[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] 4,008 (+3) [b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 7 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////////// (24/80) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 6 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (97/60) [b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 6 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////// (32/70) [b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Smash City Alcamoth And Introducing [b][color=Aquamarine]Midna[/color][/b] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 800 +2 [b][color=Aquamarine]level 1[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]//[/color]////////// (2/10) [/center] [color=FD0000]”GAHAHAH, CLASSIC WALUIGI“[/color] Bowser replied when told about the shifty gent in question’s behavior. A couple of the others actually introduced themselves to the princess while Daxter went about petting Isabell like the adorable dog she was, leaving her somewhat flustered but not enough to stop her announcing that there’d be a meeting in an hour about relaying the state of the world to the other smashers, leaving the team sixty minutes to kill. As some of the others wandered off to explore the rest of the complex the king and his resting advisor remained in the lobby waiting for Jr to get back. The boy returned fairly quickly, complaining about the lack of any kind of concrete reward for the final quest other than the admiration of the town (which he admittedly seemed pretty pleased about receiving even as he whined about it). After they’d caught Jr up on the plan the troop had a brief poke around the city to doubly confirm that the building was indeed the safe-haven it seemed to be they felt safe enough to go exploring the city. Of course, in a city filled with smashers, conflict was never far away. [hr] “Mimi!” Mimikyu squealed, before hiding behind Jr’s head. The boy had been roaming the halls on foot, with the mascot mimicking mon riding his shoulder as she now so often did, when something had spooked the soft spook. [color=SpringGreen]”Huh? What?”[/color] Jr glanced around in alarm, but couldn’t spot anything unusual in the area, just a few people hanging around discussing the circulating news about their newly arrived team and the meeting that had been called as a result of their arrival. Or at least that’s what Jr assumed they were talking about. The main group in the area were all pokemon, so it was hard to tell. [color=SpringGreen]”I don’t see anything. What's the matter with you?”[/color] Jr asked Mimikyu belligerently, and received a tentatively pointed finger slinking past his vision and indicating to the head of the poke-gang. The one, the only, the most iconic Pokemon of them all. Pikachu. The electric rodent was sitting casually on a park bench and was speaking, unintelligibly to Jr, with Jigglypuff and a few others. [color=SpringGreen]”What. Pikachu? What about them?”[/color] jr asked as he turned around to face her, the mon scooting round him to avoid coming into line of sight of the mascot before jumping down onto Jr’s hand once he was looking directly away from the group of mon. Mimiktu was the picture of nervousness, or as much of one as a ghost hiding under a homemade Pikachu doll could be. “Mimi, kyu kyu mi kyuyu” the mon tried to explain incomprehensibly [color=SpringGreen]”What, are you scared of them?”[/color] “Kyu kyu” Mimikyu replied, unclearly communicating a mixture of confirmation and rebuttal of that statement. [color=SpringGreen]”Uh.... Well. want to leave?”[/color] he asked, to which Mimi resolutely shook her head, before peaking round him to look at Pikachu again before flinching away when he seemed to look her way Jr frowned at this, then rolled his eyes. [color=SpringGreen]”You’re being weird. We’re just going to go talk to him now Ok, so you can stop being weird about this”[/color] Jr told her, before turning and striding towards the Pokemon and calling out [color=SpringGreen]”Hey Pikachu!”[/color] Mimikyu panicked, but, not wanting to look like a coward or a fool now that Jr had gotten the attention of the group she sat stock still on Jr’s palm as she was brought closer. [color=SpringGreen]”Hey, uh, little guy. Cool to see you.”[/color] he said, earning a little wave and a “pika” from the mon before he introduced his own [color=SpringGreen]”This is Mimikyu, say hi Mimi”[/color] Mimi looked at Pikachu sheepishly. She had earned a few strange looks from the other mon for both her mimicking outfit and Spaak modifications warping her form, but the famous Pokemon took the entire situation in stride, smiling warmly at her and even holding out a paw to shake in greeting. Mimikyu reached out a hand to shake the legend’s paw, but failed to maintain any semblance of control over the stretched limb. The over eager noodle-arm rushed the distance separating them, overshot the mon’s own outstretched paw and smacked Pikachu straight in the face. A look of shock crossed ever-mons face, including Mimikyu’s own. Before she could recover or attempt an apology Pikachu wiped off their own shocked expression and nodded seriously. And it was this way that Mimkyu found herself facing off against the living legend in a smash arena. [hr] “Oh wow, this is so exciting” jabbered the young shorts wearing boy who had ended up being the one who would referee the upcoming match, “you know I’m a trainer too. I’ve been wanting to have my Rattata compete on one of these stages, but I always get turned down when I ask for a match. I think they're all worried I’ll show them up. See, my Rattata like, in the top-” [color=SpringGreen]”Oh would you just stop talking and start them already!”