DracoLunaris

World of Light

wordcount: 1,747 (+3)
Midna: level 3 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////// (7/40)
Location: Sandswept Sky - railroad

The strange detonation left them in the dark, both figuratively and literally. All they could do was push forwards and- ”No, wait, no we don’t” Midna remembered there was a relatively straightforward way of getting info about what had happened, at least if the mercs knew anything about it. Actually now that she thought about it, the detonation had been worryingly close to Alcamoth, it would be good to make sure it was still in one piece. With a simple incantation she summoned a Moogle who appeared upon the disk decorating her mount’s forehead.

It wobbled for a moment, arms spinning, then caught its balance and said “Hello again, Kupo. Got more errands for people?”

”Questions actually” Midna replied

“About the big explosion” the moogle guessed, to which Minda nodded, and so it helpful explained “That was the Dead Zone going kablooie kupo. The Red Team left because they said someone dumped a body in the middle and that it was going to go boom any second. Looks like they were right kupo, because now that place is gone. A good thing too, lots of nasty things multiplying in there apparently, which is why someone decided to explode it in the first I’d bet, kupo.”

”Well. Guess that deals with Red’s target,” Midna said, which was good news, although the existence of a way to blow up entire cities was concerning. Then again, how many bodies were there in the world of light? No new ones at any rate. ”Red got out ok then? What’s next on their agenda?”

“Some were hurt, but the rest went off to meet with the Blue team in a city sitting on the south west ocean, kupo” Midna nodded. So they were, at the moment, the only ones going east at the moment. They were ranging far, far beyond any base of support then. Good thing it was just them, with an army this would have been a logistical nightmare. The Moogle wasn't done however, as it got to some of the bad news. One of the party had died in the zone, which was regrettable, though Minda couldn't place the name and, “also Linkle took this thing called the Skullheart. It’s supposed to grant pure-hearted wishes, but it turns anyone who’s wish doesn't meet that criteria into a monster called a skull girl. Strong scary necromancer kupo. Apparently it’s real strict with what’s ‘pure’ and so it thought Linkle’s wish was no good and then, well...”

”What?” Midna couldn't believe it. Well, she could believe that that girl had been reckless enough to do something like that, people didn't merrily follow a compass needle into a time fractured warzone without buckets of self confidence, ovaries of steel and a complete disregard for their own safety after all, but that anything she might have wished for was impure? Preposterous. ”Then what happened?”

“They said that before anyone could do anything, a member of organization XIII, that's those leather cloaked guys with weird names. Not the master of masters. Different people kupo. One of them snatched her up and took her who knows where though a portal. Big turtle boss says for everyone to keep a look out for her kupo, to be suspicious of those cloaked people and to think about if they know any way to remove cursed wish giving skull hearts from people.”

Midna didn't, at least not off the bat. Maybe if they captured her she could try and work something out, but it wasn't her area of magical expertise. She didn't know if anyone else had anything they could use to help either. She shook her head head sadly. Between the city bomb and linkle being monsterified the Deadzone was as bad as its name suggested.

“That’s all. Need anything else Kupo?” the moogle asked gently

”No… No I think that’s all. Or, well, I guess if anyone else asks we’re getting closer to the mountain? Oh and if you take on 10 weak spirits of the same type it’ll turn you into the spirits you're taking in. People might like to know that.”

“That is new Kupo,” the Moogle looked around to see if it could spot who’d completely transformed themselves before Minda infomed it that ”It was a wolfos, but they’re back in the twilight real right now”

“Oh ok, Kupo.” It replied, a little disappointed, before asking the group “anyone else need anything?”

After it was done, the moogle vanished after a final ”goodby and good luck kupo” leaving them to continue their night running. Or night riding in Midna’s solitary privileged case. Both her and her mount were well adapted to this. Indeed the bright star and moonlight shining down on them was more than enough for them to see clearly through the night and, as a result, Midna actually got a clear look at the mountain they were traveling towards. Admittedly having a hazy blob turn into a clear lump wasn’t the biggest change, but she could see the shape of the, presumed, guardian slowly circling it. Good to know where they were going, a touch unnerving to have it looming over them the whole time. Was it watching or were they just insignificant specks to the Guardian?

The team kept following the tracks as they stretched out, seemingly endlessly, towards the mountain. It was rather impressive that anyone or thing had had the resources to just plonk this much metal down in the middle of the desert, though she still had no idea what it was for. Part of the reason only came clear when the sand started to change from a packed to more liquidy, causing her wolfos to start to get bogged down in it. She followed Tora’s advice and steered onto the track, and then gave Poison a big hand when Braum needed pulling out of the quicksand.

”We’re lucky these are here,” Midna noted, though she didn't know quite how lucky till the report came in that the liquefaction kept going, sand turning to a sea of syrupy delight. ”Maybe we’ve actually been walking on brown sugar since we left the ruins?” Minda suggested, and while she somewhat wanted to go back and check that hypothesis they were left with little time to muse on the upcoming absurdity as the desert decided that now was an excellent time to get nasty.

First came a rumbling and then suddenly a pair of red slugs burst from the sand, dragging two of their companions off into the quicksand. Following in their wake was a swarm of small metal machines that buzzed around above them and pelted them with energy pellets. Midna and her wolfos dodged and dashed around on the limited space of the tracks trying to avoid the shots. At first she tried to grab them with her shadow hand, then she hurled sand at the flying things, but both of these were incapable of hitting the nimble buzzing machines.

For her third strategy, the princess jabbed a finger at the ones flying around above her and then out of a portal came her new Vibrava, briefly increased by more than three times in size and much more imposingly draggony as a result. The adolescent drake flew upwards like a massive projectile, smashing multiple machines with sheer mass and crunching another one right in front of it before pausing at roughly the same altitude as the swarm and unleashed a bug buzz. Its wings buzzed thunderously and produced a violent storm of soundwaves around itself, buffeting the drones (and forcing the princess, who was directly below the source of the ear splitting sound, to cover her ears defensively) before dropping down into another portal and vanishing again. All this occurred in a scant few heartbeats.

The princess shook her head to clear the ringing and spotted that both the medic and the scout had freed themselves from the beasts and the sand, before both she and her Wolfos had to leap out of the way of the giant bullrushing sandfish as it plowed over the tracks, smashing their two big guys, Braum and the Heavy, into the quicksand in the process.

