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[b][color=6ecff6]Level 2[/color][/b] - (5/20) EXP 
[b][color=6ecff6]Location:[/color][/b] 1-1, Scrapyard ---> Peach's Castle (Moat)
[b][color=6ecff6]Word Count:[/color][/b] 751

[sub][b][color=6ecff6]Journey to the Castle - Pt 4[/color][/b][/sub][/center]
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With the ground units too busy slaughtering one another, and with all the birds in the immediate area having been eliminated, Geno's path to salvation seemed nearly assured. Yet as he begins to reach the edge of the moat surrounding it, an utter sense of dread suddenly befell him. This almost seemed too easy for him. Surely there would've been some guards of some kind - whether they be rabbits or robots - guarding the castle. And some tough really tough guards at that. But yet, there seemed to be little, if none at all. Something was not quite right here. Even for a spirit incorporating the conscious of a mere wooden doll, his senses were beginning to warn him of an approaching threat. 

And they were blaring excruciatingly in his head.

Geno would instinctually find himself looking back at the battlefield bellow him, particularly at the entrance to the bridge. And that's where he finally saw them. Bursting out of two piles of junk upon the white walkway and forming an arch, the doll could hear the sound of deep cackling laughter as he saw three shapes looking ominously down on him. Two of the shapes belonged to mechanical turrets - both aesthetically different in design - and a grey man standing behind them with red eyes. Geno first believed that man to be another robot - concerning his color - but the more he stared, the more it turned out that he was indeed an organic being. 

One very possessed and evil man at that. 

[b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lseU8vDl5Tc&feature=youtu.be&t=10m11s][color=a9a9a9]"Yer about to have a real [u]BAD[/u] day, son!"[/color][/url][/b] the hard-hatted fellow chuckled with a heavy southern-accent.

With that, the Star Warrior found a red dot dotting his head, followed by two attentive beeps coming from the turrets. They were now locked onto him. Knowing what was about to happen, Geno quickly issued a barrel roll, followed by evasive maneuvers as he attempted to dodge the onslaught of bullets coming his way. But unlike the shots fired by the rabbits or the robo-heavy, these wouldn't be a simple "run-in-the-park" to avoid. The smaller turret's precision was extremely accurate, with the flying doll already suffering some damage as their bullets began to scrape at his wooden exterior. Suddenly, an explosion happened just beside him on his left, almost throwing him off balance. That must've come from the larger turret - and boy was he lucky to avoid that particular shot.

But the worse was yet to come.

The smaller turret would suddenly fire a volley of homing missiles that immediately tracked Geno's every movement! Things had now gone from bad to worse. At this pace, he's not going to make it to the tower window without getting severely damaged. Quickly analyzing his surroundings, Geno had only time to think of one possible getaway. With that in mind, he began to fly low to the ground and just as he reached the edge of the castle moat, he made a hard left downwards as he plunged into the waters below. He'd then swim deep enough for the missiles to hopefully loose steam as he proceeded to swim underneath the bridge. 

Thankfully, for inheriting the body of a non-living entity, Geno had not to worry about coming up for air. In fact, now supposedly hidden away from the turrets, his next goal is to find the entrance into the castle from within the moat. If there is even an entrance down here in the first place. But as he continues swimming, he couldn't help but to think about that man he saw perched up on that arch. Again, he didn't seem robotic at all. While his color pattern was indeed grey, he sported out the same physique as a regular human being. Geno then recalls the floating balls that he saw back in the scrapyard. He had begun to develop the strangest hunch that these two could be related to one another. Could it be that these balls somehow have the ability to possess these characters? Was that how he and the others looked like when they attacked Kirby? And if so, how can they redeem these fallen characters and free their spirits from the control under the seraphim? Geno didn't know how for certain - but he hopes to find the answer sooner than later. Because the more people their group had, the better the chance they had to beat back this oppressive "god" and return back to their homes. 

But in the meantime, he must focus to find the entrance into the castle.