Since we had so much roleplaying for this mission, it might not surprise you to hear that we've got some big Finale pieces ahead of us.

At a very rough estimate, each piece might be among the top ten longest Finale pieces written to date in the game. There's a lot going on and a lot of fun stories here! As you will see, it's split up into the Toot's story from earlier, and the Finale as it's happening "now." "Now" obviously means during the Finale, of course. Anyway . . .

Please enjoy.

 
Mary sat in the Captain's cabin reading a passage on the Phoenix. "The Phoenix bird is a rare creature whose feathers have magic powers and are plucked one feather at a time from the bird's tail. Each feather provides healing power when passed over the wound. The feather is also used to make an antifire potion to protect against dragonfire or turned into a quill pen when used with black mushroom ink." That quill pen looked like the one sitting on the captain's desk in his cabin. Mary remembered it as a gift to him from her parents.

With Alys asleep below deck, Mary stood on deck talking to Capt. Horatio. "Capt. are we going to the area where my parents got the Phoenix feather for you?"

"Aye I believe so, Lass. It is a dangerous task you are undertaking so be on your guard and remember everything your father and I taught you," warned the Captain.

"What should I look for in the way of clues? Do you think I will find something? Will I get to see a Phoenix and get a feather like yours? Are we there yet? When will we get there?" asked an excited Mary.

"Whoa, hold on lassie, we have a fair piece to go so be patient. You need to chart your course like we talked about when your were sailing with me. That way your search will be more productive," said the Captain with pride in his voice for the task Mary and her friends were undertaking.

By Mary Kate

 
----------

 
The situation- being captured and escaping- was hardly new for any of the trio huddling together in the darkest recesses of the cave.

The depths of the cave was extensive. While some sections seemed completely natural and devoid of visitors for eons, others seemed to be freshly carved to the purposes of those strange bugbears. Catrina lead them through those sections, carefully avoiding the sparse patrols which may or may not have been looking for them. Dash quickly took note of the fact there were very few bugbears around, and none of them seemed to be on search duty. Very few served as guards; that role mostly fell to the Muri-Dan - the widely despised rat furries.

Dash and Catrina managed to snag a few supplies out of the way of their actual escape route. Hopefully, it would throw the Muri-Dan looking for them off their trail for a while.

After an hour of making their way past guards and security, they were finally able to get deeper into the caves, away from the alien technology. They made their way through the caves in relative silence which continued long after they'd gotten away from danger of being captured. Aleena was uncharacteristically quiet while Dash and Catrina, having worked together out of tough spots for years, had little need to communicate.

Finally, Catrina drew them into a larger cave. "I think we're good to rest here."

Aleena finally spoke up. She was clad in a princess dress, one she could form from will around her, one made of smoke and magic and arguably of a happier time. "Are you sure we're far enough away?"

"Yup," Catrina said, pointing to her nose. "Something's still messing with the smells here, but it should also provide us good cover. I don't want to get too far away until we rest. It'd be easy to end up lost in this mess of caves."

With careful and quiet movements, Sebastian Dash placed a burlap bag on the cave floor. "I could feel the cave twisting as we walked. It'd be easy to sense anyone coming, even with my vision suffering."

Aleena just nodded. Dash had earlier tried to find out if the cysuits could provide light, but she refused to discuss the subject, snapping at Dash and nearly giving away their position. Dash had wisely let the subject drop.

"Try to rest here," he said. "I'll take first shift."

Catrina stretched. "Sure that's such a good idea? I mean, if your eyesight's messed up, you might not be the ideal pick for a guard. You should rest, and see if it improves. I'll.."

"If it doesn't get worse!" Dash snapped back. He quickly caught himself. "Sorry. It's a little stressful, but I'll have to sit watch sometime. I can see well enough.. and I'll listen. You two rest."

Aleena just nodded and turned away. She wouldn't need sleep but the rest and meditation might do her good anyway, Dash figured.

"Alright," Catrina said. "But wake us up if you hear anything."

Dash nodded, rubbing her eyes, and settled in for a few hours guard duty.

By Dash

 
----------

 
Toot Flashback 1/5

 
Two birds in a cave.
Mentor, student. Side by side.
Far too much to learn.

 
Two months ago (or so, because time in the Kingdom is hard to track), two birds sat on a perch opposite of each other (and boy, does that sound like the setup for a really bad and possibly dirty joke).

