[center]
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/DyH88WMW/Kid-s-Hat-Final.png[/img] [img]https://i.postimg.cc/Zn05qZPF/Jiggy-Final.png[/img] [img]https://i.postimg.cc/L5r26P82/Star-Fox-Final.png[/img]

[i]feat.[/i]

[h3]GM[/h3]
[@Lugubrious]

[b]Level:[/b] [color=8258fa]5 (42 -> 52/50)[/color] [color=yellow]LEVEL UP![/color] ---> [color=8258fa]6 (2 -> 5/60)[/color] | [color=fed428]4 (37 -> 47/40)[/color] [color=orange]LEVEL UP![/color] ---> [color=fed428]5 (7 -> 10/50)[/color] | [color=5edaf6]3 (0 -> 10 -> 13/30)[/color]
[b]Location:[/b] Land of Adventure - Spiral Mountain
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1672 (+3 EXP)

[i](Level ups pending…)[/i]
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With the battle safely concluded in full, the Seekers of Light (that’s what they were called, apparently) assembled within the tower for rest and preparation for whatever awaited them within the eldritch veil beyond the hag’s dwelling. Peach, the de facto matriarch of their pack, oversaw Spirit distribution, calling for the attention of anyone interested. This discounted Hat Kid, who had no interest in the spoils herself. Not that it stopped Bowser [url=https://archive-media-1.nyafuu.org/vp/image/1575/45/1575458524979.png]censoring for her and his son[/url] whatever basic age-restricted truth about the world (that they were probably already aware of to some extent) he was afraid of them finding within one of the Spirits. Always such a curious thing… how adults’ minds worked when it came to children, with a level of irony that seemingly eluded them in spite of their good intentions. Sure, bring them along with you, [i]barely[/i] supervised, on an unendingly perilous journey wherein they not only [i]witness[/i] otherwise innocent conscripts of the Grand Seraph meet bloody, violent, horrifying ends at yours and your allies’ hands, but sometimes aid in them, carry them out themselves, and face the not unlikely possibility of facing such ends themselves. But a few naughty words, skimpy get-ups or suggestive innuendo were somehow too much for them psychologically?

[color=8258fa][i]Whatever,[/i][/color] she thought in dismissal of the idea in favor of finding something else to occupy her attention with. When consulting her hat and compass for anything of interest or importance, naturally, her hat pinpointed the lair’s entrance at the monument’s mouth across the bridge. Their objective lay that way after all, so of course. But what, if anything, did her Compass Badge have to tell her? If she heard them right, this place was home to the animal pair; Kindred Spirits to her. There was a chance that they had in common exploratory proclivities, thus inviting a theoretically equal possibility that their [i]worlds[/i] had in common a need to be explored; things within them to be found. Might she find something worthwhile here, in this part of [i]their[/i] world that they were currently in?

Elsewhere in the room, Fox was being tended to by the group’s resident medical mech, a “Blazermate model” she called herself. Her work was spectacularly efficient, erasing every perceivable ounce of injury, pain or exhaustion left over from whatever battle he had just fought within (less than) the time it took to fully anesthetize the average patient for surgery, and she accomplished this with scant effort simply by dosing him with a sustained stream of healing energy. It was almost dumbed down in a sense, but if it got these kinds of results, who was he to argue? As with most things, he didn’t know or [i]need[/i] to know precisely how it functioned to understand how useful it was. Sadly, he wasn’t exactly in his right mind to lend it the level of admiration one might say it deserved, for he was still, at present, hopelessly preoccupied with trying to mentally catch himself up on the situation at hand.

[color=5edaf6][i]“Restored?”[/i][/color] he mouthed silently to himself, miming the part of the Princess’s reassuring statement that stood out to him. He went over the few uneducated guesses he could devise in his head as he watched the soft white aura on him die down, largely ignoring the unknown implication of it beyond that of an assumed side effect. [color=5edaf6]“Thank you,”[/color] he greeted quietly to the medabot with an appreciative nod before she moved on to her other patients. His attention then turned to the collection and assimilation of Spirits, witness of which raised further questions in his head that he wasn’t yet quite ready to ask. Link, atypically (though occasionally) vocal as he was, beat him to the initial line of questioning, starting with the statuses of the remaining ‘Smashers’.

[color=5edaf6]“I just woke up five minutes ago,”[/color] he answered, slightly shaking his head. [color=5edaf6]“Your guess is as good as mine.”[/color] Bowser, the first restored among them, was happy to provide a heavily condensed summation of their survival and objective. That confirmed it for him. They really [i]did[/i] lose, and he [i]wasn’t[/i] lost in some kind of post-mortem dream limbo born of their last thoughts. Though, if this was the new reality, it would be hard to call it ‘preferable’.

While Bowser’s explanation left a lot to be desired in terms of specifics, it covered the subject matter thoroughly enough that he left Peach with very little to add. Still, to be shown up in terms of responsibility by the Koopa of all people was an unappealing prospect, so she clarified what she could. “Galeem is protected by some kind of rainbow barrier. This world has thirteen regions, and all have a powerful opponent we must defeat. In order to get strong enough to do that, we can use the spirits of the fallen. They can be itemized, or bonded with, or absorbed. Absorbing them has the greatest effect, but doing so changes you.” With a wry expression she used her longcoat’s tails to perform a mock curtsy. “See?”

