Dee's Sharo Home

The coordinates DragonierMan had been provided led to a snowy hillside, somewhat more difficult to navigate than he'd have imagined. Barren trees dotted the landscape, giving the place a look that only a true fan of cold climates could love. At the top of the hill, he saw a well-lit mansion, two stories and Netopian in design. As he recalled, however, in both her .GMO form as Dee and her true form as Myst, she'd been Electopian. Perhaps it was just a matter of taste.

It looked like something was scratching around at the front of the mansion... Whatever it was, it didn't seem humanoid, but it was hard to tell from a distance.

"Achoo!" came a cute female sneeze as three figures in heavy winter cloaks trudged up the hill. The navi and his SPs had been sent drop coordinates about five miles off from their true destination. And so they were forced to walk the entire way uphill, in the snow. Steam came from the breath of the figure in the lead as he trudged ever upward. The navi was much taller and broader of shoulder than the two SPs that followed, and seemed to have less trouble navigating through the snow. But the snow was packed high and it slowed down even the strongest of the group to a crawl. Sniffles, heavy breathing, and the crunching of snow provided the only background noise to the stark stillness around them.

Then an arctic wind cut across them and sent their cloaks fluttering. "I don't think I will ever get used to Sharo Net Aya," the female voice complained as she flailed to grip her cloak tighter around herself. The other figure that trudged beside her let out a puff, "We are almost there Suzume, hang on a little longer." Aya's Netopian face, hidden underneath a white hood, was as red as her sister's, and beads of sweat permeated her brow. It had been less than a week since she had suffered from a serious injury at the hands of a virus, and she was not quite recovered.

"Don't worry about me," Suzume huffed and tried to force a smile through her fatigue. Then her expression turned to concern. "We should be worrying about you. How's the hip?" As if answering her question, Aya bit back a twinge of pain and stumbled. Suzume reached out and caught her before she fell. One of her hands went to Aya's brow and felt the heat and sweat, before Aya placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently off. "I'm fine. Quit asking."

But before Suzume could refute the voice of their master cut in. "We're here." The two girls looked up and saw that they were within sight of an impressive Netopian mansion. Their leader adjusted his snow-white cloak about his shoulders and signaled them to follow. Aya shrugged Suzume off and trudged up the hill after the navi. Suzume, after another look of concern creased her brow, followed her sister.

Soon enough they had made it to the top of the hill and stood at the outskirts of the mansion. The three looked at the mansion in awe for a moment, craning their heads up to look at the wide snow-covered roof, before their ears caught the sound of scratching. Their eyes darted around them as they scanned for the origin of the sound, before they noticed something nearby. Out of instinct, the three rummaged in their cloaks for weapons. DragonierMan tossed his cloak over his shoulders as he stormed towards the sound, drawing a wicked-looking serrated blade from the scabbard at his belt. He reached out to grab the "something" with a clawed-gauntlet, pulling it into the light, while simultaneously leveling his sword at the neck.

DragonierMan found that the source of the scratching noise was actually a BombBoy virus, and that it didn't have any neck to speak of. Still, it had plenty of area to run a blade across, but before he could, it wormed free. All it had been doing was pushing together a pile of bombs at the front of the mansion, having no other way to get inside for lack of hands. Its only way inside would be to blow open the entire front wall, which seemed to be what it wanted to do.

Given this, one could easily suspect it was in DragonierMan's best interest to get rid of the virus, unless he wanted the whole mansion to detonate before he even got inside.

BombBoy: 80 HP
BoyBombA: 5 HP
BoyBombB: 5 HP
BoyBombC: 5 HP

DragonierMan: 200 HP
Aya: 60 HP
Suzume: 60 HP

Terrain: 100% Snow, Mansion door and wall just ahead

--BATTLE START!--

"Sssss."

