DracoLunaris

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,289 (+3)
Bowser: Level 7 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (33/80)
Location: The Dead Zone - Sundered Avenue

While there was some resistance, from Linkle of all people, to the idea of bailing in short order the gang was out the door and retreating from the tower and towards the region’s third miniboss. Contrary to what Bowser was hoping, getting outside did not solve the flood problem.

”IS THERE NO END TO THESE THINGS!” He roared while using his non spirit carrying hand to pick up a flood combat form in-order to use its body as a mace to beat several others over the head with.

The fact that their new ride had smashed into the building should probably have given away the state of the outside world, but then the king was never the smartest, and he had had a lot to deal with indoors with the undead swarm and the utter pain that had been the two fireproof Pokemon combat forms. Their spirits were now his, clutched in one hand and still unused, mainly because the King could not hear himself think to decide how to use them over the sounds of battle and the blaring siren attached to the top of the stolen shockdozer. The siren was so annoying that it somehow acted as a weapon, knocking warrior forms and infectors off of the car whenever they tried to clamber on top of it.

While some of the gang could squeeze inside the vehicle, Bowser stayed outside. Even shrunk down it would have been cramped, and his spiky shell would be something of a hazard as the machine veered to and fro thanks to Blazermates erratic driving. So he stayed outside and sized himself back up to make himself as tough as possible. Fortunately, the vehicle was slow enough that he could just about keep up on foot. Unfortunately, that meant that theirs was a rather slow getaway, one that the hordes of flood found outside were able to swarm them during the start of their escape. While the front of the dozer made quick work of anything standing right in the way, it was the sides and rear that were where the danger lay, as skittering infestors and clawed combat forms tried to grab on to the vehicle as it passed them by and climb on.

These Bowser was more than capable of helping clear, the King periodically pausing his advance to bathe each flank of the vehicle with his firebreath, before rushing to catch up again. The fire torched infectors and combat forms alike when they tried to get onboard, reducing them to burning corpses and then ash in quick succession, leaving a trail of spirits in the wake of the team as they plowed onward and outwards.

There were others behind them, but for the most part, the monsters left in the vehicle’s dust could not keep up with the King or car. Those that did had to face Bowser’s armored and spiked shell, which shrugged off both attempts to strike him and the small arms fire coming from the flood’s ranged forms that had found vantage points and where trying to gun down the retreating Heroes.

While he was mostly safe from direct harm from the foes that could catch him, there was still the threat of being left behind. Even Bowser would be in trouble if left alone with the swarms, especially if some of their bigger, meaner, forms could catch him. Seeming to recognize this, the flood’s combat forms quickly switched from trying to claw or stab him to grabbing hold of him, claws clasping onto his short tail, legs or shell rim in an attempt to slow his retreat with their combined weight.

”GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!” Bowser roared, shaking violently, tossing some of the hitchhikers asside but being slowed in the process. This brought a moment’s respite, but the flood came at him again, surging forward to ensnare him and drag him down. Unable to afford turning to fight them head on, as this would result in him being left behind anyway, Bowser needed some rear weaponry. Fortunately for him he had just the tool for the job.

Acting quickly, the king hooked a Lucky bell to his spiked color and transformed into Meowser. While now fur covered his body might be more vulnerable than his scaly skin, his shell was just as tough and, importantly, he now sported a long cat tail in place of his stubby normal one.

”HOW DO YOU LIKE ME MEOW! I MEAN NOW. HA!” Bowser yelled back at the flood, swiping his long, heavy, feline tail around like a flail, smashing combat forms aside and crushing infectors to a pulp.

Stomping forward on three paws, the massive cat King caught back up with the vehicle, just as it looked like they were clearing the worst of the flood. The masses of combat forms were being outrun, and the appearance of regular Zombies, controlled by Blazermate, seemed to indicate that they were getting back out into the regular zombie apocalypse blighted Dead zone.

This didn’t mean they were home free just yet. The zone had many other dangers (that blasermate couldn’t simply take control over like the zombies) one of which consisted of a swarm of weird bird bat creatures that came in to attack them, biting and dumping toxic gases on them. Bowser swatted at or toasted any that came close, but he wasn’t well equipped to deal with the agile beasts in the slightest, and so had to mostly grin and bear their onslaught and hope that others could handle the situation.

The Flood menace also clearly wasn't done with them as out of the left behind swarm roared three motorcycle riding combat forms, their motorized mounts equipped with two deadly looking side mounted chainsaws.

As the motorbikes closed in, Bowser inhaled deeply and then turned to let loose a new kind of fireball. Instead of the large or massive slow moving fireballs that the vehicles could easily dodge, Bowser launched dozens of smaller hot shots, which dropped to the floor instantaneously after they left his mouth, before racing across the ground towards their pursuers. To make sure they wouldn't just swerve to the side, he shot the flames in a spread pattern, each fireball sent to the left of the next so that it created a rolling wave of fireballs that he was sure there was no way to dodge. The flames streaked under the leading bike as it failed to react quickly enough to the new threat, igniting both its rider’s legs and the tires of the vehicle, causing it to lose control and crash to the ground.

”YEAH BUZZ OFF” Bowser roared, certain of his victory right before it was defied by their other two foes. Rather than barrel straight into the flames, the second flood form deftly bunny hopped his over the fire, gaining only light scorches for its troubles, while the third ramped off of a nearby car wreckage, launching themselves briefly skywards and soaring clear over the flames without a scratch as a result before hitting the deck again. The wave rolled onward, the fire fanning out as it spread, leaving gaps that the still pursuing Flood horde could squeeze through, resulting in only some casualties to its seemingly endless bulk.

The king clenched his fist in frustration, but eased up the pressure right before crushing the two spirit's he'd gotten from the confrontation in the ardent tower. Reminded of their presence, he knew what he should do with them.

”MORE POWER, LETS GO!” he decided, before slamming the spirits of the Blastoise and Tentacruel into his chest to absorb their powers as his own. As the transformation took hold he turned and thundered after the Shockdozer while the two remaining slicecycles wheeled around him before coming in too pincer strike the slow moving vehicle, chainsaws roaring and aimed for the more vulnerable tires.

World of Light

wordcount: 703 (+1)
Bowser Jr: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (100/60)
Kamek: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (35/70)
Location: Edge of the Blue – Seaward Bay

Jr did not appreciate being talked down to by the hooded figure. Not one bit.

”Ah buzz off you twerp. You don’t know me! You don’t know what I’ve done or think. Go eat a spiny!” Jr yelled at them, before storming up onto the boat in a childish huff. Rather proving the Nobody’s point in the process, Kamek noted to himself as he stayed to hear out the rest of the conversation with their unwelcome advice giver.

It was mostly push and pull, the heroes arguing against this unethical method of getting transport to the region boss, while the hooded figure arguing it was the only way, with some unexpected backup from the grizzled swordsman with the yellow eyes. Geralt gave them a speech about how doing what was necessary did not always involve doing what was good. That doing the right thing could and would require bloody sacrifices. This perspective was a rather alien one for a hero to have from Kamek’s perspective, and that it did not go down well with the others who showed the traditional desire to put themselves at risk before even considering putting innocents in danger.

