[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] 1,533 (+6) 
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (161/100) 
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (95/90) 
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]///////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(15/100) 
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Bottomless Sea – Carcass Isle
Feat: Rika
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[hider=jr level up]
Elemental goop: Jr’s magic paintbrush can now create two new types of goop, [url=https://i.imgur.com/4MJCDJI.png]shocking goop[/url] and [url=https://i.imgur.com/QFc9N5Q.png]burning goop[/url], which do additional elemental damage. Shocking goop is a mix of teal and yellow, and will electrocute enemies that come into contact with it, damaging and stunning the foe. Burning goop meanwhile is a molten mix of oranges and reds and is superheated to the extent that it can ignite foes who come into contact with it, which can cause them to run around in a panic trying to put it out. Both goops can linger as a dot, dealing additional electric/heat damage over time until removed. 
[/hider]

The first thing Bowser got when joining back up with the rest of the troop was questions about Jr’s well-being from a concerned Rika and Kamek.

[color=FD0000]”He’s good, no sweat. Kid’s tough as nails after all, plus I made a pretty good catch. Looks like all that sport finally paid off”[/color] Bowser said, getting a “kyu!” in agreement to the first part from his shoulder, reminding him that, [color=FD0000]”Oh, also he said you’d know how to use this one”[/color] before holding out a hand towards Kamek, whereupon Mimi ran down his arm, onto his palm and then hopped onto the tip of Kamek’s broom, where it sat itself down like a witch’s familiar. Which was quite appropriate given the gender swap. 

Rather than worry about whether she should be augmenting her attire with an appropriately pointy hat however, Kamek was instead a bit worried about Jr now that his main minion was here with them and not covering his back, and she said as much to Bowser.

[color=FD0000]”Yeah he’ll be fine…”[/color] Bowser replied, only for a worm of worry to push itself inside his mind and start wiggling around creating mental images of all kinds of grim possibilities, mainly centered up the question of what happened if the brutally effective monster went after jr while he was on his own, working on his machine? True, it hadn't actively attacked anything not been attacking it, no healer murdering attempts had been made for example, but still, Bowser’s mind was none the less presented with some very unpleasant imagery of his son being on the receiving end of blows even he had barely withstood, much to his displeasure.

Judging by the looks on the other two’s faces, he wasn't the only one getting those intrusive thoughts.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”ah… maybe I should”[/color] kamek began to suggest she go baby sit him, but Bowser had other ideas.

[color=FD0000]”Rika go keep watch on Jr, ok? Make sure he stays safe”[/color] 

“Who me? But I just-” the ship girl who had almost died after failing to dislodge Jr’s attacker tried to reply, but the king was adamant, clapping her reassuringly on the shoulder and guiding her away from the battle. 

[color=FD0000]”Off you go, I’m counting on you!”[/color] he told her, practically pushing her away from active danger before turning to his old advisor and telling him [color=FD0000]”Now let’s go pay that ugly mug back tenfold!”[/color] which got a determined nod from Kamek (and Mimi). Soon enough Bowser was tromping back into the fray at last, joining the Ace while Kamek and Mimi hovered above, laying dark mines (which involved Kamek casting and Mimi copycatting him) as traps to turn the Orphan's erratic movement against it.

This worked remarkably well as after getting ice smashed and fortuitously failing to trounce the child responsible the Orphan dropped down onto the minefield, causing a bevy of blasts to briefly tip it over. Sizing the opportunity the king leapt forwards and delivered a meteoric punch right to the Orphan’s chest, only to back up as Ace got stuck in, which gave him just enough space to avoid the first retaliatory blow from the monster. 

He tried to come back in after that, but the Orphan started to put its range avoidance strategy to use in melee as well, using its fast movements to dodge around the slower Koopa, while also keeping the faster monster hunter between the king and itself, causing him to not be able to go forwards, and  ace to have less room to back up in. 

The brief moment of frustration came to an end when the Ace got himself clipped and sent hurtling towards Bowser, who did his best to catch the hunter, but he still got sent sliding backwards through the sand a short distance as he absorbed much of the cadet’s momentum.

