Shantae: Tangled Tales

Tale 12: "Labyrinths"

Rottytops's eyes shot open. Above the Tangled Tower, she sat in her empty sphere, gasping for air.

It took her a few seconds to realize where she was. When she did, she squeezed her head between her hands and grunted through clenched teeth. "No, no! Come on . . . focus!"

She shut her eyes tight and pictured in her mind the cave with the Genie Beacon.

When she opened her eyes again, she found herself engulfed in a thick, black smoke.

"Shantae?" Rottytops shouted as she stumbled about blindly. "Shantae!"

No response.

Once the smoke cleared, Rottytops finally laid eyes upon her surroundings.

What she saw left her stunned.

Scuttle Town Square was nothing more than a crater in the earth. Rottytops stood at the center of it all. Yet, Shantae was nowhere to be seen.

"N-No . . . no," Rottytops said, trembling, "Sh-Shantae . . . no. No!"

Then Rottytops sensed something. A familiar presence. She stopped breathing as she narrowed her focus. Before long, she had no doubt whose presence she felt.

"Shantae!" she cried out in joy before pausing to gather herself back together. "She's okay! She's okay . . . but—but where is she?"

As she zeroed in on Shantae's presence once again, she discovered that Shantae existed somewhere nearby yet somehow distant at the same time.

Then it dawned on her.

Rottytops's face went blank.

She bowed her head as the stone sphere reappeared around her.

"She . . . she did it . . . ."

≈≈

*

"I-I did it! It worked! I can't believe I'm in the Genie Realm . . . ! Wait—I am in the Genie Realm, right?"

The Genie nodded.

Shantae squealed in delight, bouncing up and down on her toes as the Genie watched with a smirk. "So . . . if the Beacon worked, then nothing blew up . . . right?"

The Genie's smile faded.

So too did Shantae's delight. "I . . . I blew up Scuttle Town . . . didn't I?"

"Yeah . . . you blew it up pretty good."

"Like . . . all of it?"

"Oh, no . . . no, only part of it. So, that's good news . . . right?"

"But then how am I—how am I even alive?"

"Well . . . after catching your signal and identifying your location, I plucked you out of the way of that explosion and pulled you into the safety of the Genie Realm! All within a fraction of a second! Not too shabby if I do say so myself!"

"Th-That's incredible! You saved my life! How could I ever repay you?"

"After everything you've done for us? You don't owe anyone a thing, sweetie . . . . Now, we have quite a bit to discuss, don't we? So, why don't you take a seat?"

"A seat? But there's no chair in—" Shantae turned around to find a sofa chair behind her. She glanced back at the Genie, beaming as she pointed at the chair. "Did you—you made that chair come out of nowhere, didn't you? That's pretty wild . . . ."