Another beautiful day dawns as Mogwai lounges at the Rabite's Promise, feet up on the table and a fez perched on her head. She nods to her friends as they arrive one by one "Today, we finish this."

Heather climbs up into a chair and sits, watching the area.

Eevee nods fiercely. He's been waiting for this for a long time and he's been with Mogwai for every step of the journey. It's been a life changing experience for him fighting by her side. How useless he was when it all began! He owes his entire life to her. And now, he will fight to--hey is that an abandoned gold coin over there? So shiny! Eevee is tempted to retrieve it, but sitting next to Mogwai was better. ...So..shiny...

"Sounds cool." Vinyl Scratch, as per usual, is bobbing her head in time to the rhythm playing in her mind, though she lifts a foreleg to wave to you and the others before pushing her goggles up off her eyes.

"Qupoma?" Kupenreich shouts into the cafe. "Not here either." He sighs and takes a seat at one of the tables, planning on catching his breath before hunting her down some more.

Eevee is also wearing sunglasses for some reason.

Mogwai props up a map "Right then. Our next stop is the crypt of Loftarosa, underneath... well, Loftarosa Mountain. But first, first! We were promised a mana spirit weren't we? Taking a quick trip up to the moon first and... oh, hello there moogle. Interested in coming on a journey for untold magical power?"

As Kupenreich sits down, a smile forms on Eevee's face. It was that cool moogle from before! Eevee was slightly worried about him before, but he seemed to care more about your friend Quporma. He was such a smooth dude. Oh yeah, the next stop. Eevee was definitely eager to see the shiny palace again.

Vinyl Scratch rises onto her hind legs, using the table as an anchor so she can look the map over, without her goggles getting in the way. "That's gonna be so awesome..."

Kupenreich stared at Mogwai from behind his black rectangular shades. He wasn't used to being addressed like that by a fellow moogle, but the promise of power, magical or otherwise, did entice him. It's not like he was able to bring any with him into the Cleft. Still... there was Qupoma to find. Well, maybe she'd show up on the way out of Truce. "Sure, why not?" he shrugged, standing up to walk over to the lady moogle. "And call me Riko."

Finn has been here the whole time, we promise! He takes a moment to look the map over as well, blinking a little. Maybe he kinda passed out for a moment there.. or perhaps a mild brain aneurism. "So, what's the plan, then?" He inquires curiously, moving to take a seat.

Mogwai nods, and waves Finn in "Riko... I don't suppose you've worked in real estate? No matter. First things first, I talked to those Black Raven fellows, got us transportation back to the Moon Palace." She gets out and heads outside to where a helicoptor is waiting for the crew "Fenrir should be a wolf of his word, so you get your first blessing for free Riko."

Eevee eagerly follows behind Mogwai. He wasn't quite sure what she meant by Black Ravens. She spoke to some birds who would be helping them get back to the Moon Palace? That intrigued Eevee, he had always wanted to ride on a bird and not a legendary creature of mana summoned by a drum.

Riko arches an eyebrow at the lady moogle. "No, I havent. I deal more in security," he says. "Now, what's this about a blessing?"

Finn glances over at Mogwai as she just up and heads out. Aw, man, helicopter? Who'd have guessed? He moves to stand up and stretch, jogging after her to catch up, peering over at the helicopter as he follows Eevee and you. After taking in the helicopter, he pauses to smile at Vi. "Hey." Might as well be friendly, right?

"A helicopter, eh...?" Vinyl Scratch falls back onto all four hooves once she's seen enough of the map, lowering the goggles back over her eyes with her magic as she heads towards the helipad. "Not often I get to do somethin' this WICKED. There isn't anything nearly as cool as this in Equestria. And yo, Finn.

Heather follows the group as they leave. She looks up at the helicopter as they approach it- she's never ridden in one before.

Mogwai hops into the helicoptor, hugging Eevee close to herself "Love the shades Eevee. Anyway, the blessings are the blessings of mana. Gifts from the spirits that control all the magic in the world. They affect everyone differently, but it's always a good thing." Once everyone is inside, the doors are shut and the helicoptor lifts off, soaring over the ocean and towards the distant Kakkara desert.

Riko shifts his weight to get comfortable and looks down at the shrinking city of Truce. Qupoma... she's probably still down there looking for him. He regretted not hunting her down and offering her to go with him, but he needed power, preferably a weapon sometime soon. This 'blessing' should be good enough for now, though. Hopefully.

Eevee smiles as Mogwai hugs him. He liked the shades too, he'd have to try to thank Nagol again later. "Eevee! (And they make my head feel good! It's a very nice feeling, though it doesn't last very long...)" Eevee's not too sure why he piped up, maybe just so he could talk with Mogwai. Not that anyone else would be able to understand him. He really -did- like the clarity he experiences upon receiving the blessing. Were there only there a way to sharpen his mind so he could feel that way all the time.

Riko looks at Eevee. 'If you haven't yet, be sure to thank Nagol for that," he tells the Pokemon.

Kupenreich brofists Eevee.

Heather frowned. Helicopters made a lot of noise. On the plus side, she could see the whole layout of Truce beneath them! She hadn't seen the ground from above in a long time.

Finn leaps up into the helicopter and he settles in, strapping himself in as appropriate and ensuring he's as close to the windows - and doors - as possible, 'cause he wants to totes watch the ocean and sand fly by. He peers briefly over at the new additions to the group, and he nods knowingly toward Eevs.

From her seat near one of the windows, Vinyl Scratch is looking out with wonder at the sky, and it's clearly evident by the wide smile present on the unicorn DJ's face. "Never thought I'd be sayin' this, but... If this is what a pegasus sees, then I'd SO want to have wings instead of a horn."

Mogwai "So... Riko, I heard you mention Qupoma. I've met her before, seems nice and... wait, you can understand Eevee too?" she says, hardly noticing that in the meantime they've landed and the doors are opening.

Riko nods at you. "Yeah. We met at the fountain when I entered the Cleft. Fell to be exact. We went off exploring together, to learn more about our surroundings, but we got separated somewhere... what? Oh, him. He speaks perfect Common, why wouldn't I be able to understand him"

Eevee blinks a couple times behind his sunglasses. "Eevee? (Really?)" he asks as the doors open. This came as a surprise to him. He would assume that it was a moogle trait, but then again, Qupoma couldn't understand him. How could it be possible? Eevee didn't really bother to think too much about it, he was just happy to know that more and more creatures can understand him more than he thought.

Vinyl Scratch pulls her face away from the window as the helicopter finally touches down, rising to her hooves again and trotting casually out the door with a relaxed smile. "I'm definitely doin' that again. And I'm lookin' forward to what's comin', so I can SCRAP, like any good DJ does."

"You sure about that?" Finn muses at Vi's earlier statement, before he grins. "I'd be cool with wings, myself." Small wonder there. "But I'd be afraid that too much of a good thing, I'd start to get tired of it." A pause, as he stretches, before he settles back in.. but not for long, as the doors open once they've landed. He unstraps himself and hops out, glancing about.

Riko's gaze passes to Finn. "What's your story, human?" Riko asks as the helicopter touches down.

Heather hops out of the helicopter and shakes her head, trying to dislodge the whirring from her ears as quickly as possible. She preferred her Warp Star. By far.

Vinyl Scratch looks through her goggles at the beach, taking everything in slowly before turning away from the waves. "Dude. I wouldn't, if how I haven't gotten tired of loud music is any indication."

With a high pitched roar, a large black figure flies overhead and crashes into the beach nearby. The impact kicks up a miniature sandstorn, obscuring whatever it was thst crashed. A voice suddently echoes out from within the cloud, "M85, your landings are simply deplorable. Installing that jet engine onto your back was a horrible idea." Helios darts out of the cloud and turns to look back at it, having not noticed the other ones on the beach. "Oh, get up already."

Mogwai nods to herself, before noticing the doors are opened. She hops off and runs across the beach, patting Helios on the head "Finn, Vinyl, Helios, and Eevee have all been here already but you're going to love this Riko." she pushes the massive doors to the moon palace open, showing a massive expanse of stars, before hopping out and landing on... nothing "I was a bit too emo to really enjoy it last time, but just look at this. There's ground here, but only because you expect there to be. You can step wherever you please." she says, as she starts to walk straight up.

Finn glances back at Riko. "How'd you know my last name?" He blinks, before he shrugs and smiles. "Not much story to tell. Got together with Mogwai here ages ago, been following her ever since. Well.. not ever since, but our paths crossed again while she was on her little journey, stuck around, thought it'd be cool to keep goin' along. I, uh.. assume that's what you're askin' for." He smiles, before he follows you into the temple, this time not nearly as put off by the oddness of it all.

