Crossover Chronicles (6) - (Locked; see final post for details)

"Oh, I... I never realised that," Alm replied upon hearing Robin's words of encouragement and support. "I never thought that the way I think of myself right now would impact the way I would rule Valentia. I haven't accomplished much yet; I've only just defeated Duma and united Valentia. However, I think with Celica by my side, I will never make fatal mistakes. She would never let me become corrupt like Duma. She's the one person I look up to. She's the one who puts me at ease when I'm worried. She's been there for me since my childhoood, and I owe my life to her. I want her to be the one by my side while ruling Valentia so we can ensure peace would remain for the rest of our lives. She'll be the one who will keep me in check." Celica slightly blushed when she heard Alm talking about her like this. She knew Alm had feelings for her, and she also felt the same. "Oh, Alm, I will stay by your side always. I think you will be a fine ruler of Valentia, even with little experience in being royalty. I will always be there to support you and steer you on the right path. Don't mind what the nobles said to you in the past. As Rigel's true heir, you have the right to rule Valentia and their words and actions should not impact how you think of yourself." Alm nodded in agreement in response to Celica's words. "Thank you, Celica."

Suddenly, a rapidly-growing sound could be heard coming from the bushes--in the very same direction the strange slime creature had fled earlier. Maniacal rustling and a chorus of frenzied squeaks rapidly drew closer and closer.

Robin had just a moment to enjoy the heartwarming moment taking place before the alarming ruckus caught his attention. "Wait, do you hear that? ... Something's coming!" he warned everyone, quickly putting up his guard when he realized how quickly the noise was growing louder. He stared warily in its direction. "Brace yourselves. I feel we're in for a fight again..."

Cookie was startled when the mood of the situation suddenly changed. In a bit of a flustered fashion, she scrambled into position. Gripping the handle of her flail, she locked her gaze into the sound's direction. "Oh creampuff, it sounds like there's a LOT of 'em...!" she remarked, her eyes flicking back and forth across the bushes in anticipation of where their first foe would emerge from.

A tender smile appeared on Lucas' face as he listened to Alm and Celica's words to each other, but the interrupting sound of something rapidly approaching caught him off-guard, causing him to swing around and look towards the bushes instead. "Good thing there's a lot of us, too..." he remarked cautiously, keeping his gaze steadily focused.

Byleth gasped faintly when the frantic sounds came into earshot, and just a moment later she had already drawn her weapon--a basic, iron sword--in preparation. "That squeaking..." she murmured, trailing off as she scanned the surrounding bushes vigilantly for the first sight of danger.

Alm also heard the strange, squeaky noise. He unsheathed his sword again, preparing for incoming danger. "Who, or what, is there?" Alm asked aloud. Celica stood next to him, also wondering what was happening. She had her spells ready again, and she was also prepared to use her sword if necessary. "Everyone, prepare to fight in case those things are dangerous. It sounds like there are a lot of them are coming toward us, and we also don't know how dangerous they may be," Celica warned everyone.

Marie quickly rushed to take cover by the giant tooth--making sure to take a moment and cover part of it and a little section of the ground behind it with ink. Once she was finished setting up, she prepared a charger shot and crouched behind the tooth in wait, just barely peeking around the corner. She listened closely to the approaching squeaking. "Uh... That sounds kinda like--..."

Before Marie could finish, little red ChuChus--just like the one found lurking in the tooth--came rushing out of the bushes in staggering droves, all charging towards the group at once.

"... HOLY CARP."

"That weird thing! It got backup! ... Like CRAZY!" Cookie cried, briefly stunned by the sheer number of the creatures.

"Looks like we'll just have to force our way out of this," Robin remarked, gritting his teeth and taking out his sword. Having to instantly engage an enemy they knew nothing about put him on edge, but with the speed at which their foes were flooding in, they really had no choice. "Just try to strike down as many as you can, as quickly as possible! We can't allow ourselves to be overwhelmed!"

Just a moment later, the ChuChu swarm had reached them, with those at the front leaping forward to attack. Those closer to the back spread out to the sides and continued onward, eventually circling around and surrounding the entire party.

