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[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]

[b]Level:[/b] [color=8258fa]6 (48 -> 51/60)[/color] | [color=fed428]6 (3 -> 6/60)[/color] | [color=5edaf6]4 (26 -> 29/40)[/color]
[b]Location:[/b] Eryth Sea - Smash City Alcamoth -> [color=8258fa]Peach’s Castle; Hat Kid’s Ship[/color]
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3100 (+3 EXP)

Power: [color=fed428][i]Pending…[/i][/color]
Item: [color=fed428]100 Blue Eggs, 50 Red Feathers[/color], [color=8258fa]-2 Jiggies[/color]
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For what was essentially a mass conference on the end of the world, the overall reception to it was certainly more positive than expected. Not that there was much to expect, but among such things wasn’t boisterous, cheerful applause of enthusiastic consent. Peach’s eloquence in conveying the matter may have been in part to thank for that, along with the seemingly natural, foolhardy inclination to fight back against tyrannical divinity to reclaim dominion over their own lives, or perhaps to prove they had it all along. Whatever reason they went with, no one already fighting for it could blame them. [i]They[/i] never needed a better reason to save the world; why should anyone else?

Aside from the ‘Alcamoth Mercenaries’ being spoken for by their apparent leader, other volunteers promptly set to signing up for any one of the four available missions. Well… locations, rather. With the shortage of information, there wasn’t much in the way of mission parameters or a plan; just destinations. Regardless of what they needed to do they simply knew that it needed to be done, and that any were so eager to act in the face of the unknown was, in its own way, admirable. Such came with the territory of heroism after all.

Soon after the meeting’s end, Banjo and Diddy managed to find each other within the crowd for a joyous, long overdue reunion. He knew Diddy for almost as long as he’d known Kazooie, whom he reminded in a whisper to be mindful of her manners. The two (Banjo and Diddy) went as far back as either of them could remember, all the way back to the start of a proverbial “Golden Age” where they both got their starts. Some may not remember it, but Banjo in fact got started by joining Diddy to aid a friend in need on a vehicular adventure. Ironic, considering his and Kazooie’s last known exploit marked something of a soft stop to their career. In a way, his known life began and ended (or [i]paused[/i]) in the driver’s seat--a fact that came up in conversation some shorts ways into it.

Conversation largely consisted of catching up, with subjects including how they had been before the end of the world, what they had been up to then and now, and even the making of an atypically reserved, almost shy introduction of Kazooie to Diddy, and vise versa. Hers was a reservation borne of Banjo’s request to be more polite this time--a request she genuinely wanted to honor, even if it meant overcorrecting a bit. It didn’t take her long after to perk back up and level out her demeanor, as the discussion soon segued into the good news: they were officially part of the Smash circuit now. Diddy, of course, was ecstatic when Banjo presented him the letter as confirmation, and quickly followed it with a request to the overjoyed Kong that he temper his excitement before he could erupt into raucous cheer and draw undue attention their way. Now, Banjo thought, wasn’t the time for ceremony, or the unfulfilling lack thereof. Not that it kept him and Kazooie from imagining it in their future, daydreaming of it in the moment.

An extended second of silence passed with the duo staring musingly, reminiscently at the letter in Banjo’s hand. Their attention was brought back to the present when Diddy caught them spacing out, reminded them where they were, and asked if they wanted to make use of their new status with an exhibition match or two, volunteering himself as a 2v2 partner for them. As tempting as it was, they both had to respectfully decline for the time being, but tabling the standing offer for later. Their celebratory initiation and any accompanying parties would have to wait for a better time, when the world didn’t need saving… or at least when they had nothing better or more important to do. For one who previously held a premature endgame party/cookout for their first adventure, and even tried to lazily, irresponsibly duck out of the final showdown on the second, this sense of priority was a new showing from Banjo.

