Dawnrider

World of Light

Level 2 - (9 -> 25/20) EXP (LEVEL UP!) ---> Level 3 - (5 -> 8/30)
Location: Peach's Castle
Word Count: 1282 (+3 EXP)

Kid wasn’t sure what to expect as far as her findings upon bursting through the doorway at the top of the stairwell, but it certainly wasn’t the overtly lavish bedchamber she found herself in, undoubtedly fit for royalty. Speaking of which, her ‘objective’, as it turned out, was none other than the room’s occupant; a (relatively) brightly dressed woman in crown and frill, planted in an oversized chair in the far corner absentmindedly crocheting away. She might have all but blended in with the rest of the gentle pink scenery if not for the telltale signs of influence that afflicted the child earlier, along with just about everyone else she had encountered (save for her squadmates) since her arrival. How this was at all going to help with the battle against MegaDragonBowser, as she was hoping for, she had no idea. Her mind quickly raced to the conclusion that she was yet another captive of greater importance and relevance similarly in need of rescue, from both her condition and situation, but as far as the former was concerned, how? She didn’t possess the same power as the others to ‘free’ the ‘hearts’ of others, and they were a little busy handling more critical concerns to be bothered with another right now. As Hat Kid pondered what to do next, she was interrupted in the middle of her thoughts when a soft, cleansing shadow swept over the castle, restoring its former life to it and everything in it. The regal woman, having broken from her trance, immediately honed in on the realization of what had just transpired and took off in a hurry downstairs to confirm her intuition, not even so much as acknowledging the presence of an adolescent stranger her room before rushing past her through the doorway.

“Wait!” Hat Kid called to the princess to halt her to no avail. Last she checked, there was a heated battle going on downstairs, so her working assumption was that it probably wasn’t safe for the princess to venture down there to see for herself, as she seemed so eager to do. It didn’t occur to Kid that, being just that: a kid, one might similarly object to her involvement in such perilous goings-on. Regardless, she felt the need to catch up to the princess so she could pull her out of harm’s way if and when needed. With a sourceless chime and a puff of smoke above her head, a winged red visor cap took the place of Kid’s top hat as she sped after the royal at now twice her natural speed. Considering that she was going downhill, it might not have been the best idea to suddenly accelerate as she did; a fact that hadn’t crossed her mind until she reached the bottom. At the last dozen or so steps leading onto the throne room floor, she clipped one of her toes on a misstep, sending her tumbling forward for the last few feet to fall flat on her face against the marbled tile.

Kid looked up from her prone position only to have to shield her eyes from the colorful incandescence that drew all eyes to the center of the room. She could have almost mistaken the glow for that of the boss if not for the variation in hues that coalesced into a whiter, brighter light, that the fact that all the others were more calmly congregated around it, in stark contrast to earlier. She slowly rose to her feet and uncovered her vision as the flames began to die down, and her eyes and mouth widened in curious awe at what she beheld. Amidst the dissipating fires stood--in new form--the knight, now harboring distinct features of MegaDragonBowser. He bore a demonic visage, displayed initially by his new horns, his already exceptional muscle mass swelled, filling out his armor, and a smoldering orange glow burned itself into the chroma of his eyes, piercing through the dark of the ocular pits in his helmet. Hat Kid concluded that this transformation was not too dissimilar to the one underwent by the commando moments ago when infusing himself the soul of the assassin; only this time with a much more potent spirit. Thankfully, this radical change did little nothing to diminish his boisterous demeanor or alter his perceptions of who his allies were, as he cheerfully called for them to join him in a celebratory toast to their hard-earned victory, co-signing on the princess’ invitation to join in a hero’s feast.

On that note, the princess gave her sincerest thanks to the party for her and her kingdom’s emancipation from the infernal usurper before offering them food and fancy as a show of her gratitude. Even through her smile it was easy to see, but hard to imagine just how difficult it must have been for her to live under the tyrant in forcible matrimony for as long as she did, however long that was. The heroes only spent the duration of the short time since Hat Kid’s crash landing dealing with him, which was somewhere under an hour, and already it felt like most of the day had passed. To say the least, it was a relief finally be met with a period of respite from the day’s tribulations. Even if there was some sudden following commotion brought about with Bowser and a suspiciously apologetic newcomer, the real fight was over with… one of them, anyways. The hooded figure made casual mention of there existing a dozen more bosses just like the last--if not worse--along with a commanding name she hadn’t heard before. It was clear to her that he knew a great deal more than everyone else about what was going on, yet he expressed as much in such a confidently nonchalant manner, as if he didn’t worry for the outcome. She would have to make a point to pry at him for answers later.

For the moment, Kid’s attention went elsewhere. She wasn’t ready to sit down and join the others for dinner just yet. She didn’t get a good chance to search Peach’s room for anything of use or interest earlier, as she initially intended to, so she had the mind to run back and follow through on her intentions proper, now things had calmed down a bit. No, she wasn’t planning to STEAL anything! It just stood out to her just how out of place most everyone and everything was in this world, so it wasn’t unreasonable to suspect that certain things might inadvertently end up where they otherwise don’t belong, like in the possession of one to whom it may be unbeknownst. In other words, one could argue--with torturously stretched rationale--that Hat Kid was simply making sure the princess hadn’t stolen anything… accidentally.

At any rate, Kid gave a perfunctory, shifty-eyed glance about her surroundings before quietly sneaking off back to the upstairs bedroom to begin her investigation. She would look behind and beneath the furniture, atop the roof of the bed, behind the paintings (if there were any), maybe inside of a hidden wall or trap door; she would come the room thoroughly anything out of the ordinary that might be worth the effort to find. Her Relic Badge would have made this much easier for her, if she still had it. Alas, she was left at the mercy of educated guesswork this time around. Once again, she didn’t know exactly what she hoped to yield from her search, but her instincts, intuition and earlier reasoning (the more sensible, logical half of it anyways) told her that she needn’t leave the place untouched. Untarnished, however, she would at least try for, but made no promises.

World of Light

Level 2 - (6 - > 9/20) EXP
Location: Peach's Castle - Throne Room
Word Count: 788 (+3 EXP)

As expected, the heroic troupe wouldn't be able to keep the king on his back, and not for lack of trying. Virtually every available ally present relentlessly pummelled and peppered the downed tyrant for as long as his predicament and temperament would allow, which wouldn’t give them long. After a moment of uninterrupted punishment, the doppelganger decided he had enough and explosively unfurled his burning wings, propelling himself back upright and forcing his attackers off and away from him. Luckily for her, Hat Kid was already positioned far enough outside of the blast radius to not get caught in the fires, but was still thrown from her feet and back towards the broken entryway from the force. She managed to right herself onto three points as she slid to a stop, picking her head back up to look upon the rapidly redeveloping scene. The usurper beckoned them forth to their deaths; few answered--some to his satisfaction. What the child witnessed next was, if she was being honest, horrifying.

The pet killing machine: scrapped; it’s teenage master: pulverized; her friend, the assassin: bisected. All so suddenly--in spite of their best efforts--they met brutal, violent ends. Kid’s eyes went wide and her mouth agape with shock and the sudden and gruesome turn of events that she just bore witness to, powerless to do anything about it. It was then that it truly started to set in for her just how grave, perilous, and unforgiving this new undertaking that she inadvertently found herself a part of was. Less than half an hour she had been in this world, and already, she saw to comrades die in vain for a common cause that she wasn’t even aware of yet. She never even got the chance to properly meet them, which did precious little (none good) to make any of it any easier to watch. For the time being, however, whatever her thoughts or feelings on the matter, she would have to harden herself to it. The cowboy and commando, having reclaimed and assimilated what looked to be the life essences of the now deceased, seemed content to do as much, so she would do the same.

Then, it occurred to her that between the commando’s retrieval and the assassin’s assassination attempt, this made twice in under a minute MegaDragonBowser had been snuck around. This meant that there were places where he wasn’t looking; places where SHE wasn’t looking. If the onyx supports in the room made for an obvious solution, perhaps there was a less obvious one elsewhere. Her train of thought was momentarily interrupted as she braced herself a second too late for the shallow tide of tile that threatened to roll over them, only to be saved yet again by the wing-eared-armed(?) shield warrior when he somehow, to her amazement, managed to divide the earthen wave around everyone behind him. Luckily, that included her. With a moment bought back, the child resumed her musings. With her eyes closed and fingertips to her temples, she bore the appearance of one trying to think in a hurry, which she was in fact doing, but also, she was checking her hat to see if it could find something, ANYTHING nearby that could be of use. Whether it be at the back of the room, along the sides, at the top, directly outside of it, or wherever else, she was all but certain that there had to be a better answer somewhere...