With a nod in response to Robin, Lucina swiftly rushed ahead and swung her Falchion at a cluster of ChuChus in front of her, which was thankfully enough to defeat them. After this, she paused just long enough to look around and see just how many of these creatures they were up against. "Gah, these... things... They're everywhere!" she gasped, her jaw briefly hanging open. Then, not wanting to waste any more time just staring at the bizarre monsters, she quickly sprung back into action. Though they were a bit unsettling, at least they also seemed weak so far.

"Geez, I can't even COUNT 'em all!" Pit chimed in as he swung his dual blades to and fro, already getting to work taking out some of the monsters.

Lucas attempted to prepare a PSI attack, but unfortunately he couldn't focus quickly enough, and two ChuChus rammed into him with their slimy, jelly-like bodies. "Urf...!" he grunted, getting knocked over by the force. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself back onto his feet before they could attack him again, this time thrusting his stick at them instead. It proved effective, and the two ChuChus were defeated.

Byleth's eyes grew slightly wider when she saw that the group was completely surrounded. "Right," she responded briefly to Robin's order. Then--her expression promptly morphing into one of intense, battle-ready focus--she leapt towards her attackers and efficiently took them out with a well-timed swing of her sword. "Hyah!"

Mandy glanced frantically from side to side, watching as the ChuChus slowly closed in on them until there was no escape. "Um, ummm...!" As she lacked a weapon of her own, she was pretty much at a loss for what to do. When a single ChuChu suddenly slithered up in front of her, her eyes locked onto it in anticipation. "You're about to lunge, aren't you...?" she questioned slowly, not entirely sure why was speaking to the monster. Then, after an uncomfortable pause, the ChuChu proceeded to pounce. "YUP!"" Squeezing her eyes shut, all she could think to do in this moment was throw a punch at it, using all the strength she could gather.

Cookie desperately swung her flail in a horizontal arc, striking and destroying several of the deranged blobs at once. She seemed almost stunned at how easily they were defeated. "Welp... At least they're not tough," she remarked, sighing.

"Good thing!" Marie called back mid-throw, having to resort to burst bombs to fend off the hordes. The enemies were far too numerous for her to pick off with her charger. "Not sure how long I can keep this up, though...!"

Realizing that Mandy could easily end up overwhelmed due to being unarmed, Robin quickly came to her aid. With wide slashes, he tried his best to keep additional groups of monsters at bay as they pounced forward.

Now getting on a roll, Cookie accidentally ended up moving a little further away from the group, into the crowd of monsters. Unfortunately, it was too late when she realized that she was becoming cut off and surrounded; the monsters lunged at her from all directions, sticking to her with their slimy bodies. "AAH! H-help!" she called frantically to the rest.

Robin looked in the direction of the cry for help, gasping at what he saw. "Cookie!"
In the split-second that Robin was distracted, he almost ended up being tackled as well. He just barely turned in time to slash away more of the attacking creatures. He knew that he couldn't leave Mandy's side at the moment, so he could only worry and hope that someone else would come to Cookie's rescue.

"Hahh... Thanks, Robin..." Mandy sighed, grateful for his help. She watched on for a few moments, impressed, as he skillfully dealt with bunches of the monsters at once. Then, unable to help feeling increasingly useless as everyone else around her pulled their weight, she marched up to a single nearby Chuchu, her face scrunching slightly into a determined scowl, and proceeded to kick it in the face. "Take THAT!"

Cookie's cry in the distance instantly caught Byleth's attention. As soon as she saw the dire situation her new ally was in, she went sprinting towards her at full speed. "I'm here!" she reassured her, swiftly getting to work knocking the sticky monsters off of Cookie with a few well-aimed swipes.

Robin's troubled expression gave way to a triumphant smile upon seeing Byleth come to Cookie's rescue. Now that he knew things were under control with them, he was able to fully focus on fighting by Mandy's side. "Anytime," he responded to her thanks. As she kicked one of the monsters, he had her back, slashing at several more who attempted to sneak up from behind. "As long as we work together like this, we'll get through this just fine," he remarked encouragingly.

Byleth's skillful swordplay astonished Cookie. "Whoa... T-thanks, Byleth," she stammered, wiping away a bit of red Chu jelly that had found its way onto her cheek as her attackers met Byleth's blade. In just a moment, her courage had fully returned. "Come on, let's team up!" she suggested excitedly, swinging her flail around as she braced herself and prepared to continue fighting.

