The TSD Kids:

The Adventurer’s Agency

Lv. 35

Phoenix Towers

Last time, Tracy and I met Sari, the fourth person who helped me find the Medallions. Even out in the desert where she lives, it seems Xylos’ minions are causing trouble. Wanting to seek a solution, she insisted that we show her the underground city we came across. Down there, we learned why the Medallion was up in the sky, in Phoenix Towers, instead of underground. Sari believes the source of the problem is coming from there. Now that we’ve found a way to get to the sky, we’re on our way to Phoenix Towers, via cannon flight!

In RedWing Village, the old people speak of a place high, high, high in the sky, even higher than The Air Up There! Anyway, its rumored to be the home of the ancestors of the Firebird Civilization, and as it turns out, it was also the resting place of the Suzaku Medallion… well, guess what?

T: “Good gravy! Whatta view!”

That’s where we are right now!

T: “Hang on tight, girls! We’re almost there!”

I had used the Bye-Bye Balloon trick to float aimlessly to the platform that hovered in the air. I guess the cannon sent us a little off target!

T: “Phew! (Deflates)”

Tracy: “Are we there yet?”

T: “You can open your eyes now, Tracy.”

Sari: “I never imagined this would be the way they’d get up here… it seems so reckless.”

T: “Maybe, but hey, it got us here, didn’t it?”

Sari: “Not without that odd inflating trick you did.”

Tracy: “Ohh… crap…”

Tracy was looking over the edge of the floor that we were standing on. We looked on with her and saw nothing but blue, blue sky, and clouds. She looked rather fearful.

Tracy: “I can’t believe how high up we are! This is too much!”

Sari: “That’s why they have the saying ‘don’t look down’…”

T: “For someone so tough, you sure seem pretty yellow right now…”

Tracy: “What’re you saying? I’m no chicken! You can’t say you two weren’t worried when you came up here before!”

Sari: “…She’s got us beat there.”

T: “Uh-huh… One time I almost fell off from an enemy attack, and I nearly… relieved myself…”

They stared at me.

T: “What? I was eight!”

Sari: “I remember. It’s understandable.”

Tracy: “So what’re we waiting for? L-let’s go!”

Rigidly, she walked up to the doors.

Sari: “She’s still scared.”

T: “I know…”

We too walked forward.

Tracy: “Just what’re we doing up here again?”

Sari: “I’ve already said, there must be something up here related to Xylos that’s the source of these problems.”

Tracy: “How is it this place is up in the air anyway? Wait, don’t tell me… magic, right?”

Sari: “Mmm-hmm. Let’s go in.”

We opened the ivy-covered doors and went in.

Most of the flooring was full of holes revealing the sky. We three hoped that none of us were careless enough to fall through any of them.

Tracy: “Man… even indoors, you can see a lot of sky…”

T: “At least it’s good for the ventilation…”

“Oh, I don’t believe this…!”

Tracy: “Who was that?”

T: “It came from up ahead…”

Sari: “Who in the world could be up here besides us??”

We moved forward and hid behind a column. Looking around it, we saw somebody standing there, her back turned.

“Damn! First all those robots down underground get wrecked, and now this! How was I supposed to know that I’d need more of these stupid stone batteries? If Xylos ever comes back, he’d better thank me!”

T: “Did you hear that?”

Tracy: “Yeah… Hey!”

“What?! Who’s here?!”

Sari: “Tracy, what’re you doing?!”

Ignoring us, she stepped out, saying,

Tracy: “How do you know about the robots down underground?”

T: “Ugh… and she says I do things without thinking first… We might as well join her…”

Sari: “True…”

Then I stepped out saying,

T: “And how do you know about those stone cores?”

Lastly, Sari stepped out, saying,

Sari: “And how do you know about Xylos?”

T/Tracy/Sari: “Answer us now!”

“I didn’t think anybody would be up here besides me. Who are you?”

Sari: “Give us your name…”

T/Tracy: “…And we’ll give you ours!”

Y’know, it’s times like these that I think that me and my friends are sometimes on the same wavelength… it’s cool, yet creepy…

“Your arrogance precedes you; all of you! My name is…!”

T: “(Gasp) You’re… Lena…”

Lena: “Oh? So you know my name… ah… I see. You’re that little boy hero, T! You’ve gotten so much taller… And you, you’re Sari… you and his other friends have stood in the master’s way oh so many times… ”

Tracy: “Who’s she?”

Sari: “I remember… This person… Lena… was Xylos’ right-hand girl.”

Tracy: “Oh… you mean she was his assistant!”

Lena: “I-I was no mere assistant! I was the first person he would call on to take care of the more lesser evil deeds; the ones he couldn’t deal with!”

Tracy: “Uh-huh… you’d do his dirty work in such a nice dress?”

Lena: “Uh...! Why thank you! This is one of my… Don’t change the subject!”

T: “Lena, what are you doing?”

Lena: “What am I doing? What does it look like? I’m up to no good!”

T: “No, I mean, don’t you remember the promise you made back then?”

Lena: “Promise?”

T: “That one time, after we fought… you made a promise… don’t you remember?”

Lena: “Promise?? Uhh… m-my head…”

For a moment, Lena held her head.

Sari: “What’s wrong with her?”

“Heh, nothing a few hits on the head won’t solve,” said Tracy, making a fist.

Then for a moment, her right arm glowed…

T: “Her arm…”

Lena: “Uhh… what? What promise?”

