[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img]
[h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2]
[b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 2,597 (+3) (+23) (+15)
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]// (138/140)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 13 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (156/130)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 12 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (135/120)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (119/80)
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] The Under - Mercy Dreams
[hider=warp locations]
[s]
Central hub: Smash City Alcamoth
Accessible locations:
Peach’s castle
Limsa Lominscuttle Town
Lumbridge
Twilight Town
Kosm’s Beach
[/s]
[/hider]
[/center]

The troop groaned awake, collectively tried to get up, and then collectively collapsed back down to the floor out of a dire need for rest. Fortunately, as it turned out they were almost done. Silver keys would surely unlock the way to what they had missed, and they had a ride home to boot.

[color=SpringGreen]”Who even puts a train station in a creepy jail anyway?”[/color] Jr asked upon hearing this news

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Galeem, for badness knows what reason”[/color] Kamek replied, before making a pained sound as he tried to correct the crick in his back sleeping wrong had left him with

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh. Huh. Well thanks then Galeem, for your weird level design”[/color] jr said to the ceiling, before waiting for a few moments, sighing, sitting up, and asking [color=SpringGreen]”Ok who needs healing?”[/color]

Rika raised a hand and reapplied with a [color=Aqua]”Me”[/color] before adding [color=Aqua]”Oh also I need to melt down that weird armor”[/color] and then rolling over to yell at Sectonia  [color=Aqua]”can I borrow that item melty thing?”[/color] followed by a  [color=Aqua]”Thanks,”[/color] when she agreed, and then finally a groan when she had to get up and go get it rather than having the queen deliver it to her.

Given that there were 4 items in the Prisoner in Deep Confinement set however, the cooldown on smelting items meant the process ended up taking quite a while, which was fine by her, as it let her keep her brother company while he patched everyone up.

It also left her time to poke at the still forms of the warframes with the tip of her spear in between smeltings.

[color=Aqua]”Huh. They aren't moving. Is this like a pre-Galeem bodies thing again?”[/color] she asked, poking away at the one with the wings on its hips.

[color=SpringGreen]”Dunno. I mean they were moving before. Maybe he was puppeting them or something? It's not like they came with us when everything got put to sleep”[/color] Jr said in between healing casts.

[color=Aqua]”Shame. They were pretty strong and tough, and pretty neat looking too. Would have been good spirits”[/color] she thought, preparing to give up and blinking her spear onto her back.

[color=SpringGreen]”Seeing as their robots, I guess we could scrap them for parts”[/color] Jr replied, before looking again and wondering [color=SpringGreen]”Or are they humans in armor? If it is, you could just take it off and use it. Same with their weapons either way”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”Wait, you can just do that?”[/color] Rika asked, to which the prince nodded, [color=Aqua]”Huh. Neat”[/color]

Before she could attempt to go about that however, there was a sickening crunch as Ganondorf snapped the neck of Oberon, prompting a wince from Jr, and a nonplussed comment of [color=Aqua]”Huh. Guess it was alive after all”[/color] from Rika before she proceeded to immediate yet another poor role model and executed Titania with her own gauntlet powered neck snap.

While that had been occurring, Bowser and Kamek had re-entered the central chamber of the prison. Kamek had first had to poke his master awake seeing as his response to waking had been to roll over and go right back to sleep, which might have been concerning was this not something that occurred every morning.

There would be no more sleeping now however, because prisoners were awake now too, and making quite the ruckus.

[color=FD0000]”Urgh, lay off it would you!”[/color] Bowser yelled up at them, to little avail, before grumbling and finishing strapping his kinetic strike module to his first.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I do not believe they are going to do so, your oversleepyness”[/color] Kamek replied as he mentally wished for some earplugs for both the prisoners and the kings yelling at them.

Bowser just groaned again, and then together they started making their way up, Bowser walking, Kamek floating. While doing so they had to move past the cells full of prisoners banging and yelling, which they tried to ignore. 

Bowser cracked first, wondering out loud [color=FD0000]”You know, maybe they aren't crazy now that ol what’s his face is dead?”[/color] 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I’m not so sure that logic tracks”[/color] Kamek replied, attempting to dissuade his king from this line of action, but to no avail. The king had already taken one the ring of copper keys from Kamek’s pockets, and promptly unlocked a random cell, revealing a short [url=https://i.imgur.com/SjZtkKp.png]turtle[/url] of all things.

"Finally! Good job my Schwarzen Guard” the turtle said to Bowser with an air of authority, while at the same time looking at him with somewhat unfocused eyes

[color=FD0000]”Hey see, it worked”[/color] Bowser said to Kamek, before turning to the turtle and telling him [color=FD0000]”I’m not a guard though, you’re free to go thanks to me, Bowser, the Koopa King!”[/color] only to be cut off by the person they had just freed sharply to that introduction indignation “King? King!? I’m the turtle in charge of the Turtle Terrorists! Me! Devan Shell, not some king … which must mean … must mean … That you’re a filthy traitor!” 