With Robin's support, Mandy was starting to feel a boost in her fighting spirit. "Yeah... We've got this!" she chimed in with more motivation than before, slapping another Chuchu aside as she uttered the word 'got'.

Byleth turned to face Cookie and, in response to her suggestion, gave a single nod. "I'll watch your back." Just a moment later, she whirled around so that she and Cookie were back-to-back, intending on foiling any attackers that may have been planning to sneak up on the latter. Needless to say, about as quickly as another monster came lunging her way, it had already fallen.

Robin swiped a Chuchu right out of the air as it flung itself towards his face, reducing it to a lifeless blob of jelly that fell straight down to the ground. "How are you holding up over there, Mandy?"

"And I'll watch yours!" Teaming up with her newest friend provided a sizable boost to Cookie's morale. As more of the gelatinous monsters approached, she boldly whacked them aside with her flail, one by one. At one point, she even got two with one swing. Though her fighting technique was not even close to Byleth's in terms of skill, she made up for it with sheer heart.

"Good, good...!" Mandy responded, taking a quick breather between attempts to fight.

Once again, Cookie's brimming enthusiasm gave Byleth's own morale a boost as she continued to skillfully fend off monster after monster. "Everything under--HAAH--control?" she asked at one point, dealing a mighty blow to two Chuchus at once in the middle of her question.

Robin glanced over at Mandy. Even though she said she was fine now, he had a feeling she may become overwhelmed later on, considering her lack of a weapon. "Hm..." After a moment of thought and weighing the options, he suddenly offered her his sword. "Here, take this," he told her, reaching for his tome to use instead.

"Yup!" Cookie chirped in response between strikes. When she had a bit more time to breathe, she looked over to see how Byleth was handling things. "... Not as 'under control' as YOU have stuff, though!" she remarked, astonished.

"Whoa, really...?" Mandy paused for a moment, staring at the sword. Then, realizing she shouldn't dilly-dally for too long, she gratefully accepted it. "Thanks a bunch!" Quickly, she got to work trying out her newly-borrowed weapon.

"I'm just doing what I must," Byleth responded in a calm, humble manner, taking this brief moment of quiet to glance back over her shoulder and see Cookie's situation. "Looks like you've cleared away quite a few, yourself. Keep it up!" she continued with some words of encouragement.

In the few seconds Byleth was looking away, a swarm of Chuchus slithered closer and closer, all preparing to lunge at once...

Robin acknowledged Mandy's thanks with a little nod. "No problem!" Then, he quickly got back to fighting as well, now utilizing Thunder.

Cookie's face lit up a little when Byleth remarked positively on her fighting. "Thanks! I--...!!" Suddenly, she noticed the gang of Chuchus creeping up behind her friend, causing her to gasp. "Byleth, look out! Behind you!"

With a new way to fight, Mandy was taking down Chuchus at a much steadier rate than before.

Her eyes widening slightly, Byleth whirled around, coming face-to-face with the swarm of Chuchus. In the same moment they pounced, she swung at them with lightning speed, uttering: "Not so fast!" Then, once they had been dealt with, she very briefly returned her attention to Cookie. "Thank you, Cookie."

Meanwhile, the leaves of the trees overhead rustled faintly.

"Phew... No prob!" Cookie replied with a relieved chuckle and a little wave of her hand. "Good thing your reflexes are awesome!"

Cookie turned back to the direction she was supposed to pay attention to. "Welp, back to w--AAH!" Upon doing so, she came face-to-face with an entire swarm of Chuchus leaping at once. Apparently, they had snuck up while she was distracted. "Back! Get back!" She flung her flail around in a wild panic, frantically smacking Chuchus away in a quite awkward-looking fashion.

At the sound of Cookie's shout, Byleth once again whipped around to check on her ally. "! Cookie--... AH!" All of a sudden, she was interrupted when a Chuchu dropped down from above in a most startlingly abrupt fashion, landing on her shoulder. Quickly following this, a second Chuchu snuck up on her from the side, ramming its sticky, slimy head into her hand and causing her to lose her grip on her sword.