The first, an iconic a scrawny, sickly looking bug eyed bird with stick figure limbs, spoke on a sage voice to the younger bird. "... as Seal Clubbers tend to hate magic, although as I said earlier, every adventurer is different and I'll be teaching you how to spot those differences, or better - how to learn about them beforehand."

The other bird, plumper and shorter, had less buggy eyes and a leather sports jacket with the Lil Canandai GuaLakers team logo on it. The adventuring duo known as Blackeagle might have identified his accent from their home dimension's New York if they heard it speak. "Sure, sure, that makes sense. Turtle tamers are muscle classes, though, right doc? Why don't they hate magic? Or does they?"

"Well, they distrust it," the Toot answered. "Excellent question, by the way. However, there is an aspect between a Tamer and turtles, and indeed, their other familiars which.. holding that for later, do you feel it?"

The larger bird shook its feathers under its leather jacket. "Nope, prof. Don't feel a thing. Just the wind.. wait, ya mean that shaking, doc? Yeah, I do now. Feels pretty strong too. What do ya think's goin on out there?"

"Let us see," the Toot answered. It flew off the perch, with the other bird flapping its wings, trying to keep its fat body afloat. The two flew out of the Newbie cave as a single feather drifted from the Toot, landing in a hole in the path to the cave.

A sleek light blue and orange ship flew overhead. The fatter bird with the north eastern accent looked at it, bobbing in the air as the two birds hovered over the topmost tip of Mt. Noob. "W'the wing-flappin hell is that?!"

"Language," the Toot gently corrected. "And that is, I would guess, a ship from the Catalina general region, although more specifically, from the futuristic city of Honorburg. The marking seem specific to one of their more modern groups, the Breeze Riding Bandits. I know very little about the city but it seems to be a Duray class ship."

"Dat bad, prof?"

"Quite," the Toot answered. "The last I heard, though this was years ago, it was their second best class next to the older, bigger Virgil class jumpships. What's it doing here?"

"Not sure I followed any of dat, but what's with the other ship?"

"What ship?" The Toot then looked to the spot the other bird was staring at. "Ohh.."

"The Penultimate airship?" asked the other bird.

"It looks different, though," the Toot said. "More ominous, somehow.."

"True," the other bird answered. Ship was covered in a slick, black .. something. "Did it used to be that big?"

There was no answer from the Toot, only the distant rumbling as the Duray class ship drifted rapidly over the mountains.

"Doc?" The other bird glanced at the Toot, who hovered in midair, seemingly motionless, not responding.

End flashback

Also by Dash

----------

 
Shelldor woke suddenly. He must have fallen asleep by the fire, which at this point had burned to embers. He saw the sun rising out the window, yawned and gave his head a shake.

"We need to get moving," he thought to himself. "No way am I staying in these frigid mountains much longer."

Shelldor began the process of waking everyone up, starting with the birds. Once they were up, their squeaking woke everyone else up.

Bob, of course, grumbled about being woken so early, but his enthusiasm for potentially finding a new familiar soon overcame that.

"Nice place you got here," Bob said to the trapper. "I feel like I could stay here forever."

"Well, I don't know about forever," the trapper replied. "But, if you want to stay a bit, you can help chop some wood."

"On the other hand, lots of adventuring business to do," Bob inject quickly.

"Get ye to adventurin’ in the wood pile," the trapper said, as Bob gathered his familiars and quickly ran out the door.

Bob ran down the mountain quickly. So quickly, in fact, that he didn't see the giant wall of ice until he had already smacked his nose on it.

As he sat on the ground, rubbing his nose, he looked up at the wall, and up, and up, and up. "Wow, that is a big wall," he remarked.

"Wait, that wasn't here before… was it?" Bob asked, mostly to himself. From his backpack, Shelldor just rolled his eyes.

As Bob sat on the ground another strange thing happened, as if a wall appearing out of nowhere wasn't strange enough. Out of the wall emerged a snowman, causing Bob to jump back in surprise.

"Um, did I wake you? Sorry," Bob said to it.

The snowman silently pulled out its katana and lunged… right into the fist of a waiting fist turkey, who had been spoiling for a fight.

