[center][h1]Assassination classroom[/h1]
Wordcount: 4147 (+5)[/center]

After the meeting was over, Kamek had taken the advice of not trying to fly in the rain, and had thus retracted his drake offer. Instead he himself had simply teleported back down to the base of the tower in a puff of smoke and met back up with Jr and Rika. After having a lovely break and a snack of brie, Bowser caught up with them. 

After taking a little time to plan and crush some spirits, the troop split up again, but in different groups from the ones they had been in before. 

As such, while Bowser and Rika headed off to bring their noise to lay siege to Shambhala, he was going to take Jr for the school for the first time in the boy’s life.   

“Mind if I tag along?” Jesse asked, one hand in her pocket. 

[color=SpringGreen]”Huh? Oh. Sure thing”[/color] Jr replied for the pair of them, before saying [color=SpringGreen]”Jesse, right?”[/color]

“Yes.” She said with a nod. 

[color=SpringGreen]”Cool, welcome aboard”[/color] he replied, and that was that sorted.

The school they headed to was a two story affair, surrounded in autumnal trees, well maintained lawns, white picket fences and plentiful planters for growing flowers. With the almost comically enormous umbrella stretched out over the whole schoolyard like a big top tent to keep the rain off, the whole thing looked remarkably picturesque.

Prince and (grounded) cave drake riding mage pulled up under a tree in an ultimately fruitless attempt to avoid getting even more wet while they took stock of the situation. Or rather, Kamek sat under the tree, while Jr rolled his clown kart under an outstretched wing of the drake which acted as excellent cover for him, and made him a bit trickier to spot thanks to its cave camouflage.

“So…do we just walk in?” Jesse asked. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”We could try, but I’m not sure if it is even open. There don’t seem to be any classes in attendance as far as I can see”[/color] Kamek hypothesized while peering through the rain, before realizing that [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Which is probably a good thing now that I consider it”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”Guess I won’t have to pretend to go to school then I guess?”[/color] before wondering out loud [color=SpringGreen]”But if there’s no other kids, then will the teacher’s be there?”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, well, that might be a problem. I suppose there’s only one way to find out?”[/color] he resolved, before spurring his paradoxically sneaky steed forwards to go try and try the door. 

Before he got out of earshot however, he glanced back and suggested [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh, and, if anyone asks, we are simply seeking to take a look at the school with a mind to have Junior enroll? It might by us a few moments at the very least”[/color] 

Jesse nodded. [i]What would that make me? The baby sitter? The mother? Not sure I buy the family resemblance. Family friend, then?[/i]

They found the front door unlocked, and there were lights on inside. Though the school looked empty from a cursory look at the exterior and by all accounts there should be no students here with it being the weekend and all, a few voices could be heard from down the hallway inside. A sudden feeling of intrusion gnawed at the Seekers as they stepped inside. There could be no doubt about it; at least one class was in session. A bulletin board near the entrance explained why: a hand-drawn poster that depicted a ray of light shining down on the facility read [i]Welcome to Sunday School![/i] At the very least they wouldn’t have to worry about their target’s absence, but in exchange the interference of innocent schoolchildren in the heroes’ murderous scheme suddenly seemed less like an outside chance and more like a problematic guarantee.

“All right, well.” Jesse began with a grim laugh. “Obviously we’re not gonna seal the deal in here. Let’s see if we can find him and then follow him to wherever he does his ‘Dark Bishop’ stuff.” She whispered that last part. “Or maybe try to draw him out of his disguise. We have to be sure we’ve got this figured out before we make any moves.” She said. 

With a plan in mind for what excuse to offer if they bumped into someone, the Seekers proceeded through the school hallways. Every other wall seemed to feature the kids’ latest art projects, from hand turkeys to dream catchers to papercraft to crayon self-portraits, made all the more vivid and varied by the different kinds of monsters that constituted the student body here. More advanced classes sported tri-fold presentations and experiments like the classic baking soda volcano. The voices spurred them onward to their less-than-kid-friendly task, however, and eventually the team found the classroom they’d been looking for.