Indeed, the team mostly seemed to like Jr’s idea of storming the place, which the boy appreciated knowing once Kamek mentioned it to him later, saying ”Heck yeah! Who does this lady think she is, saying we couldn't even take on one spooky woman on her ghost ship! If she doesn't think we can take her, how the heck does she think we’re gonna be able to take down whatever the boss is? Stupid.”

There was a little more to be gleaned from the figure’s words. Further warnings about the dangers of the sea were given, and what Kamek noted was probably a rather important detail about the Maw, namely that eating was a poor thing to do upon it. Certainly, the implication had been there already that the food was dangerous, but it was rather useful to know for sure that the Maw’s bait was poisoned. They also learned that the only other danger listed in the maw other than the food was its mistress, a silent masked woman.

Despite the team’ general dislike with the strangers plan, the initial trip across the sea was agreeable, and so the majority of the gang sauntered onboard the (apparently living) ship without much fuss, which meant there were fewer people around when the hooded nobody made a grab for Peach. Kamek was taken by surprise by this move despite his distrust of the members of the 13, and so was only just pulling his wand out in reaction to her aggressive move when the figure let Peach go, but not before delivering one final dire potent of what would occur should they try a different path. Her final missive left, the Nobody departed via a dark portal that seemed to be a shared skill of the 13.

”What a grim woman she was. Are you alright your majesty?” Kamek asked Peach as he followed her aboard the ship.

Most of the squad were onboard when they arrived, including a still slightly huffy jr, who had parked his clown car and was now out on the deck. The boy was cured of his mood shortly afterwards however by Sakura’s tumble into the water, running over to the railing to laugh at the schoolgirl rather than help like Geralt was.

”Jr, don’t be rude to the poor woman,” Kamek admonished the boy for his mockery.

”Come on. She can’t even stay on a ship while it’s sitting in port. How bad do your ship legs have to be for that to happen?! Maybe we’ll have to tie her to the mast to stop her falling off again!” Jr called back, before hopping up onto the ship’s banister and deftly balancing walking along it and managing to avoid falling off even when the living ship moved unpredictably beneath him, a testament to having spent plenty of his life on Koopa Troop airships.

After jr had been convinced to stop tempting fate to deliver some well deserved comeuppance and was safely back on the deck, they were ready to set sail for danger and adventure.

World of Light

wordcount: 473 (+1)
Midna: level 1 EXP: ////////// (6/10)
Location: Sandswept Sky (desert)

So. they were being watched. Or so Primrose told her. Once again, Midna had to watch Primrose’s reaction to what she’d seen rather than observe it for herself thanks to the light. The imp tensed as the dancer went for her knife, priming herself to bring her magic to bare if they where attacked, only to relax once Primrose did. If the cautious women thought it wasn’t a threat then Midna was inclined to agree with assessment for the moment. It wasn't as if she could make her own with the harsh sun beating down and leaving her long distance vision blurry at best.

”Mysterious watchers in the desert? How fun. Let me know if they do anything stupid,” Midna commented, before drifting away when Primrose directed her to go first, returning her mischievous smile as she did before re-approaching the vehicle. She couldn’t see the machine the others were discussing as anything but a smudge in the distance, and so mostly ignored its existence, but was when the gang of masked teens said they were looking for a pyramid she took interest. The thing they were looking for in and of itself wasn't that interesting (though the gang’s lack of interest in sharing additional details about it was adding to a trend with them that she did not appreciate) but the not quite human Poppi’s search for their goal, giving the impression that she could see much further than the others could, definitely was.

”I maaaay have a similar kind of ulterior motive as these guys one for coming here. I’ve also got something I came here to find. A powerful artifact. A mirror, one that creates a portal to my home realm. Having the aid of an entire kingdom would be a great help don’t you think?” Midna asked Poppi, making an effort to be more informative than the teens as to why she was looking for the mirror of twilight and also in the process added an incentive that might get the team onboard with helping secure it, before laying out what the palace it could be found looked like.

”It should be in a massive circular open topped building with lots of arches in its walls. Got six massive columns surrounding it, bigger than the building, with golden poles atop those pillars, at the top of which there's symbols of an eagle with its wings spread and round mirrors in place of their heads,” Midna said, as she described the less straightforward design of the Arbiter's Grounds as best she could before adding ”also anything with this symbol could also help,” before sketching a quick Triforce in the sand with her massive hair hand.

After she’d gotten her answer, Midna would get back onboard (ducking back into a shadow as soon as she was inside) rather than hold up their journey any longer with sightseeing things she couldn’t see properly.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,457 (+3)
Bowser: Level 7 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (30/80)

And Blazermate
Level 8 Blazermate - (6/80) +3

Location: The Dead Zone

Bowser’s command for medical assistance was answered happily by Blazermate, who sailed above their foes and landed on his back, using his body as a shield as she healed his injuries. Broken scales where regrown and his cracked shell begin to close, crushing an infector that was trying to creep its way inside in the process. With Blazermate’s medibeam wiping away his wounds, the king went back on the offensive, rapidly roasting the lesser flood that had charged him in an attempt to take advantage of his wounded state. Yet the alien virus still had plenty of tricks up its sleeve they had to handle.

First, a sneaky flood with an energy sword tried to stab him in the back. Fortunately for him, he had someone watching it. Blazermate activated her ubercharge, engulfing the pair in a metallic shimmering invulnerability. As the king made additional mincemeat of the swarm the healer got her hands dirty, confronting the stealthed mutant, disarming it and then, adding insult to injury, stabbing it with its own sword.

”Yeah I noticed, seeing as they keep SHOOTING ME!” Bowser called back in response to her comment about the undead being armed, having taken a couple of shots while the uber was down. Now that it was back up and he’d had enough he decided to get the cowardly shooty flood hiding behind the flood of melee troops ”EAT THIS!” he roared before taking a deep inhale and blasting out a mega fireball. The massive car sized fireball plowed through the hordes of foes, passing though their masses, demolishing and incinerating everything in its path, before finally smashing into the ranks of ranged flood harassing the team, vaporising a significant number of them.

There was little time to celebrate however. Adding to the swarm of lesser creatures were a few particularly nasty foes in their ranks. The first came plowing through the wall of the building in some kind of improvised lighting firing armored car, which proceeded to vaporize the teleporter, closing off any hope of either escaping with it or bringing in more reinforcements. The pair of water pokemon were also still on the loose, the invincible Bowser having to physically hurl them aside as their bodies could not simply be incinerated like the others, meaning that even when their infectors were killed they’d simply rise again moments later.

They were like the physical embodiment of the Flood’s unending nature, for the flood just kept on coming like, well, a flood. The team wasn’t getting anywhere, just holding back the endless tide with their dwindling reserves of stamina and firepower and littering the floor with meliciouse spirits that they weren't really in a position to collect.

Which made it a good thing that one of them knew where they were going. Daxter spelled out their goal, while the kid with the big hand started trying to direct the squad towards an exit from the infested tower.

An exit that had been formed by the ambulance digger combo vehicle when it had smashed through a wall of the building. A vehicle who’s lighting spewing cannon was still active.