"Oh no you don't. Aya, Suzume," DragonierMan commanded as he picked up the nearest bomb, turned, and threw it down the hill. "On it," Aya said just as her and Suzume sprung forward to grab hold of a bomb apiece, then tossed them where DragonierMan tossed his seconds earlier. "And you too," DragonierMan said as he reached down to toss the BombBoy away from the mansion. If he could, he would aim to throw the BombBoy at the pile of bombs it laid. Then the Dragon let out an piercing screech. Solidifying the air into a lance of sonic waves that would detonate the bombs from a safe distance. Aya and Suzume dropped to their knees and cupped hands over their ears to block out the noise.

DragonierMan and his group set to work throwing away all of the bombs one by one, and then finally, the bomb planter himself. DragonierMan's shout detonated the bombs as they followed the virus down the hill, but found that the virus emerged entirely undamaged; apparently, the thing was smart enough to safeguard itself from its own attacks. Interesting, that!

... The virus was not destroyed, but did continue to tumble down the hill and outside of the field of vision. If DragonierMan wanted to finish it off, he'd have to go all the way down to the bottom of the hill...

Well! How about that door? He could try knocking (though he might easily doubt the effectiveness due to the giant size of the house), or he could use the button-wired buzzer on the side. Or, he could simply try walking in!

BombBoy: ESCAPED

DragonierMan: 200 HP
Aya: 60 HP
Suzume: 60 HP

Terrain: 100% Snow, Mansion door and wall just ahead

--BATTLE CLEAR!--

DragonierMan gets: No Prize.

DragonierMan followed the virus impassively with his eyes until it disappeared from sight. "I wish you would warn us next time you are going to do that," Suzume said loudly behind him as her hearing started to return. Aya just kept her hands over her ears and sat in the snow, seeming to be dizzy from the sudden vertigo, and trying to regain her senses. It was amazing that nobody came to the door or window due to the racket they just caused, what with the screech and the explosion.

DragonierMan turned around and came up to the door. He was about to rap on it with a guantleted-fist when Suzume came up beside him and pressed the button-wired buzzer on its side. "Let's hope they're home," Suzume said in a more normal tone. It seemed like her hearing had almost recovered. "I would hate to have made this trip for nothing."

Nobody answered from inside the house as the buzzer rang out. It would appear that the suspicion based on the lack of answer after the explosion was properly founded; whoever was inside the house, they did not appear to be capable of answering the door. If anyone at all was inside, that is.

But lights were on! DragonierMan and the others noticed distinct luminescence pouring out from the upper floor and also the right side of the mansion. Even if the main hall was unlit, somebody was doing something inside. A precursory touch of the handle revealed that the door wasn't locked at all, which would allow DragonierMan and crew to stroll on in.

As if telling the three that formality was unnecessary, the door suddenly burst open, nearly knocking them over. No one was on the other side; apparently, either the wind whipping around them was stronger than they thought or some sort of apparition had let them in and then promptly disappeared. It might even be Dee playing a prank on her associate, as she seemed likely to do.

The door opened up directly into a lobby, very spacious with several varnished wooden tables, each surrounded by four chairs. The room seemed sort of like a hunting lodge, judging by the fireplace and many virus heads mounted around the room. A miniature bar, complete with liquors and barstools, sat in the corner of the room. The floor was all hardwood, covered here and there by plushy carpets with very basic patterns, like rings and stripes.

A staircase wound around the left side of the room, then at the upper floor; the rail allowed them a peak into the upstairs hallway. At the back of the room, a large set of double doors opened into an ominously dark room... really, everything would be very dark, if it weren't for the light projected from the kitchen on the right.

Perhaps the most notable feature of the lavish lodge was the combination of steam pouring out from one of the rooms upstairs and smoke pouring out of the kitchen. This gave DragonierMan and crew a few clues as to where they ought to go next.

As the smoke billowed over the three, they began coughing. Aya's eyes watered as she pitched forward into the snow from her kneeling position. She reached into the band of her skirt and pulled out a small stretch of cloth, which she quickly tied around her mouth like a poor-woman's filter, and began crawling in through the doorway on her hands and knees. Her head still ringing. "*Cough.* What the he-*cough* is going on here?" She wondered aloud as she tried to stay under the rising smoke.