Heather stared at the great sky in front of her and set her foot down on an invisible ground. Testing it, she ran up and down a few sets of invisible stairs, then simply took a deep breath and started floating instead. It was less disconcerting.

Riko's eyebrow reached new heights at Finn's statement. "Human is -seriously- your last name?" he asked. He soon shrugged it off, only to be even further surprised. "What the fuck? How are you walking on air?"

Despite being familiar with the strange palace, Eevee still felt a little off balance. So much for that overhyped adaptability of his. But can one blame him? Physics itself was defied in this mystical place. Eevee follows Mogwai as he did before, much happier that she was feeling better. There were indeed things to enjoy here, such as that shiny star over there, and that one, and the one behind that, and that one flying over there, and that little moon thing, and those dust particles over there, and ohhhh, a shooting star!

Helios seemes suprised by the abrupt pat on his central core. "Wha... Oh, hello Mogwai. Ah, Finn and Vinyl, it's good to see you. Did you think on our offer?" Behind him, the large form of the M85 rises up out of the new crater that had formed. It promptly begins nursing a scrape on its knee joint. It makes a pathetic whimpering noise.

Mogwai pokes her head down from above the door "Fun isn't it? I'm not going to lie, I have no idea how this works. It's a good thing it does though, because our destination..." she points straight up "Is on the moon."

"Yeah, seriously. Where I'm from, I'm the last Human," Finn admits. "And I don't know who my parents are. So.." He flips up, so he's walking upwards.. on his hands. How disorienting! "My last name's Human." He notes Helios there, and he blinks at him. "'sup?" He smiles, before he turns his attention back toward the 'moon'. "This is fun."

"Dude." Vinyl Scratch turns towards Riko, pushing the goggles back up onto the top of her head with one forehoof to reveal her ruby-tinted eyes again and nodding in response to Helios. "Even though I don't like tellin' people my real name... Vincenza Staccato is just as weird as what Finn calls himself, in my opinion."

"That's got to suck. Maybe you'll find them here? Or others of your kind. I wouldn't know, you're the first human I've seen in the Cleft. Not that I've been here long." Riko says before rising in the air after you as though he were riding an elevator. (Kupenreich)

Heather looked up, following Mogwai's point. Well, that wasn't so bad. She'd been to moons before. She started to float up, matching Mogwai's height. She watched Finn walk up on his hands and decided to flip her perception as well, so that she was no longer flying up as she was forward, from her perspective.

As Eevee turns his gaze towards the M85, he starts to growl a little. Mogwai didn't seem upset the last time they saw it, but Eevee hasn't forgotten what it did, regardless of its intentions. Suffice to say, it now had Eevee's attention as he keeps his guard up. The cheerful moment for him has ceased, it was time to do his duty. That machine won't so much as touch her ever again while he's around.

Pulling the M85 to its feet, Helios enters the temple behind the others. He begins flying directly towards the moon overhead, pulling the M85 behind him. "So, was that a yes or a no?" He calls down.

Hey, at least you got a home to go to. I was kicked out of mine," Riko adds in a loud voice to Finn.

Mogwai looks shocked as she watches Riko rise up "Elevator... smart... hey wait up!" she yells, dropping to all fours and running to catch up to Riko before 'catching on' to his platform "Haha... holding on to yours is easier for me to imagine than making my own."

"There's a ton of Humans here, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna pick another last name. I'm comfortable with it," Finn muses, before he flips on over to Vi to tackle her, rolling along with her for a moment, before he just picks her up and carries her as he heads up toward the moon. "Thanks for stickin' up for me, Vincenza," he teases her playfully. Apparently, the tackle and subsequent carrying overhead is her reward.

As the party goes up, the moon gets bigger and bigger... far faster than it should. Either they're moving far faster than it feels, or space is more messed up than usual here.

"I'm not sure about that anymore, honestly," Finn smiles warily at Riko again for a moment, before he glances back up at Helios. "About what? Those shards? Yeah, if I find 'em, you'll get 'em," he nods. "I thought we'd agreed before?" He chuckles.

Heather sighs as she follows the actions of Riko and Mogwai. This would be easier if she had her Warp Star... She stops floating and lands on her floor, running with surprising speed after the advancing group.

Despite clearly lacking wings, Vinyl Scratch looks up, horn glowing as she tries - and fails - to cast a sky-walking spell, before she's tackled and bodily carried upwards by Finn - which, along with the use of her real name, just makes the DJ sigh heavily and shake her head. "I thought I'd asked you not to use it in public, dude... But whatever."

Eevee would be intimidated by the rising size of the moon if he was not already distracted by all the shiny stars. -So- damn shiny. Why was he even here again?

Riko shrugs. "I didn't make this. It kinda just happened. Startled me a bit at first, but I got used to it," he says to you, shrugging wordlessly at Finn. "Guess that makes two of us, then," he says off-handedly.

Helios nods. "Good, Just let us know if you need any equipment and we can make it for you." Helios continues up to the moon with the confuzzled M85 in tow.

Mogwai flips off of Riko's mental flooring as the moon approaches, running across the rocky surface to a fountain surrounded by white stone statues. The fountain ripples gently at first before a massive mottled purple wolf leaps out, hovering in mid-air "So, you have returned. And the dream of Vana'diel has stopped attacking me on sight. This is good. But I believed I said I would let you have the blessing once she was sane: What in the name of sanity is that on her head?"

"You just used your real name in public. You let the cat out of the bag yourself," Finn teases her playfully. "Besides, you know I like your name. It's awesome." He smiles up at her, continuing to carry her as he heads upwards after the others. Once on the 'moon', doesn't take long for Fenrir to show up, though he doesn't seem aggressive, as promised. Excellent.

"Ah, Fenrir. We have been meaning to ask you something." Helios calls as he dumped the M85 onto the lunar surface. "Can you give us a mana shard?"

After being set down, Vinyl Scratch trots over to a spot behind you, watching Fenrir with a calm expression and resisting the urge to shoot Finn a dirty look for 'rubbing salt into the wound', so to speak. She's intent on listening to what has to be said, without any aggression.

"So this thing's Fenrir?" Riko asked, before an image of Kuporia violently flashed before his mind's eye, for long enough for him to push it back, covering his left eye and grunting as he did so.

Heather stares at the fountain as she lands on the moon's surface. It reminds her of her old home, vaguely. She looks at the purple wolf as he appears. This place is reminding her more and more of her old universe.

Riko jumped off the invisible platform he was riding and landed beside Mogwai, old battle instincts picking up. He behaved himself, though. For the moment. Not like he had a weapon to fight with anyway.

As Fenrir makes his appearance, memories come flooding back to Eevee. A blast hitting your arm. The wolf-like creature biting in to her. Mogwai collapsing the moment her eyes lit up. Her eyes not opening after offering her his tears as Undineon. It was all so much to take at once. Eevee simply looks to his feet and softly mutters, "..Vee..(I'm sorry..I wasn't strong enough..)"

"It's a fez. Figured I should get something to celebrate getting back to my old self." Mogwai pauses as she realizes just what Fenrir is insinuating by the comment "Aww, no way. You're not saying I have to get rid of it? Back me up on this, guys: Fezes are totally something a sane person would wear right?"

"They're hats, if nothin' else. So I'm guessin' you're sane for wantin' to rock a fez, Moggers." Vinyl Scratch nods in agreement, seeing nothing wrong with your choice to wear one.

Finn offers Vi an apologetic look. It's clear that he's going to have to apologize verbally later, but that'll suffice for now, while things are more.. pressing. At your question, he glances over at her. "I dunno, I think it's cute on you," he grins playfully at her, folding his arms across his chest as he moves over to flop down next to Eevee, scritchin' behind his ears a bit to try to cheer him up.

Eevee's plea did nothing to help Riko control himself. If anything, it made him want to end the wolf more. But this wasn't the place to fight, and he wasn't in any shape to do so, weaponless as he was. "What does clothing have any fucking thing to do with sanity? It looks cute on her, so cut her some slack," Riko snapped, sounding harsher than he meant to.

The M85 gets up in time to hear the tail end of your comment. It looks at her for a moment before turning to Helios and firing off a rapid string of clicking noises. "Yes, completly. Bowties are totally in right now. Those fezzes went out of style last month." Helios nods sagely.