[color=FD0000]”Wow hey now wait a second, what kinda gratitude is this?”[/color] Bowser demanded to know, only for the turtle to pull out a plasma gun from his shell which he proceed to [url=https://i.imgur.com/VnUN9Zm.gif]blast[/url] the king in the gut with a cry of “die mutineer!”

The king [color=FD0000]”oof”[/color]ed and grabbed his scorched shell in surprise, but the attack was hardly enough to really hurt him. Kamek’s response however could very much hurt their foe, as the mage unleashed the spell he had already begun conjuring as soon as the accusation had been called out, blasting Devan with a close range cosmic spray, bombarding him with a spectrum of elemental damage.

Surprisingly the little turtle took the bombardment with the toughness of a penultimate boss, before turning his gun on the mage who had caused him such pain. Unfortunately for him, doing so turned it away from the Koopa king, who lunged a hand forwards, snatching the turtle terrorist up in his claw, before he promptly spun him around and [url=https://i.imgur.com/nI92FPZ.gif]hurled[/url] him down into the central shaft. Devan plummeted down the central shaft and hit the ground with a crunch, body mangled, only for it to start warping further as he transformed into a decidedly more 
[url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/jazzjackrabbit/images/a/a9/Anim0041.gif]demonic[/url] form.

Devil Devan took to the air, reinvigorated, mad, and spitting fire. The moderately sized fireball blazed up towards where Bowser and Kamek were leaning over the railing to see if he’d been dealt with or not.

Bowser promptly spat one back, bigger and better which demolished the opposing fireball before careening into the demon turtle.  

[color=FD0000]”That all you got?!”[/color] Bowser demanded to know, and, for once, his ego didn’t result didn’t result in an immediate dose of irony, as it more or less was all the demon had. Well, that and an absurd amount of durability, which was something of a problem for the two elder Koopas, who had been at this all day, while Daven had just woken up from a lengthy nap.

Still, as the demon ascended towards them, he was still met with the last vestiges of the pair’s stamina, Bowser hucking flames, while Kamek, once again out of mana, had to rely on strikers, resulting in Devil Daven receiving a high caliber sniper round to the head as he got close, and then getting a Tonberry hurled at him by a cooperative Bowser.

This second attempt at delivering the incredibly slow but destructive striker also failed, as it just sorta bounced off of their foe due to not having the reaction times to deliver an aerial stab sadly, and so the the winged fire breather arrived back at the floor he had been hurled off of in one piece. 

He then experienced a moment of deja vu as Bowser grabbed him by the snout, and promptly spun him around again and threw him into a wall this time, before commanding Marie Korbel to [color=FD0000]”Rattle him!”[/color]. This prompted the striker of the former skullgirl to appear, look briefly confused, and then to call up a bunch of skeletal mobsters with tommy guns to blast the demon, their bones rattling from the recoil.

[color=FD0000]”Yeah, how do you-”[/color] Bowser had to pause to catch his breath, before finishing his taunt [color=FD0000]”- like that?”[/color] only to groan thirdly as the Daven once again survived, and took back to the air to keep on spitting fire.

Just then there was a little click, followed by the sound of something being reeled in, and then Rika appeared over the banister behind them. She immediately began to ask
[color=Aqua]”Hey, Kamek can I borrow-”[/color] before being interrupted by having to lean out of the way of a fireball, and then calling [color=Aqua]”-borrow the snaktivator?”[/color] over her shoulder as she rushed the demon.

A gauntlet smashed him back into the wall, before she rammed two hull blades, a chainsaw bayonet, and four disturbing globules into him all at once. Then she kicked off of him as her gauntlet came back online, grabbed her spear in both hands, and then stabbed the demon repeatedly with it alongside her strikers, which delivered chops and icey spike blows till the demon fell.

In the aftermath, she gave a little [color=Aqua]”Phew”[/color] stored her weapon, and then explained [color=Aqua]”Ganondorf showed me how to get a spirit out of those flippy warrior people”[/color] before showing them the spirit of Titania.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, well, I see”[/color] Kamek replied steadily, before offering her the requested item.

[color=Aqua]”Thanks!”[/color]

[hider=For Rika]Notable spirit consumed:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/03VMIKs.png]Titania Prime[/url][/b] (Waist)
Spreading out from the point of snacktivation, the host has gained a thin, roughly romper-shamped undersuit of flexible teal and cherry-red alloy lined with black, and her armor in the vicinity has slimmed down somewhat and turned predominantly black decorated with gold. This also includes a sort of skirt of sleek, tapered flaps. The rigging has also been affected, partially converted into a set of gilded, hollowed-out, hip-mounted wings that are less articulate and usable as weapons. This spirit confers the Strength [b]Bullet Jump[/b], substantially boosting the host's movement abilities. The host can launch into a quick slide, double jump, aim glide, wall run, wall climb, and high jump. This spirit also confers the weakness [b]Pixieweight[/b], decreasing the host's effective weight, strength, and durability by 15%[/hider]

[color=Aqua]”Oh wow, I feel lighter, let me just”[/color] Rika said after the flash of light, promptly hopping into the air, and then hopping again. She declared this [color=Aqua]”neat!”[/color] she before promptly leaping off of the banister and calling down [color=Aqua]”Jr! Watch this”[/color] before she began to combine wall runs, air glides, and feather falls to climb all the way up the central chamber without touching a floor, and then descend all the way back down to where her brother was down on the bottom floor in no time at all.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, youth”[/color] the mage commented jealousy, before glancing at the turtle Rika had just finished off for them and enquiring [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Would you mind If i took it?”[/color] to which Bowser had no objections.

