Johaar's jaws dropped at what it is that Shantae had said about the giant mermaid that is next to them.

"What, that giant mermaid is their queen?"

Shantae nodded her head, as she then spoke out to him.

"Yup, and that means we need to set her free! Break the locks!!"

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Giga Mermaid: Captivating Captive!

As soon as they decide to free the Mermaid Queen from their shackles, they went down straight to business in order to try and free her, by breaking the locks that are holding her in place. Shantae used her hair to whip the locks off, while Johaar used his sword to slice the locks to bits. He even manifested a small red combat knife in order to try and make it faster.

The 2 lower locks are broken, but there is now another problem that is coming into fruition. As soon as the lower locks are destroyed, the Giga Mermaid decides to attack them. For Shantae, she is casting bubble projectiles. But for Johaar...for some unknown reason, she has her sight on him, ajd is trying to grab him. But as she still chained by the upper and middle locks, she cannot reach him. But even so, Johaar is trying all that she can to avoid getting grabbed by her.

"Huh? Why is the Giga Mermaid attacking us?!

Johaar cried out, as he is doing all that he can to dodge her swipes and grabs, as Shantae then spoke out.

"We can worry about that later!! Right now, we need to break the other locks!!"

Johaar sighed, as he then leapt up into the air, before he made a Glyph underneath his feet, and jumped a second time, before he then made a Glyoh behind her, and dashed into the air, as he went to his second lock, and Shantae went to her own second lock. They swiped and slashed at it, doing all that they can to damage the second locks of their own. The Giga Mermaid than made more bubble projectiles, as she then used them to try and hit Shantae. But Johaar is able to use his magic to make a Glyph that blocked the attack, as the Giga Mermaid tried to grab him, only to fail, due to being restrained still.

And after what must have been a minute of hitting and striking at it, they are able to break the second lock, making freeing the mermaid harder on the last locks, that are at the very top.

But unfortunately for Johaar, the Mermaid Queen is now able to move her hands and arms a little bit more father then before, and she is now trying to grab him. Johaar barely avoided getting snatched, as he jumped away and went to the ground. Shantae looked frustrated and confused, as she then though to herself.

'What is going on?! Why is the Mermaid Queen attacking me with magic, yet she is trying to grab and take Johaar?'

Then, a giant bubble manifested from the Giga Mermaid, as she then began to use it to to follow Shantae, who then does all that she can to avoid it, before Johaar went in front of her, grabbed her, and he than used his mid-air dash to avoid getting hit by the large bubble. Johaar looks up, as the Giga Mermaid has not given up her attack in Johaar and Shantae. Then, Johaar looks up at the higher locks, as he and Shantae look at each other, and Johaar then spoke out.

"Shantae, think your monkey form can help you reach up to the locks at the upper later?"

Shantae nodded her head, as she then spoke out.

"Yup, I should be able to do that as a monkey! But what about you?! Do you have something that can help you get up there?!"

Johaar smirked, as he then spoke out.

"Yeah, I do. Truth is, you ain't the only one that can use a trick like that."

He then snapped his fingers, as he shouted out.

"Transform!!"

Then, golden speck-like energy erupted from Johaar, and Shantae closed her eyes for a little bit. And she then looks to see what happened to Johaar. Only to see that Johaar has now changed into a wolf. His transformation as a wolf is a little bit more larger then an average wolf, and he has blue eyes in this form, as Shantae looks surprised that he can do this.

"Wow, you can turn into animals like I can! That is so incredible!!"

Johaar nodded, as he then spoke out.

"Let's go and break the last locks!"

He then looks at the moving platforms above him, and howled.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Johaar howled, before he then leaps up onto the platforms so that he can reach and take on the last lock, by jumping as high as he can. Shantae smiled, as she then dances and changes into her monkey form again, so that she herself can jump high onto the platforms to reach the upper layer.