As the snow man charged forward, angrier than ever, Shelldor peeked over over Bob’s shoulder. Seeing the turtle, the snowman paused, then bowed, and finally retreated back into the wall.

"Well, I guess he didn't want a fight," Bob said, trying to act tough.

Bob thought a moment, then addressed the owl and the parrot. "You two fly up and scout ahead, see if you can tell where we are."

Bob and Shelldor watched as the birds flew up, circling around the area. After a bit the birds came down, starting to hoot and squawk, respectively.

"A boat? What about a boat? I won a boat? Awesome, I'll hold you to that." The owl landed on his head, giving it a peak. "Ow! Ok, you found a boat, but how am I gonna get there with this wall in the way?"

Bob gave a shout as the owl and parrot grabbed his shoulders, and the fist turkey landed on his head, all of them flapping away, lifting Bob off the ground. Shelldor hung on for dear life. In the distance, they could both see the ship.

"I really hope that's Wallace," Shelldor thought.

After a quick but terrifying ride, the birds dropped Bob and Shelldor onto the deck of the ship.

By Shelldor

 
----------

 
Toot Flashback 2/5

 
Two months ago, shortly after

 
Familiar with powerful visions, the Toot Oriole wasted no time gawking in surprise or amazement when his mind found itself suddenly elsewhere, floating in a gray mist. The skies burned. Time was frozen around the Toot. He sensed a darkness had swallowed the world.

No, not just this world. Worlds beyond too. Some of the brightest stars in the sky had already gone out. Toot quickly identified his surroundings as Degrassi Knoll - and as a vision. The Toot saw two figures engaging in conversation. The Feline goddess spoke to a woman in black. This was clearly the woman's vision, and the goddess was the cause of it rather than merely a part of it. The Toot sensed their collective power as it moved towards them, hoping to understand the vision. However, that power proved to be more than sufficient to fling the Toot out of this vision and into another vision.

In this vision, he could see the entire planet sitting before him, smaller than the Toot's own body. Two bright twin moons circled the planet like shiny silver pebbles. Toot took a moment to admire the detail in the planet and moons in the vision- well, the old bird always did have a thing for shiny pebbles, too.

Then a strange shadow fell over the planet- which was weird enough in itself, especially given that the space round the planet wasn't particularly well lit. The shadow itself felt - literally felt - alien and malevolent and sinister.

The shadow itself seemed shaped like a bear.. or.. a bugbear? In the shadows, Toot could see army after army marching over his planet, with armies including bears and bats and rats.

There was a feeling of .. more. Instinctively, Toot turned to look beyond the planet. He could see new shadows, shaped like elves. Elves in sleek black suits, Toot felt. These shadows had a more noble presence, and yet Toot could sense the aura of danger from them as well.

Then the Toot found itself back in the presence. The other bird kept asking it questions, to which it half responded. The Toot's mind still on the image as it realized it would have to set forth into the world to study and find the meaning of this ominous warning.

Something very bad was happening and something even worse was on the horizon.

End flashback

by Dash

----------

 
Sassy Snake and company were getting ready to leave the town, just putting in a few last-minute supplies before heading for the woods. Sassy stepped around a hole in the street. Now where did that come from, she wondered to herself. As she looked over the roots she was buying from one of the vendors, Linger gently touched her on the shoulder. Sassy turned and looked at him and he pointed off to one side.

"Isn't dat one of your friends?" he asked with a grin.

Sure enough, Becky Joy stood there. Sassy went over to her. "Hey, Becky! How you doing?"

"Who? Me? Oh yes, of course you mean me! Fine, I guess. Are you going too? Oh, please go with us! Can you, can you?"

"We were going to the forest, Becky. Where are you headed for?"

"Oh," she said, a bit disappointed. "We are searching for a way to rescue the tigers and Dash. Wanna come?"

Sassy gave a huge shiver. "I think I have had enough of those mountains for a while. I need a break. That was a rough trip for me. Couldn't have been a picnic for you either."

"Dunno if we're goin' to the mountains. Anyway - picnic? Are you going to have a picnic? Lots of yummies to eat!? I sure would love to come to the picnic later! After I come back from rescuing the tigers, I mean."

Sassy smiled at her, "Sure thing, Becky. When you come back, we will hold the biggest and best picnic that ever was."

Sassy picked up her purchases and turned to walk with Becky for a while, nearly tripping in another hole. "What's up with these holes?"