It was more than the fact that Mogwai was hurt tremendously here. Even with Finn's help, they were powerless. There was also the man who was nearly incinerated by Eevee's friendly fire, simply because he was too angry to control himself. When will Eevee realize that he can't just give in to these things? What little sense he had he treasured more than shininess itself. That day, he abandoned his treasure and became nothing more than a monster.

These memories give Eevee strength. They -must-. He will not, -must- not lose control of himself again.

Riko points at Helios with a snarl on his face "OY! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Helios is shocked. "How rude. Isnt everyone entitled to their own opinions?" He leans over to the M85 conspiratorly "If he snaps, kill him first."

Fenrir makes an odd barking sound, and it takes a while to notice that he's laughing "If you all say so. I think it looks ridiculous however. Luna is just beyond, as promised I will not interfere." Fenrir dives into the fountain, and soon nothing can be seen in it but the stars once more. Mogwai is elated to see this, but is put off by Riko's actions "Hey... are you ok?"

Riko rubs the back of his neck as the urges subside. "Sorry about that," he says, to you and Helios. "I just... I don't know what that was. Kept feeling strange things, and seeing old... unwanted memories."

Finn blinks at Riko's words. "Whoa, whoa, relax," he muses, tilting his head a little bit to one side, as if trying to re-evalute the Moogle based on this new information. He's gotta agree with your question: is the guy okay? "Under a lot of stress or somethin'?" He muses, standing up when he sees that Eev isn't easily cheered up with ear-scritchin'.

Helios blinks. "That wolf never answered our question..." He sighs and looks at Riko. "Forget it, no harm was done.".

Before moving for the fountain, Vinyl Scratch turns to Riko, shaking her head as she pulls the goggles back over her eyes. "Dude, just chill out, yo. Besides, we're gonna have time for scrappin' later. Trust me, yeah? Enjoy the good vibes while they last."

Heather watches the proceedings with pensive eyes, contemplating Riko as he apologizes. What memories had made him so angry?

Eevee begins to wonder if getting more blessings would truly be wise. What kind of monster would he become next? A flying moon that preyed on the weak? There is a thing as too much power. And yet, it wasn't enough! Eevee was at a lost for answers, totally oblivious to everything transpiring around him.

"Something about that thing just rubbed me the wrong way. Didn't mean to snap like that. Sorry," he re-explained to Finn. "That's the problem," he added, explaning to Vincenza. "That guy was giving me a lot of bad vibes. That's no excuse, though."

Past the fountain, between more statues, lies a shrine inhabited by a yellow creature that looks like a teardrop with wings. "Greetings adventurers. I am Luna. I apologize for all the things some of you went to in order to get here. My blessing is but a small repayment."

Luna addresses Helios "As for you, I am afraid I cannot fully grant your request. Nor could Fenrir. Only the mana seed and myself are here, the mana stone lies in the Lunatic Basilica, and is responsible for the endless night there. I can offer you my blessing to open the way, but the path is your own to take."

Riko looked up at Luna. He then realized he knelt involuntarily. The wariness returned, but it wasn't as violent this time, thankfully. He couldn't bring himself to stand back up, though.

"Don't sweat it," Finn nods at Riko with a smile, before he notes the presence of Luna. "Oh, hey, cool," he smiles and nods, watching the Mana Spirit for a moment, just to take it in. It's.. a teardrop with wings? Kinda weird, but hey, blessings are blessings.

Vinyl Scratch, surprisingly, is trotting up to the shrine reverentially, and bowing as if it had been Princess Luna herself waiting there for them. "Thank you, for your blessing..."

Helios sighs in dissappointment. "Well, that will have to be enough, we suppose. Will it be difficult?" The M85 gases at Luna curiously. It chirrups and leans closer to get a better look.

As Luna makes her appearance, the time for Eevee to choose was quickly passing. Having the power to protect Mogwai meant a lot to him, but can he control it? What if it made him hurt his friends again? He supposes there's no choice really, he couldn't exactly tell Luna he wouldn't want it anyway. Well maybe he could, he needs to quit assuming that others don't understand him. Didn't matter, it was a bridge that he'd have to walk when he gets there.

Heather looks up at Luna in awe. She could feel the power of this place. It was in the earth. She feels like she should kneel, but that's awkward for her race.

Mogwai kneels down before the mana spirit, accepting the blessing as a pale yellow light settles around them. For Mogwai in particular, something about this blessing just felt right. "I have one more gift for you. A fast way back home." A large mirror appears out of the light, reflecting the inside of the cafe where a moogle in a robe is looking around "And a warning: The moon will be your light in the darkness. Remember this."

Riko felt the light seep into his being, and his body took that as its cue to rise. As he stood, though, he experienced a moment of clarity... and realized that he didn't feel any stronger than before.

With that new blessing, Finn finds himself with new knowledge, new power.. and more blade abilities to get used to later. He bows a little, just so he at least seems worshipful of something that's probably way stronger than he is. "Thanks." He notes the mirror, and he hums softly, moving to approach and.. well.. he jumps right in. No reason to be wary, or stick around any longer!

When he looked at the mirror, though, he did feel something. Belated. "Qupoma," he said. And without a moment to lose, he leapt toward the mirror, throwing caution to the wind.

Heather feels something inside her click as the blessing settles into her. She doesn't quite understand what this meant, yet, but she supposes she'll understand how to use this power when she needs to. She bows respectfully to Luna, then, following Finn's lead, she jumps through the mirror.

As Eevee takes in Luna's blessing, he experiences that familiar moment of clarity that came with each one. How he longed to keep this feeling indefinately. Everything made perfect sense. No mental blocks, no distractions. Not even a desire for Luna's shininess. Is this what it felt like to not be burdened by his unique mental condition? Did other pokemon feel this way all the time? Did intelligent -creatures- feel this way?

As the moment passes, Eevee's mind is filled with obstacles and distractions. Well it was nice while it lasted. What comes, now? Oh hey, it's Qupoma! Eevee runs in after Riko.

Vinyl Scratch closes her eyes, with her mane brushing against what ground there is beneath her as her entire body glows a faint yellow in response to the blessing permeating her, both physically and mentally. 'So this is what it's like to experience Princess Luna's power up close...? Feels cold, but there's so much wisdom and power it's giving me...'

Qupoma is sitting at one of the tables in the cafe. "Barkeep. Give me a shot of Red Frog." The barkeeper just looks at the small moogle, but shrugs and pours a shot of Red Frog, and the shot glass gets set down in front of her.

Just as she drinks it, someone appears in the room! This makes her jump, splashing the drink all over. "Well, so much for a relaxing drink!" She spurts, slightly irriatatedly.

"There you are," Riko says, taking a seat beside her.

Mogwai accepts the blessing graciously and steps through the mirror. However, there's no ground beneath her next step. The corresponding mirror in the cafe is up on the wall! She flails her arms as she falls down onto the floor.

Scanners whiring into action, Helios records the brief moment of the blessing's energy. He performs a quick self- diagnostic scan and found nothing different about himself. He sighs again and flies through the mirror, knocking into the flailing Mogwai on his way through.

"Eevee Eevee! (Qupoma!)" he shouts as he lands on his face and rolls a short distance on the cafe floor.

Qupoma eeks, and looks up, only to see Riko. "Oh, Riko..it's only you. Where did you come from? I didn't see you enter through the door...which is where I'd normally see someone come through..barkeep..if you please?" Sighing, another shot poured, another set in front of her. Mauybe she can actually get this one down!

The M85's arm cannon glows an eerie, electric blue color as the blessing washes over it. It peers quizzically at the gun before shrugging and leaping through the mirror and crushing a few tables under its bulk as it is launched from the other side. Good thing nobody was hurt.

"Sorry," Finn muses, since he was the first one through. He lands on his feet gracefully, stretching his arms over his head as he moves to settle down near Qupoma, setting down some gold to help pay for the drink. May as well be nice about it, right? "So, what's the plan now, eh?"

"Well, I came in here looking for you earlier, after we got separated from our exploring trip, then I... kinda went along with Mogwai’s quest, went up to the moon and got some blessing. The spirit or whatever opened a mirror leading in here. It's... kinda complicated." Riko tried to explain.

Vinyl Scratch simultaneously rises and gallops into the mirror. Reappearing in Truce's bar, unfortunately, has the DJ falling through the air and landing, horn-first, with a dull thud on the tiled floor.

Mogwai rises up to her feet "Ugh... ok, our next stop is Loftarosa, just north of town. There's a crypt there, where the final spirit lies. Qupoma, would you be interested in joining us?"

