https://youtu.be/hBQz5H0w_5o

Through murky skies and clouded thoughts, Makoto soared, spear in hand. He gazed upon the world below, taking in the aura he felt from all the water down below. Something about it felt familiar - but he couldn't really put his finger on it, and part of him told him that that was for the better.

So, he didn't dwell on it. He had other things on his mind, and they were troubling enough. Specifically, one person - Inigo. All this time, he was convinced that he was dealing with a cold, unfeeling monster - one who cared little for the lives of others. A man who could look a child in the eye as he took everything from him. He'd seen it clearly. But today, he'd seen proof that the monster had a soul.

Here he was, going out of his way to help this city - at Scarlett's request, granted, but he'd even gotten Makoto himself involved. He couldn't say for sure that he'd only went along to get out of having to fight him, either. Whoever flooded this town had to be far more dangerous than Makoto was, so coming here was completely dissonant with the coward he knew. He was dealing with someone who was either utterly selfless, or utterly selfish, and he couldn't decide which one it was.

"Tch, what am I saying?" Makoto muttered through clenched teeth. "He killed Father. I can't just let him off the hook."

That was right. He killed his father, and in doing so, left him with a solemn duty to avenge his honour. But, damn it, it was so much easier to justify doing that when he saw Inigo as a soulless demon. For once, he felt himself wishing he could be more like his sister, who didn't need to justify herself like this. It would make things so much easier if he could shed this damned conscience!

Makoto shook his head once again, reminding himself that he wasn't here for Inigo. He was here to stop whatever menaced this city. That mass of Natura he'd found at the centre. The nexus of this crisis, he was certain. He soared through the air, eyes focused forward, but as he observed the surroundings, he couldn't help but notice that all the water was getting...bluer. More bright, certainly unnaturally so. And he knew he was getting closer to the source, so...

Before he could properly work this out, he quickly rolled out of the way as a geyser shot right up beneath him, attempting to knock him out of the air. He stopped to examine the surroundings, and noticed a large amount of debris around him, while the water, which seemed to grow more swampy, started...bubbling?

So, the flood itself had turned hostile. Through the bursting of bubbles, several chunks of concrete were tossed into the air as if thrown directly at Makoto. He charged forth to avoid them as he focused on the goal, which was almost successful. As he neared the end of the street, a slime floating on a nearby street sign leapt up to try and assault him. He growled, remembering his battle against Inigo, and with his spear infused with light, he thrust into the slime, bursting it open in a single strike.

The moment he did that, however, another geyser sprouted up from beneath him, knocking him out of the air as he lost his balance and began falling. He desperately tried to regain his bearings, but ended up falling into the deep blue. Feeling a deep, moist coolth envelop his body as the rapids pushed his body away, his hat flying off in the face of this, he tried to push back, only to notice something strange about the water - its consistency was thicker than water, but thinner than slime. It was like it was somewhere between the two, a true freak of nature.

He almost wrote this off until he reminded himself that this wasn't normal. Why would it be normal, when his team specialised in making such freaks a reality? And now that he thought about it, if this wasn't Libera's doing - and even if that option was still on the table - then it made much more sense for Apex to be responsible. In that case, he couldn't die such a dishonourable death at the hands of one of his own.

As he desperately fought against the rushing water, he felt his own Natura welling up inside him. Without hesitation, he let it burst out in a wide sphere of lightning, repelling the water around him and letting him sprout his wings to escape once more. He flew forth, and as the water enclosed around him, he soared straight up, knocking a flying fire hydrant out of the sky as it launched into him.

From there, he continued his progression in this manner, relying on the feeling of Natura around him to foresee and avoid all attacks that came his way. While his device was still active, he kept his eyes on the goal, flying ever higher until he came across the fountain. And there, he saw it.

https://youtu.be/zE9i0whGLD8

The fountain was more or less intact, but it laid submerged inside a translucent blue slime, easily the size of one of the taller buildings he'd seen on the way here. Its sheer size made it clear what he was dealing with - some kind of souped-up King Slime. He began to ponder whether it would be out of line to request compensation from the Doctor when all this was done, only to quickly focus as the slime began to change shape, convulsing wildly as if responding to his presence. It took the form of the androgynous head of the Deus depicted on the fountain, with delicate features and short, curly 'hair'. It seemed to stare blankly at Makoto, even as slime tendrils rose up all around it.