Then, as if arriving at an epiphany, her hat picked something up. An imaginary waypoint directed her to an objective that lay out of the battle, at a door on one side of the throne room that lead -judging by a nearby cylindrical bulge in the wall- to a spiral staircase leading upward. She spared not a moment more of hesitation as she beelined for the stairwell, taking advantage of the ongoing chaos to stealth her way to the other side of the room. In the unlikely event that any of her allies notice her leaving, she hoped they would understand that she wasn't abandoning them, but simply trying to find a better way. After all, she wasn't much good to them in the fight as she was. Whatever it was she expected to find that would somehow help, she would hustle her way up to find out in a hurry so she could return in time to aid the others.

World of Light

Level 2 - (4 -> 6/20) EXP
Location: Peach's Castle - Throne Room
Word Count: 589 (+2 EXP)

The corrupted Bowser clone was becoming understandably infuriated with the inundation of munitions, magic and muscle being thrown his way from every angle, and why wouldn’t he be? It was a as good a sign as most that the group was starting to wear him down, even if appearances and facade didn’t betray that fact. Still, he was a ways away from going down, and showed no signs of letting up. Even with the overwhelming degree of firepower he found himself faced with, he still managed to toss aside the mightiest of their number with relatively little trouble, going so far as to disrupt their sideline offense while he was at it with a well-placed pitch of immolated scrapbot aimed for the sentry turret and its operator. In the midst of all the activity, Hat Kid managed to stand out to him with her intentive mockery, drawing his (negative) attention and proving her suspicion correct. His obvious ego made him easy to manipulate, but doing so immediately made her a target for an immensely powerful draconic behemoth that could casually run her over or stomp her into nothing without feeling it. She understood this to be a risk when she made her move; she could only wait in anticipation for him to make his.

Luckily for her, and everyone else directly in his way, MegaDragonBowser was momentarily stalled, blinded by a burst of arcane degeneration and racked with yet another deafening round of sniper fire to exacerbate the spells effect, extending their reaction window by one or two seconds before he started up his next attack. The instant the enraged tyrant receded into his shell. Kid spang upward into the air as high as she could manage, spending her second jump for good measure to clear herself of DragonBowser's path as he slid recklessly along the tile at alarming speed and smashed head-first into the onyx structure, violently upending him from the force of the impact. With a propulsive tap of her feet against the pillar behind her, Kid transitioned her back tuck into a forward tuck, unfurling at the crest of her flip, and forcing herself into a descending dive for a Homing Attack into the overturned overlord's exposed underbelly. Chances were that the hyde thickness was even throughout, so she wouldn't stress precision. A good hit anywhere would do, so long as damage was dealt.

She bounced off of her foe like a trampoline and touched back down to the floor, her landing leading her into a light skip. On her third step, she pirouetted mid-stride, turning back to face MegaBowser, and lunged forward once again with her trusty rainshield to fire a weaker, but quicker blue laser blast at the top of his head before he could get back up. (She could tell already that she would be getting a lot more use than usual out of this particular feature today.) The admittedly uncoordinated wave of capitalistic punishment brought down on the boss would not likely do him in, but it was sure to put a noticeable (at least for him) dent in his constitution. This being the result of his hubris and the child’s gambit, chances were he would remember as much and not make the same mistake twice. The party would have to adjust their strategy for when the hyper-temperamental demon turtle recovered, because he would most assuredly be angrier when he got back up than he was before he fell. Whatever would come of that they would have to be doubly ready for.

World of Light

Level 2 - (1 -> 4/20) EXP
Location: Peach's Castle - Throne Room
Word Count: 730 (+3 EXP)

Success! The chains holding the cages aloft snapped loose at the points of contact with the beam, sending them crashing to the floor to shatter asunder against the marble. Hat Kid, unable to open her umbrella quickly enough after firing with it, landed just before the cages did, sunshade still in hand and knees bent from absorbing the shock of a slightly higher than usual fall. She was left stunned for about a second after the impact, but she otherwise sustained no real damage from it and was quick to regain herself. Luckily for her, she was closer to the ceiling when MegaDragonBowser threw himself into a reckless, whirling charge aimed for those directly before him at ground level, incidentally putting her out of the way of his unstoppable assault. Had she touched down a moment sooner, or fallen prematurely, she might have been made much thinner.

Incidentally, the now freed captives shared her fortune in timing, for in their present conditions, they weren’t good for much other than being out of the way; not yet, anyways. Lest they be promptly relieved of their exhaustion, injuries, ailments, influence, and whatever else, or, failing that, removing them safely from the fight somehow, the efforts made to rescue them would be rendered vain. Kid, being neither a healer nor “strong of Heart”, was outside of her means of seeing to any of that, so she would leave that to those who were while trusting the emancipated to keep out of harm’s way. Most everyone else set to bombarding the boss with whatever they had that could be thrown out him, even if that meant themselves.

Kid took note of the damage sustained to the hall's grand entryway from the boss's last attack, having completely splintered the doors into nothing. The entire room quaked from the impact, nearly knocking the child from her feet and causing her to stumble a step into one of the black columns for support. It was then that she noticed that they were the only structures about to be unaffected by any of it. If there was anything that she knew, it was that when something so conspicuous was placed in the environment in such a way, it usually served some intended purpose, however contrived it may be. This gave her an idea, but she wasn't entirely certain that it was the right one. Though, for lack of a better one, what harm could there be in trying it out? Well... other than maybe getting run over by a gigantic rampaging dragon turtle, that is.

The child placed herself directly in front of the pillar to be between it and DragonBowser, lightly gripped the tip of her weapon with her off hand for stability, and took aim for his face. The ongoing chaos he was currently preoccupied with gave her all the time she needed, which wasn't much, to get off another fully charged blast. The king loudly beckoned for another challenger after throwing aside his doppelganger, and as if to answer him, Kid jabbed her umbrella forward in his direction to fire off a vibrant red beam that fell in-sync with the startling report of a high-powered rifle. The latter of the two was undoubtedly more powerful, but less visible. How the boss responded would depend on what most caught his attention, and being noticed was all she was really counting on. Her plan was to goad the titanic overlord into charging headlong down the aisle once more, but this time into something far more solid. If he was anything like the allied Bowser (as he had thus far proven to be), his excitable temper meant it would take little else apart from directed aggression to provoke him into doing exactly that, but the possibility that he would fall for it was anything but guaranteed. In the case that he did turn his gaze toward her, she would put her left thumb to her ear and wave at him mockingly with her tongue stuck out blowing raspberries. Childish as her taunt was, the gesture would send a clear, if only somewhat feigned message to the king's ego: that she didn't entirely take him seriously. Since she was bold enough to prod him like this, however, she would have to ready herself to swiftly step out of his way for whatever he decided to do next in retaliation.

World of Light

Level 1 - (8 - > 11/10) EXP (LEVEL UP!) ---> Level 2 - (1/20)
Location: Peach's Castle - Bridge -> Throne Room
Word Count: 927 (+3 EXP)

Power (Equip): Projectile Badge

Kid was surprised to see the Courier respond the way he did to his first use of an umbrella (an idea with which he was unfamiliar); initially with interest and relief, followed swiftly by a sudden onset of frightful aversion. She didn't expect or mean for it to frighten him however it did, but moreso, she was confused as to how this grizzled wastelander, who just got through being blown up twice within the last minute or so, and has no doubt seen a lot prior to that, would be alarmed by something so innocuous as a child's sky blue, star-patterned parasol. Who knows? Maybe some who have seen things always see them. Unable to draw any rational conclusions from inspecting the underside of the simple weathershield and finding nothing, the child dismissively shrugged to herself and stored the device away, taking her leave of the waking Lombax to give him some space while he returned to his senses. She came upon a battleground all but cleared, calmer than when she had left it, save for last ongoing battle between two summoners and an archer that was probably best left uninterrupted, lest anyone be in the way of friend or foe. Anyone , if their newly bolstered ranks were anything to go on, they were all more than capable of taking care of themselves, so those remaining wouldn’t be far behind the rest of the party once they mobilized. Of course, despite having the most stake in it, their objective didn’t seem so urgent to the demonic bull tortoise--their self-appointed leader--that he couldn’t take a moment to bluster about how well his “plan” that he didn’t have worked, no thanks to him. Kid simply rolled her eyes at the boastful remarks and made her way into the castle alongside the others.

They were greeted in the castle foyer by the cacophonous wailing of panicked mushroom men, no taller than Kid (marginally shorter, perhaps), scurrying about in a disorganized fashion; a likely contrast to what was intended for them. Closer inspection would reveal them to be under the same spell (or whatever it was) that afflicted a few of those present mere minutes ago, but the more obvious fact was that they clearly posed no threat to any of them. The group thought the better of wasting any time trying to beat it out of them one by one. Even for those who really wanted to help them, there was a better, if astoundingly more difficult way for them to do that: by dethroning their oppressor. The company pressed on past the agitated servantry and through a set of giant, ornamental doors leading into a lavishly renovated throne room. At its end sat their enemy, Bowser’s more fearsome doppelganger, who wasted little time trading egos with his perceived lesser, pointing to the iron enclosures containing more tranced heroes in need of saving dangling overhead. Bowser (the good one) made the first move (well… command, actually) to free the captives with the intention of adding them to their fighting force, starting with the Herculean simian. This was all the excuse MegaDragonBowser needed to begin the battle proper.

