Turning once more, they were then behind the ship. Or at least out of range from getting shot at. And at a more relaxed and even pace. "...Everyone still able ta move?" Nani chuckled and fist bumped the bird as he peered from one of the benches and then flew to Syed, lightly pecking the toppled over male- well female.

"Alright! We got away from all those cannons, sorta. Can't believed that really worked. Moira, ya think you can dismantle them with your-" Saying 'man strength' seemed a bit insulting and Nani didn't want to get punched clear across a lake any time soon. "Er, your strength? After all, you are the strongest one on the team. And I'm positive I can get dangerously close. Unless you mates have better ideas?"

 

[Pachamac]

Drych Lake

"Jett, wha?!" Aria screamed, before she was thrown bodily off the boat by the hapless Jett, who had nobly tried to defend the illusionist but whom eventually caused things to fail spectacularly and create more problems, as a large plume of water shot up into the air at where they fell. At the same time, Estelle's team's boat shifted its steering dramatically thanks to Aria's loss, her body had jolted the rudder as she fell, and so their boat careened into the Spa team's bold ship, scraping alongside it. With clenched teeth, Estelle, Trixie, Amy and Quentin had all braced themselves for the impact, and looked up with an uneasy sigh. Perhaps… perhaps Jett's fumble had actually been a good thing?

With their boat now pressed against the Spa team's ship side (as opposed to following from behind, like Nani's ship), they were underneath the larger boat's cannons, and now unable to be shot at due to the angle. Not only that, they were up against the Spa ship, which would next help them execute Quentin's idea perfectly… an idea Estelle fully agreed with.

She had never had much talent when it came to throwing things at a distance. But getting up close and personal, fighting atop the Spa ship's deck and ringing them all that way? That was something she was sure they wouldn't expect… and something Estelle was all too comfortable to be able to do…!

"Let's do it, Quentin!" Estelle shouted, scooping up several of their rings that Jett had recovered for them before he had slipped overboard. She then jumped up, reaching for the barrier of the ship and gripping it tightly with one hand, extending out her free one for the others to grab onto before she flung them up and over the side, with herself following last.

One after another, the team's footsteps fell atop the Spa team's deck, crouched figures rising up with grins plastered on their faces to meet the surprised Rhoden. Estelle, Trixie and Quentin were ready for action!!

"Alright!" Trixie yelled! "Hands up! You're about to get wrecked!"

…wait.

Weren't they missing someone?

Amy still sat on their group's boat, with her arms folded across her now masculine chest and her eyes looking elsewhere. She had made no move or reaction after Jett and Aria's spill, or Estelle, Trixie and Quentin's boarding of the Spa's ship. She just sat there, completely content to not involve herself in this sheer ridiculousness. In no time at all, the engine to her boat suddenly cut out after the violet rocking and scraping against the Spa's boat, and it slowly pulled away to an eventual stop in the middle of the lake, staying still as the two remaining ships continued on.

Aria and Jett's head emerged from water a second later, spluttering and spitting out water from their mouths. Aria glared at Jett for a second, before smiled and grinned, urging Jett to follow her back towards Amy and their boat.

And the blazing aura surrounding Gramps' still immobile body grew greater, and greater, and greater…

 

[Rapidfire]

Drych Lake

Estelle slung the water mage over the top and onto the deck. Armed with a ring around her shoulder, Quentin's arms became a whirligig blur of motion. Again, Quentin found herself wishing she had studied harder in school. By this time, the best pupils in the class would have been able to hoist the whole Spa ship in one great typhoon and flip it over without breaking a sweat. Of course, they were show-offs and that would have probably netted them some kind of penalty with a witch like Penelope refereeing. Since she could not go for overkill, Quentin went for something more in her skill range. The waters around the Spa ship rocked back and forth choppily. Despite the vessel's power, it was proceeding noticeably slower in its race to the finish.