A clear declaration of hostile intent. The Doctor had outdone himself this time, Makoto thought. With his spear in hand, he remained in flight, approaching the blue menace in hopes of engaging it in melee. But it seemed intent on keeping a distance between them, lashing out at him with its tendrils while launching globules of slime from its main body. It was an onslaught Makoto had to stop to focus on fending off, infusing his spear with light and slashing through each attack before pressing on.

Just as he did, he sensed the Natura beneath him flaring up, aileron rolling out of the way of a spewing slime geyser. But then, another one came, and Makoto looked down to see a slime hand shooting up to grab him. So, he stabbed downwards, his spear crackling with lightning.

He continued his flight, dodging the cunning whiplashes sent forth by the slime. One roll later, he fired his spear like a javelin, letting it rip through the projectiles it threw at him before piercing the body of the monster. But as he tried calling the spear back to his hand, it didn't return, much to his bewilderment.

Time for a different course of action, thought Makoto. He raised his hands to create a javelin of lightning, then demolished a flying slime ball with a light-powered palm strike. He then hurled the electric spearhead at the King Slime, who didn't seem to have much in the way of evasive moves. At once, three tendrils shot out to grab him from different directions, while a hand grabbed him from below, and he writhed furiously in his efforts to break free.

As the tendrils closed in, Makoto closed his eyes, unleashing another wide burst of electricity and freeing himself, dissolving their tips. He flew further away, hurling orange lightning javelins in the meantime while he stared at his main spear. How would he get it back, he wondered. Diving inside the slimy body could prove risky...

Before he could think of what to do next, he saw a giant slime-claymore forming over the head of the monster, flying off once it had finished taking shape. He couldn't help but wonder where it was going, as it hadn't even tried to aim at him. But a few seconds later, he got his answer:

"Inigo, heads up!"

"What the- ah, fuck."

So Scarlett and Inigo had followed him, and the King Slime knew they were nearby. Maybe one of them had a better idea of what to do here. The idea of cooperating with two of his enemies was still strange to him, but right now, it would be a necessity. Although, he wasn't sure how much Inigo's water magic would help in a scenario like this. Makoto braced himself for their arrival, and in due time, they came, Inigo floating on a disc of water, wearing Makoto's trilby much to his frustration, while Scarlett balanced herself on a barely-steady pole.

"You doing alright, Makoto?" Scarlett asked, concern on her face. Makoto nodded, mildly impressed with how easy she made balancing on that thing look, before his gaze turned to Inigo, who quickly evaded a salvo of slime arrows before tossing the hat at him, which he hastily caught.

"You dropped this."

"I know." Makoto muttered, putting the hat on as he watched the surroundings. "We're all here. How do we beat this thing?"

"Natura. Lots of it. Fire, lightning, ice and wood work especially well on water slimes." Inigo explained, quickly sidestepping to dodge what looked like a giant fist. He looked inside the slime's translucent body, narrowing his eyes at the things inside it. "...you threw your spear at it, didn't you?"

Makoto frowned silently, creating another javelin of lightning and taking aim at the King Slime, who seemed to be generating large bubbles from the pool below. Inigo crossed his arms, preparing himself for the next attack while staring at the statue of its own visage. "...we're gonna have to destroy - or remove - that fountain."

Now it was Scarlett's turn to frown, though in her case it was more of a pout. "And here I was hoping to take a selfie in front of it. Worst day trip ever."

"You can take one in front of the rubble when we're done." Inigo snarked. "King Slimes usually look like normal slimes, just bigger. But that one seems to be using the fountain as a core: hence the face. We'll need some way of getting in there and breaking it, but that could be risky."

