[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img] [h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2] [b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 3668 (+4) (+19 for jr) ( +8 for all) [b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 11 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (187/110) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (256/90) [b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](165/100) [b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 5 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]// (48/50) [b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Sea of Serendipity [/center] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/5r7OTIh.png[/img] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 3668 (+4) [b][color=Aquamarine]Midna: level 8[/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aquamarine]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](92/80) [b][color=Aquamarine]Location:[/color][/b] Twilight Town [color=Aquamarine]Warp Charges:[/color] 0 [hider=warp locations] Virgin Victory teleport room Top of the Split mountain Outside the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage Tostarena Town [/hider] [/center] After waving goodbye to Cortez and ignoring any cursing of their names he did despite their generous gift of a broken airship, the troop promptly piled into a corner of the tinker slug and collectively took a nap. Blazermate’s healing beam might be miraculous, but just as it couldn't solve extreme damage (incidentally Jr slept a touch worse than normal, his underdeveloped consciousness weakly kicking him for Annetta’s fate) it also didn’t resolve fatigue. As a result when they awoke they were already in twilight town. After a bit of confusion about how long they had slept due to the permanently amber sky, the troop piled out onto the docks and added themselves to the disorganized mess of people there, trading a wave or two with the few people they knew from the other party who had been with them before they split apart, an event that felt like it had happened years ago. Most of them however, were complete strangers. No other denizens of the mushroom kingdom or world’s they’d crossed over with could be found save except for: [color=Aquamarine]”Hey, didn’t I throw you two off a stage a bunch of times last time there was a smash tournament on?”[/color] came a voice from down below Bowser’s level of sight, and when he did look down he found an imp of a woman looking up at him and his son thoughtfully. Midna had gone through quite a lot of changes. Physically, she was a bit taller and more muscular, had a human shade of sun kissed skin where it wasn’t the shade of night, had gained an orange flygon tail, lost a finger on each hand and now wore her hair in a set of twintails. Garb wise, her fused shadow helmet was gilded, and she had actual clothes on, namely an orange and red waist wrap over her lower half, an orange jacket with a big collar flanked by two blue shoulder pauldrons and finally a pair of green slippers and striped kneesocks. It was certainly a look, and it took the pair of royals quite a while to place her. Or rather, to be more exact, Minda had to pull out a shadow hand and ask [color=Aquamarine]”Remember this?”[/color] at which point both intoned [color=SpringGreen]”ohh[/color][color=FD0000]hhh”[/color] together [color=FD0000]”Yeah I remember now. Big hand, grabbing people and tossing em about”[/color] Bowser said as he walked through the memory, to which the princess replied [color=Aquamarine]”I mean there’s more to me than that but sure, yeah, that was me yes”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”It wasn’t a buncha times, it was a few”[/color] Jr then wheeled back to her initial statement to correct it, which got a snort of a laugh from Minda, followed by her snidely commenting [color=Aquamarine]”Yeah, sure, just a few”[/color] Before the prince could start arguing with the princess however, there came an explosive wailing sound as Peach shot off her gun into the air to get people’s attention, which certainly worked. Bowser, who had been on the firing end of that thing and knew it hurt quite a bit, had to stop himself from instinctively trying to dodge out the way, which would not have gone well in the crowd that was for sure. As for why she’d felt the need to spook everyone with her spook gun, well, apparently it was organized introductions time. The princess herself naturally went first. The troop of course already knew all about her, so it was only an introduction for Minda who gleaned just a little bit of kindredness from the whole ‘taking up the fight thing’ as she hadn’t exactly been a fighter when she’d first been banished from her kingdom. [color=Aquamarine]”So she’s the boss huh?”[/color] was what she actually commented however, because her inner analysis was just a bit too personal to share with strangers [color=FD0000]”No, I am!”