Quentin had hung in the back as she focused her effort to mess with the Spa ship's movement; the last thing she needed was to stand right in the line of fire while concentrating. Once she was satisfied, she leaned her hand over the rail. A tendril of water, not unlike Rhoden's own water whip, coiled out of the lake. Her brows furrowed above her sunglasses, which she pushed up the bridge of her nose.

"Yo! You!" she shouted, pointing at the voyeuristic spa owner. "Want to go a few rounds, just you and me, man to man? Er, or to lady?"

The water mage assumed a fighter stance, one arm outstretched in front of her with the life ring in her clutched hand and the other arm stretching skyward like the twisting coil of water beside her. She was not quite in the same league as Gramps in terms of aura, but everything about her shouted she was raring to throw down with Rhoden.

 

[Bunanigans]

Drych Lake

Tau literally leapt in suprise as three off one of the boats managed to climb on board. Woah, that was so cool! He... wasn't really expecting anybody to try that. None of them were. He readied himself quickly, snatching a ring in one hand and kicking up his staff to the other. His eyes darted from Estelle to Trixie, waiting for one of them to make the first move. As was Marcy, except in her case it was one of those pugil sticks in her fabulously manicured fingers.

"Welcome aboard!" Rhoden smiled, spreading his arms out. He hopped down from the rails, choosing to sit on it instead. "And we went to all this bother to supply you with a vessel! You could have made use of it a little longer."

He raised his eyebrows at Quentin's challenge. "Oh come now," he swatted his hand dismissively. "Why should I limit myself to just you?" He made no moves towards any of them, simply sat there with his ankle on the opposite knee. Completely at ease. "I am more powerful than you, and I am in my element! Quite literally! You should really know better."

"Now, it really was quite wonderful chatting to you chaps, but I really must get a move on." And with that he flashed one last wink before he let himself drop backwards and fall overboard, dissapearing completely under the turbulant waves.

"...He's such a show-off..." Tau groaned, although he was grinning at the thought anyway. Then without waiting even another moment he darted to the side, before digging his staff upright and using his momentum to swing himself around it with the intent of kicking Estelle into Trixie. At the same time Marcy had turned to Quentin, twirling a pugil stick and causing that heavy dizzyness to decend over the mage and disrupt his concentration. That was all she needed, as she began to approach him with a ring in her grasp.

"Haven't you heard? Stripes are so in this season..."

Reckless?! That weren't reckless, that was downright life threatening!!! Syed cried out in fright, his voice waaaay too high, clinging on like his life depended on it. He was lucky really that he was already well inside the boat, thanks to losing his balance earlier. By the time they came to a much less... hearstopping pace, Syed was laying with his arse in the air, his long legs over the edge and his curls all over his face, rapidly muttering a prayer to the air-god Vayu in broken Beurvicean tongue. Oh dear. Nani's words brought him back to the present though.

"Unless you mates have better ideas?"

"BLLLLLEEEEEUUUURGH!!!" Moira couldn't help it, she really couldn't. And shit there goes the sandwiches she managed to snatch off Estelle before she wolfed them all. Cracks formed in the wood under her fingers and her head swam. She was meant to have two feet firmly on the ground, that was where she was happiest. None of this setting sail or flying through the air or any of that nonse.

"...Uh. I think that's a no." Syed took in the events around them, flicking his fringe out of his eyes. The other Pride ship was already getting left behind, although he could barely see who was there thanks to the steam trail. That meant the others... yeah sure enough, The water immediately around the boat was getting more choppy. It was only around a metre around the circumference of the Spa's boat, but it did make it almost impossible for Nani's team to get in close. From what he had seen in the last challenge... that probably wasn't a defensive move from Rhoden. No, that meant...

"Have some of them managed to board already?!" Syed paused with a frown, although now with a very firm grip on the boat. "Maybe we can effect the boat some other way. Ice, or a sound blast..."

All the sudden there was an almighty creaking noise, and they found their boat being dragged towards the Spa's armoured boat after all, turbulant waves and all. Turning back they could see a much thicker, stronger water tenticle rising up from the lake and wrapped around the rear end of the boat, pulling and pulling...