"Oh, I think I might-" Scarlett began, only for Makoto to swoop in and pull her off the pole, just in time for a geyser to engulf it entirely. He held onto her arm, gently setting her down on a more stable piece of debris. She sighed, shaking her head. "Can't a girl strategise in peace?"

"Nope." Inigo frowned, raising his cane and watching as bubbles filled the entire area near the King Slime, obscuring its body entirely. "We need to get closer somehow. After, of course, we survive that."

At once, the bubbles dispersed, filling the air in all directions with a deadly salvo of slime. Inigo was the first to spring into action, firing blades of wind with swings of his cane and bursting them before they could be of any harm. Scarlett and Makoto followed suit, the three of them weaving their way through each bubble and destroying them with their elemental attacks while they gradually drew nearer. Though Makoto, who used more melee attacks than the other two, found himself splashed with a lot of slime by the end of it.

By the time the bubble barrage had ended, the trio was relatively close - both to each other and to the King Slime. It turned to face the three of them, who were looking up at it in anticipation, save for Scarlett, who was...dancing. It was brief, slow and sensual, occupying the mind with her unique movements. As she finished it off with a pose - her arms stretched into the air, one bent behind the other, she gave Makoto a wink, and he felt his Natura shield strengthening.

"What was that?"

"Looked like a dance to me." Inigo said calmly, earning a roll of the eyes from Makoto.

"I know that, but...my shield feels more robust now. That was no normal dance."

Scarlett looked up to make sure it was safe - which it was, for now, since the King Slime seemed to be charging up another attack, and looked at the two with a smile. "Oh, so my dancing makes you feel robust, does it? I didn't know you saw me like that."

Makoto narrowed his eyes, visibly unamused, as if he was momentarily unsure whether working with his father's killer or dealing with this tease was the most unpleasant part of this mission. "S-Shut up."

"Anyway, what you're feeling is my Adept ability. Through my dances, I can enhance someone else's Natura - either their shields or their firepower." Scarlett explained. "Pretty cool, right?"

"It's very useful." Inigo said. "In fact, I think I know exactly how this can help us."

.........

Once Inigo finished his brief explanation, the other two looked at him, a shared look of curiosity in their eyes. "Any objections?" he asked, looking up to see an enormous, amorphous ball above the head of the slime, positively stuffed with local debris. "Time-sensitive question, by the way."

"I could die." Makoto said bluntly. "I'm not sure I like this plan."

"If all goes according to plan, you'll kill it first." Inigo said calmly. "Anything else?"

"Nothing here." Scarlett smiled slightly. "I'm actually pretty excited for this."

"Does the idea of one of your enemies dying excite you so much?" Makoto sighed, causing Scarlett to raise her arms defensively, shaking her head.

"No, no! I just think it'll be really cool if you succeed!" Scarlett protested. "Plus, I think it's a really good plan!"

"I suppose I can play my part." Makoto said, looking up to the Slime and watching as the ball of debris was thrown in their direction. Seeing it leave the enemy's vicinity, Inigo nodded.

"Excellent. Now, to your stations!"

https://youtu.be/vYmUv66-y8U

Makoto and Scarlett darted off to the right while Inigo instead jumped backwards, keeping his eyes on the giant slime bomb that was launched at their position. Right before it hit the floating island they were on, it exploded, dispersing all the junk it had gathered - which were many and varied. Garbage cans, street signs, odd twigs and branches, shards of glass, even a lamppost or two. Though the other two got away, Inigo found himself having to defend himself, which wasn't easy from the uneasy bit of rock he was balancing on. In addition to the slime, he felt all the debris pounding against his shield, and eventually lost his footing enough to land in the pool of slime below.