"Huh? Holes? Oh yes, there's one there, too. Probably from some attack like one of those airships that're gone now." Becky pointed to a hole and then Sassy noticed a lot of them. They seemed to be everywhere. "Well," Becky said as she headed off down the road swinging her arms and singing, "I must meet some people. Some very nice people. We'll get the cats and then come back and we'll eat a picnic with Sassy."

Sassy watched her go and joined Linger and Bristle and Icy. "Well, guys?" she asked. "Ready to go then?"

"Sure ting," said Linger.

"To the woods!" said Icy and smiled a beautiful smile at Bristle.

"Let us flee for the trees," laughed Bristle.

They stepped over several holes and headed off in the direction of the woods. Sassy tried to forget the memories of her mountain trip and focused on the forest she was heading towards. At least there wouldn't be ice, enemies shooting at me, and darkness. Or would there be?

By Sassy Snake herself

 
----------

 
Toot Flashback 3/5

 
Two months earlier, a short while after the second piece...

 
The Toot Oriole had simply told his student, "Follow me." It then flew off towards the Kingdom.

"Where are we headed?" the other bird asked yet again, struggling to keep up. It swooped midair and captured a feather as it fell from the Toot Oriole.

"Oh, sorry Tor," answered the Toot Oriole. "I hadn't meant to ignore you. We'll start at Degrassi."

Tor the Toot. The Toot Oriole's most recent student had a sharp mind, even if it wasn't a mind designed for 'fancy book learnings,' as he might put it.

"Start what? My training?" Tor paused, wings flapping as he tried to get closer to the first bird. Tor snatched another free floating Oriole feather. "I thought we'd started that weeks ago?"

"True," answered the mentor Toot. "This is something else we're seeking and before you ask me, I'm not quite sure what it is yet."

"Then why are we going to Degrassi?"

Tor gave him time to answer but he didn't. He just flew faster. Tor rushed to keep up.

"Hello?!" Tor paused. No answer. Tor sighed. "Guy is worse than a horse buggy cabbie without decaf."

End flashback

by Dash

----------

 
Ninja Village, a while later

John, Sherri, and Becky arrived in Ninja Village, exhausted. They made their way to John and Sherri's new home of a hut. To their surprise, a familiar figure greeted them. It was their old friend Fumbles who had helped them the first day they arrived. John laid down the makeshift backpack on the floor of the hut and turned to Fumbles.

"Hello friend, good to see you," John said.

"What brings you to this part of the kingdom?" Sherri asked.

"I am here to meet with the ninja leader as well as to see friends," Fumbles said as he winked at Becky.

"Good to see you too, Sir Fumbles," Becky said as she kissed him on the cheek and giggled.

"Me and Fumbles goes wayyyyy back, don't we Fumbles?" she added.

Fumbles just nodded.

"I have some important information to share. You are all welcome to sit in on the meeting. Things will be getting very interesting very soon," Fumbles said.

"Usually is with us," John said with a smile.

With that, they all walked outside. As they were walking, John noticed a hut burning. He and Sherri ran towards it as a natural reflex. Fumbles and Becky chased after them. It was too late as they had already entered the burning hut. With their mouths covered, they looked around in the smoke and flame filled room. Fortunately, there were no one inside. When the flame filled hut, they did so unharmed. A nearby ninja walked by. "There isn't a scratch on you - how did you do that!"

"Magic," John replied. "Pure magic."

John and Sherri were virtualy unscaved by the fire. A long time ago, they discovered they had greater abilities beyond normal humans on their world.

"That's odd. That hut on fire, how did it happen?" Sherri asked.

"Not to mention, how long it's been burning?" John added.

"There was a war and a curse many many many years ago," Fumbles explained. "But Konall came along more recently and set it on fire. I'm still not sure why."

"Rumor has it that hut was bbq ever since," Becky added.

John and Sherri both looked at each other.

"Sounds like a challenge to me," Sherri said.

"Another time," John said.

They made their way to the ninja leaders hut.

"Fumbles, good to you you. Please come in. We have lots to discuss," the ninja leader said.

by Blackeagle

 
-----------

 
You know the saying about smooth seas not making good captains?