Once he’d figured out this very big problem there was little hesitation for Bowser as to what he had to do. With the last of his invulnerability king charged the vehicle head on, with Blazermate coming along for the ride on his back. Bowser barged combat forms aside and roaring loudly as bast after blast of the electrical cartoon harmlessly glanced off of his ubered shining body. He smashed into the reinforced scoop and the front of the vehicle, clawing forwards over it to grab it and hold the machine in place as it tried to back away. The king reached over, stabbing his mecha-mitt claws at the driver, who moved to avoid them, the metal bars welded over the window gap stopping him from just reaching in and crushing them. In retaliation it pushed a button inside the vehicle, causing the front schoop to smash forwards on a set of pistons, shoving the invincible king back only for it to drag him back in thanks to his hold on the bumper weapon. While this tactic was ineffectual at actually harming Bowser, it did further hindering his attempts to murder the driver.

As the king fumbled his attack time began to run out. The invisibility started flashing, indicating that it was about to run out, and the Blastoise and Tentacruel Warrior forms were rapidly closing in along with more common flood.

Blazermate, doing her duty as Bowser’s back protector and medic, tried using her new sword to help Bowser slash the car open, seeing as he was trying to get into it himself. With a hole big enough for her to fit through, and Bowser pointing at the driver, Blazermate got what he was saying, she thought. Moving through the hole she had cut through with her nifty plasma sword, she attacked the driver with it, a bit more nimbly than Bowser due to her smaller size, but also destroying some of the interior of the vehicle due to the sword offering almost no resistance and her unfamiliarity with it.

”Great now let’s” Bowser began to say, before the flood caught up with them, hurling themselves at the king, they assailed his back. Growling, the king shoved back, pushing himself off of the front of the Shockdozer, spiked shell slamming into the lesser flood before the king turned, and slashing his mecha-mit claws through them till they struck the armored and heat proof Blastoise. The hostile turtle knocked Bowser off balance, and got a few good hits in the process, but its smaller frame couldn't stand up to the king in a 1 vs 1. Unfortunately, it didn't have too as the Tentacruel crawled its way towards the brawl, the massive squid Pokemon’s tentacles grabbing for the king, trying to wrap him in its grasp and once more draw him towards its crushing mandibles to crack him open like a shellfish.

With finishing off the driver, Blazermate noticed Bowser was getting all tied up and in trouble. Seeing as she was in the car, and the only way to help Bowser was through Bowser, she got an idea. “Hey Bowser! Take this!” She said, handing Bowser the plasma sword, knowing that if she threw it, bad things might happen.

Holding the Blastoise back with one hand while the Tentacruel grappled him, Bowser reached back for the blade, rapidly shrinking as he did so so he could actually hold it in his hand. The enemy turtle’s puppet master might have thought this new even scale gave it an advantage, but it was sorely mistaken. Kicking off of the car, Bowser suddenly retracted into his shell and spun rapidly with the sword the only thing sticking out of his armored shell. Like a deadly spinning top, he hurtled towards the Tentacruel, scything through its tentacles with the blade like stalks of wheat before slamming the blade down though the top of its head, through the eye the infector was hiding in, and then down through the base, cleaving it in twain with the energy sword.

The twin halves of the mon slowly slid in half as the king landed on his stomach, before bursting into ash as he popped back out of his shell, a hand catching the monster’s Spirit, its image depicting a purified form of the poisonous sea beast.

The Blastoise meanwhile was dealing with the car itself, stepping in front of it to stop its new inhabitant from escaping. Seeing the zap cannon used before however, Blazermate figured that there had to be something in here that made it fire, and after haphazardly hitting various buttons, causing the vehicle to do all sorts of different things until finally Blazermate found the button to activate the cannon. Funnily enough, one of the buttons Blazermate hit was the one that activated the forward plates, knocking the Blastoise off of the vehicle and in a perfect line with the cannon, allowing her to zap it. The combined force of both attacks caused it to careen over towards Bowser, heavily damaged, as the koopa king finished it off by impaling it on her nifty plasma sword.

The king caught this Spirit as well and, while giving blazer a thumbs up roared ”WAY’S CLEAR LET’S MOVE TROOPS!” before stomping quickly back towards to Blazermate, handing back her blade as when he got close enough.

”Thanks Bowser!” Blazermate said before thinking. ”Guess I’m driving. Ok…. Medabots don’t drive so…what can go wrong?” Blazermate said, knowing only very basic information on how to drive. She shifted the gear shift into the R position before hitting the proper pedals to get the car to move, although hitting them a bit harder than one would normally do, due to not hitting the clutch until after hitting the gas pedal. This caused her and the vehicle to blindly drive backwards through the hole it had plowed and out into the unknown dangers that lurked beyond with Bowser following hot on her trail on foot, stopping only to huck a fireball or two at their pursuers.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,015 (+2) (+1 from Primrose colab)
Midna: level 1 EXP: ///////////// (5/10)
Location: Sandswept Sky (desert)

Having abandoned her former shadow ride for the sake of introductions, Midna rode along the trail atop one of her loyal Wolfos. She creature’s fur made for a decent cushion for her royal behind, (though riding all day would eventually take its toll no matter how comfy the mount) so the worst thing about the experience was the sunshine. It might not be lethal for her anymore, but as a creature of shadow being in the light still made her skin crawl, and it was only going to get worse.

As they crested the hill and reached the end of the trail Minda was forced to raise a hand to shade her straining eyes from the almost blinding glare emanating from the crack they had to traverse. She sent her ride home for the time being and floated her smaller form through the crevice others were having to squeeze through before making it to the other side where the deserts of the Sandswept Sky spread out endlessly before them.

”Eyugh, It's not only too bright and hot but and its huge too,” Midna complained, still shading her eyes. Still, if the mirror of twilight is going to have landed anywhere, it would be here, she thought. She’d gladly bare the heat if it meant there was a chance to find her home and ensure it was intact. As if to add insult to injury, not only was the sun beating down, but so too was a light glaring down from atop a distant mountain. The round creature that would later introduce himself as Tora pointed towards the light and suggested that there was a great beast circling it that must be the guardian they sought. She took his word for it. The shining beacon was unbearable. As was the heat. Which made the masked teen’s cats’ bizarre transformation into some kind of self powered cart a massive relief. She didn’t bother questioning how it worked, if it offered shade she didn’t care.

”So seeing as I’m floating and not flying you don't mind if I” Midna said, not bothering to finish her sentence before slipping first inside the vehicle, and then straight into the shadow cast by one of the vehicle’s sun visors, vanishing from view in the process. Her disappearing act allowed her to hide in the cool shadows without cramping the vehicle even further, but she did miss out on the personal cooling ant’s offered by the giant bee queen in the process. Midna didn’t mind this too much, the fact that both she and that ant-like minions were similar sizes would have made cuddling up to one rather awkward looking, or so she thought anyway.
.
Now that they, or rather the rest of the vehicles riders, weren't focused on walking they started to make some proper introductions at the prompting of Tora. After introducing himself and his flying machine woman companion Poppi, he told them of the remarkable world they came from, where people lived on the backs of colossal titans who waded through an endless ocean. It was an absurd concept and yet with all the insane things that were going on in the world of light it seemed that none thought it deserved comment. For all Midna knew that was an entirely normal way for a universe to be.

The cheerful fluffy creature’s openness was repaid with name only responses from the masked teens who’s ride they were using while Primrose’s guarded response continued to show her to be a lady of few words. It was somewhat funny to watch Tora’s attempt to make friends get shot down by the jaded bunch, or so Midna felt. It didn’t mean she needed to continue the trend. What, really, did she have to hide from these people? Her people's dark past had little meaning to people to whom their crimes had no meaning and her cursed form was no-longer a mark of shame, simply a nuisance.