As soon as both Johaar and Shantae are able to reach the higher parts of the pillars, both Johaar and Shankar began to break it. But Johaar was able to break his first, and now, the Giga Mermaid is getting a bit more aggressive in her approach, as she then fired a lighting attack at Shantae, forcing her to jump away and go to Johaar, as she landed next to him. The Giga Mermaid then tries to grab Johaar once again, but Johaar stepped back, as he then spoke our.

"Not exactly gentle with us, ain't see?"

Johaar and Shantae look at the other side, the lock that Shantae is attacking is almost broken, before Johaar then spoke out.

"Together?"

Sun rat looks at Johaar and nodded.

"Together."

Shantae dances, as Johaar does a pose and snaps his fingers, before both Half-Genies spoke out.

"TRANSFORM!!!!"

Johaar and Shantae transforms into their wolf and monkey form. Shantae goes onto Johaar's back, as Johaar then ran as fast as he can, before he leapt and went to the other side, before Shantae got off of him, and both Half-Genies changed back to normal. Johaar took out his Sword, and both Johaar and Shantae began to go to town, as they sliced and attacked the lock as much as they can. The Half-Genie rieednto grab him, but Johaar dodged it by leaning closer to the lock. And after about what nuts have been 10 seconds, Johaar and Shantae destoryed the final lock, as explosions are shown around the machine, and both Johaar and Shantae leapt down. They then looked up, and see that the Giga Mermaid now struggles to be free, before she then made the chains on the lock snap. First the one at the upper layer, then the one at the middle layer, and finall, the bottom layer, as a white light erupted, and Johaar turned away, as the explosion became very bright for him.

After a little bit, the bright light is gone, as Johaar and Shantae looked at the area that the Giga Mermaid was at, as Shantae then spoke out.

"Phew, you're free now."

Johaar looks at the area that the Giga Mermaid is at, and his eyes narrowed, knowing that something seems off about this, as he then spoke out.

"Shantae, I don't think it's over yet."

This made Shantae confused, as she looks at Johaar.

"What do you mean?"

Johaar looks at Shantae, as he spoke out.

"That was way to easy trying to free her, she tried to attack you with magic, and she tried to grab me. No, this is not right, something is very wrong. And if I were to believe, she has not left yet."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

As if on cue, the Giga Mermaid returns, looking madder then ever, as she uses her hands to keep herself up. Johaar looks at the Giga Mermaid, as he then spoke out, clearly very annoyed at the situation right now.

"Oh for crying out loud!! Of course you have to prove me right so suddenly!!"

Shantae stepped back, a worried look on her face, as Johaar then spoke out.

"Whelp, looks like we're gonna need to go all out and fight here. Shantae, you ready?"

Shankar looks at Johaar and nodded her head, as she and Johaar looks at the Mermaid Queen, as she and Shantae got ready to fight against the one that is now under the control of Techno Baron.

The Giga Mermaid attacks with sending lighting down from the sky, as Shantae and Johaar went close to each other, in order to squeeze through the attack. Then, the mermaid went away, back into the ocean, until she came back, and fired lighting from her forehead, where the gem is at. Johaar went in front of Shantae, and raised his arm to have her behind him, as he then made a Glyph, which made the Lightning ineffective, as Johaar narrowed his eyes, as he then spoke out.

"Shantae. Step on these."

Johaar then made Glyphs in the air, as she nodded her head, as she then jump, before she reached the Giga Mermaid's gem, and launched fire from her hands, which is able to burn the gem, and cause damage to the Queen.

Needless to say, the steam of fire was so painful to the Mermaid Queen that she dives back down into the ocean. Johaar snarled a little bit, before he then looks to the ocean beside him, and saw the Giga Mermaid's tail up, ready to slam down on top of him. Johaar, not wanting to wait, took out his Bow, pulled the string to summon an Ice Arrow, and fired it at the Mermaid's tail, which froze the tail in place, at least temporarily, as the tail sank back down into the ocean.

