[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img]
[h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2]
[b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,436 (+3 for J and R) (+5 for B and K) 
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (184/140)  (+1 bonus pending)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (67/140)  (+1 bonus pending)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 13 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (64/130)  (+1 bonus pending)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]/////// (83/90)  (+1 bonus pending)
[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]

Rika and Jr ended up going with Theon rather than hanging around to listen to whatever Asgor was going to go on about. Kamek would no doubt fill them in on it later, and both of them felt like their time could be better spent hanging around town to see if there was anything fun to do/get while they waited. Like milkshakes. Or toys. Or cool weapons.

To get to the city all they needed to do was go down the pipe near the base of the tree, which should have been a non issue. Except when Jr stepped on it, and remembered that it came out at the bottom of a pool of water, he felt a sudden and unexpected spike of fear.

[color=SpringGreen]”Huh what?”[/color] the prince said as he found himself pausing before stepping in, not anywhere close paralyzed by fear, but certainly slowed enough that had to stop anyway out of confusion as to why he was feeling that way. [color=SpringGreen]”Why am I…. What is the… oh come on Omori are you scared of water too!?”[/color]

That was the only explanation. It certainly couldn't have been Undyne he inherited this fear from, that would have been silly, seeing as she was a fish.  

As he was seething on top of the pipe, the prince actively glowing red with an aura of anger, he was actively stopping anyone else from going down it, which was a touch of a problem, and one that caused Rika, next in line, to ask [color=Aqua]”You ok? Are we not going?”[/color] 

[color=SpringGreen]”I’m fine I’m just going to prove a point real quick”[/color] Jr growled in response as he hopped off of the pipe and matched down to the edge of the water that surrounded the sandbank they were on. Then he took a casual step into it without any concern. [color=SpringGreen]”See! This is fine! Stop being such a wuss”[/color] he told himself, even if he was phrasing his ire like Omori was here in spirit and it was all his fault. 

He was a little confused as to why he hadn’t felt anything at all from that little dip however, and so took another step into the water. Then another and another till he was up to his neck, and then finally when he moved to move his head under the water, and specifically his mouth and nose, that was when the fear came back, and his mind conjured unbidden images of the water flowing into those orifices.

He stood there for a moment, then violently dunked his head under the water and then came back up and declared [color=SpringGreen]”I’m in control here Omori, not you. Me!”[/color] 

He then glanced up to find Rika floating on the water’s surface next to him, looking down at him with a mix of confusion and concern. Mostly confusion. No one had ever thought to tell her what a phobia was after all.

[color=SpringGreen]”What? I’m good! Omori was just scared of drowning or something, but I’m better than that!”[/color] jr insisted as he stomped back on to dry land, water dripping off of him.

[color=Aqua]”Oh. Well. I mean. Drowning is bad so why wouldn’t you be afraid of it?”[/color] she asked as a result of the prior mentioned ignorance. 

[color=SpringGreen]”I mean he must have been, like, super scared of it. Drowningphobic or something. Freaking out if it ever even seemed like it was going to happen, which’d just make stuff worse”[/color] Jr replied, finding himself trying to fill in a gap he wasn’t exactly sure how it worked either. He just hadn’t been paying attention whenever a lot of things were explained to him, making him rather the poor teacher for this kind of thing.

[color=Aqua]”Huh. Ok. So. Would you need me to carry you up through the water at the other end of the pipe or…?”[/color] she asked, but jr shot the idea down, biting back that [color=SpringGreen]”I’m fine! I’m fine. I can do this. I’m tough, not some stupid kid like him”[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Oh… Oh wait, can’t you just turn into Undyne so you straight up can’t drown?”[/color] she asked, an idea which gave him pause, and snapped him out of his angry state. The prince raised a finger, lowered, it raised it and then finally said [color=SpringGreen]”No, because I [i]can[/i] do this, she’s in heavy armor she she can’t swim and also the town would probably freak out about their guard captain coming back from the dead or going un-missing and that would just be this whole thing we’d have to deal with”[/color]

Rika gave a sad little [color=Aqua]”Oh…”[/color] at her idea being shot down, and Jr was still in a bit too much of a mood to tell her how it was a good idea in general.

At that point they were back at the pipe. There, Jr took a deep breath, then let it out, before stepping up onto it and finally, after another moment of hesitation, descending. Despite having been told she didn’t need to help him, Rika descended quickly after him, just to be safe.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/fY3W9Dh.png[/img][/center]

A few moments later they popped out the other side in quick succession, entering into the underwater race track who’s raving searchlights had fortunately already activated thanks to those who had gone on ahead while the prince dallied on the beach.

Immediately fear flared in the mind of the puffy cheeked prince as the water surrounded him. But it was fine, all he needed to do was swim up. He’d done this before. He’d be fine.

Unfortunately last time he had not had an arm covered in metal tattoos, which not only weighed him down as he started to breaststroke up towards the surface, it also bled heat like nobody’s business. As he rose towards the surface, and his air began to go down, so too did the fear rise, and his temperature drop. His right arm rapidly became numb, stiffening, unable to aid in his swim to the surface. Panic started to build, the prince’s controlled swim becoming increasingly frantic.

He wasn’t going go make it, [b]he wasn’t going go make it[/b] HE WASN’T GOING TO MAKE IT

Or so his mind began to scream as he floundered, oh so close to the surface and yet oh so far, only for an arm sporting a massive gauntleted hand to reach up from the depths and grab him around the chest. This sparked one  last moment of panic before he was suddenly launched clear up, out, and above the water, as Rika tapped her featherfall rune, launching herself upwards and bringing Jr along for the ride, carrying the prince in a single massive metal hand. 

The other hand thrust out, launching a grappling hook to spear to the bridge over the pool, before reeling both of them over to it, and letting her deposit them both safely on solid ground.

Jr fell flat on his butt as soon as he was set down, gasping even as he cursed the names of all the things that had led to the situation [color=SpringGreen]”Stupid Omori. Stupid fusion. Stupid metal arm. Stupid pipe builder. Stupid brain not just using Undyne or Dazzle or anything when stuff started to go wrong. Stupid stupid stupid”[/color] and clutching his shivering metal tattooed arm.  

Rika sat down next to him awkwardly, not sure what to do in this situation. She then opened her mouth to, of all things, start apologizing for helping him when he’s said not to, only to find herself pulled into a hug by jr, by her brother, and taking a few moments to work out how to reciprocate the gesture before hugging him back.

They sat like that for a few moments longer before Jr broke the hug, sniffed, and muttered an awkward [color=SpringGreen]”thanks”[/color] to his sister, now looking pretty embarrassed about the whole situation, about his shows of weakness, even as his arm kept shivering. 

Again, Rika didn’t quite know how to handle this, at least not till she thought about what would make her happy in this situation (how to practice empathy being another thing she’d never been taught to do either, so this was something she came up with doing entirely on her own), and as a result ended up asking [color=Aqua]”Do you... Do you want to go get some hot chocolate?”[/color]

Jr blinked a few times, sniffed again, before tuning to her and nodding.

And that was how when the Asgor talking crew caught up with them at the station, they found Jr and Rika had spent their unsupervised time and funds going through several takeaway cups of piping hot coco.