Behind the Curtains: Radical Dreamer Cutting Room Floor and Thoughts

 Welcome to the first ever documented "Harpyplot Cutting Room Floor"! I normally don't do these because I keep forgetting details and certain elements might be reused, but I figured I might as well try to condense my thoughts here and outline my thought process for the whole shebang!

When coming up with the Radical Dreamers, I had MAGIC on the mind, and I was rewatching runs of NiGHTs into Dreams. That led to me looking at the wiki for lore, delving right in and what do you know? Wizeman's a nightmare guy. Oh, he used to be human? Wow, there's a good motive in that! It spiraled out from there, developing a whole organization that wanted the "best" for Agama. It helped that I was always fascinated by dreams and what they could imply, further helped by the sudden influx of strange dreams I had in the past couple of months. It was supposed to be a MAGIC focused plot, but when you're hosting the plot itself, it's a bit harder to focus on your own character. 

And what's an organization without the people? I had been on a small Pokemon hype trip, but it was enough for me to grab two of the more prominent members of a Team that hadn't been featured in RP yet, Mars and Jupiter from Team Galactic! They played off well against each other, Mars being the more spunky, hotheaded, and somehow more reasonable one of the two, while Jupiter was more refined, easily bored, and eager to cause destruction without thinking of the consequences. 

Klara and Avery were lumped in to enhance the two dualities, Klara being as plucky as Mars but unwilling to get into the thick of things, prefering to be a spy so that she could find a way to spin it well into her pop star career, while Avery... Admitedly, I just turned his smuggery all the way up to 11 because I clearly do not like him. Both Klara and Avery had their reasons to be in the Isle of Armor, mostly due to self-confidence issues brought on by societal expectations, and those same things were the things that drew them into the Radical Dreamers. Granted, one was more successful than the other, but I have made my bias quiiite clear: I love Mars and Klara so much more than Jupiter and Avery. 

Megumu was not originally a part of the crew, but once I started piecing together how they were going to gather money for their operations and Unconnected Marketeers dropped in like a meteor to claim Chao's heart enough for Chimata to rise from it like a rainbow-colored goddess, I knew she would be the best one to facilitate the end of the first arc. Smug tengu, already had a grudge against Chimata, clever enough to help instigate the original UM incident? Oh, yep, she fits in like a charm. I almost considered throwing in the forest kappa for the scalper event, but Mike fit in a whole lot better with her powers and admitedly sad backstory. Kuroji was also always part of this equation, as she's a money grubbing scammer in Len'en, so she was a good fit for the Scalper Shakedown. The Black Mage thing came in later when I talked with Chao, and considering Kuroji is smart, of course she'd have contingency plans to make a fair bit of money even if she gets arrested. I toned her down greatly from her original character, because 1. why would I even go that far and 2. someone had to be conscious enough to rat Megumu out!

Silver was more of a late addition to the crew with Zinnia, and only because there were fan theories about him being related to Giovanni and Mars. We always need some sort of pure asshole in the gang, especially when a large part was more sympathetic than usual. Zinnia was intended to be harassing the Regis all year long, thinking them incompetent and even going as far as to steal and destroy artifacts to destroy their history. That didn't really work out for reasons I'll give out later, but ultimately I'm happy with how they both turned out. Butch and Cassidy? Well, we all need some sort of extra fodder, and I figured that'd be a fun duo to try to capture that damn Pikachu- er, dream guardian.

Hooaka is a strange addition. First, I thought it was natural Kuroji would try to get her siblings involved. Then, thinking harder, I figured Kuroji actually didn't want to involve her siblings. I called Hooaka "the nuke" in my notes, but how would they stay if their sister left? Easy: geas, because Wizeman needed a nuclear option, and he wasn't about to let them get away. They were supposed to be in the Brawl as the Radical Dreamer rep, and not as a Secret Fiter, either! Full blown character slot. I backed down once I thought of better reps and knew Wizeman wouldn't let his nuke get blown up prematurely.

Finally, we have Alejandro, aka Lance! I always intended, even before he turned out to be Lance after outside influence, to have some sort of sensible evil leader, someone who knows what they're up against and knows when to back down. We had plenty for Salvagerplot for the most part, but it was fun writing a villain who tries to keep their opponents in mind. The lance bit didn't come until after the balan wonderworld mishaps. I was so frustrated that this game had such potential narrative-wise, but forgot that show, don't tell needs at least some sort of balance! I had other ideas for Wizeman's nightmare gang, such as Nightmare from Kirby's Adventure and Reala from NiGHTs, but 1. I didn't want to drag the plot out like I usually do, especially once the plot changed drastically from my former plans and 2. Lance is perfect for this sorta thing. Just the one is fine, thank you.

Mechagodzilla was one of the last ones added, since I hadn't watched Kong vs Godzilla until earlier this year. Without getting into spoilers, he left a lasting impression, and the way he came about was interesting enough that he could fit right in. His first appearance in Boston was to make a lasting impression, a beast to reckoned with. He turned out to be more of a good person in the end, given that the dreams fueling him were ultimately good people. Nooot so much for the finale, when Wizeman pulled his trick to fuel this bastard with fearsome nightmares.

That's our cast we're working with, now let's move onto...

ACT 1: Marketplace Madness

In typical Harpy fashion, this particular act rose up from sheer, utter spite, evolving from just one silly Mayplot to a full blown vendetta. Scalpers had not only made finding rare exclusive dinosaurs harder than it needed to be, but also made buying the gen 5 consoles a huge pain in the ass, and even going as far as to scalp football cards and pokemon cards! I knew that I wanted to channel that righteous fury in a way that was constructive, and what better way to do that than make a plot about it!

At first, it was just going to be Kuroji's little shop, her handling all these faux Kobber merch while the real money came from a nightmaren disguised as an old woman with huge glasses and an outfit that made her stand out, like a fake psychic or witch. She'd lure in customers and scare them with their deepest fears and nightmares before selling them a solution to all of those in the form of dream crystals, which would have absorbed some of the negative energy and channeled it right into Wizeman and his goons. Carla was supposed to be the original target, this woman preying on the loss of her family and lingering fear of flames, though Sonia would have stepped in and ripped her a new one before Carla's will gave in to get one of these crystals. I considered Carla running off if Sonia was being too overbearing and meeting Doremy at her Dream Parlor.

The main reason it didn't get in? I didn't have the energy nor the creativity to put that on paper. It's one thing to get thoughts about it, but another to put it into words and actually describe it. The struggle has eased up once I started to deal with my anxiety and ADHD, but I just couldn't push myself to make that post. So I needed a new angle, and fast.

Mike came to mind after I watched the hell out of Unconnected Marketeers and learned about her, and so, she became the first enemy to get bonked for her scalper troubles. One thing led to another as I thought about it, and soon enough, it turned into Mike ratting on Kuroji, Kuroji ratting on Megumu, and Megumu facing off with the Kobbers with some of her allies who were dreaming along with her. https://youtu.be/Udn3r030Wic Where's that Bustling Marketplace Now was a huge inspiration for that final battle, whimsical but still carrying some dangerous undertones. It fit, especially since Chimata played a huge role in defeating Megumu!

Involving the ConjureArms competition wasn't intended up until the conflict flared up, Megumu seizing that opportunity to discourage Saturn and Ravio and get some of that sweet, sweet negativity to Wizeman. It didn't work out as she intended, but I wanted my plot in general to be impacted by the things that happened around them, the villains changing their plans accordingly.