Johaar looked, as he sees the Giga Mermaid come back, now a little bit more madder, but smiled when she noticed Johaar. Johaar does not know why, but the fact that the Giga Mermaid is smiling like this at him made him very uneasy, as the Giga Mermaid then tried to grab him. But he ran, turned into his Wolf Form, and ran away fast, as he leapt from the hands, before changing back. He goes next to Shantae, as he then spoke out to her.

"Okay, that is very weird. The Giga Mermaid seems to want to take me."

Shantae nodded her head, as she spoke out.

"No kidding. She had something into you, and it is making me mad!"

Johaar does not seem to recognize the jealous tone inside of her voice, as Johaar then spoke out.

"Well, can't complain about this now. We need to take her down, and we should do it as fast as we can!"

Shantae nodded her head, as she then spoke out.

"Right."

Shantae then looks up at the Giga Mermaid, who then makes lighting go down from the sky once more, but this time, it is meant to close in on both Shantae and Johaar. They got close to each other, back-to-back, as Johaar raised his hand into the air, and the lighting struck the Glyph that has manifested into the air, with Johaar clearly not very happy about nearly getting fried. He clenched his fist and his eyes became red, as he then fired Lightning Arrows, which shot at the gem on her forehead. Unfortunately, this did nothing more then annoy her. This made Johaar look annoyed himself, as he spoke out.

"Are you kidding me? She is unaffected, by my lighting arrow. Well that's just great."

He tried again with fire arrows and some fireballs, but even those did not work, as the fireballs simply got extinguished, and the flame arrows simply became little needles to the Mermaid Queen, as she picked them off of her body, and Johaar clearly has an expression that screams 'Are you serious?!' at the Giga Mermaid.

"Well, even that is bad. Even more fire magic doesn't worn on the Mermaid Queen."

Shantae then grabbed onto Johaar's hand rather tightly, as Johaar was shocked at this, his face turning red, as Johaar spoke out.

"Shantae, what are you doing now?!"

Shankar looks at Johaar, and smiled.

"Johaar...I've got something that could help out. But I'm going to need your ice arrow for this one."

Johaar does not know why Shantae would even need his ice arrow...unless it is to slow down the Giga Mermaid, in which Johaar understood. He took out his Bow, pulled the string, and aimed it at the Giga Mermaid, right in the gem, as he fired the ice arrow, and this time, although it did not damage the Giga Mermaid in any sort of way, it did freeze her solid. Johaar smiled, as he pumped his fist in the fact that they are able to make the Giga Mermaid stop, as Johaar takes away his Bow, and brings out his Red Sword and this time, a small red combat knife. Both Shantae and Johaar ran at the Giga Mermaid as fast as they can, before they kept up into the air, Johaar made a Glyph beneath the both of them, as they rose at the giant gem in front of them, before Johaar and Shantae attacked at the gem with all that they've got. Shantae used her hair to whip the gem, while Kohaar used his Sword and Knife to slice through and strike at the gem on the forehead, so that the Giga Mermaid can stop attacking. But Unfortunately, the Giga Mermaid soon broke free, as ice shards scattered around the area, and struck all over the place. Johaar and Shantae barely got out of the way, as Johaar used his Fireballs to counter the icy prison that he has made for the Giga Mermaid. Johaar and Shantae looks, and the Giga Mermaid, she seems to be getting desperate to try and take down Johaar and Shantae.

"Well, did we make progress in trying to go all out and beat her?"

Shantae looks at Johaar, and she nodded her head, as she then spoke out.

"I think so. Just a little bit more, and we are able to take her down!!"