Inside, a gathering of [url=https://i.imgur.com/lbsai9X.png]nine students[/url] were receiving instruction in the magical arts from a [url=https://i.imgur.com/iRtsp9H.png]kindly-looking old cleric[/url]. He stood at about 5’9” with a slight stoop, a wrinkled face, and off-white robes. A few potted [url=https://i.imgur.com/JDN4yAz.png]sunflowers[/url] stood by the windows for spell practice, and the kids’ current assignment seemed to be taking turns roughing the flowers up -either with offensive magic or, in the case of the purple dinosaur, punching them in the face- so that the clerics-in-training could heal them. In the course of overseeing this task, the instructor continuously took one student or another aside to provide constructive criticism on their restoration magic, or chide them for overzealousness when it came to beating up the flowers. 

His creased face broke out into a smile as the reindeer girl managed to use her staff to recover one sunflower to full health from death’s door. “Incredible, Noelle!” he praised her. “It may not be exciting, but White Magic is a noble calling. Learn from her example, everyone!”

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh dear”[/color] Kamek muttered as their fears were confirmed, before beckoning them to move into another class room to avoid being in earshot.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well then, looks like we’ll need to think about those plans of yours,”[/color] the mage said to the director, with which Jr agreed, [color=SpringGreen]”Yeaaaaah, I’d rather not be able to be called a hippo-rat by Omari”[/color] mispronouncing hypocrite in the process.

The boy did not want to murder some other kid’s beloved teacher in-front of them, that was for sure. [color=SpringGreen]”Though I guess maybe we could kidnap him instead? Or teacher-nap him? That’d be fine”[/color] he then suggested, apparently still drawing a fairly high line for what was acceptable for him when it came to the level of trauma he was ok to inflict. Then again that kind of thing was entirely on brand for the Troop.

“We can’t risk starting a fight here, period.” Jesse said. “Too many civilians. We should also want to make sure this guy is actually working for the Consuls, on the off-chance IGV is somehow deceiving us.” Jesse said. “His real name is Solon, right? The Dark Bishop.” 

She nodded her head into the classroom. “You two can still go in there and talk to him. He shouldn’t see me so he doesn’t recognize me when we’re following him.” She says. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I suppose we could, hmmm”[/color] Kamek tapped his beak thinking it over, until jr declared [color=SpringGreen]”I have an idea”[/color]

A few moments after that, the prince poked his head through the door, got an actual look at what the sunday school entailed, and with genuine enthusiasm said [color=SpringGreen]”Wait, they teach you to beat stuff up at schools? I thought it was math and stuff”[/color] before confidently strolling in on foot (having just brought his paintbrush and left everything else shrunk down in Kamek’s pockets for a small attempt at subtly and blending in) and declaring [color=SpringGreen]”I wanna try”[/color]

A moment after that Kamek hurried in after him, calling out [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Young master wait!”[/color] with actual genuine alarm because the prince had barely explained the plan before he set it in motion, and then, improvising, gave a little head bob to the teacher and tried to explain [color=DeepSkyBlue]”My most profuse apologies for the intrusion and interruption, we were simply looking around, and well the door was open and, ah, well,”[/color] before coughing into his fist to buy his brain a little time before explaining that [color=DeepSkyBlue]”We were thinking of enrolling, you see. Enrolling Junior that is, and simply wanted to see if the place was suitable. Again, my apologies for intruding”[/color]

Junior’s sudden entrance quickly got the attention of both students and teacher, the latter of whom seemed especially taken by surprise, although the mention of a desire to join in piqued his interest. “Oh? And who might you…”

At that point Kamek arrived to try and smooth the situation over. Although the Koopas’ appearance did disturb the class a little, Tomas did not look unduly upset. “Ah, a new student. What a rare treat,” he replied. Looking over at the other children, he gave a nod of his head. “Please, continue. Won’t be but a moment.” The cleric approached the duo of Koopas, leaning on his cane as he walked. “During the school week we do teach conventional subjects, but on the weekend I do offer an extracurricular magic course. For those gifted, and…” His gaze briefly flitted toward Susie. “Those who could benefit from some structure.” After a second his attention returned to Junior. “Now, I’m not in charge of enrollment here, but I see you already have a catalyst, young one. It would be a shame to send you away empty-handed. Would you like to demonstrate a few spells for the class?”