Post-Brawl, after all was said and done, things drastically changed: Zinnia's reason for being kinda flopped and I couldn't justify her harassing the Regis after their high ranking. Mars already left, Klara was feeling more and more alone with a whole bunch of assholes, and Alejandro was seeing for himself that if they continued the way they were going, they didn't stand a chance.

Fortunately for them, Wizeman had one way to distract them.

ACT II: Rise of Darkrai

This act was originally supposed to be based around Jupiter. Earlier, I thought that maybe Jupiter failed so hard that Wizeman or Alejandro would trap her in a nightmare with what she truly wanted, and like Mars, she'd deal with this boring, spiritless world that was the ideal for their original boss, Cyrus. She would have ended up hospitalized, Skuntank would have pled with Mars and Purugly for help without understanding why Jupiter was sleeping for so long. Could you imagine, Juniper doing all this boring paperwork? Mars hating Jupiter's guts, but not enough to just leave her in that state? 

Yeah, that got tossed out the window when I couldn't find a good way to segue into it. Mars left, ready to take on the Brawl and seize it by the horns!

Then Mars died in the Brawl very early on.

After panicking for like two seconds, I realized that the segue just fell right into my lap, and instead of inflicting Jupiter, Mars would be the target instead. Kinda sucked since I kinda wanted to use her, and watching our girl suffer like this was painful. So I had my way to pull off this part of the plot like I imagined: it was just about filling the middle bits with some meat.

It was about the time Doremy needed to be introduced anyway, playing a part in this whole Dream World plot. The Dream World Gimmicks were pretty fun to mess around with, everyone's ideas of what to do blooming in the spur of the moment. Cassidy and Butch (and Gillwing I guess?) proved to be some good enemies  to face, keeping up with the Pokemon theme of this particular arc without resorting to nameless Galactic Grunts. Though, I intended the cave sequence to break into an underground water sequence so I could use a robo gyarados, buuut ehhhh, naaaah. 

In another true Harpism, I realized I also didn't have a way to wake Mars up. So what did I do? Bullshit and make Klara hella important. And what happened? Klara almost died because she was the key to derailing all these plans Wizeman had and cutting him off from a consistent source of energy. Writing Jupiter as she went from refined to deranged was fantastic, and I especially appreciated Mephita vs Skuntank in this battle of stinky. I would have thrown more than just Weavile at Lucina after she disrupted the assasination attempt on Jenny LeClue, but I realized I had some time constraints and didn't want to juggle everything around.

Facing off with Darkrai basically went off without any major changes! I didn't have anything solidly planned, just enough to have a general idea of what was to happen. Threw in some Dream World mechanics with a twist for an explosive last round, some crazy Dimension Rift shit, and Cyrus being a lifeless husk of a man who somehow has a Crobat, regarding his pokemon as means to an end than any friend he had. All in all, this segment went great, and I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it again.

ACT III: A WISE MAN, OR A FOOLISH ONE?

This was an act I was hoping to hold off until later, but with the pace we were going, there was no way to justify Bubba sitting on his ass til later to rip the Dreamers a new one. Not much to say here: most of this was improv, with the dream mist summoning Negati and galactic grunts being fodder before the real juicy fight against Silver and the Johto Starters began. Hooaka was going to be a smartass no matter what, and they could have been a threat! Could have. Just like Lance: he could have turned into his phase 3 form and caused some mayhem, but all that was cut due to time constraints. No biggie, three shadow-ified Johto Starters would still prove a problem, and did!

The finale could have ended in several different ways. Back when Tsubakura was supposed to be more involved, there was the traveling train segment beating up nightmares along the way to face off with Wizeman's generals. Back when I was trying to think more on how to integrate this with Boss's past, the big boss tanuki would have been helping Wizeman and went crazy with Dream Magic to summon a monster, which then put his people to sleep in nightmares and terrified the shit out of him. Kobbers would have needed to come in to stop the expanding rift of the Dream World from taking over and using that as their way into Train Craziness. It also could have been infiltrating several Nightmarian cities, taking out head honchos and reclaiming territory as they made their way to Wizeman's Castle.

Doremy was actually supposed to die before the finale, gone in some way so that Wizeman could get away with whatever grandiose plan he had. However, Annie's character arc and the Demon Cede plot were too important to her, especially since Annie was in a rut, and nobody wants to find out what a CW and Harpy final boss collab is gonna be like. So instead, she lived, but downgraded. I do have some ideas for her to use a lesser version of her usual dream magic, maybe some adjacent sleep magic. And this way, we might be able to squeeze some backstory out of her! And for that, I'm thankful.

As plans fell through, the finale that was to be clicked into place as I learned more and more about the Negati Bosses. They were wasted potential, and I, a human being powered by spite and the need to occasionally 1-Up AAA studios, dropped all 12 of those suckers in with the Nightmare Powered Mechagodzilla for one helluva army plot! It was a good way to showcase some Harpchars helping, too, because just describing 12 bosses and what they could do? Too boring for my brain, let's show how they work with a few examples! I added a few flairs to them instead of relying entirely on their skills in game, though the Wiki was lacking in details. I threw in Lance's Shadow Form, seizing an opportunity to use it now when I couldn't in the HQ raid. Mechagodzilla? Always going to be there, and always going to be angry.

There's no better harpism than making shit up on the fly, though, thinking back to something I was collaborating on... and figuring, "hey, Wizeman could be a dream robot thing piloted by a Brume!" I'm sorry the first brume I make is an evil one, but I'll repent later. I think.

CONCLUSION

While some things were integrated better than others and this plot turned out to be "short" in that it didn't drag out through the entire year like a true megaplot, this is perhaps the most solid plot I've made in recent history, taking notes from what I did from Rejectplot and applying juuuust a baseline of things, a general structure without solidifying it entirely. It worked out very well for this three act structure, especially since time was always going to be an issue with my topsy-turvy work schedule. Working within those constraints was a bit difficult, and sometimes I felt like I had 0 energy after work to pull some of them off, but I wanted to break away from pushing plots back over and over again and push through.

I'll probably aim for this sort of 3 act structure for any longer plot I want to pull off in the near future and keep things relatively structured. Hey, if it worked, it worked! It also helped to workshop some ideas with others to make sure the motives made sense, to boot! I might not attempt the villain flexibility thing again, though. Then I'd probably run out of villains... or I end up with Brinegirl sympathy syndrome, which is terminally cute.  :V

Aaand... that's it! All the thoughts I could think up of at this time. Before I leave you all, there's just one last thing I want to share: A list of all the music that inspired huge chunks of this plot! 

THE RADICAL DREAMER PLAYLIST!

Where is that Bustling Marketplace Now? ~ Immemorial Marketeers

Fortunate Kitten

Ruby Illusions

Drawcia Sorceress/Drawcia Soul (GaMetal Remix)

Negati Boss Theme Compilation

The Darkness Brought in by Swallowstone - Naturalis Historia

Lunatic Dreamer

Nightmare Diary

The Princess Who Slays Dragon Kings (Ten Desires Remix)

Surprisingly, a big lack of NiGHTs music, but they kinda aren't my style? The new touhous have definitely played a big part, and Momoyo's theme actually inspired the Underground Battle! Drawcia was definitely introduced at the end, when Inkabelle had the greatest potential to use some of Drawcia's moves! Ruby Illusions inspired the way the Finale turned out, impacted by how intense Kal-Vec ended up being and its strong ties to The Void. The Red just won't stop. 

