46 Sayonara, Festival

Meanwhile around the destruction of the building across the way. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" Bombodia says, forming more seeker bombs. She tosses them out as they go to seek out Issac's heat signature.

Fire was casted from above, to the ground, where the bombs were heading. The explosives detonated upon contact with the flames. Floating above was Witchhazel, looking to Bombodia. "Oh, that was close. I nearly had to charge you for destruction of property."

Bombodia looks up, grinning to Witchhazel, "Sorry but, he's up for renovations." She says, forming seeking bombs which she tosses at Witchhazel.

Witchhazel spun her finger around, making the seekers flip around to face Bombodia.

Bombodia's eyes widen as she uses her jet boots to escape the bombs, which hit the ground creating a crater. "Urgh, great, knew you were more than just a witch on a broom stick..." She says, forming a bigger bomb. "You're just getting me off track though." Bombodia turns her attention back to the surrounding location, and tosses a big bomb in the center of the building. "Okay, if you won't come out, I'LL BLOW YOU OUT! I'll find you either way though. Whole, or in pieces. It won't matter."

Witchhazel's broom was floating by itself there now. Witchhazel had warped off it seemed.

Bombodia sets off the bomb which explodes the entire building up around her. She was now standing amongst the destruction, that was floating up with debris and flames. She then noticed Witchhazel not on her broom. "Huh? Now I'm missing two piggies?" She says, becoming annoyed.

Witchhazel appeared from magic, behind Bombodia. She had Issac's arm hanging over her shoulder, unconscious. Bombodia only noticed as the broom zipped over to Witchhazel, on it's own, nearly hitting Bombodia in the process. "Now that's what I call an extreme price drop." Witchhazel gasped.

Bombodia growls, and forms two big bombs in her hands. She then starts up her jet boots. "That's it, I've had it with these games! I'm gonna blast you both out of the sky now. You'll be flying in debris." Bombodia states, tossing the bombs at Witchhazel, which fly at her.

The broom was directed at the bombs, spinning around like a baton. "Your tab is just building, you're going to owe me so much zio after this encounter." Witchhazel said, as her broom knocked back the bombs.

Bombodia smirks, as the bomb spreads upon impact, into seeking missiles. "We'll see who will be paying who!" She mocked back, to Witchhazel.

Witchhazel got a better grip on Issac, "I may not be very good at offensive spells, but evasion is one of my specialties, besides making a sale. Though, I can cut more than prices if I have to. However, winning isn't my goal here. Toodalo!" She warped off. As the bombs blew up, magic sprinkled down with gleaming letters. 'Witchhazel has fled the battle.'

Bombodia's mouth drops, "SHE FLED THE BATTLE!?" She says, dropping to the ground. "I-I, OF ALL TIMES!? I WAS HAVING A BLAST! NO ONE HAS EVER RAN FROM ME! OR GOT AWAY!"

Barret is tossed out beside her, with data escaping around his body. Glitch had Kirb held tightly by digital copies, he had formed from himself. He drops down by Bombodia. "Where's the kid?"

Bombodia turns to Glitch. "Some freaking Witch got in my way, and took him. Not sure if he's still alive though, though...You did a deal with these two."

Glitch sighs, "Yeah, THEY WERE EASY....Surprised you didn't get the other target. The Princess is going to have a fit."

Barret groans, "(Dammit, this isn't good...Issac though...)"

"..." Kirb groaned in the cell.

Bombodia crosses her arms. "Well, at least we got three others then. We can warp them back, then take care of the info sheets."

Glitch shakes his head, "No, mission was for the elementals and Issac, not these losers. Leave'em."

Bombodia gasps, "Hey! Kaos works, are Kaos works. Think of what they could do with these guys?"

Glitch drops the hold on Barret and Kirb. "Honestly, I'm not interested in what Kaos could do, or wants to do. I'm only acting until the time comes."

Bombodia sighs," Still on about that, huh? You should really shape up, this beats the past by a long shot I think."

Glitch groans, "DON'T EVEN JOKE THAT WAY."

