Samson called out angrily from under the opaque showercap, "Filia, it's been ages and I can't fucking breathe in this thing! Hurry up!"

"Sorry, but I'm almost done!" Filia said as hung up the used towel and began putting on the pajamas Nadia loaned her. She felt bad about making Samson stay under there for so long, but ending her shower any sooner meant going back out there with Nadia and her Neil Cicierega vinyls. She didn't know what part of that was worse, the weird meme music Nadia said she'll "get when she's cool enough," or the way Nadia moves to it. Her hips somehow made a Smashmouth remix into the most erotic four minutes Filia could remember and she was still grappling with that. "There! All's good." Filia called after fastening the last button. She thought he cartoon fish pattern on the PJs was cute but she wished it wasn't so tight around the chest. Reaching up to take the showercap off Samson, Filia let out an "Eeeep!" in surprise when he beat her to it, tearing the cap to ribbons with hair tendrils.

"Finally! Air!" He gasped.

"Samson! That wasn't ours! You can't just break stuff!"

"Don't worry kid, me and Yu Wan are tight." He said as he poured shampoo on a loofah and started brushing his huge, pointed teeth with it, "fhightin' oars 'll do dat dho ya."

"What was it like?"

"Hm?"

"Fighting the war?"

"Ah..! Hean ohber huh hink." Filia tilted her head over the bathroom sink as Samson spat it in. "Yeah, the Meridian War. That was uh, a thing I guess…"

"Wow, a thing, huh? Did it happen at a place and time too?" Filia smirked.

"Yeah, yeah…" Samson didn't even seem to hear her. He was lost in thought, muttering to himself. It unnerved Filia.

"How about we start with the basics? What was the Meridian War about? Don't worry about overexplaining either!" Filia tapped her forehead, "There's no prior knowledge up here, eheh." she awkwardly laughed, hoping he would stop being weird as she began to brush her teeth.

"Well, waaaay back uh, how long ago was it now? Ten? Thirty years? It was before this cesspool of a city, New Meridian was even built, so quite a while. Anyways, our lovely rulers, The Canopy Kingdom, Trinity bless their self-righteous asses," they shared a chuckle, even though Filia didn't know anything about a ruling Canopy Kingdom, something about what he said felt right, and at least Samson wasn't clamming up anymore. "they wanted all this coastline from a different bunch of A-holes called the Meridian Kingdom, and uh, me and Lily fought against the Canopies, lost, and uh… The End?"

"Huat!?'Hat cahnt," Filia spat out the toothpaste, "be all there is to it right? Was there a reason you guys lost? Why did you fight in the first place? Who's Lily? How did you and Yu Wan-"

There was a loud knock at the bathroom door. "You finished yet, Filia?" Nadia yelled. "This kitty needs her litter box!"

Filia yelled back, "We'll be out in a second Nadia!" before looking back at Samson through the bathroom mirror. She was going to finish her barrage of questions but the condensation on the glass from her hot shower had faded, and Samson's yellow predatory eyes glared back at her, his toothy maw pulled into a sneer. She felt a rush of pure terror looking at that face. She tried to snap herself out of it, tell herself that was a stupid feeling. Samson was her friend, even if he wasn't much of a looker, but the feeling stuck with her.

Samson saw her recoil and softened his gaze, "Sorry kid, this just... brings back bad memories is all... and eh, to answer all your wonderful and totally not irritating questions:" He could tell by the half smirk he won her back with that one, "We lost because the Canopies started using roided up super soldiers."

"I thought winners didn't do drugs?"

"Whoever told you that never met sergeant Panzerfaust."

There was a banging at the bathroom door again as Nadia threatened to throw them out, but the two ignored it.

"Alright, now for the shameful part," Samson sighed, "Me and Lily, my old friend, joined the war as mercs to make money."

"Oh. That's why you were all-"

"Yeah, and before you try to turn it around and say it's 'not so bad', it got her killed in the end, and yeah, I'm still torn up about it."