Along with the wooden panel Moira had accidentally broken in her rediculous strength, it meant that the boat was beginning to take on water. The armoured Spa boat could easily take such a hit, but the Pride's was much more questionable.

 

[Warden]

Drych Lake

"That ship's a joke and I'm not laughing," Lute sighed to himself and as he glanced at the enemy team's, for the lack of a softer word, destroyer. The Pride might as well paddle on rafts if they were going to go against something that advanced. "Cheating old hag," he grumbled, briefly baring his teeth at Penelope, then followed his teammates into their respective boat. Good luck to their sorry asses. Before the virtuoso could dedicate a prayer to this hopelessly one-sided competition, the race was declared begun and he switched on their engine. On the bright side at least they didn't have to paddle…

"H-hey, maybe I should steer?" Lute stole the steering shaft from the pirate soon as Moira threw up over the edge of the boat. "Just tell me what to do, boss," he added quickly in case she slapped him or ordered Cap to peck his eyes out. Thanks to his half-assed interference their ride slowed down; Syed and Toby used their deceleration to throw some rings at the other team. As if their pitiful state of affairs wasn't enough, the broadside of the Spa's boat was revealed to have like twenty cannons or something. And that was just on this side. In the awkward silence that heralded their imminent doom, Lute caught one of the Spa kids waving at them and raised his hand to give the twerp the finger.

Karma moved and exacted Tau's revenge at the slight by flinging one of the Spa team's rings directly at Lute's face. Seeing how unreliable he was in terms of physical coordination, the virtuoso got hit and dropped down on the floor of their boat. He resurfaced later with his hand over his nose. "You shit!" Lute trilled in abnormally pleasant voice. Oh, the game was on! Nani took the steering wheel again and their ride jolted back to life, arcing away some distance from the enemy destroyer.

"Ideas!? IDEAS!? The others are like, on the enemy deck now! We have to help them!" Lute took a look at Moira and then shook his head. If she was that sick then least he wasn't going to get punted to the big boat. "Wait, what!?" their boat swayed precariously, ensnared by a watery tentacle. The virtuoso leapt towards the end of the boat where water was beginning to pool, his hands pulsing with energy. "Turn off the engine! We'll get more damage if we force this ugly old thing to put up a fight!" Lute exclaimed and then directed his hand at the tendril. Unfortunately, this one was much thicker and sturdier than the one he destroyed before- but at least he managed to break its composition. The thing rippled repeatedly and lost some of its mass slowly but surely the longer the virtuoso assailed it.

 

[Pachamac]

Drych Lake: Group B: Nani, Moira, Syed, Lute, Tobi, Marcus

After using his wind magic to help blow back some of the rings that were thrown against his team's boat, things quickly started to grow worse and worse after Nani had managed to position them out of range of the Spa team's cannons, with the swimmer Rhoden using his water magic to create a fierce tendril holding onto their ship, cracking pieces of it and forcing it to take on water. As Moira threw up and Tobi patted her back to reassure and help her get most of today's lunch back up, Lute went to work in using his sound magic to try and destroy the water tendril's equilibrium and composition, to hopefully force it to let go.

As their boat creaked and rocked from side to side, Marcus looked ahead to the larger, armoured ship before them, and hearing the din of battle erupting above it. He brought a finger to his new, delicately shaped and soft lips, considering the thoughts Syed had mentioned earlier. His particular skill with that type of magic was not as good in contrast to his usual, but that was also because he very rarely had the chance to have such material to help him work with. Now, though…

Marcus closed his eyes, an ethereal blue light surrounding his body and glowing about his fluttering robes. He began to very calmly and quietly chant an incantation, even as the boat continued to rock heavily and water pile on more. Tobi was just laughing as he cupped his hands together to try and scoop what water he could back out, at the same time as Rhoden's watery tendril, and his hold on the group's ship, was finally shattered by Lute's efforts. It would naturally be a short reprieve however, given Rhoden's talents.

A long enough reprieve, though, for Marcus to do what he was planning.

