[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ziR5Pse.png[/img] [b][color=Aquamarine]wordcount:[/color][/b] 3189 (+4 (+2 rapport)) (+10) [b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](357/140) [b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](263/100) [color=d7d7d7]Level 7 Roland[/color] (47/70) holding 1 level up [/center] After feeding the demon in the ship’s bowls for a lead about tapes, the koopa kids headed back up to get some grub. Gurb which turned out to be stuff they themselves had put on the menu. Well, them and Geralt, but Jr at the very least was willing to claim credit for people having food on the menu. It was a touch late for that to add to his extremely unearned shared third place in the leadership contest however, and so soon enough the pair had plopped themselves down to eat and began demolishing two very hearty portions. Growling kids needed plenty of fuel after all. Roland, even though he had left Vulgrim before the koopa kids, came in a bit late as he took a quick look at a few people to see how they felt about the ‘election’. While he wanted to talk to Ganondorf or Sectonia, the latter had gone to get herself ‘beautied up’, as Roland understood it and the former was a bit difficult to find. But as he went to grab some food, food that had apparently been made from a list of food that Seekers had requested, he saw the two koopa kids. Grabbing a toasted sandwich made from ‘what the other seekers liked, but in sandwich form’ to see what everyone else liked, Roland made his way to the two kids. Unlike the two of them, he didn’t have a ton of food, only a large sandwich and accompanying products. [color=d7d7d7]”Hey, whatcha eating?”[/color] Roland said, casually sitting next to Jr and Rika. [color=Aqua]”Cwab”[/color] Rika replied through a mouthful of cocktail sauce coated meat, to which Jr added [color=SpringGreen]”That [i]we[/i] got for everyone!”[/color] before noticing that the man wasn’t actually having some, interrupting his pre-canned spiel. Rika took over, in a way, by insisting that [color=Aqua]”Sss good”[/color] and to be fair the girl certainly seemed to be enjoying herself and her ‘everything on offer on one plate’ meal. [color=d7d7d7]”Ah. Might go grab some. Had the feeling for a sandwich myself.”[/color] Roland said. [color=d7d7d7]”I doubt you two have been to HamHamPangPang, but they’re sandwiches are pretty good. If we find ourselves at Midgar…. Assuming it gets fixed… I can take you there sometime. Glad that place at least transferred over in the whole mess.”[/color] Roland said, striking conversation. [color=SpringGreen]”Ohhh right, you came over from that big place, right? What was the whole deal there?”[/color] Jr asked, to which Rika added [color=Aqua]”n what happened to Peach? Turned into a monster or sumin before becoming P?”[/color] a point her brother had sort of not wanted to touch on. [color=d7d7d7]”Well, yes and no. I guess here in this world yeah I did, although i’m from a place called City or The City, pretty simple. But yeah I can talk about Midgar and what I did there.”[/color] Roland said, grabbing a bite from his sandwich before he began. [color=d7d7d7]”So, in Midgar, I was known as a ‘turk’, or basically a fixer hired by Shinra, one of the big leaders of that city. Zenkichi was also one. We were basically secret police or cops. Almost like I was a Claw… if Claws weren’t actually there in Midgar. I don’t know, do you guys have those?”[/color] Roland said, a simple subtle probing question. [color=SpringGreen]”I uh, got claws, yeah?”[/color] Jr replied as he held up a clawed hand, while Rika happily informed him that [color=Aqua]”and I've got some on my feet now!”[/color] [color=d7d7d7]”Uh, I mean, they’re named after their claws. But they are super soldiers from my world that use various serums to heal, get stronger and faster, or rip you through time and space. I got hit by the receiving end of one of those attacks. Let me tell you, it really hurts.”[/color] Roland said, clarifying. [color=Aqua]”So like a guard like Undyne?”[/color] Rika guessed, referring to a monster woman they had a tape recording of, and who Jr was fused with, before saying [color=Aqua]”Fleet didn't need those. Everyone fought.”