[center][h3][color=tan]Courier 6[/color] and [color=orange]Ratchet[/color][/h3]
[b]Level 5[/b] - (2/50) EXP (+3), [b]Level 4[/b] - (12/40)
[b]Location:[/b] Castle Courtyard
[b]Word Count:[/b]1553
[b][color=tan]Courier 6 level up![/color][/b]
[i]Animal Friend:[/i] Animals just like you! With few exceptions, animals will never attack you, even if trained by someone else, and will in fact come to your defense in most situations![/center]

Once they had the teleporters in working order, Ratchet had decided to call it a night. That they turned a piece of bread into a horrid monster didn’t really bother him too much considering he had faced down much worse. It would be easily splattered with a single good thwack of the omniwrench. Graciously, the princess offered up what seemed to be every room in the castle for them to sleep, which wasn’t an issue for most of their crew. For him however, with his newfound height courtesy of Zer0’s spirit bond, it was quite difficult to find a bed that could support his long body. Ultimately the lombax decided to just take the closest mattress and curl up like a cat, befitting his feline physiology.

Down deep in the dungeon the Courier worked and toiled all night long to craft up as many chems as he could, calling upon his two strikers to keep guard while he worked. He immediately took the first dose of jet that he had crafted in order to rid himself of the nasty withdraw effects, then went to work making more. Coyote tobacco, more jet, rushing water, mentats, stimpacks and more. Eventually he had to brew himself some coffee to make up for the lack of sleep (and what a good thing that his coffee actually negated the need for sleep!) but still he pressed on and on until he had no viable combination of ingredients left. 

With a heavy sigh of toil, the Courier wiped his brow, packing away all his new chems and drink into his carry bag. No sooner had he latched the pack up did he hear the sound of his lakelurk’s sonic blast along with a small, gravelly, yet somehow high pitched yelp. 6 rounded the corner, pistol drawn, to the sight of Bastion and the lakelurk facing down one of those tiny mushroom head people that populated the castle, one with blue spots on his head instead of the usual red.

Rolling his eyes, the Courier called back his strikers and put his piece away. [color=tan]”Sorry about that. Shoulda been more specific about standin’ guard over me. Hope yer ok, little buddy.”[/color]

The small creature cowered at first, but quickly recovered and trotted along to the Courier, giving him a swift kick in the shins. He yelped in pain, hopping back on one foot, rubbing the injury. It wasn’t going to bruise or anything, and to be honest didn’t actually hurt all that bad (sub-dermal armor and all), but it was a reflexive response to the very angry mushroom man. “The name is Toad! And don’t you forget it, buster!” Toad crossed his arms and glared.

[color=tan]”Don’t worry, I won’t,”[/color] 6 assured, putting both feet on the ground again. [color=tan]”You seem to be made of sterner stuff than the others round these parts.”[/color]

“What, you think we’re all tiny cowards? That’s racist, buddy! I’ll have you know that I’ve gone on adventures with Mario and the Princess!” The Toad gave a little “harrumph” and turned his back on the Courier before speaking again. “I’m supposed to wake up any stragglers to go meet in the courtyard, so get moving bucko!”

The Courier nodded, mildly impressed by the small person, and took the verbal abuse in stride. Without another word he headed topside to join the others.

[hr]

Ratchet and the Courier each listened to what Princess Peach had to say, paying attention to her little presentation to the group. It lacked a certain royal regality that Ratchet would have thought would’ve accompanied Peach, and a certain snobbish self-importance that the Courier would have expected. Both were pleased by this turn of events and enjoyed keeping things casual. 

As the princess introduced various newcomers to the groups at large, Clank was among the names listed. Almost by reflex the little robot striker was summoned by Ratchet’s side wearing his best “Secret Agent Clank” tuxedo, giving a professional wave to those who turned to look at him. “It is good to be recognized,” he commented before vanishing once again.

As this was happening, the Courier stood by his lonesome, leaning against a tree and enjoying the shade it provided. So the Master of Masters was staying behind, was he? Whatever that fink was planning probably had to do with the castle itself, or how everyone was using it as a base of operations. His train of thought was interrupted as the tree he leaned against was now leaning back toward him, bending at the trunk!