Before anyone else could act, MegaBowser shot a sphere of incendiary breath to the ceiling that exploded on impact, scattering into a hellish rain of embers that set fire to every article of the scenery that could catch it, and threatened to do the same to any careless enough to not heed it. As a share of their number promptly set to rescuing the captives, Kid took off to do the same, keeping her senses about her as she sidestepped several beads of burning hail on her chosen route. She ran as many climbing steps up the wall as she could manage before having to grasp the adjacent drapery and shuffle hand over hand to keep her momentum going into an angular ascent as she lept from one set of curtains and banners to another, repeating this process until one came loose from its bearings from having a substantial portion of its material already burned away. In a moment of startled reflex, she propelled herself of the wall, releasing the falling remains of freshly singed-off fabric as she sailed with an arm outstretched towards the cage containing a stocky ursine and compact avian, and caught a hold of one of the bars by the bottom end.

Her motion carried through with a sudden uptake of force that just about jerked her arm out of socket, causing the cage to both spin and swing in circles. She would attempt to add as much as she could to it with her, frankly, meager strength and weight to build up more inertia until she was satisfied with its trajectory. She dismounted the cell at the height of is swing into a gaining tuck, turned to face the row of cages, whipped out her umbrella, and held it at her side as if ready to joust with it while she lined up her aim with her open hand. Her intention was to shoot the chains from as many cages as she could reach with a single, fully-charged shot, or at least attempt to create some kind of chain reaction (pun not intended) with just the one. While airborne, however, it wasn't entirely guaranteed that she would get even much of a good shot off, but without an otherwise adequately elevated foothold or suspension, it was worth a try. After a three count of energized whirring, Kid thrust her parasol forward, producing a wide torrent of red energy...

World of Light

Level 1 - (2 -> 5/10) EXP
Location: Peach's Castle - Bridge
Word Count: 2,428 (+3 EXP)

This lot that Kid found herself mixed up with was already starting to send some seriously mixed messages. First, she was pulled to shore and treated by the first two to see her. Now, no more than a moment or two following her arrival, one of the more menacing of them marked her as an enemy with alarming prematurity and wanted her dead, while another stood between her and him with talks of “freeing” her. What did he mean by that? Wasn’t she already free? In a greater sense, no, but as she was, a prisoner within her own form, she hadn’t a sufficiently lucid conception about her own existence to be dialed into the fact. Regardless, her reception thus far had her mentally closing on a much easier fight or flight decision, favoring the latter. That was until she noticed the KING take his unexpected leave back into the castle to attend to what he considered to be more urgent matters. Taking his place was a great disembodied hand, who proceeded to lecture the heroes on the supposed folly of their ways. To exemplify this, he summoned seven distinct figures--lost souls like Hat Kid, bearing the same cosmetic symptoms (with the behavioral yet to be seen)--who were all familiar in some way to certain members of the party, and provided them with a simple, but harsh ultimatum: surrender themselves to rejoin their loved ones, strike them down for the sake of their quest for multiversal restoration, or die trying.

The anthropomorphic alien feline didn’t hesitate. Clearly fraught with despair at the idea of having to fight, let alone kill who he cared for most in this world (or any other), he decided it best to take the right hand’s offer, meeting his hollowed out familiar halfway in an embrace, and turning the opposing septet into an octet in a (literal) flash. This impulsive self-sacrifice prompted the hooded enigma to point his weapon intently at Kid, who, having been fearfully taken aback by the rash gesture, started to slowly back away from him in trembling steps. Was this what he meant; to “free” her not from the nullifying shackles that bound her spirit, but from her very life, believing that she could not be saved from it? From her limited perspective, it was difficult to tell, but judging by his nervous, unsteady aim and stressfully subdued speech, he was no more looking forward to whatever he was about to do than she was. But then, a vibrant heart sailed over the Master and struck the child in dead center of her chest, and a burst of warm fuchsia energy swelled and erupted from the point of impact as the revitalizing force lifted her off the ground. Her color started to replenish itself, saturation fading back in from the source...

---

With the blinding white clearing away, the ship’s colorful, roomy interior came into focus. Kid unshielded her eyes upon realizing were she was, and looked around the living/control room littered with recovered Time Pieces. It didn’t take her long piece together what was going on, but she went over to open the door in the window (which was no longer boarded up) and leaned out for a second look just to be sure. It was just as she expected; the planet was restored, its denizens saved, and all was returned to normal, just as it was when she first arrived… all except for Mustache Girl. She lay unconscious on the brickwork, exactly the way she left her after their battle. Kid let her pensive gaze last a couple of seconds longer before reaching for a Time Piece, but stopping herself from doing anything with it without taking the chance to think it over once more. Glancing thoughtfully back and forth between the hourglass levitating in her palm and the little red-hooded girl down below, she pondered on whether or not to lend her a single Piece--enough only to cause a little trouble and give her a better chance against the Mafia without inviting an apocalypse.

On one hand, it was her who abused stolen Time power to unmake the world into a treacherous planetwide hellscape where its inhabitants were nigh invariably judged by her to be evil and punished accordingly under her self-imposed, absolute rule, thus proving Kid right in withholding the Pieces on the basis that no one else could be trusted to use their power responsibly. That, and they were hers to reclaim to begin with. She needed them back if she expected to get home, which is why she went through so much trouble to recover them, and now, she ran the risk of potentially cutting herself one Time Piece short of making it back to her homeworld for the sake of carrying out an act of spontaneous, unconditional charity that she previously would not have considered. And yet, from a philosophical perspective, it was hard to deny that her perceived selfishness, however justified, may have partially contributed to driving the delinquent Girl to acting out so dramatically, having been convinced that she was utterly and hopelessly alone in her cause. Come to think of it, Kid had no idea what Girl's upbringing may have been like under the oppressive Mafia (or in general) that could explain her moral outlook, and if she did have any insight on her origins, she may very well have been inclined to feel sorry for her. In a way, even if she wouldn't openly admit it, she already did. Still, it had to be more than mere pity forcing her hand, and something greater than simple necessity staying it. What lesson, if any, did she stand to learn from her adventure? One about understanding? Selflessness? Second chances? Finding better ways? Whatever conclusion she came to on this would ultimately influence her decision.

After deciding one way or the other, Kid placed herself in the driver's seat and excitedly vacuum sealed all of the strewn Time Pieces back into the vault in preparation for takeoff. With her good work finished and the planet's reality reset, she could finally leave this world behind for the one she belonged to, and no would ever notice, let alone care that she was ever there once she was gone… as was probably for the best. At last, she was set to be homebound once again. With a full-forward push on the throttle, the spaceship's engines began to wind up, energy coalescing around the afterburners, and within an instant, the ship… abruptly stalled out. Something--or someone--was on the ship that didn’t need to be… again. Kid stood upright in her seat and shot a look to the door that emphatically said “What now?!” and then cutely stomped her way over to the door in frustration. What she found when she peeked out for the second time surprised her--a line of now ex-antagonists turned friends clinging to the window’s ledge, begging their beloved savior not to leave. Alas, as much as they might miss her, it was time for her to go, so she swept the stowaways from the window seal (literally, with a comically oversized broom) and waved them goodbye before returning to her seat. She couldn’t help the sentimental water from lightly welling up in her eyes, for as hectic as her experience was, she, too, would miss this place--and the people in it. She quickly dried her tears and reengaged the throttle once more, this time disappearing off into the cosmos at warp speed, a blue starry glint in the distance signifying her departure. Not but a few seconds after, a magnificent river of light washed over the entire planet, reducing it in its entirety to phosphorescent ash, dissipating into the calamitous everbright.

---

It had been an especially long and irregular day for Hat Kid, and she was already beginning to feel the effects of its labors creep up on her. The child's exhaustion was more of a mental one than physical, but for her, it was as good an excuse as any to retire to her room and write what would turn out to be a disappointingly vague diary entry before passing out. After letting out a tired, heavy sigh, preceded by a yawning stretch, she pivoted and dismounted her chair to head for the bedroom, only to be stopped at the first door by yet another round of alarm soundings, to which she rolled her eyes with an irritated groan. To think that now, of all times, she would be deprived a deserved moment of respite! Though, what she discovered upon rushing back to her station to observe the situation critically warranted her attention. At the speed she was travelling, she could only faintly make out the details, but what she beheld would have still been hard to miss. She reeled back in shock at the sight of celestial bodies being destructively overtaken in rapid succession on all sides by winding golden beams of burning polychroma. Coming up in the ship's peripheral view, Kid noticed a divided cluster of the same photonic masses beginning to surround her. The ship sporadically bobbed and weaved about at her behest in a series of unguided evasive maneuvers while trying to find some way, ANY way, to overboost the vessel to wring just a little more velocity out of it, desperately determined to outrun the encroaching wave of hostile radiance that pursued her, but to no avail. Her trusty spacecraft was working as hard as it could for her, and could give no more. Even as the realization of hopeless futility set in, and the ever-intensifying incandescence gradually closed in around her, narrowing her field of view, Kid couldn’t look away. Her eyes remained wide open and constricted with fear up until the very end, when the light finally washed her away.