Suzume followed her sister's lead, dropping into a crawl and scooting after Aya after securing her own bandana around her mouth. Aya headed toward the kitchen, as that seemed the closest source of the smoke that she could reach with the less inhaled smoke. Both of them draped their cloaks over themselves like blankets to keep the worst of the smoke off them. DragonierMan, meanwhile, drew up a portion of his own cloak with his arm and began fanning it out in front of him as he followed the girls toward the kitchen. Coughing all the while.

DragonierMan and company, with Aya in the lead, moved into the kitchen, from which smoke was billowing like the mouth of some angry beast. It hadn't looked like that much from far away, but as they got closer, the smoke seemed to become denser, blocking their view and choking them somewhat. Still, it was just smoke, and there was no huge fire nearby. It was more like someone had been grilling something indoors, left it on, and then forgot to open a window.

Whoever it was, they jumped in place, then called out warily.

"D-DragonierMan! You're already here? D-Don't come in here right now, I'm still... still preparing dinner! It's under control!"

The voice was clearly that of Arch, the Neo-Shogun subordinate whom DragonierMan had shared intimate space with earlier. She seemed to be having some trouble with her cooking, if that was indeed what she was doing.

DragonierMan peered through the haze and tried to find a window to open. "What in the *cough* are you two doing that *cough* is causing smoke to fill the *cough* whole building?" If there was a window in the kitchen to open and he found it, he then attempts to cross to it, to open it. Meanwhile Aya and Suzume attempt to crawl under the smoke towards the sound of the voice. The two weren't the best cooks, but even they wouldn't think it was 'under control' with all this smoke. The source of the voice might need saving. "I'm opening a *cough* window. Suzume, *cough* Aya, get her out of here."

With the command set, Aya and Suzume reached out to grab the figure in the smoke and pull her down to the floor.

"No, really! I can explain! It's just a massive roast! I thought you'd be a while longer, so I was cooking it now, a-and then later, we'd... er...!" Arch started to exclaim as DragonierMan opened one of the windows to aerate the room. As Aya and Suzume went to drag out Arch, however, they found their efforts interrupted by a loud and thunderous voice; DragonierMan heard it too.

"Wrong...! Fool! You must become a better husband!" an older, male voice roared from somewhere in the house. Things became very confused; one minute, Aya and Suzume were moving for their target and DragonierMan was controlling the smoke situation. The next, all three of them found the area getting colder and gradually more visible... but the visibility capped at a point and the temperature just kept decreasing...

The smoke had somehow become a snowstorm! Furthermore, they were no longer even inside... somehow, the three had been transported back outside the mansion and were now looking inward towards the open front door again.

"You who defiles the sanctity of marriage, consider your actions and try again! You are blessed with two women close to you. Perhaps they can clarify you on the error of your ways," the voice insisted, barely audible over the din of the snowstorm. Looking inside, DragonierMan could tell that the smoke from the kitchen had slightly diminished, while the steam still continued to pour from upstairs.

"Wha-?" Suzume exclaimed as she pitched face-first into a snowbank. One minute she was attempting to grab at a figure in the smoke, the next minute she found herself outside in the snow sporting the same half-reaching position. And quickly became destabilized. She pulled herself out a moment later and shook off the snow. "Ayaaaa, what's going oooon?" she cried out to her twin.

Aya fared little better as she brushed some snow off her knees and stood up. She turned back toward the house and gave it a long look. "I don't know. But something is not right." She said with furrowed brow before stepping to the side of DragonierMan, who was removing his helmet. "Did you hear the voice too Master? It said something about a 'husband' and 'marriage.' Are you married to these Neo-Shoguns?"