There's more to this, but that's for offseason. There's still much to be discovered, after all! What do I mean? Well, we'll find out~!

The Pirate and the Pupil

 Xiulan let the humid air fill her lungs as her vision slowly returned after a good night's sleep. Clouds filled the skies, the sun peeking out inbetween them. Pain throbbed through her back as she rolled off the bench, the rokurokubi stretching as far as her body would allow. People passed her by, some raising their eyebrows at her choice of style or for taking a bench for a full 8 hours. 

"Oof, I ache more than a granny with bed sores," she said as she slipped into an alleyway and popped her head off to try to massage her back. "Better than sleeping on dirt and finding a centipede tryin' to get too cozy with me, but ugh, I should just sleep on a free cot or something next time!" She popped her head back on after a few minutes of rubbing her cheek against her back with some pressure, stretching one more time before walking along others in the streets with a skip and a hop. "No better time than the present to do some scoutin', though! Maybe there's a job or two I can do without needin' to beat someone up."

As she checked quest boards, she focused less on the actual quests and more on the magitech that made new postings pop up soon as they could. It didn't look like it had some sort of electrical system through it, so it had to be magitech, right? Part of her wanted to take it apart and look at all the innards and find out what spells were used to make it, but that'd be illegal, so instead, she just marveled at technology these days. 

The quests themselves weren't of much interest to Xiulan, at least not without her full repetoir. Exploring deep into La-Mulana? Nah, there's probably monsters in there. Draining a swamp to reach a flooded ruin that once housed an old clan? Mmmm, couldn't manipulate water to that extent yet. Tutoring Magic Academy students? 

Wait, she could do that one, actually. Did she believe she was a good tutor? No, she was the best one, because technically she didn't try it and fail! Now was a good opportunity to use some brains instead of brawn for once-

"Ab-so-LUTE-LY NOT!!!" The screech snapped Xiulan out of her own thoughts, turning her head to glare at the woman screaming at her child. The kid didn't look more than 17, dressed from head to toe in mystical wizard robes, the kind of robes detailing astrological symbols with shimmering gold. While her face was as neutral as could be, Xiulan could see her eyebrows narrow in anger, barely visible below her brown bangs, before she forced them to relax.

"I don't really see why there's a problem, mom," the girl said. "How am I supposed to help the Magic Academy when I don't have even the basic understandings of magic? The best way to correct that is clearly to enroll there and-"

She flinched as her mother stomped her foot down, the clack of a heel heard by all around the area. "Magic this, magic that!" The mother's disapproving look was so intense, Xiulan wondered if it'd get stuck like that. "Haven't you even thought about taking up my legacy? Your head is far  too up in the clouds, thinking there's even an ounce of magic in your bones!" She flicked her pale brown hair back with a hand adorned with golden bracelets and rings. "End your little nonsensical dream! Besides, being a jeweler is more of an accomplishment these days instead of prancing around with familiars or playing around with lightning! It seems like all the riff raff around these parts can do it these days."

The young teen bit her lip, clearly holding back some choice words as her mother huffed and tipped her head back as if to look down on her. "Now, come along! We have very important meetings with Ratstache or whatever that dwarf's name is-"

"M-mousebeard-"

"That's what I said, didn't I? Now, come along, come along!"

Xiulan watched the girl's mood deflate like a balloon, dragging her feet as she followed behind her mother. While she kept her reactions to herself, now she just felt like slapping this woman in the face. It'd probably make things worse for the poor girl, though, so instead, she took out her pouch, pulling out a quill pen, ink, and parchment to scribble a quick note, waving her hand as magic arcs through her fingers onto the parchment, the ink disappearing from sight. She then folded into a paper airplane and let it soar, walking away as it bonked the girl on the head. From the corner of her eye, she could see the girl stop and open it up, eyes widening in surprise before hurriedly stuffing it in her pocket and rushing to her mother's side.

Meet me in the Grand Marketplace, where the scent of coffee wafts through the air. The knowledge of magic awaits you there.

~The Scarlet Witch~

-------------------------

Xiulan didn't know when the girl was coming, so she killed some time touring around Agama, even going as far as to look at the Magic Academy and take a stroll through Bruma. It was neat to see the cultures that blended together, storefronts all over and hawking unique items, and how magitech was integrated into this city, too! Her heart rushed with excitement, exploring each nook and cranny like a five year old hyped on sugar. She hadn't even explored the whole city, and yet, around every corner, there was always something to catch her eye.

The Grand Marketplace was always going to be her final stop for the day, looking around and familiarizing herself with what stores sold what. The rentals shop made her eye widen, looking at Climate Rods and Sand Rods with great interest before she walked out, sullen, incapable of even renting a single thing. No money, more problems. It was at least nice to know they existed as she plopped down at the Seven Winds Cafe, where word on the wind said they had some of the best coffees in Agama. The rokurokubi took a seat outside, watching people pass her by when she heard a chair move in front of her. With a turn of her head, she was face to face with the astrological wizard girl from earlier, looking at her with sparkling eyes.

"You gave me that message, didn't you? You're the only one here wearing anything remotely scarlet," said the girl as she glanced around at the customers, then back at her. "Are you truly a witch? Or maybe you're a sorceress? No, no, I won't be mad if it's an innate power, I'm just so excited to learn- oh, is it from a warlock patron, perhaps? Are you a warlock?!? I hear Sumalee's a warlock bound to The Birdcaller, who is said to be a mysterious fey no one has ever laid eyes upon for centuries- OH! Maybe you're an artificer like Chanda, making magic through artefacts-"

Xiulan held up her hands and said, "Woah, woah, woah, slow down there! You're going 60 knots when I'm only going at 5! Take a breath! Breathe! Feel that air in your lungs!"

The wizard did breathe, deeply at that, before she turned meek. "Ah, my sincere apologies, I just, I... There's so much to learn, and I'm so very, very behind! Zoey knows so much more than I do, and I just want to achieve her level of knowledge on the magical arts! I know I need to get into the academy, but I need the basics to even have them consider giving me an entrance exam!"

"Zoey, huh?" Xiulan looked at the girl, whose eyes shined brighter than diamonds. "Sounds like a big shot around these parts, ain't she?"

"You have NO idea!" The wizard's excitement was electrifying, sparks flying off every word. "Everybody thinks she's an odd one because she doesn't have magic of her own, but the fact that she has pushed through and learned so much to the point of being a walking encyclopedia of magic facts is an inspiration to me! I don't even know if I'm capable of magic, but even if I'm not, I want to follow in her footsteps, to know all there is to know with all types of magic, and share that knowledge with everyone the world over!" She sighs happily, speaking as if she were in a sweet dream. "Imagine... Hakha Glittercloud, author- or co-author- of Magicks Around the World: A Comprehensive Guide to Magic... Aaah, is it not wonderful?!"

Xiulan whistled, surprised. "Woah, she's been hittin' the books if she knows that much! Maybe I should hit her up someday? Trade some tactics here and there!" She crossed her arms, a smug smile on her face as she announced, "Well, I'm just the girl ya need, Glitz! Name's Xiulan Hua Ngo: Xiulan works just fine for me! I'm a wizard and all that. Not a sorcerer who just got it by luck or chance through birth, not a warlock who decided to make a deal with Kuroma or whatever weird thing that grants 'em power. I'm a bonafide wizard, and I worked my ass off to learn my spells and memorize all the sorta things I'll need!"