[/color] Bowser retorted, being roused from an admiring stupor by this insinuation. The princess gave him and his crew a look, and saw no decent from his sub group except for a wiggling hand from the robed turtle woman with the broom which signaled merely ‘kind of’ which she took and ran with. [color=Aquamarine]”If you’re in charge why aren't you the one organizing this whole meet and greet then?”[/color] she needled him, to which the king retorted [color=FD0000]”Uh, well, because she’s… she’s the one who does the people stuff. Yeah. and I do the bossing!”[/color] in a floundering fashion, and when Midna retorted that [color=Aquamarine]”Sounds more like she’s the brains and your just the brawn to me”[/color] he swiftly pointed out that [color=FD0000]”Oh hey look the next person’s gonna talk”[/color] Midna rolled her eyes at that, but she shut up so that Band could play his piece without disruption. Well, mostly without it. Marie Korbel (the former skullgirl and now Bowser’s striker) inviting herself out for a moment to give the big guy a wave at the mention of her probably caused a little bit of disruption, as did Bowser saying that [color=FD0000]”Yeah, uh, we might wanna talk about that later”[/color]. Once he was done with the bit of backstory he showed off his musical ensemble, to which Rika commented [color=Aqua]”Wow, that’s a lot of guns”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, no Rika, those are instruments”[/color] Kamek tried to correct her, but she didn’t quite get it right away [color=Aqua]”Instruments of war?”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”I mean with how he uses them, they might as well be. Man hits like a runaway cart”[/color] Midna joked, though she found it a bit odd that this ‘Rika’ didn’t know what musical instruments were. Next up was Tora and Poppie, and well, they all knew the cheery robotic warrior and her lovable fuzzball of a creator quite well after all. Well except Rika, who wondered if Tora’d be able to tune up her gear even more, still dwelling on her twin defeats but having enough distance from them that she was on the hunt for ways to not repeat those failures rather than being deliberated by them. After that was the pun slinging Missfortune who had Minda groaning with her jokes. Still, she did have to ask the question that was on a lot of lips, which was: [color=Aquamarine]”What did she mean about splitting apart”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”She can shoot off her limbs and stuff with blood. And even if she goes splat she can get put back together. It is super gross, and super cool. Gross-cool. Grool? Coss? ”[/color] Jr informed her, and then went through a couple more combos of the words till Razputin stepped up on stage, though not before bombarding Nadia with a longer form of Midna’s question. The kid himself turned out to be a brain fixer upper, which was not what anyone in the troop had expected. [color=FD0000]”Urgh, no thanks. I’ve had more than enough people knocking around my think pan”[/color] Bowser loudly turned down the offer, then felt a bit bad about it and added [color=FD0000]”But, uh, thanks for the offer?”[/color] Jr had no such (spirit acquired) empathy and so his thoughts on the matter where [color=SpringGreen]”Doesn't sound like he’s very useful huh”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”Hey. Not true”[/color] Midna snapped at him, before defending one boy from the other [color=Aquamarine]”he’s a tough kid. Came all the way up this goddesses awful mountain with us, and then fought this giant worm boss with us too. So trust me, he can handle himself just fine”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Eh, whatever you say. Can’t be worse than Omori”[/color] Jr replied, getting an odd look from the princess that he ignored in favor of pointing a finger at Wonder Red as he took the stage and saying loudly [color=SpringGreen]”Wait is that an actual for real superhero?!”[/color] which it turned out that yes, yes he basically was, complete with a mask hiding his sacred identity and everything, which Jr thought was [color=SpringGreen]”So cool”[/color] None of the others had any idea about what either Jr or Red were on about. Now the next guy, well, he also said a lot of confusing things but among his introduction there was one point of interest, the Organization XIII [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Has, has no one told him that those hooded fellows are helping us?”[/color] Kamek asked quietly [color=Aquamarine]”Oh. Uh. I guess not? Wait so that lady from the desert is part of a whole group of people helping us out?”