[color=SpringGreen]”Oh, would I ever”[/color] the prince replied, not one to miss an opportunity to show off. He approached the sunflowers, twirling his paintbrush above his head skillfully, before bringing the but down to the ground and declaring [color=SpringGreen]”watch and learn a master caster”[/color] despite the fact that he had been a white mage for all of a day at most.

As the prince started out with [color=SpringGreen]”Presence of mind!”[/color] to boost his casting speed, before he opened up with a circular aoe of restoring [color=SpringGreen]”Medica!”[/color] on all the plants, and then undid all the healing he had just done with a similarly aoe [color=SpringGreen]”Holy!”[/color] blast, Kamek decided to see if he could get a useful detail or two from the man.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”You must be very passionate, putting in sundays as well as your regular work week”[/color] he noted, though he also noted mentally that teaching kids skills useful combat was maybe not the most goody two shoes of activities (and he would know), before asking about how long the lessons where in a slightly round about way [color=DeepSkyBlue]”how much more of your time do you take out of your weekend to do these?”[/color]

With his eyes on Junior’s magic lightshow, Tomas took his time to respond. “Oh, it varies. Depends on who comes, who needs help, and how badly. I like to keep myself busy. I tried retirement not so long ago, but I just didn’t know what to do with myself.”

The mage found himself a little annoyed at how he’d failed to get the info he wanted, although honestly he thought, he should maybe just have asked. Despite this, he found himself talking casually with the man he was ostensibly here to kill.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh, I know what you mean, somewhat. Sometimes I think i should take a step back from it all, but, well, when people need you …”[/color] he didn’t finish the sentence, and instead leaned against a desk as he watched the prince run through the rest of his mana pool casting [color=SpringGreen]”Repose”[/color] to put an unfortunate flower to sleep, then ignited it with a fireball, only to put the fire out with [color=SpringGreen]”Esuna”[/color] and finish with a [color=SpringGreen]”Cure”[/color] to put it back up to full health again.

He wisely decided against damaging the school with stone, or burning the long cool down Benediction for the demonstration, and instead simply declared himself [color=SpringGreen]”Done!”[/color] before turning away and asking [color=SpringGreen]”Now how do you like that, huh?”[/color]

Tomas narrowed his eyes just a touch as the young prince finished his spellcasting. While Junior probably expected applause from one and all for his demonstration, the other students mostly regarded him with a mixture of annoyance, resignation, or jealousy. To them, Junior’s vast and varied array of spells -not to mention the showmanship with which he exhibited them- seemed like showboating. After a moment, Tomas put his hands together in a soft gold clap. “Impressive, young man. But…well, this is something of an introductory course. If you’re already well-acquainted with the basics, you’d be better off looking elsewhere.”

[color=SpringGreen]”Yeah, I am pretty good”[/color] the 100% showboating boy agreed with a flex, while Kamek looked a little sad on his behalf. Perhaps however, the mage thought, in this instance the boy’s poor friend making skills was a boon, considering what they needed to do to the other children’s teacher.

That said, so far this had not given them much of an angle on how to do that, and so he tried a more simple and direct approach, by asking  [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Might I ask when you will finish teaching for today? I’d like to take the opportunity to talk to you a bit to learn more about the school, but obviously don’t want to intrude any more on your time with your students than we already have. If you would be free after, that is”[/color] 

“Hmm…” Tomas frowned. “I cannot say for certain. You should speak to Principal Pulsating Mass. On a school day, when it’s here. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” With the Seekers’ efforts still exactly where they started at outset, the cleric went to return to his students.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Unfortunate”[/color] 

Jesse had been listening in, trying not to grimace too hard from where she was concealing herself outside the classroom. 

[i]Things are not going well. What the hell does he mean, ‘cannot say for certain’? Does he not know the schedule? That doesn’t make any sense.[/i] She said, and the pattern with her mind shimmered.