Glitz narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "You certainly don't look the type. You look more like a warrior, with arms like those!"

"That's because I'm the kinda wizard that likes to be in people's faces!" Xiulan's smile breaks into a grin as she pumped her arm up. "I want that thrill of the fight, the blood rushing through my brain, all that on-the-spot thinking to keep me on my toes! Life's no fun if you're just in the back firin' a magic missile or three. A blade's song and spells at my fingertips are the two things I need to make the battlefield my stage! I got one part, workin' on the other! Don't have a sword, y'see?"

Glitz stared as Xiulan showed her empty palms, no sword in hand. "Uh, this... blade song thing doesn't seem to be that magical."

"And that's where you'd be wrong!" Xiulan chuckled as she sat up, taking out her quill, ink, and parchment as she started to draw. "It's an extremely rare form of magic, used by demons and creatures who can hold even just a stick in their hands. Used to be more common in the Mermaid Queen's time, but if ya don't spread the word, the magic doesn't get passed along. My clan's been able to keep that sorta thing alive, but let's just say the whole clan's in a pickle right now that, if it doesn't get fixed, will make that whole tradition go away like this." She snapped her finger with her free hand, her picture taking the form of long necked and headless men and women dancing with all sword of blades: axes, swords, even a dagger, magic flowing like a song from the heart.

A gasp escaped from Glitz's mouth as she marveled at the picture, hanging on every word Xiulan said. She couldn't help but keep looking at the picture, then back at Xiulan. "This... this is incredible! We've never heard of such a thing recorded in Agama, and if it's as rare as you say, then it is imperitive we find some way to preserve the knowledge so it can be passed down to the next generation without fear of extinction! Ooooh, Zoey's going to LOVE to hear this, I really think you should meet her- OH! Before I get too off track, would you mind terribly if you taught me some magic? I'll pay you, of course, but you saw my mom. She thinks there's enough wizard  and witches roaming around and thinks all that stuff is below her."

Glitz heard Xiulan take a deep breath through her nose before she held up a closed palm, raising a finger for certain things she listed. "Identify. Detect Magic. Mending. Prestidigitation. Distort Value if she wants to run a long con. Unseen Servant. Locate Object if she's looking for a specific type of gemstone and nothing else. Dispel Curse. Move Earth. Guards and Wards." The young wizard's jaw would have been on the ground if she were capable as the rokurokubi lists the spells off with ease. "All of these spells- and more, if you know how to use 'em- would make her a kickass jeweler, but nooOOOooo, that stuff's all below her! I'd love to see her get some cursed ruby she can't sell because it's stuck to her hands and making her hallucinate things that just aren't there. Trust me, cursed gems are no joke! 

Before ya bust out your wallet, I just got a lil request: if ya don't have any pocket change to spare, then just spare me a meal and I can share all that knowledge shakin' around in my noggin! Otherwise, if ya got about 5 gold pieces, that'd work, too! Or somethin' like it. No Bitcoin, everybody asks me about that and I don't know what it is, and I ain't about to find out!"

"Th-that little for tutoring?" Glitz fiddled with her fingers, quivering a little bit as she asked in hushed tones, "A-are you sure? I could pay more than that, if you want! I have a lot of gift money saved up from birthdays- OH! You probably should charge as much as the normal tutors do in-"

"Nah." Xiulan waved her off dismissively. "They can do that because they got people who know how good they are. Reputation, ya see? But I don't have any of that, and really, I just want to spite your mom, since I can't punch her without gettin' thrown in the locker. Just make sure ya meet me here every, saaaay, thursday. Any time work for you here? Need to be weekends or somethin?"

Glitz tapped her chin, brow furrowed. "I have school most days, and I have to sit in on jeweler classes and meetings in the evenings. I think weekends work wonderfully; I'm usually with my father then, who doesn't really care if I wander off and do my own thing. It's my mother who is troubling me the most... Oh, as for a time, lets saaay... maybe around breakfast? Early bird gets the worm, that sort of thing?"

Xiulan held out a hand and grinned. "Then it's a done deal," she said as Glitz took her hand for a handshake. "Weekends, breakfast time! Man, looks like I'll need a syllabus in time for class, gwahaha!" Her laughter petered out as she heard her stomach roar and grumble. "Hahaha... huh. I'm actually starving. Who woulda thought?" It was Xiulan's turn to be all meek and shy this time, attempting eye contact but struggling. "Uh, well, I'd buy myself lunch, but I kinda got kicked out of my house, and I'm here all homeless and penniless. Family troubles, y'know?"

"Wh-why didn't you SAY so? I would have gotten you at least a cookie from the cafe if I had known!" Glittercloud says, color draining out of her skin as she hastily takes out her wallet. "Come on, let's hurry! Do you want coffee? Tea? Snacks? Oh, they have great tarts here, my dad used to come here all the time. You're not allergic to peanuts or anything, right? There's just so much-"

Glitz dragged Xiulan over to the menu, the rokurokubi smiling at her new pupil's enthusiasm, ultimately enjoying a casual chat over green tea and apple tarts, allowing Glitz to talk her ear off as much as she wanted.

A New Pirate's Life for Me

 The plank creaked below her feet, hair whipping up behind her as the airship flew through the skies. She wriggled her wrists uselessly, the rope that bound them tied too well for just a slight movement to loosen. After a moment, Xiulan actually bothered to even look at the loons before her, brandishing scimitars, swords, and pitchforks and laughing at her.

"Laugh it up all you want," she said, cool as ice. "But it doesn't change the fact that your brand new captain is worth less than dirt. You really went through all the effort for him? Really?"

"Of course they would, my one eyed, oh-so-daring ex-captain!" Xiulan scoffed as a man dressed in a purple pirate outfit with gold trim walked out, playing around with his pencil-thin moustache. "Honestly, I'm surprised they kept oh-so-quiet about being bossed around by a demon! And just because you're some decendant to some archer known only on some backwater island? Pah! How pathetic!"

" 'Ooooh, how patheeetic!' " the demon shot back, rolling her one good eye. "Look who's talking! You're so lily-livered, you didn't even mutiny with a grand battle: you just drugged me and had your goons tie me up so you can make me walk the plank. What, you couldn't have been smart and tossed me off to splatter me off the Manchurian Steppe? Or are your arms about as fragile as a graham cracker?"

Veins pulsed against the man's temple as he scowled at her. "I very well could have, but then I wouldn't have a chance to brag about it! I was looking forward to your fear and tears-"

"Boooo hooo, I'm a pooor woman standing over a plank! Whatever shall I dooooo?!" Xiulan spat at his feet before she looked him dead in the eyes. "Now are you going to push me off or not?"

Another vein pulsed, the men around him backing away as one other goon, the one holding a pitchfork to try to tease her off the plank looking over at him with confusion. The regal pirate grit and ground his teeth, hand trembling in anger. "You- You aren't even ACTING scared! This is the part where I gloat over your demise as you bow to me and cry, 'Oh, Lord Valor, please! I beg your forgiveness for treating you so unkindly! Oh, please, oh pleaaase don't push me off, I'll do anything!' You're going off script! You're ruining [i]my[/i] moment, you, you-" Xiulan took a step back towards the edge of the plank, Valor grinding his teeth hard enough to possibly grind them into dust. "You HAG! Just INDULGE me for two seconds, and THEN I'll-"

"No thanks. Bye!"