[hider=For Kamek]Spirit absorbed:
[b][url=https://i.imgur.com/SjZtkKp.png]Devan Shell[/url][/b]
The host is a little younger, taller, and lankier, and his scales are more green than yellow (except on his undershell), while his shell is larger and patterned with purple. He has a bigger, sharper beak, and a much bigger pair of glasses. He has only three fingers per hand. His personality is more egotistical and cartoonishly evil. This spirit confers the Power [b]Devil Inside[/b]. When all of the host's mana is exhausted, he will transform, becoming larger and more muscular with a long, spiked tail and impressive draconic wingspan. In this form the host can't really use other abilities or equipment, but can spit out an infinite amount of explosive fireballs while slowly regaining mana, and once his mana is restored (or his stamina depleted) he will turn back to normal. This spirit also confers the Weakness [b]Hesitancy[/b]. After using a special movement ability, like a teleport, the host will be unable to move or two seconds[/hider]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Taller, but still me, and I can feel a dark power deep within, ready to be unleashed when I most need it. Marvelous”[/color] the mage commented, before enquiring [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Shall we continue?”[/color]

Bowser, again, agreed, and so they headed up together, an uneventful climb which eventually brought them before the door that was sealed by a silver lock, the one located by the warden's office which they had failed to enter earlier. Aware now that nothing had changed about the state of the prisoner’s mental states, they followed Jr’s prior advice properly this time, putting an army of dry bones between them and the door, and having a Toady open it up for them so they’d be clear of whatever, if anything, came bursting out of there. The two meanwhile were further back, with Kamek matching his king in size thanks to his using of the small amount of mana he’d recharged since the last fight switching him into his new devil form.

The cell, at least, was unlike the others. Before, those outfitted with bronze locks seemed more intentioned for keeping intruders out than the prisoners in, pacified as they were by unnatural yet blissful dreams. Following the death of Robin, that state of affairs had been turned on its head, with the denizens here awakened and driven mad by the revelation that their realities had been nothing more than dreams. The entire jail now resounded with their anguish, be it tormented cries or uproarious banging on cell doors. Not this particular cell, though. Instead, a discreet ethereal light issued from under it, along with a quiet humming and the intermittent scrape of a knife against wood. It didn’t sound like the sort of noise a human voice could make, but it sounded peaceable nonetheless, unchanged by the shift within Mercy Dreams.

When a toady inserted its key into the lock, the sound of humming and whittling stopped. A voice issued from within, strange but still intelligible. “Please, wait-” Then the door swung open, and a chill swept down the Koopas’ shelled spines. The cell was full of carved statues, at least a dozen of them, all very similar to the ones they, Nadia, and Therion had recovered elsewhere in the prison. No two were quite alike, however, and only through their gestalt could the true shape of Robin Goodfellow be gleaned. Against the back wall leaned a [url=https://i.imgur.com/G41dZZy.png]strange staff[/url], wrought black metal affixed with ceremonial beads and shining with the light of a crescent moon inside its head. But there was nobody there.

[color=FD0000]”Huh, did you hear something just now?”[/color] Bowser asked, but his aged advisor simply shook his head in response. [color=FD0000]”Weird.”[/color] the king concluded, before dismissing it as just another sourceless piece of ambiance. After all, no one had responded when he’d tried to ram the door down earlier, so the cell being empty wasn’t exactly unexpected. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, but look, might that be what we are here for?”[/color] Kamek asked rhetorically, as he pointed out the staff which certainly had something of a dreamcatcher look about it. Add to that the magical half moon at its center, and it was 100% something of value, and so the mage had his minion collect it.

Both had had quite enough of Robin Goodfellow to give the collage of statues more than a raised eyebrow and a quick dismissal, so that got to stay where it was. After having acquired what they came for, and writing everyone left here as a lost cause, there was little interest in letting anything keep them around.

Unfortunately, people had wandered here and there post bossfight, and so once they returned to the room by the stagstation, they had to park their tails and wait for everyone to regroup. Kamek reported about their acquisition of the dreamcatcher, and then also inquired if anyone had found the code to the safe they had found in the warden’s office, unaware that they had just ended the flimsy existence of the person who knew it. As such he also inquired if anyone had any tricks that might let them bypass the lock entirely.