"..." = Speech
<...> = Thought
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Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - Run Run Rottytops! (Remix)
"Is this what irony is?" Tapping her chin as she wandered around the series of caravans that had been parked in what could generally be called a circle with the gate on the circumference.
The reason for her words was the liveliness that was bustling all around her.
Though that "liveliness" was coming for a series of walking corpses with various degrees of damage and decay. Some were just bones while others could pass for living. All around there were cadavers moving with a constant buzz. Many of the merchants were hawking their wares or chatting around their wagons with a generally festive atmosphere.
Certainly an energetic ambience that the always spirited half-genie heroine could get along with. Even if the ones surrounding her were undead - she didn't find much unusual as death was hardly a concept spirits felt very intune with. "Wowza it really is different to actually be here in person…"
Struggling to remember the one in her far off memories as a child; although she was always quite rambunctious so it would not be surprising if she had a concussion at some point.
It wasn't as if she remembered much of her childhood.
Especially since most of it was spent goofing about the palace while avoiding anything that felt too much like work. She remembered her later childhood and early teenage years. Both of which were mostly spent in Scuttle Town with her uncle Mimic rather than the Royal Palace.
As such the experience of the Zombie Caravan was a very refreshing one; even if the general smell of the place was anything but refreshing. A village's worth of undead bodies were hardly pleasant even for someone as open minded as that ever hearty Shantae. "Though the prices more than make up for it…"
Glancing around showed a whole lot available and all of it far cheaper than should be.
"Wowza your normal potion would run you 25 but they sell them for 15 gems here… Suppose it wouldn't hurt to pick some up for future use?" Her excitement spiked as she almost ended up walking past an amazing treasure like that stall. Quickly pausing to retreat back toward that store in question.
Reaching between her breasts before retching her hand back out to slam a massive gem from one of the golems of the Golem Mine onto the table. Big grin and sparkling eyes as she proudly declared with the passion of a seasoned nouveau riche. "I'll take your entire stock!"
--
"Money~♪ Money~♪ Money~♪ Makes me feel glowin'~♪ Get tons of potions~♪" Nodding her head along to her own weird song as she continued to look through all the deals that were available.
Although a rather curious thought slipped through her mind. "Wasn't I here for something?"
She really felt like she was forgetting something…
"There must be more deals or something; if that isn't it then surely it wasn't that important if I could just forget it like that." Her confidence stride once more continued as she strutted through the crowd - taking her time as she moved from carriage to carriage. "Maybe I'll pick something up for Sky & Bolo~?"
---
Back in Water Town Bolo was doing what Bolo did best.
He trained.
A metal bar weighted down on his shoulders as his body trembled under the weights that were precariously balanced on either side. Not helped by he, himself, trying to keep balance on what was essentially just a tiny metal pole nailed into the ground. He showed no signs of giving up.
Not caring about the sweat running down his body as he tried to keep himself as still as possible as a single movement could mean slipping. A grin appeared on his face as he simply took it as another challenge he'd need to overcome. "Next time I won't be so easily taken out… Physically at least."
---
"Dammit!" Sky slammed her head against the hard wooden shelf that she used to store all manner of goods for raising her babies and then later training them. A very involved process that she was proud of saying no one was better at than her.
That was why it was strange for her to act as she was - to say what she was saying. "Dammit, why am I so pathetically weak…"
Desperation was clear in her voice as blood trickled down the grains in the wood.
She didn't seem to care about her split forehead as she clutched at the shelves with such pressure that her knuckles had long gone white.
"I can understand not being as strong as Shantae but at least Bolo can head out into the wilds and help guard her back from monsters. Yet all I can do is rely on connections I probably only got due to being best friends with one of the last genies." Tears trickling down her cheek.
A sad squark tried to take her out of her slump however she was quick to shake her head. "No, Wrench, it was you who helped guide her to the mines. Not me. It never is me. She's helped me so much but I'm not even reliable enough to help her deal with whatever emotions she is going through… Some best friend I ended up being."
Slamming her head one last time while biting her bottom lip.
Another squark echoed out from Wrench who jumped off the shelf he had balanced himself upon in favour of sweeping down.
Landing on her shoulder as he continued to "talk" to his master.