Johaar nodded his head, and he looks up to see the Giga Mermaid look down at Shantae and Johaar, but for some reason, it is mostly at Johaar. Johaar seem to notice, as he felt a sudden chill up his spine. And before he knows it, the Mermaid Queen the.man began to charge up an attack of her own, as she fired lightning at Shantae and Johaar, and the both of them did all that they can to avoid it. Then, she launched another steam of lighting at Johaar, but this one being enough to simply knock him out. But Johaar, noticing this, fired some Red Spears, hoping to slow it down enough, and when they did, Johaar moved out of the way, as the lighting did not manage to hit him in anyway. Shantae looks at the Giga Mermaid, and got very mad, as she ran up to it, and she leaps up, with Johaar making a Glyph underneath her, which she jumped on to of, as she hits the gem with her hair, making the Giga Mermaid stumble back a little bit. But then, the Giga Mermaid attempts to fire lighting at Shantae, as Johaar then got in the way, and took the blow, electrocuting him badly, as he and Shantae got hit back down to the ground. Johaar coughed a little bit, as he gripped onto his heart with his hand, and Shantae spoke out.

"Oh gosh! Johaar, are you okay?!"

Johaar nodded his head, as he then spoke out.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I had worse done to me anyway."

Shantae nodded, as she sighed, before Johaar took out his Bow, and he then spoke out.

"But for now...now it is time to bring her down for good. Let's go, Shantae!"

Shantae nodded her head, as she pumped her fists, before speaking out.

"Right!!"

Johaar and Shantae then ran as fast as they can to the Giga Mermaid, who then fired her lighting attack at Johaar, only for Johaar to avoid it. She then launched lightning down from the sky, as Shantae jumped forward and the lighting was avoided. She then made a swipe at the 2 Half-Genies that are coming to attack her. But Shantae grabbed onto Johaar's hand, as Johaar and Shantae leapt up into the air, before Shankar and Johaar stuck at the Mermaid Queen with hair and bow striking at the gem.

That is when their final strike made it count. The Giga Mermaid then began to explode, as she feels the control of Techno Baron coming off of her, and before Shntae and Johaar knew it, a bright flash of light occurred, and both Johaar and Shantae turn away.

When the light is gone, they look and see that the Giga Mermaid is knocked back into the water, barrels falling down and breaking upon impact, as the girls inside of them came to their senses, as well as the Mermaids themselves, and a nervous Techno Baron is present, with Johaar in front of him, and is very mad. But despite this, he spoke out to Techno Baron in a rather low tone.

"So...what was that about sending me to the fishies?"

Johaar took a menacing step forward, as Techno Baron then began to try and speak out to Johaar, in hopes that his reasons will please him, and what Johaar plans to do, it is making Techno Baron scared of what he has in mind.

"C-Come on, Johaar!! You have to understand, we've all gotta eat, with the prices going up! It was going to be temporary, anyway! I-It's just good business!"

The moment that Johaar heard that, he then stopped, and he gripped his Bow.

"Good business...huh?"

He then looks at Johaar, dangerously ticked off, and Techno Baron gulped a little in fear, as Johaar calmly spoke out.

"How about I show you how I make good business."

He quickly ran to Techno Baron, lowers his body for a little bit, and before Techno Baron could react...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Johaar swung his Bow with so much force, as Techno Baron is then sent flying into the air so far, that he became gone in just a few seconds, and a twinkle in the air appeared where Techno Baron disappeared to.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Johaar sighed, as he held his head, and he then spoke out.

"Never come back, again."

As he said that, he hears the sound of water crashing beside him. He and Shantae looked, as the mermaid emerged from the ocean, even the Giga Mermaid, who now has blue gem and eyes, and she looks happy and contented, showing that she is now back to normal.

Johaar sighed, and was about to speak, until a male voice spoke out.

"So the mermaids aren't responsible after all."

Johaar and Shantae looks to see Bolo, somehow recovered, and now in front of them, as Johaar thought to himself.

'How in the world does he do that?'

Shantae looks at the Giga Mermaid, a face filed with regret, as she then spoke out.

"Um... I guess I owe you all an apology. It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions."

Bolo, thinking they it is directed to him, spoke out.

"Apology accepted!"

Johaar then spoke out.

"No, you idiot, she is referring to the Mermaids and the Queen."

Shantae then looks at the Mermaid Queen, as she then spoke out.

