[center][h3]Tora, Geralt, Cuphead, and Donovan Lee[/h3]
Level 6 Tora - (36/60) and Level 5 Donnie (13/50) and Level 4 Geralt and Level 2 Cuphead (2/20)
[b]Location:[/b] Lumbridge Stockyard, Land of Adventure[/center]

Before work could begin, Tora needed to find a suitable place. With the comfort of his home an impossibility, he made a quick circuit of Lumbridge with Poppi. After a good few minutes spent power-waddling around, checking out various potential sites where he could set up shop, Tora ended up at the stockyard near the smithy. An outdoor distribution center and marketplace, with loads of awnings stretched over various collections of goods, it served as the dumping ground for whatever materials the adventurers gathered while out on their quests. Everyone was entitled to what they collected, of course, but not everyone could use what they picked up; by piling their resources here the adventurers could ensure that everything got put to use. Anything left beneath the main loot tent got accounted for, sorted, and sent off to whoever could refine it or make something of it. Not everything could be gleaned this way, naturally, which accounted for the quantity of fetch quests that ran through the Adventurers’ Guild. Still, the stockyard was the beating heart of Lumbridge, and with a number of tradesmen already established there, Tora decided it would be the perfect place to get to work.

He claimed a vacant corner and started setting up. If his friends wanted something done, they could find him here, but he wanted to attend to his own project first and foremost. A better understanding of some technology in this world plus his own inspiration left him itching to resume work on Poppi’s third form, and really make some progress. Once he put together a workstation the Nopon instructed Poppi to lie down on it, and after she went into sleep mode, he opened her up with his toolkit. “Meh, mehmeh…” His wings and little arms got to work as if they had minds of their own, disassembling and reassembling in a flash. First came the check-up, ensuring that Poppi’s chassis and systems functioned as intended with no deficiencies. Once satisfied that the existing framework seemed intact, Tora cleaned it up and then began to take it apart. His mind raced with ideas, postulating functions and weaving together solutions to accomplish them. Croagunk stood by the whole time, and after getting over the sight of its trainer being engineered, it helped Tora out by getting new materials and components as he required them--a clever Pokemon indeed.

Meanwhile, Donnie, as he had promised, came striding over from the Guild Hall, straight here. Grabbing a folding chair from his Luggage (part of his camping supplies), he parked himself near Tora, sitting in on the session. He idly palmed the orb for the Dwarven Flying Machine, not sure if he should interrupt the Nopon who was clearly deep in the clutches of some kind of engineering fugue. Right now, what Tora was doing was all Greek to him (not that he knew what Greece was), but soon, very soon, those memories would come flooding back, at least enough to get him started. 

Still though, looking at Poppi’s innards, she reminded him of the Blingtron series of Gnomish robots, only far, far more sophisticated. Poppi had the language capabilities of her master, for one, rather than coming off as blatantly non-organic. If it weren’t for the mechanical bits on her, she could actually pass as human. It was fascinating, and he hoped he’d get a better idea of how she worked once the arbitrary amount of time had passed for him to remember what he was hoping to.

Donnie’s arrival went largely unacknowledged as Tora hunkered down to tackle the biggest project of his career. The jump from Poppi α to Poppi QT represented a minor upgrade in power versus a massive change in hardware capability, and now he aimed to achieve a more drastic overhaul plus an impressive leap forward in power. Poppi’s ability to change forms stemmed from her capacity to deconstruct to ether and reconstruct into pre-designated designs, much like the weapons of real Blades, so the first step was to build the new chassis. To get the output he wanted, Tora needed harder and lighter alloys, higher-yield servos, higher-capacity circuitry, more robust systems, and -to be honest- more expertise than he possessed right now.

Tora sighed, tossing aside a splintered piece of inadequate exterior metal, and rubbed his head. “Meh, meh, meh...backwater town too low-tech for Tora. Not have good enough materials. Wish Grampypon Soosoo here right now.” He refused to accept inferior materials or an inferior final product; only the best would suit his vision for Poppi. Oh, well. Even if he couldn’t assemble a whole new chassis, he could put together a few components that could be used later, and labor a little on her code. He began manufacturing a couple odd ends, from joiners to shock absorbers to chip housings and a few decorative pieces, and when those lay finished he attached his little computer pad via a cable and started tapping await. His little hands moved in a blur, writing line after line of new code capable of handling the functions and systems that would eventually be, as well as a sizeable update to Poppi’s personality that’d install along with the new chassis.