”I’ve got you!” Midna called out as she raced to the edge of the tracks, had it leap over the quicksand then dismissed her woflos before it got stuck and floated the rest of the way over the sands using her levitation. As she drifted across the last meter she summoned the Vibrava, now merely at it’s standard size, and commanded it to ”Keep them off of me!” before focusing her power and bringing out a massive shadow hand, big as the large men she needed to fish out. She made a grab for Heavy and tried to either pull him out and throw him back to the tracks or, if she couldn't manage that, use her power to help drag/shove him to safety as the man added his own power to the mix. Once the heavy was free, and if Bruam hadn’t received other help and was still in the sand, she’d help him as well.

As she did her Vibrava buzzed too and fro around her, firing beams of dragon fire at anything that tried to harm its princess and even selflessly body blocking energy shots, ”Don’t actually die to protect me from scratches bug!” The princess admonished the beast as one way or another she finished her rescue attempt, ”Now help me to get back to land-” the Vibraba flew in close when she commanded this and then grabbed her arm with its chameleon like feet and hauled her both out of the way of an energy shot and back towards the sand back faster than she would have been able to float under her own power. The Princess cried out in surprise when it happened, but considering it had been obeying orders and that it had worked, she didn't complain or berate the beast once she was back on the tracks.

Instead she dropped down, dismissing the Vibrava and summoning one of the two wolfos below her. She didn’t run when Poppi called out too. If she went all out she’d likely outpace everyone and so instead of trying to save her own hide she moved to a defensive position near Braum and Heavy, ready to cover the retreat if the others ran or push in if they held their ground, her mind blazing as she tired to strategize a way to get them out of this alive.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 932 (+2)
Bowser: Level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (25/90)
Bowser Jr: Level 7 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (18/80)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Pirate's Cove

Jr sighed with relief when it turned out that yes, the old sea captain did have medicine on board his ship, which was very sensible of him. To an extent jr’d gotten used to Blazermate, and then Kamek, being around to provide healing, but as the boy administered the concoction he mentally added “healing stuff” to the list of things he should pick up from the alleyway when he went there next.

After he’d given her the potion all that there was to do was wait and hope she recovered. As they were waiting the long anticipated arrival of the Princess Peach occurred, along with ”Papa!” Jr cried out upon seeing his, slightly different looking thanks to the double fusion but still very recognizable, father arriving alongside the princess. He hopped down from the fishing ship and sprinted over and then jumping up to give his dad a hug

”Wow, hey there Junior” the king said as he caught his son in his arms and returned the embrace

”I thought you’d be gone longer! Did you beat the dead zone’s boss already?” Jr asked as he dropped back down again.

”Ahh not quite. We cleared the way, but the palace is gonna explode real soon so we’re gonna let that blow over on its own. Heard you’ve been pretty busy over here too” Bowser explained, before noticing ”Uh. is she ok?”

”She should be now. Briny Beard had some medicine that I gave her. She just got beat up by her rival though so...” Jr told him without needing to elaborate on the last point as the king nodded understandingly in response. That kind of thing wasn't something you just got over even after the twentieth time. Especially after the twentieth time

”But yeah, we’ve been busy. First, I got tyrant and then ” Jr started running his dad, and anyone else in earshot as a byproduct, through what they’d all been up to that day. The two strolled back to the fishing boat as Peach worked her magic and de-abyssalised Ranger, rejoining the conversation as the matter of getting their new friends a change of clothes to let them slip into the town came up.

”There’s still the metal bits.” Jr pointed out ”Can’t really hide those under a dress or whatever... Maybe we can paint them to look more friendly? Or just less abyssal so people don't realize that’s what they are.”

”If you're going to do that maybe don't use your brush and stick with normal paint” The Bowser told him seriously.

”Aah ha ha, yeah um.” Jr laughed embarrassedly before continuing ”Or I mean, maybe we can cover them with cloth in a different way. Like a tarp? I don't know. Be easier if we just had some spirits, bet we could get you legs working and change the metal stuff a bunch with them, but it’s not like you can just go into town and get some like you can with gear and clothes and stuff” the prince said, the method Sephiroth was in the middle of using to do just that not even crossing his mind, before scratch the back of his head thoughtfully and accidentally tapped his ponytail with his Brachydios wrist horn.

”hmmm” he hummed contemplatively. He’d have to think about it, but that was somewhere they could get spirits from, and he was really sure that Rika would look super cool with that one in her.

The boy also had to laugh at Peach's indirect way of suggesting Bowser carry Bella around till she found a way to get land legs. The comment went right over the head of its intended recipient however, till Jr told the princess ”I’ve already carried Rika around a bunch today already! Papa’s not the only one who’s got the muscle for that kind of thing” while giving a flex, that his dad caught on.

”Ohhh.” the king said in comprehension before floundering for a recovery ”Uh I mean” before earnestly cheering on jr ”Yeah that’s my son! Those guns run in the family”, before giving his own flex and a hearty laugh, which was cut off by the sudden and luminous detonation of the Deadzone.

”Well,” Bowser said at last as the light finally died down, ” super glad we didn't stick around. Annoying we couldn't get its power but, eh. Whatever. It’s great to be rid of that awful place.”

”Anyway, who wants dinner!” The King said, after everyone had gotten over witnessing the vaporization of an entire city, holding up a few bags that all held the closest the bar had been able to supply to takeaway boxes.

”oh boy, gimmy” jr cheered, eagerly accepting a bag of dishes picked especially for him by his dad.

Rika, who’d been sitting patiently next to Sakura and monitoring her condition, perked up as the smell wonderful from Jr’s bag hit her. “What is that?” she asked

”It’s mine” Jr tried to say protectively though a mouthful of cheese burger, this was the good stuff he wasn't giving it away, but his father calmly spoke over him, letting people know ”I brought enough for everyone. I think. You two have got a lot of mouths. Also I didn't know what anyone else liked so I just got a bunch of stuff,”

The various types of junk food Bowser had gotten from the bar was exactly a highbrow introduction to human cuisine, but as the cruiser devoured everything set before her it was certainly an enjoyable one. If the ship had had any second thoughts left as to where her loyalties should lie whatsoever, those last little embers where completely wiped away by a plate of fish and chips.