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Guess papa had, like, some guards or stuff I dunno”[/color] Jr replied, not at all familiar with this sort of law enforcement thing, especially since the idea of police and cops was pretty rare where he came from. Not unheard of. But certainly not something most kingdoms had. [color=SpringGreen]”Maybe like. The captains? Or… me! I’m a Claw!”[/color] he suddenly decided, looking very pleased with himself. [color=d7d7d7]”I wouldn’t call a Claw a guard. More like… You did something the Head didn’t like or didn’t pay your taxes, so they sent a super powered cyborg soldier to ‘teach you a lesson’ Guards are more a Fixer or Feather job.”[/color] Roland said. He then heard Jr. talking about saying he was one, and Roland had to say something about that. [color=d7d7d7]”You… are not a Claw.”[/color] Roland said. He then clarified [color=d7d7d7]”That's a good thing, by the way.”[/color] Although this exchange gave him a lot more info than he thought. So Jr. was a royal that either didn’t mingle with people all that much, mingled a lot and was part of a ‘peaceful’ kingdom which was something Roland couldn’t believe, or was still young and didn’t actually understand things like that. If he had to guess, he’d guess the last one. [color=d7d7d7]”Anyway, as I was saying… We had a big problem over there. It was called the Ever Crisis. Basically these three groups, all evil in different ways, were trying to take over Midgar. One turned people into monsters, which is what Peach got affected by. One of the factions of Midgar, the psychic police, really wanted to use them. They were pretty crazy, all things considered. Then there was a faction of robots trying to take over the city form the outside which corrupted Poppi and changed her to what you see now, and finally, a faction that was invisible unless you had some special goggles that infected you with some kind of ‘red shift’, which was really really bad. It turned you into a different kinda monster.”[/color] Roland said, giving a quick summary of Midgar. [color=d7d7d7]”At the end of the day, most of the Ever Crisis was being propped up by the Consuls and the ‘good’ factions of Midgar, IE, Shinra, Armstrong, the Psi corps, ext… Strangely if I had to say, it was kinda like a war between wings… err… corporations. And we went to the source of power of Midgar and took out a Consul, made another one run, and finally took out a Guardian which Susie took.”[/color] Roland finished. He then bit more into his sandwich as he let the kids absorb all that. [color=SpringGreen]”Sounds, uh, complicated. We mostly ran around caves full of squicky zombies, loads and loads of bugs, friendly people that got called monsters, silly pizza minions and undead dancer dungeons looking for bits of masks. With the odd freaky scary awful thing that Galeem just loooooves to throw in there”[/color] [color=Aqua]”Freaky cookie baking grandmas, the weirdo head of the pizza tower, that super spooky jail thing with the angel who thought he was from a book instead of real”[/color] Rika added, before saying [color=Aqua]”Still not as bad as the Maw though, urgh”[/color] which caused them both to shudder and unconsciously shuffle in their seats just a little closer together. [color=SpringGreen]”Plus we took out the old P who was just some jerk kid really, and then, uh, might have let F get away because we were too busy gloating about taking down the Guardian instead of just finishing him off. You know. The usual bad guy thing”[/color] Jr concluded, as if taking down the area Guardian was entirely an afterthought. [color=d7d7d7]”Right… ”[/color] Roland said, not discrediting the kids, but noting their adventure seemed like a stroll through a cartoon show or a really weird Star. [color=d7d7d7]”Was the cookies from the cookie grandma or the pizza from ‘pizza tower’ any good?”[/color] Roland said, picking out something to chat about. [color=Aqua]”The Pizza was good! Didn’t get any of the cookies, though. But those grandmas were just, so weird. So There was probably something wrong with them?”[/color] Rika guessed, to which Jr nodded in agreement. It wasn't exactly clear why the eldritch horrors that looked vaguely like grandma had been baking so many cookies, but it could have only been to sinister ends, of that he was certain. [color=d7d7d7]”I see… Ah, a bit of a shame then. ”[/color] Roland said, munching on more sandwich. He then asked another question. [color=d7d7d7]”So you beat P and did you beat F? You said he ran away? What happened there?”