[color=5edaf6]“I think I get the gist,”[/color] Fox answered with a nod. Strange as it was to be considered a now universal norm, it wasn’t the first he had seen or heard of this. In his time, he had met [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/thumb/0/03/Samus_SSBU.png/1200px-Samus_SSBU.png]other[/url] [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/thumb/4/46/Mega_Man_SSBU.png/1200px-Mega_Man_SSBU.png]fighters[/url] with known assimilative empowerment capabilities. That, however, didn’t inspire in him an immediate enthusiasm to experiment with it himself. [color=5edaf6]”You can fill me in on the rest later.”[/color] He stood up and paced to the tower’s entrance, positioning himself where he could get a view of the Subspace. [color=5edaf6]“If we’ve got another shot at doing this right, we’ll be sure to make it count this time.”[/color] He spoke with quiet, assertive confidence. [color=5edaf6]“But however we do it…”[/color] He drew the sword he hadn’t been using (unsure of how it came into his possession in the first place) and passed it to Link hilt-first, seeing him as someone who could obviously make better use of it. [color=5edaf6]”...we need to be ready.”[/color]

Meanwhile, after being met with silence on the matter, Banjo shrugged and lowered the Friend Heart, allowing it to deflate and dissipate with his focus drawn elsewhere. A familiar name fell on his and Kazooie’s ears by the monk’s utterance of it.

[color=0aaaff]“[i]L.O.G.[/i]?”[/color] Banjo pondered aloud, scratching his chin, then his head, in visible ponderance. [color=0aaaff]“Where have I heard that name before?”[/color]

[color=f60000]“You mean that tube-headed hack from the spin-off, out-of-touch with his own industry and target audience?”[/color] Kazooie elaborated in rhetorical inquiry to the monk, just to make sure they were thinking of the same person. Banjo suddenly recalled who they were talking about and shook his head at the Queen’s confirmation of the same, having apparently encountered him herself as well. [color=f60000]“Trust us, you won’t want one from him,”[/color] Kazooie added at her mention of ‘sequels’ from her. [color=f60000]“And for what it’s worth I don’t think he’s canon anyway,”[/color] she further assured, implying the possibility that anything he said could potentially be disregarded as inconsequential.

[color=0aaaff]“Eh… it wasn’t [i]all[/i] bad,”[/color] Banjo interjected apologetically. [color=0aaaff]“I think he at least meant well, for the most part.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“[/color][url=https://www.playtonicgames.com/files/2016/05/playtonic_yookalaylee_art_final.jpg]They always do.[/url][color=f60000]”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“Well, you have to give people a chance to [url=https://www.team17.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/YLIL_KEYART-1251x709.jpg]learn from their mistakes[/url], Kazooie.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“Are you sure you can call it [url=https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/dkcr-vs-ylil.jpg]that[/url]?”[/color] she asked with her own implication/accusation to make. [color=f60000]“Looks like they kept that hideously designed refrigerator character…”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“Looks like they also snuck you in as a cameo,”[/color] he observed, wondering if he was given the same referential treatment.

[color=f60000]“True,”[/color] she conceded with sudden curiosity. [color=f60000]“Question is whether or not I’d want it after playing.”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“We’ll figure that out when we get to it later. Let’s keep an open mind about it until then.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“Fair enough.”[/color]

After a moment spent going off-tangent, they snapped back to the present to address the matter itself.

[color=0aaaff]“W-Wait! You said you met him [i]here[/i]?”[/color] Banjo asked either of the two who encountered him, wondering how the royal bee did so in the midst of combat. [color=0aaaff]“Where, exactly?”[/color]

[color=f60000]“Probably squatting in our house, making more bad games.”[/color] A wild, lucky guess from Kazooie.

[color=0aaaff]“I don’t remember asking him to house-sit…”[/color] he wondered. [color=0aaaff]“In that case, you want to go talk to him; see if he knows anything?”[/color] he asked Kazooie.

[color=f60000]“Not really, but if it gives us an excuse to check in on things at home…”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“I was thinking the same thing,”[/color] he said before making for the exit. [color=0aaaff]“I need to make sure I didn’t leave the stove on again.”[/color]

With that, they were off, making the short trek back to their house. Their exit shortly followed that of Hat Kid’s hitherto unnoticed outing to look around the valley for whatever treasures her badge picked up on. The duo weren’t expecting to achieve anything of value to the mission by checking in at home, as the intent was more for a sentimental visit than a productive one. Despite the relative urgency of their objective, (hopefully) none of the leaders, including Fox, expressed any objection to their leave. If there was a time for them to visit home, it would be now. For all they knew, they would not get another chance.

[hr]

A short while later, Hat Kid returned from her brief caper with two [url=https://i.redd.it/yfdikyhexbt01.jpg]gold jigsaw pieces[/url], two armfuls of brimming [url=https://www.models-resource.com/resources/big_icons/13/12320.png]honeycombs[/url], and the gratitude of a rescued [url=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/B14NT1V3tSk/maxresdefault.jpg]pterodactyl-esque creature[/url]. ‘Rescue’ entailed little more than making direct contact, at which point the grateful creature flew off, so why it needed help to begin with was a mystery to her. It seemed like something they could have done at any time. As for the spoils, she couldn’t think of what to do with the puzzle pieces, but found them neat and novel enough to warrant keeping anyway. As for the honey, she got chased by too many bees for it to [i]not[/i] get used, and she certainly planned to make good use of it. She would have to take care to keep it free of the giant bee’s notice if it was to last her.

Banjo and Kazooie returned a moment or two after the child to a room of ready adventurers, with their instruments reclaimed (but stowed away), an opened [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/1/18/Smash-Invitation.jpg]letter[/url] in hand, and their spirits lifted. They had been waiting for longer than they could remember for this, and they were hardly alone. It wouldn’t surprise them to be met with a round of applause by their teammates in recognition of it, but with or without it, the fact alone was its own celebration. All that mattered was that they were happy now. They were at peace. They could face anything now.

[color=5edaf6]“Congratulations,”[/color] Fox, the Seventh of the Original Eight, offered them with a soft smile and a friendly hand on Banjo’s shoulder. [color=5edaf6]”You’re one of us now.”[/color]