World of Light

wordcount: 1,514 (+3)
Midna: level 3 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////// (4/40)
Location: Sandswept Sky – Crown of Sand - Sphinx Temple

levelup

Siren Sands (Flygon): Midna gains sand manipulation abilities that give her the equivalents of the following moves:
Sand Attack: Sprays the target with sand, irritating their eyes and reducing their accuracy
Sand Tomb: Creates a localized sandstorm around the target. Does not do a lot of initial damage, but remains active for ten to twenty second, slowly sapping the target’s strength and bogging them down, preventing them from escaping.
Sand Storm: Whips up a large sandstorm that indiscriminately buffets everyone inside it.

Sand based attacks cannot use naturally occurring sand and instead Midna has to dump sand into the environment from the realm of Twilight. Other than its color this black and silvery sand is mostly normal, except for the fact that it wordlessly “sings” as it flies through the air. Bringing more sand out takes more time: Sand attacks can be hurled out at once straight from a small portal, each sand tomb needs its own brief prep time and a sand storm needs an almighty amount of twilight sand dumped into the environment in-order to be pulled off. Already dumped sand is, of course, reusable, allowing the combining of sand attacks into sand tombs, and then sand tombs into a full blown storm if the princess focuses on using this ability in a fight.

”Well aren't you a charmer” Midna replied, taking Yoshitsune’s in stride with an easy grin. As for his suggestion for adding a bit of combat to the race, Minda was all for it. ”Can’t say I’ll be able to spare your own good looks, I’m so pumped up feel like I could break down the world right now, but I’ll keep my new claws sheathed just for you” she teased.

With the outlines of the race set the pair, and any others who cared to join, lined up on the impromptu starting line. The princess was fired up and, although she was acclimatizing to the high even the brief wait for them to start was still close to agonizing. So it was that when they did start the princess held nothing back. Her shadow hand came out in a flash and delivered an all mighty shove to try and destabilize Yoshitsune right out the bat, before she took off at a run. And what a run it was. Her new slippers hammered into the stone floor, the princess’s legs were a blur and even with that speed of limb her body moved faster still, each footfall bringing a great leap of motion forwards.

She made great pace for the first two laps, blazing a trail and using her shadow hand to great effect to both block and strike. Indeed the princess was enjoying the on the move duel so much, and was so confident in her new speed, that she focused more on the battle than she did on running for most of the race. Then, halfway through the final lap, she put on a burst of speed and disengaged the rolling melee in an attempt to sprint to the finish. It was then that the power gained front he dragon dance decided to fail her, crashing away in an instant. So sudden was the disappearance that Midna was unable to handle her own momentum, causing her to trip and crash into the wall, though the impact was more embarrassing than it was actually harmful.

Frustrated, a little dazed, and feeling like she’d just had a sugar crash, Minda made the last leg of the race under her own power, and although her legs had been enhanced by both her fusions they weren't enough to let her beat the motorized samurai.

”Yeah it was good till I burned out right at the end like that,” Midna replied a touch bitterly when the samurai said he’d had fun, before shaking her head clear and saying far more pleasantly ”Really though, it was fun, and was useful too. Going to have to work out why the power went away like that and it's much better to know it does that now than find out in the middle of a fight.”

That could wait for a few moments however. For now they were all packing up, picking out items and preparing to get going again. By the time Midna had fully recovered and re-acclimated to not being souped up on dragon power most people had gone through the items and were just about to set off, leaving her to pick through what was left before they headed out.

The results from the myriad of Trapiniches and Vibravas was a large pile of useless (to them) animal bits, which was a touch disappointing, though also educational. The dull fading spirits were good for mass fusing and not much else it seemed. As for the rest of the spirits, and the stuff from the loot boxes, the most notable thing about it all was the large number of hats and other head decorations that came out of it, all of which Midna dismissed out of hand as they could never be more useful than her current headgear.

That left a small number of other items which Midna gave some consideration. After a bit of experimenting she eventually stuck the monkey sticker on the inside of a Spaulder of the Bat, managed to shove the ‘maglev’ device ‘inside’ it after a few goes and then attached the entire thing to her shoulder via the guard’s straps. The entire arrangement seemed to have various powers, although it took her awhile to work out what any of it was. At the very least it meant she could put the shoulder armor between her and an enemy like a small shield, which might give her slightly better odds of surviving a blow that got past her defenses, without impacting her maneuverability as much as a fulls et of armor would.

With that all put together the princess set out on foot for once, intending to experiment with her new abilities (it was rather difficult to dance on wolfos back after all) as they traveled. The sandy corridors certainly provided opportunities for this, with giant animals, undead and small wrapped up things with rifles. These mini encounters were mostly straightforward and they allowed Midna to work out the specifics of how the dragon dance power up functioned. Namely it stuck around a short while after the dance and that duration could be extended by being in combat. At the same time running away like she had done when she tried to break away in the race) or just winning the fight would make it end. She also learned it was very, very difficult to set it up before a fight, because someone dancing and exploding with power wasn't exactly subtle and she had to start pumping it up while foes were nearby or it would fall off before they ran into some.

”I might need to take you up on those pointers” she said to Primrose after she’d learned all she could about the dance, ”Like how you manage to find the time and nerve to dance while in the middle of a fight. Or how to do it on the move.”

She also learned to tap into the more earthen side of the Flygon spirit, gaining a strong connection with the ground and, specifically, sand. Unfortunately it wasn't with the light world’s sand but instead with her own. There was probably some kind of elemental philosophy about being connected to the land of your birth involved in as to why, or so Midna assumed, but the gist of the situation was if she brought sand from the Twilight realm to this one she could use it for various sand based attacks. It was very useful for blinding the one eyed gunmen so she could get in close without being shot. It was also cathartic to be on the offensive end of sand based warfare after the nightmare that had been the Flygon’s sandstorm.

Throughout all of this her new Vibrava followed alongside her, scampering or buzzing along and occasionally helping its mistress out when it could or when it was ordered as it too got used to its new powers and position as an aid rather than a ride.

Eventually they reached a sandy slope that would take them out of the structures and back into the sun. The princess did not exactly look forward to going back out, but they couldn't exactly keep track of where the mountain they were headed for was inside either, so out they went. Several of the heroes jumped down and rode the sand before her and, with a sigh, she followed after rhythm. Then she learnt exactly what +30& SLIDE and -30% FRICTION had meant.