Well, that applied here in spades. The seas were acting up, as old sailors might put it. As the ship sailed through the rocky waves, Mary made her way back to the cabin to check on Alys. As Mary entered the cabin, Alys was getting up from the bunk she had been sleeping on and looked at Mary. "I think I'm gonna be sick," she said.

"Would you like me to get you some tea and crackers?" asked Mary. "Mother always used that to settle upset stomachs and it always seemed to work."

"Um. Sure. Thanks!"

Mary put the teapot on the stove and grabbed a few crackers. "Sorry but the best way to eat these crackers and tea is to eat the dry crackers, one at a time, and slowly drink the peppermint tea," said Mary with the sound of authority in her voice as she handed the tea and crackers to Alys.

Alys managed a weak smile. "Thank you so much."

"There is plenty of tea made up for you and the crackers are on the table, so feel free to help yourself. I need to go through the ship and check to make sure there are no sailors feeling as badly as you do," said Mary, "I'll be back to check on you and make sure you are ok so just try to rest." With that Mary headed out to the sailors quarters to check on their welfare.

Mary started down the hallway when she suddenly heard shouts and yelling coming from on deck. Running to the ladder, Mary scrambled up to the deck and ran to see what the commotion was all about. What she saw was pretty much chaos, with a bunch of soldiers down on the deck and everyone yelling at that lazy turtle tamer who had landed on the ship earlier, thanks to his flying familiars.

"It wasn't my fault!" Bob whined. "I just got in the way is all! You didn't all have to go and trip over me!"

"Oh, SHUT UP BOB!!" yelled Mary, "It was your fault. You know to stay out of the way and away from the ropes. You could have caused a lot of damage to the sails and mast and besides that you could have gotten hurt or caused one of the crew to get injured. Why don't you just find a corner and stay there of the way?"

"Ships don't have corners," Bob whined. "Stop picking on me. I mean.. please."

"Oh stop your constant whining and just go find a place to sit and stay out of the way of people that actually know how to work," snapped Mary as she glared at Bob.

Bob seemed to shrink away under her glare. "I was just trying to help. Without having to put too much effort into it, I mean."

Mary continued to glare at Bob and replied, "That is your problem. You never put any effort into anything meaningful. Why don't you try getting a real job for a change instead of playing with turtles all the time?!"

Bob's turtle snorted in indignity at the comment and nudged Bob, who got up, hanging his head. "You're probably right, maybe."

"Look, Bob, maybe I can find something you can do around here that would help out and you could learn a new way to earn a living, that is if you want my help," Mary said as she put an arm around his shoulder and walked him away from the commotion.

"Do I have to?" Bob whined. That earned him a well deserved elbow in the side from Mary. "Ow! I mean.. I'd love to. My pleasure, ma'am."

"The first thing you have to remember, Bob, is to stop whining so much. That is the quickest way to make people angry at you," cautioned Mary.

"I better write that one down." Bob paused to search his pockets. "I know I got a pen.. oh hey, I see a bird! Do you see it?!"

"Yes Bob, I've seen your familiars," said Mary, looking at the turtle and all the birds flying around him. "But we need to find you a job you can do while you are here on the ship to make your life a bit safer and maybe get you some kind of training."

"No.. I mean.. I mean.. look over.. hey!" Bob had been trying to interrupt her, and finally resorted to yelling. "That isn't my bird."

He pointed to a bird flying in the distance, and he was far from the only one looking at it.

"We don't have time ---" Mary started to say when the ship suddenly turned sharply, throwing everyone to the side. After gaining her balance, Mary looked in the direction Bob and others were pointing, "Oh, wow that looks like the Oriole, Captain follow that bird."

"I think he is," Bob yelped. He'd been thrown off his feet, but his birds were already pulling him back up. "Ow! Not by my ear!"

Mary started laughing at the sight of birds pulling Bob to his feet by his ears. "That is the funniest thing I have ever seen, Bob. Sorry for laughing at you but you have to admit it does look funny."

And with that being said, Mary and Bob turned their attention to following the little bird being chased by a ship full of sailors.

By Alys, Mary and Dash

 
----------

 
Toot Flashback 4/5 - months ago (again)

 
Tor the Toot landed on a small Degrassi building, perching next to his mentor.

"So?"

"'So?'" repeated the Toot.

"Whataya think? Why are we here?" Tor's accent seemed to get stronger with his confusion over the Toot's sudden flight to Degrassi Knoll. "It don't look peaceful here, prof. Isn't there a lot of unrest going down against that mage in Degrassi?"