Fear--a sensation seldom experience by her--would be the last she felt. Fear of never having the chance to her friends--both old and new--again. Fear of never getting to share her stories, or ever living to tell another. Fear of never making it home. Fear of everything being in vain. Fear of no longer being…

...and then… she no longer was.

---

When she was lowered back to her feet, Kid reopened her eyes, coming into consciousness as if waking up for the first time today. With her life force renewed, and her being restored, her memories followed, flooding back to her in short order. Save for a few anomalous blank spots in memory--like how she got here, the events leading up to now, and whether or not she actually gave Mustache Girl a Time Piece--she remembered everything. Her previous adventure, her new friends, the light; ALL of it. Her prolonged journey now inexplicably lead her here, lumped in with a band of definite misfits facing down a faction of corrupted guardians summoned by a giant hand attempting to persuade them into the eternal forfeiture of their lives. Of course, they weren’t having it. The ellipsoidal mammalian creature with wing hands for ears (presumably the same one to revive Hat Kid) was the first to offer up a rebuttal, grounding his speech in hope and inner strength and all that stuff. Others followed with their own version of a personal pep talk to psych themselves up for the impending battle to save those they cared for. It was all very inspiring, to say the least. The rest opted to dispense with the theatrics, formalities and bolstering and set themselves directly before their chosen opponents in reluctant anticipation of what came next.

As if to signal the combatants, shots went flying the instant the Master Hand blinked itself out of existence, the ensuing chaos causing some of the pairs to scatter so as to engage their respective frenemies with little interruption. The activity overload made it difficult to select a target, but after taking a second to assess the situation, Kid managed to pinpoint a place on the battlefield where she might be useful. She could only hope so, anyways. The giant draconic tortoise (the ‘friendlier’ one in the tuxedo) seemed to think so, else he wouldn’t have unceremoniously conscripted her into his “army” of “baddies”. Yeah, whatever. Last she checked, she wasn’t one of the “bad guys”. What bad guy would go out of her way for the second (or so) time to lend heroic aid where it is so obviously needed when she could just as easily be well on her way to anywhere else doing as she pleased? She may not have had any idea what was going on just yet; all she knew was that it was too important to sit out or bail on.

Kid shrugged at the de facto leader’s declaration before running up the broad side of his shell, bouncing off the flat of his hat like a buoyant stepping stone, and springing high into the air, soaring in the direction of the Lombax, his companion bot, and the cowboy. The moment they finished their conversation, Ratchet peered upward through the sun’s glare to spot the child aggressively rocketing towards him in a controlled dive. He instinctively arced his wrench overhead in a defensive swing to parry her reckless charge, the force of the impact sending her into a reverse midair tumble. She deftly touched down on three points, brandishing her umbrella (having pulled it from seemingly nowhere), and darted forward to take two more swings at the commando. Ratchet responded in kind, deflecting the first, then catching the second between the prongs of his weapon, briefly locking parasol with wrench. In Ratchet’s (and Clank’s) empowered state, Kid was nowhere near strong enough to hold a deadlock with him, let alone prevail in one, so a mildly forceful thrust of his Omniwrench was all he needed to break their clash. Kid slid backwards on her feet against the masonry beneath them, stopping just parallel of the Courier to his left. She quickly regained her bearings, shot the rugged man a curious look, then gently smiled and waved at him. “Hey,” she offered casually to her new battle partner, blissfully unaware of his standoffish nature, or that, in general, he might not receive the aid of a child with the warmest of acclaim, writing it off instead as an interference at best. It was entirely possible that she wasn’t taking the whole affair as seriously as she should right away, and that she was already enjoying herself more than she should have been. As far as she was concerned, it was just good to be her (real) self again.

World of Light

@CAWs For AlarmSee you in battle, bruv! Have fun fighting us.

World of Light

Level 1 - (0 -> 2/10) EXP
Location: Scrapyard - Endzone
Word Count: 1193 (+2 EXP)

How did she ever arrive at this? What happened leading up to the present moment for this cute, stylishly behatted adolescent to find herself being chased down by a digitally corrupted semi-chelonian dragon king who had sent her space-worthy glorified clubhouse (which one could technically refer to as a “mobile home”) on a downward collision course towards an already wreckage littered knoll outside of what looked to be an apparent house of royalty? Had she any recollection of her previous exploits, this might not have sounded like such a strange start to a new adventure; just a more dramatic one. She wasn't exactly sure what she did to make herself an enemy to the terrifyingly powerful aberration that was the MegaDragon, but given her circumstance and the creature's obviously malevolent nature, it probably didn't make much difference to either of them.

The hasty pressing of buttons on the console and clumsy attempts to steer from the seat of a swivelling chair in a ship on an uncontrolled descent, unsurprisingly, yielded no favorable results. The force of the vessel’s impact against the castle tower closest to it caused the child to be violently flung from her seat and left at the mercy of the careening spacecraft to tumble haplessly about its interior. As she fell forward from the back wall of the cabin, Rumbi, her trusty, overworked vacuum bot/unwilling mobile pedestal, was helpless to stop himself sailing through the air and striking his master in the forehead like a projectiled hockey puck, knocking her end over end. She bounced face-up against the ceiling then off the floor before finally planting cheek-first into the glass as the ship crash landed straight into the waters below. Fortunately, its wooden build kept it from remaining submerged, and the windshield, while cracked, managed to somehow stay intact well enough to keep most of the water out and prevent further interior damage. For the window to have survived everything it had just went through, it would make one wonder about the strength of the last guy who broke it.

The battered child peeled herself off the window as she reached for the handle to its door and swung it wide open, collapsing to the floor from dizziness with her motion. She then pulled herself up over the lip of the open glass and out of the cabin, unable to do much more than daintily fall forward into moat with naught the energy to so much as doggy paddle her way to shore. For all of her outstanding traversal ability, she already wasn’t the most proficient or long-lasting swimmer to begin with. Thankfully, a young, kindly ranger who just happened to be nearby rushed to lend her aid, towing the child from the blue onto land and tending to her as best she could before summoning help. To answer her question, no, she wasn’t okay; not really. She lay just outside of her now wrecked ship soaked and concussed on her side coughing up a faceful of water, all the while not even being present within her own mind to give her volunteer caregiver anything resembling an answer. Appearances would suggest as much about the latter part, for if the scarlet shine in her eyes and desaturated colors everywhere else were any indication, she was still under Galeem’s influence… whatever that may entail.

All things considered, though, she was still alive and healthy, even if she didn't quite feel like it. Her condition, however manageable, was relieved somewhat when a medical/repair droid showed up to administer some minor healing, which rejuvenated her at least enough to help her senses readjust more quickly, if nothing else. She sat up and began to survey her surroundings, but she could scarcely get a half decent look at anything before being alerted by the sudden, thunderous appearance of her draconic aggressor making good on his declaration of dominance. It was made abundantly clear in no time at all that he didn't see anyone in attendance as an honest threat, but if that was the case, why did he bother taking her ship down? Was that simply his idea of a demonstration, or just added flair for his grand entrance? Talk about demeaning! To make matters doubly confusing, it turns out there was two of him, only he was (slightly) less imposing and dressed more sharply (or at all)--adorned with a nice hat not much unlike her own. Of course, he seemed no less shaken by the occurrence than any of the others, and who could blame them.

Needless to say, Kid wanted nothing to do with any of it. For all she knew, one of them may very well have made ready to offer her up as tribute in accordance with his demands for possible lack of having any better ideas for appeasing or subverting him. Had she retained her sense of rational thought, she would have outright dismissed the notion as unlikely. However, her mind wasn't her own here, nor was her body, soul, “heart”, nor any other aspect of her being. In essence, the foundations of her very existence were utterly compromised, leaving her hopelessly at the dominating whims of blind instinct with no reliable sense of guidance in an unfamiliar and seemingly unforgiving world, where she was now but a hollow, lesser facsimile of her true self.

Understandably frightened by the prospect of all but certain doom that the encounter looked to promise, Kid started to back away from the scene, crawling in reverse on the flats of her palms as however fast (or slow) her her tiny limbs would move her in her seated position before righting herself to her feet to take off in a proper run. She barely made it three steps intp her retreat before stopping herself mid-sprint from almost bumping into a short, portly, red and overall clad Italian man (also with a nice hat) to observe him curiously as he passed by, heading in the opposite direction towards the threat. He bore a countenance and demeanor of bold intent that betrayed no sign of fear or intimidation, and chances were that he was the only one among them who actually meant it (initially, that is). If there was anything that might compel the rest of them to try something heroic, it would probably be whatever he decided to do first.