Finn blinks as he watches Vi fall horn-first onto the tiled floor. It takes a moment for him to shake the amusement off of his face, before he moves to head over to her, moving to help her back to her hooves. "You all right?" He muses, dusting her off a bit. A pause as you talks. "Oh, sweet, a crypt. This'll be fun!"

Eevee's not too sure what a crypt is, but what relevance did that hold? It was time to meet the final spirit. If..that was wise.

"I'm down. Gotta see for myself how far the kupo hole goes." Riko says.

Qupoma sighs, knocks back the shot of Red Frog, and puts forth a moment of silence, before she says: "Yeah. Okay. Sounds like... fun." She says, as she rubs the back of her neck some. "Just, um, let me change out of these clothes and...I'll be ready." She says, rising to her feet and climbing the stairs.

Heather glances around as the room quickly fills with people, then looks at Mogwai. She shudders. A crypt? She's not particularly fond of crypts.

Helios rises up off the floor and looks at the mess that the M85 had made when it flew through the mirror. "Sorry about that, it can get a bit excited... and destructive." He turns to Mogwai. "We may as well, perhaps there will be a chance for mana shards to be obtained there."

"Yeah, I'll be fine, yo, as long as I don't end up free-fallin' through the air after gettin' a new set of powers in the future..." Vinyl Scratch gets back to her hooves with a grunt, checking herself for bruises, then inspecting the goggles for any signs of damage from her impromptu skydiving session. One ear flicks in your direction at the mention of a crypt, however, and she nods.

Sweetie walked in through the doors and brushed some dusk off. "Did I hear that you guys might be going into a crypt full of zombies"

Mogwai nudges Riko in the side "There we go, journey for magical powers, AND you get to bring your sweetheart along. Perfect day." She nods to Sweetie as she makes for the door "I'll bring the bus around... I think we left the helicoptor at the island. Hope they don't wait forever."

"Hey, so, uh," Finn muses, leaning against Vi a little. "I'm sorry about earlier. Can you forgive me?" He figures now's a good time to apologize while there's a lull in the action. "I wasn't making fun of you or anything. I really do like your name, y'know," he smiles at her. With you heading for the door, he moves to stand up, seeing as they'll be leaving momentarily.

"How do you know she's-" Riko starts to say, before realizing that he gave it away. "How do you know" instead of "what makes you think". Grumbling a "Whatever," he stands up and shifts his shoulders, some of the tension he got from Fenrir still lingered.

Vinyl Scratch starts for the door, and the eventual arrival of the bus, though she pauses to glance back at Finn midway there. "Dude, it's cool. I know you were just ribbin' me with that, and I've forgiven you for it. I've already made it clear, I think, that it's alright if you use it when we're not out in public."

Qupoma comes back downstairs after a few minutes looking...not at all like her usual self. She's no longer wearing robes but she's now in a...baggy, short-sleeved shirt and a knee-length skirt, with a pair of closed-toed shoes on. Yes, shoes. "Ready~" She simply says, as she takes a seat again..

Eevee finally rises to his feet from the fall, but as he does so, his sunglasses fall to the floor. Eevee's ears drop as he paws the shades, clearly broken from the fall. "Vee..(Oh no..Nagol's sunglasses...)" he mutters sadly to himself.

Helios hauls the M85 to its feet and deposits it outside the cafe. "Alright, you will have to ride on top of the bus, seeing as how you can't fit inside of it." The M85 whimpers at the thought.

It doesn't help that Riko has his gaze fixed on Qupoma as she walks downstairs "You look nice," he tells her as she sits back down.

Sweetie says ' Well while we're waiting for Mogwai to come back with the bus, I have to ask. are the seats comfortable for quadrapeds? and who have you been working for lately Finn? You've been busy lately."'

Mogwai drives up front and honks the horn, playing some novelty horn tune to let everyone know she's arrived. For those who haven't seen the inside yet, the driver's seat is a complex array of levers, buttons, pullropes, and other mechanisms. Some are to accommodate her lack of pedals, but a lot of it seems to be complexity for the sake of complexity "All aboard!"

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to clear the air up before we wound up, y'know, goin' crazy in a crypt," Finn muses, following along with her as she heads for the door. No doubt to wait for the bus! He glances at M85. "Better hold tight if you're up there, Mogwai’s a crazy driver," he offers in a low voice. Sweetie's question earns her Finn's attention. "I've been all over the place. Me and Vi had a big party the other day. You should have come! It was the tops blooby, man!" With that out of the way, Finn quickly hops up into the bus and secures a seat. There seems to be plenty of room for someone to sit next to him, though!

The M85 shakily clambers up on top of the bus and straps itself down, looking like it’s about to attend its own funeral. Helios merely hovers inside the bus and takes up position in the middle of the aisle, like he did last time. Though it may be more because he is now serving as a magnetic anchor for the M85 this time and not just rudeness.

Qupoma rises to her feet and she makes her way out of the cafe, one hand near her waist, for modesty's sake, as she steps into the bus. "Nice bus, you. Although I am a little...what's the word, perturbed? Yes, let's go with that...about that seat your in.." She just says, sitting down, buckling up, and crossing her legs. No free shows on this bus.

Vinyl Scratch casually climbs aboard the bus, taking a seat on one of the benches and searching it for a seatbelt. She's fine with being tossed around, but if Mogwai’s going to be asking, then... What choice does the DJ have?

Shrugging off Qupoma's lack of response, Riko enters the bus and takes an empty seat.

Eevee's ears twitch as the sound of the horn echoes through them. He had to let go. One must not hold on to these things like this. Shades were Riko's thing anyway. Eevee had to accept that. He turns around and begins to head towards the door, but stops for a second to look at the broken pair of sunglasses one last time before boarding.

"Vee..(Goodbye..)" he mutters softly as he proceeds to board the bus. He looks towards you and smiles, "Eevee! (May I?)" he asks. Seems he's used to riding in the front with her.

Sweetie Sweats as she compares this bus to something Pinkie Pie would have built... minus the candycane theme. After deciding that is was safe enough, she hopped in next to Vinyl Scratch and buckled up... sitting down rather awkwardly.

Heather climbs up into a seat and buckles herself in.

Mogwai nods to Eevee and pats her lap before looking back at the others "Moogles together, I insist." she says as she spins dials, sets a combinations of levers and switches, and prepares to rocket off.

Before they take off, Qupoma looks back at Riko "Sorry for not answering you, Riko. Thank you for saying so, I usually just wear my robes." She says, as she holds on to something as tight as she can.

The M85 and Helios both brace themselves for the ride ahead.

Riko nodded, and stood up to sit beside her at Mogwai’s request, but didn't have time to do so as the insane speed of the bus kept him glued to the seat he was sitting in.

Eevee leaps up on Mogwai's seat and settles in her lap. This took him back to the time they went after Gnome's blessing. How he enjoyed spinning the speed dial and causing the bus to accelerate and slow down at quick, random intervals.

Heather glances up and down the bus, sees Qupoma holding on, and makes sure that this seatbelt will actually hold her. After all, these things are usually made for... less spherical bipedals.

Vinyl Scratch turns to glance out the window, keeping one ear turned towards Sweetie. "What's troublin' you? Just chill out, yeah? This is goin' to be so cool...!"

Finn leans back and relaxes. He's looking forward to it because, well.. even if you drives like a Leafer out of Hell, the sheer speed and danger of it all is, to say the least, thrilling as heck! He's still strapped in, though. Remember kids: always buckle up when Moogles drive!

Mogwai slams her foot into a large red button on the dashboard, pressing everyone back into their seats as she races through the Truce Canyon "Hold on, I've got a shortcut." she yells out as they crash through the undergrowth, racing up long-abandoned switchbacks towards the more travelled sections of the mountain "Hold on to... something." she says as the bus races out into mid-air, hanging in the air a second before gravity catches up, crashing them down onto the path. The rest of the trip is sane by comparison as they come to rest by a large crack in the mountainside.

Sweetie says ' I've got a crush on Finn, Found out I'm Bi-sexual, and have the responsibilities of running the business that my sister started. Oh by the way Vinyl, Do you know what to expect when ERK!!'

Sweetie thought her eyes were bulging when Mogwai said 'shortcut'

Helios cuts off his magnetic hold on the M85, letting it slowly roll off the side of the bus. It drops to the ground with a loud thud and twitches slightly. "Oh dear... It looks like you broke it, Mogwai."