"I- I'm so sorry Samson…" Filia looked towards the ground. wasn't sure what to say to someone who'd lost a friend, "How did she… I mean, if I could ask, if it's okay, did she um…"

"Oh, it was terrible. The worst way you could go. She was absolutely combo-ed into oblivion!" Filia looked back to Samson and saw a huge shit-eating grin on his face.

"I'm sorry, w-what?"

"She was so confident in her reads. She saw the opponent dashing in and out and in and out, but when Lily jumped in to punish, BAM! Cross up! That combo lasted for hours, kid. Hours! War is a terrible thing you know."

"… Is any of this stuff even real? Was there really a girl named Lily or are you just messing with me?"

"I'm sorry kid." The way Samson was struggling to hold back laughter let her know he wasn't sorry, "It wasn't right of me to burden you with the horrors of war. HA-HEHEHEH..!"

Filia groaned and rolled her eyes as she felt the hairball rocking back and forth on top of her head, howling with laughter. She wasn't sure if anything he said about Lily was true anymore, but too afraid to ruin the good mood, Filia decided to drop it and move on to her final question, "So how did you meet Yu-wan?"

"-hehehe, oh yeah. Heh, me and Lily fought off a Skullgirl attacking his hometown."

"What's a Skull-"

The bathroom door clicked as Nadia finished picking it's lock. Throwing it open, she grabbed Filia and before she or Samson knew what was happening, Nadia threw them over her shoulder and onto the fluffy rug in the adjoining bedroom.

"I don't care if you beat a Skullgirl, King Franz AND Beowolf in a three-on-one ladder match. You do NOT hog my bathroom! capiche?!" She yelled before slamming the door, leaving Filia on her back, staring at the ceiling and Samson with a mouthful of carpet fuzz.

"So you defeated how many- What did you call them? Skullgirls?" Filia giggled.

"Shudup! She surprised you too, kid!"

"Yeah, but I'm not claiming to be some legendary fighter." Filia said, taking to her feet and stretching, enjoying the warm air in the cozy, wooden loft before taking a seat on the bottom bunk bed.

"You callin' me a liar!?" Samson yelled, appalled. "I'll have you know that in the Meridian War I was a certified combatant with over three hundred confirmed..." Samson stopped mid tirade and began thinking. Why was he so weak? He had stamina and strength in spades but that robot and now that cat were able to rush through his guard with no problem. Fuck pride, this was a problem. If he wasn't in top form they were both in danger. "Maybe we do need some practice…" he begrudgingly admitted.

"See? That wasn't so hard to admit." Filia said with a yawn as she lay sideways on the pillow, back towards the rest of the room. Even Samson's yelling fit hadn't been enough to shake the exhaustion off of her. It's been a long day of running and getting shot at. "You can start your workout in the morning after a good night's…" Filia couldn't finish the thought. The pillow was so soft and the bed-covers were cool and plush. Filia didn't even notice the blue skinned dagonian girl timidly tip-toeing up to her, shaking like a leaf under Samon's piercing gaze.

"E-e-excuse me," Minette could barely choke out, " b-but the b-b-bottom i-is m-m-m-my, it's where I s-sleep"

"It's Filia's tonight." Samson sternly said, "You get top."

"B-b-but… th-th-that's Na-Na-Nad-dia's-"

"Then you and Nadia are sharing a bed tonight, unless you want to sleep next to us." Samson smiled, showing off his inch long fangs. Minette made a noise like a distressed puppy before hastily climbing up the ladder to the top bed. When she was out of sight she loudly whispered,

"Y-Yu Wan w-wanted to see you downstairs."

"Ugh! Can't it wait? Filia is already-"

"Nope! H-he said now. Uh, s-sorry."

"Fine. Come on Filia…" A few shoulder taps later a groggy Filia was zombie walking towards the stairs. Minette peaked one eye out from under the covers to watch them go, only to panic and go back under as Samson gave her one last look before disappearing down the stairwell.