Drych Lake: Spa Ship

"Ho ho ho! How do you like that, hun?" Marcy giggled and grinned as she continued to spin her staff and saunter towards Quentin, her hips swaying from side to side as she radiated out her particular magic to hit Quentin with a nauseous bout of vertigo and uncontrollable dizziness. The pain seemed to hum and throb with every saunter of Marcy's hips, and with it Quentin's control of the water tendril he had summoned plummeted harmlessly down to the deck. Even with his particular skill in balancing atop strong and rough waves as a surfer, Marcy's offense was something else.

"Quentin!" Estelle shouted, at the same time as her body dropped to the ground to dodge Tau's sweeping kick that would have, if Estelle had remained standing, smacked her solidly in the head. She wasted no time after dropping into a crouch to swing her own leg out in an arc, kicking Tau's staff out from under him and forcing him to the fall with a ground with a grunt. He was a pretty handy kid alright, but still just a kid. If he wasn't with such infuriating people and was just a few years older, she could see him as being a promising Guilder.

At the moment though, he was allied with a woman who had forced the Pride to become genderbent and then go through these ridiculous trials in order to be turned back to normal. That was… not a good thing for Tau. At all.

"Rarrrgh!" Estelle roared, jumping up and onto Tau, wrestling him like the immature brat she really was at heart. The point of this game was to ring their opponents. Whatever this was, it certainly wasn't that at all.

As Trixie watched the wrestling duo, ring held high overhead and waiting for a proper opening to capture Tau ("No, Supersis, no! A bit more to the right and… no, I mean left, I mean… ah!") she finally spotted, out of the corner of her eye, the seated Gramps to her side. She blinked in confusion at the strange aura blazing about his body, but overall he was just… sitting there.

She'd be crazy not to, right?

Leaving her friends be for the moment, she began sprinting as quickly as she could towards Gramps from behind, swinging the ring down to fall over his body…

…when suddenly Trixie's body came to a complete halt. The ring felt out of her hands as her arms were suddenly forced to fall to her sides, her body's balance completely disoriented, and toppling over. Trixie looked down to find one of the rings Syed had forced upon him earlier expanding up and over her body, and she screamed in frustration once she saw where it came from as her body fell on the floor.

Jasper turned to her, raising his paw up and ruffing after his jump and capture of Trixie overhead. In the first game, she had caught him, but now the opposite had happened!

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!" Trixie wailed. A sparkle flashed from Jasper's eye.

And then the whole ship rocked and swayed from side to side with violent intensity as though it suddenly collided into something powerful. Marcy, Quentin, Jasper and Harvey Jr were all thrown to the floor and Estelle and Tau separated as they flew across the deck. Even little Trixie's body started rolling along its length and nudged into a still unaffected Gramps, as the ship came to a screeching, wrenching stop.

"Ugh…!" Marcy said, holding her head as she steadied herself up, holding onto the ship's railing to support herself. "What on Ddaear was that?"

She gasped in surprised as she looked over the side.

Everywhere around her, the ship had moored into solid ice. The whole lake hadn't transformed, Marcus' control and mastery of the magic not being quite that potent, but on every side around the ship it had been coated in the frozen, solid substance. The Spa's ship was now trapped.

 

[Bunanigans]

Drych Lake

"Ah geez dude! Argh! What the heck?!" Tau shouted in protest as Estelle wrestled with him. Wait! She was a chick, she was the good looking redhead girl! And now she was a good looking redhead guy instead. Oh geez this sure didn't sit right. Unfortunately, Estelle outclassed him in pretty much every way... as much as a good part of his mind refused to acknowledge it. He did a lot of shouting and squirming. At least until the jolt hit. ...Ice? Well, he was actually thankful for that!

Due to Boat B's proximity with the Spa's - Rhoden had been trying to smash the two vessels together after all - it too was caught right on the edge of the sudden iceberg, along with freezing the second tendril he was aiming torwards the group. It could probably be dislodged fairly easily, but the thing was hardly sea-worthy anymore anyway. The engine had cut out from the strain.