"My own… Advantages? I guess you are right I'm not completely useless like I said but I just wish I could do more than sit back while she puts herself in danger. Especially when she seems to have been quite badly impacted by this latest guardian spirit's departure." Some of her self-loathing fizzled out as she settled on a far more tame sigh.
Pushing herself away from the now bloody and faintly dented wood to instead look around the vast collection of items she had managed to get her hands on. Some of them were indeed bits and bobs she needed for her job… But as shown when Shantae last came through; she also held a little bit more.
"Tailsmans and relics are very important for genies if the legends are to be believed - I may not be able to recklessly go into labyrinths yet most dungeons are simply puzzles. Even if I'm not as strong as the other two I certainly am smarter…" Beginning to pace back and forth for a moment only to rush over to a map she had on the wall that she usually used for guiding her birds.
Now though… Now, she looked at the actual land in a bit more detail as she rushed around, shifting through all manner of ancient looking documents she had happened upon.
"Legends tell of monkeys being able to dart forward at unimaginable speed or possessing the ability to peer through into the truths of the world, right? How about you and me see if we can see just how true those tales are." Determination finding its way back onto her face.
---
"SHOOT! I FORGOT ABOUT THE CRACKLE MOUND LABYTINTH!" Shopping bags under either arm as she clutched either side of her head.
Quickly whipping her head every which way.
Soon finding her head lingering on a particular carriage with a plaque that looked reminiscent of a plump little octopus with a circlet similar to her own. Throwing a finger out toward that vehicle with a shout that sounded a little bit too confident. "That looks nice and mythical so must have the information!"
Not wasting a moment longer, power walking towards that carriage while shivering her bags between her breasts with little care for their contents, heading inside. Though what she found was… Exactly what depicted upon the plaque, funnily enough. Like if Shantae had an octopus transformation.
"You… You aren't a genie right?" Looking at the large purple blob shaped octopus that sat upon a cushion atop a marbled pillar as if it was some kind of precious relic.
She also didn't expect it to actually answer. "No, but we warp squid mothers were companions brought down to genkai by the ancient genie Ele. Their appreciation for our loyal companionship resulted in the ancient genies rewarding us with sentience along with the ability to control the warp!"
Remembering the ancient genie that she had recently met caused her to imagine what Ele's relationship with the squid was. But all she could imagine was that girl boisterously laughing. Rubbing the back of her head without any sign of actually being apologetic for whatever mistake she made…
Mistake…
She may have not realised the similarities with herself but she at least recognised a pattern of willful incompetence when she saw it. "Yeah this feels like something she would do…"
"Oh my you know lady Ele!" That bright eyed squid wiggled its stubby little tendrils around in excitement as Shantae could only let out a wry laugh while affirming. "Yeah… She actually taught me how to do her transformation dance after I freed her from a predicament she found herself in."
"That is good, no that is great, though I will need to find my children before she comes to bring all of us back up to the spirit world since I could not bear to leave them. Oh where could those rascals have ended up heading off to now… I swear they vanish as soon as I'm not looking." Tendrils anxiously trembled as she looked around the room for sight of her babies despite it being quite obvious they weren't there.
Though Shantae was more worried about something else.
Clutching the sides of her head at that startling realisation.
Shaking her head.
It truly was… Not the best look.
Quickly clearing her throat while trying to put on her best face. "W-Well I think she actually wanted to entrust helping the mortals she left behind - in that I know that I can certainly count on your kind to help me with that. Oh I will also keep an eye out in trying to find out where your children ended up while I look for information on how to get into Crackle Mound!"
"Oh I think I can actually help with that; if anyone would know about something like that it would be the sister in that troublesome trio of zombie siblings." That squid tried to keep its depiction as being a calm elder as it spoke. However that did little to stop those cute little limbs from joyfully wiggling around.
Providing a thankful smile as she asked. "Where can I find these siblings you mentioned?"
"I can tell you but you need to be careful… I still feel that they are truly good kids but most certainly trouble makers, through and through, so easily swayed by the wrong crowd." It warned the half-genie.
---
To find the supposed youngest sibling of the infamous zombie siblings; Shantae found herself stepping away from the main "business centre" of the temporary village.
On the very outskirts there was certainly another carriage.
Just out of the way so as to be impossible to see unless one intentionally went out of their way.