She relished in the shocked looks as she jumped off, especially that on Valor's face. Like hell she'd sit around and let him jerk himself off to his cheapo accomplishment. That now was the least of her problems as she fell towards earth, down from the clouds up high. It was a roulette whether she'd splat on ground or in water, and a roulette she wasn't going to risk her life for. A spell came to mind, but her hands were still tied behind her back, reaching out for a pouch but unable to get to it. 

Acting quickly, Xiulan detached her head from her body, keeping up with herself in freefall as she used her teeth to open up the pouch and pluck out a feather. She shoved it into her hand before shouting an incantation out loud, runes forming around her. The ground was fast approaching, greenery spanning as far as she could see, one that would be marred if she broke herself upon it.

She came only a few feet away from splattering until her drifted and fell more like a feather than a brick, gently falling onto the ground. One problem down, at least. Next, her head floated off to find some sharp rock to bring over and slice through the bindings, her body standing up and stretching their arms and wiggling their fingers, flinching at the rope marks that marred her fair skin.

"Ouch, that smarts," Xiulan grunted, her body grabbing her head and spinning it around her neck until it clicked in place. With her immediate issues dealt with, now she could take a good look at her surroundings, scanning the area with her one good eye. Greenery as far as her eye could see, vines splayed out and growing everywhere and anywhere, a great wide river farther beyond with the shadow of a city across its bank. How far? She couldn't tell, she just simply knew a skip and a hop wasn't going to get her there quite as fast as she'd like.

What to do? All she had was her pouch of material components and a bit of magic to use. No sword, no armor, no rations... Valor might have liked to brag, but at least he had the sense to take away her essentials. Grumping to herself, Xiulan sat cross legged on the ground, drumming her fingers on her cheek as her palm held up her chin.

"No idea where I am, no idea where they're going... Looks like I'm in a proper pinch." A dramatic sigh escaped her lips as she contented herself to lie down instead of just sitting. "Shouldn't have drank that ale when it smelled off. Now I just went ahead and lost my livlihood and my pride and joy to a chit-chatter coward. Bleh.

I'll skin him alive later. And only if I can pull myself out of this pain in the rear!" Invigorated, she sat and then sprang up to her feet, pointing towards the city beyond the river. "First things first, gotta hit up the town and get my life together! I should probably get some ratty tatty clothes and cry for money, drum up some pity so I can get at least afford a sword and do some merc work! Wonder if they got any ships I could mingle around, start savin' up for a proper airship again!"

Her heart sank as she remembered just how much airships cost. "Ooooor maybe I'm gonna need to stop thinkin like Grand Sky Pirate and think like I'm a plain 'ol girl again. Can't get all self-fulfilled if I don't got shelter, food, and water 'n all that."

With that said, Xiulan Hua Ngo took the first few steps towards a new place, unaware of the potential mishaps she would find in New Agama.

Breaking Free from a Monochrome Life

 All was mostly quiet in The Corps!!! HQ. There wasn't much for them to do aside from clean up and collaborate with The Cure on certain projects. Jaz knew that the major shenanigans would die down the moment the Kobbers left, leaving just a few small fries to weed out. The Corps, much to Shadow's shame, was built more like a defense force rather than a variety of skills like The Cure managed to grab before their face turn. Mitori and Sanra were at least making an honest attempt to reach out and get others on board to help out in different community service deals, but they weren't exactly oozing with charisma.

 There was one other problem, made apparent when Jaz kicked away an empty bottle of sake. She peered into The Corps' research lab and frowned as she saw several bottles of booze litering the floor, research assistants passed out onto their keyboards. Her eyes narrowed into a glare as she spotted a box of chocolates, all of the chocolates now pitch black instead of shades of brown. As a hand reached out and grabbed one, Jaz's eyes trailed towards the culprit, whose one-eyed hat moved to stare her down and blink.

 "What in the fuck did you do with those chocolates?" 

 The culprit leaned back, cheeks flushed with pink. She stared at Jaz for a bit before the color left, deadeyed stare meeting deadeyed stare. 

 "Huh, you ditched the shrine maiden cosplay for that witch cosplay," Tsubakura noted as she took in Jaz's new outfit. "Guess your hero burned you real bad, huh."

 "Nice try dodging the question: what'd you do, Tsuba?"

Tsubakura rolled her eyes. "What, you don't eat chocolates with ink?"

The color drained out of Jaz's face, and for the first time in a long time, her expression is one of utmost disgust.

 "You're not dumping fountain pen ink on those, are you?"

"Nah, just Blooper ink. Pen ink tastes like rust."

"Wh... how-" Jaz took a deep breath before the many questions that came to mind overwhelmed her. "Actually, nevermind, not important. Shadow wants to know what you're up to, especially now with all the changes happening in Olympia. I'm kinda hoping it doesn't involve booze," she adds awkwardly as an assistant muttered something about snake people infiltrating Olympia's government and 5G poisoning everyone worse than radiation. "For your sake."

 The head scientist slumped forward and put her head on her desk. "I'm researching the best way to not do research. All the hot topics are long- term projects, and after CarverCorp's fuckups, nobody's going to ask me how my limb-regrowing tech even works. They even ruined the concept of ready-to-go battle armor in case some burglar tries to steal your purse in the middle of the day." She groaned as she reached for an unopened bottle of sake,  grabbign a bottle opener and popping it open in one smooth motion. "Love it when corporations make it harder to chase your dreams." She brought the bottle to her lips and took a swig like a water-deprived Mr. Fish.

  "Aaand you're going to blatantly ignore that extra radiation down in Inner Rememberance?" Jaz asked as she snatched the bottle away, Tsuba glaring at her and trying to reach for it before Jaz smacked her hand away. "You have the nanotech to at least do something about that, right? Or maybe you can use that big brain of yours to improve on their anti-rad suits. Must be something you could lend a hand with."

 After a few futile attempts to get her sake bottle back, Tsubakura sunk into her chair, almost slipping off as she grumbled, "Yeah, I could, but that's less interesting than making battle armor."

 "But you'd be doing something productive."

 "...I guess."

 As Tsubakura booted up her computer and lazily brought up info on what her nanotech could handle, Jaz pondered for a bit. She was here long enough to notice the sort of interactions the crew had with one another, their regular routine. Tsubakura was notably the laziest of the bunch, an almost herculean effort and the promise of booze needed to get her to do most things out of her comfort zone. The only times she even bothered to get out, besides for a grocery run, was when nanomachines were involved in some capacity: first with Reaper, then with Dust. Jaz noticed sometimes while passing by that Tsubakura would stare at her screen, several tabs passing her by, barely noticing that it was about the supersoldiers CarverCorp had been developing until their eventual collapse. Granted, when they needed her help the most, Tsubakura had them covered, even helping Jaz recover from her fite a lot more easily, but it didn't look like very many things held her interest, and if she wasn't interested, it was hard to press her into action.

 Now that the Kobbers were gone for good, it seemed like it was even harder to get her to do anything. She'd spend the days drinking and the nights eating and sleeping, with maybe the occasional looksie at the Kobber Blogger. All made worse because ultimately, she wasn't exactly needed. All those scientific concerns could be delegated to ex-CarverCorp scientists, or at least those with a strong moral and ethical core. Andrew and Brandon would be able to find the best fit for some of them, if not all of them. It was as if Tsubakura knew she was no longer an important asset, either for The Corps!!! now that The Cure was handling more of the heroics and they had all the tech they needed to handle things, or Olympia as a whole. And so she would loaf around and get her paycheck by doing the bare minimum and live a boring life.