Barret tilts his head in their direction, "You...Can remember? Who you are?..."

Glitch kicks Barret to the side. "Let's go Bombodia..." Glitch says, warping away into data.

Bombodia looks to Barret and Kirb, "Well, I guess we'll be seeing each other in the future. We all end up under the knife at some point. Stay attached now." She teleports away with Glitch.

Barret walks over to Kirb, leaning down to help him off the ground. "Kirb? You alright?"

Kirb took Barret's hand, getting up. He dusted himself off. "Jeez, so that's what Kaos is capable of?... Never got into the details when we got booted up for the mission back then." He reached to his pocket, pulling out a strawberry, and ate it.

"Yeah, honestly I'm scared to see what else they have up their sleeves. This can get pretty dicey...I am surprised they never mentioned much of Kaos to you though" Barret replied, dusting off his clothes.

"Assassins never gets the full explanation, just the directives. Not as if I paid it much mind. Shooting stuff has always been my thing. Nothing else really draws my attention, well, aside a few things here and there." Kirb shrugged.

Barret nods, "I see, well at least this gives you something else to look out for..Those units...Just knowing humans are..." He was having a hard time coming to terms with things. "We need to get Bit, find the others, and return to base. They may not be happy with us cutting things short, but...After that, I don't think it would be wise for us to stay. Especially missing Issac now..."

"Gotcha, blonde." Kirb nodded. "Following you then."

Barret nods, and leads Kirb back to the destroyed Dojo. They spot Bit on the ground. "Bit?" Barret inquires, looking his direction, rushing to his side.

"Uh... Lagging... My energy supplies must be low again.. eh.... this sucks.... I'm shovel ware alright..." Bit groaned.

"Your energy? Did they break something in you? Oh this is bad!" Barret says, becoming frantic.

"My stats got nerfed twice in a row... No way I can get buffed now." Bit tried to sit up, but failed to do so.

Kirb crouched down, getting Bit up to his feet, supporting the robot. "Got a plan then?"

"I'm not sure...But let's go get Katinka, then we'll head to the others. This could be the reason Witchhazel had us go in this order." Barret states.

"Whatever you say." Kirb agreed, following Barret back to the Hotel room.

They arrived, and Katinka was laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. "Katinka?" Barret calls over to her.

"Barret?" She glanced over to him with a blank stare.

They entered the room, Kirb was carrying Bit, as he followed Barret. "Hey, we need to give Bit a recharge! We were attacked, and he got pretty beat up."

Katinka sat up fast. "What? There was more danger? What the hell is wrong with this place?"

Kirb set Bit down, as Katinka got over to use her electricity. She charged up, "Hang on alright?"

Bit was pretty drained at this point. "I might be going AFK here... Boss rush took the princess, and I can't find the tower to rescue her... I can't believe my friend was the main foe the whole time. Some hero... lag.... system's wonky.... " He wasn't making much sense.

"He's delirious..." Katinka placed her wires to him, using a strong volt that made Bit's hair spike up slightly, as electricity traveled between strands as it settled. "Better?"

"HP maxed out! Woo! I could kiss you!" Bit hugged to Katinka, who had a stunned face expression. "I can't do that to Shockz though."

"Uh..." She gawked, but went silent, thinking of Shockz.

Barret moves between the two of them. "Well, I'm happy it worked out." Barret says, with his eyes shut, a sternness showing on his face. "However, you missed events that spiraled out of control. We lost him."

"Like game over?...." Bit had been bouncing a bit, but his tail dropped. Hearing that, then the thought of Thundora, and how Jin took her, it made him sigh. "That's a double KO, preemptive strike..."

"It's unfortunate, but there's nothing we can do to change the fact of it. Come on, let's go find Asuna and her boys." Barret says, taking Katinka by her hand.

"Why Asuna? What about Issac? The others?" Katinka inquired.

Barret shuts his eyes. "Issac...He..The units that appeared to fight us. They killed him...too..."

"..." Katinka was shocked. "You're kidding...."