Normally, Kid would look at this and second guess if it was something she really wanted to bail on, but normally, she was still herself. She had no clear objectives or priorities at present beyond self-preservation, and was conflicted with the possibilities presented to her. Fight, or flee? Band together with the ragtag group of heroes to take down a tyrant, or leave them to their devices and escape with her life while none would notice? Both options hosted fairly equal odds of success or failure, so there really was no “better” option in here eyes; it was just a matter of which chance she'd rather take. Either way, she would have to come to a decision now. Into the fray, or out of it…

Which way would her hat lead her?

Project Crossover [Video Game Crossover RP]

Level: 6
Day/Time: Day Three; Mid-Morning -> Evening
Location: Unknown airspace; In pursuit of the Halberd
Tags: None
Mentions: Rosalina @Holy Soldier

Having been preoccupied with the Major's safety and all other matters that ran concurrent to it, Rosalina's telepathic response (or whatever intrinsic means she had by which to communicate) hadn't registered Fox's departing transmission until some time after he had sent it, which meant he was already well out of reach by the time she voiced her objections that would go unheard and unheeded by him. In his haste, he hadn't time or the presence of mind to clarify his intentions--not that they were all that extensive or well-planned, as they seldom were. He meant simply to follow the Halberd to its destination, not intercept it. Though, he wasn't shy about engaging it, he would only do so when (not if) it became necessary. It wouldn't be the first time he's had to--or the second--so save for maybe a few additions, upgrades or surprises, he had a fair grasp of what to expect in the event of combat. For now, his interests lay in postponing the inevitable and ill-advised rematch, so he would try to keep a manageable pace and distance behind the battleship, hoping to stay off its sensors and exploit its limited field of view as well as their size disparity to go undetected for as long as those factors would allow.

Of course, Fox had a bad habit of not thinking things through before acting on such bold impulse, and this time was no different. He had no clue where his pursuit would take him, how long it would take, what he hoped to find there when he arrived, or what he would do afterwards. If he was being honest with himself, past experience told him that he stood little to no chance in Hell of successfully facing down that level of opposition on his own; it just wouldn’t stop him from trying if it came down to it. On that note, whatever reinforcements were being sent would have some serious catching up to do if they were to be of much help while it still mattered. Fox made sure to leave his communication channel open to HQ while live transmitting his coordinates so as to make himself easier for them to find. Hopefully, that wouldn’t somehow, conversely, tip the enemy off to him giving chase, but he wasn’t exactly expecting he would be able to keep them blind to him forever anyways, even if it would be preferable. As was the order of things for him, he anticipated that they would eventually catch on to him sooner or later, and battle would shortly follow. Whatever may be the case, he would be ready for it.

World of Light

Cute-as-'PECK'

Name: Hat Kid (Real name unknown; indecipherable in writing, and she refuses to share it verbally.)
Game Origin: A Hat in Time
Appearance: Hatties!
Personality: A quintessential cartoon child, she is friendly, playful, energetic, and carefree--with a mild, casual propensity for mischief--even in times that don't call for it. With little exception, she harbors an unshakeably joyous attitude and demeanor, expressed largely in cutsie expressions and mannerisms that highlight her childish, innocent nature. While not entirely silent, she tends to speak very little, which speaks (no pun intended) to an underlying selective shyness about her, in spite of her impulsive willingness to befriend and do favors for others. Contrastly, she has little issue talking to her diary, in which she expresses the greater extent of her honest thoughts and feelings. One might also argue that her actions are not always entirely altruistic or unmotivated, as she has been accused more than once of being selfish and stingy, solely interested in meeting her own ends. That being said, she has never acted or withheld simply out of spite or ill will, and when it comes down to it, she does genuinely seem to care about the state of the world wherever she may be. If she's within her means to make a positive difference, even if there’s no stake in it for her, she would prefer throwing her hat in the ring (figuratively, of course) to contentedly leaving the world to it's fate, and she would do it all with a smile on her face.

Background: One day, on her way home from an unsupervised expedition across the cosmos (as children tend to go on), Hat Kid made a pit stop over an unfamiliar planet midway through her return trip to rest. She awoke to be greeted by Mafia toll collector knocking on her window demanding payment. When she refused, the Mafia goon broke in, intending to collect by force. In doing so, this caused the ship's atmosphere to violently decompress, pulling out Kid along with her entire stash of Time Pieces, hourglasses that harness magical/metaphysical temporal energy, down to the planet below. Thus began for her a worldwide adventure to recover all of her scattered Time Pieces so she could refuel her spaceship and resume her voyage home as well as keeping them from those that would otherwise abuse their power.

After close to a month of being stranded in orbit above the planet, she eventually finds and takes back every last Piece she had lost during the initial incident, and along the way, overthrew the Mafia, starred in a few movies made by and for birds (after legally becoming one), lost and subsequently reclaimed her soul from her now (contractually obligated) BFF, rescued a village of nomadic tribespeople in the mountainous skies from a cataclysmic plague, and ultimately, saved the world--and everyone in it--from someone she had hoped to call her friend. With the world restored, all Time Pieces recovered, and little reason left to stay--even when begged to--she made her bittersweet, if unceremonious departure, and set course for home once more.

Sadly, yet again, she never made it home. Her journey would be tragically cut short as she was overtaken by a radiant wave of apocalyptic erasure, along with the rest of the multiverse… as willed by its new god.

Specialty: Explorer/Specialist
Level: 7
Experience: 51/70
Powers:

Self

• Homing Attack - While airborne at close range, Kid can charge into a single enemy to deal damage, bouncing off of them with a successful hit, which can provide her with a follow-up action. Can be chained together in succession against multiple foes as well as chase down a moving target if timed properly.

Hat

• Sprint Hat - As its name suggests, this hat allows Kid to sprint at anywhere between double and triple her normal speed. While in use, her double jump is overridden and replaced with a higher singular long jump.
• Brewing Hat - This hat allows its (sole) user to manifest vials of low yield chemical explosives from seemingly nothing. In defiance of alchemical law, materials are not required, and uses are unlimited. There is, however, a short cooldown time (approx. 1.5-2 seconds) from when the vial is thrown before another can be spawned and readied.
• Ice Hat - Lets Hat Kid flash-freeze herself solid, adding substantial weight and mass to her form, and sending her straight into freefall should she be over open air, water, or otherwise. While typically employed as a traversal method, catapulting herself over great heights and distances, it boasts a mild degree of offensive and defensive utility as well. Offensively, its generated impact with the ground can launch foes (and then some) upward in a 5-10 meter area--with the effect weakening further from the center--but dealing no damage short of directly landing on them. Defensively, she is temporarily immune to some amount of damage--sans fire, concussive force, bypasses, or especially powerful attacks--and is able to maintain this frozen statue form for 20 seconds or until its damage threshold is exceeded, causing it to shatter (but sustaining no damage from shattering). (Cooldown: 1 second default; 10 seconds shattered)

*Note: Cooldown now affects all hats, even those that do not trigger it, and cooldown time is dependent on whichever hat was last used. As in, once the cooldown timer starts following a specific hat’s use, that time is applied universally until it has finished cooling down, and cannot be sped up or reset by switching hats.

Badge

• Projectile Badge - Not technically a projectile, but Kid’s umbrella can now fire a mid-short range beam that can be charged up to three levels, requiring approximately three seconds for a maximum charge. While the weapon’s base damage yield is relatively low, the larger radius of the actual beam itself allows for greater area coverage, and it does not require ammo.
• Hookshot Badge - With this, Hat Kid can shoot a grappling hook from her umbrella (as well as other weapons, such as a baseball bat) to latch onto and swing from viable attachment points. Resets double jump and air dive with each use; can be interrupted by damage and attacks.
• Compass Badge - (Passive) Provides Hat Kid with a mental treasure map of the surrounding area, pinpointing the location of any valuable collectibles, relics, and other objects of interest. Limited to tracking a single object at a time, focusing on the nearest one.

Strengths:

• Agile - A nigh peerless natural acrobat, capable of performing advanced parkour techniques and physics defying aerial maneuvers to reach heights and distances unachievable by most, and that’s just on her own power, before factoring in anything additional.
• Intelligent - Despite her age, she was able to build and operate her own time travelling spaceship and everything on it by herself, as well as outwitting older, more powerful, and more experienced adversaries. Suffice it to say that her sense of understanding is greater than she is given credit for.
• Resourceful - Did I mention that her spaceship is actually made out of wood? Coupled with her ability to fashion special headwear imbued with unique capabilities on the spot with very little, and to overcome challenges while deprived of them, speaks to a great deal of ingenuity on her part.