By now, she regained her composure.

Lena: “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Sari: “I bet you’re the one who made all those black creatures appear in the desert!”

Lena: “I was having them search for the underground city, but those knuckleheads were too concerned with that little town!”

Sari: “That little town is where I live!”

Lena: “Ooh, have I struck a nerve?”

Tracy: “You’re going to stop all those black creatures, and you are going to resign yourself, or should we do this my way?”

Lena: “Like I have to listen to you! I might not have been prepared fully, but what I’ve done here so far is more than enough to impede your progress!”

In a black aura, she disappeared!

Tracy: “Ooh, when people act like that, it just pisses me off!!”

Sari: “There’s no need to fly off the handle. We merely need to catch up to her and make her pay dearly for the trouble she caused.”

The two girls took a few steps forward.

T: “Tracy… Sari… wait.”

Sari: “What’s the matter?”

T: “Don’t have me committed for saying this, but, it really isn’t Lena we should be mad at.”

Tracy: “What’re you talking about?”

T: “I know she’s not evil… anymore; I just know she isn’t!”

Sari: “She seemed like bad news the last time we met her.”

T: “I know she isn’t.”

Tracy: “Does this concern that ‘promise’ thing you were going on about?”

T: “Yes. Let’s walk and talk.”

We proceeded forward, as I explained.

Meanwhile… during the time the three of us looked around underground, I mean…

Cotton the Bunny: “(Oh man…)”

Usagi: “Hey, little bunny?”

Cotton: “(Yes?)”

Usagi: “(You still look sad… I know! Do you want a rice ball?”

Cotton: “(What’s that?)”

Usagi: “I brought some with me, but I can’t eat them all; you want one?”

Cotton: “(Okay… Wow! These are good! Thanks, Usagi!)”

Usagi: “Sure!”

Cotton: “(Um, how much longer until your friends get any info?)”

Usagi: “(Sigh) Soon, I hope… I miss T…”

Back at the house, everyone was sitting around waiting. After having called on Cherry Blossom Village’s intelligence network, all they had to do was play the waiting game.

Sofia: “You know, you could at least be half as worried about Tracy as you are about T; she is our friend, too.”

Usagi: “Sorry. It’s just... he’s the only one for me, that’s all… for me…”

Ellis: “How can you think about that now? We told you, the three of us only like him as a friend.”

Sofia: “If you’re that enamored by him, that’s cool… I guess…”

Usagi: “Hm, if you say so… well, what about you, in the pink?”

T-na: “Me?”

Usagi: “Do you like T? Oh but wait, you two look similar… you must be his sister…”

T-na: “Everyone says that, but no… at least, I don’t think so… well, I kinda get that vibe, but…”

Rick: “Oh, sitting around is getting kinda boring…”

Eiji: “Yeah, I’m going to get a soda. Anyone else coming; what about you, Harold?”

Harold: “Zzzz…”

Kayin: “He’s out…”

Nadia: “Harold said to wake him up if we get any information.”

Eiji: “Oh.”

Sho: “I’ll come; I’m thirsty.”

Eiji: “Wait, T once said he has a mini-fridge down here! I guess it wouldn’t hurt to see what’s there…”

But before he could do so, the TSD Terminal went off!

Ellis: “A call! Is this it?”

Nadia: “Harold, wake up.”

Harold: “Uhh… w-what happened; we got something?”

Sean, who was snoozing in the chair before the Terminal, woke up, startled by the ring!

Sean: “I got it! I got it!”

Usagi’s grandfather, the former village chief, was onscreen.

“Um, this is how it works, right? Right? Okay…”

Usagi: “Grandfather!”

“There you are, Usagi!”

Usagi: “Any good news?”

“You and your friends’ request to search for Sir T’s and Lady Tracy’s whereabouts has had a success report.”

Usagi: “Really? Good…”

“Someone will be there shortly to convey the information. Now then, this thing is off, I presume…”

Not realizing the phone was still on, he then said…

“(Sigh) These newfangled contraptions will be my ruin!”

Sofia: “Um, it’s still on…”

“Eh?! Oh dear…”

He then found the button to turn the phone off. As everyone laughed, the doorbell rang.

Eiji: “I got it.”

Eiji left then came back, with the visitor, being one of the ninjas, behind him. He also had the soda he wanted to get.

Usagi: “So, what’s the word?”

“Lady Usagi, I believe we’ve found out where your friends are… they are quite far actually…”

He then explained.

Rick: “…SpicyChili Desert?”

“Yes. We received visual sightings there of what seems to be them. One wears green and glasses, and the other has blue hair and a badge, correct?”

Usagi: “Yes!”

“Good. Will you all go there to get them?”

Kayin: “Sure, why not?”

“I see. It’s very far, like I said. I think… yes. If we ask Reina of Cornet Village, she can arrange another cannon flight.”

Usagi: “Oh, my sister? Sure!”

Sofia: “What? And get blasted off in that crazed woman’s cannon for the third consecutive time?! Hell no! I’d rather walk!”

Sean: “You wouldn’t say that if you actually saw the distance! I’ve heard of this desert; the distance from here to there is colossal!”

Sofia: “Really?”

Sean: “Read it and weep.”

Sean brought up a map on the Terminal’s screen. All jaws dropped upon seeing the distance.

Sofia: “So, I guess we’ll be signing up for a cannon flight then…”

“I see. So shall I talk to Reina for you all?”