”Make way!” She yelled at those ahead as she glided down the sand ramp. Partially sliding on the sand, partially floating above it due to the Maglev effect, she accelerated both to and at a frightening speed, forcing her to dodge and weave around those ahead to avoid any collisions. As a result of the hair raising speed she missed out on most of the marvel and wonderment some of the others experienced during their trip down the sand slide.

Mostly she appreciated that the sun was going down and that the strobe effect the pillars were generating wasn't quite so bad as a result.

She wasn't the only one who enjoyed that, though the others had their own reasons like admiring the beauty or it being cooler at night. She was just looking forward to being able to see without squinting all the time.

Sadly the world had other plans. As they set off following the things Joker had called tracks (”What kind of animal leaves metal bars as tracks?”) the sun set, and then, seemingly, rose again with a vengeance. Suffice to say this was not a good time for Minda as she, and her wolfos (which she had swapped for the Vibrava in order to avoid more jogging), had to shield their eyes from with hands or paws. Even with this Minda was left bleary eyed and cursing Galeem in her own tongue under her breath after the light had finally died.

”Whatever it was, I hate it! Please. Goddesses. No more blinding lights at least till morning.” was all she had to say on the matter when Primrose asked what it was. It wasn't like she had a useful answer to the question anyway.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 360 / 430 (+1)
Bowser: Level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (23/90)
Kamek: Level 7 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (88/70)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Outside The Bismarck

”Yeah now that’s what I’m talking about! Just because no one there’s worked it out doesn't mean there isn't a way out. There just has to be one,“ Bowser said, very glad that they had something of an expert when it came to dealing with curses and woes in the form of Geralt. It was also good that the Mercs, and presumably the main party, had a better way to find Linkle in the first place thanks to the Cadet’s scout flies.

After that, Ms Fortune launched into a more in depth explanation of what had happened over in the dead zone from her perspective, including a whole host of encounters and adventures that she’d had before his team and her group had met up. Peach, understandably interested, stuck around long enough to listen in, which gave the King time to get his nosh on, making an order that consisted almost entirely of a very large ham thought it was more of a snack for the titaneous king. Despite this it only ended up being about as much food as Link got on his plate. The hero of Hyrule knew how to chow down it seemed.

”You kinda missed out the bit where I kicked Dante’s butt. Guy just assumed we were bad news when we got close for some reason and then just wouldn’t stop no matter how much people yelled at him to knock it off. You know why. Between that throw down and us arriving in the zone we mainly had to deal with these creepy little tentacle things that were infesting bodies. Super nasty. Way worse than the zombies. Be a great thing when that big explosion goes off and wipes em’ all out, there were just so many and it was disgusting. Bleh” remembering the flood was enough to spoil the king’s appetite, so it was fortunate he’d devoured his way through his meal while Ms Fortune had been talking.

He also, now that he was thinking with his head rather than his stomach, felt pretty guilty about eating when Jr was cooped on a ship somewhere with Sakura and some new friends for some reason. Then he had an idea. The king wandered over to the bar and asked ”HEY. DO YOU DO TAKE AWAY?“

---

Geralt covered explaining everything to the admiral more than well enough, and for the most part Kamek left him too it, his main contribution being bringing out a striker (The End, who complained about being brought as a show piece at his age) to demonstrate the ability. At the end of it the admiral offered to use the fleet to help them reach the bottomless sea the very next morning, which was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it was good to be making fast progress, on the other it didn't leave them much time to prepare. Tonight night might end up being a late one, Kamek expected, if they wanted to get their ship geared up and make sure everyone would be able to be useful when battling out on the ocean’s waves.

There was also the matter of how the Navy were going to be using the information they’d been given, namly to permanently destroy all the abyssal vessels they sank. Before today, Kamek might have agreed with that without a second thought, but after Sakura’s actions and the freeing of the two Abyssals there was suddenly a moral dilemma on the line. One that was complicated by the red eyes of the Navy’s people. Would they attack as soon as they saw or even heard about the abyssals without them being able to explain? Quite possibly. While the trust they’d just earned could make now the time they revealed the final bit of info they had, the mage felt it best they stack the deck in their favor as much as possible before they made the leap by using Ranger to vouch for them. It would not do to have come this far only to be accused of colluding with the enemy.

”We appreciate your offered aid in turn Admiral,” he said simply instead before asking ”Just in-case anything else comes up before the morning, do you have a preferred way we get in contact with you again?” in-order to leave the door open for the reveal of the abyssals without insinuating there was anything else going on.

If nothing else did come up the mage would head outside the office and, should Geralt accompany him, say ”Seeing as our new friend was a no show I think I’ll go check on them. Do you want to come? Or update the others on what the admiral’s plan is?”

Either way, or a third, Kamek had one last piece of business to attend too, fishing out the blue Cia spirit from a pocket, ”and if we are heading out tomorrow, probably best to get this over with as soon as possible now that we have a quiet moment, so I have time to get used to whatever side effects this has,” he said, before pressing the spirit to his head, presuming that it would allow him to gain the magical knowledge of the dead sorceress as his own.

World of Light

The Koopa Prince

featuring Rika
wordcount: 1260 (+3)
Bowser Jr: Level 7 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (16/80)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Pirate's Cove

”They’re rivales. nemis.. nemes.... They fight a lot and like they don't like each other but also do like each other but in a I like hating you kind of way. Look it’s hard to explain” Jr tried to clarify what a rival was to the two abyssals, basing his understanding off of his papa’s rivalry with Mario. Unfortunately that relationship was about as one sided as the one Bowser had with peach, so it wasn't the best basis.

”Whatever lets just go see this fight I bet it’s going to be cool”

“Yeah. um. How am I going to hide these? And also walk out there?” Rika asked, indicating to her giant gauntlets which where strapped to her back.

”Here, let me just” there was the sound of tape ripping and then the large gauntlets were detached from Rika’s back and left to float freely. ”Ok and now i just... upsy-daisy” the prince said, while scooping up the rather heavy ship girl up in his arms and then holding her above his head, leaving the now elevated ship incredibly surprised. Part of her really had been expecting the prince’s self professed carrying ability to be overblown but no. She was being transported with ease.

“I. How?”