Qupoma was just about to stand up, when the bus rocketed off, her centrifical force being left about two miles back as she stumbled backward in the seat, quickly folding down her skirt again as she tries her best to keep from being sucked out of her seatbelt. As she felt the rough landing, she groaned somewhat and tried to regain her bearings.

Sweetie screams loudly!

Vinyl Scratch lets the bus' starting momentum propel her back into her seat, raising one foreleg into the air to show she's enjoying the ride, though she still does turn to look at Sweetie. "/OH, YEAH!/ WICKED! Yo, you ok?"

Heather slips out of the seatbelt partway through the journey, and winds up holding on to the seat in front of her. Fortunately, she takes minimal damage, being flexible.

Shortcut? Finn blinks.. and holds on to the seat in front of him. Turns out that's a smart idea, because.. oh, God, she's just as dangerous as last time! Well, at least it's not a mine or something. With the rough landing, Finn glances outside to ensure that things aren't crazy.. and he finally unstraps himself, just climbing right out the window. 'cause doors are for losers! He lands gracefully, and peers back where they came from. That was a fast trip..

Riko was in the floor by the time the bus stopped, hanging on to one of the poles the seat he was sititong on was bolted to the floor to for dear life. He grumbled darkly as he stood up, and felt a sense of vertigo for a moment. Words could not express the vortex of emotion the ride left him in, and all he could do is glare angrily at the front of the bus for what felt like several minutes.

Hold on to something? There wasn't much to hold on to, other than Mogwai herself. And even then, Eevee's not very good at holding things, paws and all. So Eevee rests his head on her leg and braces for whatever comes.

Mogwai lights a pocket flashlight and hangs it from the top of her dress "Everyone's in one piece? Still got all their requisite parts? Mission accomplished then." she says as she walks into the crack. Inside, there's a massive stone door with a leering demon above it "Now let's see... last time I poked around here it didn't let me in, but maybe..." she says to herself as she takes out a quartz crystal and focuses her blessings through it. There's a bright flash of light, and the door lumbers open.

Qupoma stands up, strolling over to Riko and looking at him. "Are you okay?" She asks him as she turns to the crack in the wall, wondering what she's gotten herself into as she departs from the buss and follows after you. "So...what exactly are we expecting in here?" She asks, looking at the door.

Helios darts through the door as soon as it can fit his size, the cloud of flakes surrounding him whirling after him. He fades from view a moment later as the camo mode activates. The M85 waits patiently for the door to open all the way before heading inside also.

Heather dangles from the seatback for a moment, then drops to the floor and heads off the bus. She stares at the demon image, briefly disconcerted, then makes herself shrug it off and trots up to the door.

Finn quickly turns to follow you into the crack, noting the door. Doors give him bad vibes, not especially the kind of doors that have demons on them. On a positive note, at least he doesn't have to sing to get this door to open, as Mogwai seems to get it open for them! He moves to head inside, working the Demon Blade from its loop on his backpack, shouldering it as it glows brightly, giving him proper illumination to see his way. "Oh, cool!" Must be Luna's blessing, no doubt.

"I'll be fine" Riko says finally before following Qupoma out. He has a question for Mogwai, but fortunately, Drifter says it for him.

Eevee follows behind, slightly intimidated by the giant door. This fear is quickly absolved however as Mogwai works her shiny magic. What could possibly be better than Mogwai or shiny things? Simple: Mogwai AND shiny things!

Vinyl Scratch gallops off the bus after unbuckling her seatbelt, heading eagerly into the chasm as her horn begins glowing a faint yellow.

"Well, all the spirits save one have been guarded by things from my world. Guessing this one will be guarded by Diabolos, big bat dude. As for what to encounter on the way there... no idea, but it's the spirit of darkness so take a guess." says Mogwai as she strides in through the door... and the flashlight immediately goes out. (c)

Riko starts feeling the same vibe he got from Fenrir as he follows you in. Only this time, the feeling is stronger. He cursed himself for not having a weapon, but it came with the territory of being broke.

Mogwai stops "Ok, nobody panic. Batteries just died is all. I've got another... ... ah, here we go." *click* "Ok, they weren't kidding about palace of darkness. Ok, no problem, I can feel to see, pom-pom detects air currents. Pretty sure Qupoma and Riko can too. Rest of you just... stay close, I'm pretty sure this darkness won't last the whole way."

From up ahead, a smashing noise is heard. Helios' voice echoes down the tunnel, "M85, what did you... Oh. WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE FOR? KILL THESE THINGS!" A moment later, the sound of the M85's buzz saw revving is heard as well as several loud bangs and some sort of humming noise. "Why wont the laser work? Oh well, no matter." Several loud zapping noises join the sounds of fighting.

Sweetie Finally got off the bus. Actually fell out and mumbled... "I have seen how we are all going to die... Mogwai will crash this bus into a back stabbing giant robot that turns into a fighter jet.... whatever that means...

"This is going to be a creepy fight, yo... But I'm not scared of scrappin' in the dark." Vinyl Scratch, without regard to the sudden failure of her Luna-granted illumination spell, continues on into the pitch-black chasm, relying more on what she can hear and feel. "Actually... This is goin' to be kind of awesome, throwin' down against somethin' I probably won't be able to see."

Qupoma steps straight into darkness. She closes her eyes, she won't be needing them anyway. As air gusts travel through the tomb, her pom twitches and she follows the contours of the tunnels made by the air gusts. Her hand reaches out for Riko, just to make sure he's still there.

Eevee felt disturbed by the darkness, but he's lived a life without flashlights to guide him. Still, this was different. Pure darkness, even if his eyes were to adjust, he would likely not see anything. And so he heeded Mogwai's words and choose to stick close to her. He had no pom, but he had the sense of smell that she lacked. Eevee proceeds to close his eyes and rely on scent to guide him.

Considering the darkness, even Finn's moonlit blade seems to take a hit in the brightness department, making it so that he can't see particularly far. "You aren't kidding," he muses, hitting the flat of his blade like one might a flashlight, trying to get it to light brighter.. but to no avail. He shrugs, and figures some light is better than no light. He moves to stay close to you, though, as was advised. The sound of fighting gets him to blink, though. "Uh. Helios? Why'd you go on ahead, man?"

Riko didn't have pomsense like Mogwai did, but as a Kuporian, he had his nose to guide him. Unfortunately, the area was drenched in magic. But there was a vague trace of something else in the darkness. Something... metallic. He pats Qupoma on the shoulder, then makes for the scent. After about a minute of running ahead, he finds a skeleton on the ground, bony arms clasped around a sword and shield.

Heather blinked, seeing nothing in this darkness. Not even the gleam of eyes. She hears footsteps around her, and voices, but the echoes in this place keep her from identifying their location. Panicking slightly, she sped up.

Pulling the weapons off the corpse proved difficult, however, and even though he was successful, the corpse stood up and reached for its weapon anyway. It was then that Luna's blessing manifested itself, as the blade he was holding shone with brilliant light, though dimmed in the perpetual darkness he stood in. One swing transferred the energy from the sword into the skeleton, and it fell into pieces, lifeless once more.

Mogwai is pleased to notice many of the others able to make their way. As she travels through the crypt, something is nagging at her. Where's the hordes of undead minions? After a while, she sees a light off in the distance.

Satisfied, Riko turned away when the secent of leather reached his nostrils. The corpse had a scabbard on it, which he immediately looted. When he walked back in range of Qupoma's pomsense, the blade was in the scabbard, which was strapped to his back, and the shield was latched to the back of his shirt.

At first glance, it appears to be a door leading into a lit section, but as she gets closer she can make it out as a mirror, reflecting back at her. A lit version of the room. A room filled with intangible malevolent spirits she could not feel before. "Oh..." says Mogwai "so that's what he's fighting."

Sweetie pulled out a few dozen candles from a Monastery and started to hand them out like free trail mix samples from Costco. "Anypony that needs a light take a candle"

Qupoma turns her head and her pom so she can "see" Riko better "Where'd you get the sword and shield from?" She asks as she turns a corner and nearly smacks into said mirror, however, she stops as she doesn't feel any gusts of air for a brief moment...which is what saved her.

Vinyl Scratch, despite being unable to see in the heavy shroud of darkness, doesn't seem too concerned with running into anything, listening intently to determine where everyone is. "Cool place."

Heather suddenly feels a power inside her. She finally notices the difference the blessing made in her and reaches for it. A light blooms in her hand- a simple Copy Ability. Channeled, with no catalyst. Interesting.

Eevee tilts his head as he eyes the mirror. Honestly, how is he expected to know what's going on?