Usagi: “You heard her; get to it.”

“Right away, Chief!”

Usagi: “Hee, hee, it still feels weird to hear people call me that!”

Nadia: “We’re off to Cornet Valley then…”

Sofia: “Alright, but can we please prepare first? T’s not here, so his Leaf Parachute is out of the question!”

Ellis: “Then we’ll buy some! Kyle’s shop just got some in. Good thing he sells more than just fireworks…”

So with that, they readied themselves to go.

Back at Phoenix Towers…

T: “Like we said, Lena used to work for Xylos. She’d confront us on many an occasion; first when I was traveling with Harold, then Nadia, then Usagi…”

Sari: “And then with yours truly. We bested her each time.”

Tracy: “Go on.”

T: “Then came the time she tried to take me on when I was by myself. She was discouraged when I defeated her again. I told her that being bad wouldn’t make her happy. She then said that she feared for her safety.”

Sari: “Probably because Xylos was getting desperate to stop you.”

T: “She didn’t want to endanger herself by being around Xylos anymore. She truly wanted things to be different for her. That’s when she vowed to never work for anyone evil from that day on. That’s the promise she made to me.”

Tracy: “Looks like she bailed on that one, huh?”

T: “No! She didn’t! I know she didn’t!”

Tracy: “I’m sorry, but you can’t expect people to change that easily.”

T: “What about Cutter? He was once our enemy, but he changed! He wanted to!”

Tracy: “Well… that’s…”

T: “Look, the reason I protest is… did you two see what was on her arms?”

Sari: “On her arms? Well, those were gloves…”

Tracy: “…Frilly ones, at that…”

T: “But one of them was black! One was white, but the other was black. I sensed an evil power coming from it…”

Sari: “I felt it too… but I thought that was Lena herself.”

Tracy: “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that black glove was another part of Xylos!”

Sari: “What?”

T: “Sari, before we came here, my friends and I have been finding actual parts of Xylos.”

Sari: “You can’t be serious… no wonder you said we did not destroy him!”

Tracy: “It’s no lie. I wasn’t present when the other parts were found, but I know we have his left and right eyes, and his left hand.”

Sari: “Then Lena’s holding his right hand?”

T: “Actually, it should be the other way around.”

Sari: “So, the glove’s controlling Lena?”

T: “Most likely. We just have to find her, and then... Aah!”

Sari: “T!”

I was so busy talking while walking, I accidentally walked clean off the ledge! Sari and Tracy grabbed my arms before I could fall beneath the clouds!

Sari: “Please, watch where you’re going!”

T: “Sorry!”

Tracy: “Oh, man… how do we get across?”

A door was on the other side, but the space between was far too wide.

T: “No platforms… huh?”

I then spied an oval-shaped hole in the wall.

T: “What goes there?”

Tracy: “An egg?”

Sari: “I don’t think so…”

T: “Nothing we have would really fit, except… oh! What about that stone core, Sari?”

Sari: “This?”

She took it out and handed it to me.

T: “Yeah! Didn’t Lena mention these?”

Tracy: “Now that you mention it, she was harping about how she didn’t bring enough ‘stone batteries’…”

T: “This has to be one of them!”

I put it in. After a few seconds…

Tracy: “Nothing’s happening.”

Sari: “It has no power.”

T: “Aw.”

I removed it.

T: “It’s not like there’s like a whole load of them; she really must’ve wanted these something fierce! If you can draw magic from these stones, then there must be some way to put it back in… I know! Wind!”

After transforming, I held onto the rock tightly and concentrated hard. Soon, the rock gave off a green glow!

Sari: “I see! By transmitting some of your MP, you recharged the core!”

Tracy: “Ha! It’s like a rechargeable battery!”

I put it in and then we waited. Soon, platforms came out the clouds and floated in midair!

T: “Cool!”

I took it out. They seemed to stay there.

Sari: “They used these energy cores up here too…”

We crossed and headed through the door.

Beyond the door was very quiet. Of course, it would be quiet up in the sky, unless you count the wind.

Tracy: “I thought there’d be more enemies in here.”

T: “There were. Of course, there were lots of old stuff too.”

Sari: “…Like that over there…”

We saw what looked like a suit of armor sitting to one end of the room.

Tracy: “This thing looks as rusty as the robots we saw before.”

Sari: “It’s quite an interesting piece. I never did see it on our first visit here.”

T: “Ah well. It’s nice and all, but we’ve things to do.”

We turned and were set to exit, when…

Rattle, rattle…

T: “Did you… hear something?”

Tracy: “No…”

Clank…

T: “There it goes again!”

Tracy: “Yeah… what is that?”

Clank…

Sari: “It’s getting closer.”

Clank, clank, clank… creak…

I turned around to see. The girls however, did not.

T: “Ack!”

I then said,

T: “Holycrapalivingsuitofarmor!!”

Tracy/Sari: “What??”

T: “Holycrapalivingsuitofarmor!!”

Tracy: “Say it in English, green boy!”

T: “Holycrapalivingsuitofarmor!!”

Sari: “That is English. Say it slower, T.”

T: “Holy… crap… a… living… SUIT OF ARMOR!!”

Tracy/Sari: “Living suit of armor??”

They then turned around to see what I was ranting about. The suit of armor we saw had its sword raised, ready to strike us down!

Tracy/Sari: “Aah!”

T: “Wind!”

