[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color][/h3]
[b]Level 4[/b] - (29/40) EXP (+3), [b]Level 3[/b] - (29/30)
[b]Location:[/b] Castle Interior
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1259[/center]

Ratchet, safely disguised beneath his new invisibility, had rounded the backside of the evil Bowser alongside another of his companions, the little girl in the hat. Naturally she was unaware of his presence, which he almost gave away by accident thanks to the rather comical results of the evil Bowser attempting to attack his hologram decoy. Thankfully he was able to stymy his laughter, as it would still be possible for the dragon like creature to turn round and squash both he and the kid, while they located an axe shaped lever with some drawn instructions. Welp, can’t have a medieval castle without a classic throne room booby trap, can ya? Not that it was terribly helpful in the moment what with how positions had changed, but still nice to know the owner could have people dropped into a pit of lava on a whim. Real good stuff. Very indicative of a just and fair ruler.

Meanwhile, the Courier’s laughter died away as a sudden headache began to build up. The good feelings he had been experiencing for a while now were beginning to wane. His body was still bulked up, but the jet, oh the jet, it was disersing out his system. That was no good at all. What was good was how the dragon Bowser now lay before them in a messed up heap, practically groveling at the feet of their own Bowser… With an offer of power. The power of his soul.

Immediately the Courier swapped out the Revolution for his Ratslayer, something with a great deal more precision. Tora and Poppi, they tried to convince Bowser not to take in the spirit. The Courier was no going to take a chance and roll the dice on words. Bowser was too stubborn, too thick headed for that sort of thing. [b]Bang![/b] A bullet struck the spirit dead on, but had no effect. Not even the tiniest scratch. Damn, It seemed to be impervious to damage! He strolled up to everyone, rubbing the side of his head slightly.

[color=tan]”You hired me to make sure you and Kirby made it to the castle. I fulfilled the details of my job, so I have absolutely no problems putting as many bullets in you as it takes to make sure you don’t get up again. That’s exactly what’ll happen if you merge with that spirit.”[/color] Then something [i]wondrous[/i] began to happen! The spirit had gotten away, but as it did a wave of gentle darkness dispersed out around them all, enveloping everything within the castle! The Courier jumped back a bit, shooting at the wave uselessly. Ratchet jumped as well, moreso in surprise. Neither of them had anything to worry about, it had seemed, as this wave was purifying Galeem’s influence from all the mushroom headed people wandering the halls. Color returned to the people and the scenery in a most marvelous fashion. So this is what it meant to take down one of Galeem’s chosen bosses, eh?

It wasn’t much longer after that that the centurion had decided to take on the spirit of MegaDragonBowser into himself, declaring that his devotion to his emperor and God to make him incorruptible. The Courier certainly didn’t believe a second of the rhetoric, having known a few too many Romans devoted to their Caesar, so he kept the Ratslayer trained on Agoston. Ratchet was likewise suspicious, and watched closely from a distance, but didn’t have any weapons at the ready. He only wanted to observe. Both looked on as Agoston grew in size, muscles rippling from his body in a flaming transformation, horns forming atop his head to match the monster they had just slain. Once it was all said and done the centurion came out of it all more boisterous, louder and obnoxious… But he didn’t appear to be any more malevolent.

At some point during all the proceedings a woman in pink descended from the stairs near Ratchet, declaring them all to be heroes. She made the executive decision that a feast should be held in their honor. Though the woman in pink never introduced herself, it wasn’t a leap in logic to assume that she was this Princess Peach that Bowser had spoken of before when he pointed out the castle in the distance. Ratchet was all too happy and eager to join her for this celebration. It wasn’t everyday that you got the royal treatment from, well, a royal!

[color=orange]“I’d be very happy to join you, uh, milady!”[/color] The lombax gave a low bow, looking quite comical as he nearly tipped over, now a bit top heavy from his new longer body. He followed behind Princess Peach quite closely.

A bit further away, the Courier nodded at the princess’s proposal. It certainly sounded good, and he couldn’t deny he was hungry, but at the same time… Food wasn’t what he needed. First he wandered over to Blazermate to get some of her fast action healing. It was a bit embarrassing to be walking around with scorched skin exposing his sub-dermal armor. Once that was done in a few seconds, he wandered back over to the large pile of ash that used to be the body of their foe. Taking out his empty whiskey bottle, the Courier filled it up to the brim with ash, figuring he could find a use for the material. Perhaps a new chem he could concoct?

The Master of Masters then entered the castle, alongside their pink charge Kirby, as well as the girls Linkle and Minako, and one of the bridge fighters summoned by that giant hand, who looked like he had been freed. Wait, the girls were still outside dealing with that guy? Wow, that took a long time. Oh yeah, Minako could summon that horrifying death thing! [i]Fucking shit[/i] that would have been helpful wouldn’t it?! Anyway, the Master of Masters (Courier 6 made a mental note to start calling the guy “mom” for short and see how he reacts) gave them a congratulations, reminding them all that there were twelve more monsters like the one they had just beaten. Twelve more? Damn. If they were all as powerful as that evil Bowser, they might not even have any of the original group left by the time they reached the angelic being in the sky. The thought was kind of sobering, to remember how monumental their task would be-[i]Ow![/i]

Damn, thinking with the ever-growing throbbing in his head was a pain in the ass. Now there was someone entirely new shouting out for a fight? Ugh, what a pain in the mother fucking ass. He didn’t have time for this and the guy was trying to kick Bowser. Of all the group to try to kick, you go with Bowser?! Dumbass wouldn’t last more than a minute unless he had some serious tricks up his sleeves. The man was definitely buff, no question about that, but not buffer than a giant fire breathing spike-covered dragon turtle that had somehow grown even more giant in the last few minutes. The Courier opted to completely ignore this newcomer and instead approached the exotic dancer, Din, speaking to her as though there wasn’t a new fight going on right next to them.

[color=tan]”I’ve got a number of different chems I can make to help with future battles, but I’ll need ingredients. I saw you grow some plants. After the feast, would you care to help?”[/color]