"Woah!" Syed exclaimed, lifting his feet up to protect them from the freezing water in the bottom of their broken boat. "You did it, Marcus!" Moira meanwhile lifted her head up dizzily, trying to make heads or tails of whatever the fuck was going on. Both of them were barefoot thanks to the change in their shoe sizes overnight, so this wasn't particularly pleasant.

But it was a hell of a lot better than throwing up!

"Fuck it!" Moira bellowed, scrambling up onto the ice. She immediately slipped on it's slick surface as pain shot up from her toes thanks to the cold, although she was trying her damned hardest. The faster she got out of there the better!

Then quite suddenly, something shot spinning out of the water like a rocket, just beyond the ice and causing the platform to rock as the excess water rained down. A large column of swirling water stretched upward from the lake, a good ten feet in the air, and at the top... was a certain Spa Owner, submerged up to the waist within it. "Very good, very good!" he clapped, impressed. "A ship can't go anywhere with a frozen propellor and rudder. Not many mages double up from what I've seen." He stopped clapping, looking down upon them all. "Well I suppose it's my turn to show you something new as well, then. I'm not your average magic user either, for what it's worth."

The collumn below him collapsed, and he fell back into the water and began to swim around the boat. At first nothing seemed to happen... at least until they became aware that the boat and the ice which surrounded it was beginning to spin. Slowly at first, but it was starting to accellerate as it went.

He was creating a whirlpool underneath them all - a whirlpool with would be beyond Quentin's abilities to slow or halt thanks to Rhoden's superior control. On occassion he would resurface for air, travelling at one heck of a speed thanks to his magic, before going back under to continue his assault. Standing on ice was one thing. Standing on ice as it span was another entirely.

Tau took advantage of the situation to distance himself as far away from Estelle as possible. He needed to man the cannons again, or at least someone did. When so many of them were like sitting ducks on the ice! Prevent them from getting onboard!

"Come on, Jasper!" he shouted, running towards one of the cannons and clinging onto it as the ship span.

Meanwhile Marcy sighed. Not a hair out of place, good. It was important to maintain such things, even when your boat was getting thrown about like it was nobody's business. She brushed herself off, raising her pugil sticks once more... of course Tau had left her to look after both of them. Of course.

She began to twirl her sticks, disorientating Estelle while maintaining an eye on Quentin, waiting for his next move.

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Drych Lake – Drowning

"Sorry, Ms. Aria." He grinned sheepishly and stuck out his tongue in a child-like manner.

Aria's smile softened and she splashed the hapless rookie. He gasped and returned the gesture in kind. She squealed. Wiping the water from her eyes, she raised her hand up to indicate they should stop. Jett allowed his hands to disappear under water again. She pointed to their stray boat drifting ever closer to the middle of the lake.

"See ya!" He exclaimed and dove under the surface of the water.

The two continued neck and neck until Aria managed to overtake the normally speedier Jett. He grabbed onto the side of the boat one full minute after she did. Jett was amazed. Aria was so cool! She must teach him to swim like that.

He bobbed about while his competitor climbed aboard. "You know, Nani gave me an idea."

Aria just finished exclaiming about their missing team mates when she stopped with only one foot over the edge. The rest of her body remained in that awkward half in-half out position. Jett pulled himself up a little so that he was closer to Aria's level.

"I say we steal several cannons and open fire!" His first serious statement since this adventure started was met with two blank stares. "We need the extra oomph to beat those cheats."

Taking their silence to mean they approved he fist pumped. "I'll go get reinforcements."

He dove into the water once more. Loud panting could be heard as Jett hugged the side of Boat B. Not only had he grossly miscalculated the distance but that strong current almost pulled him under for good.

"Guys! I have a plan." He delcared loudly.

 

[Rapidfire]

Drych Lake

Whatever it was that Quentin had hoped for, she did not get it. In fact, what did happen was far more chaotic and unexpected than what did happen.

