[center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3]
[b]Level 4 Tora[/b] - (39/40) EXP and [b]Level 3 Poppi[/b] - (30/30) EXP 
[b]Location:[/b] Paved Wilderness
[b]Word Count:[/b] 740[/center]

Tora watched with his mouth agape at the flurry of spirits that flew from Grimm's failing body and into the sky. Questions flooded through him: what were they doing there, where were they going, why weren't they being dropped as loot? Then again, the uncollected spirits from 1-1 vanished if left unattended for too long as well, so maybe these hit their expiration date as well. Only one, aside from the orange dual swords, remained: the spirit of the fearsome-looking biker himself, sitting on Peach's hand.

The princess bore a pensive expression. She suspected that this whole journey would be one long chain of wishing she better understood what was going on, but she did know one thing. What she'd seen of Mr. Grimm painted him as a tough man on a mission, willing to use violence to achieve his goals, but not out of insanity or bloodlust. That meant his spirit could be useful as more than just some weapon, unlike the leftovers of that vile killer clown. Fresh in her mind were the words of the Master of Masters, insisting that the heroes would need all the power they could get if they were to succeed. Some of the others could hold their own no problem, but she'd been hesitant to even use her scatterblaster on Grimm's tire, and the thought of hurting someone herself made her sick. In the heat of the battle, she'd clung to the sidelines, dominated by worry and panic. Peach knew she, despite her bravado earlier, she wasn't cut out for this. Not as she was.

Before anyone could tell her it was a bad idea, Peach clutched the spirit in her gloved hand and placed it against her heart. The instant it made contact, a surge of raw power flowed through her, and multicolored light shone across the desert. Her being began to change, and she staggered to her feet, wide-eyed and clutching at her heart. Peach clenched her jaw, struggling to hold in the sensation of exploding, until with a strangled cry she cast the energies off in a final burst of light.

When it faded, a changed woman stood on her place. Her skin tone had darkened to about the halfway point between her original self's and Grimm's, and while her hair retained its overall style, it had reconstituted into thin dreadlocks whose lower halves were blond and upper halves black. Her dress had become more of a pink longcoat, with black jeans on below and a black vest on top. For a moment, she stared at her hand listlessly, its pristine white glove now fingerless. Then, she took a deep breath, and in a huskier voice said, “This...is me. It's weird...I can feel some sort of connection to your spirits. I think I can take them out, and put them back in.” Running a hand along her bicep, she noted the greater definition and nodded. “Now I can fight alongside you. Be a real leader.” She stepped back, and looked around. “Okay. Let's keep moving. Grab whatever you want from the fallen, but be quick about it. And don't fuse with Needles. He'll mess you up.” She returned to her kart, but paused before getting in. For some reason, she really wanted a bike instead. But it didn't really matter.

Tora and Poppi watched her go, the former remarking to his invention, “Meh meh. Looks like Poppi not only one getting upgrade.” Turning his focus to her, the Nopon said, “Good to see that QT mode not lost after all, just disabled. Now that Poppi have second loadout, Tora really need to get new Poppiswap parts, meh.”

The artificial blade nodded, before pointing toward Bowser Jr. “Want to help small turtle again, masterpon? With boatcar totaled, have no way of fast travel.” She glanced at him disapprovingly, as if anticipating his train of thought. “And Poppi not fly Tora whole way.”

He thought about it, then tossed his head dismissively. “Meh-meh. Not think so. Tiny-tiny hammer take ages and ages to fix, and giant machine seem unwieldy anyway. Plus, not so simple to drive as karts.” A wing-finger extended in the direction of the rabbid truck. “Tora and Poppi hop in with them. Cannot be so bad, meh?” With no casualties during the battle, he seemed to embody the general good mood permeating the group. With a pep in his step he waddled toward his destination, and Poppi followed.

[hider=Results!]
[b]Party:[/b] [@Archmage MC]'s Blazermate, [@DracoLunaris]' Bowser, [@Stekkmen]'s Centurion, [@Stern Algorithm]'s Din, [@Genon]'s Donnie, [@Simple Unicycle]'s Gene,[@Gentlemanvaultboy]'s Linkle, [@thedman]'s Michael & Franklin, [@ProPro]'s Courier 6 & Ratchet, Tora & Poppi, [@Dawnrider]’s Hat Kid and Banjo
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] 12 EXP
[b]Stunt Bonus:[/b] Banjo & Kazooie, Centurion, Din, Donnie, Linkle
[b]Stunt Reward:[/b] +3 EXP[/hider]