"I had a vision," the Toot answered. "The uprising might be the least of our worries. We could be looking at the end of the world."

"What?!" Tor lost his footing and had to flap his fat wings to keep his balance. "Really? That bad?"

"There's more, too," The Toot said. "I felt a stranger premonition."

"Stranger than the world ending?"

The Toot waved it off with a shrug of the wing. "Hopefully the heroes of the lands can handle it. But I sense .. an otherworldly threat in the future. But I'm not sure what would cause it. The defeat of the heroes, or their success."

"So.." Tor paused. "What are we gonna do about it?"

"I'm not sure," the Toot answered, uncharacteristically seriously, Tor noted. "I need to think on this."

"Okay.. Take your time, doc."

End flashback

By Dash.. again

----------

 
Todd and Wildfall rushed to keep up with the mysterious Wilma and Gina, who had at some point off-camera changed into graphic t-shirts and carefully torn designer jeans, meticulously designed to look like they were off the last rack of a goodwill center from the late 1980's.

The girls had earlier been enjoying the local scenery in the form of a relaxing skinny dip in one of the many watering holes in the Distant Woods. They were odd little things, but they seemed to know where to head next, so Wildfall and Todd followed them when the two chicks took off into the woods.

"Where do ya supposed they're leading us?" Wildfall asked.

"Dunno, Wildey," Todd answered. "But if it's anything like meeting them was, I'm gonna need a strong drink afterwards."

Wildfall laughed. Even with Todd's sense of smell to keep track of them, it wasn't easy keeping up. Wildfall could only wonder what their rush was. Wildfall was hopeful this was would result in, well, something other than a waste of time, frankly.

"Tree," Wildfall warned them.

"What? Ow!" Gina was barely able to slow down before running into one of the many trees.

Wildfall smirked. "I said, 'Watch out for that tree.'"

"Oh, sorry," Gina answered. She rubbed her sore head. "I was too busy listening to you talk about trees to watch out where I was going."

Wilma doubled over laughing. "Way to spaz out, spazzo!"

"Yeah?!?" Gina answered. "Well, shut up!"

"Good comeback," Wilma said, pausing before adding, "NOT!"

"Ya know," Wildfall commented. "I'm still not sure I know where we're going yet."

"Just try to keep up," Todd answered. "Unless you've got a better idea on where to find a clue on where the Toot is."

"Don't worry, dudes!" Wilma called. "We totally got this. Right Gina?"

"We've totally got this covered!" Gina answered, joining Wilma in an impromptu display of air guitar. The musically inclined could almost hear the rifts of the electric guitars.

"What was.." Todd started.

"What?" Wildfall asked.

"Nevermind, just thought I heard something," Todd answered.

"Anywhoo," Gina answered, rushing Wilma along. "Come on, you two! We're gonna be late!"

"Late for what?!" Todd and Wildfall both asked. This rushing towards nothing bit had started to wear out its welcome around the seven minute mark, give or take a few seconds.

Gina and Wilma didn't answer, hopping over a stream and rushing through the woods.

"Will you tell us what's going on?!" Wildfall finally demanded.

"Oh.. not much," Wilma answered. "Just totally going to do something awesome with you two strangers."

"I could think of a few things," Todd suggested with a wink.

"Um..." Wilma blinked, then tugged Todd's tail. "Here we are!"

"Ow!" Todd yanked it back. "Knock it off!"

"That's what he said," Gina muttered under her breath. "Wait.. no it's not."

"That'd hurt!" Wilma answered.

"I know, right?!" Gina answered. The two broke into another pretend guitar duet and then immediately rushed off. "Time to save a bird and a demon!"

"Bird?" Todd's ears perked up.

"And.. a demon?!" Wildfall tried to make sense of that part but it made no sense at all.

"Yeah!" Gina answered. "We totally came back in.. er.. the present. We gotta change history.. I mean.. current history, by saving a bird and a demon."

The two rushed forward, but when Todd heard a bird squawking and screaming in the distance, he rushed ahead of both of them. Wildfall caught up to the trio as they came into a clearing in the forest, only to see a very familiar looking scene chasing the Toot Oriole!

"Uhho," Gina said. "Or wait.. maybe we're supposed to save the bird from Larry the demon."