The other two watched as a twister of swirling water formed over his position, as well as a few bubbles rising up next to it. Makoto prepared to go over there to drag Inigo out, only for the amnesiac himself to spring out, water trailing beneath him as he landed back on the original stretch of road. He looked around, waving his arms around frantically as he picked up most of the metal thrown towards him, lifting it up in his pale purple glow. He then placed both hands by his head, feeling a sharp pain shooting through it, but with the goal in mind, he knew he'd have to exert himself. So, clutching his skull tightly, he forced all the garbage cans, the lampposts, the signs - everything metal that he had picked up - and thrust it into the King Slime's body. They didn't make it all the way in, but most of them had made it further in than Makoto's spear, forming a vague route towards the Deus Spero statue.

He panted, feeling slightly dizzy, and kept one hand on his forehead while he nodded at the other two. Makoto knew it was his turn now, so with a lance of lightning in his hands, he flew past Inigo and towards the slime, swerving to dodge a rising slime geyser that threatened him. Once he reached the King Slime, he rapidly thrust the lance into its body multiple times. It launched a hand from its body to grab him, but he swatted it away, moving back as it lurched forth. Inigo generated a sphere of wind in his palm and feebly tossed it at Makoto, and it gently wrapped itself around his head, expanding itself to cover its entirety.

This was the signal, and Makoto plunged into the King Slime's body. Right away, he felt his surroundings attacking the bulwark that was his shield, just from being submerged in its depths. But that wouldn't hold him back. Though he was just an Adept, he had Scarlett's blessing, and Inigo's wind allowed him to breathe. He almost laughed at the irony of it all. But he stayed focused, for he had an objective. He followed the trail of metal, rushing forth lance-first as fast as his wings could carry him until he reached his true objective - his spear.

Once he reached the physical spear, he hurled the lance into one of the trash cans before holding onto his more familiar weapon. He held it in a thrusting position, an immanent pool of Natura building up in the palm of his hands. Now it was Scarlett's turn to act, initiating another dance. This one was equally brief, but much more energetic - like a tribal warrior's dance, that filled one with energy just by watching her strut her stuff.

Makoto could tell she had finished the dance because once she was done, he felt his ramparts falling down in an instant. It was as though he had lost a great shield in exchange for a most magnificent sword. Feeling a fire burning inside his heart, he unleashed his Natura through his spear like a lightning rod. As it reached the metal, it burst out in all directions like a bomb that had just gone off.

The King Slime froze in the face of this electrical radiance, but Makoto wasn't done. Continuing to fire off a branching electrical web, he charged forward, making his way towards the statue at the other side. Feeling an assault on his shield in all directions, he let out a harsh growl, never losing sight of his target. Meanwhile, lightning surged through the King Slime's body, and as it struck the metal objects, it leapt off each one, moving onto the next until they hit the statue.

With this, he struck the statue from multiple directions until he reached it, plunging his spear into its face and smashing its head clean off. As though he had taken leave of his senses, he wildly thrust his Natura-powered spear into it, each stab causing a great electrical explosion on contact and punching another hole into the statue. Within seconds, the statue had turned to rubble, like all that was floating on the ground below. And just like that, Makoto no longer felt like he was drenched in acid, but rather, a cool pool of water, in the moments that lasted before the King Slime's body lost its form entirely, joining the sea beneath it.

Though Makoto felt himself plummeting briefly, his wings managed to catch him. Regaining his balance, he looked back at his temporary allies, who gazed upon the scene with wide eyes, and returned to them, his spear disappearing into thin air.

"I knew you could do it." Inigo spoke first, tapping his foot on the concrete, a hand on his hip. "Good job, Makoto."

Makoto remained silent at that, more relieved that the job was done than anything. Scarlett, putting her hands together, gave Makoto a bright smile. "Good job? That was amazing!" she cheered. "We make a surprisingly good team."

"I suppose so." Makoto sighed. "At least the battle's over."

"Yeah. As for all this mess, I think we can leave it to the people who know what they're doing." Inigo said. "I'm pretty sure we all have better things to do with our time. We did our part by stopping the crisis from getting worse."

"Shame about the casualties, though." Scarlett noted. "I wonder if anyone will ever know about what we've done..."

"It's unlikely." Makoto frowned. "Unless anyone saw us entering this town...or saw any of Apex...I doubt anyone will learn anything about what happened today - except that it happened."

