[center][img]https://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/b/b2/Koopa_Troop_artwork.png/658px-Koopa_Troop_artwork.png[/img] [h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2] [b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,978 (+3) [b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 5 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]///////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]//// (47/50) Stress: ??/100 [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 4 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////[/color]/////////////////////// (18/40) Stress: ??/100 [b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 4 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////[/color]//////////////// (24/40) Stress: ??/100 [b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Lumbridge, the Land of Adventure [/center] While Bowser acted as the very large , fussy and insistent center of a gathering spot Jr found time to toe get into a bit of mischief. [color=SpringGreen]”go on. Touch it”[/color] “Kyu?” [color=SpringGreen]”Touuuch it!”[/color] Bowser Jr compelled his mouse impersonating minion as he held Mimikyu up towards the floating arm like item that had been disgorged from one of the loot boxes and promptly ignored /avoided by everyone since then. Kamek, who was watching this with interest casual, couldn’t blame them. It was quite the foolhardy individual who risked disfigurement by touching the gambling dispensed powerup, especially one that looked so weird and pixely. For all they know it could act like a [url=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/mario/images/e/eb/Skinnymario.png/revision/latest/zoom-crop/width/480/height/480?cb=20151205053437]weird mushroom[/url] and what a freakishly farcical fate that would be. This was exactly why the boy was using his spooky companion as a labrat. Eventually after a bit more encouragement/insistence Mimikyu reached out a careful pitch black limb and touched the floating powerup with their hand. Upon making contact the powerup vanished, the glowing sprite like energy quickly being absorbed by the contact, and in a flash as Mimikyu’s arm shot forwards till it had doubled in length. The Pokemon cocked its head sideways in confusion, and then proceed to unfurl the rest of its arm from within the dark void like interior. Mimikyu’s already disproportionately long arms could barely be called that anymore and instead resembled a tentacle nearly a dozen times longer than the creature it belonged to. It turned its now distant hand over a few time, trying to comprehend its new extra long limbs. [color=SpringGreen]”Huh. So it was a long arms power up?”[/color] Jr said as he watched this [color=SpringGreen]”That’s a really stupid powerup but hay it worked out pretty well for Mimikyu huh?”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Quite absurd. I shudder to think what one of us would have ended like if we had picked that up. Still, this was an interesting thing to witness up close. I wonder how it compares to the absorption of an actual sprite?”[/color] Kamek commented thoughtfully [color=SpringGreen]”I dunno”[/color] Jr said while shrugging before asking Mimikyu to [color=SpringGreen]”Hay. Mimikyu. Do this!”[/color] before proceeding to do the wave. Mimikyu stopped inspecting its limb for a moment, stared at their trainer’s strange dance move for a few moments before mimicking them, two long noodle limbs extending out on both sides and wriggling them about energetically like some kind of wacky wavy inflatable tube Pokemon and causing Jr to burst out laughing. [color=SpringGreen]”pfffhahaha, Oh man these boxes were totally worth it”[/color] [color=FD0000]HA. Yeah that's pretty good.[/color] Bowser agreed as he came over and picked up the little blue mushroom charm in order to pinned it to his hat. After that he scooped up the horse armor and dumping all the spare weapons into it. [color=FD0000]Now let's move![/color] he commanded them and the rest of the party who had assembled as he headed for the door, Jr and Kamek quickly moving to follow in his wake. [hr] After stuffing the spare loot in the boot of the Bowser mobile the koopa troop and co made good time heading for their prey’s location in their monster truck. The drive covered the ground they’d spent half the day walking back and forth across in minutes. When they arrived at the Ancestral Steppe the troop was in high spirits as Bowser dismounted the monster truck and kamek and jr landed beside him. The smaller koopas had flown escort for their enormous motor vehicle which had been an easy task considering the only thing to challenge them had been small one eyed bats. [color=SpringGreen]”Man even the stuff back at the castle was more dangerous than the minions attacking us at night here and Linkle basically handled them all herself.”[/color] jr said dismissively as they pulled a bat wing off the fishing spear they had been practicing fly fishing with and tossed it aside. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Now now. Let’s not get complacent. We still have a ways to go.”[/color] Kamek said as he landed and joined the rest of the team in their ground based sneaking mission. Jr dismissed this concern out of hand, but it slowly became clear that he might have been a touch premature with his judgment of their mission as the land around them grew more and more strange and twisted the further they went into the steppes. The fossilized crops made a stark contrast to the golden fields the troop had harvested only a short time and distance away and the eerie glowing crystals dotting it managed to be a far more disturbing sight than the single dead rat person they had stumbled across at the farm. The royals did their best to not look at the strange brain hurting color that emanated from the crystals while their mage could not help but glance at the color again and again as he tried to understand what could never be comprehended by mortal minds. All of them failed to look up, and this was probably for the best considering the state of the night sky. Eventually however they reached the top and found their quarry, a purple scaled beast studded with a small number of crystals and leaking some kind of radioactive-green goop/snot. [color=SpringGreen]”Is that it?”[/color] Jr whispered to Kamek, who he startled out of another attempt to understand the crystal. The magikoopa shook his head to regain his senses, then adjusted his glasses slightly and finally nodded in affirmation. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”I believe so”[/color] Jr frowned while Bowser said that [color=FD0000]”Bit small for a zone boss isn’t it?”