[/color] Jr barked back at the boy, who’s name was Joey. The two of them were standing in a spectator stand overlooking a large and for the moment empty room where the bout would be taking place. “Ok ok. Sorry jeez,” the boy replied before heading for the controls of the room, “Touchy much? The other mon Pikachu had been speaking with were scattered among a few spectator balconies along with a few others who’d heard of the fight, including, Kamek, Bowser (which was half of what was giving Jr nerves) and an intense looking Pokemon trainer clad in red (who was the other half). While his father wasn’t actually doing anything to deserve Jr’s unfounded fear of disappointing him (after waving and yelling some supportive words down at him the king had spent the setup period lounging on a large chair eating a pizza he’d gotten from somewhere) the trainer in red had only ever taken his unnerving gaze off of jr to look down at the combatants. Mimikyu and Pikachu stood a few meters apart, the mascot waving at his fans and stretching while the mimic looked like she was trying to hide under their cloth disguise even harder than she normally did. She didn’t have to stew in her embarrassment for much longer however, as Jr’s snapping at the ref had finally got the chatty boy to fire up the stage. Various machines around the darkroom fired up, forming first a softly white shimmering bounding box and then pulling the stage into existence. Rising up into existence out of the floor, the [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/7/73/SSBU-Pok%C3%A9mon_Stadium.png]pokemon stadium[/url] ascended, raising the two mon into the air atop it till it hung above the floor in perfect view of the onlookers and, of course, of Jr, who gripped the banisters of the referee box as the ref stepped forwards to start the match. “Alright. Let’s start this thing!” the Joey called out, getting everyone’s attention before beginning a count down. “3” [color=SpringGreen]”You can do it Mimikyu! Don’t let me down!”[/color] “2” Mimikyu had been busy regretting basically their entire life up until this moment, but Jr’s yelling brought her focus back to the room just in the nick of time. “1” The trainer in red nodded at Pikachu as the mon squared up to fight “Go!” Pikachu burst off of the metaphorical starting block with frightening speed, a streak of yellow racing across the artificial grass as they charged the startled Mimikyu. She lashed out in response with her noodley shadow arms, trying to block more than she was trying to strike her incoming opponent. With peerless skill Pikachu dodged over the first limb, and then under the second, breaking past her guard in seconds. He skidded to a halt before her, leaving her staring at him with panic for what felt like a moment frozen eternity before Piachu’s paw came down and slapped Mimikyu’s face. Her actual face, not the false decoy sat atop her body. She blinked in surprise, stunned by the move and lack of follow up. “Pika” the mon said, smiling with surprise warmth before making a come at me action. They were even now, Mimikyu realized, everything else after this was just for show. Saving face. An accident turned into a show of bravado. Mimikyu felt her embarrassment die, nodded and furrowed her brows as she properly got into the swing of things. She quickly reeled her long limbs that had fallen to the ground back in trying to grapple Pikachu, only for the mon to quick attack upwards, escaping her bind. She looked up, seeing him hanging there with an energetic smile before he dashed away again to land back at his starting point. Now the fight could begin for real. Nothing on the line, just the thrill of battle that burned within the hearts of all Pokemon. Pikachu came in again, but instead of panic and sit in place Mimi moved, grappling an arm up to one of the floating platforms hovering above the stage, swinging themselves upwards. Her hand sunk into the platform as she landed atop it, stretching her shadow out in the process. It raced forwards towards Pikachu, dashing under him as he turned towards her escape route and then rising up as a shadowy copy of her that lashed out with its own dark claws. Pikachu darted to and fro, dodging claw after claw and gaining only the smallest grazes as a result before electricity