[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] 1,654 (+3) [b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (124/90) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]//////////////////////////////// (50/80) [b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////// (48/80) [b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Bottomless Sea – the Maw - the Depths Feat: Rika [/center] Despite having initially insisted that he was an expert in these things Bowser rapidly lost track of the situation involving the diving suit claiming it was mirage, and his initially threatening posture became one of befuddlement, the King leaning on the hammer head and scratching his head with a finger as he tried to process this all “There's lots of me too,” Rika offered when Blazaermate suggested that mirages might be mass produced, but that didn't really sync up with what was going on when she thought about it some more “Though, uh they all look like be but defiantly don't act like me, least not the me who is me now, which is kinda the opposites with your situation. You seem as nice as the other Mirage, just a bit confused. So. maybe not the same?” Fortunately for both of them, and for the mockingbird, Sakura recovered from her stupor thanks to Geralt, and then moved in to help clear up the solution, showing the diving suit himself in his reflection, which his delusion did not extend to for some convenient reason. Whatever the case, the matter was resolved and the suit, now aware of its new existence, named himself Duerage. “Well I think it's a great name, Duerage!” Rika, having been in that situation and knowing exactly how hard it was, said encouragingly to him. Bowser just shook his head, still confused but kind of instinctively recognizing that Durage had gotten a bad deal in life. [color=FD0000]”Ouch. You know maybe Junior had the right idea sitting this one out. Speaking of which,”[/color] Bowser turned and then shouted over at the round sub [color=FD0000]”How you doing in there son?”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Good! I think I’ve got it.”[/color] Jr called back while giving the controls a final little test shoogle to make sure he did and then shouting [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah, I've got it. We're ready to roll out! Who’s coming?”[/color] The first, and possibly only, person to come over was Missfortune, not to hitch a ride but to give him her fan to use in-case of emergencies. [color=SpringGreen]”Gee, thanks. Guess I’ll if I get crunched I’ll just hold my breath then huh. I mean I’m good at that compared to most people, I think? Koopa fizzy-ol-oggy. How is this thing powered anyway?”[/color] Jr said, giving it a once over, mostly to distract himself from the mental image his brain was helpfully creating of the nature of the situation that would lead him to need to use the fan, but not figuring anything out while doing so. Least if he was lucky it's inscrutability meant it would maybe be waterproof. It would, he thought, be very ironic to survive the death of the sub only to be electrocuted to death by Nadia’s well meaning gifted/lent item. [color=SpringGreen]”So just me then huh? No one else? Fine! You’d have just slowed me down anyway”[/color] Jr asked after waiting for a few moments for anyone else, and then huffed when it looked like no one else was coming down. “I mean I could...” Rika approached and offered but was shooed off [color=SpringGreen]”No no you're fine, help Papa distract it and maybe give that thing a shot of two for me. Besides, if we do need to swim, that battery is definitely not gonna be safe to have with us.”[/color] “It isn't?” Rika cocked her head in confusion [color=SpringGreen]”Uh, yeah… seriously, don't go into the water with that on, it’ll shock you super bad.”[/color] Jr told her “Ok I won’t.” Rika said, taking this in stride “So... Good luck? That’s what people say right?” She got an appreciative nod. [color=FD0000]”Go gettem son, Papa’s gonna make sure that stupid fish doesn't get anywhere near you. Speaking of that: Rika! Grab some of his stuff so we can taunt him with it!”[/color] Bowser called over from where he was in the process affixing the weird gross whatever it was that had been in the jar to the end of the shoddy fishing rod without touching it with his claws. This was not going well as his only tool for doing this was a hammer head, and, well the mess that would result of treating the thing like a nail was not something anyone wanted. “That seems kinda mean?” Rika said, glancing over at the guy’s sad pile of things. [color=SpringGreen]”He’s gonna be trying to eat me. He gets what he deserves. ”[/color] Jr asserted, before moving to close the hatch. [color=FD0000]”Jr, one last thing! Here, Rika, give him this!”