DragonierMan held the helmet in his hands and was looking into the reflective metal of its back for answers, but Suzume snatched it from his hands. Her face was gleaming in mischief as she looked into Drago's. "Heh, heh, heh. Master, you didn't tell us you were married. To two women no-less." She gave him a mock-punch to the shoulder, "I never knew my Master was such a stud."

But Aya was not in such a playful mood. "Suzume this is no laughing matter. Someone or something is in that mansion and we got to find out what it is, and whether it is a threat to Master." The idea that a threat to DragonierMan existed sobered Suzume up a little. She nodded to Aya as they both turned towards the door to the haunted building. "You're right Aya. Let's learn what's going on here." The twins, squaring their shoulders to the task ahead of them, attempted to enter the mansion through the front door. Suzume then placed Drago's helmet on the nearest table.

DragonierMan scratched the hair on his head and wiped some frost from his stubble. Was this some sort of trick... or test? He didn't remember getting married to Arch and Dee. But then again, parts of his memory were foggy at best. Or... perhaps this was a precursor to getting married. Which would then raise the question of whether he wanted to get married. And also the question of: why? Why is the concept of marriage even here in this place?

Well regardless, there was some sort of mystery going on here, and DragonierMan was going to figure out what was going on. So squaring his shoulders to the task ahead, he attempted to walk through the door into the living room. He looked around the room with his SPs, scanning for the presence that kicked them outside. Drago inhaled deeply. "I demand, voice, that you show yourself and explain what is going on!" He bellowed at the ceiling to the entire household.

"DragonierMan, you're not alone? P-Please be patient!" Arch called out from the kitchen. She apparently thought that his demanding question was aimed at her. "Have you talked to Dee yet? Maybe you should go do that first! Dinner might be ready by then..."

"A stubborn one, I see. It is not my place to step into this scene as an actor! My name is MarriageMan; my role is to watch over lovers and make sure that both sides are ready and capable of upholding a proper wedlock. You may deny your need of me, but this is my personal initiative and nothing you say can dissuade me. Do not waste words arguing back! Simply run to your lovers and obey their every command," the voice continued as the three re-entered the house.

"Do you wish to deny that you are lovers? Do not take your flings lightly! Marriage is a duty and a responsibility. As a man, you must take responsibility for what you've done to the women! I will not have negligent husbands! I will not have slacker fathers! The perfect golden chain of marriage will be hardened and shaped by my own fire and hammer, and you have no say in it," the voice continued in an authoritarian tone. Judging by Arch's lack of any response, she clearly couldn't hear the navi speaking.

Whoever it was, they were either very radical in their beliefs, very mistaken about the extent of DragonierMan's relationship with the girls, or both.

"Father?" Suzume asked as she turned to DragonierMan. "Are you a father too? You have been a busy o-." Aya bopped Suzume over the head. "We would have been told if he was a husband or a father. This 'MarriageMan' is mistaken about our Master." She turned to DragonierMan, "What do you want to do about this?"

DragonierMan had a furrowed brow as he took in MarriageMan's words. Sure, he had 'relations' with the two generals... But Drago was not one to stomach some navi he didn't know determine something so binding. He brought the two girls near him so he could whisper. "First we find Dee. Then we find this MarriageMan." He ground a fist into the palm of his other hand in emphasis. The girls nodded.

The three broke their huddle and began heading to the staircase up. They had a general to find.

"It seems you can follow a decent request after all! Thank goodness, for all of our sakes. I don't have the patience for further failures," the navi grumbled from some indeterminable location, seeing the three progress up the stairs. Once they'd made it up, they found that the hallway branched in two directions, forward and right. Each hallway had one door at the end, as well as another positioned halfway down the hall. Steam was pouring out of the front, halfway-point door. Listening in, DragonierMan could hear someone inside, humming casually. The door was cracked just a little (hence the steam pouring out); with this in mind, the gang could take a peek inside before progressing any further.

DragonierMan and gang, trying to fend off the smoke with their cloaks, walked over to the smoke-belching doorway and pushed it open to peer inside.

