Mission 12 - Epilogue

Mission 12 - Epilogue
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Mission 12
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The jungle had an incredibly unpleasant wet heat to it. It hadn’t taken long for those who were capable of it to begin sweating, soaking their own clothes and accessories in the humid heat. There had been no escape from the sun's heat within the jungle either, as the shade from the foliage above had only protected them from being burnt; Matteo had no doubt that those who had stayed behind with Klutz would be badly burnt after working in the sun.
Despite knowing it would likely be just as hot outside of the jungle, the party still exited it with vigor, hoping for even the slightest of breezes to drift by and cool them after their venture. Matteo was one of the few who entered the plains with little passion -- he was used to more heat than this -- and instead focused on casting his eye over those who waited for them. The plainstribemen were exactly as he had left them: stupidly in the open, looking bored.
He turns his gaze slightly to the left of the crowd, where Thembeka and Philani were speaking to a familiar Anansi, Sauda, and several other representatives that Matteo recognized from the various jungle tribes he had visited. Klutz floats nearby, although he isn’t participating in the discussions -- thank Terrakion. Matteo strolls over to the group, offering a small nod to the Girafarig, Ariados, and Tangrowth as he approached.
: I’m glad to see you all made it here. I do hope there was no trouble from the monkeys, or those who received you.
: It was as agreed: they spoke their piece, and we listened. No conflict arose here, nor with the rest of your companions.
: I’m ecstatic to hear this, Philani, but, if you’ll pardon my bluntness, it was not you whom I feared would get aggressive.
: Watch your tongue, or you will not get the chance to use it in the future.
: Ah, but that would mean that I should make the most of it now, no?
: No indeed. Hold your tongue, or it will be removed.
: A true shame that would be, especially after all of the good it just did for the plains and jungle tribes of Kalka.
: I do not know what has compelled to you to speak to me in this manner, but kno--
: Then I shall gladly explain myself to you when the time presents itself, my lady. However, I hear several footsteps approaching, so I believe it would be a better use of our time to prepare for our oncoming company.
: ...Then let us prepare to receive them. Be warned though, little rat--
: --I have more than words waiting for you.
The lion turns and leaves, tail lashing as she stalks over to the rest of the plains tribesmen.
: Are you okay, Matteo? You’re acting weird, I think--
: Oh, I doubt that you do.
: Huh?
: Fortunately, I can think more than enough to compensate for you, so that won’t be a problem.
: Wha--
: You finished your job, yes? The traps you all built, they are prepared?
: Oh, yes! We got them done, they’re really good too, you see the one that Erika made, it’s a--
: I’ll get to see it in action in a moment or two, so I think I’d be best if we all got together and prepared to spring the traps.
: Oh, yeah, sounds good, Matteo!
: Follow me, everyone!
At the fae’s call, the Aetherians spring into action, albeit sluggishly from the heat, and follow him. The traps are arranged in a semi-circle outside of the jungle’s edge, disguised with a combination of Mud Sport and Rototiller to make them blend into the ground: a clever plan, undoubtedly made by anyone other than Klutz.
Several piles of soil, mud and rocks had been upturned during the process of hiding the traps, and those who had no way of hiding themselves naturally ducked behind something so they were out of sight. Silence fell over the clearing, and everyone waited with bated breath as they listened to the sounds of rustling leaves, twigs snapping, and feet stomping across the ground...
...
The exit was approximately sixteen seconds away for him, four for the people at the front of their group, and twenty-one for those at the back: Foresight told him that.
Cecil wrapped his left arm around a tree branch, turned around in a wide arc, and charged. None of the Aetherians ahead of him stopped running, thankfully, and those behind him, though surprised by his sudden change in direction, did not stop themselves when they saw him jump a few meters into the air. The monkeys in the trees, they were another story.