[/color] Minda said, just now realizing that she maybe should have been more inquisitive about the mysterious and somewhat helpful stranger. [color=FD0000]”Urgh,’helping’? One picked a fight, another kidnapped Linkle, and the third pointed us to the Maw of all places”[/color] Bowser said, all four of the Troop members shuddering at the memory of the place. After that it was the two rogues, Primrose and Theon. The dancers' dance had no effect on the Koopas, being either too old, too young, or too singularly infatuated with Peach to be swayed by any kind of feminine charms, so it was all down to Rika to feel kinda funny and for Midna to simply admire it's form. The princess also unexpectedly learned something from her short introduction, which was about the magic spreading skill she had. [color=Aquamarine]”Wait, she can do that? That never came up… goddesses, that plus dragon dance would be so strong”[/color] she thought, while Kamek had a similar thought about her size increases, if those could synergies that was. Magic could be a fickle thing indeed, so they’d only know if they got a chance to try. As for Theon, well, a thief was a thief even if you wrapped a ribbon around it and Kamek got everyone to check their pockets just in case anything had gone missing, which fortunately for Theon it had not. Finally Ace stepped up to the plate and talked some big game, and he certainly had the physics to back it up in Midna’s opinion. The other interesting thing, other than his odd pronunciations at some parts, was something Minda felt she should ask about: [color=Aquamarine]”Bad with magic? How’s he mean?”[/color] she asked, correctly singling out Kamek as the one who might know based on her looks [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Let us just say that he did not, ah, appreciate my using helpful magics on him. Very, ah, hmmm, skittish about it due to some personal experiences I think”[/color] the mage replied, not going into more detail on her assumption that the Maw was to blame [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Just avoid using any on him and you’ll be fine”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”Huh. Noted,”[/color] she replied, not that it would be much of an issue for her unless she needed to warp him around. At any rate, it was at this point Midna decided she’d had enough waiting around, and so when asked who was next she called out [color=Aquamarine]”Me, I’ll go!”[/color] and then took to the skies, floating over the heads of the crowd and then staying airborne above the introductory spot so people outside the front row could actually see her [color=Aquamarine]”I am Midna, princess of the twilight realm. No relation to this twilight town by the way,”[/color] much to her twin relief/disappointment [color=Aquamarine]”but if you ever come across a mirror of twilight, or my home itself, please, let me know. It would be nice to know that my people were alright”[/color] she requested before adding [color=Aquamarine]”But also you should probably avoid going there, unless you want to turn into a beast. My home’s atmosphere is not friendly to light worlders”[/color] as something of an afterthought [color=Aquamarine]”Now as for what I can do, well, I can store stuff in a pocket realm, so if you need anything big hauled around I can do that”[/color] she said, while pulling out the sun on a stick out of it and briefly charging it a bit of electrical power [color=Aquamarine]”and otherwise? Well, I can do all of this!”[/color] The princess thrust the sun of a stick up at a 45 degree angle to shoot lighting into the sky, while her other hand raised and sent singing black sand blasting in the opposite direction. Behind her two colossal wolves appeared from portals and howled, while the toothily grinning princess raised her shadow hand high, making a peace sign tipped by glowing purple claws while her vibrava also appeared, which few loops around the glowing orange lib rapidly and then once at the top shot a blast of dragon fire into the sky. Then it was over in a flash, beasts and weapons returned to her realm and the light show was over. [color=Aquamarine]”So, if you need something utterly destroyed, I’m your princess. I’ve crushed my usurper and his false god, and even saved time itself, so trust me, you’ll be in good hands if you happen to be working with me. Or, hand,”[/color] the hypocritical princess joked alongside a last showing of her shadow hand before concluding [color=Aquamarine]”and that’s a short run down of me. I know my show wasn’t as lovely as Prim’s but I hope it still left an impression”[/color] she shrugged while grinning a tad cheekily and then moved on. [color=Aquamarine]”now then… how about one of you lot come up next?”[/color] she pointed at the troop with whom she had been on and off talking before she had presented herself. While the majority of the troop where varying levels of impressed by the princess’ ‘show’: Kamek by the level of magic on display, the two youngsters just by the flashiness of the whole affair. Bowser was having none of that however, commenting [color=FD0000]”Bah, too many special effects, not enough style. Let me show you how it's done!”