Weaknesses:

• Fragile - Kid, being just that, is built as light as they come, and as such, she sorely lacks in any capacity to dish out or take much of a hit. As a trade-off for her mobility and wits, she is forced to rely on them to survive.
• Immature - Her overtly jubilant, upbeat, and whimsical personality can result in dangerous lapses in judgement that lead her astray, evidenced by the fact that it has happened before. Moreover, she is not always willing to comply or cooperate when it doesn't suit her to.
• Inexperienced - Despite her intelligence and adaptability, a lack of wisdom attributed to her age still makes her rather gullible, as she has been unwittingly duped into unpaid service to less than reputable characters in the past. On top of that, though she has prevailed in her share of difficult battles before, she didn't do so by way of being a conventionally skilled or proficient combatant.

Spirits:

• Just her own, but at least she got that back (…again).

Kindred Spirits:

• The Snatcher (A Hat in Time) - I beat this guy after he double-crossed and tried to kill me, but I think we’re friends now. First, he wanted me to leave, then he didn’t. I know it’s in our latest contract and all, but I didn’t expect him to actually take it seriously. Maybe he really means it? It's cool. He kinda owes me for holding my soul hostage, making me run his errands and trying to kill me, anyway.
• Razputin “Raz” Aquato (Psychonauts) - So… this weird, misshapen child (No offense.) is apparently an “influence” on me. Huh??? I don't get it. What does that even mean? Is it because we're both young, acrobatic, prodigal geniuses who sometimes explore trippy subdimensions collecting memories on fun, exciting, charming, humourous adventures? Because other than that...
• Banjo & Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie) - More so-called “influences”. Where do all these guys keep coming from? I've never heard of ANY of them! I mean, it's not that I mind or anything; I'm just trying to make sense of it. I do admit, though, there’s something oddly… “nostalgic” about them, which is kinda strange. Even if I knew who they were, I don't know if I'd even be old enough to actually *remember* them.

Inventory:

• Kid’s Hat - Kid’s staple, default hat. Guides her to her next objective or other points of interest, provided she’s within range of either.
• Umbrella - Primarily used as a simple blunt melee weapon, but can be adapted for use as a strangely versatile multi-tool, starting with inherent utility as an improvised parachute.
• Time Piece (1/4/40-56) - Hat Kid's prized collectible; used to power her ship. These mystic hourglasses harness special spacial and temporal properties, the extent or power of which is not entirely known, and should definitely NOT be used by the wrong people (i.e. anyone who isn't ME).
• Terry’s Cap - Grants a vestige of its owner's energy powers to hat users (those who can utilize hat-based abilities). While worn, the user will be able to draw ergokinetic power from the earth and release it in small waves, geysers, and enhanced attacks.
• Poké Ball (x3) - A standard device for capturing and housing Pokemon. Thrown at the target to activate.
• Empty Bottle
• Skull Cap - A piece of headwear worn into many dangerous battles. When worn by a Hat User, it grants the Power Active Reload. When going to reload any weapon, the wearer will hear an audio prompt, and between 1 and 3 seconds later the edges of her vision will turn red. If at that point the wearer starts reloading, her reload speed will be increased by 300%, but if she doesn't mind the prompt or mistimes it the reload will be at normal speed.
• Lens of the Comet - A trinket fashioned from otherworldly crystal. With it equipped, one is able to ignore the effects of stealth, but its malign presence makes one much less likely to turn virtuous under duress
• Topshelf Tonic - Brew crystallized by maddening alien phosphorescence. The bizarre blend bleeds through to whoever carries it, making him or her much more evasive if the carrier also possesses herbs with any medicinal properties, and increasing his or her speed, but also making the carrier more susceptible to blighta and making said blights last longer.
• Attentuation Field Generator (x1) - A dream of a far-off world with a metal sky and creatures with bones of light surrenders an object capable of creating pulses that strip energy shields and disrupt electrical systems.
• Iote's Shield - A shield of fanciful design. Wielding it normalizes damage bonuses against the wielder that being a flier would incur, like arrows, lightning, and ice.
• Honeycombs (x3)
• Necro Smasher (Loan) - ???

"Raring to Go!"

Name/s: Banjo & Kazooie
Game Origin: Banjo-Kazooie
Appearance: ’Gu-huh’ ’Breee’
Personality: As living examples of “opposites attract”, Banjo and Kazooie are markedly obverse in their behavior and character. Banjo’s polite, amiable, laid-back, easygoing nature and Kazooie’s obnoxious, brazen, sassy, uncouth manner juxtapose one another to a complimentary, often counteractive, and sometimes corrective effect. Banjo often finds himself having to perform damage control (with a variable success rate) on account of Kazooie’s impulsive verbal slights, occasionally resorting to a poorly constructed compulsive lie to manage. Conversely, having Kazooie around makes earning a perfect score in civil conversation seemingly impossible with her tendency to cheekily mouth off or throw out an insult (sometimes at the last second), for which she will usually apologize at Banjo’s scolding behest. Though neither of them are without their obvious shortcomings, they do well in making up for the other’s personal flaws simply by way of being mutually positive influences. Banjo’s time with Kazooie has kept him from being so lazy or non-committal that he would forget or shirk his duties as a hero, nor is he so passive or simple-minded as to be made a gullible pushover of. Similarly, Kazooie picks up a great deal of her good nature and altruism from Banjo, for whom she reserves her highest respects, adoration and loyalty, and she tempers her excitability and eagerness for action and adventure with a good heart and strong sense of justice. In conclusion, they are nothing shy of a unique, perfect pair who bring out the best in each other and share, above all else, a like mind for doing the right thing and a willingness (even if a begrudging one) to help those in need.

Background: Some time after (or possibly before) helping out his friend Diddy on Timber’s Island, Banjo met Kazooie and quietly settled with her and his sister Tooty on Spiral Mountain. It wouldn’t take long after laying down roots for their lives to quickly get exciting out of nowhere when the resident witch, Gruntilda, showed up to kidnap Tooty with plans to steal her beauty (yes… literally). Naturally, this came as a shock with demand for immediate action, but given that they knowingly moved in next door to what was obviously a witch’s lair (bearing her visage and all), it was hardly unexpected. Nevertheless, the duo set off on their debut adventure through Grunty’s lair and all of its colorful locales, rescuing Tooty and defeating Grunty in an epic showdown that left her entombed at the mountain’s base.

Two peaceful years passed following Grunty’s downfall until the duo’s calm hiatus was brought to an end with the arrival of Gruntilda’s sisters and her subsequent resurrection and exhumation by them. In an immediate act of vengeance, she destroyed Banjo and Kazooie’s home (narrowly missing them) and set off for Cauldron Keep with her vile siblings to concoct a nefarious new scheme to cure Grunty of her undeath by siphoning life energy from the island’s inhabitants. Being a another problem obviously intended for them to solve, as well as a perfect opportunity for a much anticipated sequel, Banjo and Kazooie set out on yet another adventure--even bigger than the last (and strangely absent of Tooty after all the trouble rescuing her)--to thwart Gruntilda and correct the damage dealt by her, and once again succeeded. The expected celebration and trilogy teaser followed, and then… nothing.

Nearly two decades with little else besides a spin-off and re-release. No Banjo-Threeie; no inclusion in Smash (with only rumors and whispers); the assumption of their mantle by a “spiritual successor”; but for them, things remained mostly still. Their following years were spent in somewhat depressing relative silence while they waited for their next call to action. Little did they know, they would finally get one from the other end of reality, when the all-consuming everbright washed over their world… and all others.

Specialty: Generalist/Hybrid
Level: 7 (Level Pending...)
Experience: 1/70
Powers:

• Egg Firing - Kazooie is able to fire a variety of egg based projectiles out of either end (front or rear), with power, fire rate and effect varying by ammunition type. Can be used while airborne, underwater, and on foot, but the latter requires Banjo to still and position himself for effective use. All ammo types are accessible.
  
  Breegull Blaster - Banjo wields Kazooie as an improvised firearm to allow them mobile use of Egg Firing as well as Beak Bayonet, a method of attack that utilizes Kazooie’s beak as a piercing melee weapon (much like always, but handheld). As an added benefit, projectile velocity is increased for every ammo type. Other moves cannot be performed while this is in use.
• Beak Buster - Their equivalent of a “butt stomp/ground pound”, Banjo and Kazooie tuck and forcefully descend beak first onto whatever is beneath them, even if it’s solid ground or empty space. Caution should be exercised with this attack, as descent is rapid and uncontrolled, but can be stopped with damage or Shock Spring Jump.
• Shock Spring Jump - Portable variant of an old technique; allows Banjo and Kazooie to perform a ‘super jump’ to reach greater heights than before. Can now be activated anywhere, even in midair, and they retain unspent jumps (2 mid-air; 3 total) after use.
• Flight - As the name suggests, this allows Banjo and Kazooie (mostly Kazooie) to fly at the periodic cost of one Red Feather to maintain altitude, or as needed to increase it. Takeoff is free, but it does require an unimpeded vantage point and can be interrupted by enemy attacks. Ranged capability is retained while flying.
  