Many of them had too much momentum to stop, so they continued onto the next branch before they stopped to look back at him, but those who did stop before him were assaulted by a flurry of stars. They screeched and cursed at him as he landed on a branch, but he was ready with Detect before the first of their berries had been thrown.
The exit was approximately eighteen seconds away for him, a few of the Aetherians had already left the jungle, and the others were fifteen seconds away: Foresight told him that.
Cecil sprang into the air once again and let out another bout of Swift, this time at the Passimian who had passed him. He let himself fall down to the jungle floor, tucked, rolled, and was back up and running immediately. He paused briefly once again and used Detect; there were several more berries being thrown his way this time.
The exit was approximately fourteen seconds away from him, there were only a few Aetherians still inside, but they were moments away from exiting: Foresight design was his passion.
Satisfied with everyone’s current position, Cecil turned on his heels and charged forward. A berry struck him on the right shoulder, and then another on his hip, but he didn’t stop running. There was aura everywhere, on absolutely everything, as the Passimian surrounded him from all sides and angles. They, of course, had the advantage in the jungle, but, perhaps, not the air.
Cecil summoned aura into his left hand, and then threw it backwards. There was nothing he was targeting behind him, and Aura Sphere could never miss, so, as he leaped forward, Cecil braced himself. The Aura Sphere struck him in the back, and Cecil gritted his teeth at the pain as he was launched through the leaves and into the air.
He was fairly high up, at least five meters above the area where the traps had been laid. From up here, he could see the warriors panting as they joined the others, the tribesmen, tradesmen, and denizens who watched him, and the Passimian that were rushing out of the jungle.
: Now.
While most of the traps were designed to be activated when the Passimian ran over them, those that were able to spring their own traps did so at the Lucario’s call. Howls and screeches filled the area as Passimian fell down pits, stepped in snares, were caught in nets, and incapacitated.
The Passimian who avoided the traps were quickly confronted by the members of the various plains tribes. It only took seconds for all of them to be rounded up. Every monkey was accounted for… except the one monkey that they had been looking for.
: Now, Cecil, (Matteo begins as he watches the Lucario land next to him after a series of front flips), I don’t want to imply that you didn’t do a good job, but you literally didn’t do your job!
: Give it seven seconds.
: What?
: Ah--
: What does that mean?
: Look at the jungle and see for yourself.
The Pyroar turns back to the jungle. Nothing new is to be seen; however, there are four pairs of footsteps and loud huffing approaching rapidly. Out of the jungle come five more Passimian, four of which were carrying a litter. From inside the litter, an angry Oranguru is barking orders at his carriers.
: GET ME OUT, GET ME O-
He looks up and sees the scene before him, paling when his eyes meet Thembeka’s.
: NEVERMIND, GET ME BACK IN! HURRY, BEF--
The Passimian, who had already been turning the litter around, stop short when Anansi appears from the shadows, seemingly floating above them. The spider hooks a leg around a string so fine that had been unseen prior to him touching it, and plucks it, causing it, and the impressive web it was connected to, to vibrate. There was no escape back the way they came.
: I believe Anansi is implying that there is no safety for you in the jungle anymore.
: Nor in the plains.
Thembeka shifts to move towards the monkeys, but stops when Matteo cuts her off, walking directly in her path.
: What are you doing now?! (she stamps a paw onto the ground, kicking dust into the air)
: Nothing you wouldn’t approve of, my lady.
: Matteo, I thought we going to let the chief-- let th-- th--
: Ah… ah-CHOO!
The dust in the air proves to be too much for the fae, and he sneezes loudly and suddenly, unable to keep a stream of flame from leaving his mouth… and hitting Matteo.
: AAH!
Matteo screams and swears, gripping at his fur, clenching the yellow and dark hairs roughly. In an instant, the air around his form shimmers and moves like the surface of disturbed water, replacing once yellow fur with a new, darker complexion.
They turn to face Klutz with undisguised fury in their eyes.