And finally, it clicked. Weeks of work came back to Donnie in an instant: Making functional dynamite, machining an arclight spanner, creating a basic blunderbuss, even crafting a mechanical squirrel that could follow him around on its own. Some more came back as well, including crafting mechanical sheep that exploded on their own, and the delicate work that went into creating such a lifelike automaton, coupled with the cost-cutting measures it took to get a dozen of them out the door in less than an hour. 

Along with…[i]painful[/i] memories of his Gnomish inventions backfiring spectacularly. A particularly bad memory involved him blowing off his hand due to improperly handling a copper bomb. Thankfully he knew Vivify at that point so that he didn’t go into shock before the priest got there….

He shuddered thinking about that horrible day.

In any event, he replayed Tora’s engineering session in his mind and realized that he was doing what he was doing because he didn’t have the metal he needed. The monk could fix that problem handily.

Summoning, unzipping, and fishing around in his Luggage, he pulled out several chunks of empyrium ore, a kind of metal mined from Argus and one of the few substances on its surface not hideously corrupted with Fel magic.

“Hey, Tora!” he said, interrupting the Nopon. He placed the heavy chunks of ore onto the table without even breaking a sweat. “Use these for her chassis. Empyrium. Strong, durable, and never rusts. There’s a blacksmith over thataway”--he pointed in the general direction of the Sisters of the Anvil--”who can probably work it into a fine plate in under a few minutes. Tell them what you want done and it’ll be fine.”

After jumping in surprise, Tora went to examine the ore. He had a suspicion about it from its presentation alone, however.

In a puff of smoke someone new arrived on the scene. The little cartoon cup flitted about to and fro with crazy speed, almost literally bouncing off the walls. [color=red]”Wowzers!”[/color] he’d say, looking at one piece of machinery before moving into the next. [color=red]”Swell!”[/color] he’d say to the next, so on and so forth until he came to a screeching halt (literally, his feet kicked up smoke and screeched like a car slamming the breaks) in front of Poppi. 

[color=red]”Gosh! Isn’t that the cat’s pajamas!”[/color] he exclaimed, peering real closely at her. 

Donnie just stared, completely unsure how to process the [i]living teacup.[/i] But of course, he’d seen a lot of things. Why was this one kid such a problem for him? Cuphead wasn’t even new: He’d seen the kid at the Devil’s Casino.

He supposed it was just a lot to get used to. The boy’s...physiology...was one of the strangest things he’d ever seen.

He shook it off. It wouldn’t do to get bogged down in appearances. He was a fighter first and a scholar second, and he had a god to kill. But he didn’t really get to introduce himself before the Nopon intervened.

“Meh!” Tora protested, trying to wave Cuphead away. “Don’t look at Poppi while under construction! Not decent!” He’d already forgotten the new arrival’s name, having not been paying attention while in the Devil’s Casino. Once that got sorted out, he turned inquisitively to Donnie. “While grateful for gift and definitely going to take without repay, meh, ore seem too heavy. Poppi need to move and fly ultra fast. Unless cutey-cutey smith sisters can make much lighter alloy with good resistances, it not useful for Poppi chassis, meh.” The Nopon ran over a mental checklist. “Plus, there whole bunch of parts Tora can’t make. When making Poppi first time, used lots of salvage parts. Now, need top-of-line goods for top-of-line Poppi. Golden cogs, cubic diamonds, ambler stigmas, genbu-weave cloth, dynamo turbine, gold condenser, digital filament, screw coil, fifty-volt battery....or equivalent. But none be found in low-tech place like this.” Tora looked morose. His circumstances stifled him.

Cuphead’s eyes lit up like sparkling stars, actually shining light! [color=red]”She flies? Hot DOG! Does she come with a plane mode? I can pilot her no problem!”[/color] The little cup stood proud, hands on his hips in a dramatic pose.

