Shantae: Tangled Tales

Tale 9: "New Light"

A bright light stirred Shantae from her slumber. Squinting, she groaned, "Wha—s-stop with that . . . ."

A shadowy figure stepped in front of the light. "Finally awake, are we?"

Instantly, Shantae recognized the voice. "R-Risky?" she said. A panic washed over her, kicking her senses back on. She then realized that she was sitting on a cold wood floor with her hands shackled to a metal pole behind her.

"In the flesh," Risky said with a grin.

After managing to get to her feet, Shantae asked, "Where am I?"

"Aboard my ship." Risky paced around slowly—not once taking her eyes off Shantae's. "So, I suggest you do exactly as I say. Understood?"

Shantae fought against her restraints briefly before pausing to let out a sigh. "You've got to be kidding me," she said, "first, my mind almost gets turned to mashed potatoes, and now you? What do you want to do to me, huh? Turn me into a werepirate?"

"A what?"

"A werepirate! You know . . . when there's a full moon . . . you turn into—look, it's a thing! I read about it somewhere!"

Risky closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "It's fine," she called out. Her words, however, were not directed at Shantae. "She's the same naive runt she's always been. We've got nothing to worry about."

Shantae scanned the area, but the light in her view made it hard to see anything else nearby. "Who are you talking to?"

Risky shut off the light, leaving Shantae seeing spots until her eyes readjusted. When they did, she looked up. Her face beamed as Sky and Mimic approached—both sporting wide smiles themselves.

"You—you're okay! You're both okay!" Shantae said, teary-eyed.

Mimic immediately pulled her into a tight hug. "I was so worried . . . . We found you unconscious in my boat . . . your body was almost completely grey. We couldn't do anything but watch and hope it'd go away. And it did! Thank goodness, it did!"

"How did you escape? I-I didn't think anyone made it out . . . ."

"We did just barely," Sky said.

"All thanks to me," Risky chimed in.

Shantae raised an eyebrow as she stared at Risky. "I have so many questions right now."

"So do we," said Mimic, finally releasing her from his hug. "So how about we get you out of—"

Before Mimic could finish his sentence, Shantae set her hands aflame. The heat from her fire quickly turned the iron shackles red. She pulled, bursting them into smoldering hunks of metal that scattered across the floor.

Shantae noticed the shock on the others' faces. "What?"

"I mean . . ." said Sky, "she was just about to let you go, so it was a bit—"

"Unnecessary," Risky said with a scowl.

Shantae crossed her arms. "What you call unnecessary, I call style. Also . . ." she said, fixing her gaze on Sky with a menacing smile. "I couldn't wait any longer . . . ."

Sky took a step backward. "I don't like that look in your eye . . ." she said. Before she could make another move, Shantae leapt at her and crushed her between her arms.

Sky struggled to breathe. "Sh-Shantae! Please—"

"No!" she cried, "don't you dare fight it! My hugs will not be denied!"