[Deleted]

Roselyn was cringing when Blue and Ghor discussed what they should do with Shizuka's soul, even if it might be the real Shizuka which she knows it couldn't be. "Let's not think about the possible reality regarding such things with Shizuka's body. All I know is she's locked up somewhere, alive and with a soul." Rosalyn informed her team mates, she knows Shizuka wouldn't wager her soul on anything.

Unless it was so she can discover how old the universe is, the question that she has always been seeking.

When the group got to the store and Rosalyn started to fight with the woman, now they were doing a tug of war for the potion. Rosalyn listened to what Blue and Ghor had to say on the matter. "Yes, I want Shizuka alive, but I also want to inform this woman that she can't follow such stupid beliefs like magic." She looked back at the woman, who increased her grip on the potion. "You brat, magic is not some stupid belief!" The woman looked at Ghor in a rather grumpy expression.

"Oh, i'll happily show you the list, as this potion took me blood, sweat and tears to make and a lot of magical material, right after you get your friend here off of this potion." Rosalyn struggled to get the potion so she can pay the woman. She also tried to listen to Blue's speech. "I got a better word." Rosalyn was ready to pull the potion out from the woman's old wrinkly claws.

"It's called Science!"

She ripped the potion away, accidentally causing the woman to hit the shelf near her and fall over, along with numerous shelves across the store as Rosalyn watched, not noticing something glowing on the woman. Rosalyn held the potion in her hands, once every potion fell on the ground and filled the floor with different colours of liquid. Rosalyn walked over to the woman's red cloak to check on her.



"Oh my gosh, are you ok? I didn't mean to." Rosalyn lifted the cloak and gasped when she realised that the woman's body was not under it. "She's gone. She either melted, phased into one of these potions, or ran out of some hidden exit naked." Rosalyn theorised, before looking up when she heard a cawing from above her.



"Hey, dummy, look up here!" The crow taunted Rosalyn. "Dummy, wait." She looked at the red cloak and quickly put two and two together. "Your a shape shifter!" Rosalyn pointed to the crow, who shrugged. "No, i'm the woman you just pushed over. I transformed into my more energetic crow form as to not get hurt by your carelessness." The crow looked around at the destruction that Rosalyn has caused, who smiled.

"My beautiful store, you ruined it and all because of your strong beliefs. You know what? I'm getting the Black Market magic police on you three, there more competent then those stupid Toad's." She referred to the trio, but Rosalyn was quick to defend Blue and Ghor. "Hey, they didn't do anything wrong, this was my fault so leave them out of it." Rosalyn said, but the crow had already flew out through a nearby window. Rosalyn placed the potion in her bag along with taking out a wallet and putting a few coins on the floor.



"This is the payment for when she get's back with the police." She took out two more piles of coins. "This should deal with the damage and a little tip for at least giving us something we need, unlike the soul." She looked back at the soul Blue was holding before throwing her wallet back into her bag and closing it.

"Let's go out through the back, and hurry before the police get here." Rosalyn informed the two as she ran towards the store counter and jumped over it before running towards the door in front of the counter and opening it, hopefully there will be a back door exit somewhere nearby.

And a way out of the Black Market before the trio get caught by the magic police, although Rosalyn did hope that they will find actual information about Shizuka's whereabouts before the mission's end.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

While both Blue and Ghor’s attempts to diffuse the situation were amicable, it ultimately didn’t seem to change the outcome of the situation. Perhaps if they physically restrained Rosalyn beforehand it would have prevented the elderly woman from being knocked into her collection of potions and done unknown amounts of damage to either her or her shop. Luckily, she was a bit more agile than Ghor would have given her credit for, transforming into a bird and fleeing. Not before the old woman labelled Rosalyn as a bigot in the politest phrasing he’s ever heard and threatening to call the police on them. Not just any police, but the magic police. Something was telling him that there was no way they could reasonably explain their situation without Rosalyn lecturing and possibly assaulting the officers based on their title alone.