Tora shot him a look. “Poppi pilot self, meh! And not have plane mode. Modes are Alpha, Quixotic Tutelar, and now soon-to-be Quantum Technochampion π.” He perked up, smiling in a self-satisfied way. With his eyes closed and his little nub-hands on his ‘hips’, which evidently existed at the widest part of his egg-body, he explained, “Friends like name? Tora came up with when deciding which foot to set in gambling portal first.”

“Shame the ore won’t help,” Donnie said. “Though it might not go to waste after all.” He threw the Dwarven Flying Machine’s orb to his side with a flourish of his hand. The rickety Gnomish autogyro poofed into existence in a cloud of magical smoke. “If you can’t complete the upgrades to Poppi today, do you think you can fit in time to upgrade the machine?”

Now that his principle project needed to be put on ice, Tora found himself looking at the comically primitive flying machine with mild interest. “Maybe. If Tora motivated. What beardypon want done to it?”

Donnie chuckled at ‘beardypon,’ then got more serious, “Well, it’s Gnomish engineering. And Gnomish engineering is [i]unsafe.[/i] The propeller is only a few feet from my head, and there’s not even a seatbelt or a roll cage. So some kind of safety overhaul is top-priority. Second is a weapon of some kind. I think Kamek still has the weird gun from the giant clown robot we fought a while ago, that could work..Use your best judgment though. If it’s going to be a combat machine, it’ll probably need some armor too. And it’ll need to be able to carry all of this, so maybe an engine upgrade? I think that’s everything for right now.”

During the explanation the industrious Nopon had already started getting familiar with the contraption, waddling all around to look at its components. It did not leave much to the imagination; the thing was practically a one-chopper war on the concept of sophistication. As Donnie finished, however, Tora shook his head disapprovingly. “Why waste bullets and storage space on fire mode that hard to aim, sure to miss, and crazy inefficient? Meh, meh, meh! Instead, should be underslung biter cannon! Tora homemade invention fire boom biters that only blow up after chomping target. Zero percent failure rate, very safe.” He waved a wing at the flying machine dismissively. “Safety features easy, and can redo engines using drill shield engines no problem. Nice and strong and reliable, meh, but maybe less good for long flights.”

[color=red]”Unsafe? Well that’s my middle name! Cup-Unsafe-Head! Who needs to supe this baby up when I can take the wheel?”[/color] He hopped up on top of the propeller and began to dance a jig on it. When the propeller started rotating he switched to the Russian dance, sticking his legs out to kick off the blades as they spun by. Of course this got faster and faster and faster, and Cuphead matched the speed until his legs became a motion blur! After a few seconds it was almost moving fast enough to take off and finally, [i]finally[/i] it moved too fast and sent him flying off, crashing into a large pile of junk. Parts and pieces scattered and flew up in the air from the impact. A few seconds later and a little gloved hand stuck up from the pile giving a thumbs up. [color=red]”I’m ok!”[/color]

Tora blinked twice, dumbfounded, then shook his head. What he just saw defied physics, but now wasn’t the time to start getting bothered by strange stuff. [i]Only going weirder as time go on,[/i] he reminded himself.

A white-haired man, his face impassive and obviously unimpressed, reached down into the pile and gave the hand a tug. “I have no idea how you do that, kid, but you might want to be careful. A workshop’s no place to be messing around.” Nodding at the others, Geralt frowned. “I was just sharpening my sword when I overheard some of your conversation. Had a question, Tora. Guess you as well, Donnel.” 

“Meh, sure.” Tora looked the Witcher up and down. “What want?”

“My crossbow. It’s served me well, but I see all you folks and these...explosive...crossbow...things. It’s got me interested. They shoot more quickly and they seem deadlier.” 

The observation provoked a laugh from Tora, as if Geralt was taking something common and well-known very seriously. Despite his chuckle, however, Tora knew that a great number of people in the World of Light came from worlds without the technology that he and many others enjoyed, so he didn’t mind explaining. Plus, it gave him a chance to show how smart he was. “Exactly right, meh. Projectile weapon that use string weaker than gun and cannon, which made of metal and use boom-boom to send small bullet flying very fast, pierce straight through. Tora use Boom Biter in shield to shoot explodey balls with teeth, call Jet Biters. Also use Mech Arms, which fire missiles. Missiles explosives that fly on own using...um, streams of fire.” He tried to explain using terms Geralt might be familiar with. “Like bombs friend Geralt throw last night! Except fly on own, and sometimes guide self to target.” Looking happy with himself, feeling full of knowledge and very helpful, Tora finished his exposition with a question. “Peach-Peach already ask Tora for new gun. Geralt want one?”