"Thank you for coming to talk with me," Yu Wan said with his large, fishy grin as he literally climbed up his barstool. The now empty restaurant didn't actually have a bar, but the tiny Dagonian needed a very tall seat to be seen over the other end of the table. "Samson and, uh..." Yu Wan gestured to Filia, but the poor girl was already sleeping with her head on the table.

"I got it." Samson said as he gave Filia a few light pats on the cheek to wake her back up. It kind of worked, Filia half opened her eyes and pulled her head up from the table, a small line of drool by the corner of her mouth.

"Y-yes, I'm here..."

"Um, indeed you are." Yu Wan said, "Astute observation, miss..?"

"Thank you, Mister." Filia said, missing the social cue, but making the Dagonian hold back a snicker, "I also appreciate you making this tea but uh, I think it was a bad choice." Filia took a sip from her warm cup before letting out a long, soft yawn, "Yhawwwaaaah… You wouldn't have any coffee, would you?"

"Hang on, I can fix this." Samson said, as Filia's hair grabbed the chair and with a quick screech against the floor, turned it backwards, making a confused Filia face away from the table while Samson now faced Yu Wan. "You can take your nap now, kid."

"But I wanted to be a part of this!" Filia whined, looking over her shoulder towards the table.

"I mean," Yu Wan scratched his head, "this is more about Samson anyways..."

"See, kid? Just relax and enjoy playing co-pilot." Samson said. Filia huffed as Samson weaved her long hair into two arm like braids that he crossed over the chair's back and two vaguely leg like shapes that straddled the chair, "So what's on your mind, pal? Wondering what I've been up to all these years, because that's a funny story-"

"Almost." The grin disappeared from Yu Wan's fishy face, making him look grim and alien, "That's almost what I was wondering. I'm actually curious if you could tell me how long it's been."

"Oh brother, are you upset that I didn't write or something?" Samson scoffed. "Ya know it's kinda hard to keep up on the lives of all my old friends on top of the whole 'keeping my existence secret' thing?"

"That's not it." Yu Wan sighed, like this was painful for him. "Can you even tell me how long it's been? Approximately?"

"Well… I mean, it's been some years, I guess. Why does that matter? We're still pals, right?" Yu wan bit his lower lip.

"...We are friends Samson. Don't mistake that. After hearing the stories from my grandfather about what you did for us, I'm nothing if not awed and grateful."

"Uh… your grandfather?" Samson scratched Filia's head in confusion. "I can't say I've ever met the guy."

"You did Samson. You met Yu Wan The First in the Meridian War, one hundred and ten years ago."

Samson just sat there blankly, trying to think of something to say and eventually settling on. "I guess I really lost track of time for a while…"

"Yeah." Yu Wan nodded "You kinda did."

"Well, shit… I guess, I'm… sorry? Damn I really should be keeping in touch with my friends better. Heh." Samson chuckled awkwardly, then gulped before asking, "Is he, uh… still around?"

"He passed twenty years ago in his sleep. It was as kind a death any man could ask for."

"... Fuck."

"I understand if you need some time to process this-"

"No, no. It's fine..." Samson rubbed his face and cleared his voice, careful to keep his tone level. "Like I said, we weren't keeping in touch. In fact I hadn't seen him since the war ended. We obviously weren't too close."

"Understandable. That brings us to the second half of why you're here tonight." Yu Wan carefully sipped from his dainty teacup. It looked difficult for him with his huge fish-lips but he managed. "That day you saved my grandfather and his village left quite an impression on him, on every Dagonian in the village. When they saw the soil of the town graveyard shifting, and then that mass of bodies and blue fire coming towards them over the horizon they had no reason to expect they'd live to see another day, but they did! Ha!" That huge smile returned to his face. "The idea that someone could stand up to a Skullgirl, could defeat her and scare her off? Why, it's like... silencing an erupting volcano! Or... or parting the sea!"