: YOU WITLESS, MEWLING, ARTLESS, BASE-COURT, MOTLEY-MINDED, YALDON! YOU BURNT ME, YOU BOBOLYNE!!!
: I-- Umbra?
: YOU IMPANATE, TOTTERING LEVERETER, I’M GOING TO BLOODY KILL YOU!
: I--
: What? A Zoroark?
: !
: You were deceiving us the entire time?!
: ...
: Tssk!
: We’ll see each other again soon, Klutz.
: My friends, I take my leave. Light it up, boys. (he grins and clicks his fingers)
From somewhere in the crowd, there comes a small, “Oh, right!” quickly followed by a few thumping noises. Before anyone can so much as turn their head to look, Passimian spring up everywhere. Seemingly stable traps collapse and break, and the Passimian burst forward to try to rally to their leader.
: What?!
: NO!
: QUICKLY, TO ARMS, STOP THEM FRO-
She stops mid sentence and her nostrils flair. She looks to her right only to see a huge cloud of smoke come billowing out of the maw of a Charizard, camouflaging the ground in a thick, black smog. A Machop and Eevee see his actions, and follow en suite, striking up their own fires to release a thick smoke into the air - what they don’t account for are the strong winds of the plains, which carry sparks onto the dry grass. Seconds later, the ground is alight.
: No! Someone put that out! We’re too close to the jungle, it will spread too fast. Quickly, use a water move, or smother it, hurry!
: (chuckling as he watches the chaos with unhidden glee) I think I’ve seen enough, I’ll leave you all to it~
The Zoroark moves swiftly past the crowd, darting into the fog of black smoke, quickly becoming masked by it. He moves swiftly but delicately, careful with his every step to not spring any of the traps his lackeys set up. Finally, he comes to a large hole in the ground. He grins, and offers one final look over his shoulder.
: Adieu, my fiery friends~
With those final words, he flips his hair, and then leaps down into the hole. He moves forward and hits a wall.
: Wait, what? (he rubs his hands across the wall of the pit to see if there are any openings) This isn’t- but they
: ULG! That scaled swine didn’t leave a way to tell his escape tunnel apart from the pitfalls! (he punches the wall in frustration)
Outside of the pitfalls, it is chaos. The fires started earlier have spread several meters, and the Kalkan warriors and Aetherians alike are scrambling to put them out. The Passimian have moved on from their initial surprise at suddenly being free, and are now panicking at the fire spreading towards them.
They flee in all directions, though most of them aim for the trees. As they climb, they shake the trees, and knock loose several patches of spores places within them. The winds sweep up the loose spores into the air, and soon after everyone is either coughing and retching from poison, unmoving from paralysis, or falling over from sudden sleep.
The smoke is still more than thick enough to conceal him, so Umbra continues to search for his promised escape tunnel. He jumps down a hole - just a hole, not a tunnel - and screams with unbridled rage.
: What, was he so busy singing all day that he couldn’t properly mark it for me?!
Umbra’s question goes unanswered, half because he wasn’t asking everyone, half because everyone else is otherwise occupied. With everyone now affected with some status condition, the fires are quickly growing out of control. Meanwhile, the Passimian that aren’t paralyzed or asleep continue to run rampant across the grounds. Unfortunately, those grounds have Grass Knot traps laid in them, so the Passimian running rampant are also the Passimian falling onto the Kalkan warriors that were still trying to put out the fires.
It only takes jumping into six more pitfalls for Umbra to finally give up and sneak out of the back of the smoke cloud.
: There has never been a good dragon on this earth, and I’d do well to remember that.
He pads across the plains carefully, looking over his shoulder regularly for any unwanted shadows he might have picked up. He makes his way over to a lone hut attached by reigns to some cattle several meters away from where the traps had been set up, and slips inside. As he walks past the central support, he grabs the vine whip slug across it, and makes his way to a little hole cut into the wall.
: I’m not sure why I decided that running down a tunnel was my first pick of these plans, being carried sounds far more suited to my status.
