Thalassa

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.

Meanwhile, a lone Koopa sits on a dock, fishing to clear his thoughts...

A school of fish soon swims close by. Judging from their size, they look like they'd make a pretty good filler.. er, fillet.

Alex eyed the fish carefully. They were indeed quite big - a bigger haul than he expected to get this quickly. Maybe things were finally looking up. But he couldn't afford to do anything rash. All he needed to do was wait, and one of the fish would take the bait. All he needed to do was sit there, patiently...

His phone rang, sending vibrations down the dock and into the water, scaring the fish away.

"DAMMIT!" shouted Alex.

He sighed, looking to see who could possibly be calling him - probably that stupid Templar hacking into the phone company or something, getting his number and begging him to go out and kill some dude...

Patches? That's quite different. Maybe she'd be at least sympathetic to everything that happened to Alex in the last few hours. He picked up the phone and answered it.

"What's up?" asked Alex.

"Nothin' good," answered Patches. "Bunch 'a blokes lookin' fer us. Sommat 'bout a terrorist attack we didn't do, but good luck tellin' 'em."

Alex sighs, his hand going to his face.

"Dammit..." mumbled Alex. "Just when I thought the day couldn't get any worse..."

"Wot 'appened?" asked Patches.

"Well," said Alex, barely containing his anger. "Someone stole my swords, a bunch of people dragged me off to fight Morbul knowing that I couldn't really do anything without them, because they only saw me as a weapon two idiot children blew my house up and I DIED, and THEN some people resurrected me so that I could be a weapon for THEM."

A brief pause.

"Cor."

"Exactly," said Alex.

"... I suppose this is a bad time to ask for 'elp?" asked Patches.

"What kind of help?" asked Alex.

"I'm in Ingenium right now," said Patches. "An' they're scrubbin' 'Aven for me. I don't 'ave a good way out an' need someone to cover my escape."

Alex sighs in exasperation.

"Patches..." he began. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

He paused, waiting for Patches' response. She didn't have one.

"I don't have my swords with me, and I'm just as wanted as you," explained Alex, more to himself than anyone else. "There's just no good way I could get you out. I'm sorry."

"I understand, guv," came the dejected voice of Patches from the other end. "Good luck wif yer own troubles."

Patches hung up. Alex put the phone away, slumping down by his fishing pole.

A few more fish are eventually enticed enough to swim by the docks once more, the sound of rippling water drowning out what would be an otherwise deafening silence - or whatever would come close to that for a small fishing hamlet.

-silent filler leaf in the quiet breeze-

OOC: I don't receive notifications unless there's a V2 at the end of the tagged character. Also there wasn't really a need to make two filler posts.

IC:

Alex waited patiently. It was silent, the only sound being the ripples in the water. Perfect conditions for catching fish. All he had to do was not rush...

There was a nibble on his line. Then another. Then a fish bit down on the hook. Perfect timing. He grabbed the line, reeling in the fish, before yanking back, sending a large mackerel flying out of the water...

---

Ramses arrived in the quiet town of Thalassa. It was silent, the only sound being the rippling water. Perfect conditions for bagging a bounty quickly and quietly. All he had to do was spot his target...

Which he did quickly. Alex was the only one really out and about, sitting at the edge of a dock, fishing rod in hand, yanking on the line. Perfect timing. He drew his Hawkeye Rifle, lining up the shot, before firing out a whirling snare...

Alex heard the bang but couldn't dodge in time. He could only turn his head as the snare wrapped around him, completely entangling him. Ramses took another shot, this snare tying his arms and legs together and preventing Alex from ducking into his shell. He then walked over to the Koopa.

"Gotta say," said Ramses. "I didn't expect it would be this easy."

He looked down at the mackerel, which dropped from Alex's hands and lay flopping on the docks.

"Nice catch," said Ramses, almost mockingly friendly.

"Go to hell," spat Alex.

"One day," said Ramses. "Right now, though, there's a pretty price on your head. Double if you're alive. Hold on tight, Koopa. We're goin' for a ride."

Ramses called over his UFO, which beamed him and his latest catch aboard, before flying off toward Haven.

OOC: Whoopsy daisy! Double post!

It seems there was only one attentive witness to Alex's capture...and she was far out in the sea! Specifically, it's a blue eel-like dragon with wavy lavender hair and some kind of weapon shaped like a shark skull. In any case, she kept in the water, afraid to say anything about the event.

The blast from Bacaina Shrine just skirted Thalassa. However, the water dragon kept hidden with others of her kind in a deep underwater cove. Already, the above-ground citizens had vacated to a large safehouse to the east.

The water dragon peeked above the surface, and was glad to see that the town wasn't damaged. However, a Minil-Lurker flew in, and using its melding tendrils, tore through the buildings in several fell swoops! This startled the dragon, who dove back under, hoping it didn't notice her. It wasn't long, though, before the Minil-Lurker was about to leave behind the demolished fishing hamlet.

At that time, Derecho arrived, launching a Tsukinami wave from his blade into the Minil-Lurker. This went right through it, though it soon regained its form and turned toward the wolf-man.

"Well now...This might get uglier than I assumed," he said.

Derecho fought the Minil-Lurker blade to claws, their attacks parrying each other with sparks of noise and shadow. The Minil-Lurker attempted to edge away during this fight, so it could leave to raze another settlement. However, Derecho just sprinted in its way, kicking it back. This way have sent it flying back into the ruined town a bit, but it didn't suffer much. Instead, it lashed out several tendrils, wrapping them around the wolf-man.

"Agh - !!"

It seemed the Minil-Lurker was going to bind Derecho in its tendrils and consume him...but then a beam of water flew out from nowhere and struck the fake right through the head, blowing it up. This interrupted its concentration on Derecho for a moment, giving him the chance to cut himself free. After that, he landed on his feet, holding his sword at the Minil-Lurker. At that time, though, it began experiencing spasms, unable to act.

"What - ? Is it...reverting?" Derecho wondered.

Sure enough, the Minil couldn't maintain its Lurker form without the realm deal in its presence. It had yet to attain such strength. Now in its more helpless state, the Minil was cleaved apart by Derecho's blade.

With that done, Derecho sheathed his sword. The water dragon from earlier peeked out from the waters nearby. Derecho recognized her and her shark skull-like weapon well.

"...Wailani, correct?" Derecho said. "Thanks. You really saved my tail there."

"Oh, well...erm..." the water dragon, Wailani, responded. "I was...just doing my job, that's all."