[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img] [h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2] [b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 3,300 (+4) (+6 for Bowser and Rika from colabs) [b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (249/100) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (216/90) [b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](144/100) [b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 5 [/color][/b] [color=Aqua]//////////[/color]//////////////////////////////////////// (10/50) [b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Smash City Alcamoth [/center] Like the others, Kamek and Jr squared up for battle. Unlike the others, they had found a way of technically following Mewtwo’s directive while also conserving energy, a goal the under-slept Jr had found it fairly easy to convince the old mage to help him pursue. With that in mind, they had gone not to a smash arena, but a pokemon one, because while the pair took it easy it was the minions who were brawling in their stead. [img]https://i.imgur.com/PhTqF7h.png[/img] [color=SpringGreen]”Alright that’s enough Mimi, come on back!”[/color] The Prince called out from the hovering platform he’d parked his souped up clowncar on, one that floated over the gap to one side of the arena at a distance close enough to yell orders from, but far away enough that there was a low risk of the trainers becoming collateral damage. Then he tossed a pokeball into the arena which bounced once against the ground and then shot a red beam at his rather battered looking Mimikyu, who’d gone through quite her share of shadow clones till she’d been worn down by the fact that unlike the 2 minion Jr, Kamek couldn't actually run out of forces other than through mana drain or exhaustion. The mage, who had set up a deck chair on her own platform and was only half paying attention as she flicked through her new grimoire, had at least been upfront about this, meaning that Jr’s minions were basically up against an endless survival battle. Not that this stopped Jr from wanting a victory out of this, which is why he called over to his training partner [color=SpringGreen]”Hey, Kamek! I’m gonna use strikers this time to help out, get some combo training in!”[/color] The mage cocked an eyebrow at this, but then shrugged and nodded. [color=SpringGreen]”Cool. Now. Go Dazzle, let’s see what you’ve got!”[/color] Jr called out as he pulled his other pokeball from the bandolier on his chest and tossed it out into the fray. The ball bounced once, twice, and then split open, revealing the clown nosed sea lion with black feathered flippers that was Dazzle the Popplio. The water pokemon shook his head clear of sleep, awkwardly pushed himself upright on the new flippers that he was still getting used to and then had a look at what he was up against. Turned out to be a shadow clone of Bowser, the dark imitation of the koopa king flickering slightly at the edges due to a crater in its chest left by a departing electroball from Mimi. [color=SpringGreen]”Foe’s weak Dazzle, so let’s finish it off and then get to the proper practice!”[/color] Jr commanded the mon, who looked back and nodded at his trainer before squaring up for battle. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Pacify the flipper creature”[/color] Kamek commanded her clone with a lazy wave of a hand, prompting the royal doppelganger to give a roar before charging right across the stage at Dazzle. [color=SpringGreen]”Start off with an Aqua Jet! Get the first strike in!”[/color] Jr commanded in response, which got a disagreeing bark from the mon, but he still followed his trainers order regardless, the mon scooting forward awkwardly on his flippers and tail while inflating a water bubble ahead of him. Then he lunged and from his POV was engulfed in the water of the bubble and rushed along with it towards the incoming dragon turtle, but from everyone else's POV he blinked forwards so fast he was almost invisible, a torrent of water trailing in his wake. Then he slammed into the Bowser clone, turning at the last moment to make it a shoulder charge, and then the water came rushing in as a second punch, pushing the turtle back a bit as Dazzle dropped to the ground. He looked pretty chuffed with himself as he picked himself up, only for the wet and water blasted Koopa clone to step right back in and give the mon a boot to the chest that sent him sprawling with a “Plio!” of pain. Turned out that Dazzle’s species were not great physical attackers and while Aqua Jet hit fast it didn't hit noticeably hard. [color=SpringGreen]”Shoot. Quick get up before, oh no!”[/color] Jr shouted, alarmed, as the Bowser clone followed up its kick with a burst of flame breath. Dazzle squealed in alarm and rolled to the side, the water still clinging to it and his natural resistance leaving him merely steamed rather than cooked. Then, no sooner had he picked himself up that the brute was stomping towards him once more [color=SpringGreen]”Don’t let him push you around, use that penguin leap technique on him!”