[/color] Bowser said dismissively. Considering his standards for the position was a souped up version of himself it was always going to be tricky to find anything that the king felt could compare to their first major foe. Their line of discussion was rudely and horrifically interrupted by the arrival of a living nightmare. The thing from beyond the stars burst from a mill atop the hill, alerted to their presence by goodness knows what, and let rip an unearthly scream that bypassed logic and ripped straight past reason and slammed directly into their hind-brain. Forget that both Kamek and jr had only recently seen and fought undead beasts or that the koopa troop employed reanimated skeletons and literal ghosts, the amalgamation of flesh, bone and crystal gripped at their hearts and pumped fear thought their bodies. Or at least that's what they thought it was if they tired to think about it all. The crystals' glow made it very hard to look at directly. Bowser startled noisily backwards a few steps before regaining enough control of their legs to stop themselves from fleeing. Kamek simply stared, frozen on the spot, eyes devouring the unnatural light emanating from the beast. Jr ducked his head down in his clown car, which had been rolling along on it’s wheels, as if he had just been shot at. The elder koopas broke out of their stunned silence when a second cry pierced the night, their eyes snapping to jr’s location as Mimikyu, who seemed entirely unaffected by the entire situation, had the ingenious idea of copying the Thing’s attack. The significantly smaller aoe failed to hit anything other than the party and then most where only bushed bu it lightly, except for jr upon whom the epicenter of the cry sat. The boy gripped both sides of his head, hunkered down completely in his car as he cried out in in fear and surprise. [color=FD0000]”JR!”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Young Master!”[/color] the boy’s two caretakers cried in alarm before rushing to his side instead of into the fray as the others where. [color=SpringGreen]”Don’t”[/color] Jr gasped breathlessly as he waved a hand at Mimikyu who he had realized was the source of the second burst [color=SpringGreen]”Don’t do that!”[/color] “Kyu Kyu” specter said, tilting its false head slightly in confusion before a lengthy arm spooled out from under its disguise and went to pat the still hiding monarch on the head. The fact that he did not immediately bat it away showed just how shaken Jr was [color=FD0000]”You ok?”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Are you alright?”[/color] Bowser and Kamek asked, both equally concerned. [color=SpringGreen]”I’m fine. I’m fine”[/color] Jr said unconvincingly, his breath slowly returning to him. A Bowser tried to think of a way to comfort his son Geralt called his name. He glanced behind him and saw that battle had been joined, the others having recovered and then had engaged the enemy as soon as they were steady. Yet most were still hacking their way through the hordes of farmhands that had swarmed out of the fields in response to the eldritch cry. They would need the koopa’s aid if they where to get through this alive, or at least this Bowser firmly believed. Mostly due to self importance. Bowser breathed in once, quickly and deeply, and then stood from where he had been crouching over jr. [color=FD0000]”Son.”[/color] He said to still rather alarmed jr [color=FD0000]”When something tries to frighten you, don't hide or fear, get Angry! Get MAD! Because how dare these weak, sniveling, pathetic things do this to you! HOW DARE THEY! RAAAAGH!”[/color] Bowser, having worked himself up into a rage, turned while roaring with fury and launched himself up into the air with a mighty leap towards the closest target, which happened to be the the Brachydios. Dark magic flowing into him as he flew, causing him to grow just as tall as the saurian in half a dozen heartbeats, before bringing his legs up and [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/Bowser_Bomb]bowerbombing [/url] down onto the monster right as his jump arched above it. [color=FD0000]”DIE!”[/color] he roared as he slammed down, emitting a flaming shock-wave in the processes. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Your father’s right young master. These guys don't stand a chance against you! They're cowards using cheap tricks because they know they can't stand up to you in a straight fight”[/color] Kamek followed up his master's words with some good old fashioned coddling, which was tried and true method of getting the boy’s fighting spirit up and pumping. [color=SpringGreen]”yeah… Yeah!”[/color] Jr replied, enthused if not back at 100%. He tried to glare at the monster only to flinch away from the blinding alien light it was producing. The boy wished he never had to see the thing again. Which by his father's logic meant he had to make sure it was destroyed as soon as possible. Jr grinned a little as he got an idea to do just that. [color=SpringGreen]”Kamek? Do you still have that bomb?”[/color] After a lightning fast bit of planning the Jr and Mimikyu ascended into the sky in the clown car, followed by five Kameks. They all flew up and over the horde of undead farmers, quickly overtaking those trying to hack their way through the lines. As they ascended jr deployed the splattershot, pumping a rain of ink at a high ark (so that he could shoot it without aiming at it) at the thing while Kamek retrieved the [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/bindingofisaacre_gamepedia/archive/3/3b/20151115050927%21Bomb.png?version=6befb913ab7a7adf8781f1ea346c6338]Black bomb[/url] he’d gotten from the creeper’s sprite from his robe and increased it in size by 50% using his magic. Each armed with their own bomb, the five Kameks spun in a full circle to build up momentum and lobbed the heavy explosives towards the thing from beyond the stars. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Make way, bombs away!”[/color] Kamek yelled in warning to their allies who where fighting their way towards the thing. As he did Jr undeployed the arms of his clowcar, activated the front facing cannon and slamming its fire button. A balloon was spat out from the cannon which rapidly inflated into a flaming homing clown head missile that roared down after the bombs, yet another attack that didn't invovle having to look at the awful thing. With near perfect timing the shower of heavy unlit explosives thumped down right as the fireball struck them, instantly detonating the slow fused bombs all at once in a cluster bomb’s worth of explosions.