  Beak Bomb - While flying, Kazooie can perform a devastating accelerative beak ramming attack--with or without Banjo--in which she launches herself like a missile straight forward wherever she’s facing for an activation cost of one Red Feather. Though reckless and unruly, the maneuver can be steered and sustained for an additional Feather for every second of continued use. Care must be taken when using this, lest she (and Banjo) sustain heavy impact damage, and potentially ground themselves. While aimable, turns cannot be made with it, but the move can be cancelled at any time after the initial takeoff.
• Split-up - Banjo and Kazooie can now separate on command, no longer requiring the stationary use of Pads, and allowing them to move and act independently of one another. They retain their individual abilities while also providing Banjo with the greater range of utility functions of his backpack while it’s empty. While separated, their overall vitality is split by a 60/40 margin favoring Banjo, and neither of them can leave any area without rejoining the other.

Strengths:

• Stout - While not tanky, they (mostly Banjo) are capable of taking heavy hits, and almost as good (mostly Kazooie) at giving them out. Between them, they are strong enough to physically shatter solid stone and durable enough to withstand high-impact blunt trauma (read: falls/crashes) as well as direct hits from lower-yield explosives without going or slowing down.
• Mobile - Being a combination of athletic ursine and compact avian, they innately boast a strong combined potential for movement, traversal, and by extension, exploration. Be it on land, underwater, or in the sky, almost no terrain is off-limits for them… provided they’ve the proper moves/skills/etc necessary for it.
• Synergistic - Despite being functionally separate entities, they manage to operate seamlessly as a single unit, almost as if existing on the same wavelength. Even in the rare instances that they’re separated, they exhibit an uncanny aptitude for teamwork and problem solving without having to communicate their intent or even be present within the same area to accomplish a shared task, and together, they boast greater combined ability, potential, and utility overall.

Weaknesses:

• Unskilled - Beyond exploring, sometimes fighting, and the occasional annoyingly perilous game of trivia (in descending order of frequency and likelihood), they’re not particularly useful for much else. While capable of managing in a general sense, they lack in any refined skills or proficiencies (besides with their namesake instruments), as well as being undisciplined as combatants.
• Inefficient - Though they can get around relatively easily, they are far from the fastest or most efficient when it comes to it. Even their average airspeed leaves something to be desired, on top of flight being impermanent for them. To add, the requirement of ammunition and resource energy (eggs and feathers respectively) for some of their major abilities can make attrition a problem for them during prolonged bouts.
• Codependent - There’s a reason why they spend most of their time literally at each other’s backs; they fair much better that way. While they do have unique abilities of their own, they are individually weaker and less capable when separated, so it is advisable that they stick to each other as often as possible to improve their odds of survival, splitting up only if/when needed.

Spirits:

• Restored!

Kindred Spirits:

• Diddy Kong (Donkey Kong) - One of Banjo’s oldest friends back from the Golden Rare Era. They knew each other back before Banjo made a name for himself alongside Kazooie, and they have since remained on circumstantially divergent paths despite developing as concurrent successes. While they’re not as close as they once were, there can be little doubt about the influence they had on one another as well as the generation in which they were brought up and have left an inerasable mark on.
• Yooka & Laylee (Yooka-Laylee) - The divisive, somewhat maligned, but well-intended would-be spiritual successors to Banjo and Kazooie, their eventual debut was something of a controversial one to say the least. With frankly legendary expectations set before them in anticipation of their arrival, it was, in retrospect, unsurprising. In spite of the criticisms received (some legitimate, others not), they stand as, if nothing else, an undeniable testament to the legacy of an icon, the times that inspired it, and a long-standing desire in many to see its return.
• Fox McCloud (Star Fox) - Aside from the obvious anthropomorphism, the achievement of immortalizing success in bygone day, and even having once shared a common ally, these two/three have admittedly little in common. However, there are indirectly linked by an event that, for some, marked the end of an era. Depending on who you ask, both have since experienced a relative fall from grace and relevance, but even among them, there are those who remain hopeful that they will someday return in all their former glory.

Inventory:

• Banjo’s Backpack - Exactly that; Banjo’s trademark backpack. Besides perpetually acting as portable rent space for Kazooie, it also still serves its intended function as additional storage for whatever items, supplies, collectibles, etc. they may pick up. At later levels, Banjo can also use it as a potato sack, sleeping bag, pocket space, hazard shield, and even bludgeoning weapon.
• Blue Eggs (48/100) - Basic ammunition; low physical damage; fire rate - 3; no additional effects.
• Fire Eggs (0/50) - Incendiary rounds; moderate fire damage; fire rate - 2; ignites enemies.
• Grenade Eggs (1/25) - Explosive rounds; high damage; fire rate - 1; can destroy obstacles/affect terrain.
• Ice Eggs (0/50) - Cryonic rounds; moderate cold damage; fire rate - 2; freezes enemies.
• Clockwork Kazooie Eggs (0/10) - Land-based guided explosives; high damage; fire rate - <1; fuse time - 20s; short range; can clear obstacles/affect terrain/sabotage; remote controlled miniature.
• Red Feathers (30/50) - Used by Kazooie to fly and perform Beak Bomb and Talon Torpedo.
• Golden Feathers (1/10) - Used exclusively for Wonderwing invincibility.
• Purple Magic Lollipop - A butterfly-shaped candy lollipop that increases one's alertness, it restores magical power when used.
• Accept-lance - A large white jousting lance with ornate, golden, octagonal hand-guards and a row of golden spikes down one side. Heavy and difficult to aim while moving oneself.
• Ring (x4) - Pretty but with no discernable use, they’re easy to collect and keep in bulk, and may hold some value.
• Monster Eye - A crafting component for the various tiers of feline boots, feline silver swords, griffon armor, griffon swords, manticore armor, wolven armor, and wolven swords.
• Trowlon-lon Milk (x0.4) - Don't be fooled by that lookalike bottle and label. Whatever that red stuff in there is, it isn't milk. Ingesting it will cause anyone to float upward at 5 meters per second for 5 seconds, then abruptly stop floating. 200 calories per serving, 5 servings per bottle. A great source of Vitamin Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
• A Grenaduck
• Bunny Hood -
• Spring -
• Boomerang -

Legendary Leader

Name: Fox McCloud
Game Origin: Star Fox
Appearance: 07
Personality: Brave, assertive, loyal, fearless, dutiful, determined, and with an air of cockiness to match it all, Fox is about what one could expect of an archetypal spacefaring hero. Edified throughout his life from his earliest age of understanding with the conviction to “never give up,” he boasts an indomitable will that drives him ever forward, free of doubt or hesitation. Accordingly, he takes this to somewhat of an extreme, bearing what could conservatively be considered an impulsive streak, as he all but erases the line between boldness and insanity with some of his actions. Action, of course, being what he’s more inclined to, preferring to leave the thinking and planning to others, and as a leader, he would sooner charge headlong into the storm ahead of his allies than command any one of them to take his place, willing to stake his own life before that of anyone else. Some may understandably mistake his method (or lack thereof) for a careless lack of consideration attributable to witlessness, but this is not so. Rather, he simply leans more toward a reliance on his instincts and intuition to guide him, and those who have fought at his back and alongside him can attest to the reliability of his inner judgement. When outside of the battlefield, he is generally casual and amicable in his disposition and straight-spoken in manner, only responding in blunt, aggressive, or hostile fashion when warranted or provoked. Otherwise, he is not the most socially active or engaged individual, even though he is perfectly capable and decently well-adjusted to it. While most might find him approachable and easy to talk to, they may find it harder to truly get closer to him on any personal level. Those who do manage to connect with him--be it as a comrade or a friend--could scarcely ask for one better or more dedicated.

Background: At a young age, Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud and an unnamed mother, showed great talent and promise as a soldier and pilot, and joined the Cornerian Flight Academy as a teenager. Already, he was beginning to look a lot like his father, leader of the original Team Star Fox. One fateful day, Peppy Hare, James’ wingman, returned from a mission on Venom to inform Fox of his father’s fate; that he’d been betrayed by his other wingman and murdered by the exiled mad scientist Andross. Fox subsequently dropped out of the academy and assumed his father’s mantle as leader of a new Team Star Fox, which he formed with his friends Slippy Toad and Falco Lombardi, as well as former member Peppy, who acted as his mentor and adoptive godfather. A couple of years later, they were called upon for their first mission to lead the war effort against Andross and the Venomian forces, during which Fox finally confronted and defeated Andross, successfully ending the Lylat Wars and avenging his father.