Drago had a few questions to ask, about this MarriageMan among others. It seemed inconceivable that one navi would have the power to subjugate two Neo-Shogun generals to this charade and was capable of exerting such control on his surroundings. It was still unclear as to what exactly happened in regards to the snowstorm that transported Drago and the twins outside. What other powers did MarriageMan possess? Hopefully Myst would have some knowledge about what they were up against that an average navi would not.

Then something hit Drago and gave him pause: What if the snowstorm was Myst's creation? She did possess powers of ice and wind the last time they battled. And Arch seemed insistent about something... Could they all be in cahoots with MarriageMan, assuming that the man was not their own creation? And if any of that was so, why the elaborate deception?

A million questions ran across Drago's face as he peered inside. The three tried to stay quiet, the twins watching to see what was going on that would create so much smoke. Drago on the other hand, was watching specifically to see how Dee was acting.

With many thoughts in his mind, DragonierMan pushed the door open and entered, along with his two SPs. The mist pouring out made it nearly as impossible to see the way through as the smoke had in the kitchen, but one thing was clear: they'd definitely entered a bathroom. A few sinks and mirrors visible to the left made that obvious.

"DragonierMan? You naughty soldier! Can't stay away from your favorite general even while she's in the bath, can you?" Dee's voice came flirtatiously from inside the mist. "That is you, right?" she continued, realizing she had no proof that it was him.

"With God as my witness, I shall not stand for disobedience, DragonierMan!" the voice of MarriageMan warned him. "Unless you want to go back out in the cold, you will not go against the wishes of your beloved."

The twins stood behind DragonierMan as he entered the bathroom. Aya touched Suzume on the shoulder to get her attention. When Suzume turned to her sister, Aya motioned for her to follow. Suzume was about to object, but Aya pointed toward the ceiling and motioned down the hall with her head. Suzume kept her mouth shut as they both crept down the hallway towards the other doorway, cracking it open to peer inside. Thus leaving DragonierMan alone, and the center of attention, while they searched for MarriageMan.

Drago heard MarriageMan's voice but couldn't understand what was wrong, Dee didn't tell him to do anything beyond confirm that it was him. "Yes, it is I. But then I am no stranger to walking in on the bath of a general." He chuckled at the memory of the time at the NS camp. "What's with all the steam and smoke though? Arch is causing all sorts of havoc in the kitchen. Are you both trying to burn down this house? That seems counterproductive to relaxing."

"Smoke? Arch is burning down the kitchen?" Dee asked, then broke into a laugh. "That's impossible! Archie's always focused unless someone teases her... Oh wait, I was teasing her. But I'm sure she's focusing! Don't worry about it, she won't let us burn," the general assured him. "As for the steam, well, I just like a steamy bath! Are you surprised?"

Aya and Suzume found that they could sneak away without being lectured by MarriageMan. The door at the end of the hall, however, didn't have much interesting in it. The only thing there was a set of two long and narrow beds, along with a lot of old-looking wooden furniture. The beds looked recently slept in. Further inspection might yield more interesting items, but there didn't appear to be any place for MarriageMan to hide, unless he had jammed himself into the closet or taken refuge under the bed.

"Now, before we continue, I want you to keep quiet," Dee whispered to her soldier, "and close that door behind you. I don't want Archie getting suspicious! So close the door, keep your lips shut, and come and join me over here at the tub~"

DragonierMan closed the door behind him as Aya and Suzume came out of the other room. Emboldened that they were not caught yet, they crept down the hallway and went to the left, down the other hallway. Drago kept quiet as well as he waded through the smoke toward the bathtub. He was interested to see what she was planning. Perhaps she was going to confide in him what was going on.

Aya, meanwhile, motioned to Suzume to take the end door of the new hallway, while she would take the mid-door. They both tried to be quiet as they got into position. They each signaled each other with a one, two, three count on their fingers before opening both doors at the same time. Hoping to catch MarriageMan unawares.