[/color] Jr commanded, the aggressive kid seemingly having not learned his lesson, and it would be Dazzle who’d be paying the price. The mon reluctantly puffed up another water bubble, but this time tossed himself on top of it with a flick of his tail, bouncing up and then falling down in a parabolic arc, flipper wings flapping to give him more speed as he sailed down, the red marks on his back flaring with power as he descended. The slow set up and predictable arc had, unfortunately, given the clone time to bring up a guard, and so Popillo’s back smacked down into a raised arm guard rather than anything more vital. At least the clone had not been smart enough to just duck down and take the strike on the spiky shell. Plus, the dire penguin’s technique had also delivered more of an impactful blow thanks to a burst of evil red looking energy that discharged upon impact, the strike causing the clone to stagger back and giving Dazzle a moment to [color=SpringGreen]”Fall back and give him a water gun!”[/color] Now that was more Dazzle’s species’ style. The mon, having already been doing a set of forwards rolls using the momentum he got bouncing off the koopa to get some space, proceed his tail, bounced on another swiftly inflated water balloon and then did a swit acrobatic turn and used the momentum to tossed another balloon behind him as the ‘bullet’ of his water gun. This sored forth and right into the mouth of the Koopa Clone as it attempted to get off another burst of fire breath, the bubble popping explosively that nearly snapped the clone’s jaw, while also dumping it’s payload of water into its maw, dousing the fire it had been warming up. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Mmm, that seems more like it, young master. I think Dazzle is best suited to ranged combat than up close brawling”[/color] Kamek called out a suggestion [color=SpringGreen]”Hey, don't tell me what to do! Just messing about at range is for cowards!... and old people!”[/color] Jr called back irritatedly before adding [color=SpringGreen]”Besides, I’ve got an idea to make those two flubbed attacks waaaaay better!”[/color] That got a squawk of complaint from Dazzle, who did not appreciate the insult or Kamek’s accurate advice being turned down. Still, while Jr might be biased he was not lying about his plan which was [color=SpringGreen]”Combine the penguin leap and the aqua jet to make a uh, ah penguin jet? Aqua… penguin? A Dire Jet!”[/color] Dazzle scrunched his eyes, focusing on getting the plan through his brain for a few moments and then gave it a shot. He popped out a bubble, and then hopped onto one, bouncing off of it and then into the other which was about the time when he actually got it. The lighting fast tunnel of water flowed up in an arch and then in the blink of an eye came slamming down into the Bowser clone’s unguarded chest, water, Popplio and malignant power all hammering into it in a three strike punch that sent it staggering back, scales cracked and its shadowy body flickering and fuzzing at the edge as it was on the edge of coming apart at the seems. [color=SpringGreen]”One more hit!”[/color] Jr commanded, and sure enough, another water-balloon to the face sealed the deal, the clone bursting into a puff of purple smoke. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well done you two”[/color] Kamek called over (which got both mon and master puffing up their chests pridefully at the praise) before setting her book to the side, picking up her wand and saying [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Now then, shall we continue?”[/color] before she conjured up the next opponent for Dazzle to face, a chain that would continue till the mon could battle no longer. The Popplio gulped, while Jr raised a fist and challenged [color=SpringGreen]”Bring it!”[/color] [hr] Frozen wind lashed up into the sky, chilling the pair of Kamek clones, the ice clinging to their robes and slowing down their harassing swoops just enough for the mon to nail them with a water balloon each. [hr] Dazzle balanced a ball like Bytan on his snout before he flipped over and gave it a hefty smack with his tail, the ball splitting as it flew and shotgunned the Bowser clone with a triple tackle. The turtle staggered, recovered, and then received a hail of Goombas bounced off of water balloons raining down on its noggin as a follow up. [hr] A drybone just lay down and gave up the fight as Jr and Dazzle finally found a way around its resurrection ability using the pokemon’s disarming voice. [hr] Dazzle clung to a koopa shell as he used his Water Balloons as self made bumpers to ping himself around the arena. It had 0 combat effectiveness but it was evasive as heck. [hr] As a grand finale the stage transformed, sporting a towering mountain at its center upon which Dazzle was joined by Mimi, the pair hammering a veritable swarm of clones and dry bones trying to assail their position and unseat the kings of the hill. Waterbaloons slapped down, followed by electroballs that shocked the soaked scoundrels in a deadly one two