"Found it" is Riko's only response, though Qupoma would be able to feel him shrug from the way his shoulders shifted the air.

"Anypony? Hehehe.." Finn chuckles softly to himself. He'll never understand why he finds that so amusing, but best to keep it to himself. He nearly bumps into Mogwai as she stops, noting the mirror. "Whoa. That's not cool.." Malevolent spirits.. but why aren't they attacking? Hm. "Maybe we oughta bring it with us, huh?" He grins.

Sweetie rolls her eyes and puts a candle on Vinyl's horn, "Honestly who wears sunglasses in the dark?"

Kupenreich says ' I do.'

Helios continues to shoot bolts of lightning while the M85 hacks at the spirits with its now glowing buzz saw. It's arm cannon appears to be temporarily depleted, even though the plates on the side of it are still glowing blue. "Anytime you all want to join in would be lovely. Seriously, whenever you all want. We have time." Helios yells out as he blasts a lightning bolt at a spirit that was abbout to lunge for the arm cannon.

Heather stares into the mirror at the dark forms, and sees herself and the others. Behind them all are dark forms, spirits waiting to attack. She whirls about, but darkness still abounds. How can she fight these spirits? She can't see them!

Riko looks at Helios and the slaughter it's engaged in. With a shrug, he walks away from the mirror. "I could use the exercise," he says aloud, though more to himself, before wielding his sword and shield and shooting waves of light out of his sword at the spirits.

Mogwai nods "Good idea Finn, but first..." she says looking at the mirror and using it to aim as she lashes her whip behind her at one of the spirits "Let's defend ourselves. Things that can only be seen in a place nobody can see in... it's almost genius."

Qupoma looks back at Riko, noticing him shrug "Well, at least you can defend yourself now." She says, as she hears the sounds of battle up ahead. She takes a step to the left and she gathers the air around her pom around her hands and claps them together, letting a sonic gust race forward towards the spirits, based on the distortion they cause in the air.

Finn nods in agreement with Mogwai, bringing the Demon Sword around. "And what better to fight an evil spirit than with an evil sword!" Well.. theoretically, the Demon Sword is evil since it's made from demon blood. So that would make it kinda evil, at least? Y'know, like, kick kittens kinda evil, at least? Either way, he quickly turns and takes the fight to the spirits, glancing back at the mirror to ensure his strikes land true. "Woo!"

Vinyl Scratch reaches up with one hoof, giving the side of her goggles a few light taps to quickly cycle between the visual options built into them. Night, night... Ah, awesome. Night vision! Definitely goin' to help me here!"

Eevee hasn't quite processed the fact that they're under attack by spirits.

Riko has to duck as a lethal gust of air passes beside him, the scent of ozone lingering in its wake. Did Qupoma do that? "Nice attack," he says to her with a smile before proceeding to wreck spiritual shit up with his newfound power... which was starting to fade. "I think this blessing is starting to wear off," Riko shouted.

Helios frys another spirit in front of him and turns to the M85. "M85, this is taking too long. Use your overclocker upgrade and engage your arm cannon, we are curious to see what Luna did to it." The M85 nods and activates the Mana reactor inside of it, causing a sickly reddish glow to surround it. The timer from before does not appear, however. It seems to have been fixed.

Heather suddenly senses something. A different way to use the blessing. She turns and looks at the mirror, watching herself change. A blue and red hat appears on her head, and she feels and sees the weight of the scepter in her hand. She steps towards the mirror, touches it with the Mirror Rod, and steps through, vanishing from the dark room into its lit reflection.

The M85 begins to tear through the crowd of spirits like a bull through weak tissue paper. It's arm cannon pulses and it blasts a glowing ball of a blue, liquid substance that explodes into a messy splatter on impact. The spirits begin to scream whenever they touch it or are hurtled into it by Helios, withering away into husks.

In the darkened room, one of the spirits battles an invisible enemy briefly before vanishing. In the mirror, one can see the truth of the situation- Heather manages to destroy one of the dark forms.

Sweetie didn't know the Gatling Prayer technique, but she had experience with putting the undead to rest with healing spells. Pulling out of few potions to restore Mana meant that she wouldn't run out of magic this time while playing exorcist. "Who wants to be sent to the greener pastures first! How about the one with the glowy eyes... Oh wait, You all have glowy eyes"

Mogwai stays near the mirror, trying to fend off the attackers futilely before she settles for holding out her crystal, focusing Luna's blessing through them. It doesn't harm them, but they don't come any closer. Meanwhile, Helios and the others do a fine job of taking them out. "Ok, someday I need a weapon that can hit intangible things. Magic whip or something. Hmm..."

Unfortunately, even with night vision-capable goggles, Vinyl Scratch remains unaware of exactly what the rest of her group is fighting, and it's about to cost her as one of the untouched spirits spots the DJ and flies directly at her body with the intent of possessing an unwary target.

Eevee has no idea what's going on. Sure, his instincts tell him that he's not alone..other than his friends being there, obviously. And by this time he's figured out that -something- is going on and the others are now in combat. Do they know something that he doesn't? Accursed intelligent creatures and their intelligence!

Qupoma senses a disturbance in the air, and sees a spirit making a dash for Vinyl. Being a good person, and that she can see a loud boom passes by Vinyl's person, ripping the spirit in half as it fades away into nothingness. The light scent of ozone follows the resting of the air again.

Finn seems to be doing just fine, giving the mirror occasional glances to ensure he's not going to hit an ally, and that his strikes hit true. This means he's staying fairly close to you, so she'll no doubt notice him taking each out.. and he does a fine job of it indeed, mixing in acrobatics with those sword attacks. It's almost like a show! Or, would be, if not for the ever-present danger. "Hey, Eevs! You just gonna sit there? Let's bust some ghosts!"

After destroying several more spirits with the blessing of Luna, Riko's arms could no longer hold his weapons. It didn't help that he was swinging them around like a crazy person. "So... out of... shape... it isn't... funny..." he groans, out of breath. It really had been a while since he had been in a fight like this.

As it closes in on the unaware Vinyl Scratch, the lone spirit screeches, though it doesn't quite manage to get anywhere near the unicorn before getting ripped apart by the shockwave.

Mogwai breathe a sigh of relief as the ghosts appear to have all been taken out "Well, that went well... umm, Vinyl? Look behind you!" she yells as she spots one last one, momentarily forgetting Vinyl wouldn't be able to see anything anyway.

Several bursts of light from mirrors appearing and disappearing in the air indicates Heather's fight with the reflection of another spirit in the mirror. Upon the reflection's destruction, the spirit vanishes.

As Qupoma stops channeling the air around her, she momentarily faulters as the sonic part of the attack was taken from her own life force. She has to support herself against the wall momentarily as the attacks catch up with her

"Huh? What are you t-" Vinyl Scratch turns to look, though that leaves her wide open for the last spirit to screech as it enters her body with the intent of possessing the now-confused unicorn. "AHH!"

Eevee's ears twitch as Finn's voice runs through them. Ghosts? Well then, what was the point? In his world, ghosts couldn't hurt him but at the same time, he couldn't hurt them. Sure, one of his forms could probably have an effect, but he didn't know about the mirror trick. In fact, where did they all go? Oh well, it was probably time for him to follow the others anyway. And so Eevee steps forward, ramming his face into the mirror.

Finn hears Mogwai’s words, and nods.. though her yell gets him to turn back toward Vi's general location. And.. he stares, as she's seemingly possessed. "Uh." He shoulders the glowing Demon Sword, and he tilts his head a bit. "So.. anyone here know how to exorcise spirits?" He blinks as he hears someone knock their noggin' on the mirror, and he glances down at Eevee. "You, uh.. all right there, champ?"

Sweetie decides that if Vinyl is going to have her head spin like a doll, That Sweetie didn't want to be too far away "I think I can start with a blessing spell, if that Doesn't work I brought some Misty Oil. Smells like Pinecones."

A quiet beep excoes out from the glasses that Vinyl is wearing. "Huh..." He turns and watches as she wriths on the ground. "Are you trying to possess her? Oh no you DONT!" Helios' lens flashes and Vinyl's body begins twitching spastically as the glasses activate. The spirit and Helios begin a battle of wills over Vinyl's body while the M85 stands guard over them.

Mogwai runs her crystal around the edge of the mirror, small slices of wind cutting through the screws attaching it to the wall. She picks it up and carries it with her "Well, now we can see. I'll scout around for where the mana spirit is before more of those spirits return. Finn, keep an eye on Vinyl, gimme a shout if her condition changes."

