"..." = Speech
<...> = Thought
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"Hm… Well, whatever you've done, I'm sure it won't come up later and be a very important moment which will have long reaching consequences!" Risky declared with a dismissive shrug. "It isn't like you can do anything to stop mommy's momentum; oh and I wouldn't destroy my revolutionary device if I were you~."
"Oh~ why shouldn't I~?" Narrowing her eyes with a smirk.
The piratess just chuckled. "Iit would be no mood killer from mommy's perspective; the only thing that changes for me is that I'll be looting from magma filled wasteland as opposed to towns. If anything you'll only be helping make the whole thing a more messy but simpler affair for mommy~."
Shantae thought but one look at that nefarious smirk revealed that there was no form of deception in the pirate queen's words. In fact, she seemed to take great pleasure in pointing out just how much trouble she had caused.
"That pillar back there is load bearing, for a layman like you, that means it is the only thing keeping the entirety of this island from crashing down into the mantle of the planet." Patting the stone pillar.
"W-Wait but that means-"
Risky was more than happy to finish Shantae's sentence. "-if mommy's device explodes it'll take the entire island along with it Yo~HoHoHo~!"
The genie heroine could only stand there watching.
Though a piece of good news was that the rumbling had finally ended as she apparently finished.
"Now, I have to decide where I'll first visit, so time for mommy to jump this shark Yo~HoHoHo~!" Leaping in a seemingly random direction and kind of just… Vanishing?
Although Shantae wasn't exactly able to get an answer before her trio of friends finally seemed to catch up with her to see that device. Fortunately they at least seemed somewhat cautious. "Please don't tell me that the earthquake that just happened was related to Risky's new plot?"
"Okay, I won't." Shantae announced as a silence filled the air.
…
A silence that tellingly lingered
Sky's face said it all.
She knew.
Shantae knew.
They knew each other knew.
"Huh what is this machine thingy?" Bolo's sudden question immediately got Shantae to turn to see the boy already half way to poking the very dangerous device.
Immediately screaming at the top of her lungs. "DON'T TOUCH THAT!"
Fortunately the shout caused the boy to jump back enough where accidentally touching it became impossible; Shantae letting out a relieved sigh.
She didn't want to test how durable the TinkerBats had made that thing…
"So, I think it fair to assume that thing has something to do with Risky Boots' new scheme?" Asking with a frustrated sigh as she listened to Shantae's explanation. One which involved a lot of strange noises along with plenty of gesticulation.
Massaging her forehead. "Honestly - I think all of this is beyond our skillset - probably best if we get your uncle's opinion on all of this."
"Aw~ but how do we know for sure it'll bring down the entire island?" Rotty helpfully added her opinion.
Of course Sky valued said opinion. "The more you speak the less I find myself liking you."
"Hey, you two, no reason to figh- Huh?" Abruptly cutting herself off as she suddenly felt herself falling forwards. She had been walking up to the two, directly towards Sky, only to feel something slip in front of her foot causing her to trip.
In a chaotic few seconds the genie heroine found herself firmly defeated by gravity (again) only to plunge head first into something soothingly soft. At the same time she felt a pair of hands wrap around her ass as she came tumbling down. Holding her hands out in front of herself and closing her eyes to stop herself from seeing the fastly approaching ground.
When she opened her eyes… Well she didn't see the ground.
Using her outstretched arms to push herself out of an egg-themed bikini top to meet with the familiar eyes of a certain blushing bird trainer.
On either end of said face were Shantae's hands.
Meanwhile, she found herself straddling Sky's lap as a pair of hands instinctively gave a nervous squeeze.
Those same hands that Shantae had felt on her posterior.
"So I take it you enjoyed last night - I know I at least slept well!" Smirking as Sky's hands moved about as fast as humanly possible (plus maybe a bit faster) to vacate that rump. "Well you didn't really give me a lot of time to sleep."
Bashfully turning her head away but at the same time she slowly had her hands climb back up to Shantae's butt via those toned thighs. Bringing an even bigger smirk to the genie's face. "Well it's hard to sleep when you have such good company around for the night~."
Wiggling her eyebrows.
Meanwhile Bolo waltzed back towards the group; specifically up to Rottytops with a confused look on his already not too bright face. "You tripped her on purpose, right?"
"Heh~ I will admit to nothing~!" Giving him her own snigger.
"Why though?" Having his head fall to the wayside.
Rotty just lifted her arms in a non-committal shrug. "Well, as Shantae's verified best friend, it's only natural that I should help her out a little.Those two made it way too obvious with how they were giving googly eyes to one another all morning long~!"
"What is obvious?" Scratching the back of his head as Rotty was momentarily stunned.
She walked up and placed her hands on either of his shoulders with a big smile. "You know you'll never need to worry about me attacking you in hunger. Even without coffee I am completely confident there will never be a need for you to worry about zombies attacking as we don't have anything to gain from it."
Hearing that joy visibly overcame the boy's features.
"Wow, thank you… But what is your name?" His question caused Rottytops to just explode into laughter.
---
"This… Is indeed very bad." Uncle Mimic said with a stern look as he ran a hand through his beard.