sparked from their cheeks and he hurled a ball of lightning up at Mimikyu, forcing her to move and dispel the shadow sneak. She hit the ground running, or scooting, but Pikachu was right on her tail, getting in close again despite her best efforts at warding him off. She backpedaled, bringing her tail stick up to block his own tail swipe while driving her other claw up in an arch and then down at him, trying to spike him with strikes from above. Pika narrowly dodged to the side of this swipe before driving his head forwards in a skull bash, the impact launching her towards the edge of the stage. She hit the ground but rolled back to her feet as pikachu came at her again. The melee that would likely have played out the same again was changed as the stage suddenly began to morph, flat artificial grass turning to hard stone that rose into the sky, transforming the stage into a tableau of a [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/4/48/PSTAD-NRML5-SSBM.png]quarry[/url]. Mimi was raised into the sky, while Pikachu was left at the bottom with a series of platforms they would need to traverse to reach her. Or so she thought. Instead the mon launched a barrage of sparks at the cliff face, each electric ball striking the ground and then bouncing forward, and upwards, the lightning racing up the mountain towards her. She dodged to and fro to avoid them but Pickachu wasn’t done with such puny sparks and instead brought the thunder. With a cry from the electric mouse a stormcloud formed above them both, down from which a bolt of pure lightning hurtled, its impact obliterating the mountain top as Mimikyu half jumped and half was thrown from atop it towards the center of the stage. Rather than plummet down into pummeling range she grappled to a steel platform, swinging over and then under it, coming back into vision of Pikachu while charging an electroball. She hurled it at the surprised Pikachu, who took almost the full brunt of the shock attack and vanished beneath a shower of dust. “Oh wow! I didn’t think Mimikyus could learn that move. Or any electric moves.” Joey shouted excitedly. [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah? Well mine’s special.”[/color] Jr gloated as he grinned down at the stage “Shame it’s not very effective though.” Joey said, right before Pikachu dashed out of the dust cloud, quick attacking left, then right and winding right next to a bamboozled Mimikyu before delivering a kick to her face. Mimikyu fell from the steel platform right as the stage morphed again back to its flat grassy field. She picked herself back up, tiring but ready to fight back, as Pikachu kicked things into high gear, using quick attack to circle round her in 6 point dashes, looking for openings to strike. She was unable to keep up, and once he was sure of this Pikachu started harrying Mimikyu, darting in to strike with foot, paw or tail before darting away again. Mimi cried out as she was struck again and again, and her clawing, shadow sneaking and electro-balls all failing to strike back at the fast moving mon. Practically crushing the banister under his claws as he tried to keep up with the action Jr called out [color=SpringGreen]”Stop letting him walk all over you! Use copycat! see how he likes it!”[/color] For a moment it looked like she hadn't heard as she was struck again in the back, but when Pikachu darted away again, Mimikyu suddenly lurched off in the opposite direction. Pickachu paused for a moment at the end of that dash, helpful giving her just enough time to re-orientate herself, before a lightning fast battle commenced. Every dash Pikachu made, Mimikyu copied, the two dancing around each other in near perfect unison, darting in to exchange flurries of blows before darting back out to resume circling. It looked like it was going to be a stalemate or at least an endurance match, Pikachu having a slight advantage in always making the first move, but Mimi’s range advantage let her keep up with her opponent. This all changed when the stage started to morph once again. Fans opened up beneath them, hurling both fighters skywards for an [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/d/dd/Pok%C3%A9mon_Stadium_2_4.jpg]arial battle[/url] Mimi gripped the edge of her doll disguise, clinging to it so that it wouldn’t be blown off her cloud like body. Neither of the lightweight mon was able to maneuver very well in the billowing winds, but here Mimi had the advantage, her long limbs and electro balls far better at crossing the open air between them and warding Pikachu away from her, preventing him from getting stuck in in melee where he had the advantage. Pikachu attempted to get close, paddling through the air slowly, but was repeatedly slapped or shocked away. He glanced to the side at the man at red and, after a silent communication, began to rapidly charge themselves with electricity. [color=SpringGreen]”No No No!”