”Told you I’m naturally strong. Though I mean even some toads could pull this off easy as pie. People from other worlds are a bunch of wimps. I mean they can’t even jump three times their own height, how how do they even get around?” he asked as he carried her though to the ship’s bridge and then set her down in a chair where she could watch, the women’s giant gauntlets trailing after her, hovering just above the ground. Once everyone was in place the prince hopped into his clown car that was resting in the pilot's chair as the two streetfighters were finishing their conversation. As the shipgirl landed as close to the glass as possible, her eyes drinking everything in, the prince rummaged around in his car’s glove compartment and found a bag of popcorn. It was cheap prepackaged stuff from the mart in Lumbridge, nothing compared to making some fresh, but it was the best he had.

He picked a kernel out and flicked it up to catch in his mouth, made a ‘it’s not that great’ face and then turned the bag towards the ship girls and asked ”Want some?” His offer was taken first not by them but by Mimikyu, who popped out of her Pokeball to take the offer that hadn’t been directed at her. The mascot mimicking ghost Pokemon had had her ragdoll disguise damaged by one of the fleet’s more monstrous machines, but had done a remarkable patch job of the outfit while inside her pokeball .

”Oh you're happy to come out now are you?” Jr asked sardonically, having been a bit annoyed when it had refused to fight after its outfit was damaged. The mon landed on his shoulder and slinked a very long arm around to snatch a popcorn kernel from the bag, before bringing it back and sneaking it under the rim of its outfit to eat with whatever it had that counted as a mouth under there. While it did it bapped the cotton ball head of the disguise to the side and rubbed it against jr’s cheek affectionately.

”Yeah yeah. I’m glad you’re ok Mimi,”

Rika watched this with fascination and then quietly reached in and took a popcorn from the bag. She sniffled it, gave it a poke with her tongue and then devoured the thing, looking delighted as she did.

“Mmm that was good what is that?”

”uh. Popcorn… it’s a snack. Do you want another one?”

“Yes!” Rika replied excitedly as she snatched another induvidual kernel from the bag, taking an amount of enjoyment from it that Jr found rather bizarre. Then he realized she probably hadn’t had snacks as a nameless unquestioning minion, which didn’t sit right with Jr at all. Even Goombas got their snack on every once and a while.

”Do you. Do you want the who-” he began to say before being interrupted by a “kyu!” He sighed, grabbed a handful of popcorn out the bag for Mimi to enjoy and then retrying ”Do you want the rest of the bag”

The answer was entirely predictable, and the Abyssal cruiser spent the fight that was just about to begin alternating between watching with awe and joyfully going through the bag corn by corn. The first half anyway.

And what a fight it was. Jr had seen Sakura fight, of course, but never had he seen her fight against someone who fought like she did, only against monsters and more standoffish types like Bella. Against her rival (who wore red, a bad omen that) the street fighter really got to shine, the pair duking it out in a flurry of blows and, in Sakura’s case, fireballs. The boy had expected himself to be above actually cheering Sakura on, but found himself, (along with Mimi, combat sport being practically hardwired into the pokemon’s spirit) being swept up in the action and yelling encouragement and support.

Despite having an added diminutive supporter in her box however, Sakura’s prediction that she’d win despite her disadvantages failed to come true. Though at first they seemed evenly matched, as time went on the schoolgirl turned shipgirl's weakness started to show. Jr couldn’t understand why, but she seemed to refuse to use her new navel weaponry, leaving them, and the lost muscle mass she’d traded for them, as nothing but a hindrance. He could see how, if unburdened, she might have stood a chance, but instead the fight eventually came to an inevitable end, though not before Sakura received a final utterly grueling and heartbreaking, literally, beat down delivered by the girl in red. Jr felt like he should do something, intervene, but like almost everyone else he was transfixed as a mere spectator of Karin’s callus victory.

So instead it was Bella who made the first move, falling out of her chair and, desperately and undignifiedly, crawling to her savior's aid despite jr’s best efforts to try and stop her (which ended with him being tail slammed into a wall for his trouble). After recovering, and being accosted by Rika who also wanted to go but was in even less of a state too, the boy ended up chasing after the princess while carrying Rika over his head again (with Mimi riding on his shoulder). He joined Bella at Sakura’s side and, after seeing the grief stricken woman and their badly hurt friend, swallowed all the things he was going to yell at them. Instead he put Rika down, the ship also crawling to Sakura’s side and went to rummage in his duffel bag.

“She’ll be ok right? Right? Even if she sink’s she’ll just wake up again like I did? Right?” she asked, once again not wanting to accept that when anyone outside the fleet died they stayed dead.

”These work on people, right?” Jr asked Mimi hopefully as he pulled out one of the potions he’d gotten from Steven Stone that morning, to which the mon shook its head

”Drat. Um. Uhhh.” The boy glanced around the cove as if he could simply find healing aid somewhere nearby and then spotted Briny-Beard’s ship.

”Hey. Briny-Beard” he yelled over in the captain’s general direction ”do you have a first aid kit on your ship! …. Also try not to freak out about these two, their friendly”

World of Light

wordcount: 1,372 (+3)
Midna: level 2 EXP: ////////////////////////////// (31/30)
Location: Sandswept Sky – Crown of Sand - Sphinx Temple

at dinner

”The Twilight Realm consists of islands of stone floating in a void with a burning amber sky filled with clouds of shadow. There’s no moon, nor stars. Instead we use ‘Sols’ which are orbs of pure concentrated light to power our technology and light everything. Without them the realm is filled with a darkness that warps people into beasts“ she explained when asked about her sunless home and, when she described it like that, she realized it didn't sound very appealing ”I know it doesn't sound like the best place, and it certainly must have seemed like a nightmarish prison to my ancestors when they were banished there for their crimes, but using magic and technology their descendants turned it into the beautiful, prosperous and peaceful kingdom I am honored to rule, and proud to call home.“

She also was rather little proud that her suggestion, that of calling those still under Galeem’s influence, be referred to as Gleaming, smiling wider and wider as people agreed it was the best option. Even as a princess it was always nice to get some positive affirmations that your ideas were good ones. Maybe even especially as a princess.

post transformation

The light faded, and fortunately for her eyesight being inside it wasn't near as bad as being around someone when they transformed for some reason. Midna did not reflect on the fact that it might be because she got dismantled and put back together as part of the transformation process and thus didn't have eyes while inside and instead focused on her new body. Or her new, new, body if you were to be specific. First she looked at her hands and found them a little more claw-like which wasn't exactly surprising given what had happened to the medic’s. Then, looking down, found that her bottom half had gained yet more cloths (she’d gotten dressed after bathing) consisting of some very cozy slippers and a lovely pair of stripy stockings. Said thigh high stocking massively emphasized the gains she’d well, gained down there. She sashayed her hips, causing the now longer waist wrap to sway, and then noticed something was hiking it up at the back. When she looked behind herself to find out what it was that was doing that she found was a long flygon tail.