"Um..." Wilma's face went white. "That makes a lot more sense."

"Yeah." Gina gasped. "Should be easy."

beat

"Not," both girls said simultaneously.

By totally radical Dash

 
----------

 
Toot Flashback 5/5

 
Last bit from a few months ago

Under the oppressive cloud of occupation and rebellion covering Degrassi Knoll, the two Orioles sat on the roof of a bakery and felt the world shake. The weather had shifted violently in the last hour and continued to do so. And still, Toot Oriole persisted. Tor the Toot had mostly kept his beak shut, but things were starting to get a bit much. Especially when it felt a strange rumbling in the earth and air itself.

"Doc," Tor finally said. "I'm see'in a bunch of adventurers gatherin in the distance. I think there might be a big helpin' of trouble about to start soon, prof."

No answer for several seconds.

"Toot? Mentor?"

Even then, it took a few long seconds for the Toot to answer. "We'll depart soon. I'm just trying to get a feel."

"A feel for what?" Tor's feathers shook under his black leather jacket.

The Toot paused again before answering. "After my vision earlier, I feel I need to seek more out. We're about to hit a disaster that will shake the world itself. The battle we see about to play out must be a part of it. But even if the world survives.."

"What?"

No answer.

Well, not at first. The Toot Oriole spoke right before Tor could press for an answer. "The worst might be to come. Let us fly from here. It's getting too dangerous and I need to get ahead of this and figure what the world might transform into."

With that, the two birds headed off south, with Tor following the Toot and the Toot following his impulses.

End flashback

the last bit by Dash

----------

 
Warning: Language

Daisuke sat in a simple wooden chair in front of a simple round wooden table in a tent large enough to hold thirty, maybe thirty five people, at a time.

But for such a dangerous guest, there were only maybe a dozen others in the tent, spaced out around the big tiger like a clockwork of guardian flesh and fur. Even for a situation such as this, the muscular lion had to find amusement. These are the ones they want me to see. There are more waiting where they think I can't tell…

He didn't even need his nose to know that!

Standing directly in front of that stood Cattaras and Jen. They were discussing.. something in private. The kind of private that even the most acute hearing couldn't pick up on.

Daisuke had to smile, thinking about what he'd learned about Catt's new 'mate.' He had thought her weak. He'd been wrong. What surprised him most was how much strength she showed when it was the two of them…

A thought interrupted, a regret. She could have been like that for him… Actually, she had been, even if that was mostly that damned spell…

Or had it? She had said herself that that had been as much the darkness in her soul than any shit that that fool Beast King had ever wrought. What if... Whatever thought he had was interrupted as a large golden hairball jumped off his shoulder and ran down his arm so quickly he barely registered the figure until it jumped off the side of the table, hopping on the head guard's shoulder, scampering behind the guard's head and jumping midair where it landed on..

Well, it landed on something invisible and with no scent!

Instinct told him to give chase, to hunt, to kill. But he knew that his first move, while possibly not his last, would not have been seen well by his…'hosts.'

Having an idea who it was made it both more and less tempting to hunt the little rat!

No surprise then, when KOKOL's prince, Blahking, uncloaked in front of them, fading into view in the fancy, elaborate way only a mage could. He shook his head and, with a snap of his finger, produced a tasty ginger snap for the hamster mage. "So much for stealth. Thanks, Fluffy."

The hamster just yipped and jumped off, scurrying to a corner of the tent with his new treat. Blahking turned to Daisuke, who sat the table, greeting him the way he'd greet anyone else, just a little.. colder. "Daisuke. It's been a while."

Daisuke nodded. "True, in so many ways."

Blahking tilted his head, almost smiling before remembering who he was dealing with. "I hear you're interested in helping us search for our lost clan members. I imagine you have something at stake in this beyond your freedom. I'm here to hear your side of the story."

"They brought my mate back to me through a parlor trick. They wished… they did steal my son- MY son, mind you!- from me and, when I rightly protested they slapped me into that…" He growled over a few choice words, realizing his anger was making his guards (visible and otherwise) nervous.

He had stood in his rage. He sat again, forcing calm.

"-that mask. Yes, I'd say I have a stake in this…"

"What's the real stake?" Blahking asked boldly. "Money? Power? Revenge? What's your real motivation here?"

