Shantae: Tangled Tales

Tale 4: "Message in a Bottle"

Under the glow of the waning moon, Sky walked the Scuttle Town streets with Wrench perched on her hand.

Unsure of what to make of anything she learned at the zombie camp, she felt herself losing direction. A growing sense of helplessness gnawed at the back of her mind and wracked her nerves.

As they approached the hatchery, Sky glanced at Wrench. "Okay, bud . . . it's sleepy time for you. No more arguments."

He looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"I just need some time to clear my head, all right? I'm fine. Now give me a kiss and go to bed." Wrench hesitated, scanning the area briefly. After giving Sky a quick, gentle peck on the cheek, he flew back home.

Sky took a seat on the ledge of the fountain. With her head bowed, Sky closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Just as her pulse was about to ease, Sky heard a loud CRASH! Her ears traced the sound back to Mimic's Workshop. "Is Mimic finally back?" she whispered to herself.

Sky quietly eased her way around the outside of the workshop. She sidled up against the exterior wall before peeking through one of the windows.

Sky didn't see Mimic inside. She saw a tinkerbat.

It was rummaging through some junk Mimic left abandoned on his workshop floor. Sky continued to watch the tinkerbat as it examined the handful of nuts and bolts it held close to its chest. Seemingly content with its findings, the tinkerbat crept toward the door. After scanning the area, it hurried to the fountain.

Strangely, the tinkerbat stuck its hand in the water. It felt around until something clicked. Sky watched, open-mouthed, as the water stopped flowing, and the entire fountain began to slide slowly across the ground to reveal a hatch door. Once the fountain came to a halt, the tinkerbat opened the hatch and jumped inside.

Sky tiptoed over to the hatch and carefully spied inside to discover a hole with a ladder leading down into darkness.

Sky knew this was the time to call for backup. However, before she could even make a move, she felt the cold metal of a pistol jab at her back.

She froze as a familiar cackle oozed into her ear.

"Ho Ho Ho Ho! A curious one, aren't you?" said Risky Boots. "Well . . . if you're dying to know what's down there, I guess I could oblige."

~~

Bolo turned.

He found himself staring up at a demon. She stared back with yellow eyes and furrowed eyebrows. Her spade-tipped tail slowly swung back and forth as she examined him with crossed arms.

Bolo let out a high-pitched laugh. "Uh . . . hi . . . there! Y-You . . . you're a BatGal . . . cool . . . super cool."

The BatGal didn't respond.

"Th-That's a-a weird name, don't—don't you think? BatGal? Kind of goofy, you know? Haha . . ."

She stayed silent, continuing to study him over.

"Unless you like the name! Then it's—it's totally not goofy." Bolo tilted his head to the side. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?"

"We all speak what the Chosen speaks now," the BatGal said, "and that name . . . BatGals . . . that's just what the humans call us."

"Oh . . . yeah. I knew all that for sure . . ."

"What do you call yourself?"

"Me? I-I'm a Bolo—I mean, my name . . . Bolo. It's Bolo . . ."