Holding onto both of them, I blew us out of the way! As we landed at the wall, it slowly walked closer.

Tracy: “That thing wasn’t moving before!”

Sari: “Who could be in it?”

Tracy: “Lena maybe?”

T: “No way, she’s nowhere near that big.”

We got up and rushed forward. It raised its sword for another strike.

T: “Defend! Defend!”

Tracy pulled out her tonfas, Sari drew her sword, and I readied my hammer. We three defended against the thing’s sword, but soon it proved to be very heavy!

Tracy: “We can’t push it back!”

T: “Let’s see it deal with this! Turtle Stomp!”

When my foot met the floor, the force managed to knock that armor back, but suddenly the ground cracked underneath us! We jumped out of the way before a hole opened up!

Sari: “Be careful! This place is old!”

T: “Oops…”

Then it raised its sword again!

Sari: “Stop right there! Hold Seal!”

Sari’s bead necklace split into the separate beads! They circled around the sword and kept the armor from bringing it down!

T: “Nice! It’s made of stone huh? Let’s crack it! TNT Punch!”

When I made contact, I managed to crack it. Soon it started to break, but I really felt it on my arm!

T: “Man! Lately it feels like I’m trying to put my arm out whenever I do that!”

Tracy: “Maybe the things you hit might be too hard…”

The armor’s front cracked until it fell off. It fell down on its knees and moved no more.

Tracy: “That was too close!”

Sari: “Look at its torso!”

A small something was glowing in its middle.

T: “This looks like another stone battery. It glows red.”

Tracy: “I bet that Lena put it in there!”

I removed it.

T: “It feels different from this one we have. Let’s pocket it.”

Sari: “The door over there has opened.”

Tracy: “Why does that always happen when we do something in a room?”

T: “Who knows; at least it’s good for us. We can move on.”

In the next room to follow, we were confronted with a very tall pillar.

Tracy: “Man, that’s tall…”

T: “We had to scale this pillar to get to the topmost room.”

Sari: “There was a way to reveal the secret to scaling it.”

Tracy: “What is it?”

T: “Sari’s right; there was a way…”

I pointed to a pedestal, which was broken.

Sari: “I know you said it isn’t really Lena we should be mad at, but it’s hard not to be when whatever she’s done is getting in our way!”

Tracy: “What’d you have to do?”

T: “This pedestal had buttons on it. We had to find the proper sequence in order to activate the pillar.”

Sari: “Searching this place for the proper sequence was a pain.”

Tracy: “What about this writing, or these holes? Do these concern the pillar too?”

T: “What writing?”

Sari: “What holes?”

Underneath the debris from the smashed pedestal, Tracy found what she was referring to.

T: “You can read this better than I can, Sari.”

Sari: “It says… ‘The four armored ones… their hearts are the key’…”

T: “Armored ones… what about that thing that tried to slash us? That was armor, wasn’t it?”

Tracy: “Yeah… and if you think about it, that core powered it. It’s like its heart!”

Sari: “So even this is powered by energy cores…”

I set the red core in.

T: “We need four more. Say, what if our core works?”

I put that one in another hole. But the core flashed quickly, and it popped out of the hole, hitting me on the head!

T: “Ow.”

Sari: “It rejected it. That means we must get cores from three other armors here.”

Tracy: “We gotta take on more of those things?”

T: “I guess so.”

We took the next door across the way.

Sari: “As far as I can tell…”

Tracy: “What’s up?”

Sari: “We’re still on the ground level.”

Tracy: “What ground? We’re in the sky!”

Sari: “You know what I mean!”

T: “We’re on the first floor.”

Sari: “To go further, we had to proceed through the basement.”

Tracy: “Where are the stairs?”

Sari: “What stairs?”

Tracy: “Stairs to the basement, of course!”

T: “Actually… this is the way to the basement…”

We stopped and stood before a hole. It seemed to lead to the sky below, but there was a platform below.

Tracy: “We’re jumping down there??”

Sari: “I thought you said you weren’t scared.”

Tracy: “I’m not!”

Hastily, she jumped down.

T: “Wait up!”

Sari: “Hold on. Don’t you remember that down there was where…?”

T: “Oh yeah! That’s where we found… that…”

We then jumped down to join her.

T: “Next time, give a warning! Huh?”

Tracy didn’t even respond because she was busy looking at what stood before us.

Sari: “It’s the second armor!”

T: “And there’s nothing but sky all around us! Not cool!”

The armor wielded an axe bearing a broad blade, bigger than the handle. We backed away, being mere steps from the edge.

Sari: “We faced one of Xylos’ larger flying creatures here.”

T: “I wonder how different this’ll be…”

Waving its axe three times, it then rushed surprisingly quickly toward us! We jumped to the side as it swung down.

Tracy: “That thing’s walking armor! How’d it move so quickly?!”

It then struck the floor, creating shockwaves that we managed to jump over. After that, it shook its axe three times again.

Sari: “It’s going to charge at us again!”

We dodged it again when it ran up to us. It turned to face us.

T: “Phew! That was a close one…”

Sari: “Uh, T? Where’s Tracy?”

T: “Yeah, where is she? Don’t tell me she…!”

Tracy: “I’m right here!”

We saw her arm wave from behind the armor. Then she climbed on top of its shoulder.

Tracy: “I grabbed onto its free hand when I avoided the axe!”

T: “Do be careful!”

Sari: “You’d better save that warning for us; that thing probably thinks it knocked her off!”

