[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 Prince[/color][/h2] [b]featuring Rika[/b] [b][color=SpringGreen]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,975 (+3) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 7 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]//////////[/color]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (7/80) [b][color=SpringGreen]Location:[/color][/b] Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Pirate's Cove [/center] Sakura scooted out of the room after he knocked, which was a little risky he thought, to thank him. [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah yeah I was pretty”[/color] he began to brush it off/gloat before he was suddenly hauled into the air, quickly spun around and put down again right where he’d been standing, left blinking and a little disoriented by the sudden rotation. He was going to complain before being bombarded by a quick rundown of the Abyssal's progress in self identity, namely their names, and a quick reassurance that he wasn't the only one who’d forgotten the ship girl who had introduced them to the city. [color=SpringGreen]Stopsire? Shophire?[/color] jr realized he had forgotten her name already. He blamed the spinning. At least Bella and Rika were shorter and easier to remember so he made an effort to not be embarrassed again, repeating them over and over as he wandered over to the command console of the bridge and then found the bay door controls, thumbing the button and then waiting for them to slowly close back up. [hr] “Oh ok” Rika replied simply when told that they would have to keep hiding, but also that they wouldn't have to hide like that, (what would you call that, double hiding? She wasn’t sure) again which was a relief. She didn't really follow a lot of what was talked about next. Bella’s speaking about being alone among the legion did make much sense to her. She would be with people, how could she be alone, the ship though not understanding she was talking about how it would feel to go back rather than what the physical reality would be. Then she nodded automatically when the princess, even though she had a name now Rika still thought of her as a Princess, someone she should follow, said she wanted to go/stay with Sakura despite the danger that would entail. It wasn't like she didn't want to follow Sakura either. Baring the gradually more uncomfortable feeling confinement and the brief bit of stressful hiding things had been nice so far. It was just that if the princess had decided to do anything else she would have done the same. She didn't get what Ranger and Sakura’s conversation about spirits and using them being disrespectful meant in the slightest so she just rocked her torso back and forth, which relieve the boredom for some reason, admired the pig boat resting in her lap and listened without trying to hard process what was being said, just letting the sound of them talking was over her. One thing did stand out however and that was that they were talking about ships as if they stayed gone after they were killed which didn't sound right to her. She’d just kind of assumed that when she or someone else sunk the navy’s ships they came back the same as she had. But then again, had she ever seen any of the ones that had died again? She wasn't sure, she hadn't exactly had a reason to keep track, but she was not enjoying this line of thinking, which made Sakura’s call to exercise very welcome as it meant she could focus on that instead of her own thoughts. She eagerly got up to join in in this ‘exercise thing’, which caused two things to go wrong in quick succession. [hr] Outside junior was just finishing shutting the door when he heard Sakura’s call to get in on something. Having nothing better to do, he turned to go join the girls when he hear a squeal from Tyrant, who was not happy about being dislodged from his resting spot on Rika’s lap when she got up unexpectedly, followed by some apologizing from the girl who’d forgotten about him in her urgency to stop reflection on the nature of death. Then, when he was about to open the door, there was another almighty clang as the cruiser tried to copy one of Sakura’s moves and banged a massive gauntlet into the ship again, this time hitting a wall instead of the ceiling. Jr wrenched the door open and glared at the girl then the dent in the wall, then at the girl again [color=SpringGreen]”Stop breaking my ship! What are you even doing?”[/color] “Oh. um. Sorry. I was exercising? Like Sakura was?” Jr’s eyes went a little wide at this, before he glanced over at the schoolgirl warrior, put two and two together and then made a quick decision to avoid being pressured into doing an exercise routine. [color=SpringGreen]”Look. Those are stuck on right? If I help you get those off will you stop breaking my ship?”[/color] he asked “They don’t come off” She wiggled a hand around but there was no escaping the fact that the metal coating her forearms was welded to the gauntlets. Her hands were sort of free, but all she could do with them was tap the top of the weapons, her palms and wrist held down by more metal. “I’ve tried and they’re just stuck like that. It's just was how I was made, so I don't think you can help” [color=SpringGreen]”Not with that attitude you won't. Wait here”[/color] the boy asserted, before darting out and returning moments later with his tool box. [color=SpringGreen]”Sit down again. You lot can exercise, I.. We are going to get... Rika? ”[/color] he got an enthusiastic nod from the girl who was still very please about having a name [color=SpringGreen]”Me and Rika are going to get these off”[/color] “I did want to exercise though. It sounded good. Or well, it’s Sakura suggesting it so it has to be good right?” Rika said, more stating facts rather than complaining or resisting. [color=SpringGreen]”You can do that when