[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] 1,412 (+3)
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (155/90) 
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (88/80) 
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (85/80) 
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Bottomless Sea – the Maw - the Restaurant
Feat: Rika
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The troop’s adding their spike backs to the one woman’s umbrella barricade protecting Bella from being eaten by the wizard had its pros and cons. On the upside, they initially moved together to take the palace of peach’s umbrella once it got zapped, ensuring the blockade remained and the princess herself was safe as well. On the downside the wizards were a bit quicker on the spell casting draw than they expected, resulting in Bowser getting deep fried as well.

[color=SpringGreen]”Papa!”[/color] Jr cried out in alarm, diving to try and snatch his now highly edible father away from the voracious monster that had poly-morphed him into fish food. Fortuitously, at just that moment Bowser’s troops, organized by his royal advisor, came to his rescue, their barrage of pots and pans hailing down on top of the two wizards in a cacophony of clanging metal. Their cast iron rain was followed swiftly by the twin cracks of Rika’s cannons, firing from the cover of the fire-pit.

While the girl herself stumbled and fell into the wet ash, too weakened by hunger to stand the recoil of her own guns, her shots struck home and shattered the bowl of the one she had been aiming at and, just as Mirage had planned, dumping the creature to the ground where it was in prime ass whooping range. 

The hail of iron ended when there was a brief moment of panic among the Troop a moment later, caused by Larry’s sudden return, one that swiftly ended once they all remembered strikers were a thing. Well the troop who had been in the know already did, the chef bro’s had to be quickly brought up to speed by Kamek yelling [color=SpringGreen]”It’s ok, he’s on our side now and he’ll be gone again in just a moment!”[/color] after the fleeing chef bros, who were crying out about ghosts and unkillable chefs.

Cowardice on their part fortunately did not have any impact on the battle, as Link’s quick requisition of the chef’s spirit ended two one of the wizards in a one two punch. Or one deer toss and a flurry of follow up punches. The second was taken down by the well timed arrival of Blazermate, Nadia and the Ace Cadet, their circuitous route and run in with the other dangerous chefs bringing them to the perfect flanking spot at the perfect moment upon which  they could pile in and finish the battle.

Either related or unrelated to the ending of the wizard’s lives, their curses were lifted as first Bella, and then Bowser, were returned to normal, much to the king’s relief.

[color=FD0000]”Gah, I’m glad that’s over”[/color] the un-fried king said as his son gave him a quick relieved hug, before praising his (now returning) minions’ swift intervention that had likely saved his life  [color=FD0000]”Good work troop. Nobody tries to make lunch meat out of the Koopa King and gets away with it!”[/color] and giving the spirit of the one that had tried to do so a kick, which did little other than cause it to be lobbed up and away a few feet before drifting back down again unfazed by his violence.

[color=FD0000]”Bah, whatever. If anyone's going to be eating anyone it’s gonna be me, got that ya shrimps”[/color] Bowser growled at the (again, already dead) wizards in what turned out to be a terrible choice of statement given the subsequent revelation of the nature of the curse by Bella to the rest of the gang.

[color=FD0000]”Oh. Urg. That’s not good”[/color] Bowser said, honestly more concerned about the loss of control and weight gain the curse would cause than the potential cannibalism itself. It was, after all, technically not cannibalism for him if the victim was human. Technically. 

[color=SpringGreen]”Ew grooooooss. Why does this place have to make everything the worst!”[/color] was Jr’s far more natural response, throwing up his arms in frustration and appall as Mimi hopped back onto his shoulder, the little mon either not understanding or not caring about its own touching by the curse. The red sauce had been tasty, and that was all that mattered to her.

Still, there was an upside in this, and that was that now that they knew the nature of the curse the risk from eating was ironically lesser than it had been when the royals had eaten. Peach may well have even hit upon a way to avoid it entirely with her point about avoiding meat. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”If we are lucky it is just the meat? Which means I could have eaten ages ago… sigh”[/color] the mage shook his head sadly as he realized the implication, before seeking out some vegetarian fair that he would have eaten anyway. It was not, he mused, like he’d have been that much more useful fully fed. Then again maybe he would have thought up the idea of avoiding meat if he wasn't starving, or any number of other useful facts. It was while mulling this over that his attention was brought to the fallen spirit of one of the Tempura monsters laying in a pile of tasty looking rice. No, the Tempura Wizard! The magicless mage corrected himself in his mind, and then ground his beak as he contemplated the pros and cons… before finally taking the plunge for the sake of his team, and his heavily bruised ego.

As the mage got a taste for seafood (but started with rice) the rest of the troop refueled. Mostly Rika, who proceeded to devour her way through a garden's worth of vegetables and most of Jr’s remaining soft drinks (while all but the vegi-soup was disposed of for safety’s sake). The mostly carnivorous royals were in a bit of a bind and so had, at most, a snack of some bread while the others were eating, before they all gathered up their things, formed up and set off once more. 

Following Nadia’s guidance they headed downstairs, scared the bejesus out of the final, non murderous due to specializing in sushi, chef through sheer numbers, and then heading towards the restaurant, with the helm in mind as their final destination, which was as logical a goal as any in this place. They’d need to commandeer it to get to their actual destination after all.

On the way there however, they spotted an even better target, the shadowy form of the ship’s mistress, lurking about all the way up on the fifth floor of the restaurant. The troop were all well onboard with the plan of going after her to beat her up, though Kamek did suggest they  [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Keep an eye out for the creatures that accompanied her when we met her the last time which did, well, this to us. I’m sure they will be around her, but if we hit them first that would be ideal as it might break the curse entirely.”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh oh and if we do we can get some sweet justice on her! See how that spooky lady likes being a little kid”[/color] Jr added, giggling at the thought of the karmic justice they could execute with the demon’s power.

Still, they had to get up there first, and so they kept moving, eventually finding their way to the VIP lounge, which sported its own host of guests which, while as bloated with fat as the rest, or even more so, seemed to retain something like their minds and original forms. Powerful looking forms too, in some cases. While Nadia’s attention was drawn to the ladylike manikins on stage, Bowser and Jr’s stayed one of the guests.

[color=SpringGreen]”Don't we…. know that crocodile guy?”[/color] Jr said, hesitantly.

 [color=FD0000]”Hmmmm,”[/color] Bowser thought hard while scratching his head, also recognizing him, but not knowing where from till he snapped his fingers with realization [color=FD0000]”Yeah we do! he was at the cliff at the start of all this right?”[/color] he glanced at Peach who had probably been paying more attention to those present for confirmation.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well that is convenient. Though, ah, freeing him might not be”[/color] Kamek noted, looking at the other oversized guests wearily. 

[color=SpringGreen]”What, those fatsos? Can they even move, let alone fight?”[/color] Jr said arogently, eyeing the other, even chunkier guests.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I’d rather not find out, would you?”[/color] the mage cautioned, before suggesting [color=DeepSkyBlue]”If we want to go about weakening him then let’s at least try and be clever about it rather than running in and making another commotion. Or just leave him till we get our normal forms back. He’s been here from the start, most likely, so he’ll last a little longer, I’m sure.”[/color]