Catt tensed, as did Jen. As did most of the guard. Daisuke sat there for a moment, then said surprisingly softly.

"Have you ever held your child in your arms?"

Blahking stood his ground. "I've.. babysat. I've never been a parent, though, no. I suppose that's something we have in common."

Daisuke gave Blahking a sharp look, but managed to (mostly) keep from adding a sharp tongue.

"He was just an accident of convenience. Where has he been since then? Who has been the better father?"

"I wouldn't know who you mean," Blahking answered nonchalantly. "So where are they keeping your child?"

Daisuke gave a sour smirk. "They were keeping him as much to keep me in line as to piss Catrina off, you know. Even with the mask, they knew they needed a hostage."

Blahking bent over the table, dangerously close to the dangerous furry. "Surely you know something. Unless this is beyond a beast's ability?"

It was Catt that growled at that, but Daisuke merely glanced at him before glaring at Blahking. "Perhaps. As much as it is beyond a 'beast's ability' to kidnap a child!"

The head guard leaned in and whispered something to Blahking, who moved back. "Alright. So you can control yourself under the lightest challenge. It's possible - and I stress the word possible - that you're not the monster we believe and we're not about to walk into your planned ambush. But you still haven't given us anything of value, beast!"

Despite the nervous guards Daisuke stood, showing off a muscular body. "Oh, I'm all the monster your worst nightmares believe. And more. I just know which side the people I care for are on. As for my 'value', I'm more than willing to dem-"

Catt moved between the two men. "I doubt that will be needed, right, sir?"

"No," Blahking answered, eyes still on Daisuke. "Who was in control of you?"

"The mask was in control of me. As for who controlled the mask…"

Daisuke thought a moment.

"Several used it to get me to do their bidding. That fool, Jester. The rat Slit. Even that bitch Kadlin gave me orders. Some of those orders were… well, you can guess."

"Let's just leave it at 'guess.'" Catt growled. "Don't need the ghost of Konall haunting us."

"Which one kidnapped.." started Blahking.

"Slit… which I plan to do to his throat." Daisuke growled. "Asshole planned to make me work for bugbears next, whatever they are…"

Cattaras, Jen and Blahking all glanced at each other. "The ship!"

Daisuke nodded sourly. "Yeah…. Said somethin' about a ship. Mostly about me enjoyin' bein' somebody's cabin boy…"

Blahking turned to Cattaras. "That leaves us in a troublesome spot. We could assume they're involved and take aggressive action, but if this is all a hoax.."

Catt growled just a bit. "You think anyone would take a beating like the one Daisuke got for a hoax? Unless you're thinking I lied about it? That Jen lied?"

Blahking almost smiled. "What about Slit?"

"Slit is a Muri-dan," Daisuke growled. "To say that one of his kind is lying is… redundant."

"Would it really be beyond him to feed you false information, just in case you turned on them?"

"With the mask holding my mind he had no reason to doubt my… loyalty." Daisuke shrugged. "And he naturally thought that I was not clever enough to see a way to rid myself of it- or that I'd be willing to go to the lengths I did."

"These guys are generally a bunch of smug assholes." Cattaras chuckled. "They'd probably have thought Daisuke too stupid to rebel even without the mask."

Blahking sighed. "Then it looks like we have no other option. I formally request your guidance in finding my missing clanmates."

Daisuke actually purred a bit. "I was going to ask for your help rescuing my family, so I believe the answer is 'yes'."

The guards nearly flipped out when Blahking reached for a handshake but he waved them off. Catt watched warily as Daisuke accepted, the two men testing each other's grip as their gazes locked. No love here, merely two men with similar goals willing to put up with each other. For now...

by Catrina/ Cattaras (and Dash)

As you can see, I tried to get help from other handlers for this one, although of course, I still ended up writing and co-writing quite a bit of it myself.

It would be easy to forget this one's divided into two quests after part one.

Although I went with numbering the Toot bits, I didn't bother to try to list the other bits numerically, as I had in previous Finales, which I've done for previous Finales in the past.. like the 14 parter for the mafia town mission that opened the season. I try not to overdo that one.

It isn't always easy to pull off and manage, but I liked having different groups and various contributing writers for this one. I think it makes the Finale that much more interesting. Next up; some of our heroes split up while others meet up in part II!!