On the subject of saving the world, Banjo thought to ask Diddy about the part he planned on playing in that, and returned an offer in kind to join them on their crusade--be it to return a favor from the past, or just for its own sake. He similarly declined, however, clarifying an ordered need to keep a ‘reserve’ force filled out, and that he’d already been selected for it. They took this to simply meant that he would go wherever he was needed, whenever he was needed there, so it didn’t entirely rule out the possibility that they would/could run into each other in the field at some point. This marked a decisive stopping point in conversation as both parties made their friendly, parting salutations. At which point Banjo and Kazooie left to make their preparations, which mostly just involved taking the newly established path of graffiti portals to Lumbridge and back to resupply themselves by [url=https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/f7/7b/40/b8/8081/4891/a24b/de209d9220fd/banjo-kazooie-sneaking-up-on-venusaur-to-steal-some-of-those-sweet-pancakes.png]sneaking[/url] into the Cucco pens to pilfer a full stock of Eggs and Feathers, not knowing in their prior absence that they could have probably just asked for it at no charge to them, as per the quest reward.

After finishing their supply run of unnecessary criminal misconduct (hopefully unnoticed/-acknowledged by anyone) they returned to the main atrium to select a mission for themselves. The Dead Zone was among the three options, and they meant to return there eventually, given what they knew about it, they both had to admit that either one of the other two sounded more appealing--especially if they stood a respective chance of containing a beach or exotic oasis. The thought of it had them considering what they would be missing out on versus what they would be getting for their troubles...

[color=0aaaff]“Hmmm. Sooo… I’m sure they don’t need our help in the Dead Zone, right?”[/color] And like that, Banjo was back to old habits, trying to find an out for a task he quietly promised to undertake for lack of wanting to return to the region.

[color=f60000]“The people who’re already there [i]fighting for their lives[/i]?”[/color] Kazooie emphatically exaggerated. [color=f60000]“Probably not… but what can you live with?”[/color] Kazooie dryly tacked on a false line of guilt to poke at her partner and influence his decision making, signifying an obvious motive on her part.

[color=0aaaff]“Nice try, Kazooie, but I don’t think they’re gonna bite it because we’re not there.”[/color]

[color=f60000]“You’re probably right, but what about that ‘Skull Heart’ the hairballing pun machine mentioned?”[/color] She reminded Banjo of Nadia’s declared intent from when they initially left the Dead Zone, which they just happened to pick up on. [color=f60000]“Weren’t we going to help find that? That’s kind of our thing, after all, and it sounds like something we’d probably rather not leave alone.”[/color]

[color=0aaaff]“*sigh* I was afraid you might say that,”[/color] Banjo conceded as he begrudgingly approached the reception area to sign the respective roster.

[color=f60000]“Don’t worry, Banjo,”[/color] she started as she leaned forward out of Banjo’s backpack and over his shoulder to sign them on. [color=f60000]“I’m sure there’s something good in it for us,”[/color] she continued, more or less admitting a degree of underlyingly self-serving intent.

[color=0aaaff]“I should’ve guessed as much.”[/color]

[hr]

While everyone else was figuring out their headings and preparations, Hat Kid snuck off back to the castle through Jr’s portal to take care of some things of her own at ‘home’, but not before [url=https://i.redd.it/mv3cn3v2smp11.jpg]signing her name[/url] to a mission roster--ALL of them. She gave no thought or respect to procedure or protocol. She would go wherever she felt like whenever she made an honest decision to. It was in writing now, so no one could dispute it, she (incorrectly) figured, even if they could read or at least decipher said writing (in which case they [i]definitely[/i] couldn’t dispute it ;p). Any way Administration took it, she wouldn’t be getting left out, so she needn’t concern herself with it further until the time came… maybe. In the meantime, she had a separate, long-term affair to attend to.