First, Rhoden ignored her challenge, dismissing her with little more than a condescending taunt. That big jerk! He dropped right off the side of the ship, barely batting an eyelash as he did. Quentin would have gone in straight after him, but Marcy's twirling sticks of dizziness disoriented the mage for the second time that day. It was a terribly sickening feeling and Quentin almost upchucked over the rail. She was not quite sure what had caused this nausea, not having had her focus on Marcy, but it was hardly coincidence that this was happening again. Quentin was not an expert on such things, but she was pretty sure it was not that sort of icky girl trouble stuff that came on every moon. Thinking about that only made it worse and she lost all concentration, feeling her stomach somersaulting like a well-trained spaniel.

"Haven't you heard?" jeered Marcy, approaching. "Stripes are so in this season..."

Quentin gagged. Marcy was on the offensive, taunting, "Ho ho ho! How do you like that, hun?"

All this would have gone very poorly for the water mage if Marcus had not intervened with some chilling tactics of his own. It was just enough to distract Marcy (and indeed, everyone else as the ship got stuck in the freezing water) and Quentin was stood on wobbly legs. She readjusted her shades.

"Stripes?" she shot back. "And why would I take fashion sense from you? You've got hair the colour of pink lemonade! Nuh-uh, babe. Your sense of fashion reeks, just like that cheap shampoo you use. Come at me!"

Quentin stomped on the deck, kicking up a spray of water at Marcy. Ordinarily, it would be little more than a few drops, but under Quentin's control, it was like someone throwing a bucket of water at the pugilist.

 

[Capt. Blu]

Cuttersbury: Drych Lake Spa- At the lake!

"God damnit Moira! Wreck their ship not ours!" Nani's steering was taken from her by Lute and she huffed. Though that didn't seem to matter considering one moment they were being jetted towards the armored boat, which Nani mentioned, "I say abandon ship. This thing is gonna get wrecked." Then, the next thing she knew, everything was frozen solid. "You guys are crazy... Remind me ta never let you ride in my ship." Nani stood in the tattered boat and looked around. Moira struggled and failed get to wherever she wanted to get, causing Nani to snicker.

The pirate hopped off the boat, immediately leaning her body in order to slide. Honestly, Nani had no idea what was going on. This was no boat race to her and it went from a boat ride to causing the lake to freeze over and fighting the others. Then, Rhoden. Rhoden with his water magic and calm disposition. One minute he was up, and the next he was back in the water. "So what the hell are we supposed to-"

Nani turned to Syed with a rather mischievous grin. "Oi, if I were ta push you, would you 'accidentally' electricute the water?" She grinned, debating whether to test it out. It technically wasn't cheating of it was an accident out of panic, and everyone on the ice would've been perfectly fine... Maybe with a small shock. But not compared to the shock the water mage might have gotten- then again, it could possibly kill him...but Nani was willing to make the 70/30 risk. However it did seem like a bit of difficulty encouraging the rather nice guy to do something like cheat- even though Nani would be pushing him soo it would clearly be an accident, albeit a planned accident. She tapped on the ice, moving back towards the broken ship. With all the ice around, she could say she tripped. "Well? C'mon mate! It's still an accident ya know! Heh, and they've cheated way more than we have."

 

[Bunanigans]

Drych Lake

Marcy raised one immaculate eyebrow at Quentin's taunts. "My my my, you Guilders sure like your insults," she purred. "Speaking of stinking, they stink of your desperation, hun." She continued to spin her pugil stick at Estelle, otherwise not moving. After all, for someone as confident and self-assured as Marcy... why should she let such a thing bother her?

That was at least until she was suddenly hit with a mass of water. She blinked a little in shock, before she gasped as she looked down at herself. Once more her hair was a mess, her outfit was a mess, everything was a mess! "URGH!" she spat, stamping her foot. "Don't you ever get tired of that?!" She moved her pugil stick away from Estelle, opting instead to bonk Quentin over the head with it and push him overboard. Which was a lot easier thanks to the ship's spinning. Pah!

"Woah woah woah what?!" Syed exclaimed, waving his arms before him in a big X sign. "No way, no way no how! I don't care if they're cheating, but I'm not!" He lowered his hands again, raising an eyebrow towards the Pirate. "Besides. I think there's more fun ways of turning this against them."