"Anyway, I hope we can be friends from now on."

The Giga Mermaid shook her head, and for once, she spoke out to him, and for someone so huge, she speaks calmly and softly.

"There is no need for that. For I am truly thankful, we are truly thankful, for the fact they you brought us to our senses, and you are able to stop the vile Baron that had enslaved us to his will. Especially with your other friend."

Johaar looks at the Mermaid Queen, as he then spoke out.

"Uh, no problem...your highness."

But the Giga Mermaid then spoke out.

"You do not need to call me that. Please, call me Rán."

This made Johaar a little bit unsure about that, as he then spoke out.

"Umm...okay. Well...again, that is no problem, Rán, especially since Techno Baron was a common enemy to both sides, after all."

Rán smiled, as she then spoke out.

"Of course. And perhaps, I'll give you something to remember me by."

She brings her hand down in front of Johaar, and Johaar hesitated a little bit, but he quickly regained his wits and went onto her hand, as she lifts him how before Johaar then spoke out.

"So what is it that you-"

Then, Rán suddenly kissed Johaar in the forehead with her large lips, which made Shantae and Bolo shocked, and Johaar himself was stunned at what Rán is doing, as Johaar then felt his body glow, and he then felt his magical powers becoming infused with whatever it is that Rán is doing. Once she separated from Johaar, he felt his new power within him.

Rán's Blessing: Infused with the power of the Giga Mermaid's magic, the user can now breath underwater and use his magic in order to combat against aquatic enemies. Even the flames themselves can become boiling projectiles in order to attack, with the fire arrows themselves being able to boil as well.

Rán blushed, as she puts Johaar down, and Johaar wobbled back a little bit, although he kept his ground steady, as she smiled out.

"I hope to see you again soon, Johaar."

She and the other Mermaid sunk down into the ocean once more, and winked at him, as Johaar looks at the place where Rán was at, his face red, and realizes what she meant in that tone, as Shantae spoke out.

"Johaar, what...what did Rán do to you?!"

Shantae sounded angry, as she has red on her cheeks, and she looks very envious at what happened, as Johaar then spoke out.

"I think she infused some of her magic into me. And now...I don't feel insecure about the water anymore."

Shantae sighed, but it is obvious that she is still very mad about it, as she then spoke out to him.

"I really need to make sure they you stop getting involved in insane stuff like this."

Johaar shrugged his shoulders, as he then looks at the girls and spoke out.

"Speaking of which, let's get these ladies back to their homes. I think their friend might be missing them."

Shantae looks at the girls, and nodded her head, as she then spoke out.

"Agreed. Hey, Bolo. Mind helping out with this?"

Bolo nodded, as he then goes up to one of the girls, picks her up like she is a bride to him, with Johaar doing the same, as the 3 of them went to try and help them return home, as well as wreck the factory.

Shntae looks at Johaar, as she then spoke out.

"Hey, Johaar. Tell me...do you think that I am a lousy Half-Genie Guardian back at Scuttle Town, especially with what the Mayor said about-"

Johaar then spoke out.

"Shantae, listen. What you did, you did your best. Nobody is perfect in the job that one is in, even if it means becoming a guardian of a town you are accepted in. But that's fine. And besides, too me, I think you're not lousy at the job at all. I think you're good at what you're doing, saving and improving the lives of others."

Shantae looks at Johaar, and she felt her face heat up, but she then smiled, as she then spoke out to him.

"Thank you, Johaar. It...it really means a lot to me when you say it. "

Johaar smiled, as he spoke out.

"Anytime, Shantae."

Johaar and Shantae looked and stared at each other in the eyes, before Johaar blinked, and he realizes that he had been staring, and Shantae smiled, seeing such an adorable reaction from him.

Minutes later...the group got the girls back to their village, where the blue-haired lady is waiting for them. She thanked Shantar and Johaar, as authorities went to the factory to rescue the other girls. After that, the elder of the village gave Shantae a scroll on some sort, which looks like a crab, likely giving Shantae the power to dance into a crab herself. The elder also gave Johaar 2 bright orbs of light, one of which entered into his bow, while the other enters into Johaar himself, as the bow and Johaar gains new abilities.

