[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color][/h3]
[b]Level 4[/b] - (11/40) EXP (+3), [b]Level 3[/b] - (8/30)
[b]Location:[/b] Castle Interior
[b]Word Count:[/b] 948[/center]

Side by side Ratchet and Courier 6 stood behind Tora and Poppi, protected by the pair’s barrier as the spirits of their fallen comrades took on new form. For the Courier, he had to swing his Ratslayer back over his shoulder to make room for the larger weapon being made manifest in his hands. From what little he knew of Gaige before her untimely demise he had expected a robot, or something high-tech that could interface with robotics, or electric maybe. It was almost disappointing when her reshaped spirit manifested instead as an assault rifle. Sure, it was a very pretty assault rifle with some strange glowing green bits, and he [i]loved[/i] guns, but he couldn’t help but feel like his expectations were betrayed. Of course this sentiment made absolutely no sense seeing as how he exchanged maybe three sentences with the teenager, but he wasn’t the type to subscribe to logic. Still, pleased at his new weapon, he took advantage of his relative safety to inspect it.

Meanwhile, Ratchet was undergoing a transformation as the spirit of Zer0 bonded with his heart. The power flowed through his body, changing him, altering him. The relatively short lombox grew taller by a wide margin, his five foot height stretching out to a very impressive six foot eight and a half inches. His wiry frame didn’t change at all, giving him more of a bean pole build, while his commando outfit altered in color to more closely resemble Zer0’s assassination armor. Though he couldn’t see the change, his eyes also turned red, which might be unnerving to some. As soon as the transformation completed, Ratchet rolled his shoulders as if to roll out the kinks. 

[color=orange]”Wow, that was different. Hey, I can reach the top shelf now!”[/color] To emphasize his point, Ratchet stuck his hand straight up. His new reach was indeed impressive.

“This is a most fascinating development,” Clank said, temporarily manifesting on his back. While Ratchet had a growth spurt, Clank did not and so the duo’s pairing looked a bit off. “By my estimation, combining with another spirit contains an exceptional likelyhood of altering your mental and emotional parameters as well. Do you feel any different, Ratchet?”

The omniwrench clanged a bit on the stone floor as Ratchet tested out his new reach, swinging his trusted weapon about. [color=orange]”Nope, nothing. I feel just like I always have, little buddy!”[/color]

Clank pondered for a moment, holding onto his mechanical chin. “This turn of events is unusual. If you do not want to lose too much of who you are, I would not suggest making a habit of this, Ratchet.”

[color=orange]”Yeah yeah, I hear ya, buddy,”[/color] the lombox said, pointing his wrench in the direction of the enemy Bowser, who was now hiding behind his throne. Clank dissipated just as Ratchet spoke again. [color=orange]”I think it’s time to try out this new power I feel.”[/color]

Ratchet vanished from sight, leaving behind a holographic decoy of himself which made a mad dash for MegaDragonBowser, swinging its fake wrench around like a berserker. This left the real Ratchet to sneak about the throne room undetected. He knew it was dangerous, but Ratchet wanted to get behind the throne, behind the evil Bowser. There was a chance he could be useful in a sneak attack, but moreso he wanted to investigate the environment for anything they could make use of.

Meanwhile, the Courier had finished inspecting his new weapon. Of the assault rifle family, it seemed to be a machine gun. Moreover, the magazine this baby had was utterly [i]absurd[/i], looking to hold somewhere from eighty to over a hundred rounds! Unlike his revolver or his shotgun, this thing definitely wasn’t going to need to be reloaded anytime soon. Which led to another problem of the ammunition, because he sure as hell wasn’t carrying any machine gun rounds on him. Sure, he could make them with supplies, but at the moment if he ran out, he ran out, which meant it had to be used sparingly until this whole mess was over with. Further, as far as he could tell the glowing green bits served a functional purpose. As rounds traversed from magazine to chamber to muzzle, they were bathed in this green light… But for what purpose he couldn’t tell. Well, no better time than the present to find out, right?

The Courier took aim, glad that he wasn’t anywhere near the path of that flying throne, and released a quick volley of shots toward the evil Bowser’s chest. The fire rate was impressive, as was the recoil, but not as impressive as what happened when the bullets made contact with the enemy who had so foolishly (and literally) thrown away his cover. The bullets burst into a caustic green acid, beginning to erode away the tough scales and thick shell where they struck. Six’s eyes widened in surprise, then slowly narrowed in joy. A grin crept across his face in what could only be described as sadistic pleasure.

[color=tan]”YEEHAW! I’LL EAT AWAY THAT ARMOR YOU BRAHMIN TURD!”[/color] Instantly any thoughts he had of conserving ammo were gone as he took to a more suppressive fire strategy. The bullets fired out six per second for several seconds, growing more and more inaccurate as he held down the trigger. But it’s not like accuracy was that big a deal when the target was the size of a small house, right? Before he knew it, the Courier had chewed through about 36 rounds of his magazine before deciding enough was enough… For the moment.