"Oh~ she missed out the part where she and Sky began cannodling!" Of course Rotty also had to add her own observations into the report. That announcement instantly got the old man to grow even sterner than when discussing the oncoming apocalyptic fate of their island.
There were plenty of islands that made up the Sequin Land continent - with many more towns scattered about many of them. Yet the largest and most important was no doubt the one they were on. Being the location of the Sultana who ruled over them all thus classified as the mainland.
But there was indeed something far more important than all that. "You two are using protection when you canoodle, right?"
"Eh, why would we need to care about all of that, we're both girls so it isn't as if we can accidentally make a baby during baby making." Asking with absolutely zero bashfulness toward what many would consider a highly embarrassing scenario to be in; talking about your intimate relations with a parental figure. One that Sky most certainly found embarrassing.
The poor warbird trainer was quite the open person but it wasn't as if she wanted her love life to just be completely out in the open in front of an old man.
As such she tugged her hood as far over her face as she could manage.
Which sadly wasn't very far on account of it's meagre size.
Her uncle also wasn't satisfied with the turn of events but for a very different reason. "You say that but you fail to account for the fact that you're a full blown genie now. Similarly to when you seemed to accidentally cast some powerful magic with Risky Boots; we simply do not know what could happen!"
"I guess that is true…" Scratching her chin with a tapping foot as she pondered things.
Finally Sky had also broken as she loudly cleared her throat. "Can we please talk about the whole island's geography changing in a matter of minutes?"
"Speaking of that strange magical phenomena you spoke about, I believe I may have some idea about what it was, if the legends are true at least." The old man hummed as he spoke.
That instantly caught the attention of everyone (including Bolo who was currently studying a wrench with the curiosity of a monkey finding fire) with an obvious inquisitiveness. Fortunately he didn't leave them in the lurch for long. "I believe what you two did… Was grant a wish."
"Wait, you mean Shantae can just grant wishes now that she's a full blown genie; then why can't we just wish that Risky's plan falls apart?" Sky instantly asked yet it was clear to anyone looking at her - she wasn't asking with expectation of a positive answer. She simply needed the limitations.
And indeed, as she no doubt expected, the old man promptly shook his head with a long sigh. "I do not understand the full mechanics behind it as I am no genie. Yet a genie cannot directly grant their own wish no matter what wish or whichever manner of trickery they may try to use..."
"Wow, that seems really stupid!" Rottytops was as honest as she always was.
Unsurprisingly Sky disagreed with her. "No, it actually makes quite some sense if you think about it."
Her words, though, were surprising.
Sky pinched her chin with an appraising look etched across both her face as well as her entire posture as a whole.
"Sky usually you're the smart one but… I don't get how that makes any sense." Bolo said.
Only after he fumbled about with the wrench until dropping it on his face - causing everyone to turn around to look at him as he clutched his foot. In response Sky just rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't make sense if they were the ones making the rules but the spirits don't make rules; they just enforce them."
That caused everyone to blink… Everyone except old man Mimic.
"Yes, you are right Sky, it makes perfect sense that the genie's most powerful innate ability would find itself greatly restricted when they are the most restricted of all spirits!" Laughingly merrily while gesticulating.
"I'm sadly with Bolo… I don't get it." Shantae seemed embarrassed but she honestly admitted it.
Rottyops just sat on a nearby workbench while tapping her chin and scratching her head.
An impressive level of multi-tasking, at least.
"What I mean to say is that the gods clearly don't want one race being able to simply grant any wish because that would step into their realm." Nodding her head while lifting her hands in a shrug. "An immortal being who can change reality itself to their whims certainly sounds a lot like a god."
Hearing Sky's explanation immediately explained a lot about the situation; Rottytops nodding her head as she slammed her fist into her open palm. "So to prevent us from doing whatever we want; they make it so we can only grant the wishes of others. Of course they wouldn't let loopholes exist so it has to be honest."
"That still seems so dumb; even if we want to do something good we can't if we truly want it?" The genie in question shook her head as she spoke.
"You're making a massive mistake then, Shantae…" Sky let out a long weary sigh.
It was one so filled with emotion that everyone couldn't help focusing entirely on her.
"Look, it doesn't feel great to share this, yet I doubt gods are all good… They also probably aren't all evil but - instead - are probably mostly uncaring with nothing other than their own enjoyment in mind if half the stories I've heard have any modicum of truth behind them." Admitting something that some particularly pious temples may have a couple issues with.
She also wasn't finished with her heresy. "There are also likely some very prideful gods; I doubt there is any type of god who would let you simply grant wishes as freely as they could use their divinity. Which begs the question of what wish you and that pirate granted each other…?"
Narrowing her as she questioned Shantae.
"Then?" Sky asked.
"Then?!" Rotty proceeded to ask while practically jumping over a highly annoyed Sky's shoulders.
"Well… Then, I got shocked and angry that she basically admitted that she was knowingly ruining the lives of many of the people on the mainland; only for her to make some joke. Said something about making humans more like us before our magic went all weird." Scratching the back of her head.
"Yeah, that doesn't make much sense." Bolo said with crossed arms.