Upgrades Received:

Sigil Strike: The Bow can now channel Sigils into its strikes, so the damage to the enemy can increase even more then ever before.

Cunning Sight: This power now is able to make a Glyph that parries attacks, before time slows down for a few seconds, giving a chance to those using it to fire as much arrows as possible.

Johaar looks at himself and smiled.

"Neat. That will be very useful."

Then, Shantae grabs Johaar by the hand, as she then spoke out.

"Come on, Johaar. The day is about to go, and you get to see my house!"

Johaar's eyes widened, realizing that he has forgotten about that, and before he could protest, Shantae dragged him away, as the sun began to set, and the both of them go back into Scuttle Town. After 20 minutes of dragging Johaar, Shantae then cheerfully spoke out.

"Well, we're here!!"

Johaar then looks up to see what it is, and he is surprised at the sight before him.

Before Shantae and Johaar is a tower, and it is pretty tall, as Johaar then spoke out.

"So, this is your home."

Shantae nodded, as she opens the door, and she then spoke out

"But of course! Come with me!"

Shantae grabbed Johaar, and pulls him into the house, and Shantae gets to show him around. First at the lower floor, and then, at the upper floor, which is where her bedroom is at, and after the tour, Shantae looks at Johaar, and she smiled a cheeky grin.

"So, what do you think?"

Johaar looks at Shantae, as he then spoke out.

"Admittedly, I like this place. It's pretty nice to stay in, which you are lucky with."

Shantae looked excited and happy, as if she had accomplished the biggest goal yet, and she then spoke out.

"Really, you like it?! I'm so happy you do!"

Johaar smiled...but he then realized something.

"But...wait a moment...where do...I sleep?"

Shantar blushes a little bit, as she then spoke out.

"Well...I was thinking...maybe we can go and lay down together, on the hammock."

This made Johaar embarrassed, before he then spoke out.

"Together on...but isn't...isn't that a couple's thing?"

Shantae pouts a little bit, her hands on her hips, and her cheeks red, as she then spoke out.

"O-Of course I know what it is! I-It is the only solution that...that I can think of!"

Johaar could tell that she is embarrassed, as he puts his bow away, and he then spoke out.

"You know...if it...makes you comfortable, I could sleep on the floor and-"

But then, before he could react, Shantae made her long hair wrap around Johaar, as she then spoke out.

"Nah Ah! Whether you want to or not, you're sleeping with me! Jacket and boots of, Mister!"

She then pulled and spun Johaar around, as his jacket and boots came off, as he spun to the bed like a top, making him dizzy, and he fell in. Shantae smiled, as she than landed on top of him and hugged him, as Johaar looked, and Shantae is holding onto Johaar like he is a teddy bear. She giggled, and Johaar looked embarrassed, before Shantae then spoke out.

"You know, Johaar...you aren't alone in all of this anymore. Now...you have me, my friends, Uncle...we are now all here for you. You don't need to keep on running away anymore."

Johaar...he doesn't know how he can speak. He was so used to running and being by himself, that he did not know how can can respond. But his emotions...responded on their own.

As Johaar looked, a swelling sensation appeared into his chest, as he felt a cold wet trickle down his eyes. They were tears. He felt so...happy...so relived. And Johaar, he hugged Shantae, which she felt, and Shantae hears him speak out, in a slightly shaky tone.

"Shantae...thank you."

Shantae smiled, knowing why his tone is shaking, as Shantae held him close, tears touching her shoulder, as Johaar cried himself to the realm of the dreaming.

Finally, after so long, Johaar finally got what he wanted for so long, new home and family...and he indeed got it, what he wanted so badly, as the shine of the stars rest atop of them, covering them, as Johaar smiled underneath the star's beautiful gaze, a shining future, now paved.