”Oh. Ok that’s a bit more than what the doc got...“ She wasn't sure how to feel about gaining a new appendage like that. It wasn't ugly or anything, just a little strange for some like her to have a tail. She also worried it might make riding and sitting down a bit trickier. Then she gained a thoughtful look on her face and brought the fan-like tip up to her head and gave it an experimental wiggle, before grinning as it worked perfectly, wafting a cooler breeze towards her face.

”Ok your good tail“ she might need to modify the back of her sash a bit to accommodate it but it was definitely sitting comfortably in the positive column thanks to its temperature control capabilities.

The most obvious additional features found she hovered over to the drinking pool, her new twilight Vibrava following after her to give itself a look too (the beast seemed surprisingly comfortable and well adapted to using its wildly altered body already), and examined her reflection in its clearer waters for any new additions. The first thing she found was that the fused shadow now had two red bauble accessories hanging down on either side of her head next to the also dangling earrings.

”Ok that kind of stings. I ask for eye shields and you put the dragon’s goggles over there as accessories instead. Rude!“

Her hair was now a dark green and tied up in twin tails. ”Wait can I still?“ she asked herself before forming a shadow hand just fine despite the cosmetic change resulting in two shackles on its wrist rather than one. ”ok good“

As an added bonus, she was also taller again, which was in some ways the best news. She only needed another foot to be human height, and an added foot on top of that to be her true height once more. Progress was being made.

It was only after examining and admiring her new appearance that she remembered this hadn't been the point of this whole thing. ”Wait. I did get some kind of power out of this right? Draggony Powers?“ Considering the way Tora was looking at her she might not have been alone in this.

A quick bout of meditation and magical self analysis found something new burning vigor suffusing her new draconian form that she, like the academics of the pokemon world, decided to call dragon energy. With a quick pair of swipes of her new more claw-like fingers she slashed at the air, digits blazing with purple energy, and then she brought out her third hand, rending the fused shadow’s hand through the air with its fingertips bearing purple talons before slamming it into the ground and leaving puncture wound in the stone.

”Ah, hah, yes! This is perfect“ not only as her fused shadow enhanced, but if something got close her own body wasn’t defenseless anymore. Although technically speaking she wasn't quite so frail after two fusions, and frankly her thighs could probably be considered a deadly weapon on their own now, but it was still a good bonus.

Attempts at breathing fire or infusing power into her new tail failed. There was just something missing that would allow her to be able to use those powers she’d seen the Flygons and their offspring use. The claw thing had been a guess, but a re-examination of the power she found she in fact intrinsically knew how to use it as a claw attack. There was a technique to it that she didn’t have for the tail or breath attacks.

There was also something else there with it, another technique that was a way to make the power burn hotter to empower her body. And the way to do that was to dance. The princes thought this was somewhat silly but considering they already had Primrose in the party it wasn't going to look entirely out of place.

The princess landed and, after tapping her foot a few times to try and get a rhythm going, started to move. She’d had lessons, what kind of princess didn’t know how to dance after all, but the kind of moves used in the royal court went exactly fit for the primal power of dragons.

She danced futility till she finally got over her own conceptions of what dance should be and got in sync with the technique was actually telling her to do. Slow graceful moves became faster, more powerful and vigorous as the princess danced to a song she’d never heard. Her waist wrap twirled, her feet pounded the stone in rapid succession and then the power flared, each step sending bolts of red and purple energy bursting out of the ground at her feet before they all surge into her and, finally with the last step of the short dance, exploded outwards. The explosion looked dangerous, but the princess was completely unharmed, as was her Vibrava that had been buzzing around her while she danced.

Minda felt so incredibly alive with the power coursing through her, but she knew she could do more. She wanted to do more! She kept going, exploding with dragon power once, twice, thrice, four and then five more times in total (each iteration of the dance only talking about three seconds each) and at that point she was at her limit. Power coursed around her, a static energy of purple and red lighting buzzing across her skin. She felt faster. Stronger. Exactly four times faster and stronger to be specific. She was also left breathing heavily with exhilaration in an almost inhuman way.

It was slightly problematic that she didn't have an outlet for all this power right now.

She darted back and forth across the small room, her pace absolutely blistering, but it wasn't enough, ”You, I don't know you are but you have wheels for feet now so race me. Race me! I wanna see how fast I can really go!“ She jabbed a finger at Yoshitsune who she hadn’t been introduced to but who she was quite sure would give her an outlet for the power coursing through her veins if they raced around the area the hippos had lived in before they had been butchered.

World of Light

The Koopa Prince

featuring Rika
wordcount: 835 (+2)
Bowser Jr: Level 7 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (13/80)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Pirate's Cove

”I. Uh. I mean you’ve won over these three really quick so it goes without saying doesn't it?” the prince replied, a touch embarrassed by Sakura’s gleeful reaction to being described as likable. It wasn't his fault she was. He turned his focus away from that and back to the discussion they were having about how you would go about freeing all the fleet’s ships.

”But uh, I mean it would be kinda dumb of some weaker minion to try and take over leadership when their boss just got beaten up and joined us, coz now they have to face both you and their old boss. I mean we can also punch through and free some of the minions while going for the boss? The ones around them. See I’m kinda assuming it’ll be like that fight we found Bella in where her minions where all spread out fighting the navy, and then we go in and free the Bella of that lot, but this time see if we can get that boss to tell her mooks to surrender?” Jr tried something of a fusion of his plan and Sakura’s because she had a point. If you just went in on the boss straight off the bat you’d get dog-piled before you could explain things and that would not end well ”and then once you have her army, then you can get them to help mass free another fleet, and then another and another and soon enough you’ve got the whole fleet alive and free. Hey, maybe we could even free/get the thing that resurrects them? Think about how good that would be!” It really would be.