Just as she had dealt with the last of the Chuchus who had sneak attacked her, Cookie heard Byleth's surprised shout. She whirled around to see what was going on, and was shocked to see Byleth's sword fall to the ground. There was already a Chuchu on her shoulder, and now that she was unarmed, it seemed certain that there was nothing stopping more from piling on and burying her--she was in serious trouble. "BYLETH!" With no hesitation, Cookie started dashing over to the rescue.

Although her sword was still on the ground, Byleth made no move to pick it up right away. Instead, her focus appeared to just return all of a sudden as she threw a swift punch towards the Chuchu on her shoulder, knocking it off. No more than a second later, she spun around and sent the other Chuchu flying with a well-aimed kick. "HeeYAH!"

Cookie awkwardly stumbled to a halt and stared in amazement as Byleth simply transitioned to fighting with punches and kicks--and very effectively, too. "Whoa, uh... Alright, cool! You've GOT this!" she cheered, regaining her composure and receiving another morale boost. It was hard not to feel confident fighting alongside someone who was clearly a highly seasoned fighter, especially one who fought with such intensity. It was hard to believe that this was the same quiet, distant person who had approached them earlier; in battle, she completely transformed.

Cookie went back to fighting by Byleth's side, trying to coordinate with her as much as possible. Though it was difficult to keep up sometimes, she tried to focus in whatever direction her ally was facing away from at any given moment. Even though there were Chuchus closing in from all sides, the situation felt strangely under control.

Byleth's concentration didn't waver as she continued to help Cookie fight off the hoards of Chuchus, keeping her attention primarily on her ally's blindspots. Not wanting to waste any time reaching down for her sword as another particularly large swarm prepared to lunge, she rushed forwards, sprung into the air, landed in front of them and delivered a wide kick, defeating several at once.

For some reason, Cookie felt the need to try and pull off a fancy combat move of her own. She started spinning around, building up momentum for a catastrophic flail smash... only to end up spinning around at least one time too many and making herself dizzy. In the confusion, she stumbled, collided with a tree, reeled back, slipped in a puddle of Chu jelly, yelped as her feet flew out from under her, and ultimately fell back-first onto the ground.

Cookie hardly had a moment to react to the abrupt impact before a Chuchu latched onto her right hand. Though she was still somewhat dizzy--not to mention a bit sore from falling--she sat up with a jolt and tried desperately to shake it off, apparently to no avail. Suddenly, while Cookie was still shaking her flail-hand around, the Chuchu latched onto it decided to leap off... and onto her face instead.

It was in this moment of shock that Cookie dropped her flail, as she immediately brought both hands to her face to try and pull the slimy blob off. She unsteadily rose to her feet, unable to see as long as her eyes were obscured by the gelatinous mass that she was so desperately trying to dislodge. "Mmph, Brmmrmph!"

As she fought her way through the rest of the swarm around her, Byleth partially observed Cookie from the corner of her vision. It appeared the latter was winding up for a powerful blow with her flail, but then everything abruptly fell apart.

Without a moment of pause after sending two more Chuchus flying, Byleth dashed to Cookie's rescue, firmly grasping the Chuchu stuck to her ally's face and yanking it off, then whirling around and pitching it towards a tree, all in a fluid series of motions. After this, she looked towards Cookie, sporting a considerably less intense expression than the one she had just moments before. "There... Take a deep breath and try to regroup," she instructed calmly while her eyes subtly darted about, searching Cookie for any signs of injury. "Are you hurt from that fall?" Though her attention was still mainly on Cookie as she spoke, she also made sure to look to their surroundings every few moments in case she had to fend off any more attackers.

Cookie gasped for air as soon as the Chuchu was successfully pried off of her face. She stood hunched-over with her hands on her knees, panting at first, then focusing more on breathing deeply as per Byleth's guidance. Focusing on breathing quickly centered her mind; she felt much less flustered and more in control than she would have otherwise. "No, I think I'm OK," she responded to Byleth's question. With a small sigh, she straightened her posture, looking upwards and meeting her ally's gaze. "Thanks again, by the way! I couldn't... get a grip there," she remarked with a subtle giggle, joking lightheartedly about her situation with the slippery monster.

It would seem that the reality of Cookie's situation--being unarmed in the middle of battle--had yet to dawn on her in this moment. While she was distracted, two Chuchus sneakily slithered out of a bush, grabbed her fallen flail, and started carrying it away.