[/color] Roland asked. [color=Aqua]”He was all sad and mad that we beat the Guardian, but we didn’t shoot him in the face before he got better and ran away. Really fast digger, so we couldn’t catch him after he left”[/color] Rika explained, still unsure why didn’t just blast him. [color=SpringGreen]”Also he could rewind time and do like, plant stuff apparently. Never did straight up fight us though. Wrecked a lift, got a town to try and kill us, threw a bunch of infected people at us, stuff like that. Only reason we know how he fights is coz Kamek tried to take him one on one after he took out the lift”[/color] Jr added, before summarising his opinion of F by saying that he was [color=SpringGreen]”A big cowardly jerk”[/color] [color=d7d7d7]”I heard Sectonia babbling about how she ‘extorted’ F to get information on the other Consuls and thats why we knew A was such a problem. A bit of a shame he escaped though, Let me know what he looks like.”[/color] Roland said, giving the two the idea he’d stroke down F. Although much like Sectonia, he’d like to get info from him first if he could… [color=Aqua]”Lost numbers already knew that tho, so we should have just shot him”[/color] Rika retorted, despite this argument being entirely based on massive amounts of hindsight. [color=SpringGreen]”He’s got a mask like a sun or a flower. Or a sunflower. Plus usually has these green thorny vines coming from his back that he uses to get about”[/color] Roland nodded, noting that he hadn’t run into anything like that, as well as how nondescript that was. Honestly, it sounded like they were hunting a consul based on a childs drawing in that regard. [color=d7d7d7]”So you asked me about Midgar, what about where you're from? Whats that like?”[/color] Roland asked. [color=SpringGreen]”Pretty different, I guess? I mean Papa’s kingdom is all, like, lava and volcanoes and we live in a big castle. I think it's pretty great, but Papa wants to take over the mushroom kingdom for some reason which is super boring, all grass and rolling hills n stuff”[/color] Jr explained fairly simply the dynamic of his home, before adding that there were [color=SpringGreen]”Not many humans either. Some, but not like here where it's, like, allllll humans all over. We’ve got like Koopa and Goombas and Boos and all sorts of people, and that’s just Papa’s people. There’s like a people for every place back home, where as here its not like that at all”[/color] Rika’s was much more scant on details, the former Abyssal minion saying simply that [color=Aqua]”There was an ocean, and the fleet, which sent me to fight some ship girl, and then I died”[/color] because that was more or less all she’d know about it, which was why she was of the opinion that [color=Aqua]”So whatever happens at the end of this, I’m gonna stick with my brother instead of going back there”[/color] Roland had no idea what those things were, although with Rika’s story in particular, and how sparse she was on it, it sounded like she came from a rough place. As for Jr… He loved lava and hated grass? Rolling hills and such? Roland could only barely conceive of something like that as grass wasn’t green where he came from. In fact, there wasn’t any of it unless you were on the Outskirts, and that was mostly just dead or brown. [color=d7d7d7]”So what did you two usually do where you come from? Although I got a feeling from the sounds of it Rika you don’t wanna talk about it. If so thats fine. Also, why is lava fun and grass isn’t?”[/color] That last bit was what confused Roland. [color=Aqua]”Not much too it. I got made to die and then in a few days I did. I only really had my own life here, and that’s only after Kamek freed me. Galeem might have messed stuff up for everyone else, but for me, I wouldn’t be me without it. Kinda like the lost numbers I guess”[/color] Rika explained rather personally, while Jr’s own reply was entirely vibes based [color=SpringGreen]”Coz its cooler. Or hotter. Or. Like. You just gotta see it”[/color] [color=d7d7d7]”I see. I only saw this ‘Kamek’ for a very short time but that sounds good. Who is he?”[/color] Roland said. As for the lava thing, he really couldn’t wrap his head around it. He then noted Jr. and said. [color=d7d7d7]”I’d just think there being lava everywhere it’d be dangerous and make you really thirsty all the time with how hot it’d be. Also come to think of it, who is Bowser Sr. ?”[/color] [color=SpringGreen]”Wait, you never met papa?”[/color] [color=Aqua]”Or Kamek?”