Leilanie Sowanaga's Story

"My, my! Such a firey personality!" Plantium comments at Leilanie's sudden hostility as he steps into the open, chuckling. "I suppose I should be glad I didn't bring Ripsaw with me, in the end; poor fellow would have likely tried to cut you down on the spot for brandishing a blade like that at me, much to my chagrin. But I digress.."

He takes a quick, over-exaggerated bow.

"I am Plantium, lord of the Metal Legion - villain, tyrant, warmonger extraordinaire, would-be-ruler of the world, blah blah blah and so forth. You may, or may not, have heard of me here and there. I would suppose not, seeing as I have been removed from.. larger play, for some time."

Standing back upright, the Koopatrol folds his arms, his facial expression quickly losing all signs of amusement.

"As for why I'm here," he resumes, "Let's simply say it's the wondrous powers of curiosity at work - nearly the same case as everyone else involved in this little scavenger hunt of yours... for the most part, anyway."

"(!) I was afraid of that...!" Red growled, whipping out her Fairy Wing blades. "Figured there would be a reason for a research-centric type like Dr. Valentine to pursue the 'treasure'! Now then...what is it YOU know about it? What's your reason for the hunt?"

"Aside from the fact that it is hidden deep within the Bell Tower, and that no one has seen or verified exactly what it is for the past five hundred years? As much as anyone else, I would suppose." Plantium says, starting to pace back and forth. "I must admit though, you people are rather bold.. or foolhardy, diving headfirst into a situation you know barely anything about."

Plantium pauses for a moment, finally noticing the spying mechanical eye out of the corner of his own.

"..As for my interests, the potential of what actually lies within the Bell Tower is very promising to people such as myself. That, and I happen to find the prospect of a race to it among a dozen or so individuals to be quite amusing."

He suddenly pulls a broadsword out of nowhere, a dark energy sparking around it with occcult symbols etched into the blade, the Koopatrol lightly swinging it around in the air a few times before pointing it at the duo.

"Unfortunately, it would appear I have inadvertently exposed myself to said greater masses far sooner than I had hoped.. So, I will likely have to send a few partygoers home early. While I do so, those of you who happen to be listening might have a much more glamorous time if you get a move on to the Spliced Woods ahead of me as - considering the hints we have been given - it is likely that is where the next key piece is. I can't promise I won't catch up, of course..."

Chuckling, Plantium quickly swings his sword, a bolt of dark lightning erupting from the blade and flying out towards the floating mechanical eye, it's goal to outright overload and destroy it. In the event it does, I imagine those on the other end will be victim to an unpleasingly loud screech of static..

The Argus eye, in fact, gives a cartoonish shriek and packs heat, evading the bolt and getting out of the area.

"Ehehehe...That's fine, we were going there anyway~" Red commented. She then turned to Leilanie. "That's our cue, tiger!" She's just about to leave - but she'd rather Leilanie keep up.

Leilanie smirks and nods back at Red and follows her on their trail to Spliced Woods.

Red led Leilanie away from Bacaina Shrine as fast as possible, heading to the port.

"Okay, we take the next boat to Haven - the VERY next boat, got it?"

Leilanie nods in response to Red's plan.

"Then let's do it!"

Red leads Leilanie into the back of the next boat going to Haven - stealthily.

Leilanie nods and quietly follows Red into the next boat.

The boat heads out to Haven.

The cargo boat from Thalassa made port here.

"(!) We're here!" Red whispered to Leilanie.

Leilanie nods back and waits for the right time to make a move.

And make their move they do. Red leads Leilanie through the cargo piles on the way to the exit, which will lead to the town. "When we get into the town, just act casual and blend with the crowd."

CRASH!

Almost as if on cue, the sound of something bursting from the sea can be heard as a massive and heavily armored vessel suddenly erupts out of the port town's waters, a veritable cloud of salt water being sent flying in all directions. The ship sits there for a few seconds, before two large antennaes quickly fold out along the bow and stern areas, reaching out into the sky and forming crow's nests as holographic sheets roll out below, forming into masts. Something that sounds like a jet engine being started up can also be heard as the ship slowly lifts up into the air, holes opening in the sides of its hull which start pouring out several tons of water.

As the airship hovers about emptying its weight, Plantium, whom is accompanied by several robots in the shape of Koopas, suddenly appears topside, although barely visible, with the latter group then running about the ship performing different tasks. Eventually, Plantium apparently makes a motion to someone below deck with one of his hands, and the airship's hatches soon close over, quickly flying off into the mainland towards the Spliced Woods. Clearly, it would seem he is quite intent on locating the next clue, bringing one of his submersible airships into the fray.

"(!) Oh no! At this rate, he'll beat us to the forest...!" Red groaned. "Okay, forget the casual act - just pack heat!!" With that, Red leads Leilanie through the city in a hurry. Destination - Old Haven, then the Outlands, reaching to the Spliced Woods.

Leilanie quickly follows Red and make their way to Spliced Woods as fast as they can.

It took a lot of parkour runs and cloak-dashes, but Red (with Leilanie following, hopefully) made it to the Outlands. Just on the other side of the wasteland is the Spliced Woods.

"Hey! Wait up!" Leilanie followed, "Gahh, let's hope we won't get caught by mutants in Spliced Woods."

"Good luck with that - the Spliced Woods is known for being mainly populated by mutants," Red retorted. "But I don't think that's our main problem!"

"You're right. Plantium IS the problem." Leilanie replied.