Sweetie uncorked a flask of Misty Oil and anointed Vinyl with it. starting by rubbing oil down Vinyl's horn perhaps a little too long for it not to look sexual, but the priest that wrote the exorcism rite might of liked little colts, so...

Heather jumps as the reflection shivers and changes. She quickly moves close to Mogwai's now shadowed reflection. She's not sure how moving the mirror will alter this realm.

As the internal battle rages, the now-possessed Vinyl Scratch convulses on the ground, thrashing violently as her eyes take on an unholy glow from the spirit's effort to gain a new host for itself.

Eevee mutters as he paws his nose and proceeds to follow Mogwai's scent. He did rather enjoy her scent.

"Wha-? You want me to keep an eye on Vi?" Finn blinks at you. "Well.. all right, then. You sure you don't want me to come with you?" He muses, before he turns to move toward Vi, at least. Good thing they're safe, even if for the moment. He blinks as she convulses and seems to take on an unholy glow of the eyes. It's.. mildly disturbing, if you were to ask Finn.

"Right, time to move on," Riko said, having trouble putting the weapons back on his back. When they're safely put away, he begins to walk after Mogwai, turning his head back to make sure Qupoma was following.

Helios increases the power of the glasses, causing blue lines to spout from the ends of the glasses. They begin spreading, giving her coat a strange metallic sheen. "This spirit is more tenacious than we expected..."

Qupoma eventually felt herself able to move again, and she moves onward to catch up with the group, wondering where it all leads now as Riko feels a hand on his shoulder as she sort of just follows beside him.

Mogwai walks backwards, using the mirror as a guide. There's a vast room,but a clearly marked path in the floor through the mirror. "Ok... I think our goal's on the far side of the room." she says, before calling back "How's the situation down there?"

Sweetie gulped as she say the eyes. Decided not to panic becuase that would look very uncool in front of Finn. She just continused to Oil down Vinyl's body by dumping an entire bucket of Misty Oil on the mare "Vinyl Scratch is posessed by Zool!"

"Kinda ghastly," Finn yells back to Mogwai. He's still not sure what to do, and it's clear on his face. If only he had become a priest! ... Or, well, there's not much in the way of organized religion back in Ooo, but hey. He glances back over at Sweetie as she says that, and he blinks at her.

Despite doing the best it can to keep control of Vinyl Scratch, the spirit seems to be losing against Helios' intervention, even as the DJ's body seems to change from white to silvery in color.

Heather walks in front of (behind, from a different perspective) the mirror-wielding Mogwai. It seemed safest to stay in the reflected zone. Anyone watching might find it odd that she doesn't seem to actually be there in the dark world.

As Qupoma comes to a stop, suddenly, she doesn't feel that good. What she thought was only being winded... might be something a bit more serious actually as she, without rhyme or reason, suddenly finds herself collapsing to the floor in a disgruntled heap, the air seeping from her body as it glides away from her pom. She’s out cold...that must've been one strong drain of her life force that she put on back there.

Sweetie says ' Let the blessings of the sun shine on this Mare! I cast you back into Tartarus, evil spirit. Anyone have any more Misty Oil? The book says that if the ghost doesn't leave by now I'm supposed to make her drink a bottle.'

Helios increases the power being diverted to the glasses once again, this time using the excess power from the M85. "Ooohh..." Helios begins wobbling in the air as the power being diverted through him and the RAM being eaten up with this internal battle begin to take its toll. "Al...Almost there..." The silvery color finishes spreading across Vinyl's body and blue lines begin appearing that encircle her body in various places.

If the hand vanishing from his shoulder wasn't alarming enough, he could her Qupoma's body falling down. "Qupoma!" Riko shouts in alarm, though he only reaches her body after it's fallen. "Damn," he curses as he picks her up and hefts her over his shoulder. "Shouldn't have killed so many damn spirits," he grumbles as he carries her and walks toward you.

As the change progresses further over Vinyl Scratch's body, the small banshee finally reappears with a shrill screech, looking around with a sharp glare with the intent of finding another target so it can survive. Said unicorn, however, is looking more machine-like, especially now that all her soft white fur is gone.

Helios cuts the connection to the glasses as the spirit reappears. "Be..." Helios seems to gasp for breath, even though he doesn’t breathe. "Begone foul spirit!" Helios ZAPS the spirit with one last lightning bolt before he falls to the ground with a metallic clatter.

All Finn can really do is watch.. that is, until the spirit reappears. Naturally, it glares: you'd be pissed if you couldn't have what you wanted, too, right? He figures the others are a little busy trying to extract the spirit so, he moves in, leaping and bringing that sword down on the spirit. The moonlit Demon Sword easily slices through it, and he lands on the other side of Vi, looking quite the bad-ass as he stands tall and shoulders the blade. "We came. We saw. We kicked it's butt!"

Helios says '"Critical heat levels detected within Helios.AI_core; Disabling power supply to prevent further data corruption...'

Mogwai comes back to find Vinyl looking more... roboty "Are you feeling better?"

Sweetie knocks a hoof agaist Vinyl's rump. Expecting a metallic sound to ring from it.

Helios' lens fades to black as the M85 rushes over to his core. It grabs The core and dashes for the entrance, its hurried footfalls being drowned out with a sudden roar as its flight engine activates. The roar soon fades from hearing.

Vinyl Scratch shakes her head, getting up with more of a whirring of electronic gears as a result of Helios' timely intervention - and it's just as evident in her voice, as well. "Don't know why that thing wanted to take over me, but yeah... I'm doin' alright, aside from soundin' like one of my turntables." For her effort, Sweetie's hoof produces a dull metallic clang upon impact.

Finn turns to notice that Vi is a bit.. different. "What the heck?" He tilts his head a little. Man, if she's metal now.. that's going to detract a TON of points from her comfort level! He rubs at his chin a bit as he examines her. "So, uh.. I'm confused, now.."

Mogwai nods "Well, you seem fine to me, a little more furless" she takes a look in the mirror and makes a surprised cringing noise "Anyway... we found the way onwards." She uses the mirror to lead a way across the large room, and pushes open the door at the end.

"Let's go, then," Riko says with Qupoma in his arms.

Eevee sticks next to Mogwai, his nose pain mostly gone.

Sweetie says ' Well you've been... Berry Punch spoke of things like this happening in Casino Nights Zone. Vinyl has been ROBOTIZISED.'

Heather waits for Mogwai to open the door, then jumps back in the line of reflection as quickly as possible. The nonreflected areas exist, but they feel... odd. Wrong. She doesn't like it.

Sweetie says ' Vinyl... I'll treat you to some oil later... Uh... I think Mogwai needs to us to get going.'

Inside, a black and red bat-like humanoid hovers idly in mid-air "Ah, glad you could make it. I had thought that you would have given up this quest. Tell me, what is it that still drives you? Do you still seek to leave this world?" Mogwai shakes her head "No... I realize this is my home now. And I could never leave my friends. I'm doing this for me."

Vinyl Scratch shrugs, with more whirring and metallic clangs resounding as she follows along.

Finn moves and quickly following, trying not to be distracted by Vi's new.. robot sounds. He notes Diabolos, and he keeps that Demon Blade shouldered, knowing that this is probably going to evolve into a fight, as these encounters are want to do. At least it's not Leviathan again. Phew.

Eevee winces briefly as he can now see what's transpiring around him. As he eyes the humanoid, he feels strange. In the past, he would usually tense up by now. But after Fenrir's actions, surely they could proceed without violence?

Heather, realizing the real world is now lit, pokes her head out of the mirror. She sits there for a moment, half-emerged, and takes in the scene.

Riko glares at Diabolos, the vibes getting stronger around the bat. But between the soreness in his arms and the moogle girl in his arms, he was in no position to do anything about it, armed or otherwise.

Mogwai shines again with Luna's blessing, and finds herself with a whip made of pure moon energy. She wields the Power of Self-Respect and readies herself "So... this is the part where you and I fight to prove what I've learned, or some reason?" Diabolos simply shrugs "No. We've played our part, and we no longer have a reason to fight you. Besides... something worries me. The words of your double... no, I shall not waste energy on fighting you today. Perhaps later."

Vinyl Scratch looks up, scanning Diabolos with her now-cybernetic eyes, which - surprisingly - are still hidden behind the goggles she'd received from Helios.

Riko sighs in relief, but still seems worried. He would probably remain so until Diabolos left and the Mana Spirit appeared.