Regardless, Junior and Kamek were still in there. She wasn’t going to barge in unless she needed too. 

She would not need to regardless, as the pair of them exited the room a few moments later, having gotten themselves into a situation where it would be rather awkward, not to mention increasingly suspicious to remain.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well, that did not work out particularly well”[/color] the mage admitted once they regrouped out of sight and earshot

[color=SpringGreen]”Hey, I did my part distracting the other kids, you just couldn't pull your weight”[/color] jr insisted, as if he had not been mostly focused on showing off in the heat of the moment.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”In my defense, he was rather evasive, though perhaps I pressed him poorly. I’ll admit, subterfuge is not one of my areas of expertise”[/color] the mage had to confess as he began to resize Jr’s gear, as, one way or the other, the moment for espionage was most likely over.

“It’s fine.” Jesse said, nodding over to a schedule on a poster board on the school wall. It indicated Sunday School wouldn’t end until after the raid. “We have to find a way to get him out of there anyway.”

“If he really is some Dark Bishop working for Galeem, he probably doesn’t actually care about those kids anyway. Maybe we can use that. There’s gotta be a way to isolate him.” Jesse said. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Yes, it would be best to not worry about him using them as hostages or something of the sort, that is for sure”[/color] Kamek agreed, before he sat down and they began to think it over.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Maybe if we … no”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”How about .. nah”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”But we could … no not that either”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”Or … hmmmm … nope”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Perhaps we could … or perhaps not”[/color]

Jesse sat there, looking between the both of them start and stop their sentences before saying anything. She started playing along. “But what if we…no…”

“We could consider doing…nevermind.” She said. 

The three of them went back and forth for a bit, before Jr looked up, and then pointed to a speaker sitting in the corner of the room they were in and asked [color=SpringGreen]”Hey wait, is that some kind of speaker system? Why do they have those? Do they play music over classes or something like it’s a restaurant?”[/color] 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I think it’s some kind of … intercom system?”[/color] Kamek suggested, but it was something of a guess

[color=SpringGreen]”Ohhhh”[/color] Jr replied as he got it, before he went [color=SpringGreen]”Ohhhh”[/color]  again, as he had an idea.

A couple of minutes later, and after a bit of prep work laying the battlefield, the intercom system suddenly blared to life and the sound of a clearing throat could be heard before Jr, at max volume, said [color=SpringGreen]”I’ve come to make an announcement”[/color] via every speaker in the school. THen he took taking one he’d ripped off the walls and pressed it up against the microphone in the principal's office, starting an audio feedback loop that he mucked around with the system’s setting specifically to make as terrible as possible, flooding the school with a high pitched screech backed by riotous evil laughter. 

Though Junior’s announcement initially met with confusion from the school’s few occupants, the God-awful cacophony quickly drove the entire student body right out of the nearest windows, their hands clamped down over their ears in a desperate effort to block out the ear-splitting agony. Meanwhile, Tomas moved about as fast as an old man in robes possibly could toward the principle’s office, the veins on his forehead bulging in anger. Upon reaching his destination he spotted Junior just as expected, and with his face a mask of rage shouted, “What is the meaning of this!” only to be completely drowned out by the din. He clenched his cane in a white-knuckle grip, raising it above his head as if to throw it, but managed to control himself and thrust it back down against the ground. Fit to be tied, he hobbled toward the Koopa Prince to bodily remove him from the intercom system.

The prince himself was seemingly lounging in the principal's chair grinning through its open door at the old man as he approached, holding the microphone in one hand and the speaker in the other. Just as he got to the open door, however, the boy suddenly tossed the two parts of his audio assault aside, and the world was filled with a deafening silence, one more loud than any signal could ever be.

In response to that signal, plans went into action. From the nearby classroom burst a flurry of dry bones and toadies hauling furniture from within with which they moved to form barricades to block any way back. Along with them were wisps, who half phased into the defenses, ready to leap out and shockingly stun any who approached.