”Kinda a dower bunch aren't you all” she said mockingly as she appeared once more in the light. She drifted in the center of the van near the shady ceiling as if it was filled with a shallow pool of water, hands resting behind her head ash she looked down at them.

”I’m Midna, Princess of the Twilight Realm, which is the... a” she corrected herself, who knew how many worlds had their own dark reflections, ”shadow realm parallel to Hyrule. The same Hyrule Link and Linkle are from, though they are both from a different time than me, and each other I suspect.” She directed this last comment at those who had arrived in Alcamoth alongside the Hylian heroes and as a result would have any idea what she was talking about.

”I can do shadow magic, and this fourth of the fused shadow I’m wearing lets me do this” she told them, before her hair transformed into a massive orange glowing arm tipped with an equally large hand. She used the vast power power granted from the ancient artifact of her people to offer to shake one of Tora’s equally large ear hands, ”Pleased to meet you,”

”Well that’s me” she said once she was done, her hair returning to normal, before concluding with a ”I’ll see you later,” before popping back into the shadows to avoid the heat and light. From there she listened to any introductions that followed hers to pass the rest of the time.

She didn’t pay much attention to the world outside, there was little to see but harsh sunlight and monotonous sand in her opinion, so instead of noticing the figure watching them from the dunes she first saw Primrose's reaction to spotting her and decided to investigate what had caused it.

”What’ve you seen?” she asked as she appeared from the shade above the woman before drifting down behind her once her presence had been noticed to squint out the same window. As much as she had played it off at the time, Midna did not want to have the woman’s knife pointed her way for a second time and so made an effort not to spook her again when doing this.

Into The Depths!

In the end everyone accepted, and the group was led to the place that would be their home for the next month. Little more was divulged as to why their mission was a secret, instead they were given explanations as to what they would be doing, namely, training. Training that among other things would allow them to form a bodily shield that would protect them from the fog of the abyss, a prospect that interested Ioxeia greatly. Anything that could ward against corruption was another tool to her arsenal, and a skill that would interest her order a great deal.

After a bit more information from Virgil about their rooms, financial situation and schedule for the coming month the group was left alone together and were able to introduce themselves to one-another.

“My name is Ioxeia, a Disciple of Panacea. I’ve come here from a monastery a day away from this city, though my family and order both originally hail from the city of Constantinople,” She informed the others when her turn came to introduce herself, feeling little need to hide what she was and perhaps oversharing in the process “As I mentioned before, I am first and foremost a doctor, and I will do all I can to ensure Petra’s prediction does not come true,” The masked doctor spoke with conviction despite knowing how all to possible such an end was.

She followed suit with the gender split of the rooms. Despite the obvious occupancy discrepancy this created, it was likely for the best. People who were about to face death sometimes desperately tried to find intimacy and even though a month was not long enough for this to cause an issue, and so in her opinion it was best to reduce the risks. The corruption of the abyss was not somewhere a new soul should be developing.

The first thing the doctor did was put her bag down on her chosen bed, and, after rummaging around in it for a few moments, retrieved a stick of incense and a jar to place it in. These were put on a nightstand near the bed she claimed and then lit. “For purity,” she explained succinctly if questioned as the pleasant scent slowly filled the room. Once the smell was suitably suffused into the air of the room, Ioxeia carefully removed her hat, boots and long gloves. The fabric covering her face was pulled down, and the mask was clipped to her belt, keeping both her most vital protection close at hand just in case. The rest of her protective ensemble remained on, but she would change out of it to sleep.

After her various other belongings were packed away, securely in some cases (you did not leave any kind of alcohol, even that intended for medical purposes, unsecured around soldiers, even the chosen of god) Ioxeia found herself at a loose end as to what to do, which made the Priest's offer to lead an evening prayer a reliving bit of familiar structure in what had been a rather tumultuous experience up until that point.

“I would be glad to join you, Brother Alistair”, she replied with an appreciative nod when the offer was made, unwilling to entirely drop the honorifics of the priest. Partially because she was a true believer and partially because her order had a complicated relationship with the church’s orthodoxy (their focused reverence of Saint panacea and their opinions about the nature and threat of demonic corruption rubbed some of the faithful the wrong way), and so it always paid to be polite to it’s Inquisitors. The last thing this expedition was arguments about minor doctrinal disputes.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 857 (+2)
Bowser Jr: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (99/60)
Kamek: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (34/70)
Location: Edge of the Blue

The plans made and teams organized, there was little more left to do other than to bid farewells. The Troop’s was short and sweet, the unearned confidence of father and son meaning neither was particularly worried about the dangers of going their separate ways, while Kamek made the more serious promise to ensure the young prince's safety no matter what. Peach’s name was also added to the list of people to protect before Bowser headed off to join the deadzone crew.

More unexpected was Queen Sectonia seeking out Kamek again, both to tell him how to summon her via portal should he need her aid or find something magical to discuss and to not so subtly return the Wand of Pocus he had given her to gain her aid in hauling Bowser out of the Devil's Casino. The mage retrieved it with a nod of acknowledgement and decided, optimistically, to treat it’s return as a sign of respect for a fellow mage rather than a rejection of the gift.

With the wand safely stored next to his own the mage joined an impatient Jr and together the pair headed for the Edge of the Blue along with the rest of their party, hoping through Jr’s portal network and then riding down through Gneidxick's portable hole on an elevator to the Casino. After brazenly walking past the cleaning crew who were picking up the mess they’d left the place in they made their way outside and found themselves on a lovely chain of islands they’d soon learn was called the Inkwell Isles. After hopping across a railway track that did not seem like it had anywhere to go on the island they found themselves in a lovely seaside town. A quick investigation of the place led them to conclude that it was not home to one of the guardians and, baring a junkyard Jr made a mental note of, lacking in anything really useful store or facilities wise.

Sticking with the rest of the group the Koopas found themselves down by the docks taking in the view when they, or rather Peach, was ambushed by another hooded figure dressed in leather robes like the Masters who decided it was his palace to start doling out questionable advice on how they should proceed despite their negative run-in with Gneidxick.

”Nobody is what you are, not who.” Kamek noted when the hooded figure speaking with Peach failed to divulge a name, unable to resit flaunting the knowledge he’d gained from the Master of Masters. The Nobody recommended they travel to the town across the water, help them fight some monsters and then to trick a number of its citizens into acting as bait for a sinister cruise ship.

Unsurprisingly, Peach and some of the other heroes voiced the fact that they were not too fond of the idea of using live bait for some kind of malevolent ghost ship. Kamek was mostly nonplussed by the suggestion, as using bait was classic bad guy stuff. He’d even acted as on at least one occasion by dressing up as peach to lure the Mario Bros down the wrong oath, but he could see the way the wind was blowing and decided against trying to convince the party to just use fools as bait. Instead, he decided to try and think o f ways to make the idea more palatable.

”If we were to try to lure the ship, then perhaps I may be off assistance. I may be able to devise a way to disguise individuals, either something more expendable or much more dangerous (the best kind of bite is the one that can bite back after all), as these, ah, repulsively described Guests. It would take some time to recall the correct spell of course, It would be the one used to disguise minions as Lord Bowser which we haven't used in quite some time, and then I would need to modify it to suit the correct appearance.” Though as the mage thought about it, the king would have fit the hunger bit of the gust’s description to a tee. It was, he thought, perhaps a very good thing the King had not come with them.