"I wish I were...Honestly, this trip started as fun and games...But it just reminded me more of the real dangers we are facing." Barret says, grinding his teeth.

"..." Katinka just held his hand, she had no words to express this.

Barret takes Katinka, and the others, to where the fireworks were held, as directed from Witchhazel prior. As they arrived, they noticed Asuna there, with Yuji and another girl. Zihark was lingering close as well.

Barret gasps at the sight of Nari. "You!? (Of all people, what is going on today?)"

Nari looks to Barret surprised, she also spots Kirb and Bit. "My, hello again. The world is small isn't it?"

"What are you up to? I mean you aren't exactly on my good list." Barret gasps, growing suspicious of Nari.

"Now just a minute, chatty Cathy. This is my younger sister. What did she ever do to you?.... Have you two met before?" Asuna inquired.

"Yes, we met around Bryce's TV Station. She called security on us, and made some interesting threats." Barret says, keeping his eye sharp at Nari.

Nari gasps, "I made threats because you worked for KAOS! How do you know him Asuna?"

Barret's mouth drops, "Excuse me!? I'm not a worker of Kaos! WE WORK AGAINST KAOS!" He says, becoming agitated.

"Now steady Eddy." Asuna got between them. "Just hold your horses, okay? Jeez Louise. Nari, this is one of the soldiers who works for my employer. He's not with Kaos, alright? I can't believe you made instigations like this. You know it's not polite to threaten someone without proof." She then looked to Barret, "Barret. My sister is sometimes irrational, please don't hold any grudges against her. She worked part time at the studio, helping Bryce with edits. She's just a kid. Settle down, okay?"

Barret sighs to himself, "It's been a really long day...My apologies..."

Nari folds her arms. "Hmph, it's fine...I'm sorry Asuna, I didn't know.."

"So Asuna, I need to talk with you about something. Can we speak in private?" Barret inquired.

Yuji's ears perked up, "Eh? Hey, that's my girl you're picking on there. What's this about? You can talk here, just as well."

"Affirmative, what methods concern Ducky?" Zihark asked, turning to Barret.

Barret shakes his head, "CONFIDENTIAL information." He states sternly.

"Don't worry Yuji, it's strictly business." She kissed the dwarf's cheek, following Barret away from the group. "So, what's this about?"

"I need to ask you about your alliance. I over heard you talking with Yuji...I know that you two have been seeing each other before this, you also spoke of 'world domination', and not being human." Barret asked her, keeping a straight face.

Asuna crossed her arms. "Eavesdropping is very unbecoming of you. So, you figured things out, well whatever you heard wasn't scripted. It was a private conversation with my Dreamboat. You know the truth, are you going to get me revoked now, because of it? " She was actually a bit stressed in her tone, even tearing up.

Barret sighs, shaking his head. He turns from Asuna briefly. "...Asuna...I'm going to be forward... After the back stabbing of Luke, and the other ferlines, then the discovery of Mantis as a Zodiac member, the death of Shockz, and now Issac?... I'm having a hard time deciding what to do... Even trusting."

"What do you want me to do?!" Asuna cried out, her voice cracking.

"Dammit...Listen Asuna...The only way I see anything going from this point without problems. Is you being straight up with me. Even with your sister. I want everything. There's just a lot of tension, but...I can keep an eye on you, make sure things don't get further out of hand.." Barret states, keeping back his anger.

"What else is there to tell you you haven't already learned from my conversation with Yuji?..." Asuna pouted, uneasily.

"YOUR SISTER! I want all the information, I'm tired of this double agent act. If you're going to be a part of this team. We no longer need spies, or any of that nonsense." Barret shouted.

"Fine, you want details?... She was part of the plan to put Kaos, Espionage and out father Kyro out of commission. I joined Alien Ministry undercover as a human scientist, as an order from my father, while he made my sister work for Kaos, as another scientist. In the process of my father's orders, I was pulled apart from Yuji.... Neither Nari, or I wanted this life, so we came up with a plan to end it all. The 'take over' plan, wasn't actually intended as 'world Domination', Yuji had made a poor choice of words there. Nari was to handle things as an undercover worker, while I built the weapon, to end them for good. Zihark. Our goals are one in the same, they have been. That's why we decided to stick around, instead of running. We're scared alright, all of us are." Asuna spilled her guts to Barret, she was very weepy.