Upon Nani's curious look, Syed's devious grin grew wider. "Their ship is armoured. With metal. The cannons too. I've only been told I'm not allowed to use electrical attacks, there's nothing against using my electricity in a way which doesn't directly harm them, is there? Nothing's better than stone cold irony."

He swept his arms to his sides, before beginning to move them in rapid, large, flowing movements. Like a conductor for an electric orchestra. Electrical energy began to buzz around his body as he closed his eyes and focused... along with a loud creaking coming from the Spa's ship itself.

"What's going on?!" Tau exclaimed, remaining ducking behind the rails. "What's happening?!" He had just finished reloading the latest batch when...

...When one of the cannons started sparking, before lifting into the air! That thing was heavy, man! He could only gape as the thing downright floated jerkily through the air, coming to a stop near Boat B. Tau was completely amazed. "...Woah..."

Syed stood upright, his hands maintaining movement throughout. He was magnetising the cannon, and suspending it between himself and the metalic ship to help support the weight. All he could do was hope the ice lasted, as much as it felt like it was burning his feet from the toes up. Although he daren't move, thanks to how clutzy he was. Slowly, he reopened his eyes, focusing them on Rhoden. Of course, he was moving too fast, and the fact he spent most of the time underwater didn't help either. "If someone could slow him down for me, I might be able to get a shot in. And... uh... the quicker the better. Can't keep this up too long."

 

[Warden]

Drych Lake

"It's not cheating if it's a reaction, Syed. Plus, Nani's right. That crazy hag is going to do whatever it takes to make her team win," Lute sighed as their broken engine drifted away in the water. Great, just how were they going to the finish line now? The ice that Marcus had created was coating the edges of the enemy destroyer, but it was spinning like a cotton candy maker on a hot summer night. Yep, definitely not touching that. Knowing Lute, it would take him all but three steps to slip on the ice and land on his ass.

Syed began to work his magic and Jett popped up on the side of the boat. "You heard 'im. We gotta distract the water mage," Lute tilted his head at the recruit in a gesture that showed that he was ready to listen to whatever Jett had to say, but moved towards the helm of their sinking boat.

"Marcus, do you think you can freeze him too? Or Jett, can you bonk him or something? Orrr… Oh! I could hear where he's going to appear next and either of you can distract him!" Lute brought up a hand to his lips and energy started to distort around his fingers. If any of the two decided to take on the task, the virtuoso would send his sonar results to them and they could wait for Rhoden to resurface. Tracking such a speedy target was difficult, though.

 

[Pachamac]

Drych Lake

"You guys are crazy... Remind me ta never let you ride in my ship." Nani stood in the tattered boat and looked around. Moira struggled and failed get to wherever she wanted to get, causing Nani to snicker. Tobi meanwhile was relaxing without concern, leaning back in the boat with his arms behind his head, watching his friends at work and grinning to himself as he quietly muttered: "…what ship?"

And then Jett's head popped out of the water, right beside where Tobi's own was laying, startling the man back onto his feet. "Stealing a cannon?" Tobi laughed, pulling him up onto their ice shored ship. Tobi simply shook his head from side to side. "How are you planning on stealing one of their cannons?"

And then Syed did exactly that thanks to his acute control of electricity, electromagnetically wrenching the cannon from the Spa's ship, and pulling it towards their own, propping it into place and continuing to support it as well as he could with his magic. He tried to get whatever fix he could on the still swimming Rhoden, and asked for help from his colleagues on how doing just that. Lute, using his sound magic, placed his fingers in the chilling water to try and help read Rhoden's position, as Marcus prepared another ice spell to hopefully trap the tenacious man.

Tobi, meanwhile…

"Hey, Moira, hey." Tobi walked up to the still vomiting berserker, slapping her back over and over powerfully. "How about giving me some help in getting up on that ship? You can throw me and Nani, right? Hey."