Jr meanwhile was equally as instances and the other party members, but not by the suggestion they use innocent bait, but rather about the idea of sneaking onboard ”Stow aboard like rats?! Yeah right, not happening. Either we storm this place and take it over or its not worth the effort of getting it to show up.”

“Mimi kyu kyu” the boy’s little ghost mon agreed from its perch on his shoulder, before flexing its noodle arms.

Jr grinned at his minion’s response before suggesting an alternative. ”Besides, if they're being plagued by sea monsters over there then there's plenty of way’s that’d let us make the trip ourselves. Either we absorb some sea-monster Spirits or we capture and tame some and use their powers to take to the sea” he said before patting Mimikyu’s pokeball where it was stored on his bandolier with one of his wrist horns for emphasis.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,308 (+3)
Bowser: Level 7 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (27/80)
Location: The Dead Zone

Bowser insists on going first through the portal to the Deadzone, and that was probably for the best for everyone except the king himself, who wretched at the sight and smell of the Flood. His son and advisor, the king thought, had not been over exaggerating when they said how bad the place was when compared to the last two locations. Or, at least the outset of them. The king didn't really have time or inclination to examine the fact that horror seemed to have lurked around every corner since they left the delightful grounds of Peach’s castle, and instead focused on what was important. Namely not dying and clearing the way for the rest of the team.

As the gibbering hord of warped flesh began to charge the invader in their mist the king inhaled, and then let the fire flow. Bowser’s flame breath swept forwards across the front ranks of the incoming undead, flash frying the smaller faster multi legged once in an instant, their round bloated bodies bursting like flaming popcorn kernels. Bowser swept his flame breath across the foyer, cleansing it clean of the little runners as he drew in dark magic and increased further in size till he stood a head taller than even the largest of the abominations. It made him a very obvious target.

As Bowser’s flamethrower sputtered out due to the king having expelled his lung capacity in his opening attack those flood still capable of wielding weapons and who actually had them at hand began to return fire, bombarding the large and obvious target of Bowser with an inaccurate hail of small arms fire.

”Gahhh!” the king roared in pain as a bullet stabbed into his face, perilously close to his eyes. He brought his mecha-mit up to shield himself, the small orange shield allowing him to withstand the onslaught for a few moments longer. His suit, so recently patched up by Sectonia’s ant minions, had no such luck as it began to be perforated by their gunfire.

”GET IN HERE AND HELP” Bowser called back as larger masses of flesh closed the distance, trampling the scorched bodies of its allies as they went. With a hammer of his fist the king struck forth, scaled fingers crunching into the torso of the first of the monsters with a massive secondary clawed hand growing over its first, sending it flying backwards, its crippled body colliding with several others, sending them all sprawling. Then he grabbed another up in front of him to further act as a shield, only for its still writhing form to launch disgusting feelers from where its head had once been, attempting to infect him with its taint even as the other combat form’s weapons tore into it’s back to shreds. The king hurled it aside before kicking another with his steel capped boots. Yet even with his devastating blows the swarm were numerous, and before he obliterated or burned them away their clawed hands slashed against his scales, leaving gashes and bruises in the softer flesh hidden below.

Linkle was the fastest and most obvious of the squad entering the fray, her bombs and rapid fire crossbows tearing into the swarm, while her ice formed barriers to shield her from the infected’s fire. Between their aoe, the pair had put a significant dent into the first press of foes trying to reach them, but as the sound of battle echoed out into the dead zone, it drew more and stronger foes towards them from inside and out. A titan of flood power had lumbered into the fight, its massive tentacles smashing a hole in Linkle’s ice wall and refused to go down even as its lesser allies fell around it as they tried to swarm the breach.

Bowser moved to assist, taking a short run up, shoving combat forms aside with his weight, before diving forwards onto his belly and retracting his arms and legs inside his shell. Spinning like a top, the spiked turtle shell plowed through several lesser minions before colliding with the tentacled beast, smashing it backwards and into the wall of the building. The wall cracked with the force of the impact, but the beast was still intact, even as it batted the spinning shell away, but it was clear of the ice wall. For now.

Uncontrollably, the king spun on, leaving a trail of devastation as he plowed through the lobby till, eventually he came to a stop next to a doorway. He popped back to his feet and almost immediately let loose another gout of flame, incinerating yet more flood fodder with his fire.

Surprisingly, it wasn't just the Red Team who came to back him up, but also another mysterious hooded figure akin to the Master of Master and the former King Dice who came in and flash froze a flaming zombie in time before complaining they were late. The team had their hands full, and Bowser was done wasting breath when it could be used for frying their foes.

Suddenly, steam filled the air. A torrent of putrid water struck the king’s flames, extinguishing several flood forms and forcing the flames back, before punching through the king’s fury breath, hitting him in the mouth. The king gagged and coughed, cutting off his attack as he tried to block the water. Then when it died he growled, trying to identify the source. Said source charged right at him, firing concentrated streams of water from it’s shoulder mounted cannons as it did so. It was a hulking, if smaller than him turtle, flood forms extending from its slack mouth, unable to push its rigid scaled head aside. The infected Blastoise cleaved at him with massive oversized claws growing on its remaining hand. Bowser turned his back to the side, blocking its blow with his own shell, before driving his own mecha-mit claws into the creature.

Something about the turtles constitution seemed to shrug off the heat damage of the weapon and, worse, Bowser now saw that the infected pokemon wasn't alone, as a writhing mass of tentacles pulled themselves through one of the tower’s doorways right beside him, ripping the hinges aside as it forced its bloated head into the room. As Bowser tried to fend off the Blastoise the Tentacrule, flood tendrils poking out of a missing eye, grappled him, dragging its massive lower pincer towards him, locking the colossal jaw around his shell before beginning to crush the thoroughly trapped turtle like a nut in a nutcracker.

”GAAAAH!” Bowser roared with fiery rage, yet as his flames licked at the giant squid it seemed to be as ineffective as the mecha-mit had been on the other undead water Pokemon. As to add insult to injury a muscled human flood dressed in a sailor’s uniform joined the battle, the dead trainer clawing at the king alongside his infected Pokemon.

”MINIONS! HELP ME!” Bowser roared, summoning every striker he had. Mallet, Sledge and Heel all appeared inside the writhing scrum and were immediately waylaid by tentacles that wrapped around them. The two hammer bros and the Rabbid supporter did not go down easily however, hurling hammers and bombs at the Tentacruel, causing it to loosen its grip just enough for Bowser to free an arm and punch it hard in its missing eye where the flood core lived, while Carri the Trowlon swooped under the Sailor, hauling them into the air and slamming them into the ceiling, pinning him there and drawing the Ire of the Blastoise.

The turtle disengaged to chase after the Trowlon, blasting it with a hydropump, destroying it and causing it to drop the infected trainer to the ground while the Tentacruel was smashed away from Bowser by his desperate blow. Bowser was free, but was deeply wounded, cracks marring his shell and both the fire resistant flood were still at large.