“Oh. Ok I won't over do it boss!” Rika replied when told to lay off the exercises before she hurt herself before immediately wandering over to the bed and falling face first onto what little space remained on it. Thanks to the antigrav on her back she didn't hit it very hard, “Better” she said into the sheets, the cruiser happy to have her legs off of the ground and not supporting anything at all. She’d enjoyed herself despite the eventual pain, and the way people had been concerned about her well being was both novel and made her feel all warm inside. Unfortunately it also was the straw that broke the camel's back on the whole Spirit back and forth.

Jr was happy to be proven right about spirits being the way to go, but he felt a little bad about how his winning caused the schoolgirl warrior to become rather embarrassed and down on her whole idea now that Jr had torn it apart. ”I mean it wasn't the worst. You could still do exercise when fused and then maybe it’d carry over for if or when you unfuse?” he said, trying to soften the blow a bit.

“If I ‘fuse’ with something does that mean it’ll be less painful to do the exercise and I only get the fun bit at the start?” Rika asked, turning her head to one side so she wasn't speaking into the blanket this time.

”Uh yeah probably? Or at least takes longer to go sore?”

“Cool”

Fortunately, Sakura’s mood quickly improved when she heard that the local fight club had sailed into town, the same one they’d seen duking it out on on the way there. While she initially said she wasn't going to bail on them, everything changed when she spotted her rival among them. There was no stopping her going down there and challenging her to a bout apparently, and this attitude Jr understood far more than anyone else onboard so there was no way he was going to stop her.

“Oh. yeah! I wanna see that! Wait, but can we? Aren't we supposed to be hiding?” Rika was also enthusiastic, partially because she was highly vulnerable to being infected by Sakura’s own enthusiasm but also because seeing someone who beat a princess duke it out with someone she considered a worthy opponent had to be impressive.

The idea of having everyone else watch was slightly problematic. After all, if they could see the fight then anyone else watching could see them. ”Shame we don't have any spirits to let you try that walking thing, it’d work as disguise too um. Do you think if we hide the metal bits you’ll not be recognized as Abyssal?” Jr suggested

“Will you need to take those off my back?” Rika asked, referring to her gauntlets “But if you take these off then I won’t be able to walk. I don't know if i can walk anyway. Legs still sore.”

”I’ll carry you”

The cruiser rolled her had to the side to look him up and down, not particularly confident in this statement.

”What. I can. Done it before easy. If i can pick up Peach I can pick up you” Jr insisted. Whether he would or not depended on whether the others thought they could get away with this.

World of Light

The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,256(+3)
Bowser: Level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (22/90)
Kamek: Level 7 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (87/70)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Outside The Bismarck

After a close call caused by Sephiroth’s brazen self transformation, which consisted of him shrinking and getting a makeover into a more summary look. Humans were lucky in that there were so many of their ilk about that they could gain power from without too drastic a transformation, Kamek thought. He wasn't sure if absorbing his own Cia copy would go down quite as well. It would have to wait either way, unlike Sephiroth the mage wasn’t about to go fusing while things were going down that he might need to deal with. It just seemed a rather rude thing to do in the middle of a negotiation, so he tucked it away to use later.

Said negotiations were going well, Geralt’s delivery of the information they had discovered about how the fleet was regenerating getting the admiral to begrudgingly stand down her forces. The ability to win the seemingly endless war they were fighting was worth the damages they had caused. To the town as a whole at least, it left the poor chef to pick up the pieces of his ruined restaurant without any immediate compensation.

Bowser’s attempt at fobbing off the cost of those damages onto Peach got at least one reaction, namely from Blazermate who teased the king about it.

”What? Hey!” The king replied to the ribbing in a fluster. A small part of him wondered what baseball had to do with this and in what version of the game you ran to the bases with some else, but the rest of his mind rolled over to the tradition of the guy paying for dinner. Or in this case an entire restaurant. He immediately scrambled for an excuse and what he found was, to be fair, a pretty decent if somewhat undignified one. He was flat broke. ”Look. She has her castle, I don't have mine. When we do find mine, or when we get back, I'll cover the costs or something? Kamek, write the princess an IOU”

Behind him Kamek notably cringed at the prospect. Their various Princess-nappings and kingdom/world/galaxy conquering schemes were expensive, and what they didn't spend on the preparation was lost as the man in red merrily stormed through everything they could throw at him, hoovering up coins as he went. Now that he thought about it, he wondered how much of Peach’s treasury consisted of money the plumber had taken directly from them over the years. The mage quietly decided he wouldn’t ever remind the king of this IOU if he could avoid doing so.

Fortunately the princess had gotten over her stupor and enthusiastically offered her own finances to aid in the reconstruction of the restaurant and while the frog warrior’s offer of all his fiances had been pushed back people where all to happy to take Peach’s funds, especially because it was now a compassionately offer of aid rather than compensation. It definitely helped that unlike the honorable warrior the princess wouldn't be bankrupted by this bout of generosity. That said, it would be best, Kamek thought, if they tried to avoid wrecking places they might end up having to pay for to rebuild in future, lest they drain the royal coffers. It was the army’s only source of funding after all.

A conch held to the ear

While Peach hashed out some of the specifics of how to pay for things with the restaurant owner and how the navy was going to repay them for the information Geralt had supplied Bowser was left with a bit of time to fill. He’d left Kamek to keep up with the details, the mage could fill him in on the actual important bits later, and instead he went to have a look and see if there were any spoils to be had. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted anything to do with the spirits of the bystanders (be it for emotional or practical reasons) and the copies of the mage had all been snatched up, but that did leave a little floating emblem which drew the king’s attention much as they had the Ace Cadet. He approached the spinning trident and then gave it a curious poke with a claw.

The moment Bowser made contact, the sound of a ship’s bell rang in his ears, followed by the crash of a wave on the shore. Beneath his touch the orb rippled and expanded, and a wave of turquoise light or fog engulfed his vision. From its surface, undulating like the ocean waves, an unfamiliar shape was made manifest. After a moment longer the waters parted to reveal a broad-shouldered man with wild, sea-green hair and a goatee like a length of kelp, adorned with a seahorse crown and easygoing smile. His twinkling eyes held a profound depth, although they didn’t quite seem to focus on Bowser himself.

“‘Hoy there!” he called out. “Who’s this now, washed upon my shores? Never before have I seen your like, but there’s no questioning that you’re the very picture of oceanic might! We’ve got a lot in common then, haven’t we? I’m Poseidon, the God of the Sea, and since you’ve managed to earn one of my blessings it’s only fitting I grant you a little water power, hm?”