Barret gasps, from the information he was just given. "Whoa, wait so...Are you telling me, all this time you've been using AM as a cover up, to get away from both of those organizations?"

Asuna nodded, "Exactly."

"Then Zihark being a weapon that can end them all? That sounds like something that shouldn't be wandering around all Willy nilly. Urgh...Listen...This is what I'm going to do. I'm not happy that it took me all this time to learn this information. However, I'm glad that it's been brought to light. So back to my plan. This is going to stay between us. You have an interesting story, but you also have a way inside... Nari is connected to the inner workings of Kaos, so we might be able to use this. When we get back to AM, I'll handle any other questions they may have. Though, I will be keeping a close eye on all of you." Barret says, letting out a sigh.

"Jumping Jehoshaphat, really? You would do that for us? Oh thank you Barret! We'll do whatever we can to lend assistance to the plan! You are a life saver!" Asuna was excited, her eyes gleaming even.

Barret laughs subtly, "Yeah...Well, I guess you're a bit reinstated, but we'll have to see how things go down at AM. Come on, let's get back to the others."

"You mean about my little sister? Xiao wouldn't have a problem with it, you did bring your sister before Kaos got her." Asuna grimaced a bit, realizing what she said, patting his shoulder. "We'll help get her back, alright?"

"Alright, but Asuna...If I do find that things go astray...After all the stuff that's happened. I'll be forced to act." Barret states to Asuna, seriously.

Asuna winked, giving him the thumbs up. "Everything will be A-okay, I promise!"

Barret sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "Okay, let's go meet up with the others." He says, walking ahead beside Asuna. She follows Barret out to the others, and Nari looks to them.

"Oh you're back, so did the talk go well?" Nari inquired.

Barret nods in response, "Yeah, we just need to..." He looks around, not spotting Myde or Cravic.

"Need to what?" Kirb glanced over.

Nari looks to Kirb, "Wow such a nice voice, but yeah I'm wondering the same thing."

Kirb's ears perk slightly, as he glanced to Nari. "..."

"Oh, Cravic and Myde. We have to find them. It slipped my mind, from what I'm recalling though, the cruiser is the final location noted by Witchhazel." Barret explained.

Yuji scratches his head, "Speaking of her, where is she? Also where's my star, the cat girl, and the goofy boy cat?" He inquired looking to Barret.

Barret crosses his arms, "If by star you mean Issac, he's...dead...I'm not sure about Witchhazel, but she was with him last I knew, though not around the units. As for the other two, they're traitors."

Yuji's mouth drops, "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! Just like that? Don't get me wrong, I know this is a war and everything, but isn't this like. VACATION? Who the hell is running things in this world? Don't give me that Joan crap, cause she's doing a terrible job."

Katinka kept with the others, but sighed. "Everything's going to Stykx." She muttered.

Barret nods, "You're telling me...Come on, let's head to the ship." He says, taking Katinka by the hand.

Nari glanced to them, "Hey, things get dark, but don't let it drag you down. The moment you give up, things get worse. So, let's just try to press on and...Yeah, destroy all the evil."

Barret looks back to her slightly, "Yeah, I guess that's all we can do." He says, as he continues walking with Katinka.

The group follows Barret, on their way back to the cruiser, in hopes of finding Cravic and Myde. Soon enough they came across Them. Cravic was sitting back on a bench, leaning back on it with his arms behind his head. Myde was standing, stretching as she yawned. "Oh, I'm amazed I actually got some sleep... Hm, where are we?"

Cravic's neck was hanging over the back rest to stare up at the trees above him. "Some place else in the festival area." He muttered, his eye closed.

She glanced over to him, "Did you carry me?" She looked uneasy, as she blushed.

"Mhm." Cravic replied.