[/color] Jr panicked, recognizing the attack as a Volt Tackle. Even if by the looks of things the attack wasn’t going to be anywhere close to the final smash powered shock, Jr knew how dangerous the fast moving shock attack could be. [color=SpringGreen]”Quick, Copycat again!”[/color] He called out in a panic, hoping she could match him dash for dash like she had with quick attack. “Mimik!” the ghost cried out in response and began to charge with power too. The two mon finished charging mere moments later, and around the two [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/2/25/Volttackle.jpg]spheres of electricity[/url] flared. Though weaker than the final smash fueled variant, the two powerful electric attacks still coursed with destructive energy, raring to be unleashed. Without a moment's hesitation the two rammed at each other with joyfully determined looks on their faces, the two balls crashing together. Electricity to spark around the room, causing the lights and even the hard light stage itself to flicker as lighting raced through the metal fans covering its floor. They zoomed apart after a moment and then came racing back in and slammed together again, and then again and again before drew back again for one final head on blow The two spheres of power sparked in a crescendo of power, and then the stage died beneath them, shorted out by the climactic final clash of their roaring electrical discharges. The pair’s charges died a moment later, causing them to sail lighting free through the short distance between them before mundanely bumping into one another. With the light show cleared, it was clear who had come out worst off from the battle. Lightly smoking, Mimikyu had suffered greatly from Piachu’s electric type synergy with the move, while the mon himself had resisted the worst of her own tackle’s damage thanks to that same typing. In the end, that final collision was too much for her, causing her to faint and they bumped into one another. While this might make Pikachu the winner, the now rather large drop below them threatened to put a damper on that victory. He grabbed Mimikyu as she started to fall, intending to try and protect her from the fall as best he could, but instead her cloud-like body softened his own descent, slowing it enough that Jiggly puff could get into position to act as a crash-mat. Pikachu bounced off of the balloon like Pokemon and then landed on his feet on the ground just as Jr came running, having jumped down from the balcony as soon as he saw Mimi falling. Picakchu held Mimikyu up for Jr to retrieve, giving him an approving nod as a judge of her performance as the boy, both concerned and frustrated at having, indirectly, lost to him, snatched her from his hands. Holding Mimikyu close, Jr glared at Pikachu, saddening the mon’s expression, before turning and fleeing, the gaze of the trainer in red following him as he fled. Jr scurried to Lumbridge's Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm. [hr] Mimikyu awoke in a place unfamiliar to her, but that would have been a familiar sight to many of her kind. The warmly lit beige and red walls of the Lumbridge Pokemon center greeted her as she blinked her eyes and the events that had led her to be unconscious came back to her. First embarrassment and then excitement flashed across her expression, before she suddenly became concerned and glanced to and fro cautiously till she found Jr looking down at her, along with his elders. [color=FD0000]”See, she’s fine. Tough little minion you’ve got there Jr“[/color] Bowser told his son while ruffling the boy’s hair. The prince bore the gesture with a mix of embarrassment and affection, but once it was over a complicated expression came across his face that worried Mimikyu. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”We’d best be going if we want to get a set of seats of the meeting Sire. We’ll go ahead, but make sure to not be a late young master.”[/color] Kamek said, giving Jr a look, before hoping down from the stool he had been seated on and heading for the door with Bowser, leaving Jr and Mimikyu alone at the little table in the corner of the center that Jr’d brought Mimikyu out onto after healing her at the main desk. [color=SpringGreen]”So.”[/color] Jr said, before pausing for a long drawn out moment before finding his words, [color=SpringGreen]”You lost, and you made me look bad,”[/color] Jr said, causing Mimikyu to shrink down under his gaze before he continued [color=SpringGreen]”But… I’ve been there. A lot. There's this plumber called Mario, and Pikachu’s kinda like your Mario I guess? We’ll get stronger, and then beat him next time, ok?”