[/color] the kids asked together, before both looking sad as they realized that it had been over an entire week since both left, and that this kinda thing was only going to become more common. [color=SpringGreen]”Bowser’s our papa! He’s big, and strong, and funny and he’s the one who’s gonna kick Galeem’s light bulb butt and take over this whole world”[/color] Jr insisted, before adding [color=SpringGreen]”Y’know once he’s done running around after Peach that is”[/color] [color=Aqua]”And Kamek is papa’s not papa. He’s smart and does big spells and gives papa advice that he sometimes listens too”[/color] Rika explained, before adding that [color=Aqua]”and he went to keep an eye on papa”[/color] explaining his absence. Roland wasn’t sure what he expected. Maybe he expected a bit more from the kids explaining things, but this was also a good insight. Well, much like he thought, these ones didn’t know the weight of what they were asking. He would internally complain about the votes, but knowing 3 of the votes… yeah that made little sense to do. [color=d7d7d7]”Does your papa run around after Peach often?”[/color] Roland hadn’t met the princess for very long. Well, in a state where she could talk and wasn’t a monster. Although was that the same Peach or was that a coincidence? [color=SpringGreen]”Yeah. Or. Well most of the time he just kidnaps her, and then Mario comes to rescue her. We all fight him but he always wins and then we do it all again”[/color] the prince replied, as if all this was just a fact of life. [color=Aqua]”Mario’s a plumber with a red hat and he jumps on things”[/color] Rika added very helpfully [color=d7d7d7]”Kidnap? So are you guys like a crime kingdom or something or is there something I’m not getting? Or are you guys like at war or something?”[/color] Roland said, a bit confused as to what Jr. said. Was he getting the wrong word or something? [color=SpringGreen]”Huh? Oh”[/color] Jr said, realizing the missing info here, and explaining it really simply by saying that [color=SpringGreen]”We’re the bad guys, and Papa’s the biggest baddest bad guy of em all”[/color] [color=d7d7d7]”Oh…”[/color] Roland said, really not sure what to make of that one. The kids didn’t seem bad, but then Ganondorf called himself evil and he wasn’t nearly as evil as some people Roland knew. He’d need to observe more, which he’d have time to do later. [color=d7d7d7]”So… what do you two want to do now? Well, besides eat.”[/color] Roland said, finishing his sandwich while the kids talked. [color=SpringGreen]”Guess there’s that memorial thing but”[/color] Jr replied, before making a sound of uncomfortable displeasure, and saying that [color=SpringGreen]”but it seems like it’d just be sad”[/color] and clearly not wanting to confront that emotion. [color=SpringGreen]”besides, it's not like they’re really gone. They’ll just have forgot some stuff”[/color] [color=d7d7d7]”Oh I didn’t mean like, right after this. But like, what do you plan on doing in the next few weeks and stuff. Like… are you going to look at finding an amusement park, or get people to join your kingdom or just do seeker stuff?”[/color] Roland said. He was restraining himself to not be sassy to the two kids like he might’ve been if he wasn’t trying to learn about them. [color=SpringGreen]”Oh uh”[/color] Jr replied, looking a bit embarrassed by the misunderstanding, and then a bit huffy as he tried to think of a way to insist this was Roland’s fault. Before he could do that, Rika answered ever so bluntly [color=Aqua]”We’re gonna kill Galeem. Then papa’s going to take all its power and take over the world, and make it one where there’ll be no more horrible nightmare ships or ten year life spans or princesses using me like a disposable peon”[/color] So, if Roland wanted to continue his inquiry, he’d have to see who this ‘Bowser’ was. Jr. was mostly a dead end when it came to his whole ruler investigation. But things were insightful all the same. [color=d7d7d7]”Well… I guess we’ll see what happens. I don’t know much about him, so I can’t say one way or the other.”[/color] Roland said. He’d be up to chat about anything, but he was done with his ‘royalty’ sorta questions for now. All that was left was the other two, who he might be able to ask more direct questions. [color=SpringGreen]”You’ll just have to meet him when he gets back!”[/color] Jr replied, with Midna agreeing with an [color=Aqua]”mmm”[/color]. Roland gave them a nod.