Nine years passed, and aside from the occasional smaller mission and a lineup change that followed (with Falco returning and Krystal taking Peppy’s place), Team Star Fox saw a substantial period of inactivity, until war broke out once again when the Cornerian Army was beset by the remnants of Andross’s forces. Star Fox showed up to intervene in the conflict only for it to be shortly brought to an abrupt end with the appearance of an even greater enemy. The Aparoids, an alien species of hive-minded, parasitic-symbiotic, biomechanical insectoids, surfaced to invade the whole of the Lylat System, threatening to assimilate or destroy all life within it, and coming dangerously close to succeeding in their conquest. However, with the combined efforts of Star Fox, the Cornerian Army, and even Star Wolf, Fox and his allies were able to drive the Aparoids back to their homeworld, where they fought and killed the queen at the planet’s core, destroying the planet and ending the threat of the Aparoid menace for good. Fox and his team very nearly suffered unimaginable losses on their mission, but were ultimately able to pull through and prevail in restoring peace to the galaxy.

Three years later, Team Star Fox receded once more into dormancy with their unofficial and indefinite disbandment, but there were still battles that needed to be fought. With no sign or intention of slowing down, Fox took it upon himself to investigate and intervene on a series of mysterious occurrences in the collective World, and found himself caught up in a greater conflict than he could expect to take on alone, which would later come to be known as the Subspace Incident. With a dark army at their disposal, villains and would-be conquerors from their universe orchestrated a number of portal bombings to rend fragments of the world into a realm of limbo and void, known as the Subspace, at the behest of a puppeteered Master Hand. As it turned out, he was being controlled by an even more powerful entity, Tabuu, who had duped the villains into unwitting service to him by proxy, and comes just within reach of achieving his nebulous goal of destructive world domination before ultimately being thwarted in the end. Heroes and villains alike banded together to defeat their greatest foe yet, and from the cliffside overlooking the sea--facing the mark of light where the Isle of Ancients once was--they watched the sun set on the world they saved, hopeful for its future.

Then, years later, they returned to the world's edge with bolstered ranks to combat an unprecedented threat even greater than the last, and one way. Galeem, the Lord of Light, brought forth a Master Army to match them. There, where it all ended before, one way or another, it would end again. Though, their odds were hopelessly unfavorable, they determinedly faced them down and readied themselves for what would undoubtedly prove to be the biggest fight of their lives, with Fox leading them at the front of the line…

...and for the first, and last time... they lost…

Specialty: Offense/Leader
Level: 6
Experience: 48/60
Powers:

• Fire - After a brief charge, Fox propels himself in a chosen direction with a headlong flaming charge attack. Course cannot be altered once activated, but can be aimed omnidirectionally. Capable of damaging throughout the duration of the move with the most being dealt with the initial hit.
  
  Jet - A non-lethal variant that propels Fox faster with greater control and no startup, but does no damage. Can perform shallow turns for small flight adjustments. (Basis)
• Illusion - A high speed, forward illusory dash technique that deals minor slashing damage on contact. Useful for split-second distance traversal as well as for offense. Travels strictly straight with no turning ability, but lacks cooldown with minimal recovery between uses. However, Fox is still susceptible to damage and interruption during use, simply becoming a harder target.
  
  Burst - The dash itself deals no damage, instead ending with a heavy explosion generated directly from Fox--harmless for him, but harmful to others. Dash distance is marginally reduced, and momentum is stalled at the end, eliminating forward drift. (Basis)

Blaster

• Impact Shot - Alternate firing mode. Rate of fire is substantially reduced for slightly higher damage and much greater knockdown/stopping power per shot. (Basis)
• Charge Shot - (Description pending...) (Basis | [Alt link pending...])

Strengths:

• Fearless - Perhaps his greatest weakness as well, Fox isn’t one to back down from any fight or challenge he sees a chance at winning. His experiences and upbringing have shaped him with iron nerves, unshakable tenacity, and an indomitable will that have seen him through a great many ordeals, as they may yet continue to. When faced with suicidal odds, be they overwhelming numbers, transcendent to godlike power, or a realized lack of either on his part, he has never been fearfully deterred by, or willingly submitted to any of them, and if he has his way, he never will.
• Versatile - Legendary fighter pilot, expert martial artist, crackshot, peak athlete; Fox boasts an extensive repertoire of combative prowess. He can proficiently pilot just about anything built for speed, combat, or both, wield any ranged or martial weapon he’s strong enough to use, and competently engage enemies stronger than himself with or without one. Quick of hand, foot, and study, with a learned understanding of every relevant facet of his trade, there’s little in the way of what he can’t somehow translate or apply his skillset to, or that he can’t potentially learn and add to it.
• Experienced - Fox has spent effectively half his life bearing the mantle of a heroic mercenary leader, credited with winning no less than two wars in his time; three if counting his role in thwarting the Subspace Army. To add, the boast-worthy accolade of being a life-long Smash veteran (one of the original twelve, no less) speaks greatly to his abilities and competence (and that of his ilk)--enough to say that no odds or opponents are too great for him to take on.

Weaknesses:

• Moderate - In most settings, Fox is often among the LEAST remarkable figures around. There are definite limits to his capabilities and expertise, and general competency can only carry him so far when insurmountably outmatched. His skills, while admirable and plenty, are largely middling, and he possesses no spectacular powers, abilities, or traits to make up for it against the overwhelming opposition he is so often faced with, forcing him to fight uphill to succeed. For everything he’s good at--among the many things--he dominantly excels at none of them, meaning there’s always someone to potentially outclass him in any given category.
• Lightweight - As a tradeoff for exceptional speed and agility, Fox hasn’t much to offer in terms of strength, and even less for durability. His talent for handing out hits is evened out by a critical need to sustain as few as possible on account of his build and relative normality, for it would take but a handful (or fewer) powerful blows to do him in. This makes direct engagement with powerhouses and heavyweights especially dangerous for him.
• Overconfident - Though profoundly fearless with a (debatably) reasonable sense of well-earned self-assurance in his abilities, it’s easy to see that it tends to overrule his judgement sometimes, often resulting in him taking on greater odds and enemies (sometimes alone) than can be considered sane. To boot, he’s not much of a strategist, preferring a bold, aggressive, straightforward approach to combat, which can, has, and does at times lead him to become careless and predictable.

Spirits:

• Ezio Auditore - Striker - A highly versatile, masterful, and valuable spirit. Ezio can strike with a variety of weapons from a variety of angles, appearing from hiding in Fox's vicinity as if he'd always been there, rather than from Fox himself. He possesses a rapier, a hammer, a crossbow, a flintlock, and his iconic hidden blade; he can appear from grates and trapdoors, spring from bushes and haybales, and also just fall out of the sky directly over opponents. Although his up-front damage and defense are low, his assists can deal high critical damage at good speed, and a moderate cooldown means he can be utilized frequently.

Kindred Spirits:

• Sly Cooper (Sly Cooper) - Both are mammalian anthropomorphs, and leaders of their respective packs. Both lost their parents to allies turned traitors. Both proudly bear the weight of upholding their family legacies. Both have become legends in their own right because of it. Undeniably, the two share an uncanny degree of connecting commonality that, despite living entire universes apart, utterly unaware of the other’s existence, may yet draw them together.
• Commander Shepard (Mass Effect) - A spacefaring mercenary leader of legendary renown, much like Fox, both of whom have more than once been called upon to save the galaxy from great calamity, and with the earned aid of loyal comrades at command, they succeeded time and again. Little can be doubted about either of them for their near unrivaled ability to rally entire worlds behind them to fight for the greater good of all or their willingness to make the ultimate sacrifice if and when needed, even if only one of them has ever actually had to. If anything is for certain, it’s that the uni- nay, omniverse, couldn’t have enough like them, and now, more than ever, needs as many as it can offer.
• Raiden (Metal Gear) - Mercenaries--of Team Star Fox and formerly “FOXHOUND” respectively--orphaned by war, with a shared sense of justice and unyielding conviction to their ethics and ideals. Despite their best efforts, and a career lifetime of success and hard won victory, neither of them has ever truly been able to see an end to war and conflict for long enough to find lasting peace. In a sense, it could be said that they both live at war; have been inured to it; bred by it even. Is it perhaps that their deeds have in some ways indebted them indefinitely to their roles in life? Or rather, is it simply the case that the lives that chose them once before are the very same that they now choose for themselves? After all, the world is never short on just causes in need of someone capable willing to fight for them. At least… that’s what they’ve convinced themselves of.

Inventory:

• Blaster - Low-powered, semi-automatic laser pistol that sacrifices stopping power for a high rate of fire, allowing for rapid damage buildup. Can be outfitted with additional firing functions.
• Reflector - A portable, handheld g-diffuser shield that envelops the user in a hexagonal barrier that reflects most forms of projectiles and other ranged attacks (as well as some AOE) with slightly multiplied speed and power (x1.5). Does not protect from physical attacks, however, but can be utilized offensively as an electrified repulsor upon activation.
• Comms Headset (Online) - Allows wearer to remotely communicate through any established device capable of acting on a two-way frequency. Outfitted with HUD through a monocular eyepiece.