The armor tossed its axe at the two of us; not knowing that Tracy was on its shoulder.

T: “Oh!”

Sari and I dove out the way again. Getting back up, she said,

Sari: “How daft can that thing be if just tossed its axe away?”

T: “Uh, Sari?”

I tapped her on the shoulder to tell her to look behind.

Sari: “Crap.”

Holding on to her, I made us transparent so it passed right through us.

Tracy: “It’s coming back like a boomerang! Heh, you can’t catch what you can’t see!”

Balancing on its shoulders, Tracy gave the helmet a good kick, making it spin around! She then jumped off and joined us before…

CRACK!

The spinning axe embedded itself in the front!

T: “Good going!”

The front of the armor fell away, revealing…

Sari: “The second core!”

T: “Oh no’s! Look!”

Now inactive, it was rocking back and forth, close to the edge!

Sari: “If it falls off, we won’t get the core!”

Tracy: “Then we won’t get anywhere!”

T: “Glove n’ Chain!”

I grabbed onto the front of the robot as it went over!

T: “Whoa!”

Sari: “Hang on!”

The three of us tried hard to hang onto the armor, but it was far heavier than the three of us combined!

Tracy: “Green boy! Get heavy!!”

T: “Got it! Tanooki!”

Upon changing, I put the end of the chain between my teeth, and morphed into the giant weight. While hanging onto the chain, Tracy ran forward and started to climb down.

Sari: “What’re you doing?”

Tracy: “What’s it look like; I’m getting the core! Man! What a view! I can’t even see the desert!”

In a few seconds, she came back up holding the core.

Tracy: “There! That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

I let go of the armor, letting it plummet to the earth. After I reverted back, we looked at the yellow energy core.

T: “I guess this means we’re halfway there.”

Tracy: “So we’re halfway there; great. Just one thing… how do we get to the rest of the basement? You two said by coming down here, we’d get there!”

T: “Oh yeah…”

Sari: “Do you remember the blue rod I had with me?”

Tracy: “That Chilly Scepter thingy?”

Sari: “Yes. This spot is where we found it.”

T: “The fact that it can freeze things might not seem vital here, but watch!”

Holding the Chilly Scepter, I went to the side of the floor that faced a ledge across from it.

T: “Look!”

Tracy: “You’re pointing at a cloud.”

Sari: “It’s what he going to do to the cloud.”

Waving the rod, I actually froze the cloud where it floated! I then proceeded to freeze more ahead while jumping to the door.

Tracy: “Whoa!”

Sari: “It has more uses than just that. Come on.”

The girls jumped across to catch up with me.

Tracy: “There’s a lot of big stuff down here.”

We were making our way through the basement area of Phoenix Towers.

Tracy: “Is that a giant gear?”

Sari: “I’ve read that both magic and ancient mechanics were used here.”

T: “Especially in this one room down here.”

Tracy: “Which room would that be?”

T: “Uh… this one…”

We stepped into a wide room filled with turning gears, and rotating panels, all either made of stone, metal or both!

Tracy: “How are we gonna get past this?!”

Sari: “The side over there used to have a walkway for safe passage.”

T: “It was broken even the first time we came here.”

Tracy: “Don’t tell me you actually ran across all this stuff without falling off!”

Even here, there was nothing but sky at the bottom, for lack of a floor.

Tracy: “And there’s no energy core to remove to stop this, and—T what’re you doing by the wall?”

T: “Hmmm…”

I was walking along the wall, tapping on it with the Chilly Scepter.

Tracy: “Don’t do that! That rod looks so smooth and polished; you’ll scratch it.”

T: “No, no, I believe there’s… yes!”

I found an odd hole in the wall with carved decorations around it.

Sari: “You found it.”

Tracy: “What’s that? Should we use our energy core?”

T: “No, we do this!”

I jammed the top of the scepter into the hole!

T: “Check this out!”

Soon a blue mist spilled into the room from the walls, all around the gears and things! When the mist subsided, the machinery was iced over and halted!

Sari: “Apparently, they also incorporated the use of the Chilly Scepter up here.”

T: “Let’s hurry up; like before, this won’t last long.”

We crossed the gears and panels and made it before the ice disappeared and the machinery started up again. We went into the next room it was filled with columns.

T: “…It’s the third armor!”

The third armor was standing in the middle of the room, with its back turned to us. Although we had more than set foot in the room…

Sari: “…It’s not moving…”

Tracy: “Hey! Wake up!”

T: “Will it really respond to that?”

Sari: “Beats me.”

Tracy: “Didn’t you hear me? Turn around! We want to fight ya!”

Tracy picked up a rock and hurled it at the armor. It bounced harmlessly off it. Suddenly, its helmet head looked back!

T: “Eep!”

We three took cover behind a nearby column.

T: “You think it saw us?”

Sari: “What were you thinking, Tracy?”

Tracy: “Hey, we’re gonna fight it anyway!”

T: “One of us should look behind and see if it’s moving…”

Tracy: “1, 2, 3, not it!”

Sari: “Not it.”

T: “Not…! Damn.”

Suddenly the shadow the column cast grew somewhat larger. I peeked from behind and saw why.

T: “We’re in trouble.”

Sari :“What?”

T: “Glove n’ Chain!”

I reeled all three of us out of the way before…!

CRASH!

The armor did see us! It felled the column with a mighty swing from its hammer!

T: “Hey! It’s using a hammer! This thing’s biting my style!”