The child rematerialized at the bridge just outside of the castle’s front door, conveniently within reach of her water-bound ship, and made a direct path for it. She was slightly surprised at first to find a number of Toad servants within upon entering, one of whom apologized for the intrusion and explained that they simply came out to help tidy up the home of a recognized ally to the royal house as a courtesy. He clarified further that she needn’t worry about compensating them, since they were “used to it,” which the child took as good news, even if it did lend some unintentional insight on how the Princess regards her subjects. Even aside from any of that it was of little concern to her. If you leave your house parked outside of someone else’s unattended with the front door wide open for an extended period, you didn’t exactly get to complain if and when someone found their way in, but truth be told she didn’t care who made themselves at home if they were helping out in some way, as they were. She’s certainly had [url=https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/939456827626887247/E1EE6119D99F1296776CB6823BBAA349121D10F2/?imw=1024&imh=576&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=true]worse[/url] intruders aboard before, and even he sold her a map to help her on her adventure. Come to think of it, she should probably look into installing security some time.

Back to her business, she approached the command console and began running some quick diagnostics. As it turned out, the ship was definitely busted, and probably wouldn’t move any time soon without extensive repairs. After being blasted down by a dragon, crashing into a castle and nosediving into a watery moat, who would have guessed [i]that[/i]? She had a lot of work to do, and virtually no time to get any of it done before heading out. In the absence of competent, knowledgeable helping hands, going around repairing every little mechanical and cosmetic flaw in the ship by hand between outings was going to take an eternity and a half. The idea hit her that she still had a Time Piece on her person, and three more in the vault that she could use to systematically rewind the damages a little at a time. Sure, it would dramatically reduce repair time and monetary costs, likely affording her completion in under an hour, would she potentially burn out a Time Piece to accomplish it, or inadvertently affect more than that doing it? While the former was a significantly more likely consequence, that was the problem with harnessing raw, unrefined Time power. If you weren’t careful with how you directed it, things went wrong everywhere--and every[i]when[/i]--in a hurry.

She sat for a moment in intensive thought, trying to figure out a way to make this, or [i]something[/i], work. Then, it occurred to her: the ship. She already had a means of refining the temporal energy that she used regularly. She had never used it in this way, of course, but if she just cyclically rerouted the energy already available to her and ran it in reverse, it might keep the outputted energy from escaping past the ship and make a full correction to the damages in one move with next to no consumption. It was a bit of a stretch, but who ever accomplished anything by taking zero risks. She thought no further of it and decided to put her hypothesis to the test, punching in the according command sequences and engaging the ship’s main drive.

The vessel rumbled and whirred to life as if readying for takeoff, and with a forward push on the throttle, it ‘boomed’ into motion, but not. The ship itself could be best described as running in place, but everything that happened to it ran backwards… visibly. To any possible onlookers within or around the castle, only a swelling flare of blinding white could be seen emanating from the source, followed by an implosive flash of bright blue to signal the ship’s disappearance. From Hat Kid’s perspective, events quickly replayed themselves before her in rewind; from Toads entering, to watching herself get thrashed around by turbulence and hit with Rumbi, all the way back to when she initially came under fire by MegaDragonBowser, a moment she couldn’t previously recall. Brightness slowly encompassed her vision, obscuring (or perhaps representing) everything up to that.

After a moment, her view cleared up, and the next thing she knew, her ship sat inert, fully repaired as hoped. She perked up at the realization, but before she could get too excited about being right, she glanced back at the vault to be sure everything was still in place. The display read ‘x3’ just as before, and further inspection within the vault confirmed the same. She sighed with relief at the reassurance before exiting the vault and shutting it behind her. With her work here done, she began to make her leave, but not before stopping at one of the restored, empty relic displays, examining it thoughtfully, and pulling out the two golden jigsaw pieces she found back at Spiral Mountain to place within the display’s magnetic field to float aimlessly. It would have made more sense to put them on display in the art room, but that was something to address later.