[/color] With that he grabbed the other three, and leapt up and over the crowd, forcing Midna to hasten her return to it before she got squashed by Bowser’s heavy landing. [color=FD0000]”Alright listen up,”[/color] the king declared after setting his people down on their feet [color=FD0000]”I am the baron of brilliance, the tyrant of terribleness, the lord of loudness: Bowser, the Koopa king! Leader of the Koopa troop. We’ve conquered time, we’ve conquered galaxies and I’ve been through this whole world colliding and collapsing thing like, at least twice already, and I’ve also stomped my way through a whole host of one shot chump villains who can't even step to the OG big bad boss. So what you're looking at here is experience, ya see, and that is why you should all listen to me and do as I say”[/color] the king declared, posing and flexing while he hyped himself up, before moving on to introducing his crew. [color=FD0000]”This here is my darling boy Bowser Junior, and despite his age, he can already go toe to toe with the baddest of the bad and goodest of the good”[/color] the king picked up his clown car riding son and balanced his vehicle on a flexed bicep. The boy was, interestingly enough, one of the few people who had zero spirit modifications, despite also being one of the longest term members at this point. Not out of a lack of trying, his piloting based fighting style just benefited more from equipment than powers. [color=SpringGreen]”Oh, uh, hey! Yeah I’m Bowser Junior. Or you can just call me Jr, most people do its simpler”[/color] the boy introduced himself, beginning a trend of the rest of not nearly living up to Bowser’s scenery chewing levels of self introduction. [color=SpringGreen]”I’m also a mechanic like Tora: I built this thing, uh, mostly by myself. Upgraded it a ton too”[/color] jr smacked the side of his clown car before adding [color=SpringGreen]”I’m also tough. And smart. And I… like video games?”[/color] floundering for a bit and then recovering and explaining [color=SpringGreen]”oh and I can paint these magic portals that you can use to go to places I’ve been. Gonna make one back to the base so if you need stuff from there, we can go get it, plus it means we don’t have to go through all that water to get to and from there and these trains”[/color] Finally, he did some sub introductions of his own by popping two pokeballs of a bandoleer crossing his chest and tossing them up to summon his two pokemon [color=SpringGreen]”and these are Mimi and Dazzle, say hi”[/color] he told em, which got a ‘kyu kyu’ from the metal jawed Mimikyu and a ‘Pop pop’ from his penguin hybrid Popplio as they both gave the crowd a wave while balancing on either side of Jr’s clown car. Bowser then took back over to point out Kamek [color=FD0000]”Next up we got Kamek, my royal advisor, who’s old. And wise. And really magical”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Did you have to start with ‘old’ sire?”[/color] the mage complained. In contrast to Jr, she’d gone through the most changes, first of which was that, well, she was a she now. She’d taken to it as smoothly as Dante had, which showed just how far the complete lack of dysphoria the fusion system caused could go. As did the fact that she was mostly fine with the results of fusing with two humanoids, and one fish thing, which had left her as a short lizard girl with green amphibian flesh, white hair, cat ears and a tail that was across between a cat’s and a fish’s. This meant that she had quite the busy and eclectic appearance, but the mage felt that being younger as a result of this more than made up for any questionable fashion sense. [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well anyway, yes hello, I am Kamek. I have an assortment of supportive magics at my disposal, from healing to empowering, and quite a host of magical minions too. I also consider myself quite knowledgeable, related to which, you,”[/color] she pointed her broom handle at Roxas [color=DeepSkyBlue]”and I should have a discussion about this Organization XIII so I can corroborate what the Master of Master told me about them and what we’ve experienced regarding their questionable assistance so far”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Now then, what else? Well if we are doing interests as well I quite like puzzles and minigames, they used to call me the Game Master back in the day you know, as well as a good book from time to time, and a bit of tidying up too… hmm”[/color] she said, before trailing off while palming her chin and then snapping her fingers [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, I almost forgot”[/color] she said, before pulling an [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/bugsnax/images/a/af/Snaktivator.png]odd device[/url] out of her pocket and showing it off [color=DeepSkyBlue]”This is the Snaktivator. It is a device that lets you localize the changes a fusion makes to specific body parts. His majesty is a good example of this”[/color] she gestured to the king, or more specifically, his back [color=DeepSkyBlue]”as you can see, all of Lord Bowser’s transformations have been, mostly, restricted to his shell, leaving the rest of his body more or less as it was. Combined this with Peach’s ability to remove spirits, and we’ll be able to give anyone who wants one a makeover before we spit up again”[/color] [color=FD0000]”You done?”