Shantae cautiously stepped forward; just in case something was going to abruptly jump out from those crooked trees that perfectly suited a creepy place called the zombie swamp. Carrying that wariness all the way up to knocking on the door. "H-Hello is there a zombie called Rottytops he-"
"Here~!" The door swung open before she had a chance to finish and certainly before Shantae had a chance to step out the way. As such the door hit her right in the face thus leaving her desperately clutching her bloodied nose as she fell to the floor with a thump.
The first thing Shantae saw was the brown boots alongside the purple socks underneath the steps into the carriage.
"What are you doing sitting there on the ground, silly!" Voice cheerful as Shantae turned her gaze up to see her green skin, choppy dark green hair, and red eyes. That zombie gal even had stitches on her left arm and right leg - a curvy yet slender frame and wore a short purple tank top exposing her midriff.
Atop her head was a yellow headband while skull earrings hung loosely from her ears and a matching skull buckle on her brown belt.
Navy blue jean shorts also brought great priority to her hips.
"I know I look all sexy but I doubt you're here for a quickie so what brought you to these parts; oh I know what you want to do!" Thumping her fist into her open palm which made the half-genie watching her blink in confusion at what that zombie apparently figured out. "You want to give up your brain, right!"
"EH~ OF COURSE NOT… Though I suppose as a half-genie it may not actually be all that important to my continued existence in this mortal coil…" Pondering if she actually needed a brain. Perhaps keeping that train of thought going for a bit longer than she reasonably ought to have.
Shaking that strange thought from her head. "No, it doesn't matter, in order to stop Risky Boots I wanted to know how to get into the ancient Crackle Mound labyrinth."
"Oh~hoho~ I may know how to get in that dusty old place but here's an idea - let's play a game - we race and if you win I'll get you into that gloomy crypt. Though if I win I get to nom on your brain!" Snickering with a confident smirk and her hands already on her hips.
Clearly confident in victory.
Although Shantae couldn't stop her own smirk from forming. "Oh~ and what are the rules~?"
---
"Grrr monkeys are totally cheating…" That zombie gal huffed as they made it over to another ancient looking stone door which was closed with no clear way in.
Shantae just lifted her hands in a shrug. "Well I did ask you the rules and no rule against transformations."
The smuggest smile on her face as she said that.
This labyrinth actually looked the most different out of all of them - mostly due to the entrance just looking like three stone pillars placed atop one another. A metal grating locked everyone out physically while the gigantic half-skull kept people at bay in an emotional fashion. Who wanted to go to a place with a skull?
"So… How do I get in?" Tilting her head as she looked between the entrance and her zombie companion who was pouting at being unable to formulate a good reply.
Still she seemed like an undead. "Oh that is easy."
Waltzing up to the side of the entrance only to… Hit it. At which point the metal barring entry reeled up to allow entry with that zombie becoming quite smug - hands now resting behind her head. "There you go miss genie; don't let the cracklers inside chew up your soft bits too much~."
"Heh I think you'll find me tougher than I look!" Confidently striding into her third labyrinth.
---
It was honestly pretty easy for her.
Compared to her inexperience when going into the first two - the only advantage undead had were their endless numbers. It would cause anyone else to run out of energy then before zombie chow. Of course such a weakness didn't exist for the inexhaustible Shantae.
As such there was nothing to stop her as she tore through the army of undeads who spawned with every step she took. Even the traps that littered the place were easily avoided by her monkey form. Plus the fairly bad infrastructure meant a lot of problems were solved through rather… Blunt methods.
Methods that may or may not have included an elephant slamming through walls.
So it wasn't very surprising when she ended up finding another genie, though this one looked a little different as she wasn't as light skinned as the first, not dark skinned like Ele was.
Instead her skin was far closer to a certain blue skinned legendary pirate.
"Eh, how do you-?" Bafflement at the development left her standing across from the cage holding the genie in question - that was why she missed the metal whip that was heading toward her rump. "Get out the way young half-genie; this was a trap!"
That quickly broke her out of her trance; hearing that weapon slicing through the air let her instinctively use her backstep to phase through the otherwise guaranteed blow. Now finding herself standing behind her attacker… A BatGal. "Huh~ to think you managed to dodge; guess I'll just have to punish you harder."