"Oh, there you are, amazing how on target Witchhazel was." Barret states in surprise.

Cravic glanced over, peeking open his eye. Myde also turned to see the group. "Barret? Is it time to go, or something already? Did I really sleep through the whole week?... Wait...Are we missing people..?" She tilted her head, tail wrapping around her leg a bit.

Cravic looked off fast from her. "....." He seemed embarrassed.

Barret sighs, "We're cutting the vacation short, we were attacked, we lost Shockz,Issac...We're going back to base to recover then we'll figure out where to go from there." He explains.

Bit nodded as well, keeping mostly quiet. "They didn't get any continues."

Myde's ears went back, she looked in shock. "What?...."

Yuji nods, "Yeah, make matters even worse, your peeps were traitors. I'm still telling you, this script is messed up." He says, crossing his arms.

Myde's eyes twitched, as her tail flicked, "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!!??" She was fuming, Cravic got up fast, restraining her.

"... Chill out..." He mutter, holding to her.

"I'M GOING TO GIVE THEM A PIECE OF MY MIND!!!!!!" Myde growled, squirming.

Barret gasps, "(I honestly know how she's feeling, but whoa...) Myde, we'll get to the bottom of things. I'm sure of it..." He says, trying to reassure her.

Myde wasn't listening. "DIRTY ROTTEN TRAITORS! WAIT TILL I-"

Cravic covered her mouth to stop her from screaming, she began huffing, as she was still angry, but was settling down. Cravic sighed a bit. "Jeez."

Nari looks to Kirb, and back to the others. "I dunno about you guys, but the more we stay here. The faster things might regress."

"Like getting nerfed?.... Ehh, yeah I don't want to deal with another boss rush... I've already tempted fate enough for one level." Bit muttered. "And more than a princess getting looted."

Barret nods, "Alright, let's get back to the cruiser, and head to base. Hopefully Denki is there.. Urgh..." He states, looking off ahead.

They make their trek back to the cruiser, however on the way they noticed something. Witchhazel was sitting on one of he buildings, with a still unconscious Issac on her lap. He was laying face down with his arm hanging off the roof.

Witchhazel glanced to Barret and the others. "Oh, right on schedule."

Barret's eyes widen, "HUH!? I-I thought...Wait, is he even alive!? Witchhazel! I get your a witch, but this is morbid!"

"Hm?" She looked to him oddly, and then down to Issac. She got a creepy stare, looking over to Barret. "Oh? What's so wrong with keeping corpses around? Haven't you heard of zombies, I have a potion for that you know. Then there's always ghosts, since I can talk with the dead. Heck, why not just go necrophilia? " She had a very scary tone to her voice, that made the others shudder.

Barret shivers, "I can't allow you to do that!" Barret says, engaging his power glove.

She warped down in front of Barret, She had Issac's arm over her shoulder now. There was a faint snoring coming from him. "Oh, I was just teasing. So you needn't worry, he just got knocked out from the impact. Issac's just sleeping, see? Maybe I should charge you for my performance, after all I seemed pretty convincing, based on your reaction there. Hee hee!"

Barret quirks a brow, "Huh? He's alive!?" He gasps, walking more closely to Issac.

Yuji laughs to Witchhazel's comment, "I dunno, I think there was a little more suspense needed. Definitely more on the side of low end sitcom acting."

Witchhazel shot a glare to Yuji, she had dark shadows casting on her face, and an eerie expression. "Right to refuse service, but maybe I'll make and exception, and turn you into a frog. Kehehehehehe." She had chilling aura emanating from her.

Yuji jumps,"Jeez! Okay! Sorry about rating down your performance!" He says, waving his arms out of fear.

Nari shakes her head, "Honestly Yuji, you wouldn't know good acting if it hit you in the face. I for one liked it."

"Much obliged." Witchhazel smiled to Nari.

Asuna looked to Nari, "Actually he would, just not when it comes to horror. He's more of a romanticist. Isn't that right, dreamboat?" Asuna looked to Yuji.