  But Tsuba would always look back at the Kobber Blogger, eyes bright for a moment before she became deadeyed again once there was no significant update.

 So did she really want this life? Or was she looking for something more interesting to come along and sweep her for the ride? A feeling rose in Jaz's gut as Tsubakura summoned the more sober assistants to take samples of her nanomachines and do a radiation stress test. Part of her wasn't sure to trust it: she really shouldn't be making guesses about what a person really wanted out of life. The other part? Well, she wouldn't know unless she gave it a go!

 "Y'know, the Kobbers are heading to a new place in South America," Jaz said, keeping it casual as she looked over at the weird-hatted scientist. 

"Uh huh." Tsuba was typing away, pulling up maps of Rememberance, taking a look at just how much radiation was in each sector as of a more recent study. "Somewhere that Maya chick was from. Brume- no, Agama, wasn't it?"

 "Yep. Turns out, there's a whole bunch to be discovered there. Lot of ruins, full of mysteries."

"Mmmmhmmm." Barely a reaction, if anything.

"Some of them might even have some ancient magitech, since I hear Agama's perhaps the most magitech-friendly place around."

 Jaz immediately noticed the glint in Tsuba's eyes, though she at least kept her bored look. "That's neat, I guess?"

 Time to strike. Jaz leaned back and stretched, keeping a poker face on as she said, "Well, they're open for more people to help out with research. They might have more modernized magitech now, but there's always something to learn from those that came before you. Who knows, maybe there's a way to incorporate something like that into your nanomachines or your casual battle armor ideas. Maybe bring them back to Olympia once people forget about CarverCorp's mistakes 'n all."

 Dead silence. Jaz kept her poker face, though she wanted to break into a smile so bad. The bored look was gone for longer than a second, and for the first time, Tsubakura had an intense curious look on her face. Even if it didn't last that long, it was all Jaz needed to know.

 "I'll... look into it, maybe," Tsuba replied as she straightened herself up. She glanced around at the mess everywhere and frowned as she added, "Maybe after I do a little cleanup and finish up those stress tests." She looked back up at Jaz as the shrine maiden-turned-witch with a raised eyebrow as she asked, "Still, did that loss really hurt you that bad?"

 Jaz picked up a few empty bottles of booze and turned to leave. Her reply? "Just needed a little change, that's all."

 "That doesn't answer anything," Tsubakura grumbled as the door shut behind her.

Sometime after the mess was cleaned and the assistants were gone for the day to sober up and relax, the scientist stared at her computer intensely. Kobber Blogger still wasn't updated. No information on Agama from there. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. She reached out for the mouse and clicked to open another tab, her fingers flying on the keyboard as she brought up Wikipedia. Search for Agama... aha! A barely written wiki, but a wiki page, nonetheless! Not much known, but there were several references to news stories and articles about their entrance into the world stage. Click, click, click. Tabs flew open, and she leaned in, soaking every word of those articles like a sponge. Every reference, she clicked. Every scrap of information, she wrote down. Her browser's tab catalogue ballooned from just three to twenty as she scavenged what little information there was, from general information to what little people knew of the technologies within. And what little she could find, she compiled into a file, before making another file on research topics, then making another on several hypotheses on how magic can affect nanotech and how they can be used in productive ways, including how it can raise how much radiation nanomachines can handle before they break down entirely.

By the time her work was done, Jaz came back to a bloated browser, an overly crowded task bar, and a snoozing scientist. It was only then that Jaz cracked a smile, leaving a bottle of Chocalcohol besides Tsubakura before tiptoeing away. One life potentially changed for the better... she hoped.

Tsuba by herself wouldn't be a totally great idea. Always better to go in pairs. But Jaz had an idea for that. After all, there was certainly someone interested in the "magi" part of "magitech", someone with a more blatant curiosity... and one who could break Tsuba out of her shell and drag her into sheenanigans, whether she liked it or not. 

Jaz smirked as she took out her phone and made a call.

"Hey, Reimu? I might have something to scratch Marisa's itch for a thrill..."

Nightmare in Dream Land

 "GIRUU GIRUU GIRUU!!!"

A tail lashes out, slicing her cheek. Warm, dreamy ichoor drips down, the massive flying tadpole laughing with rapid "GIRUUS!" as he lashed again and again. He wasn't as successful when he wasn't ambushing her, the dream dweller quickly shifting her form to a mecha ram to tank the hits.

"And hello to you too, Gillwing," says Doremy Sweet as she shifts back, the massive lizard thing soaring past her, thinking she'd remain in the bulky form forever and smashing into a wall that rippled on impact. "You and your master know it's absolutely futile to challenge me, and yet-" Gillwing flew up into the air, into what appeared to be the vastness of space, before coming down on Doremy, the baku yawning as she effortlessly molds the emptiness into a horde of sheep to distract him- "-both of you continue your efforts. Don't you two have better things to do than bother me in the Dreamscape?"

The dragon gave a loud scream into the night, the world around them warping into a neon-lit city and frightening off the sheep for good. His voice distorted until it sounded closer to Godzilla, Doremy quirking an eyebrow before the monster fired off an Atomic Beam.

"Oh. That's a problem, isn't it?"

She was wreathed in flames and pushed into a building, which promptly exploded as all buildings are wont to do. Thinking fast, she twisted her form to match a Nightmaren above all Nightmaren, the gold-wreathed, three headed squirrel-dragon, with one head replaced with a more ram-faced Doremy. Gillwing was hardly detered: Godzilla was Ghidorah's eternal nightmare, an everlasting thorn at his side. As long as Doremy kept that form, there was absolutely no way she could win, especially as he used his long tail to grab a tower and smash one of the heads in with it.

They screamed before golden bolts flew from their mouths, barraging Gillwing's face before Doremy rammed her head into him. The other two heads latched onto his neck with their two buck teeth before they managed to rip the head off. There was plenty of ichor  that spewed out, Doremy licking her lips in anticipation and opening her mouth wide to eat, wider than what was ever humanly possible.

She immediately regretted it as Gillwing sprouted another head midchomp, the baku choking on it before an Atomic Beam pierced through her body. Her golden form dispersed, Doremy coughing and hacking but the Nightmaren refusing to leave her alone, bashing, smashing, and blasting her all the while.

Pain surged through her with every attack. Annoying, so absolutely frustrating. Who would have thought that a tadpole who was so easily destroyed by a fellow nightmare would grow a brain in his attempts to kill her? They weren't exactly much of a thinker, or at least, from all of her previous battles against him, he proved to be merely a thorn at her side. Always so dumb to leave the tail exposed for the ripping. Clearly, someone had been teaching him new tricks for this mission, and she didn't quite enjoy the thought of that. If he got too clever, he might actually win and put her down... for a little bit. But just a bit of time, just one opportunity, and his master would expand on his territory in the Dreamscape, inching closer to dominating and ascending to Master of Dreams. 

And as the current 'Queen of Dreams', Doremy was not keen on being dethroned, especially when her entire kingdom was in danger.

Battered and worn, Doremy shrunk to the size of a mouse and scampered off before Gillwing tried to smash her again. The dumb dragon made a confused noise, thinking she simply disappeared. A smirk formed on her little mouse-y face: At least he still had the brains of a gnat when it counted most. She waited patiently, watching as the dragon landed and looked to and fro, trying to sniff her out. She crept closer and closer to him as he exposed his tail, slowly shifting into her normal form, her dress replaced with overalls and red sleeves, her long sleep cap now with a big D on the white brim.