[/color] Bowser called out, before tossing Rika a black winged key he’d already taken from the fish guy’s things. He missed/she failed to catch it and it got way too close to falling in the water, but after that heart attack of a near miss, she picked it up and completed the relay by handing it to Jr with a “here” [color=SpringGreen]”Huh. Thanks. Man it would have been bad to get down there and realize we needed to come back for the key wouldnt it”[/color] he joked. “Yup” Rika said back as she headed over to the fish’s junk pile. [color=SpringGreen]”Welp. Here we go for real”[/color] Jr said to anyone that might have joined him last second during the series of delays, or maybe just to Mimi who was definitely coming with him, and then battened down the hatch, made doubly sure it was secure, strapped himself into the pilot’s seat and then steered the sub to followed the two Mirage piloted robots down into the water. As he started to set off Rika headed over to the fish man’s cruddy cubby hole, haphazardly scooped up the other jars, the doll, the cards and, failing to get much else out of all this, the whole tv which she then she lugged over to the King. [color=FD0000]”Wow, didn't mean that too. Are you alright there? Gotta save your strength. Don’t wanna go mad from the hunger ha ha ha... urg.”[/color] Bowser tried to joke but the hunger gnawing at his belly was not really something that he could make light of. Rika shrugged in response as she set down the tv and then, on a whim, sat the porcelain doll on top to watch the water while she explained that “I thought maybe it’d make a nice splash?” right before Nadia made a far larger one by dropping a platform into the water. [hr] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Goomba Shoes! What in the world are they doing!”[/color] Kamek cried out in alarm down below where he was with Frog, Link and the Moogle (apparently pretty useless as far as Kamek was concerned) where standing when the drop happened, and then their fishy host gave him something to really be alarmed about when he crashed out of the water in all his disgustingly horrifying glory. The members of the troop who could see this all watched in horror as he launched himself out of the water at Nadia, but fortunately the big bad salmon fell well short of the clambering cat. Kamek was so relieved that it was only when she mocked it with the fact that she was too high up for him to catch that Kamek realized [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh. We aren't are we… Oh bother!”[/color] and then turned and waddled after Link who’d realized this much much sooner. Rather than retreat all the way to the door, however, Link had stopped, and then started yelling out a plan to act as bait. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Are you mad?! Wait you're a hero of course you are. You can stay here and risk your socks then. I am going back into the other room, thank you very much, and the rest of you should come with me if you're wise.”[/color] He said to the others, before doing exactly that. What was he going to do, after all, hope his shell gave the beast indigestion? [hr] [color=FD0000]”Oh wow. Yup. Definitely the worst thing that could have happened happened. Ugly thing isn't he? Belch”[/color] Bowser commented on the big fish with revulsion to Rika who nodded while grimacing. The abyssal fleet had normalized her to some pretty gross stuff but this thing took the cake. “I can try shooting him, but I’m not sure how well that’d work?” She offered. He was big, her shells small and limited in number. [color=FD0000]”Guy’s covered in weak spots so go for it if you can hit em”[/color] Bowser replied “Oh? Where?” She asked, not knowing the king was good at appraising things like this. [color=FD0000]”Big googly eyes. Always weak spots on boss monsters. Remember that cyclops guy in the ocean? And the other cyclops guy downstairs? Massive eye weak spot. Good guys always go for em, so if we’re playing the good guys we should too.”[/color] Bowser said, tapping his forehead knowingly despite being wrong. “But they had one, and this guy has like, tones?” Rika pointed out the flaw in his thinking [color=FD0000]”Eeeeh, same difference”[/color] Bowser said, setting aside his own fishing rod based distraction for the moment and rolling his jaw in preparation for some fireballing [color=FD0000]”Now let's line up our shots and when Link’s plan works out, we blast him good if he's still moving!”[/color] Bowser announced. He’d probably regret it in the long run, fire burned fuel keeping him running and he was running on empty right now, but if it’d keep his son safe? He’d tough through the pain, no question. Rika wasn't worried about wasting fuel by shooting, not realising the battery wasn’t an infinite supply of power, and so instead she checked her remaining shell count before nodding and making the same kind of assessment. Better to spend shots now, even if they might need them laterer, than lose one of her friends to the slimy fish jerk. [hr] Down below both other Koopas in the water, Jr flinched at the impacting splashes of metal and fish on water and then, after steeling himself, leaned to the front of his sub to hand signal through the window to the Mirages that he was ready to go down into the depths with them. All they could do was hope the mayhem the others where stirring up kept them safe for long enough to get down and then back up.