: Now, let’s get a move on, shall we?
He reaches his arm out of the hole, and cracks the whip. The cattle snap to attention and surge forward with impressive speed. To the Marshtomp’s credit, his plan worked, the cattle dragged the hut through the plains with great speed and little effort. It just happened to leave Umbra standing alone in an open field watching it go as well, as the Marshtomp had added no way for Umbra to stay in the hut as it moved.
Umbra drops the whip, letting it fall to the ground and coil around itself like an awkward snake. He brings both of his hands up to either side of his snout, and tilts his head skywards. He takes a deep breath through his nose, and then a “MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM” echoes through the plains. In the distance, barely audible over Umbra’s muffled screaming, a Gumshoos yells “MY HOUSE!”
: I’ve had enough of this!
He turns on his heels, and stomps back towards the comedy of errors that is the scene at the jungle’s edge. The Kalkan warriors have gotten desperate enough to put out the fires that they have coated themselves in mud and rocks and have begun to roll on the fires to try to smother them, and the Aetherians are either hacking up their lungs onto sleeping Aetherians or trying to get over their unmoving muscles to help the poisoned Aetherians.
Umbra ignores everyone, and stomps up to a Sawk, a snarl embedded on his face.
: You! Where’s your beast, I need to leave now!
The Sawk looks around, stops for a second, winces, looks back to Umbra, and then points to his left. Umbra looks to his left only to see a large, fluffy Arcanine asleep on top of several other Aetherians.
: OH PISS OFF!!! (he grips at his mane of hair tightly)
: Alright, I’m done here.
Umbra crosses the distance between the plains and the jungle swiftly, dodging between fire, traps, monkeys, and warriors with light and precise footsteps. As he steps foot into the jungle, he sees a Passimian in front of him. They mostly have their back to Umbra, and are staring off into the distance, so Umbra makes to run past them-
: Whu-
: Yeah, no. Not today. Not ever.
Umbra veers away from the jungle, and makes a run for it. He gets exactly two meters before ground disappears beneath him. He quickly tucks and rolls, bracing himself for impact against the wall of the hole he’s stepped into, but, instead of a wall, he rolls forward several cycles. He gets to his feet and looks ahead - there’s a tunnel.
: Ah. Well...
: Perhaps the dragon has some use after all.
: Now, let’s hope that the ship is still waiting for me-
...
Meanwhile, with most of the fire put out, most of the sleep shaken off, and some of the poisoned cured, Thembeka stalks into the center of the clearing despite her own paralysis, and addresses everyone.
: Someone go after that deceiver! I want him brought to me alive so I can give him a taste of my fires!
: He’s beyond your reach now, I’m afraid. I suggest you return your focus to your brother’s murderer.
: Why should I listen to you? Not only did you come here with them, but you are a Lucario: surely you would have been able to tell that he was using an illusion.
: Aura does not work that way. I am able to recognize the auras of those I know. However, I had not seen that ‘mon nor the original Matteo before in my life -- I had no way of knowing that his aura was not that of the real Matteo.
: …
: You may ask any other that can use aura if I lie.
: I will be sure to, but first I--
The lion stops mid-sentence as she looks back towards the jungle where the Oranguru and his five lackies were… had been. The Oranguru’s litter was nowhere to be seen - only the smoldering strands of a spider’s web that have fallen to the ground .
Thembeka is silent for a long time, staring out over the clearing with empty eyes. In an instant, her eyes fill with flaming rage and her lips curl back for just a second before she turns her head skywards and lets out an engaged roar.
: MAMPARA INKAWU, WENA MA-INJA! HLABA, HLABA, HLABA!
: Thembeka--
: Silence, Philani! I want that Oranguru found now!
At her order, several plains tribesmen rush into the jungle.
: Ah! But-- but you said you wouldn’t burn down the jungl--
: Be silent, you unthinking, winged-pest!