punch. Frost swept down the cliff sides, slowing their enemy’s advance while Mimi’s shadow struck them from behind. They even had their own little cadre of pint sized jr clowns helping them hold the fort as Mimi mimicked Kamek’s clone creation, the portaled in pint sized powerhouses tackling their larger mirrors and keeping them at bay. As for the mage, well, Jr pulling out all the stops on his side had got her invested, and so she’d actually put down the book for good and had been focusing on commanding her troops. But there was something lacking, something, or someone, who she’d come to rely on in a short time that was missing from her strategy. It was tricky at first, the mage stringing as she focused on that bond, but once she had it in her mental hand and took a moment to reflect on it, the rest flowed oh so easily. One more spell and a few moments later, and the top of the mountain exploded as a coastal bombardment’s worth of shells rained down upon it, blasting apart many of the other clones and fainting both pokemon in the blink of an eye. [color=SpringGreen]”Wow! How’d you… oooooooh”[/color] Jr realized what had happened peered down and saw a familiar shape standing at the base of the mountain as the dust cleared [color=SpringGreen]”I didn’t know you could make clones of her!”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well why shouldn't I? She’s one of us is she not?“[/color] Kamek replied as the shadow clone of Rika marched her way to the top of the hill and claimed the perch as her own. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Though I may need to get some pointers from her on how to use those guns”[/color] the mage admitted, eyeing the indiscriminate devastation the clone of her friend had caused to the rest of Kamek’s little army. That the real thing had had no such issues quite impressed the mage now that she’d had the opportunity to fail right from the get go. She waved a hand, dispersing the remaining magical constructs and Jr tossed out both pokeballs and returned his minion’s to them. [color=SpringGreen]”You two did good, now we’ll get you all patched up and then we can get a treat as a reward for all our hard work. Right Kamek?”[/color] he told them as he lifted off from the platform and hovered over to the mage, who couldn't really say no too that now could she? [hr] As it turned out that going to get patched up was an excellent way to meet up again, because it lead the various injured members of the Koopa troop to all wined up in the same spot, namly the local poke/people center that provided your one stop shop for all your healing needs, conveniently situated ever so close to the arenas that where their main source of patients. There, the wounded people and pokemon got all patched up and then took a recommended short rest on some of the benches in the room, where they proceeded to fill the time with chat. Bowser predictably praised his own performance in the battle (but a little surprising also had a few positive words for Peach as well) and Jr talked up both his mon and his ‘tactical genius’ to which Kamek added some more honest praise for his efforts. When it came to Rika however, she folded in on herself, shoulders hunched in and gauntlets held over her chest almost defensively before she admitted [color=Aqua]”I… I lost. Even with all those upgrades Jr worked on I still lost”[/color] sounding ashamed of the fact. There was a little pause during which she seemed to shrink in even more on herself before Bowser shrugged [color=FD0000]”Ahhh tough luck.”[/color] he said, and then gave her a reassuring pat on the back while adding [color=FD0000]”You win some you lose a bunch, that’s the bad guy’s lot,”[/color] which got a bunch of agreeing nods from the rest of the troop. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”The important thing is to learn something from your mistakes, so why don’t you tell us about it, and we’ll see what you can”[/color] Kamek said, only for Jr to interject [color=SpringGreen]”Can’t we just watch it back? There were fights on screens before we started right? So they also gotta be recording em!”[/color] he insisted, something he turned out to be quite right about as it turned out. That was what found them all sitting about watching a replay of Rika’s match on one of the center's little monitors. [hr] [color=FD0000]”Ha, you’re a girl after my own heart. If you ain't wrecking everything you’re not fighting hard enough!”[/color] the koopa king cheered as Rika just went to town on the, well, town, blasting swaths of it to bits in her attempts to shoot down Blazermate [hr] [color=SpringGreen]”Oh wow, ok that whole overdrive thing I found in your new specs was way better than I thought it would be”[/color] Jr commented when that destruction came to a climax in a hail of 15 for 1 shellfire [color=DeepSkyBlue]”You added something and didn’t test it?!”[/color] Kamek said, aghast by this lack of safety standards [color=SpringGreen]”Hey, I had a lot to do that night!”