[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img]
[h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2]
[b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,348 (+3) 
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////// (97/140)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 13 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////// (115/130)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 12 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////// (94/120)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 8 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]// (78/80)
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] The Under - Mercy Dreams
[hider=warp locations]
[s]
Central hub: Smash City Alcamoth
Accessible locations:
Peach’s castle
Limsa Lominscuttle Town
Lumbridge
Twilight Town
Kosm’s Beach
[/s]
[/hider]
[/center]

After exiting the marsh room and reporting in, the troop started to head down to catch up with the others. They didn’t end up running into any of the lanturn carriers fortunately, but they still managed to get held up from reaching the bottom of the prison when they ended up passing by a rather unusual door.

[color=FD0000]”Gah! Come on Galeem, it's not that hard to stick to one style!”[/color] Bowser complained as he gestured with both claws at a futuristic looking automatic door that had slid open as they passed by it 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I’m not so sure, it looks positively ancient in there”[/color] Kamek replied as he peered inside, both with his own eyes and with a wisp he’d sent to scout through the wall.

[color=SpringGreen]”Even older than you?”[/color] Jr joked, which got a groan of complaint from Kamek, at which point Rika had already waltzed into the room to take a look herself, forcing the rest of them to scramble to catch up. Fortunately, the princess didn’t prompt a massive battle with her recklessness this time. 

Instead when the last of them caught up with her they found the ship girl poking a rotten, desiccated and also headless corpse with the butt of her spear, and wondering aloud [color=Aqua]”Why are there zombies just laying about here? Are they sleeping”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, I think those are just, well, dead bodies. I believe some of the others mentioned running into these as well”[/color] Kamek explained softly, and then when Rika, who was functionally native to the world of light, looked confused, clarified [color=DeepSkyBlue]”They must have been like this before Galeem consumed this place, which is why they haven't turned into spirits, as that is something they themselves introduced as a feature of reality”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”Oh”[/color] Rika replied, as she ceased her prodding, before thinking for a moment and then declaring [color=Aqua]”That’s weird”[/color] 

Kamek wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, but with the ship girl’s worries about them getting attacked put to rest, they could all take a look around the room.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/eQaXZBC.png[/img]

The dark round room featured a fair amount of futuristic looking alien technology, most notably being the pods lining the room, inside some of which the headless bodies Rika had been poking one of could be found. Despite this advance tech, Kamek’s initial analysis that it was old also turned out to be 100% correct, given the layer of dust that coated everything (at least until Bowser sneezed and sent a bunch of it blowing everywhere) as well as the fact that there were stalactites hanging from the artificial ceiling.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”This must have been abandoned for an eternity before Galeem scooped it up”[/color] Kamek guessed, based on the fact that [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Stalactites only grow a few cm in a thousand years you see, at least if I remember rightly”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”You’d think it’d stink less after all that time, sheesh”[/color] Jr complained through a nose pinched shut by an iron clothes peg he’d made, before grumbling and producing 3 more of those as a result of drawing attention to his innovation.

The source of the stink turned out to be the plentiful amounts of black goop slicked around the place, that others might have recognised as the stench of death, but which the troop just thought smelled bad in general. They avoided it as they explored the chamber, which resulted in Rika getting ahead of everyone again as she grappled or just sailed over the slime. In doing so she found herself up a flight of stairs, and before a glass window looking into a chamber filled with green fog.

A small device of some kind sat in front of it, one that produced static out of a speaker when its singular button was pressed. This latest piece of advanced machinery inside this clearly ancient place might have been existentially terrifying to some human or other, but Rika didn't know any better, while for the Koopas it was a whole lot of nothing burger. Aliens and ancient advanced (admittedly magically advanced) civilizations were nothing new to them after all. As such they were far more interested in what was on the other side of the glass than wondering about how in the world they place they where in could be in the first place.

[color=SpringGreen]”Maybe there’s keys in there? Or at least something useful?”[/color] Jr theorized, before complaining that [color=SpringGreen]”This place has been a dump so far”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Or it could be deadly poison”[/color] Kamek warned, pointing out the simple fact that [color=DeepSkyBlue]”The gas is, after all, green”[/color] 

[color=SpringGreen]”But it isn’t purple, so it's probably just stinky, and thanks to me, we’re all protected against that!”[/color] Jr countered, flicking the clothespin he was wearing while taking credit for supplying the troop with stretch protection despite having had to be talked into giving it out in the first place.

Either way, that turned out to be enough of an argument for both Bowser and Rika to get right on down to business. Fists were wound back, and then, in tandem, swung forward, kinetic strike module and vault breaker punches landing simultaneously.

This only slightly cracked the glass  

[color=FD0000]”Wow. That’s tough”[/color] Bowser said as he pulled his hand back and shook it, before deciding that the durability must mean that [color=FD0000]”There’s definitely something important in there if they want to keep us out that bad”[/color] before both he and Rika got right back to punching the glass.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Or something they want to keep in”[/color] Kamek worried, but as jr pointed out [color=SpringGreen]”Eh, the cells outside didn’t budge at all. So if there is something in there it's probably weaker than the crazy people in there”[/color]

As it turned out jr had been right not to be worried, but not for the reasons stated. Instead when the glass was smashed open after several consecutive synchronous punches for Bowser and Rika, and the gas spilled harmlessly out, they found no prisoner inside. They did, however, find a set of [url=https://imgur.com/a/lXl80zU]armor[/url] that might have belonged to one. Or rather prison clothes, given the manacle and straight jacket components.

Rika, again, was first into the room, and, also as a result, also the one who ended up picking up the outfit. [color=Aqua]”Ooo, I think I just got a bit stronger from holding this”[/color] she noted, before asking [color=Aqua]”Think I should put it on? It's not like it’ll fit any of you I mean”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, perhaps not”[/color] Kamek replied, but not for any of the obvious reasons inherent with the outfit itself, but instead because [color=DeepSkyBlue]”that thing just fell out of it when you picked it up”[/color] 

That thing in question was an absolutely horrible looking [url=https://i.imgur.com/MCOMSZZ.png]blob of biomater atop a double helix like stem[/url] which caused Rika to gag as she backed up from the solidified bile 

[color=SpringGreen]”That… is disgusting”[/color] Jr stated the obvious, before putting words to a feeling they all had but had no idea why they had it, which was [color=SpringGreen]”So why in the world do I wanna take it with us?!?!”[/color]

Indeed, they seemed to know that leaving it behind was something they would regret, but hadn’t the faintest idea why. After a few moments of confused discussion on the topic, Jr ended up creating an iron box, into which the bile was awkwardly poked via more iron, and then promptly welded inside of.

With the source of the disgust stored for unsafe keeping, attention returned to the outfit Rika was carrying, her feelings on which she made quite clear [color=Aqua]”No way I am wearing this now. Plus I guess it was never gonna make good armor anyway it's barely protecting anything. Maybe I can just kinda, carry it?”[/color] 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I could always shrink it down to charm size”[/color] Kamek offered, but Jr had a simpler solution, which was [color=SpringGreen]”We could always just melt it down in that crucible thing Sectonia has?”[/color] 

That got all around agreement, and so after they confirmed this was indeed all there was of value in the chamber, they set out to track down the queen and make use of one of her very useful items once again.