Ghor wasn’t thrilled with the involvement of the police regardless of their magical abilities as he was still uncertain where he stood with the law based on his corrupted self’s actions. In a perfect world he would be labelled as innocent since he was not of his own stable mind, but the Phazon corruption was still present within him, so he was essentially a ticking timebomb of a fugitive. Either way, it was an unnecessary complication. “It occurs to me that your plight of wanting to allow others to believe what they want is hindered by your own lack of self control” he rebutted. While it was tempting to be a bit more critical of Rosalyn’s behaviour, he had to keep in mind that she was also dealing with a sick friend and a missing one. That said, every second he spent with Rosalyn made him question the ethics of the mission.

Not wanting to be on the scene when the police arrive, Ghor followed Rosalyn into the next room, aiding in the search for a back door of some kind (though internally questioning why they were wasting their time with searching for the back door when the front door was a swifter exit). In the meantime, the soul was brought up again, to which Ghor could elaborate on his previous thoughts with Blue. “Be it Shizuka’s soul or not, a soul without a body is a terrible thing. While not a perfect substitution, a synthetic body would be a faster and more ethical approach, if only temporary. With the proper supplies, I could provide one for our bodiless companion” he explained as he pointed to the jar.

If the soul didn’t belong to Shizuka, Ghor was a bit curious of who or what it belonged to, and why a shopkeeper would be masquerading it as Shizuka. Perhaps it once belonged to a red herring, but it would be quite silly for someone to keep a fish’s soul in a jar. “If you’re certain of it though, then I suppose we should keep our ears open for information on Shizuka. It would be quite disappointing to place all our bets on that soul and have it not be her.”

[Mari]

" . . . Alright. I'll just keep this soul and see what I can do to help her later." Blue hesitantly replied, producing a heal ball and capturing the soul with it rather unceremoniously before allowing the ball to shrink back down and covertly slipping the now marble sized pokeball into her bra. Carrying around that giant jar didn't suit her, and she didn't want the soul attracting any attention or getting stolen from her. It'd be safe next to her heart--literally. As for what Rosalyn said, far be it from Blue to question her intuition. She'd spent enough time around magical girls to know that sometimes your heart was just right. She couldn't just leave the soul behind though. Someone would probably just eat it for some kinda intense magical high or something like that. She might have to take Ghor up on his idea later. Frankly, creating synthetic bodies sounded pretty unethical to her, like the plotline to a bunch of dystopian future novels. But hey, Ghor looked pretty hi-technicaaal, so she'd probably take him at his word lacking any more convenient options, even if she did have some strong qualms about the idea. It was something she could ask about anyway, make sure the replacement bodies weren't maddening husks of body dysmorphia, lost humanity and murder. "Let's just hope the 'mage police' can't track us remotely, or running won't help us much." Blue thoughtfully remarked, daintily sliding over the counter to pursue Rosalyn out the back.

[Deleted]

The next room the trio would enter was a wooden hallway, which upon walking further down would reveal another door. As Rosalyn approached, she replied to Ghor's scolding.

"Pfft, please, if we let people here have bad beliefs such as magic, the Life Sphere would be taken over by someone as crazy as that woman we encountered, or worse, even crazier then Sonic." Rosalyn rolled her eyes, annoyed at Ghor's comment.

"I can make a synthetic robot, although I would need a lot of parts and a couple of weeks to preform the task. I can give fake Shizuka here a new body." Rosalyn looked down, slightly happier then before as she eyed the soul of Shizuka.



"I hope not too." Rosalyn sounded worried when she opened the door to the next room, to find out that it was a storage room filled with many boxes. At the end of the room was another door, that appeared to lead outside into the back alley.

"Bingo, our way out." Rosalyn placed the medicine into her pocket as she walked towards a set of stairs that would lead down further into the room.

