Sunset quickly ran up to Fox's side. "Dad, that was so cool-yipe!" As she reached out to grab his arm, lightning sparked over it, causing her to jerk back as she got a small shock. It was no worse than a bad charge of static electricity that Fox, Krystal, and Peppy had to deal with frequently in the carpeted segments of the Great Fox, but it caught her off guard and the lightning was still arcing over his fur. "D-Dad?" she asked worriedly.
"I...w-where did that come from?" Fox asked worriedly as he stared at his arm, bringing his other hand up in a futile attempt to brush the lightning off his arm, first with hand and then with staff. Neither worked well.
"It came from inside you, dolt!" Shabunga declared as he floated out from behind a nearby tree. "Did you really think raising a child with enough magic to reshape the fabric of reality wouldn't have long term effects on you? Especially when you then design all your tech to work with her magic? Your own magical quotient has been building up in response, and it's been activated by carrying a Krazoa Spirit inside you. Your natural inclination towards battle between the stars is a sky affinity for the air element...and that's combined with Sunset's fire affinity to give you natural lightning magic." He shook his head ruefully. "Very dangerous magic to have. Unless you learn to control it, it's as likely to kill you as someone else. Don't go swimming until you stop sparking, and I'd suggest not handling any artifact that generates magical fire anytime soon."
"Air and fire, huh?" Fox asked curiously, a thought beginning to shape in his mind. "And I need to purge the excess?" Reaching into his pack, he placed his hand against the bright blue Spellstone they'd retrieved from Cloudrunner Fortress.
Before his very eyes, the Stone glowed faintly before the lightning was sucked off his arm and into the Stone.
"Not bad, not bad," Shabunga allowed, reaching into Fox's pack and pulling out what was left of his blaster.
"Hey!" Fox snapped.
"Do you want to be able to use lightning without frying Prince Tricky?" Shabunga demanded harshly, causing Tricky - who had come close to investigate - to pull back quickly. "Then let me work!" Shabunga did a quick bit of tinkering before handing the blaster back, along with an oddly configured glove. "There. The blaster now runs on your lightning magic, so as long as you hold it in the hand wearing that glove, you'll be able to shoot different sorts of magical blasts based on how you learn to shape your lightning. 200 Scarabs deducted from Sunset's account for the work. Now get going before the Spellstone eats you! At least the remaining two are Earth and Water, which won't react to you." With that, Shabunga vanished.
Sunset and Tricky stared after him. "I will never understand him..." Tricky murmured ruefully.
"...does he look anything like Tink to you, Dad?" Sunset asked thoughtfully. "Other than floating, Shabunga does kinda look like a Sharpclaw..."
Fox held up his repaired blaster, weighing it in the glove. Holding it forward, he visualized the lightning he felt inside him leaping forward from the barrel...and pulled the trigger.
A blast of white heat erupted from the blaster, scorching a trail against the stone wall opposite the trio as the arc of lightning linked wall and gun briefly before fading as Fox released the trigger. With a grin, he holstered his weapon. "A distinct possibility," he allowed, "but not something we need to speculate about just now. We can ask Tink up on the Great Fox next time we need the Ar-Wing. For now, let's get to Cape Claw." Feeling a bit more confident now that he had his blaster back - even if it was in an unexpected way - Fox led the way down to the Cape.
While the blaster was an exceptional ranged weapon - especially with the new upgrade - except for emergency Fox decided to stick to using the staff. While lightning was powerful and versatile magic, even when used as just energy, one thing it was not was subtle.
Once at the Cape, the group found a Lightfoot Tribesman being harassed by two Sharpclaws. Sunset immediately leapt down onto the sands below, gathered fire into her hands as she rolled, shoved her hands into the sandy beach, and came up with glass daggers that she shoved upwards into the Sharpclaws under their tails before spinning around to drag them up their bellies, releasing a blast of fire along the blades into the Sharpclaws to knock them flat.
...much to her chagrin, the Lightfoot was on his face in front of her by the time she was finished. "Oh, get up," she groaned out ruefully.
As the Lightfoot got back to his feet - a glowing orange gem in his delicate hands - Fox and Tricky managed to catch up. "You're really enjoying making glass weapons that way, aren't you?" Fox asked Sunset, marveling at just how effective she'd been there.
"If hot glass protects me from the sonic barrage, I should get used to using it," Sunset answered readily.
"Thanks for help!" the Lightfoot professed eagerly as he handed Sunset the gem. "Sharpclaws want this, say I steal it! You take! You deal with them!" With that, he rushed off as a Sharpclaw siege cannon swiveled to lock onto the group.
"Everyone sca-"
Fox's words were cut off as Sunset flicked her wrist, sending one of her newly made glass knives whistling through the air. In the distance, there was a wet thunk, a pained grunt, a shocked scream, and a splash. The siege cannon stopped moving, the Sharpclaw who had been controlling it struggling to swim with a glass blade lodged between vertebrae and collarbone.
"...remind me never to play darts with you," Fox muttered to Sunset.
"Darts?" she asked curiously. "What's that?"
"Ask Falco to teach you some time," Fox suggested with a grin, remembering how much Falco used to brag about being the best dart player on the team. It would be fun watching his beak fall off if that wasn't just a lucky throw.