Well. That was easy. “If you’re offering. They seem extremely useful. Especially if there’s anything as small as my crossbow.” 

Tora nodded. “Okay, meh. Tora can make handgun, probably incorporate ether technology. Like mini ether cannon. Will be up to friend to keep supplied with bullets, though. And maybe in return friend buy Tora lunch sometime? More than fair trade, mehmeh!”

Geralt’s eyebrow rose. If that was what he considered a fair trade, he wasn’t going to argue. “Sounds good to me.” 

Tora jumped up and down, pleased to make a deal. He did not, of course, plan on asking Geralt for lunch just once. After all, now that the two both fought alongside one another, exchanged a few words, and did business, they were friends for real. And friends could always lend friends a meal. “Okay! Tora have much work to do, so will get to it. Sleep nice, Donniepon. See friends later!”

[center][h3]Peach[/h3][/center]

After a little fiddling around the steering wheel, pedals, and controls to get a feel for the giant machine, Peach came to realize that she didn't need to force it. Once she relaxed and allowed her hands to move where [i]they[/i] wanted, the multi-ton metal monster moved like an extension of her own body. It just came naturally, as it had the night before. The princess sighed. She smoothly guided Brother Grimm from where Poppi lay it to rest the night before to bring it around Lumbridge's southeastern side, where those intrepid few planning to take on the G-ranked hunt could embark. Ever since word got out that her crew would be making an assault on the little-traveled part of the Land of Adventure known only as The End, townsfolk spoke in hushed tones. Some looked at her or the others with awe and admiration, others with pity. Peach, meanwhile, continued to try and steel herself. She knew nothing of the threat her team was to face, other than that it at the very least equaled Megadragonbowser -who she herself had not fought- in power. And he, from all accounts, had been an idiot playing with massive power. This would almost certainly be harder.

Well, she knew that, and that the deed must be done. As one of Galeem's thirteen champions, it stood in  the way of making things right. For the sake of this world and all worlds, this enemy would be taken down.

...Still, despite her new powers, and all her allies, Peach felt very small. Anything could be waiting out there. Anything at all.

She put Brother Grimm in park, took a look at the dashboard, and began the more-than-usually arduous process of getting out of the oversized vehicle. When she reached the ground, she spotted a couple familiar faces approaching. Tora and Poppi made their way over, together as always, albeit with the Nopon fairly dingy-looking and the artificial blade in pristine shape. Only after Tora held up an item for Peach did she remember the request she made for him. “Oh, thank you,” she said, accepting the weapon. It resembled her old boomshot, but even a cursory glance turned up a number of differences both inside and out. She looked it over thoroughly, then held it in her hands to get a feel for the [url=https://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/d/d1/MRKB_Kanagawa_Powa.png/80px-MRKB_Kanagawa_Powa.png]thing[/url].

“Tora call it 'Kanagawa Powa!'” the rotund inventor declared. “Based it off of Peach-Peach's old boomshot. But this one alloy fiber like ether cannon. Not break easy! Also have ice core, so shots freeze baddiepons solid! Not work all time, but still.”

Poppi scanned the princess's face. “Does Peach like it?”

Peach allowed herself a slight smile. “Yes, this should do nicely. Marvelous work, Tora.”

“Ohoho, meh meh!” Puffing out his chest proudly, Tora closed his eyes and put on a big smile. “Not even tip of Tora iceberg! Have even greater greatness in store!”

By now the others had started coming in, and the arrivals split off cleanly between those planning to go on the mission and those just wanting to see the first group off. Captain Howard was taking a well-deserved break, but came by to watch the go-getters get going. Nero, V, and Miss Fortune had already returned to the Dead Zone, with the first two going north and the feral headed south from the Argent Tower, all by herself. Euden and Ryu arrived together, who'd been sparring from the looks -and sounds- of it, but while Ryu hung back Euden joined Peach, Tora, and Poppi. Something seemed different about him after his battle against the wandering martial artist; his big eyes seemed especially blue and innocent, somehow. “That makes four,” Peach noted. “The others should be here any moment.”