It was when she turned back to leave that she got her first good look outside, noticing an immediate, if not terribly dramatic change in scenery. She swung the door open and peered down over the side to see that she wasn’t over water anymore. In fact, she was actually [i]behind[/i] the castle now. That much became clear to her as she hopped out of her ship (shutting the door behind her this time). She turned back around to gaze proudly up at her good work with smug satisfaction. She not only undid all of the damage dealt to it previously, but also managed to park in a better spot without even having to try. What’s more was that it took pretty much nothing on her end. And to think she almost acquiesced to a more conventional approach to repairs and relocation. Completing simple, necessary tasks the right way was for chumps!

…

…

So what did that say about her? What did it speak of her that she would so soon suspend her own standard--to never abuse such power to meet her own ends as she saw fit--the second it became the slightest bit convenient for her? Her bright smile gradually descended into a discouraged frown as the realization began to set in for her. Did this one time infraction on her own morals doom her to a future of lapses, or could such an action be re-promised against and forgiven; reconciled as a necessity for the future in service to the greater good? Or was that just proof of fallacy; a handwave of conduct as the genesis to justified ends? Would [i]they[/i] do the same? Was she really no better than those she distrusted, and for the same reason? Did it stand to reason that she could truly be just another… [color=ff6468][i]“bad guy”[/i][/color]?

She shut her eyes and clapped both sides of her head to snap herself out of her stupor of internalized dread. All this low-hanging ethical existentialism was making her head hurt. She was too young to be having these sort of thoughts anyway. [color=8258fa][i]Figure out what you can [i]now[/i], and take care of what you can [i]today[/i]! Learn from the past; look to the future; ACT in the present![/i][/color] And on that, she remembered she had something more present to figure out: her mission destination. Before she could let her young, curious mind dangerously wander again, she refocused on the matter at hand and started going over the destination list in her head as she made the portal trek back to Alcamoth so that by the time she got back, she could decide where she wanted to go… for real this time.

[hr]

[color=5edaf6]“You sure I can’t count on you for this one?”[/color] Fox asked of his wingman. Him and Falco spent the better part of the period following the conference conversing pier-side, overlooking the bustling city proper as they went over what was discussed earlier. The initial apocalypse, what they remembered between then and ‘awakening’, the implication of ‘Spirits’, what it all meant, with an assurance from Fox that it wouldn’t be getting any easier, and an unexpected declaration from Falco that he wouldn’t be joining him or any of the main force on their mission.

[color=58acfa]“Sorry, Fox, but I’ve got places of my own to be,”[/color]  Falco replied as he faced about to head off. [color=58acfa]“I’ve got people counting on me here, and between you and me, those guys look like they could use a ‘fearless leader’,”[/color] he said somewhat mockingly, gesturing headways to what he could see of the main force. [color=58acfa]“You should go be that for them. I’m sure you can handle it.”[/color] Though low-key backhanded the complementary endorsement was, it was evident in his tone that he meant it. Even his occasionally rivalrous attitude toward Fox didn’t detract from or diminish the genuine respect he held for him.

[color=5edaf6]“So what will [i]you[/i] do?”[/color] Fox asked in regards to Falco’s preoccupying affairs, expecting he wouldn’t remain idle.

[color=58acfa]“Probably cover the skies wherever I’m needed,”[/color] he answered with a shrug and a head shake. [color=58acfa]“But if you ever need a bail-out, I’ll be there.”[/color] Fox lightly smirked at the remark, delighted at how some things just never changed.

[color=5edaf6]“Good luck out there… wherever you go.”[/color]

[color=58acfa]“Keep some of that for yourself,”[/color] Falco replied casually as he started taking his first steps away. [color=58acfa]“You might need it.”[/color]

[color=5edaf6]“Take care, Falco,”[/color] said Fox in parting, responded to by Falco with a simple blind wave back. With that, Fox made his way over to reception and started looking over the available options, weighing them to the best of his ability. Knowing (or in the case of one, remembering) as little as he did about any of them made it difficult to make a valid assessment as far as where his talents were best suited. The most he could do was hazard his most educated guess based purely on name, location, the current lineup for each mission, and his assumptions about all of them. After a brief minute of consideration, he came to a decision, approached the respective mission roster, and signed on for it...