”Blazermate! Heal me!” the king demanded loudly, failing to hide the pain in his voice as he pushed himself to his feet to face the flood closing in on him.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 4,008 (+3)
Bowser: Level 7 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (24/80)
Bowser Jr: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (97/60)
Kamek: Level 6 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (32/70)
Location: Smash City Alcamoth

And Introducing
Midna
wordcount: 800 +2
level 1 EXP: //////////// (2/10)

”GAHAHAH, CLASSIC WALUIGI“ Bowser replied when told about the shifty gent in question’s behavior. A couple of the others actually introduced themselves to the princess while Daxter went about petting Isabell like the adorable dog she was, leaving her somewhat flustered but not enough to stop her announcing that there’d be a meeting in an hour about relaying the state of the world to the other smashers, leaving the team sixty minutes to kill.

As some of the others wandered off to explore the rest of the complex the king and his resting advisor remained in the lobby waiting for Jr to get back. The boy returned fairly quickly, complaining about the lack of any kind of concrete reward for the final quest other than the admiration of the town (which he admittedly seemed pretty pleased about receiving even as he whined about it). After they’d caught Jr up on the plan the troop had a brief poke around the city to doubly confirm that the building was indeed the safe-haven it seemed to be they felt safe enough to go exploring the city.

Of course, in a city filled with smashers, conflict was never far away.

---

“Mimi!” Mimikyu squealed, before hiding behind Jr’s head. The boy had been roaming the halls on foot, with the mascot mimicking mon riding his shoulder as she now so often did, when something had spooked the soft spook.

”Huh? What?” Jr glanced around in alarm, but couldn’t spot anything unusual in the area, just a few people hanging around discussing the circulating news about their newly arrived team and the meeting that had been called as a result of their arrival. Or at least that’s what Jr assumed they were talking about. The main group in the area were all pokemon, so it was hard to tell.

”I don’t see anything. What's the matter with you?” Jr asked Mimikyu belligerently, and received a tentatively pointed finger slinking past his vision and indicating to the head of the poke-gang. The one, the only, the most iconic Pokemon of them all. Pikachu. The electric rodent was sitting casually on a park bench and was speaking, unintelligibly to Jr, with Jigglypuff and a few others.

”What. Pikachu? What about them?” jr asked as he turned around to face her, the mon scooting round him to avoid coming into line of sight of the mascot before jumping down onto Jr’s hand once he was looking directly away from the group of mon.

Mimiktu was the picture of nervousness, or as much of one as a ghost hiding under a homemade Pikachu doll could be.

“Mimi, kyu kyu mi kyuyu” the mon tried to explain incomprehensibly

”What, are you scared of them?”

“Kyu kyu” Mimikyu replied, unclearly communicating a mixture of confirmation and rebuttal of that statement.

”Uh.... Well. want to leave?” he asked, to which Mimi resolutely shook her head, before peaking round him to look at Pikachu again before flinching away when he seemed to look her way

Jr frowned at this, then rolled his eyes. ”You’re being weird. We’re just going to go talk to him now Ok, so you can stop being weird about this” Jr told her, before turning and striding towards the Pokemon and calling out ”Hey Pikachu!”

Mimikyu panicked, but, not wanting to look like a coward or a fool now that Jr had gotten the attention of the group she sat stock still on Jr’s palm as she was brought closer.

”Hey, uh, little guy. Cool to see you.” he said, earning a little wave and a “pika” from the mon before he introduced his own ”This is Mimikyu, say hi Mimi”

Mimi looked at Pikachu sheepishly. She had earned a few strange looks from the other mon for both her mimicking outfit and Spaak modifications warping her form, but the famous Pokemon took the entire situation in stride, smiling warmly at her and even holding out a paw to shake in greeting.

Mimikyu reached out a hand to shake the legend’s paw, but failed to maintain any semblance of control over the stretched limb. The over eager noodle-arm rushed the distance separating them, overshot the mon’s own outstretched paw and smacked Pikachu straight in the face.

A look of shock crossed ever-mons face, including Mimikyu’s own. Before she could recover or attempt an apology Pikachu wiped off their own shocked expression and nodded seriously.

And it was this way that Mimkyu found herself facing off against the living legend in a smash arena.

---

“Oh wow, this is so exciting” jabbered the young shorts wearing boy who had ended up being the one who would referee the upcoming match, “you know I’m a trainer too. I’ve been wanting to have my Rattata compete on one of these stages, but I always get turned down when I ask for a match. I think they're all worried I’ll show them up. See, my Rattata like, in the top-”

”Oh would you just stop talking and start them already!” Jr barked back at the boy, who’s name was Joey. The two of them were standing in a spectator stand overlooking a large and for the moment empty room where the bout would be taking place.

“Ok ok. Sorry jeez,” the boy replied before heading for the controls of the room, “Touchy much?

The other mon Pikachu had been speaking with were scattered among a few spectator balconies along with a few others who’d heard of the fight, including, Kamek, Bowser (which was half of what was giving Jr nerves) and an intense looking Pokemon trainer clad in red (who was the other half).

While his father wasn’t actually doing anything to deserve Jr’s unfounded fear of disappointing him (after waving and yelling some supportive words down at him the king had spent the setup period lounging on a large chair eating a pizza he’d gotten from somewhere) the trainer in red had only ever taken his unnerving gaze off of jr to look down at the combatants.

Mimikyu and Pikachu stood a few meters apart, the mascot waving at his fans and stretching while the mimic looked like she was trying to hide under their cloth disguise even harder than she normally did. She didn’t have to stew in her embarrassment for much longer however, as Jr’s snapping at the ref had finally got the chatty boy to fire up the stage. Various machines around the darkroom fired up, forming first a softly white shimmering bounding box and then pulling the stage into existence.

Rising up into existence out of the floor, the pokemon stadium ascended, raising the two mon into the air atop it till it hung above the floor in perfect view of the onlookers and, of course, of Jr, who gripped the banisters of the referee box as the ref stepped forwards to start the match.

“Alright. Let’s start this thing!” the Joey called out, getting everyone’s attention before beginning a count down.

“3”

”You can do it Mimikyu! Don’t let me down!”

“2”

Mimikyu had been busy regretting basically their entire life up until this moment, but Jr’s yelling brought her focus back to the room just in the nick of time.

“1”

The trainer in red nodded at Pikachu as the mon squared up to fight

“Go!”

Pikachu burst off of the metaphorical starting block with frightening speed, a streak of yellow racing across the artificial grass as they charged the startled Mimikyu. She lashed out in response with her noodley shadow arms, trying to block more than she was trying to strike her incoming opponent. With peerless skill Pikachu dodged over the first limb, and then under the second, breaking past her guard in seconds. He skidded to a halt before her, leaving her staring at him with panic for what felt like a moment frozen eternity before Piachu’s paw came down and slapped Mimikyu’s face. Her actual face, not the false decoy sat atop her body.

She blinked in surprise, stunned by the move and lack of follow up.

“Pika” the mon said, smiling with surprise warmth before making a come at me action.

They were even now, Mimikyu realized, everything else after this was just for show. Saving face. An accident turned into a show of bravado. Mimikyu felt her embarrassment die, nodded and furrowed her brows as she properly got into the swing of things. She quickly reeled her long limbs that had fallen to the ground back in trying to grapple Pikachu, only for the mon to quick attack upwards, escaping her bind. She looked up, seeing him hanging there with an energetic smile before he dashed away again to land back at his starting point.