Yuji was still shaking, "Y-yeah no-not my best subject..." He says, cowering behind Asuna.

Laughs are heard from Barret, as he could now hear the breathing from Issac. "He's alive!" He shouted in excitement.

"Mnnnn...." Issac squinted his eyes tightly, shifting a bit. "Just... five more minutes.... Zzzzz..."

Barret wipes sweat from his head. "Well, at least we can say this is good news... Let's get back to base though." He says, turning to the cruiser docking bay.

They all soon boarded the cruiser after returning their kimonos to the rental shop. There they found Denki inside. He was looking out the window, and seemed rather distant. "..."

Barret looks to Denki, walking up beside him. "Hey, we're planning on heading back early. I'm sure you would agree with to why." He states to Denki calmly.

"..." Denki didn't acknowledge him.

Nari looks over to them, and walks over. "Hey, I can fly, just give me the coordinates,then we can be on our way."

Barret turns to Nari, "Oh, don't worry about it. I'll place it on auto pilot, after what's happened. I think it's good we just let the ship take us on our way." He explained. "Thanks though."

Nari nods, "Well okay..." She says looking to Denki. "(Kaos really has messed things up here...I'm even starting to regret other choices I've made now..)"

Everyone boarded the ship, taking their seats, before the autopilot was engaged.

Nari was sitting down now beside Kirb, she takes out a holographic computer console to look over some information. "It's good this has wifi, so out of everyone else. You're mostly on my mind, what's your name? Kirb, is that just a nickname?" Nari inquired.

Kirb had headphones in, and they were very loud, to the point that she could hear them. He hadn't noticed her talking to him either.

Nari grins slyly, reaching up to his headphones, and grabs the cord, yanking them out of his ears. She smiles, as Kirb looks her direction, with a 'what the fuck' look on his face.

"There we go...Can you hear me now? Hee hee. I was asking about your name. If you wouldn't mind telling me?" Nari says, keeping her sly face.

He took back his headphones, pocketing them. "Don't know why you're talking to me, but whatever. Kirbon Fragum, Just call me Kirb. There, we done?" He reached for a strawberry in his pocket, realizing he was out, trying to look into the pocket, with a displeased expression.

Nari giggles, "Not quite, though it seems you're low on strawberries. Nari Foundren. When we get back, maybe we can go find you some more. Though, I wonder about carrots?"

Kirb groaned, crossing his arms. "Okay, not sure how you know about my stash, but don't EVEN think about trying to get me to eat that orange crap."

Nari gasps, "How crazy, I'm not too fond of those either. I mean, there are salads, but I kind of pick around them.." She states fiddling her fingers.

"Whatever you say, riceball." He muttered, cleaning his ear.

Nari giggles, "That a nickname? Ironically, I like rice." She says, in a playful manner.

"Listen, I don't know why you're so fascinated with talking to me. Maybe you're one of those girls who's got a thing for rabbits, or something. I don't know. I'm not exactly a social butterfly, so, this is weird." He glanced to her.

"Well you'd be right about me taking a liking to rabbits, but then it's more than that. Your personality interests me...I also see someone who can, well, just use another person to talk with. You seem lonely, with nothing much else to do, but well shoot at things." Nari says, keeping a sly expression.

He looked off, pulling back out his headphones. He put them in his ears, without saying anything. In the corner of the ship seat near him, was the giant panda plush, which he leaned into.

Nari pulls the earbuds back out. "Come on, now, don't be that way. It is kind of cute though." Nari jokes.

"Don't call me cute." He kept his eyes away from her.

"So, what should I call you?" Nari inquired.

"Just, don't talk to me." Kirb muttered.

Nari leans over, hugging to Kirb. "Okay...I'll leave you be." She says giggling.

"Hey! Cut that out!" He grew uneasy.

Nari giggles, keeping her hold. Barret looks over to them. "Hey you two, cut it out. We're nearly back, so no more fussing."

Nari lets off Kirb, "Alright, alright. I'm sorry Kirby."

"..... Uh..." Kirb shifted away from her, uneasily.