[center][h3]Poppi[/h3]
[b]Level 3 Poppi[/b] - (3/30) EXP
[b]Location:[/b] Peach's Castle
[b]Word Count:[/b] 429[/center]

Linkle's call provoked a slight jump from Poppi, arriving just after she laid a hand on the main door to push it open. She'd been lost in thought, not really paying attention, and the rabbit-eared girl seemed to take her by surprise. Though offered as friendly advice, Linkle's warning received an unhappy look from Poppi. “Thank you, but Poppi is not robot, but artificial blade.” Her features downcast, Poppi held up a metal hand and watched as she flexed her fingers. “...But it make little difference. Poppi not real. Just machine with no heart. Betrayed heroes just like that, almost killed Masterpon. Poppi deserve to rust in scrapyard.” Crestfallen, she pushed open the door and hustled through.

She did not, however, go to the scrapyard. A few moments after setting foot outside, she stopped at the edge of the moat, not far from the main bridge. The strange ship of the hat-wearing kid still floated in its middle, but Poppi paid it little attention. She seated herself on the bank and allowed her lower legs to dangle in the water. After just a few moments, a [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/4/4b/349Feebas.png/250px-349Feebas.png]fish[/url] swam up, attracted by the light shining off the metal. It approached without any wariness, staring dully at its reflection and even nipping a few times. Poppi could not feel its touch, and she knew that it wouldn't have come right up to a living thing so easily. She watched it until it didn't interest her anymore, then turned to watch the other creatures swimming about, living it up in the moat. Using her voice instead of any breath, she let out a sigh in imitation of Tora. Even after hearing her Masterpon's explanation, she had so many questions, and not all of them concerned this strange new world. 

One stood above the rest: how could she look him in the face again, or any of them, after turning evil so easily? After all the soul poured into her by Tora, and everything they'd been through, she was still just a piece of metal run by lines of code. A hard puppet dancing on soft strings. Anyone could stamp out her pretend spirit and turn her into a weapon against her friends. How was that fair?

Poppi put her hands on the ground and leaned out over the water. A sad [url=https://i.redd.it/3u4yi564jzxz.png]face[/url] stared back at her from its rippling surface. She saw herself blink, but knew that she didn't need to. The realization almost made her laugh. All this tireless, heartfelt effort put into a dangerous failure. How disappointed Tora must be.

[center][h3]The Kitchen[/h3][/center]

As more people gathered around the table at one end of the kitchen, a few toads appeared with platters. “Gonna be a while until the meal's ready, but here! This stuff's great,” one said, before setting down a plate full of little sandwiches right by Michael and Franklin. Anyone else nearby could help themselves, too.

Tora definitely did, sneaking away from the stovetop he'd been tending to grab a sandwich and scarf it down before scuttling back, making sure to avoid an enraged-looking [url=https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/06/mamaangry.jpg]Cooking Mama[/url] on the way. “You great big lout!” she scolded Bowser. “We need all the counter space we can get, and you're in the way! Shouldn't you be finding your son right now?” Hopefully the overgrown turtle would realize Bowser Jr was somewhere in the castle and make himself scarce looking for him.

She turned next to face Blazermate, the fire vanishing from her eyes. A glittering smile flew the medibot's way after she gave a respectful bow; so rarely did the chef get her due! “Of course, both of you go right ahead!” she beamed. “Just make sure to keep your tinkering far away from the food, and don't let any acrid smoke go wafting around! Meals [i]must[/i] be prepared in a sanitary environment!” Evidently, the hard-working cook remained strict and informative even when happy.

Meanwhile, Peach paused in her preparation in order to consider Mario's question. “Hmm...” she furrowed her brow as she cast her mind about the tyrant's former fortress. “Most of them are here, I think. Yoshi's out back, Luigi is probably still cleansing the library, and I would imagine Wario's having the time of his life in the treasury.” She wrinkled her nose. “As if I needed another reason to avoid working with money. As for Daisy, Rosalina...I have no idea. They must not be around here.”

[center][h3]Royal Bedchamber[/h3][/center]

For a time, Hat Kid's detective work turned up practically nothing. Whoever this Princess Peach was, she seemed to be a simple, singularly uninteresting character, with no discernible hidden depths or interesting past. The fashionable child turned up only clothes, knickknacks, self-care items, and the evidence of a number of hobbies, like knitting. Most eye-catching were a number of [url=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dz3OAql7kzM/maxresdefault.jpg]figures[/url] scattered about, though they seemed to be nothing more than mundane collectibles. She did not, however, find a single hidden panel or trap door, or for that matter, a smudge of dirt or dust bunny. This woman was a neat freak, for sure.

However, something did turn up out of the blue after a few minutes: a bib-masked miscreant with flashy red hair and green scales very much like those of the Koopa King who so authoritatively co-opted Hat Kid's service not too long ago. Bowser Jr was far more intent on joining in on her fun than Bowser Sr's typical agenda of self-aggrandizing bullying, so the discovery more than likely meant a new comrade in her search for something interesting.

Unbeknownst to her, her mission's completion was far closer than she might have realized. As an expert explorer and collector, Hat Kid searched high and low for hidden goodies, perusing every nook and exposing every cranny. Thus, the most ordinary spots slipped her notice at first, and in fact she had yet to examine the most obvious among them: the top of Peach's stationary desk. On it lay a large sheet of sturdy parchment, its inscriptions' handwriting a far cry from the dainty cursive on Peach's letters. It was, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a [url=https://i.imgur.com/s8pYuCv.jpg]map[/url].