[/color] [hr] [color=Aqua]”Su uh, yeah, beeping stuff’s dangerous apparently”[/color] the shipgirl sheepishly admitted [color=SpringGreen]”Well yeah duh”[/color] Jr replied callously only to be told of by Kamek for his rudeness [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Young master! Everyone learns everything they know for the first time at some point, it’s quite rude to lord knowledge over people''[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah but [i]everyone[/i] knows that beeping means dangerous and probably explosive”[/color] he retorted, only for Rika to ask [color=Aqua]”Ok but why though? Wouldn't it be better to have dangerous stuff be sneaky?”[/color] to which he had no answer [color=SpringGreen]”I.. Well… Just because it is ok!”[/color] [hr] [color=SpringGreen]”You can fly!?”[/color] Jr cried out, amazed by the ship girl’s last second leap over the battlebot’s shield. [color=Aqua]”No, jump good! Bowser’s whole water cannon jet-pack thing was pretty inspiring”[/color] [color=FD0000]”Aw shucks. Just careful not to blow your legs off ok?”[/color] Bowser told her [color=Aqua]”mmm”[/color] [hr] Eventually the show came to a close with Blazermate finishing off Rika in a way that was a bit BM all things told, and the ship girl was left waiting for feedback. The chatting over the fight had put the nerves she had from vague memoirs of cruel debriefing in the fleet mostly at ease, but still, having people you care about judging your performance was still a bit scary. [color=FD0000]”You know, you kind of had her on the ropes for most of it, just couldn't pin her down for a win. Flighty dodging enemies are the worst, yeah?[/color] Bowser suggested [color=FD0000]”You really gotta corner em which can be tricky but once you hem em into a corner then all the running around in the world won’t save em from getting stomped!”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Yeeeeeeeeah in hindsight torpedoes where maybe not the best thing to tinker around around unlocking, buuuuuut you did still make em work which was cool. Plus that invincibility was sooo unfair!”[/color] was Jr’s input [color=SpringGreen]”Been there, done that, never fun to deal with a super star’d Mario. Gotta be on your toes and keep away from em while they run down the clock on those”[/color] [color=Aqua]”I.. Thanks guys”[/color] Rika replied, smiling a little more now that they’d kindly excused her loss for her (which might not be the most positive way of dealing with it, but, well, bad guys where perhaps not the best role models she could have) and also given her a bit of advice [color=Aqua]”But it still feels bad to have lost, you know”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well this was your first time fighting on your own as I understand it? You’ve been with us the rest of the time, so it is not like you have that much practice at battling on your own, if any. Teams can shore up weaknesses or gaps in your thinking so well you don't notice they are there”[/color] Kamek pointed out, and then had thought about something that might help cheer her up [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh, here, I learned to do something new related to that you might like”[/color] [color=Aqua]”hmm? Oh, sure?”[/color] Rika replied, to which Kamek nodded in reply and opened up a portal, out of which a shadowy Rika clone stepped. It looked around a few times, and then gave the original a gauntlett salute. [color=Aqua]”Oh wow”[/color] Rika said as she got up from her seat and sized herself up, noting that unlike Bowser, the clone of her had all the fusions popped into her as part of her, which made sense, they were much more a part of her identity than Bowser’s where of him [color=Aqua]”So can you do versions of these for everyone now?”[/color] she turned back to ask to which the mage shook his head and responded simply [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Still only for those I hold dear”[/color] [color=Aqua]”Oh neat”[/color] Rika said, and then only after a few moments what that meant actually set in, the ship girl fully turning to face her first friend and with a [color=Aqua]”Awww. Come here you”[/color] scooping her up into a hug while Jr stuck his tongue out in the background and complained about mushy stuff. [color=FD0000]”Feeling better now?”[/color] Bowser rhetorically asked after the smiling ship girl put down a rather winded Kamek. [color=Aqua]”Mmm, I am, thanks”[/color] she said, before giving him a little hug too for good measure. [color=FD0000]”Then let’s pack up and see if there’s anything else to do around here. I uh, think the nurse is getting mad about us taking up so much of the sitting room anyway”[/color] Bowser suggested, which a little bit later found the four of them wandering the halls, only for a Hat kid to go blazing past them followed by Nadia and Omori hot on her heels. [color=FD0000]”Huh, what…. Hey wait, where are you lot running off too?!”[/color] Bowser yelled after them to no response, only for Jr and Rika to take the only logical option when you saw friends of yours running somewhere, which was to go chasing after them to find out what the fuss was about.