At first Moira didn't respond, but the constant slapping continued on, and on, and on. Even one as seasick as Moira couldn't contain her rage at the irritating man, and so she grabbed him, swinging him around and throwing him away, onto the deck of the Spa's ship. Nani was taken for the ride as well as Tobi gripped her hand and carried her with him, to land with an oomph atop the ship's deck.

"Easier to catch them now," Tobi grinned, helping Nani onto her feet and spying the situation atop the deck. He gasped as he saw a stunned Estelle groggily rising to her feet after a double whammy from Rhoden's whirlpool and Marcy's pugilist attack, with the latter now serving up a course of nauseous pain onto Quentin again, with a subsequent bonk on the head and push to throw him overboard.

"Quentin!" Tobi rushed to his aid.

"Oh! Hey Nani! How ya doing?" Came a voice from below Nani as she looked at the scene in bewilderment. Below her was the trapped and out of game Trixie, rolling into her feet.

Before Nani could do anything to respond to Trixie, a large shadow befell the pirate from behind. Turning sharply around, she caught the site of Harvey Jr, carrying several rings with him, descending upon her. In her new male form, she had no particular defence with which to stop the gentle masseur from attacking.

"Amy… what are you doing?" Asked Aria, as she climbed aboard her original boat after Jett had left to swim to the others. The cleric still remained seated in the wooden boat, nonplussed as she just watched from afar the ice trapped others going at it. "Shouldn't we help?"

"Do what?" Amy replied. "I can't move this thing or swim."

"Still," Aria continued. "We should help and do something. I can get us there, and then we can… ?!"

A massive, blinding light pierced their senses in the direction of where the others were. Aria and Amy watched dumbfounded, as a line of purple light coursed downwards with the sound of a firing cannon, from where the Spa's ship was towards the Pride's, completely decimating the wooden boat in an explosion and throwing its remaining occupants, Syed, Moira, Jett, Lute and Marcus, into the lake's water. Seconds later, the water itself lit up brilliantly, from where the electrified Syed suddenly discharged throughout it, smoke rising from the water's surface and wafting into the air.

"Oh, whoops. Was that man an electricity mage?" Came a voice from a figure standing on the bigger Spa ship's railing, looking down at where the Pride's ship once was, replaced with pieces of wooden flotsam and broken chunks of ice. Gramps' entire body was enveloped in a bright purple aura, with sparks dancing across his hands from where he had unleashed a blast of pure chi. He blinked down, grimacing at the thought of what he had just done. "I, ah… didn't mean to kill anyone." In a louder voice, he continued. "You guys are alright down there, aren'tcha?! You have youth and vitality helping you all, right?! You're all strong, right?!

…of course you are. Okay. Phew."

 

[Fox of Hearts]

Drych Lake – SEAMONSTER!!!!

A strange buzzing overloaded Jett's ears as his vision blanked out. Most of his body felt hot, tingly and incredibly sore. Bubbles spewed freely from his mouth. A strange hand brushed against his cheek and the residual static electricity jolted the stunned daredevil to his senses. He gripped the hand. Air! He needed AIR!

"Argh!"

Jett took a huge gulp of air and pulled his fellow Guilder towards the plank drifting nearby. He plunged into the water and reappeared on the other side. The rookie's ragged breathing was replaced by non-stop hiccoughing as he dangled over the opposite side. Rhoden had been conveniently forgotten.

"H hic ey Lu hic er! Cr hic ay hic huh hic?"

He rubbed his eyes as he tried suppressing the annoying hic-ing. Jett patted 'Lute' on the shoulder as he continued trying to clear the white specks swimming round the periphery of his vision. A calm voice spoke up. Jett's immediate response was to jerk his hand away. "Oh hic h-h hic hey Ma-ma hic us!"

The young man pinched his nose while his shoulders continued shuddering. Oh great! Why can't he ever make a decent impression? He blushed furiously as he tried to avoid Marcus' gaze. Something snaked passed Jett's blind side. He let out an ear-piercing shriek and disappeared into the choppy water. The panic-stricken lad floundered around helplessly till that someone grabbed his collar. (at least he won't be hiccoughing anymore)