"Wait, what was that about Apex?" Inigo raised an eyebrow, and both he and Scarlett turned to face Makoto.

https://youtu.be/Z-E5QzhJa4k

"A calamity this large and this unusual could only be one of them." Makoto explained. "The tool I used earlier was one of their weaker products. Their stronger ones...well, I don't think that bears explanation at this point."

"If this has happened before, I don't think the Mikado told me..." Scarlett murmured, a realisation settling in both her mind and Inigo's minds.

"Up to this point, it's only been simulations." Makoto growled slightly. "This hasn't happened before! It's only the first in what I assume is a long line of experiments..."

"You seem to dread this outcome." Inigo stared pointedly at Makoto, tilting his head slightly. "Surely you had to be aware that this was likely."

"I was, but..." Makoto hesitated slightly, clearing his throat. "...that doesn't mean I have to approve."

"But if you don't approve, then...why are you in Apex?" Scarlett asked, eyes wide with a quizzical shine to them. "Your boss isn't trapping you there, is he?"

"No, it's nothing like that." Makoto shook his head, inhaling a deep breath. "It's because...of my father."

At the mention of that word, Inigo felt a strong heartbeat in his head, but he managed to ignore it enough to listen, raising an eyebrow. "Your...father?"

"He was a member of Apex - a trusted agent of the Doctor." Makoto explained. "I took the job to follow in his footsteps. After his passing, I stayed in it to honour him."

"...shit." thought Inigo, slowly recalling the memory of that day and realising a slight discrepancy. Scarlett, for her part, stayed silent, troubled, as though Makoto's words resonated with her. She placed a hand to her heart, looking at him, but he focused more on Inigo, furiously pointing his finger at him.

"So mark my words, Inigo. His honour will be avenged!" he declared, before calming down a little, looking away from them. "That said...even I can see the good you've done today. That goes for both of you. I commend you for that."

"Same goes here." Scarlett smiled a little. "I...hope your father is proud of what you've done."

"Makoto, about your father-"

"Save your apologies!" Makoto snapped, abruptly turning away from Inigo and spreading his wings. "Today was an outlier! When we next meet, it'll be at opposite ends of a spear."

"If you could just hear me out-"

But before Inigo could say anything further, Makoto took to the skies and flew away, leaving him alone with Scarlett, disgruntled at this outcome. Scarlett stepped next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic smile on her face.

"Hey...I dunno what the issue is between you and Makoto..." she began. "But I'm sure you'll get through to him someday."

"...hope so." Inigo sighed, tapping his foot on the ground. "I'd prefer it if what's between us stays that way."

"Alright, then I won't pry." Scarlett nodded slowly, eyes darting around the place. With Makoto gone, it really did feel lonely in Caerulus. "So...wanna get out of here?" she then asked, holding her hand out towards him in a rather conspicuous offer. In response, he took her hand, holding it up to try and examine it. She watched him, raising an eyebrow in fascination.

"Uh...what are you doing?"

"You gave me your hand. I wasn't exactly sure why." Inigo admitted. "I thought if I observed it closely enough, I could figure it out."

"Is that it? Because you've been staring at me a lot lately." she grinned, swaying closer as she held onto his hand. "Tell me, doc, what have you 'observed' about me?"

"Well, you seem a lot happier than usual today." Inigo said calmly, his focus returning to their hands. "There's a lot more pep in your step, not to mention you're getting awfully handsy."

"Oh, what? I'm just holding your hand. That's normal." Scarlett shrugged, not letting go as she scanned Inigo's face to make sure he wasn't uncomfortable. "But, hey, I'm usually happy, right?"

"Apparently." was Inigo's only response. "Let's go. I'd rather not stick around too long."

"Yeah, I get it. C'mon."

Together, they began to navigate their way out of the wrecked blue city, feeling a shared mixture of guilt and accomplishment. As they moved out, Scarlett pondered on Inigo's words - as she was, in fact, happier than usual. The flame in her heart was flickering, dancing; and she couldn't quite pinpoint why.