Book 3 - The Merchant from the Depths: Chapter 18; Playing Cheap

The screen turns on as the chapter title plays "Chapter - 18; Playing Cheap".

Deuce fires up a spell shouting "Come forth, ice!" as he shoots it at Floyd.

It doesn't hit him and he instead teases Deuce "Might wanna try upping the ante there, bud."

Although Ace's the one who gets antagonized and angry by Floyd as he shouts at Deuce "Hey, Deadeye Deuce, here's an idea: try actually HITTING with one of those shots!" As he shoots a spell at Jade, himself.

Jade chuckles as the spell doesn't hit him either and teases Ace similarly to Floyd "Come, now. Put in some effort."

Deuce shouts back at Ace "I don't see you doing any better over there!" Ace feels defeated as he complains "No way. How could I miss like that…"

But Jack clicks his tongue as he tells them "Step aside. I'll handle this!" as he too fires a spell at the tweels.

But it also doesn't hit them as Jack's ears flatten as he shouts "What?!" before he seems to realize something "My spell swerved before hitting them! I see what's goin' on…"

Floyd puts a hand to his hip as he says "At least Sea Urchin knows how to pay attention." Jade also states "I shouldn't be surprised that a land beast has a keen eye."

Floyd smiles as he tells them "Since I'm a nice guy, I'll do you a solid and explain why none of your spells are hitting us. I've got this signature spell/unique magic, 'Bind the Heart', see? It's a handy little number that interferes with your magic to ensure it fails! Ain't that just neato?"

Grim shouts back "That ain't "neato" at all! It's cheatin', is what it is!" as he pouts.

Jade sighs as he asks his twin "Floyd, do you really have to spell out your entire signature spell/unique magic gimmick to them?" Floyd also seems to pout at his brother's question as he crosses his arms and says "What's the big deal? Knowing isn't gonna help 'em any."

Jade's eyes seem to almost playfully narrow as he smirks and tells Floyd "Fair enough. At least your magic is in good form today. If only you could be more consistent about it. When you're not in the mood, it never works at all. That's rather hard to plan around, you know."

Yuu's eyes widened as it seemed almost like, with Jade saying that he was letting them in on more than they should know. But it seems no one else catches on.

Floyd smiles brightly again as he grips his shoulder again and shouts excitedly and playfully "Better run, kiddos!~ If I catch you, my tailfin's gonna wring you out like a dirty dishrag!"

His voice then turns more dangerous, more predatory as he asks either to himself or rhetorically "Now, who should I squeeze first…?"

Jack shouts out "This is nothin' more than a game to them. If we don't get outta here, they're gonna hang us out to dry!"

Yuu nods as she shouts to everyone "Time for a temporary retreat!" while thinking 'We'd better work out a new plan!'.

Floyd laughs almost insanely before telling them "Come back as many times as you want!~ It won't make a lick of difference!~ With those sorry legs of yours, you'll never outswim mermen!~" Jade folds his hands in front of his body as he tells them "We'll be waiting for your next visit."

Grim shouts "Rgh, this stinks! I'll remember this, okay?!" as they all swim away.

They're all now back in the Mirror Chamber as Deuce tries to catch his breath before asking everyone "You guys okay?" Ace looks at himself before shaking his head and saying "I think so…" Jack seems to be the most collected as he states "I wasn't expecting them to actually be mermen…"

Grim shouts complaints "It was almost a feedin' frenzy there – with us as the chum! Swimming' that fast ain't fair!" Ace shrugs as he states "Well, yeah. Merfolk are literally in their element underwater."

But Grim then starts to think about the consequences of failing as he says "But we gotta get that photo fast, or they're gonna confiscate Ramshackle Dorm…"

Deuce shrugs as he puts his hands to his sides and states "We need to rework our plan here." Ace agrees as he suggests "Yeah. Cater likes to say he's got his finger on the pulse of the community, so why don't we get some input from him?" Jack crosses his arms as he tells Yuu and Grim "It'd be a good idea to go back to Savanaclaw and see what Ruggie and the others have to share."

The screen then fades to black and "To be continued" plays before it fully turns off.