[/color] The boy held out a hand. Mimikyu, lacking the context or the words to explain how fighting her idol had not been the plan and that the situation had nothing in common to the koopa’s constant battle against the Italian plumber, nodded enthusiastically, then hopped onto Jr’s hand to be raised back up to her regular spot on his shoulder. One thing Jr had said rang true however. She would get stronger. Together, the two hurried after and caught up with the rest of the troop, before the four of them headed for the meeting in smash city, regaling Mimikyu with tails of their misadventures battling against the Red clad plumber. [hr] For the Troop more or less everything in the meeting was old hat. Baring some quiet grumbling about the unsurprising rejection of the idea of forming an army in favor of the traditional heroic party and Kamek being called up to put their map on display there was little for them to add till it came to choosing a place to go. For another however, all this was new and yet also also familiar. [color=Aquamarine]Same song, different songstress[/color] Midna thought for herself as the Princess told them about what had happened to the world. It was Cia all over again, though this time it was different worlds rather than different times. Like a certain dancer, Midna had little interest in sitting idly in the reserves. She had a kingdom to reclaim and a people to lead. So she hitched a ride in Primrose’s shadow once she spotted that she was one of the people going down to the front table where discussion of deployments were ongoing. Though she’d only meant to ride her coattails to the front desk to learn about where the heroes were heading out, but she stuck around long enough to listen in to her talk with the self proclaimed Master of Masters. The hooded figure and her chosen chauffeur discussed the magic involved with Spirits with far more depth than the short briefing he’d given to the general audience. It was unsurprising that there was more to learn, she imagined those without any magical aptitude would find the extended details a bore. To both the dancer and her shadow however, it was an interesting set of extra details. The ability to cheat death and the battle of spirits that resulted from a fusion. The cursed princess was certainly considering the prospects of being able to use this feature of the warped world both as a way to gain power and, perhaps, to reduce the indignity of her impified form by taking on the spirits of those with more dignified shapes. She’d never get her true one back, that would require taking the spirits of her own, and that was abhorrent, but an approximation could perhaps be achieved or at least something less fragile. As for the rest of the Master’s words, his ability was interesting and offered up some philosophical questions on the nature of time, but it was his last two comments that he offered that struck Midna almost as hard as it did his intended target, though for very different reasons. The dead coming back for Midna was nothing but trouble. It had happened before and the prospects of a repeat of the return of Zant and Gannon did not bode well. As for the Confessor, well, the knowledge of him and the presence of a Link among the party raised some prospects that she wasn't sure she wanted to consider. She had made her peace with her decision, and yet this place now offered temptations she did not know how to process. She was trying to sort through these feelings in the dark when the dancer joined the line for the counter. To distract herself she listened into the babbling of the group behind her, which consisted of a curious collection of humanoid turtles discussing where they’d go. [color=FD0000]”How about the dead zone?”[/color] Bowser was asking [color=SpringGreen]”Pass. That place is nasty”[/color] Jr said, while Kamek agreed [color=DeepSkyBlue]”I concur. It was quite a brutal place. Full of demons, eternal darkness and hordes of undead. I would not recommend it.”[/color] [color=FD0000]”So the toughest place then? The one that needs the toughest guy to take on?”[/color] Bowser replied [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Perhaps, but how about this windswept desert?”[/color] Kamek instead suggested [color=SpringGreen]”Sounds like a pain too.”[/color] Jr interjected [color=SpringGreen]”Sand everywhere, it’d gum up my car. The Blue seems like the best one. It was nice looking, least from the casino. You can go wherever you want, I’m going there”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Then so shall I”[/color] Kamek concluded as soon as Jr had made his decision before looking over at Bowser, wondering what the King would decide [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Sire?”[/color] [color=FD0000]”Hmmm”[/color] The king said, scratching his chin and clearly undecided. Midna took her focus away again when the dancer reached the end of the nine, and was surprised to hear her leave a list of names instead of attempting to forcibly sign up to a mission like the gang of masked teens had done. Still, a shadow tells more than some would like to let on. A fixation on a spot on the map told her all she needed to know. Midna gambled on her intuition being correct and it seemed to pay off as the Dancer left the hall to find a spot close to the exit to wait. It was perfect. Either she could ride her into the desert party or she could jump ship if the dancer failed to live up to her expectations.