It took only a few minutes for a couple soldiers to come get the Grand Soul Pearl and start hauling it back to the power plant once Jump Bunny got it down from the roof.
As she stood around in the courtyard waiting, she was listening to the sources of magic in the city. There were still only three other Pearls that didn’t sound oddly distorted inside Seagem City’s perimeter, and after a bit of listening, it was pretty clear that one of them was much closer than the others, with the nearby one being in the direction of the residential district. So off Jump Bunny went to go and take a look at it.
To be a bit more specific about her route Jump Bunny still wanted to use the rooftops, but most of the streets between her current location and the residential district didn’t have good rooftop access. Fortunately the piles of crates that let her climb up onto the roof of the armory were still there, so another quick session of climbing, jumping, and levitating got her up to the roof without much trouble.
From there it was a fairly simple matter of dashing across the rooftops while jumping between the gaps over Seagem City’s cobblestone streets. Along her route Jump Bunny disturbed several birds who’d been roosting on the rooftops, set several bad examples for small children who wanted to go roofhopping like she did, and blew past her grandfather who was still ranting about nonsensical button prompts. And all the while she was getting closer and closer to where she could hear the Grand Soul Pearl.
It only took a couple minutes to cross the chunk of town between the Armory and where the Pearl was, and as she arrived at one of the rooftops overlooking the site Jump Bunny screeched to a halt. She immediately recognized just who’s window the Pearl had come crashing through, surges of fear and worry crashing through her mind as she looked. That was her mother’s place.
Jumping down to street level only took a few seconds, and as soon as that was done Jump Bunny dashed towards the stone brick townhouse as she shouted “Out of my way!”. Once inside it was a simple matter of bouncing up the stairs as Jump followed the sounds of both the Pearl and her mother whimpering in pain. Soon Jump Bunny reached the third floor, and burst into the sewing room as she came face to face with her mother.
The room was a disaster scene. Not only was broken glass sprayed all over the room from where the Grand Soul Pearl had come crashing inside, but the sewing machine had been smashed off to the side, the table it had been on broke in half, and Rose Bunny’s right leg was bending in a way that it plainly shouldn’t with fragments of bone visible through the skin and blood pooling beneath her. It took a few seconds for Jump Bunny to process this, but as soon as that happened she exclaimed “Mom, I’m here. Don’t worry it’s all going to be all right.” as she dashed forwards and got her pill dispenser for Restorers out.
Rose took the pill as soon as Jump handed it to her, the bone fragments in her leg vanishing beneath her skin and the bleeding stopping as she swallowed. Still her leg remained bent quite firmly out of shape. After looking at the injury for a few moments, Rose Bunny said “Jump, I think I need to go to the hospital.” as she turned to look at her daughter, her grey-furred ears drooping from exhaustion as she said it.
On her part, Jump Bunny nodded somberly before saying “Right. I’ll call for the medics.” and quickly walked downstairs to the kitchen where the telephone was. A quick call on the landline later, and the medical team were on their way. Still, it was going to take them a few minutes to arrive. So Jump bounced back upstairs to keep Rose company until the medics got there.
As she sat down next to her mother, Jump said “So, the medical team will be getting here soon. Anything you want to talk about in the meantime?”
Rose simply thought for a moment, before she gestured to the glowing sphere on the floor and asked “So, do you have any idea why one of the Grand Soul Pearls from the power plant came crashing through my window?”
Jump thought for a few seconds, before she answered “To make a long story short a pirate snuck in and stole them all. I managed to keep them from escaping with the whole lot but they wound up getting scattered all around the general vicinity due to bad luck. Anyway every mage in town is dumping their power into the defense grid right now due to a massive pirate fleet that wants to kill us all, and I’ve been tasked with getting all the Soul Pearls back since I’m the only person with the necessary skills that can be spared for it.”
Rose sighed, “That sounds like a very stressful job. Please tell me they at least gave you proper equipment for it.”
Jump nodded in response. “Yeah, that’s all taken care of. Anyway, one last question that’s always been bugging me, before the medics get here.”
Rose tilted her head slightly “Oh?”
Jump Bunny asked “Yeah, why exactly did you name me Jump?”
As the medics loudly stomped up the stairs towards the sewing room, Rose replied mirthlessly “You try having thirty five kids and coming up with individual names for all of them. You’re lucky I didn’t just refer to you all by number, little miss twenty one.”
Jump Bunny didn’t have time for a retort as a couple of burly rabbit men carrying a stretcher entered the sewing room. In mere moments, Rose Bunny had been put up on the device and was being taken straight to the hospital. Standing up, Jump Bunny looked to the bloodstained Grand Soul Pearl and remarked “I suppose I had better get you back to the power plant.”
YOU GOT A PEARL!