Tracy: “So what would you say about T-na, who also uses a hammer?”

T: “I’m talking about this thing here!”

We closed in on the armor. It really seemed intent on flattening us.

T: “Fall back!”

As soon as the girls jumped back…

T: “To strike a hammer, ya gotta counter with one!”

The armor swung horizontally with its hammer, as I did the same. When the faces met…

CLANG!

Tracy: “You could just hear the power in that hit!”

Sari: “But the armor is unfazed…”

Tracy: “T, however…”

T: “W-w-w-w-w-w-whoa-a-a-a-a-a-!”

The shock had sent me shaking quite uncontrollably! I had moved close to the wall.

Sari: “He seems a little shaken up.”

Tracy: “Shaken up? He’s shaking more than a broken N64 Rumble Pak!”

The two of them held my arms to stop the shaking.

Tracy: “How do we wreck this thing? You’ll rattle your brain if you try that again.”

T: “Those pillars…”

Sari: “What of them?”

T: “Though that armor can fell one with one whack, they still look awfully heavy.”

Tracy: “Then let’s make one fall on it!”

Sari: “But how?”

T: “Good q… Aah!”

Out of nowhere, the armor kicked me from in between them! It then broke the pillar right in front of the two girls!

Sari: “It’ll fall on us!”

T: “No way!”

I transformed and flew up to the pillar to try and push it back!

T: “Ugh! Just as I thought! It’s heavy!”

Tracy: “Green boy! Move or it’ll press you against the wall!”

T: “Wait, the wall… ah-ha!”

When the top fell close to the wall…

T: “Bye-Bye Balloon!”

The pillar and the wall together may have nearly put the squeeze on me, but I managed to repel the pillar and make it fall the other way!

T: “Timber!”

CRASH!

Just as planned, the pillar landed on the armor!

Tracy: “Now we know it isn’t getting up from that!”

Sari: “Let’s claim our prize.”

We took the next core, a blue one this time, and moved on.

Soon we found stairs leading up. We emerged in an open area carpeted by soft grass.

Tracy: “What kinda area is this?”

T: “It’s a garden.”

Sari: “A floating garden in the sky… seems almost like a dream, hmm?”

Tracy: “I guess… you think the fact that it’s late afternoon now adds to the whole idea?”

T: “I say this is aces!”

I floated in front of Tracy and Sari, almost drifting off.

T: “We’re only one core away from seeing Lena!”

Tracy: “No offense, but I still want to wipe that catty smirk off her face.”

Sari: “No offense either, but I too share the same thought.”

T: “Remember, it’s the glove, not her.”

Tracy/Sari: “If you say so…”

T: “So ladies… where to now?”

Sari: “I think we should go in here, this round chamber right here.”

Tracy: “You think so?”

Sari: “We did something important in here last time, yet I can’t recall. Our best bet is to search everywhere.”

We went in. Though the orange-yellow evening sun shone through the window bars, the light didn’t stretch very far. Needless to say, it was quite dim.

Tracy: “How are you supposed to see in here?”

Sari: “It would’ve been nice if they had developed lights back then…”

Whoosh…

T: “Hmm?”

Whoosh…

T: “You two hear something?”

Tracy: “Yeah, is that wind?”

Whoosh…

Sari: “It sounds like something being swung around.”

Suddenly the sound started going faster.

Sari: “I wish we could see what it is.”

T: “I got it; Bright Flash!”

Just as I lit the place up, we heard the sound of a chain, and then the same sound we heard earlier, but much closer!

T: “It’s coming from the…!”

Then we were all bowled over by something round and heavy! We hit the wall with great force.

Tracy: “Damn! What was that?!”

Tracy looked up to see a familiar sight.

Tracy: “It’s the third armor…”

It was deftly swinging around a hefty wrecking ball.

Tracy: “Alright you two, this is the last one! Let’s take it out!”

After a few seconds…

Tracy: “Hey, what happened?”

She looked down to see us still lying on the floor.

Tracy: “T…? Sari…? Man, they’re knocked out… I guess it’s up to me then. Metal!”

The armor then tossed the iron ball at the three of us again!

Tracy: “Chrome Shield!”

The iron shield she made managed to block the attack.

Tracy: “Is that all you got? Bring it!”

The armor tried again for another throw.

Tracy: “Ha!”

With arms spread wide, Tracy managed to catch the wrecking ball. The armor tried to pull it away, but with a single chop, she broke the chain!

Tracy: “Aw, you want it back? Don’t worry; I’ll give it to ya!”

She set it down, then…

Tracy: “Cannon Kick!”

She slammed it straight toward the armor! She knocked its block off… literally! The iron ball took the armor’s helmet head, and then some, off completely!

Tracy: “Ow! Ow, my foot!! T wasn’t kidding; some of the stuff he’s been hitting has been too hard! Time to finish this! Metal Fist!”

With one steel-hard punch, she cracked the front until it broke away!

Tracy: “All right!”

After it fell over, she grabbed the core, then went to us.

Tracy: “All right, let’s see… they got hit on the head… good thing it wasn’t by the wrecking ball. It’s probably from when they hit the wall. If I know green boy…”

She searched in my bag until she found what she was looking for.

Tracy: “Here it is. I know he comes prepared!”

T: “Uhh… man, my head hurts.”

Tracy: “Oh, you’ve woken up.”

Sari and I had finally come to. There was a bandage here and there on our heads.

