Wonders In Underland

Panila was currently preparing herself mentally as she was about to enter Cheshire's Spire, but was met by hoards of journalists trying to get Panila to give any comment on the recent happening in the Underbelly. Normally she could keep her cool, but her stress was at a breaking point.

They all asked questions varying from what happened to Eido, Tophi and Wendy to what exactly caused the event at the Memorial of The Lost to trivial things like who the culprits were and what will be done about it.

Panila ignored them all, but one young journalist asked a question that was a bit to far; "Why did you publicly snap at Ami during the festival? She said you were a bad mother. So... Does that mean that you have a child?"

Panila seemed to finally snap at the questioning, using her heart's power to trap every reporter to the floor in a mural of cruelty. The Decaynines at the door awkwardly opened the door for her as they held their breath. 

"You don't reckon she'll do that to us, right?" One muttered to the other. "I will if you keep talking about me!" She yelled back, causing the two to freeze in place as Panila got in the elevator, going to the lowest layer of the spire.

"Panilaz! Youz made itz!" Cheshire said with an electronical laugh, bowing to her with a slightly worried smile. "I sawz what youz did to those reporterz... Iz everything alright...zzz?" He asked with a smile, trying to soothe his boss. 

Panila let out a sigh as Cheshire poured some coffee for her. She took a deep sip and smiled. "Everything is coming ahead to fast.... I'm tired. Stressed. I suppose I should let those reporters out of the ground, shouldn't I?"

"Wellz... You don't havez to right nowz?" He grinned, causing her to laugh lightly. "Oh, sweetie. What would I do without you?" She smiled, stroking his metallic cheek. "Now. How is our rodent situation going?" 

Cheshire gave a twisting grin as he disappeared from view, the lights at the back of the room turning on to reveal himself sitting on top of Rat, who was chained and unconscious. "Her mind iz sharp... But mine iz sharperz!" He laughed, tapping her head. Panila looked over the sleeping Rat with a cold look. 

"I almost thought she'd be able to remember... Thank her, she's not." Panila sighed, sipping her coffee. "Also... Iz haven't heard fromz Parfait... I think she'z MIA." He said with a softer look, like he wasn't trying to upset her, though Panila scoffed, giving a dismissive wave. "I know Parfait. No one could take her down... Not even I have dared to try." She laughed, heading for the elevator. 

"I want a full report on Rat's mind by the end of the day, sweetie. I will see you later." 

"You reckon The Warden has a love life?" Vinea asked as the group were wandering through the dark and misty streets of Dreamy Domain. "I mean... Probably? I bet she could get any man she wanted." Avis replied with a snicker, jumping in a puddle and splashing Vinea and Senshi.

Ven was curious about why the domain titled "Dreamy" looked more like a futuristic sailors town then he originally thought. Tid-Bit explained that Dreamy was originally know as Drowning Domain, but was changed after the last leader died. He gave a nod of thanks for the weird history lesson, but soon got distracted by the sight of the domain's expansive harbour.

"Holy... This city has a dock?" He said with a bit of an awe struck tone as he stared out into the empty expanse of water before his eyes were set upon a large lighthouse out in the distance with a looming sea serpent's skeletal remains wrapped around it. "Aaaand I bet Cheshire is there, right?" 

Sennhi gave a small thumbs up as she dried herself on Vinea's hoodie. "W-We just have t-to get all the way there a-and live to tell t-t-the tale." She said with an awkward laugh before being quickly taken by Vinea who, with Avis, were distracted by a food stall serving fried mermaid's tail and salted mandrake.

"They do know they're about to eat a hallucinogen right?" Tid-Bit said as Ven's face dropped in surprise, quickly trying to prevent them from taking a bite. Before he could, they had both finished their salted mandrake in a few bites. 

"That tasted..."

"Weirdly good." 

Senshi was laughing her antenna off as Ven awkwardly lead the two to a bench. The two were confused as to why Ven was doing this, but their faces soon shifted to nervous dread as Ven said bluntly; "You are about to trip balls."

Vinea quickly dismissed the claim with a wave of his vine hand. "I'm already mostly plant at this point, I c-can handle it. I've been high maaany times." He lied, trying to seem cool. He tried to get up, only to find himself unable to move. Avis began to hyperventilate, scratching her neck with her robotic hand in a panic. "I-I've never done d-drugs before! I-I can't do this!"

Senshi crawled up Ven's arm and sat in his coat's fur hood. "How long d-does it l-last?" She tried to hide her smile, but couldn't. She was loving every second of this. Tid-Bit took control and with a comforting smile, said; "It will kick in in about four..."

"Four minutes? That's enough time to throw up, right?" Vinea said with a sigh of relief as he began trying to gag.

"Three... Two... One." Tid-Bit finished, making Senshi laugh even harder as Avis and Vinea's eyes widened in stunned awe.

"A-Am I dying?" Avis mumbled as she stared at her hands. Vinea was trying his best to stand up, only to sit back down. "Guys... I think I'm in a time loop!" He yelled, looking terrified. Despite the two clearly being high, people passing by were rather numb to it, as most people in Dreamy were always on something to get them through the day. 

Ven took control once more as he face palmed, his ears flickering as he looked back at the tower. "How the hell are we going to do this with them like this?" He grumbled, before feeling a slight tug on his shoulder.

He turned to see Nvr2B wearing a repurposed black wedding dress stitched together with a suit in a street punkish style. Ven slightly jumped at the sight of his wedding veiled associate. "Sorry... Did I spook you?" She said in a tired, ghoulish yet cheerful tone as Iyu leaned out from behind her lanky compatriot. 

"Hello Mr Misa." Iyu said with her usual smile, zipping up her outfit a bit.

"What are you two doing here?"

"Nvr wanted to see a harbour... And why are Miss Carmen and Mr Vinctum eating each other?" Iyu asked before Ven shot around to see Avis nibbling on one of Vinea's vines while he was biting her remaining clawed hand. "The hell are you two doing!" He yelled. The two looked over at him in a slight daze as Vinea pointed to Avis with a mix of a smile and fear struck look. "She tastes grey!"

"What does that even mean?" Ven said with a graon as he turned to Iyu and Nvr. "A-As you c-can see, the two a-ate a bad plant and got... Like this." Senshi said with a snicker but Ven suddenly got an idea. 

"Since these two are higher then Melody... Can you help us break into the light house and save our sort of friend?" He asked as he pointed to Cheshire's Spire with an awkward smile, almost getting ready to beg for their help. The two looked between each other, before Iyu gave a thumbs up. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to help. I will just add it to the list of things you owe Splice." 

"But... Splice is... You know?"

"They left everything to me, so all favours, experiments and funding go directly to yours truly." Iyu said as Nvr2b was now playing hopscotch with Avis and Vinea. "A-Alright t-then." Senshi said with a twitch of her antenna as they sat down, deciding to wait for Vinea and Senshi to sober up a bit.

"Hey, Bit. How long will they be this weird for?"

"About a day."

"Fuck."