"GIRRAH?" Gillwing boomed as Doremy grabbed him by the tail and swung him round and round, his eyes spinning in their sockets until he was too dizzy to think. 

"So long, Gay Wing~" Doremy said as she let go, the monster crashing into several buildings. She could hear his weak, feeble cries as he flew up ,several times smaller than he was when he first arrived. She transformed into a Ram Mecha again, aiming her cannons and firing off Mazers to weaken him further, the tadpole shrinking and shrinking until he was so very tiny from regenerating with his tail. He tried to summon up a portal and escape, ready to try again some other day-

"How bold of you to assume I'd let you escape after beating me to a pulp." Gillwing squeaked as Doremy teleported in front of him, licking her lips like a hungry lion. "Its been a while since I've dined on a Nightmare. Perhaps if you kept being the dumb lizard you were,  you'd get to live several years longer.

Enjoy your endless nightmare, Gillwing~"

She opened up her mouth and sucked him in, sucked the entire neon dream in, the tadpole screaming into the night. He clutched at a  building with his teeth, to no avail: this entire  dream would be absorbed, devoured with him in it.

All returned to darkness, to the vast emptiness of the Dreamscape. Doremy gagged a little and shook her head, frowning as her stomach disagreed with her.

"Who knew that Gillwing would teach me how it feels to have heartburn," she grumbled before she summoned her pink orb and formed it into a hammock. "Least he's dealt with. But..." She leaned back and stared into the bubbles forming in space, visions of dreams arising as sleep claimed mortal minds. "If someone taught him those tricks, then cleverer Nightmaren will rise to face me, and perhaps defeat me... Or perhaps he's gained an ally somewhere, someone to give him inspiration. Too many possibilies, and all lead towards the same path."

Another bubble appeared before her, expanding into a scene of monsters bursting out of a closet, bursting from under the bed, escaping a dream within a dream to stir fear into the heart of their dreamer. Doremy's brow furrowed, her frown deepened.

"A world of never ending nightmares," she said quietly. "A fate I cannot prevent alone. Not as he stands to gain power."

She sees a speck in one bubble, turning her head and reaching out, beckoning it to her side. Like a crystal ball, she watched as a curious Kitsune wandered an empty city, searching the slums for some sort of clue. 

A smile formed on the Queen of Dream's face as she watched.

"As one pebble stands to make several ripples in a pond, perhaps The Traveler will be the catalyst, the domino that brings forth Nightmare's demise..."

Thief in the Night

 "You damned thief!"

He could hear the thunk, thonk, thunk of a man on a mission, chasing after him. It was a surprise, honestly: who knew an onion man with such stubby legs could keep up with him as he sprinted around town with cheetah legs? More likely, the damned Lilty was stupid determined, his feathery, armored buddy reluctantly Hasting him just so he could catch up.

"Get back here, you!" the Lilty shouted over the din of bars and inns still open at this late an hour. "I'm not lettin' you get away with this again!"

The thief rolled his eyes and scanned the streets as he ran straight across on all fours, slowing down just to adjust the Oni mask he was wearing, making sure it wouldn't slip off. They were getting close to one of the rivers that ran underneath the city. If he can just get there without the Lilty getting too close, then maybe he could make another escape. The issue was, Haste was a powerful spell, and this onion was powered by the fury of a merchant scorned. Adrenaline, as far as he's read, allowed for incredible feats, including a second wind that could allow the merchant to catch him. Either that, or get too close to him and get a glimpse of his true face to post all over Agama's magicrystal boards, to start a bounty proper.

He had to make absolutely sure to slow him down for this trick, or he was screwed, one way or another.

But what if he didn't need to take to the rivers right away? There were plenty of alleyways about in the city. Plenty of trash cans to throw at the merchant to slow him down, too. Then again, that onion was stubborn and would sooner send trash flying all around the city before it could stop his chase. So that was out. The thief's face twisted in thought. There could be use for the alleyways, but what would keep the Lilty from catching up? He racked his brain for ideas: transform into a beetle? No, he'd sooner get stomped on accident. A bird? That'd be suspicious at this time of night, whether it was a finch or an owl. And even then, how long could he maintain said forms after running with cheetah legs for so long? 

Wait. There was a creature whose skin could change color, right? Maybe-

A spear flew towards him, the thief barely able to dodge it in time as the merchant boomed, "I almost have you now, you rat!"

No time to think. The thief bolted into the closest alleyway he could find before pressing himself against the wall. The cheetah legs shifted back into more humanoid legs and arms, his cheetah tail poofing into a rather bushy brown raccoon tail as his skin shifted into something slimy,  quickly tossing away his mask before his entire body blended in with the adobe walls. He held his breath, even as his heart threatened to burst out as the Lilty turned in and ran right past him. 

"I swear, when I get my hands on you, I'll-" was all he heard before the onion was out of sight.

Slowly, his skin shifted back to how it was: dark, sunkissed, and definitely not slimy.  He hid behind a trash can and peered above it, looking all the world like a burglar with his racoonish face. His raccoon ears twitched, listening for any sign of thumping and clanking from what little armor that onion managed to don. When he could hear none, he took a deep breath, reaching for a pouch on his side and pulling out a leaf, placing it gently on his head as the vision of a frog filled his mind. 

POOF. With a thought and a little bit of magic, he was now a frog, hopping away from the scene and into the closest river, letting the currents take him where they may.

-------------------------

Three minutes later, the tanuki man clawed himself out of the river, soaking wet from head to toe. He scampered under a bridge to wring his tail out, grumbling all the while.

"That onion really knows how to run when money's on the line," he said as he shook himself like a just-bathed dog. "Might need to cool it with the heists before he wisens up and brings pals over to trap me. But in the meantime..."

He took out a plain brown pouch and opened it up, grabbing a few things from out there: an extremely tiny painting, jade necklaces and strings of pearls that looked more like they belonged on dolls more than anything, and several gold and silver rings. There were specks of yellow dust on the painting and necklaces,  which he was careful to blow away on one item at a time. As the dust was removed, the items slowly grew in size, until the painting was just about as tall as he was, and the necklaces were just the right side for any humanoid to wear. 

It was the painting that got his attention the most, the tanuki squinting at it until his eyes hurt. He ignored the bright colors of an angel descending upon a dark, gloomy populace, running his fingers down the  painting until he found a signature: Von Dulak. He dug into his pouch again, pulling out a smartphone and scouring the net until a smile cracked onto his face.

"This guy's works are famous, huh?" he says to himself as he looks at the collections of paintings said artist made, though all of them seemed to have some connection to a savior protecting the populace or rescuing something or another. "Last work of his auctioned off for big bucks. Maybe not millions, but a 100k for a painting? Could live nicely off that." He glanced over to the painting again and squinted. "If it's not fake," he added with a huff. "Would be just in line with the Old Guard to pay big money for a fake.

Could take it to get appraised somewhere, make sure its real, but if that onion's got ties to those guys, one glance at it and they'll be ready to hang me at the gallows." His eyes narrowed, brow arched in thought. "I could disguise myself as him, but it wouldn't last long. Can't say I can pay for a proxy, especially if they're already in his pocket. Could cover my face and change my tail while I wear something appropriate, but that might draw a little suspicion too, and it's not like I have a closet in my Bag of Holding."

He pondered and pondered under the bridge until he heard the baying of a mule from right above him, another voice chiming in.