That said, as soon as she started walking back towards the power plant, Jump Bunny noticed that one of the other Pearls was also moving. After a few moments to confirm that the other Pearl was also moving towards the Power Plant, Jump Bunny just shrugged. It made perfect sense that someone else might find one of the Grand Soul Pearls and chances were they’d be bringing it right to the Power Plant as soon as they did so.
So Jump Bunny continued on her way back to the power plant, giant magical pearl in tow. She attracted a fair bit of attention as she walked the streets towards her destination, but she honestly couldn’t be bothered right now. So a few minutes later, Jump Bunny was entirely unsurprised to find herself arriving at approximately the same time as the other Pearl, which was being carried by a man wearing a sanitation uniform. Ah, probably fell in the waterworks then.
Either way, Jump bunny soon passed the massive gathering of mages all holding onto the cables for dear life and entered the Generator Room, where a number of extremely strung out technicians were frantically socketing the Grand Soul Pearl from the waterworks in. Jump Bunny barely had time to say “Found another Pearl, though you might want to clean the bloof o-” before a technician swiped it out of her hands.
The overall-wearing fox lady replied “Thankyounotimepleasegetanotheronebye!” as she immediately got to putting the Pearl in place.
Jump blinked in surprise, before she turned and walked back out, following the sound of the last Pearl in Seagem City that didn’t sound weirdly distorted. Getting on the rooftops from the power plant was fairly easy thanks to a few convenient wallkick spots Jump knew about, so soon she was flying over the city again straight towards the… courthouse.
Looking at the location where the Grand Soul Pearl had fallen, Jump Bunny couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Seriously, another Pearl caught on a rooftop? Still, the fact of the matter was that the Courthouse was sufficiently taller than the surrounding buildings that she couldn’t just hover over.
So Jump Bunny hopped down to street level and walked over to the entrance of the Courthouse, where a grumpy clerk sat waiting. The man growled “Do you have an appointment?”
Jump Bunny frowned as she answered “Well no, but I’m not her for-”
The clerk interrupted “If you don’t have an appointment, then either make one or get out.”
Jump Bunny’s eyes furrowed as she shouted “YOU LISTEN TO ME! THE GRAND SOUL PEARLS HAVE BEEN SCATTERED AND I NEED TO GET THEM ALL BACK OR WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! THERE IS ONE ON THE ROOF OF THIS BUILDING, AND I CANNOT REACH IT WITHOUT A LADDER! SO EITHER FIND ME A LADDER, FIND ME SOMEONE WHO HAS A LADDER, OR GET OUT OF MY WAY!” leaning further and further forwards as she increased her volume.
A few minutes later, Jump Bunny had a ladder. Extending it up the side of the courthouse was a major inconvenience, but soon enough it was done. Clambering up took about a minute, but soon enough Jump had the Grand Soul Pearl within her reach… just before a gust of wind blew it along the length of the gutter and away from her reach! Hopping up onto the roof, Jump Bunny began chasing that damn Pearl along the length of the gutter. Sure enough, it rolled around the corner just as she leaned down to grab for it, sending Jump clattering off the rooftop.
Barely avoiding fall damage with a well-timed use of Levitate, Jump Bunny hauled herself back up the ladder and looked around for the Pearl again, finding that it had rolled to the gutters on the exact opposite side of the building. Watching the Pearl’s motion, Jump Bunny lunged for where it was going to be… only for the wind to gust again blowing the Pearl in the opposite direction and sending Jump Bunny careening off the edge.
Climbing up again, Jump Bunny glowered at the Pearl with barely restrained malevolence. Popping a Windstep pill, Jump Bunny lunged for the Pearl a third time. When it inevitably rolled the opposite direction, Jump used the double jump from her power up to bounce back onto the roof and try again. And again. And again. Swiftly it became clear that leading the target would just lead to the wind blowing the Pearl the other way, while failing to do so or trying to account for the Pearl reversing course just lead to it continuing on its merry way.
That left only one option: chasing the Pearl around and around its track. So once the Windstep pearl wore off, Jump Bunny popped an Accelerator pill. Horizontal movement speed now doubled, Jump Bunny began chasing the damn Pearl around and around the rooftop, only for it to get going faster and faster as she got closer. Eventually the pill wore off and Jump Bunny found herself stumbling from the sudden change, falling off the roof again.
Climbing up for the hopefully last time, Jump Bunny popped another Accelerator pill and started her chase again. But this time once she got that Pearl up to a good turn of speed she turned around and started running the other way. Sure enough the Pearl very rapidly approached and couldn’t react fast enough. It was within arm’s reach and still coming closer when Jump Bunny decided that enough was enough and dived forwards, her arms outstretched past the Pearl and rapidly closing tighter and tighter around the glowing blue orb.
YOU GOT A PEARL!