: (flinching) Aaah....
: Burning down the jungle was to deal with all of the jungle tribes who declared war on us. We’ve spoken to enough representatives to know that no one but those monkeys were involved, so I’ll only be punishing those monkeys.
: (sighing with relief) Oh, thank goodness.
: In that case, do you need our help catching the monkeys again?
: No, I do not.
: Are you sure? Our plan worked really well.
: It worked well once, yes, but the Passimian will not fall for it a second time.
: And, after speaking to them, we know that many of the jungle tribes will assist us in capturing these last rogue monkeys.
: So you’ll leave the A Ngoke tribe alone then?
: That remains to be seen.
: But chief!
: Worry not, child. What the inkosi is saying is that, so long as they are not harbouring anymore of that Oranguru’s servants, then they shall be left in peace.
: Oh, great! Monfia said that there were only some Passimian and a few others, so we’ve probably gotten most of them asleep, or paralysed or being sick here!
: Well, all but the five that g--
Cecil places a paw over Klutz’ mouth.
: If that is your position on the matter, then we shall leave you.
: (turning to Philani with a slight nod) I thank you for your wisdom and assistance during our time here-- (turning to Thembeka who has hunched her shoulders in frustration) and I thank you for your willingness to meet with and talk with the leaders of the jungle tribes. I wish you success in your hunt for that Oranguru, and I wish for lasting relationships between the tribes of Kalka.
: (with a growl) Hmph.
: Thank you, Cecil. Allow me and some of my people to escort you out of our lands.
: Of course, thank you, Philani.
: Come now, everyone. We’re leaving.
After several days of traveling a familiar path on foot, the Aetherians reached the ship they had arrived on. Despite being weary from a long travel, Cecil made everyone assist the crew of the ship so they could cast off as soon as possible.
Once they are out to sea, the Lucario calls everyone on deck for a quick meeting.
: I am well aware that many of you have questions about what happened while we were in Kalka…
: … as well that many of us have answers to that those questions.
: But I want to assure you that you will receive the answers you deserve once we reach Aether City, either from Bál, or from myself once I learn of it.
: Thus, I ask for a little more of your patience while this is cleared up.
: Now, Klutz, I believe you had something you wanted to say.
: Oh, yeah! Thanks, Cecil.
: Hey guys, I know what happened in Kalka was pretty crazy, and I’m sure a lot of you are feeling a bit weird about your part in this mission…
: But I just want to let you guys know that, even though all of that stuff happened with Umbra and the Oranguru, this mission was still a success!
: We came down here to help the A Ngoke, and we did! Not only that, we saved all of the jungle tribes by stopping the plains tribesmen from burning down the jungle!
: That’s a HUGE success! We all did great!
: And I’m not the only one who thinks that! Philani told me himself how grateful it was that we stopped Thembeka’s rage!
: He has a lot of a friends in jungle tribes, and he also said that the jungle and its stories and peoples are important to Kalka, so I bet he was the happiest of all when we came in!
: Oh! Right, that reminds me, he had something for all of us! (He starts to rummage around in his bag, head almost entirely inside the satchel to find something.) Uhh, where I did I put them, where did I--
: Found ‘em! (He pulls back out of the bag, holding something in his paws.) Okay, these are it! Aren’t they pretty? 
: These patches are made by various Kalkan jungle tribes, and are given as a symbol of friendship to, well, friends of the tribes! Philani said that Sauda and Anansi and other of his friends wanted us to have these as a sign of gratitude for helping to protect their home! He also said that, if we show these to any of the jungle tribes we visit in the future, that we’ll be given help and aid by the tribes in there!
: So hold onto these! (begins to hand them out to those gathered around) They’re very special! I already know how I’m going to use mine!
: Oh?
: Yeah! I’m going to tell Monifa what happened, and then I’m going to ask Bál for some time off so me and her can go visit her home! With this patch, I should be able to accompany her easily!