"Let's get past this room that would look good for a stealth mission and get out of here." However after finishing that, Rosalyn heard bells coming outside. She turned towards the windows located at the top of the large room as she wondered where the bells were coming from.



"♪ Non believers, non believers,

whatcha gonna do whatca gonna when they come for you?

Non believers, non believers,

whatcha gonna do whatca gonna when they come for you? ♪"



Suddenly the door at the end of the room kicked open to reveal three figures, one of which was familiar to the group as it was the Witch Woman in red, well purple now. The other two were completely new figures that the trio may have seen or not seen before around the Life Sphere.

"Careful, that door was made through real tears of the poor goombas!" The woman warned Mumbo Jumbo, while his partner, Humba Wumba stood beside the woman and slightly laughed.



"I apologise, Mumbo is ignoramus when it comes to crime."

Humba apologised to the woman, who shrugged, not really caring. "I don't care, just do whatever you shaman's do. Since the Magic Police are busy trying to raid some sort of chateau romani ring near here, I can only get you two to help." The woman tapped her stick impatiently as Mumbo Jumbo turned to his partner, Rosalyn meanwhile gasped at the sight of the trio.

"Quick hide!" Rosalyn whispered to Ghor and Blue as she hid behind a large crate near her before looking back at the three magical beings at the otherside of the room.



"Who call Mumbo stupid, you are cheap shaman!"

Mumbo waved his staff at Humba Wumba, who sighed.



"Only one here who is moron is Mumbo, now help woman or no help woman, we must find criminals for her."



"Ugh, fine, we turn into sniffer dogs to scout permise. You know sometimes I wonder why we even work together."




"Because we from same world?"



"Oh, right."

Suddenly Mumbo waved his staff, while Humba took out hers and together the two waved them around before turning into sniffer dogs and began to scout the room. Rosalyn, witnessing this, turned back towards Ghor and Blue, while the Woman in a now purple cloak got on a broomstick and began to float around the room, searching for the trio.



"Ok, we have to sneak past these three and get to that door. Stay quiet." Rosalyn warned her team mates as she decided to go first on getting past the Shamen duo and the witch.


 

9fB_aG|wp_1d20+2(The Witch has located the trio.)

p_1d20+3(Humba has tracked them down.)

p_1d20+1(Mumbo...Is checking each box.)





However, after Rosalyn took one tiny step, a large spotlight shined on the trio, which turned out to be the Witch, who summoned said spotlight. "Aha, caught you thieving little shi----



Hold right there!"

Humba transformed back into her human self as the Witch landed beside her, the two woman looked at the duo.



"You coming with me and Mumbo."

Humba aimed her staff at the trio, Rosalyn waited to see what Blue and Ghor will say before saying anything else.



"Mumbo, get here, now, we found criminals!"




"Kind of got my head stuck, looking at Shaman magazines."

Humba rolled her eyes.



"♪ Non believers, non believers,



whatcha gonna do whatca gonna when they come for you?



Non believers, non believers,



whatcha gonna do whatca gonna when they come for you? ♪"

(Try to convince Humba Wumba and the witch to let you three go, if not then you will be arrested and the mission will change dramatically.)1d20+2·1d20+3·1d20+1

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Rosalyn looked rather displeased with Ghor’s attempts at providing her feedback, he had no idea why considering earlier in the day she was lamenting over her inability to have sympathy for people who believed in magic. A little constructive criticism could go a long way, but it was becoming clear to him that she had no interest in that. It caused Ghor to seriously reconsider where he loyalties lied because as Sonic was mentioned he was reminded of the last time he trusted a questionable employer, albeit, he wasn’t quite himself when he was working on the Absolution. That said, he felt he couldn’t exactly write it off as the Phazon influence as what he felt seemed so real. That was neither here nor there, but he was in full control and he was quickly beginning to realize why Rosalyn’s call for help mentioned that she was a ‘controversial figure.’