“Cross cross! Hera! Heracross!” joyfully exclaimed the enormous blue beetle creature he had met just yesterday evening. It was trying to get his attention, pushing on the tree from the other side. The thing’s strength was enormous! 

[color=tan]”Howdy bug hombre.”[/color] The Courier tipped his hat at the beetle, which then sank its teeth into the tree, devouring the nutritious sap from within. [color=tan]”Well alrighty then.”[/color] He turned his attention back to the princess, who had just introduced someone new. He spoke about creatures that he called “Pokemon,” summoning one of these things as an example for his diatribe. The Courier glanced between the little aron that Steven Stone had conjured from thin air to the large blue beetle, then back to Steven. They were obviously completely different creatures, but just as Mario, Peach, and Bowser looked like they “belonged” together, so too did these two animals. The man spoke about how they could be tamed and captured using special made balls and turned into allies. Well, that sounded right as rain! And how lucky for the Courier that he already had endeared himself to one of these Pokemon already?

Then Princess Peach took over again and explained something else that was new and foreign to the group as a whole. She demonstrated some kind of box that, when provided with some strange form of currency, exploded into a bunch of new items and gear! The Courier recognized the green bill she had used, something that was utterly plentiful (and completely worthless) in his own world: pre-war money. The currency used by America before the bombs turned everything to shit. Damn, he never kept that stuff on hand. If the Mojave was stitched into a part of this world then he’d be sure to find boat loads of pre-war money for those boxes, but he didn’t have any of it on hand now.

After the demonstration the princess declared her intention to come with, punctuated by a cute display of boxing that honestly really did not suit her. Smash Tournaments? Not waiting around to be rescued? Ratchet respected her, but felt unsure about it. After all, what would become of the castle if she were taken out? Would the Toads still maintain their new headquarters? The Courier, on the other hand, applauded. His clapping resonated across the courtyard showing off his appreciation and respect for this princess. She was the absolute antithesis to the kinds of people that inspired him to fight against the gods and masters that conspire to determine the fates of honest, hard working regular people.

And finally the presentation ended with Tora giving a small demonstration on how to drive the carts that had been fixed up by some of the group the previous night. The Courier turned his nose at this, always having been someone who preferred to walk his roads. He’d have to ride shotgun to another driver. On the other hand Ratchet was fairly excited to get his hands on something new to pilot! He bound toward the karts to look them over for one that suited his purposes, eventually coming across a [url=https://www.mariowiki.com/images/f/f6/MK8BlueFalcon.png]blue winged speed demon[/url] of a kart that resonated with his spirit.

[color=orange]”What’dya think Clank? Does it match my new look?”[/color] 

Clank immediately appeared to answer. “It does look rather sleek, but I am more concerned with your ability to keep it from crashing. Hehehehehehe!”

[color=orange]”Hey! That was [i]one[/i] time!”[/color]

A nearby conversation caught the lombax’s attention. The two human friends, Franklin and Michael, were discussing one of the pieces of gear dropped from the loot box. A gearhead himself familiar with alien technology, he felt the need to jump in. [color=orange]”It looks different from the designs in my galaxy, but I’d wager what you have right there is a plasma pistol,”[/color] he interjected. [color=orange]”Small power cells so I wouldn’t expect a big blast from it. Probably comparable to the side arms of your chemical based combustion guns, but waaaay cooler because it’s plasma.”[/color] Ratchet gave the two a fingergun salute.

Meanwhile, the Courier approached Steven, the large beetle scuttling along the ground behind him. [color=tan]”I’ll take the free balls, hombre. Already got me a pokemon that wants t’be my pardner. Anything you can tell me about this one would be appreciated.”[/color] As soon as Steven handed over the pokeballs, the Courier casually tossed one at the heracross, which immediately went inside. The ball did not struggle, nor budge at all save to fly right back into his hand. The fighting bug did not contest being captured and willfully joined his side.