As the Orphan left the pair behind and raced off to smash the engineer’s turret the young prince was having difficulties with his own broken machine, and was at that moment waist deep inside it's hammer space glove box, grumbling away as he looked for an item that was no longer in his possession [color=SpringGreen]”where is it? Where is it?! I know it was in here somewhere!”[/color] 

“What are you looking for anyway?” Rika, who was agitatedly standing guard, the ship girl unable to actually stand that guard still as she watched the battle from a much too close vantage point.

[color=SpringGreen]”The stupid hammer! I can't fix my car quickly without…”[/color] Jr was saying before pausing, having an idea and pulling himself out of the car [color=SpringGreen]”oh wait I know! I can get Blazermate’s wrench guy to fix it!”[/color] 

“I, ah, think he just got sunk” the ship girl let him know. It had been far too quick too, just one shot and the once mortal man had been a goner. That had almost been her. 

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh come on!”[/color] the prince threw up his arms in frustration at this run of bad luck.

“So is it just broken for good now then?” 

[color=SpringGreen]”What? No, I can fix it myself. What do you think all my technical brains were in that hammer? Ha no. It’ll just take time without it, time we ain’t got”[/color] the boy said, and on that he was surly right. Every moment the Orphan got was another moment it had to deal a singularly decisive blow on any one of them, and next time it might not be a striker who bit the dust. 

[color=SpringGreen]”So forget trying to do that,”[/color] he declared, grabbing his gadbrush and giving it a twirl, before fiddling with a little hidden control mechanism which flushed the tip of the brush with burning goop [color=SpringGreen]”Instead, let's go paint the town red!”[/color]

“That’s mostly orange” Rika pointed out before asking “Also why are we painting a town? And what town?”

[color=SpringGreen]”Less questions more butt kicking”[/color] Jr replied, taking off at a run back towards the fight.

There, while Bowser and Ace had been untangling themselves, some of the ladies had taken their palace in the fray, with Sakura hadouken and Bella’s tripping supporting Nadia’s full frontal assault supported by her dopplegangers, which was going well right up until she was overwhelmed and knocked down by a colossal blow that knocked both copies out of commission and almost destroyed Nadia outright.   

What stopped it finishing the job was aid from Bowser and Kamek. 

Bowser stormed in roaring [color=FD0000]”GET YOUR UGLY MUG OFF HER!”[/color] before physically grabbing the still half prone Orphan and hauling it above his head while it raged. With a wild swing it smashed the king in the back with its mace, causing the king to cry out in pain as he stumbled, but he soldiered through and with a roar hurled the monster into the carcass of a washed up whale, who’s rotten body gave way with ease, burying the Orphan in a mire of gore and bone. 

This costly throw gave Kamek enough time to direct his white mages to heal the fallen catgirl, giving her a burst of healing on top of her natural regeneration that would likely have her right back on her feet, but that left the King’s back wound unattended to.

Not that he was going to let that stop him. Though his shell was cracked and oozing gore it still held the light he had absorbed earlier. More was drawn in now as the king raised his maw to the sickly moon and devoured its light, causing the shadows to twist as the light faded, and then grow long as the power coalesced into in a glowing orb of pure white light held between the King’s bestial fangs. As the orphan was on the verge of clawing its way out of a prison of blood and bone for a second time in its life the king violently snapped his head towards it and unleashed the charged up energy in one singular strike.

Light streamed fourth in a beam wider than the Orphan was tall, bringing a brief dawn to the cove as it hammered into the horror, as well as the corpse holding it briefly captive within its shattered ribs. The whale, which had been dead even before its bloated body was stolen by Galeem, promptly exploded, sending smoldering chucks of blubber and bone fragments showering across the area.

[color=FD0000]”How do you-”[/color] the wounded and winded king had to pause for air for a moment half way through his taunt [color=FD0000]”-like that ya shmuck!”[/color]

The smoke and cloud of kicked up sand and vaporized blood cleared over a few tense moments, and as the veil slipped away it revealed the form of the Orphan simply standing there. Despite its chest having been burnt by the core of the energy beam, the viscera soaked horror’s perpetually exposed teeth made it look as if it was grinning at the king, as if the blast had simply done it a favor by freeing it from the mire of gore he had tossed it into. Then the half imagined moment ended as the monster screamed and came rampaging out of the blast crater, sprinting forth to finish the job of breaking the presently gobsmacked king’s back.