[/color] Bowser asked after that, to which the mage replied [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, sorry sire, was I boring you?”[/color] [color=FD0000]”Eh”[/color] he shrugged in response to the boring part, before explaining [color=FD0000]”More that you were holding up the introduction of our news member: Rika, the one woman cannon barrage!”[/color] with the energy of an announcer chewing on the microphone. [color=Aqua]”Hi, that’s me. Um, I’ve only been a person for about… three days? So I don't have any interesting back story or anything. I mean I was part of the abyssal fleet before Kamek freed me from Galeem and the fleet itself at the same time, and since then I’ve just kinda been learning the ropes. Seeing new things. Meeting new people. It’s been a bit scary at times, but also fun other times”[/color] Rika said about herself [color=Aqua]”and so I’m looking forwards to getting to know more new people, and see more new things, oh and eat more new food too. Definitely looking forwards to this picnic thing”[/color] [color=Aqua]”Oh and fighting wise, I’ve got these two big guns”[/color] she raised her gauntlets, [color=Aqua]”and some smaller ones down there, and some choppy hull blades”[/color] she vaguely gestured down to those as well [color=Aqua]”so I guess the thing about being a cannon barrage is right, especially after I warm up a bit and engage in in an all out assault, then the shells really get flying. Oh, but, don’t worry. I’ve never hit anyone friendly, not even once.”[/color] [color=Aqua]”I’ve also got torpedoes and stuff, but I’m kinda running low on those… hey, Blazermate, could you have that hardhat guy build a dispenser at some point? I need to restock on, well, everything”[/color] she called over to the bot, before finishing up [color=Aqua]”and so yeah, um, nice to meet you all!”[/color] [color=FD0000]”and that’s a wrap. Koopa troop, let’s roll out and make way for whoever's next”[/color] the king commanded once Rika had said her part, and with that, the king stomped back into the crowd, followed by his loyal friends and/or family. Midna didn’t really know what to think about that if she was being fair. Bowser’s well, everything, had been a bit much, and he sure had an ego, but how he acted as a hype man for his crew was actually kinda endearing in a corny way. His kid was kinda cute, and that teleportation paint sounded useful, ment she didn’t have to worry so much about setting up her own network. Rika being only 3 days old, in a way, certainly explained a lot about the little she had observed about the girl, and it also had all sorts of interesting implications. The friend hearts could, it seemed, do more than just bring people to their senses and could, in some capacity, also grant people senses they hadn’t had in the first place. Kamek was somewhat interesting. Healing was certainly something they had lacked that could have been useful in the desert, and overall she seemed like a decent woman and, maybe, the only sane head in the self-titled Troop. What really interested her however was that Snaktivator. [color=Aquamarine]”Hey, nice intro”[/color] she said, brushing past Bowser in-order to talk to his advisor, the princess pulling out the fiery Harbinger Spirit of the twilight realm and holding it up while asking [color=Aquamarine]”Do you think i could use that fusion controlling device with this? Guy was, let’s say, pretty unstable, so I was hoping maybe by keeping the changes away from my head I could avoid any mental impacts?”[/color] [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, well, I can't quite guarantee that there won't be... Consequences,”[/color] she said ominously, before lightening up [color=DeepSkyBlue]”but, it could be worth a shot. Where are you thinking?”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”Oh. Hmm. Well he was really tough so maybe just the chest to protect all the organs? And the arms. For strength?”[/color] [color=FD0000]”Skipping leg day huh?”[/color] Bowser joked [color=Aquamarine]”Legs too would be too much, I think”[/color] [color=FD0000]”Suit yourself”[/color] the king replied with a shrug [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well then, let's see about this shall we. If you're ready?”[/color] Kamek prompted, not wanting to be at this for so long that they interrupted the next introduction [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Incidentally, you might, ironically, want to absorb it into your head, as that seems to give more passive enhancements rather than abilities, so if you want just toughness, that might be the way to go. We can always have peach remove it if it doesn’t work out”[/color] [color=Aquamarine]”Sounds good, and yeah, now that you mentioned it, I think I've found the same. Alright let’s try it!”[/color] Midna said, before foreheading the spirit, and then Kamek got to work restricting its area of effect to just her torso and arms.