"Hey man, I'm no miracle worker-"

"And then!" Yu Wan's leaned in so fast his stool scraped back loudly along the ground. "As if it wasn't enough, do you remember what you told my grandfather?! In the day after the fight when he sheltered you, do you remember what you told him? They were words that couldn't be thrown around meaninglessly, words important enough that two generations later, we still remember them!" Samson let out a long sigh,

"... I told him, 'If all went well, this would be the last Skullgirl our world ever saw.' Well it clearly didn't all go well! Me and my big fucking mouth."

"But you beat her once! You! You did something entire armies could hardly accomplish! You-"

"It wasn't just me okay!?" Samson hit the table hard enough to send a crack down to it's middle, "It was my host! I had the strength, but without Lily's spirit, without her willing to do what nobody else could... I couldn't have done shit."

"I don't fully understand, but what about your current host? Would she-" He stopped talking. Samson stopped him cold.

"What about her, Yu Wan Junior?" Samson spat, "I've lost too many hosts fighting other people's battles! Lily, Delilah, and if you think I'm putting Filia's life on the line, you got another thing coming!"

"You already know-"

"About the Skullgirl in New Meridian? Yeah, I've seen her. After the Medici's, she's the reason I'm blowing this town! We don't need this shit. FILIA DOESN'T NEED ANY OF THIS SHIT!" Samson's voice echoed off the walls of the empty restaurant, ringing in their ears as everyone sat silent, at least until Filia piped up with,

"I dunno. Fighting a corpse-monster sounds kinda cool."

"HOLY SHIT, FILIA GO BACK TO SLEEP!"

"HOW COULD I WHEN YOU'RE YELLING LIKE A PSYCHO?!" There was a thumping overhead from the upper floor before Nadia yelled,

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! MINETTE HAS WORK TOMORROW!"

"... I can see this is going nowhere." Yu Wan sighed as he climbed down his stool and waddled around to Samson and Filia, who stood as well. "I understand this has been more than I should ever ask of anyone, even of you, and I apologize. I respect your dedication to Miss Filia's safety." Yu Wan said as he bowed with far more flexibility than his round little body should allow. Samson sighed, long and tired.

"Yeah, man. It's… cool, I guess."

"You are still welcome to stay as my guests until you secure passage out of the city, however I would like to request that in return, you meet with Stanley."

"What's a Stanley?" Filia asked.

"He's my cousin and a brilliant scientist. He works with a rather large network of underground Anti-Skullgirl Labs, finding ways to combat the creatures. Anything you may know about how an end to the Skullgirls might come about, I'd implore you to share with him and his colleagues."

"Holy shit, you mean the ASG Labs that went rogue when the Canopy government tried to shut them down?" Samson asked.

"Exactly them."

"Damn, a batch of cooler nerds never existed."

"So, you'll do it?"

"Don't worry Yu Wan, Samson will totally help!" Filia volunteered. Samson gave her a shove in the back with her hair and she responded by stomping on a lock of hair that was hanging down on the floor.

"Right... Sweet Dagon, I need some sleep." Yu Wan said.

Nadia picked her head up off the ground and took a seat on the bottom bunk.

"What were they yelling about, Nadia?" Minette asked, groggy and tired.

"Nothing. Those dummies just can't decide where to go from here. Go back to sleep." Nadia lied.

"I hope it's far from here… Meanies…" Minette said before drifting back to sleep. Nadia barely heard her. A Skullgirl was in New Meridian, and Yu Wan kept it from her. She found herself dragging her claws along the wooden beam of the bed, making deep gashes. Nadia realized she had a lot of preparing to do. Everything was on the line, but if she prevailed, maybe it would all be worth it. She reached into the bottom of her dresser drawer and pulled out an old photograph. It was aged and worn, and crinkled from the fits of rage she had when she looked at it for too long, but that old photo was all she had left of her family, The Fishbone Gang. She pocketed it and after taking one last peak to make sure Minette was still asleep, she leaped out the window, clambering down the gutters and into the night.