If it proved necessary anyway, because the prince started out by snatching up his staff off of the desk and calling out [color=SpringGreen]”Repose”[/color] to try and give the old man some rest after all the strain he’d put him through. At the same time, Kamek, riding atop a (shrunken down a bit) [url=https://64.media.tumblr.com/48a47adb4bc50f3138a28d32c6b302ec/tumblr_inline_pb02nfIHdf1qkvi0e_540.gif]dread spider[/url] which lunged towards the old man to try and encase him in webbing.

The flurry of activity took Tomas completely by surprise, shocking him through the sheer volume of critters that swarmed out from hiding to assail him. “W-what the!?” Caught off-guard, he did not resist the sleep spell, and his muscles went slack as he sagged down to his knees. Kamek's dread spider took great care not to awaken him as it quickly enveloped the priest in a thick coating of spider silk. In a matter of moments Tomas lay snoozing inside a cocoon the size of a bodybag, though oxygen deprivation would not permit him a gentle rest for long.

Jesse emerged from her hiding spot outside the principal’s office and waited outside the door for a fight to start. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Wait, that worked?”[/color] Kamek asked as he looked down at the web wrapped bundle 

“Did it work?” Jesse asked, peeking in.

[color=SpringGreen]”Of course it worked!”[/color] Jr inisisted

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I suppose the first step generally does”[/color] Kamek agreed, before saying [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Now for part 2.”[/color] Before requesting [color=DeepSkyBlue]”if you would assist me in shrinking down our problem Jesse?”[/color] as he leveled his wand at the tied up sleeper to give him a double dose of tecno and magical size reduction.

Jesse walked into the room. “Well. Let’s hope we got our man.” She produced the Tool Gun and it’s light pings struck Tomas. Combined with magic, and with no energy barrier of any kind, it was only a matter of moments until he was the size of an action figure.

The coil of webbing fell away, leaving behind the tiny man, who jr stepped in, picked up, and attempted to re-secure with some stollen rubber bands from a stationary drawer, mainly by binding his arms behind his back.

Jesse grabbed an enlarged glass salt shaker from behind the desk they had stolen from the teacher’s lounge and thunked it down on top of the baddie like he was a spider in the house. Then she scooped Tomas up and screwed the lid on. Then she switched it to Weld and connected the lid and the shaker together. She worked as fast as she could, because to be honest, she still wasn’t sure about the limits of the Tool Gun’s power. If he was strong enough to somehow break free of it’s deflating influence, they’d be in a fight after all. 

When the teacher awoke, he was baffled to find himself shrunken, bound, and imprisoned through arcane means, left basically helpless in what might very well be the worst circumstances imaginable. His shock quickly gave way to anger and indignation though, and without a word he clammed up, clenching his jaw and tightening his wrinkly face into a resolute scowl.

Jr leaned in to get a closer look at the grumpy little man, and to have a laugh at his expense [color=SpringGreen]”Ah, look at you, so tiny! Like a super ugly action figure”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Well, this has worked spectacularly I must say, not that there was any doubt”[/color] Kamek said, happy enough with the outcome to gloat a bit as well, before getting back to business [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Now then, we should quickly decide who holds onto our little captive, and then be off before any of the children can raise the alarm about all this”[/color] 

As he made that suggestion he began to rapidly cut the mana supplies to his minions that had been intended to prevent an escape, and instead switched to creating additional cave drake mounts to help their egress be as sneaky as possible. 

Jesse regarded their opponent in the jar she held in her hands. He wasn’t panicking, so, he wasn’t much of an actor. “You’re our prisoner now, Solon.” She explained, in case it wasn’t obvious. He adamantly refused to humor his captors.

“Maybe we could take him to you-know-who?” She said, referring to their source of intel, IGV. “As for an exit. We can just find a window and get out with No Collide.” She said, doing a quick scan of the room and the hallway outside it for any exterior windows, a suggestion that got two nods of agreement from the Koopas.

A few moments later and they were off, vanishing through a wall, out from under the tarp and then riding through the rain soaked streets and leaving the school behind with only a single glowing mote watching over it remaining occupants.