: I see. (a pause) Perhaps once things settle down.
: I’m already excited!
Aside from that meeting, the three week trip home was uneventful.The ship docked in the harbour, and everyone went to their rightful place: Cecil and Klutz returned to the Free Swords to report to Bál, the warriors made their way to barracks, the tradesmen to their stalls, the denizens to their homes, and the rogues--
--the rogues are hailed by the sound of a whistle overhead. There was no one visible when they looked above, but a piece of paper was dropped off of a roof, and footsteps could be heard overhead. The notes were hastily scrawled and dirty, and all that was written on them was: Meet me in the Malevolent Mistress, private room number 4.
It was a quick walk to the Malevolent Mistress, as it was situated right near the port town, and the barkeep was quick to usher them to the private room. The room was small and simple, meant for meetings and not much else; sitting leant back in a chair and their feet up on the center table waiting for them was Umbra.
: Hello again, dearest underlings. This time, I missed you.
: Ho ho, I jest. I can never get enough time away from you lot. But, in all seriousness--
He removes his feet from the table, knits his claws together, and gazes at the rogues over them.
: --where have you all been? I’ve been waiting for well over a week for you to return!
: After what happened in Kalka, I would have thought that all of you would have hightailed it out of there, but it turns out you were all content to take your precious time.
: At least tell me that extended stay means that our Oranguru friend is dead.
: … No?
: Tch, tch, tch, ooooh, this is not ideal in the slightest.
: (sighing deeply) What am I going to do with you lot? A multitude of failed escape plans, and a living target. This isn’t what we wanted at all.
: Haa, well, I suppose I’ve had to clean up worse messes in the past, so that is something we can all be thankful for. But I’d imagine that you’re all more interested in where you all stand, hmm?
: Here’s a hint: it starts with “poorly” and ends with “completed!”
: Poorly completed, for those of you in the back with the dumb looks on your faces.
: Your bloody trap collection was an orchestra of failure -- I didn’t know that so many things could go so horribly wrong before I witnessed the catastrophic misadventure that was your escape plans. Literally nothing went right --
: … well, that’s not true. (he flicks out a claw to point at a Sawk) Although I had to do a little extra walking to get there, you did make good on your promised escape plan, so I can at least recognize your ability to get things done.
: Thank you, sir.
: But one successful plan in the face of several unsuccessful ones does not make for a well completed mission. The only reason I’m not punishing any of you is because, while the vast majority of your plans didn’t work as intended, they all did end up serving as a decent distraction for my escape-
: -and because, try as any of us might, nothing is safe from that cockered, nut-hook fae.
: So, as I said, everything was poorly completed, but it was completed. I promised to only reward you for successful completion -- in hindsight, this is my fault, as I set the bar too low -- but I am a ‘mon of my word, so you all can have these. (tosses something onto the table with a clatter)
: Even if the majority of you were not complete morons, you’d probably still be unaware of latent effects unless they were spelled out for you, so I’ll do you all a favour and tell you now that this is not a normal bangle.
: These are known as artifacts: rare treasures that are widely coveted in Avalon that can perform incredible feats that a normal enchanted item could not - and, unlike the cheap things you can buy from the average tradesmen, these will not break nor lose their ability.
: The bangle I have given you will allow you to perform the move Feint Attack. The unclever and uncreative among you - aka the vast majority - probably just see this as an extra attack, but the token sly ones among you might see this as an opportunity for some… unpredictable travel methods, ho ho~
: Now, as much I’d like to say that I will leave you to figure out how you can use this artifact, that is not the case. I won’t be leaving, I have another meeting, you are not invited to said meeting. To those of you who still don’t understand my meaning, I’ll be more direct:
: Try to avoid getting stuck in the door on the way out, I’d hate for you to inconvenience my next appointment.
END OF MISSION 12
( Meanwhile... Hindsight )
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Mission 12
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Category:Arc 2
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