Now the fight could begin for real. Nothing on the line, just the thrill of battle that burned within the hearts of all Pokemon.

Pikachu came in again, but instead of panic and sit in place Mimi moved, grappling an arm up to one of the floating platforms hovering above the stage, swinging themselves upwards. Her hand sunk into the platform as she landed atop it, stretching her shadow out in the process. It raced forwards towards Pikachu, dashing under him as he turned towards her escape route and then rising up as a shadowy copy of her that lashed out with its own dark claws.

Pikachu darted to and fro, dodging claw after claw and gaining only the smallest grazes as a result before electricity sparked from their cheeks and he hurled a ball of lightning up at Mimikyu, forcing her to move and dispel the shadow sneak. She hit the ground running, or scooting, but Pikachu was right on her tail, getting in close again despite her best efforts at warding him off. She backpedaled, bringing her tail stick up to block his own tail swipe while driving her other claw up in an arch and then down at him, trying to spike him with strikes from above. Pika narrowly dodged to the side of this swipe before driving his head forwards in a skull bash, the impact launching her towards the edge of the stage.

She hit the ground but rolled back to her feet as pikachu came at her again. The melee that would likely have played out the same again was changed as the stage suddenly began to morph, flat artificial grass turning to hard stone that rose into the sky, transforming the stage into a tableau of a quarry. Mimi was raised into the sky, while Pikachu was left at the bottom with a series of platforms they would need to traverse to reach her.

Or so she thought. Instead the mon launched a barrage of sparks at the cliff face, each electric ball striking the ground and then bouncing forward, and upwards, the lightning racing up the mountain towards her. She dodged to and fro to avoid them but Pickachu wasn’t done with such puny sparks and instead brought the thunder. With a cry from the electric mouse a stormcloud formed above them both, down from which a bolt of pure lightning hurtled, its impact obliterating the mountain top as Mimikyu half jumped and half was thrown from atop it towards the center of the stage.

Rather than plummet down into pummeling range she grappled to a steel platform, swinging over and then under it, coming back into vision of Pikachu while charging an electroball. She hurled it at the surprised Pikachu, who took almost the full brunt of the shock attack and vanished beneath a shower of dust.

“Oh wow! I didn’t think Mimikyus could learn that move. Or any electric moves.” Joey shouted excitedly.

”Yeah? Well mine’s special.” Jr gloated as he grinned down at the stage

“Shame it’s not very effective though.” Joey said, right before Pikachu dashed out of the dust cloud, quick attacking left, then right and winding right next to a bamboozled Mimikyu before delivering a kick to her face. Mimikyu fell from the steel platform right as the stage morphed again back to its flat grassy field.

She picked herself back up, tiring but ready to fight back, as Pikachu kicked things into high gear, using quick attack to circle round her in 6 point dashes, looking for openings to strike. She was unable to keep up, and once he was sure of this Pikachu started harrying Mimikyu, darting in to strike with foot, paw or tail before darting away again. Mimi cried out as she was struck again and again, and her clawing, shadow sneaking and electro-balls all failing to strike back at the fast moving mon.

Practically crushing the banister under his claws as he tried to keep up with the action Jr called out ”Stop letting him walk all over you! Use copycat! see how he likes it!”

For a moment it looked like she hadn't heard as she was struck again in the back, but when Pikachu darted away again, Mimikyu suddenly lurched off in the opposite direction. Pickachu paused for a moment at the end of that dash, helpful giving her just enough time to re-orientate herself, before a lightning fast battle commenced. Every dash Pikachu made, Mimikyu copied, the two dancing around each other in near perfect unison, darting in to exchange flurries of blows before darting back out to resume circling. It looked like it was going to be a stalemate or at least an endurance match, Pikachu having a slight advantage in always making the first move, but Mimi’s range advantage let her keep up with her opponent. This all changed when the stage started to morph once again. Fans opened up beneath them, hurling both fighters skywards for an arial battle

Mimi gripped the edge of her doll disguise, clinging to it so that it wouldn’t be blown off her cloud like body. Neither of the lightweight mon was able to maneuver very well in the billowing winds, but here Mimi had the advantage, her long limbs and electro balls far better at crossing the open air between them and warding Pikachu away from her, preventing him from getting stuck in in melee where he had the advantage. Pikachu attempted to get close, paddling through the air slowly, but was repeatedly slapped or shocked away. He glanced to the side at the man at red and, after a silent communication, began to rapidly charge themselves with electricity.

”No No No!” Jr panicked, recognizing the attack as a Volt Tackle. Even if by the looks of things the attack wasn’t going to be anywhere close to the final smash powered shock, Jr knew how dangerous the fast moving shock attack could be. ”Quick, Copycat again!” He called out in a panic, hoping she could match him dash for dash like she had with quick attack.

“Mimik!” the ghost cried out in response and began to charge with power too.

The two mon finished charging mere moments later, and around the two spheres of electricity flared. Though weaker than the final smash fueled variant, the two powerful electric attacks still coursed with destructive energy, raring to be unleashed. Without a moment's hesitation the two rammed at each other with joyfully determined looks on their faces, the two balls crashing together. Electricity to spark around the room, causing the lights and even the hard light stage itself to flicker as lighting raced through the metal fans covering its floor. They zoomed apart after a moment and then came racing back in and slammed together again, and then again and again before drew back again for one final head on blow

The two spheres of power sparked in a crescendo of power, and then the stage died beneath them, shorted out by the climactic final clash of their roaring electrical discharges. The pair’s charges died a moment later, causing them to sail lighting free through the short distance between them before mundanely bumping into one another. With the light show cleared, it was clear who had come out worst off from the battle.

Lightly smoking, Mimikyu had suffered greatly from Piachu’s electric type synergy with the move, while the mon himself had resisted the worst of her own tackle’s damage thanks to that same typing. In the end, that final collision was too much for her, causing her to faint and they bumped into one another. While this might make Pikachu the winner, the now rather large drop below them threatened to put a damper on that victory. He grabbed Mimikyu as she started to fall, intending to try and protect her from the fall as best he could, but instead her cloud-like body softened his own descent, slowing it enough that Jiggly puff could get into position to act as a crash-mat. Pikachu bounced off of the balloon like Pokemon and then landed on his feet on the ground just as Jr came running, having jumped down from the balcony as soon as he saw Mimi falling.

Picakchu held Mimikyu up for Jr to retrieve, giving him an approving nod as a judge of her performance as the boy, both concerned and frustrated at having, indirectly, lost to him, snatched her from his hands. Holding Mimikyu close, Jr glared at Pikachu, saddening the mon’s expression, before turning and fleeing, the gaze of the trainer in red following him as he fled.

Jr scurried to Lumbridge's Pokémon Center, protecting the exhausted and fainted Pokémon from further harm.

---

Mimikyu awoke in a place unfamiliar to her, but that would have been a familiar sight to many of her kind. The warmly lit beige and red walls of the Lumbridge Pokemon center greeted her as she blinked her eyes and the events that had led her to be unconscious came back to her. First embarrassment and then excitement flashed across her expression, before she suddenly became concerned and glanced to and fro cautiously till she found Jr looking down at her, along with his elders.