“There’s a difference between somebody who believes in something and a genocidal maniac” the cyborg stated calmly as they entered the warehouse. He stepped forth and looked back at Rosalyn. “Considering that you threatened to burn down an entire sector of the Life Sphere because someone so much as disagreed with you tells me you don’t know the difference” he added somberly before he ducked low to the ground to better disguise himself among the crates.

As they snuck through the warehouse, Ghor finely tuned his audio receptors to listen in on the conversion going on amongst their pursuers. The cyborg stayed still, not wanting the clicks of his mechanical body to give away their position, despite his rather poor opinion of Rosalyn. Speaking of though, she immediately made a break for the door and gave away their position. Ghor unfolded himself and complied with their oppressors for the time being, raising his hands up to show his cooperation.

They stated their piece, though Ghor was nearly convinced that handing Rosalyn over to them was the best course of action considering how dangerous she was. That said, he couldn’t do it in good consciousness for a couple reasons. The two witch doctors were stated to not be the Mage Police a bit earlier as they were busy taking care of other matters, so there was no guarantee where she would end up. Not to mention that there was still a sick innocent in the mix, like it or not he had to ensure that she made it back so she could administer that magic potion.

Ghor stood forth once more to try and correct matters, though try as he might, it’ll probably get hindered by Rosalyn’s attempts at ‘being right.’ The cyborg lowered his arms gently as to not alert the enforcers. “Nothing has been stolen. You can escort us back to the shop and you’ll see more than enough coins to pay for that potion and the damages done. If that isn’t sufficient, I am willing to pay to accommodate the repairs, with either labor or coins. My…” Ghor subtly looked back at Rosalyn trying to think of a word to describe their relation to one another. “…Employer has a sick friend that is in need of medicine. We can’t delay the delivery, who knows how much longer they have” he spoke heartfeltly.

[CHR roll: wVYj_J0jp_1d20]1d20

[Mari]

Blue offered the duo of er... non-believer hunters a pretty smile, that same lovely smile that could either mean she liked you or you were about to get hurt depending on the context alone. "I think you've got us confused or someone else! We're no enemies of magic~" Blue replied in a leisurely tone. "I learned a few tricks from my parents growing up. Like... how to pull a coin from your ear!" Blue replied, reaching behind her ear and delicately plucking a single coin from what appeared to be her ear. She then palmed the coin, only for it to seemingly vanish into thin air as she held up her hands for the hunters! ...Rosalyn and Ghor could see that the coin was sticking out from the back of hand, pinched between two fingers where it couldn't be seen from the front. Blue flashed a playful wink at her partners. "...I also learned how to steal people's noses! I'll... practice this one on myself, though." Blue went on to explain, doing an awfully good job at pretending to be serious! Stealthily slipping the coin back into the palm of her hand without ever quite making it visible, she then pressed the palm of her face to her hand! "Aaaand... got my nose!" Blue cheerily remarked grasping her nose and--

Blue pulled her hand away, but her nose wasn't in her hand.

It also wasn't on her face.

Blue's hand was empty. Not even the coin remained. Yet, so was the space on her face where her nose was supposed to be! It was just flat skin! Blue opened her hand, feigning confusion, before going cross-eyed as she tried to find her nose. She gently touched her face, but it was gone.

" . . . Well that's not what's supposed to happen. Oh well~! I guess it'll turn up sooner or later, right?" Blue remarked with a shrug

vqt47EH9p_1d20+5 (Blue's "Trick")1d20+5

[Deleted]

Humba and the witch examined Blue and Ghor, they didn't seem like the kind of person that would work with someone like Rosalyn, then again Rosalyn didn't look like the kind of person that would harass this old woman, but the rules were the rules and they needed to be arrested for hurting this woman, they didn't seem convinced by what Ghor said and Blue's magic trick did not amuse them for one bit. 



"Do you think we stupid little girl, that is fake magic, we will arrest you now!" Humba began to wave her staff as the Witch egged her on.