Sari: “What happened?”

Tracy: “The last armor was here! We got knocked into the wall, but I got him back, see?”

She held up the energy core, which had a purple glow. We also saw the badly broken armor.

Tracy: “You hit your heads pretty bad. You were out the whole time.”

T: “Oh, you took care of it… and us. Thanks!”

Sari: “You know, at first I thought you were just a mean girl who likes beating people up, but you really do have a sensitive side!”

Tracy: “Me? Sensitive??”

T: “Ha, ha! I told you; once you get to know her, she’s not so bad!”

Sari: “I see.”

Tracy: “So now that we have all four, how do we get back to the pillar room?”

T: “I think there was a secret passage somewhere…”

Sari: “Let’s check the garden.”

We went outside. The sun was beginning to set little by little.

T: “Oh! Here it is!”

When I caught the girls’ attention, I was standing in front of a bird statue.

Tracy: “This is it?”

T: “Look!”

I pushed it out of the way to reveal…

T: “A hole! See?”

We jumped down. It was like a slide that dropped in the pillar room!

Tracy: “Ouch! Couldn’t that hole have been closer to the floor?”

Sari: “We’re back in the pillar room.”

T: “And there’s the four holes for the cores! The red one is still there.”

We put the other three into the holes.

Sari: “Now let’s see what happens…”

The four large sections of the pillar started turning. Then they stopped, revealing a hollow section in each of them.

Tracy: “A ladder formed in each part of the pillar!”

T: “Yep! Let’s go.”

We climbed up the ladder and stood before a large door. We pushed it open and went in.

Rick: “Man! It sure is hot out here!”

Meanwhile, everyone else was already in SpicyChili Desert.

Harold: “What do you expect; it is a desert.”

Sofia: “I can’t believe Reina’s cannon dropped us at the entrance to this desert; look at how far we’ve walked!”

Eiji: “Just where are we headed exactly, Usagi?”

Usagi: “I was informed that there’s actually a town out here called RedWing Village.”

Ellis: “I guess if T and Tracy are here, they’d be at that town, probably.”

Nadia: “What is that?”

Nadia pointed to something odd in the distance.

Kayin: “I dunno… it looks like some sort of animal…”

They ran to that she saw. When they got there…

Cotton: “(Wow! What is this thing?)”

Usagi: “It looks like a stone bird!”

Rick: “Who do you think built it?”

Sofia: “I have no idea, but just look at what it’s sitting next to!”

Nadia: “Oh, yes, the oasis. What about it?”

Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, Nadia could easily tell what they wanted to do.

Nadia: “…But, shouldn’t T and Tracy’s safety take first priority?”

Sean: “I can see what looks like buildings in the distance. Maybe they’re there, Nadia.”

Nadia: “I hope so. Let’s go then.”

Sean: “Right! Come on guys! Uh…”

Nadia: “Um… hello?”

Back up in the sky, the three of us just went through the door.

T: “Here we are… the room where we battled to get the Medallion…”

Sari: “But where’s Lena?”

“There you are! You had me waiting for far too long!”

In a dark aura, Lena appeared!

Lena: “Don’t you know you shouldn’t keep a lady waiting?”

Sari: “Don’t call yourself a lady if you’re no older than we are. No lady would act so irresponsibly.”

Lena: “What do you know?”

Tracy: “I know that there should be something you should be remembering, like ‘promise’ you made to T!”

T: “She’s right; please, try and remember…”

Lena: “Uhh…!”

Her head was in pain again. Her right arm started to glow again.

Lena: “S-stop…”

T: “Huh?”

Lena: “Stop talking! I know nothing of what you’re talking about!”

Regaining her haughty composure, she went on to say,

Lena: “I can’t imagine why you came all the way up here anyway! You already have the Medallion…”

Sari: “You know why we’re here!”

Lena: “Looking for a fight, hmm? Fine; after I toss your soon-to-be motionless bodies off this floating ruin, I can finish what I started!”

She drew a pair of iron fans. As we drew our weapons, she swung the weapons, releasing a wave that knocked us over!

Tracy: “What was that attack? Air?”

Sari: “That was Wind magic…”

T: “Lena, try and remember! It’s that glove that’s making you do this!”

Lena: “Stop talking! Doom Fog!”

Spinning her fans as the black glove glowed, she created a purple haze that swamped the entire area.

Tracy: “What’s with this smog?! I feel weird…”

Sari: “What’s… happening?”

It looked like they were gonna collapse any moment!

T: “This fog’s sapping their HP! I gotta clear it away! Wind!”

Lena: “What? You can use wind magic??”

T: “Hyper Vacuum!”

I started to inhale the fog with gale force!

Lena: “W-what’re you doing?!”

By the time it was all gone, my torso was totally round, full from all of the fog!

Sari: “How did you…?!”

Tracy: “That’s T for ya! Say… he doesn’t look so good…”

My face started to turn as green as Ellis’ hair! Then…

T: “Aah!”

I was forced to exhale all the foul air, directing it at Lena!

Lena: “Ow!”

Sari: “T, are you okay?”

T: “Bleagh! That stuff smells like low tide! Tastes like it too…”

Lean: “Hit with my own attack… I’ll get you!”

Lena then threw her fans at us. One nearly hit me, ripping my shirt!

T: “Those things are sharp!”

After she caught them, the black glove glowed. She seemed to be in pain as she threw them again. This time, they created tornadoes as they flew ahead!