you won't break the ship in the process. Now. hold still,”[/color] Jr told her, which as he retrieved a hacksaw from the GDI tool kit he’d acquired at hammerhead a few days ago [color=SpringGreen]”and this won't hurt a bit. Probably”[/color] With that he started sawing away at the metal binding girl and ship parts together, occasionally resorting to using a file, a hammer or little blobs of explosive goo to help him get through the tougher bits. While he worked both listened to/watched as Sakura kept talking about this and that and responding to or asking questions when they wanted too. [color=SpringGreen]”I’m a koopa”[/color] Jr explained shortly when asked what kind of people he was [color=SpringGreen]”and I have no idea if anything you said is right for my people. Haven't paid attention to fitness stuff since the Best Fitness Friends tricked me… tricked my minions into gathering the ingredients of a mind control formula and then sicked my own minions on me after they controlled them with the mind control medicine stuff.”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”I mean i didn't really care before anyway. Like. Why do stretches and stuff when you can run around and have fun instead? Seems boring,”[/color] He admitted “I think getting stronger sounds good?” Rika suggested. There was a pinging sound as jr hacked the last of the metal holding one of her arms to the massive gauntlets. She brought her hand up and examined, turning to and fro making little “ow” when it hurt a little, the wrist and arm stiff from never having moved that way before, but it got better quickly. She likely looked a bit weird, as she went about touching things with her fingers that had felt nothing but cold steel since they were made just to see what it felt like. Jr ignored it for the most part and went to work on the other hand [color=SpringGreen]”Why work for something when your born with it, I’m gonna be big and strong as my dad one day anyway”[/color] jr replied, before realising the ship girls hadn't met him and clarified a bit [color=SpringGreen]”he’s huge and cool and strong and the best dad and king. trust me”[/color] “So like how Bella was made stronger than I was?” Rika asked while poking her own nose with a freed finger. [color=SpringGreen]”... maybe? Royals are just better than your average member of a species. Except peach maybe. She’s kinda just another human. Or well she’s way better than the useless toads she rules so maybe it’s just we’re stronger than out minions I don't know”[/color] there was another snap and jr freed the other hand from the gauntlet [color=SpringGreen]”haha, there we go, all free”[/color] “Oh” the ship girl brought her newly freed hand to the other one, clapping them together and then tippy tapping one set of fingers against the others. New sensations! It was very good. She got up, Jr assuming she wanted to exercise now only to be picked up and spun around again, this time by Rika, who had just barely seen Sakura do this through a little window in the door. “And now I put you down again, right? And say thank you? Thank you” Rika told him, having gone through the motions in the way she had thanked him but also meaning her thanks with 100% sincerity. [color=SpringGreen]”That uuuugh, you get one but that's not how you should be thanking people. Its not cool. Also, you seem a little tied up there”[/color] jr saids after shaking his head clear. “Oh?” Rika looked down and found that the long pipes linking the gauntlets to her back were still there, and had wrapped around her waist when she’d done the twirl. The gauntlets themselves floated freely in the air, the antigrave that made them lift-able still working and now holding them up on their own. It was good she’d only one one spin, any more and she might have tugged them around and hit someone. “What are we going to do about those? And how am I going to hold them now?” she asked, when she tried to grab them in the same spot where she used to ‘hold’ them and found nothing to keep them with her, suddenly worried about that now that it was actually an issue. [color=SpringGreen]”uuum,”[/color] jr replied, also having not entirely thought this through either, before quickly walking around her and checking out the pipes [color=SpringGreen]”yeah no of course those are welded rather than screwed on back there. Ok. Look. I need to go get parts for the ship later anyway, we'll figure something out then. Grips you can get in and out of, some kind of way of transporting those around when you're not using them, a way to disconnect those pipes... We’ll figure stuff out, but for now I’ll just... ”[/color] he pulled the two weapons behind her and after a few moments had duct taped them together into a single more manageable unit which he then taped to her back unit. [color=SpringGreen]”Ok yeah that’ll work. We’ll do something better later. For now just try to remember they’re back there like some massive backpack, and enjoy having hands”[/color] “Oh Ok” she was definitely enjoying that. She could move her fringe out of her eyes without wiggling her head around. That was great. Also she could just touch her hair in general and other things and. Yeah. It was excellent. She went over and petted Tyrant, who had claimed part of the bed, like she’d wanted to this whole time and it was just as good as she’d expected. “Oh. right. Exercise” she suddenly said when she'd finished petting the pig on the head. She’d almost forgotten, distracted by the whole ‘having hands she could actually use’ thing. [color=SpringGreen]”ugh”[/color] jr groaned as he packed away his tools, still not enthusiastic about the thing. “So. Sorry. What is a sit up? Or a pull up?” Rika asked, potentially the only person other than Sakura onboard who was enthusiastic about the concept, “do I just do the stuff you were doing randomly? Is there a pattern? How do i know what to do?”