Sky could only clutch her forehead at the followish comment while Rotty laughed while pointing.
"Sky, have you felt any different since Shantae went down into that cave!" Mimic suddenly became far more urgent as he ran up to the girl to grab her shoulders. "W-Well I've been feeling better than ever I suppose - physically stronger to the point where I haven't gotten tired despite standing all day?"
Reaching her hand out as if inspecting it with far more scrutiny due to everyone watching in silence. "I can actually feel something pretty… Strange. Like the spirit water we use in the bath houses is flowing through my veins and giving me a constant unending stream of energy… Also way more… Aroused..."
Her voice getting far quieter at that last part.
"Hm~ how curious; I must admit I felt a little better but I would hardly describe it like that." Shaking his own head while scratching it as he tried to figure it out.
Bolo just tilted his head. "I kinda felt like that but it ended up just being gas."
Meanwhile, Shantae could only look at them with her mouth gaping, she understood exactly what Sky had been feeling as she felt it. Especially since she called upon it during her transformations. Or even when she used the various techniques she had mastered over her journey.
"I-"
"Wow that sounds a lot like magic~!" Although she was cut off by a certain zombie who slid in front of the genie just as she was about to speak.
Almost as if it was intentional…
"And what would a zombie like you know about magic?" Sky replied while dismissively waving her hand as if pushing away the bad idea.
The zombie in question shrugged. "Well I know one or two spells - as well as being able to do this cool thing where I teleport the rest of my body to my head. Oh I also summoned a brain when I was re~al hungry; surprisingly worked in healing me up as the real thing but costs TONS of magic."
"... Wait, you know magic?" Shantae sneaked up behind the zombie to drape herself over her shoulders; her whisper ending up being far more unnerving than she likely intended. As a result Rottytops became stiffer than an iron pole in the middle of winter.
It was at that moment where the portly figure of mayor Scuttlebutt waddled into Mimic's workshop with both his index fingers stuck in a finger trap. "So Shantae is now fired."
With that everyone looked at each other.
Seeing that they were all looking at one another - Mimic eventually spoke as the leader. "May we know why you have unilaterally discharged the only guardian genie on the mainland from her post?"
"I thought she was supposed to protect us but, even after hiring her according to the Sultana's will, I've found myself trapped in this brilliant device that may have been planned out and created by all the barons of Sequin Land!" Announcing as he lifted his hands up over his head to practically demand everyone's attention to his little pudgy digits.
Conveniently placing his hands right under a lamp.
Putting his raised finger trap right under the light to quite literally give it a spotlight.
Everyone in the room (except Rottytops who was laughing her ass off on a workbench) just looked on in sheer bafflement at the mayor. Eventually, with some understandable difficulty, a frazzled ex-guardian genie asked. "So what exactly was the genius plan that they caught you up in?"
"Well, open your eyes, you'll obviously see they trapped my fingers so I can't do my very important mayoral duties. Such as eating finger foods; so it only makes sense that I'd need to drop you in order to invest in finger foods that can be eaten without fingers!" Proudly declaring to everyone in the room.
"T-That can't be your real reason, right, there is surely more to it?" Desperation clearly leaked into her voice as she was truly distressed over the idea of losing her job. It was something that her friends clearly realised with worry on even the jovial zombie girl's face.
She wasn't great at the whole "lightening moods" thing.
So (as much as she hated it) she could only rely on the zombie who gave her a smirk and a thumbs up.
"Well, since it sounds like the mayor isn't interested in your services, I'm sure the caravan wouldn't mind having some protection. They don't have a genie… I think?" Abruptly the rotten brains of Rottytop seemed to malfunction as her face scrunched up as she felt as if she was forgetting something.
Shaking of her own questions for now - they weren't important at the moment - as she instead turned to look at the demoralised Shantae with a confident smirk of her own. "Plus there are plenty of other towns that will be more than happy to have someone as strong as you and they'll most definitely pay better."
That seemed to catch the distraught Shantae's attention as her slopped shoulders rose - so Sky didn't waste the chance to continue explaining. "A trip to the palace is all it'll take for your big sister to help you find bigger and brighter avenues… That actually pays."
"Erm, actually, maybe I'll let you keep your job…" The good mayor sheepishly intervened.
Everyone looked at him as she continued on. "Right now Scuttle Town has kind of found itself in a little problem where the ocean vanished; we are haemorrhaging money fast. Fix that and I can maybe find it in the budget to give you an end of year bonus!"
The group thus looked outside to see what looked far more like a quarry than a seaview.
Risky Boots plan to move the location of Scuttle Town obviously having been quite successful.
"Huh… Yeah that is a problem." Bolo stroked his chin as he looked like he was pondering. "Has anyone thought about getting a bucket and bringing the ocean back here?"
For a moment everyone took a moment of silence for that lonely & overworked brain cell.
"Well, I have some friends in the relic hunters that focus on geology, if anyone knows what we can do it'll be those three members of our order." Everyone nodded along to Uncle Mimic's wise advice.
Shantae stepped forth with her fist raised in determination. "Then that's what we'll do!"