Sari: “Barrier Seal!”

The beads from Sari’s necklace surrounded us, putting up a barrier, which the fans threatened to break through!

T: “Tracy, make a mirror!”

Tracy: “Chrome Shield!”

T: “Bright Flash!”

Reflecting the light off her shield, I increased the power of the light!

Lena: “That light!”

T: “Turtle Shove!”

Drawing in close, I pushed her to the ground, dropping her focus and stopping the attack! She looked up at the three of us, who stood over her.

T: “I’m sorry.”

Lena: “You… will be!!”

Suddenly, black clouds started forming around the glove! Now it seemed like she had a splitting headache, the headache to end all headaches!

Lena: “AAAAAHHH!!”

Before we knew it, we were pushed back by a swirling gust of wind! It grew into a wide hurricane that dared to send out the room completely! As the girls held onto me, I grabbed a pole facing a hole leading to the open sky!

Tracy: “Hang on, green boy!!”

T: “It’s… too… strong!”

I felt my fingers starting to slip, so I switched to the other hand. Then I used both hands, and I even resorted to changing to a raccoon dog and grappling with my teeth, but still…!

T/Tracy/Sari: “Aah!”

We were blown out the opening!

Sari: “No!”

T: “Glove n’ Chain!!”

With the girls still hanging on, I latched onto the pole from a great distance away!

T: “Let’s go!”

Tracy/Sari: “Whoa!”

I reeled us in with such force, we flew past the pole, through the wind, and triple kicked Lena, making her stop the uncontrolled attack! When she was still in midair…!

T: “I don’t want to do this, but I have to free you!”

I grabbed her with the Glove n’ Chain and dropped her to the ground!

Lena: “Damn… where is… my fan…?”

She picked up the iron fan nearest her and was about to raise it, but I already had my sword pointed to her.

T: “Please… before I go further… don’t you remember now?”

Lena: “…T…?”

She then lowered her head.

T: “Phew!”

I fell back, sitting on the floor.

Sari: “You did it.”

T: “No, we did it…”

Tracy: “Look, her arm!”

The black glove vanished from her arm, then re-materialized, floating in front of us.

Sari: “It’s Xylos’ right hand…”

T: “Just as I said…”

I snatched out of the air with my left hand.

T: “…This… thing was controlling her… ugh!”

Black sparks flew yet again around me!

Sari: “What’s happening to him?!”

Tracy: “I don’t know! And we don’t even have one of those Capture Capsules Harold carries with him! Damn!”

Sari: “Hold on; Restraint Seal!”

Sari made the beads surround the hand. They created a round barrier around it.

Tracy: “What’d you do?”

Sari: “I managed to suppress its evil magic, but I don’t know how long it’ll last.”

T: “I guess it’ll do for now; thanks.”

Sari: “Your right hand!”

T: “Huh?”

I held it up and looked at it.

T: “What about it?”

Sari: “I know it looked different! Didn’t you see it, Tracy?”

Tracy: “Yeah… the others kept mentioning that…”

T: “Oh, Lena…”

I was already seeing about her.

Tracy: “Now that this thing isn’t on her, is she okay?”

T: “She’s still alive, but she’s very weak.”

Sari: “It seems like Xylos’ hand was trying to push her body beyond its limits.”

T: “She needs medical attention.”

Tracy: “I suppose it’s a good thing you brought some stuff like that, T.”

Sari: “Really? Then if you can let me use them, I can help her until we get her to a hospital.”

T: “Sure.”

Sari: “Okay. Well, if you’ll excuse me…”

T: “Oh! Right…”

I headed out.

Tracy: “Hey, wait up!”

I was sitting out at the entrance, looking at the sky.

Tracy: “Here you are…”

T: “Oh, what happened? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Tracy: “Nah, I’m fine.”

T: “This is really something, huh?”

Tracy: “Yeah, to think this all started back on the beach at Cobalt Island. Wouldn’t it be funny if everyone were combing the beach for us?”

T: “Heh, yeah, I guess so!”

“Man, the moon is really big up here…”

“Uh-huh… nice view, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… listen, remember when we almost thought we were done for down in the desert, just before we met Sari?”

“Yeah, you said you had something important to say.”

“Well… it’s…”

“Okay, you two.”

“Oh!”

Sari stood behind us holding Lena, her iron fans, and the sealed hand.

“I did the best I could, but we still need to get her to a doctor.”

“All right. Now we can leave this place!”

Tracy looked over for a moment, then said,

“Umm… so soon?”

“Uh…”

“Well, we are tired.”

“Yeah, we can tackle this in the morning…”

The next day…

“So… this seems to be a problem…”

The next day, the three of us were looking over the edge. We knew we had to leave Phoenix Towers, but how?

“How do we get down from here?”

“I have no idea…”

“Me neither…”

“How so?”

“I think I remember… I know we jumped…”

“Jumped?? You mean you two decided to free-fall all the way down?!”

“Hold on, I know we landed in something that more than prevented the inevitable…”

“Oh man…”

“Well, what have we got to lose?”

“Our lives, for one!”

“I know we landed in something…”

“Hey, it’s no problemo! If we’re headed for ground, leave it to me! The Bye-Bye Balloon hasn’t failed us yet!”

“I hope you’re right!”

With that, we jumped off!

Man, I really hope we land in something safe, which Sari is trying to recall! If not, well, it’s been nice knowing ya!