”See, she’s fine. Tough little minion you’ve got there Jr“ Bowser told his son while ruffling the boy’s hair.

The prince bore the gesture with a mix of embarrassment and affection, but once it was over a complicated expression came across his face that worried Mimikyu.

”We’d best be going if we want to get a set of seats of the meeting Sire. We’ll go ahead, but make sure to not be a late young master.” Kamek said, giving Jr a look, before hoping down from the stool he had been seated on and heading for the door with Bowser, leaving Jr and Mimikyu alone at the little table in the corner of the center that Jr’d brought Mimikyu out onto after healing her at the main desk.

”So.” Jr said, before pausing for a long drawn out moment before finding his words, ”You lost, and you made me look bad,” Jr said, causing Mimikyu to shrink down under his gaze before he continued ”But… I’ve been there. A lot. There's this plumber called Mario, and Pikachu’s kinda like your Mario I guess? We’ll get stronger, and then beat him next time, ok?”

The boy held out a hand. Mimikyu, lacking the context or the words to explain how fighting her idol had not been the plan and that the situation had nothing in common to the koopa’s constant battle against the Italian plumber, nodded enthusiastically, then hopped onto Jr’s hand to be raised back up to her regular spot on his shoulder. One thing Jr had said rang true however. She would get stronger.

Together, the two hurried after and caught up with the rest of the troop, before the four of them headed for the meeting in smash city, regaling Mimikyu with tails of their misadventures battling against the Red clad plumber.

---

For the Troop more or less everything in the meeting was old hat. Baring some quiet grumbling about the unsurprising rejection of the idea of forming an army in favor of the traditional heroic party and Kamek being called up to put their map on display there was little for them to add till it came to choosing a place to go.

For another however, all this was new and yet also also familiar.

Same song, different songstress Midna thought for herself as the Princess told them about what had happened to the world. It was Cia all over again, though this time it was different worlds rather than different times. Like a certain dancer, Midna had little interest in sitting idly in the reserves. She had a kingdom to reclaim and a people to lead. So she hitched a ride in Primrose’s shadow once she spotted that she was one of the people going down to the front table where discussion of deployments were ongoing.

Though she’d only meant to ride her coattails to the front desk to learn about where the heroes were heading out, but she stuck around long enough to listen in to her talk with the self proclaimed Master of Masters. The hooded figure and her chosen chauffeur discussed the magic involved with Spirits with far more depth than the short briefing he’d given to the general audience. It was unsurprising that there was more to learn, she imagined those without any magical aptitude would find the extended details a bore. To both the dancer and her shadow however, it was an interesting set of extra details. The ability to cheat death and the battle of spirits that resulted from a fusion. The cursed princess was certainly considering the prospects of being able to use this feature of the warped world both as a way to gain power and, perhaps, to reduce the indignity of her impified form by taking on the spirits of those with more dignified shapes. She’d never get her true one back, that would require taking the spirits of her own, and that was abhorrent, but an approximation could perhaps be achieved or at least something less fragile.

As for the rest of the Master’s words, his ability was interesting and offered up some philosophical questions on the nature of time, but it was his last two comments that he offered that struck Midna almost as hard as it did his intended target, though for very different reasons.

The dead coming back for Midna was nothing but trouble. It had happened before and the prospects of a repeat of the return of Zant and Gannon did not bode well. As for the Confessor, well, the knowledge of him and the presence of a Link among the party raised some prospects that she wasn't sure she wanted to consider. She had made her peace with her decision, and yet this place now offered temptations she did not know how to process. She was trying to sort through these feelings in the dark when the dancer joined the line for the counter. To distract herself she listened into the babbling of the group behind her, which consisted of a curious collection of humanoid turtles discussing where they’d go.

”How about the dead zone?” Bowser was asking

”Pass. That place is nasty” Jr said, while Kamek agreed ”I concur. It was quite a brutal place. Full of demons, eternal darkness and hordes of undead. I would not recommend it.”

”So the toughest place then? The one that needs the toughest guy to take on?” Bowser replied

”Perhaps, but how about this windswept desert?” Kamek instead suggested

”Sounds like a pain too.” Jr interjected ”Sand everywhere, it’d gum up my car. The Blue seems like the best one. It was nice looking, least from the casino. You can go wherever you want, I’m going there”

”Then so shall I” Kamek concluded as soon as Jr had made his decision before looking over at Bowser, wondering what the King would decide ”Sire?”

”Hmmm” The king said, scratching his chin and clearly undecided.

Midna took her focus away again when the dancer reached the end of the nine, and was surprised to hear her leave a list of names instead of attempting to forcibly sign up to a mission like the gang of masked teens had done. Still, a shadow tells more than some would like to let on. A fixation on a spot on the map told her all she needed to know. Midna gambled on her intuition being correct and it seemed to pay off as the Dancer left the hall to find a spot close to the exit to wait. It was perfect. Either she could ride her into the desert party or she could jump ship if the dancer failed to live up to her expectations.

Into The Depths!

Ioxeia left her father’s clinic behind and headed deeper into the city, the familiar sun beating down on her to no avail. Even if she had had no idea where to go, the currents of the city’s people were telling enough as they flooded towards the center. She walked in their mists, carefully weaving her small frame between soldiers, spectators and the blessed few. Her distinctive apparel drew looks of confusion and derision from some who noticed her, but also, rarely, a thankful nod or gesture from someone who’s life or loved one had been saved by her order. She held those looks of thanks in her heart as the trepidation mounted the closer she got to her destination.

And then all of a sudden, she was there. Ioxeia skirted past the front-line of the civilians who had come to watch the spectacle and was able to see it for herself. The blessed. Hundreds of them. From every walk of life and from all across the known world. To Ioxia it was a glorious sight to behold, one that drove down her fear and smothered it with awe. Yet even this paled in comparison to what came next.

After she quickly joined the ranks the speaker announced their purpose here, to descend, and then announced those who would be leading them down into the depths. Ten shining knights stepped forwards onto the podium and each was boldly announced in turn. It was, as a nearby gifted in priestly attire put it, quite the spectacle. Others might have seen through the display, but it had the intended effect upon Ioxeia, lifting her spirits so soon after the dread spiked by the mention of the descent. Those spirits slowly cooled once more however, as the long list of 300 names where slowly read out, the numbers of gifted still standing around her dwindling and dwindling till, at last, it was just her and 8 others standing before the announcer while the other 300 began to be lead away towards the castle.

Under the gaze of the onlooking civilians Ioxeia refused to let her concern or confusion show. A doctor, she reminded herself, must remain calm and appear in complete control of the situation, lest the scare or alarm the patient. She stood up straight and forced herself to patiently wait for an explanation.

Fortunately the 8 of them weren't left to stew for too long, as they were soon joined by their Sargent. The 11th. His late arrival or mockery by the announcer didn’t give the best first impression. He quickly led them away to what in retrospect seemed to be a hidden away part of the castle and then turned to explain himself.

He was new to his role, they were to be the first to truly enter the abyss, they would be doing so in less than a month and their mission was to be top secret. It was a lot for Ioxeia to process. The final question, however, needed no consideration.

“As the Lord wills, so it shall be. I am with you and you have my word as a doctor that I will uphold the confidentiality of this mission.” she said, with a bow of her head. She had to bite her tongue to resist the urge to bombard the Sergeant with more questions than he was already getting.