"Do it, arrest them and turn them into giant worms with no mouths!" She cheered Humba on but the two woman were interrupted by Mumbo Jumbo, who was convinced by Blue's magic trick.



"Hang on Humba, witch lady, girl maybe onto something."



"Are you nuts, you are dummy, i'm surprised you are even shamen!"

Humba, Mumbo and the witch began to bicker amongst themselves, while Rosalyn managed to sneak away and get to the door, she turned to Blue and Ghor and called out to them. "Psst, guys, through the door, come on!" She quietly called out to Blue and Ghor as she walked out of the building and into an alleyway.



"Phew that was close, we almost got caught, no thanks to that woman." She looked at her pockets. "Either way the mission is still not over, while we do have what we need we still need information regarding Shizuka, there just has to be something around here that can help us." Rosalyn looked around as it began to rain.



And that was when he saw someone walk out of a building and pointed towards him. "Like him!" The guy turned towards the group, confused, but he screamed when Rosalyn jumped towards him. "Where is she, tell us now!" She yelled, shaking the scared man's head as the rain quickly became harder.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As diplomatic as his words may have seemed, Ghor’s speech fell on deaf ears, either that or they were just plain ignoring him altogether. Seems to be a theme that his attempts at ending things peacefully never amounted to much. Perhaps he was better off as a bounty hunter than a politician. Thankfully he had backup, and Blue’s attempts at parlour tricks were quite convincing. Well, it wasn’t quite witch and warlock levels, but Ghor still feigned shock and awe at her nose stealing tricks like they were. As expressive as his facial expressions could be considering the most amount his face could make was extending his little jaw flaps.

It wasn’t enough to convince them all, but it intrigued one of them, which was enough to trigger a small banter between the group, allowing for their escape. Through a secret door that Rosalyn spotted, the team found themselves in a tight alleyway in the middle of who-knows-where. Ghor pulled up his arm-mounted device to pinpoint their position and where the next logical step was to be, but the hologram screen was warped and misshapen by the sudden dramatic rain that spawned from the sky. Surely something momentous was happening elsewhere in the Life Sphere, or perhaps it was right in front of him!

Ghor wasn’t paying too much attention to what Rosalyn was saying, mostly because his audio receptors tended to cut off when they detected misplaced complaints such as Rosalyn blaming that old woman when the situation was very clearly escalated by her own doing. What he missed though was Rosalyn spotting and rushing up to some stranger in the alley, who she immediately commenced the old fashion shakedown routine. Was he someone that she recognized, or was this merely her violent lunacy continuing? It was difficult to tell and Ghor was uncertain if he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

The Phazon parasites within Ghor were screaming at him to fight, trying to convince him that succumbing to them was the best way to inflict his natural sense of justice. Ghor attempted to stave them off by therapeutically breathing in and out of his mouth. This would be an odd thing to observe considering he was a machine. Its effectiveness was questionable considering that the corruption seemed to influence him, even if it was only slightly. Ghor wasn’t a fan of Rosalyn’s behaviour to begin with, the parasite didn’t need to do much to convince him it was the right option.

With the same amount of haste as Rosalyn employed, Ghor stormed over to her position and attempted to rip her off the helpless and confused gentleman. “Enough!” he shouted as his eyes glowed with intensity. “Do you even know if this person has any connections to your friend!? These random bursts of violence will accomplish nothing!” he further explained furiously. He aimed his Plasma Beam cannon at Rosalyn though didn’t fire, it was mostly to keep her at bay while he momentarily turned his attention toward the man she attempted to interrogate. “Do you know the whereabouts of Shizuka Moroboshi?” he asked a bit more calmly, though with his cannon prepped and ready, there was still plenty to be threatened by.

Ghor might not like Rosalyn, but he had a mission to retrieve medicine and find Shizuka’s whereabouts. As far as he knew, they were innocents and Rosalyn was merely the rotten apple of the bunch.