"Oh, come on, Marigold! Stop your complaining, it's not like you're about to stay at a one-star Motel! It's The Accidental Hero, not Ol' John's Pubbery!"

That voice... there was nothing else like it. It was a voice he heard often while skulking about the marketplace in the morning, booming about honey and coffee. 

Quickly, he grabbed another pouch on his belt, sprinkling dust on the painting to shrink it down, then shoved the painting and jewelry back into the bag of holding and tied it to his belt before shifting into a hummingbird, zipping up as he watched Marigold snort and Sumalee roll her eyes. 

Jackpot.

He zipped down to her and said, "Psst, Suma! Suma, it's me-"

Marigold glared at him, her pixie handler sharing her suspicion. "Excuse me, do I actually know you? Because you're definitely not one of my flock!"

"Oh for- who else can be a talking hummingbird other than a certain someone?"

"Druids," came the blunt reply.

Shit. She was right. With a groan, he shifted to his true tanuki form and pounded on his chest. "Okay, you got me, but seriously, druids? At this hour?"

Sumalee's eyes widened with surprise before she said, "Boss?" At that last quip, though, she said, "Well, someone doesn't know about the Circle of the Moon, huh? Maybe you should brush up on that before you say stupid things like that."

"Sure, fine, but first, let me just hide in here!" 

"Wait, wha-" 

"Boss" leaped into the cart, Marigold protesting before the tanuki shushed her. Sumalee fumed, flying on over to him and glaring at him with the intensity of a Moonbeam.

"Okay, 'Boss', what's the big deal?! You can't just hide in my cart whenever you want! You want people to think I'm smuggling Tanukis or something?!?"

Boss rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like they wouldn't just slip out of your grip like a fish. Don't think our kind's really much on the map here anyway. But really, I need your help, and no, I don't need more pixie dust." He paused, thinking and looking in his other pouch, seeing how little yellow dust remained in there before he looked back at Sumalee and added, "Yet."

Sumalee crossed her arms and legs, her glare softening to displeasure more than anything. "Sounds like something big if you're hiding like this."

The pixie knew a little bit about him, or at least enough to trust him with pixie dust. He phrased his heists more like item recovery from ruins and all, and that any paintings or carvings would be difficult to carry over without dusting them and shrinking them to a more manageable size. He could tell her the truth of the matter, but did she really need to know? Then again, what kind of story would even fit for his situation? 'Oh, I just happened to find a painting before some other guy so he went to hunt me down!' Yeah, wasn't going to fly when most ruin explorers were cooperative. Maybe for the necklaces- no, they didn't have that freshly dug up scent or look to them, she'd find out too quickly. Fended off a burglar for a friend? May-

"I don't have all night, so spit it out, Boss!"

Damn it, if she would only let him think up of a story... No time. Again. Boss's tail and ears drooped, putting on his most apologetic look before he spoke.

"So I did a lil oopsie, trying to recover some items from a guy going to the village, aaand apparently, he saw me and was very determined to chase me down for something he stole!" he said with a dramatic sigh. "I just barely managed to escape his wrath with the goods, but I'm sure he'll be on the lookout for me. I just needed help appraising some items and making sure they're returned to where they belong, you know?"

He wasn't sure if Sumalee bought it or not, her face scrunching and staring him down. 

The facepalm told him everything, though.

"Uugh, no wonder Gil Wood was throwing such a fit and screaming about thieves in the night." Boss's face fell, realizing that of course Sumalee would know him: they were both merchants! "I'm going to take a reaaaally wild guess and say you stole some gemstones and rings and other expensive stuff off his caravan, too."

Fuck, she knew too much. With the jig up, Boss replied, "Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah, okay, you got me." The fur on his tail puffed out as he angrily added, "But I have my reasons for it, okay? Only the gaudy expensive stuff's good for the taking, not any of the food or things to survive or anything!'

Sumalee sat beside him and looked up, taking him off guard with a look of concern. "Does it have anything to do with your home? Because I've noticed its always a caravan going to the tanuki village."

A fire burned in his heart as he almost said, Well, they deserve it. He bit his tongue just as the words were about to leave his mouth, flinching at the pain before he settled for, "Like I said, I have my reasons."

"Aaaand you're not going to tell me those reasons, are you?"

"No."

"Not even if I give you free pixie dust for a year?"

Sumalee fluttered her eyelids at him, but it was that deal that made him hesitate and think. But ultimately, he shook his head. "Sorry, but no."

"You're just making it harder for yourself- and for me, too- but guess reasons have as much power as a true name now, huh?" When Boss didn't reply, she shook her head and said, "Fine, I'll give you some help, but don't you dare mention me in any capacity. I don't need my reputation put on the line because I'm helping you out. Show me whatcha got, and I'll see what I can do."

It didn't take too long for him to show her the goods as Marigold trotted along the path. Sumalee fluttered from thing to thing, the rings catching her attention first, then the necklace. The painting was his biggest  concern, but here she was, taking out some monocle thing to look at rings like they were the true prize.

"Rings might fetch a few hundred dollars. Made of good material, most of them. Some have enchantments, but the only one I can distinguish is that one of them has an Invisibilty thingy on it. Sounds too good to be true, though, so I'll take it to Leanne to make sure its not cursed." Sumalee grabbed the strings of pearls and shook her head as she continued, "The pearls? Fake as fuck. Pearl oysters can't survive in these rivers, and they take too much time and effort to make even cultured pearls. They're impressive looking fakes, like- here, take it and put it on your tooth for a sec. Feel it."

Boss wasn't entirely enthused by putting pearls in his mouth, but he did as he was told. "Feels pretty smooth," he commented as he spat it back out and wiped his mouth. "That's what pearls should feel like, right?"

"Not at all, Bossy boy!" Sumalee puffed up her chest with pride as she took the pearls away. "Can't see it with the naked eye, but real pearls are grainy when you look at 'em with a good magnifier! Fake ones? They're more rugged, more eggshell-lookin'. You can feel the graininess with your teeth with real ones, too! So whatcha got there are some pretty expensive fakes. And as for the jade, someone must have paid out the wazoo for that, because that's as real as it can get."

As much as he'd love to rejoice at the fact that something here is real besides rings, Boss couldn't help but glance back at the painting. "Aaand what about this?" he asked, turning back to Sumalee. "This isn't a fake, is it?"

Suma looked over at the painting, a deep frown forming on her face before she turned back to him. "Ain't my specialty, Boss. I could take it to someone who might have a clue, but..."

"But someone might have a connection with Gil and put two and two together," Boss finished with a frown, taking a pinch of pixie dust to shrink it down and shove it back into his bag. "You said to leave your name out of this, so I'll just see if some random rich guy wants big bucks for it, fake or not." 

As they rounded the corner and the duo could see the brightly lit sign of The Accidental Hero, Boss grabbed the rest of his haul back into his bag, legs shifting to that of a kangaroo's and ready to hop out before Sumalee said, "Wait!"

He turned towards her and saw the concern on her face. "Be careful out there, Boss. Kobbers'll be here soon, if they aren't already here. And whether you like it or not, keepin' secrets around 'em- whether it be about your true name or your intentions with all your thievery- will only make it harder for you, especially if Gil manages to get their attention to get ya."

His ears twitched at the mention of Kobbers, a pang of fear seizing his heart for a moment before he hopped off the cart into the darkness, hiding in the alleyways as his mind simmered with thoughts.