Eevee seemed fine with not fighting. Though given his uselessness today, he felt mildly depressed.

Finn blinks in surprise when Diabolos seems to concede defeat even without a fight. He's a bit surprised at that, but he shrugs and moves closer, stretching a little. Naturally, he's going to keep on guard, because.. well.. this is the darkness. And he's been to some dark, backstabby kinda places. Like the Nightosphere. He has no desire to go back there anytime soon.

Sweetie walked into the room a bit late. Shaking like a leaf from fear of ghosts and worries that Vinyl could lose her free will... the sight of a Kirby popping her head out of a mirror was the last straw that made her drop a horseapple. "AHHRG! Where did you come from"

"I merely wished to see how you've been doing. You have not disappointed me in the slightest. Perhaps you will be ready, should the worst case scenario come to pass." says Diabolos as he fades out. A much smaller batlike spirit flutters down from the rafters "So, you're the adventurers running through my crypt? What have you come for?"

Vinyl Scratch lowers her optics slightly, studying the second spirit intently as a faint glow surrounds her metallic horn.

Sweetie says ' I don't know... I just thought that Zombies had the best treasure.'

Sweetie convulses as she shudders in disgust.

Heather determines that the outside world is safe- for now- and jumps the rest of the way out. At the top of her jump, she flips, losing her Copy Ability. She glances at Sweetie. "Oh! Sorry," she says.

"For the blessing. What else?" Riko says, refusing to lower his guard to the being despite his lack of energy.

"Well, if the last bunch of adventures were any indicator.. we were hoping for your blessing," Finn offers with a chuckle, thumbing over at Riko with a nod of agreement. Of course, he was a bit less rude about it, but Riko got down to brass tacks, at least. He slowly moves to sidle up over to Sweets, ruffling her mane playfully. "Just be glad you'll never have to visit the Nightosphere," he grins playfully at her.

Eevee hasn't experienced receiving two blessings so close to each other. Part of the joy in the clarity was that it cleansed the built up mental trauma that he goes through. And what would -this- form bring? It's a spirit of darkness, so it must surely be dangerous. Should Eevee even accept the blessing?

"For your blessing. Also a shard of the mana stone." says Mogwai. The spirit flits this way and that, seemingly pensive "Well... if you got in, you must have the other blessings. If they decided to favor you, I suppose it's only right that I do so as well. Just don't expect me to be happy about it!" says Shade as a dark light envelopes the party, including the comatose Qupoma

The dark light takes Riko's breath away, but he holds on to Qupoma's body until the sensation passes. "Right, let's get out of here, then," he says.

Vinyl Scratch's cybernetic body, in response to the flare of darkness, pulses twice as dark magic floods her magical aura, culminating in a black glow surrounding her horn.

Heather flinches as the darkness surrounds her. Then it passes, and she feels... different. As with Luna's blessing, the effects are not immediately obvious.

Well it was too late now to voice any objection. Was this deja vu? No, this time the choice was made for Eevee. As his mind is filled with clarity, Eevee takes a moment to let it sink in. This will be the last time. So long, mental peace. Perhaps someday Eevee would gain the intelligence to fight for you. After the feeling passes, Eevee found himself..afraid. Two new forms that could be capable of anything.

Eevee already fears the creatures he becomes and times he's lost control. It's only a matter of time now until they manifest. He hopes that they will be for the best and that he will never harm his friends again.

As the light fades away, the spirit yells "Now get out!" Your vision swims, and before you know it you're standing back outside "...Grumpy little guy isn't he?" says Mogwai

Finn seems quite pleased to get one of those last blessings. So, technically, he needs to trek to some of the other temples himself. He almost considers doing it himself. Wouldn't that be a hellacious challenge? "Hm. Maybe I'll invite Jake to come with me.. I've been kinda neglectful lately. I hope he's taking it all right," he laments, a brief frown on his face, before he turns to consider his blade, still glowing. Without warning, they're outside! Woo! Finn blinks, a bit disoriented by the forceful ejection. "Whoa.."

Sweetie Smirked and pulled out a blank book "I few rites to fight the forces of the undead please"

Mogwai opens up the bus as a shard of dark crystal smacks her in the face "Ow... well, Helios will be glad to hear about this. Everyone on board... I'll take it slower this time, we've got injured."

"I'll go with you," Riko says to Finn. "Plan on getting the rest myself." With that, the sound of a motor revving echoes in the distance, before a ghostly motorcycle drove itself up to Riko. "...I'm going to enjoy this," he says, sitting on the chopper and making sure Qupoma was situated side-saddle before riding off toward the moonlight on his way back to Truce.

Finn nods a little bit at Riko. "Sure, lemme know when you wanna go, and-" Oh, the Moogle's gone. He stares after him for a moment, shrugs, and slowly moves to climb back onto the bus, moving to take a seat and strap himself in.

Eevee hops on to the bus and takes a seat instead of sitting with Mogwai this time. Nothing personal, but he needed time to be alone. He was afraid, and he didn't want her to see his fear.

Heather blinks and shades her eyes against the sudden increase in light, and follows Mogwai onto the bus. She tries to secure herself better this time.

Vinyl Scratch climbs back onto the bus, with more metallic clangs resounding as she moves to sit beside Finn for the trip back.

Mogwai turns the speed a lot lower and sets off. Eevee's actions have her a little bothered. Something's obviously bothering him, she'll have to check it out later.

Sweetie giggles as she gets a new ritual to add to her books. She climbs on top of Vinyl as the Robot Unicorn Atta-- Er, climbs into the bus. "I got some new spiritual knowledge, and I feel closer to the weave of life and dumb fabric."

Finn leans against Vi with a yawn. Surprisingly, though she's metallic, she seems to be no less comfortable. The wonders this world brings! He yawns a little, and blinks at Sweets. "Nice. Cool of you to come with us."

Mogwai manages to get everyone back home before long, taking advantage of the bus's only one exit to make sure Eevee doesn't just run off.

Vinyl Scratch looks over, even while leaning further back into her seat with faint whirring. "What's up?"

Eevee continues to keep to himself as Mogwai drives. He idly wonders where he'll go tonight. Should he stay with Mogwai or go back to Rabite Forest?

Finn glances over at Vi. "Huh? I'm tired, s'all. It's been a productive day, and now I have to figure out all these new blessings, too," he muses, slowly moving to a stand once the bus has stopped, stretching again. "Might hit the sack."

Heather sighs as she hops to the ground off the bus. Something about the whole event had drained her energy. She glances back at the others, wondering if she should hang around or go rest.

Mogwai heads back over to Eevee "Hey there. Wanna talk?"

Vinyl Scratch nods in response, moving off the bus and looking around before heading in the direction of her temporary house.

Sweetie pushes Vinyl's cutie mark and pulls her hoof away when she hears a click. Then music starts playing.

Finn quickly moves to disembark, chuckling as Sweetie gets touchy. "Cute," he muses, nudging her a bit. "Hey, if y'wanna crash at the Tree Fort, you're more than welcome to tonight. Well, everyone's invited to crash there, but.. well.. seems like everyone's got their own thing goin'." He muses, before he heads north.

Eevee raises his head and looks towards Mogwai as he rests it once more, "Eevee, vee eevee..(I'm just worried..going back to that place again where we met Luna brought back painful memories..you probably didn't see much, but I lost control of myself. I almost hurt one of our friends. I even hurt you when I put everyone to sleep. What if I really hurt someone close to me next time? What if it's..you?)"

Heather decides that everyone else seems to be leaving, and so wanders off. She maks a mental note to check for any powers the second blessing gave her.

Mogwai nods "Well... that is a scary thought. But you can either mope about it, or do something fun like test them out when you're not under stress. It's either that or I keep raspberrying your belly to make you smile."

Sweetie says ' Would you mind If I crash at the Treefort too Finn. The air there is a bit freasher.'

"Nah, Sweets, you're welcome to stop by anytime you wanna," Finn smiles at her. "And I think the air freshening thing is 'cause it's a tree. It's good at that sorta thing." He waves her along back 'home'.

Test them out, huh? Nagol had mentioned something similar the other day. A small smile formed on Eevee's face at the thought of a belly raspberrying. "Vee. (Maybe..Luna seemed nice. I'm sure I'll be fine with her blessing..but what about Shade? He gives me the creeps!)"

Mogwai smiles "Oh, he's just grumpy. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that dark doesn't always mean evil. It's all about how you use it... and I'm sure you'll use it just fine. Let's go find somewhere nice to practice. I can't wait to see how you look.

Eevee nods.