Bowser looked at the god, his mouth agape in surprise at what had just happened, then glanced back and forth at the turquoise void, realised dealing with whoever this was was probably going to be the only way out, then looked back at the (self proclaimed) god. Still rather beset by confusion at what was going on he raised a finger, lowered it, raised it again and found himself asking ”You’re not like Bacchus are you? Coz the first guy who’s called themselves a god today’s ‘power’ just made everyone dumb and dizzy, and that was not a good time”

For a moment the sea god looked perplexed himself, but Poseidon quickly recalled his fellow divinity with a smile. “Ohoho, you’ve met our Roman friend? Watered down he may be compared to Dionysus, but watered down his wine is not! He certainly knows how to have a good time, and while I consider myself no slouch in that department, we are neither equals in responsibility nor strength! You’ll find what I have to offer a far better catch!” He held out his hand, and three diamond-shaped glyphs appeared before him, each with a scroll beneath it offering more explanation.

Poseidon’s Aid - Surge forward on a crashing wave while impervious for 1.2 seconds. Must be charged over the course of a fight
Breaking Wave - Slamming a foe into a barrier creates a blast of water in the area
Razor Shoals - Nonphysical moves with knock-away effects also Rupture foes (Rupture deals damage to enemies as they move, increasing with their movement speed)

Bowser didn’t exactly understand everything that had been said, but Bacchus being confirmed to be considered a god by someone who definitely had the vibe to be one (Bowser’s understanding of the word lined up much more with the greek’s version of divinity than it might with, say, the Phantom Thieve’s) wasn’t great news. Fortunately Poseidon’s boons spoke for themselves in terms of his wisdom and sanity, each offering up potential synergies with the King’s power and fighting style.

”Hmmmm. This one.” he said after some consideration, pointing at Razor Shoals. While the other two would make him more powerful in places he already exeled, the king knew his weaknesses. Fast things were incredibly annoying, so being able to give them a spray down AND punish them for running around afterwards? Even an idiot could see the worth of that. Maybe too worth it

The king paused right before touching the scroll and asked ”Wait, what’s the catch?” Both the king’s own experiences, and the incident with Linkle earlier today, had instilled a mistrust of using the powers of others. There was always a price.

For the second time Poseidon looked bemused. “Catch…? Oh!” He realized the other definition of the word. “Zeus’s beard, you’re skeptical one!” the sea god laughed. “All I ask is that you use it well, as a sign of respect to both myself and the power granted you. Not everyone comes by my blessing, after all!”

”That it? Yeah I can work with that. Also look man... God, stuff’s gone wrong in the past with this kind of thing... and less than an hour ago too. Don’t suppose you know what a Skullheart is and how to get it out of someone?” Bowser explained and then asked. You never knew.

The sea god shook his head. “Not me! All I know is that with me in your corner, you’ll be sailing with the wind at your back! Prove yourself worthy of another boon and I’ll be happy to make you stronger still. Until then...I’ll sea you later!” The chosen glyph zipped into Bowser’ chest as the other disappeared, and the vision faded away like smoke on the water, leaving Bowser standing back in the ruined restaurant as if the whole thing had never happened.

”Sea you later. Realy? … Pffff. Ok that’s actually pretty funny”

With the big problems out the way, there was only the minutiae of the arrangement to handle, and once that was all settled the team all wound up back in the Drowning Wench.There Peach suggested everyone take a load off after a long, long day. That was all and good for some, but not everyone’s work was done. No sooner had they arrived in the bar than Kamek and Geralt were summoned to give a briefing to the heads of the city’s navy on everything they knew. Before they headed out, the mage approached Peach to get her up to speed with the one part of their airship ride that they hadn’t told the admiral about.

”I’m afraid there's one more thing that needs doing tonight, your majesty. We have a, hmmm, a new friend that is in need of that spirit removal ability you have. They’re with the young master and Sakura back at the airship, which is parked in the cove with Briny-Beard’s ship. If you could let her know we’re meeting with the Admiral and that it might help us introduce two other new friends if she were to vouch for them in that meeting. That is only if they are all up for it, make sure they know that,” Kamek told her, hoping she could put enough of what he meant together that she wouldn't be surprised and need Sakura and Jr to explain everything on the spot, while also using candid enough language that he wouldn't worry the other people in the public setting they were in.

”If you think that last is a good plan, Geralt?” He asked the Witcher, not wanting to be on a different page from the person who was going to be the key half of their briefing/negotiation team.

”If you're going to where Jr is, I’m going too. Also someone’s gotta make sure no more kidnappings happen today,” Bowser asserted, partially wanting to see his son, partially wanting to avoid Bacchus if he came back to the bar, before sucking air in through his teeth as he remembered he had bad news to deliver. He sighed, and then laid out the situation as best he could ”So uh. Linkle. She was a brave idiot and used this cursed wish granting thing called the Skullheart, which turns people into crazy dangerous monsters called a Skullgirl if their wish isn't ‘pure’. Big problem is the heart’s super blatantly evil and nitpicks every wish to find something, anything, that isn't pure and so. Yeah. Skullgirl. Then before we or she could do anything she got nabbed by one of those hooded jerks, this one could stop time, and dragged off to who knows where through a portal,”

”That. Oh dear,” Kamek was at a loss as to what to say to that ”A monster, really? Can’t anything be done?”

“People with a strong will can resist, especially if they are trying to stay focused on their wish” Marie told them, the former skullgirl summoning herself to give a better explanation than the King could “and her wish was simply to become powerful enough to fulfill your quest, which is straightforward enough. She might have her mind for a while, but in the end the skullheart will win, take control, and rain down destruction upon everyone and everything. And no. there is no undoing it. I’m sorry. I’m speaking from experience here.”

”Where you’re from maybe. We have every world’s power all shoved in here. Maybe your soul thing can fix it? If not, the mercs are looking out for both her and a way to fix it” Bowser retorted. He was absolutely sure that something could be done. If they were home there’d be a way out, be it true love’s kiss or folding 100 paper cranes or something else that would undo the curse and wash away the harm it had inflicted.

The former Skullgirl shrugged apologetically and left them to it.

”Well. I suppose all we can do now is hope and keep our eyes and ears open?” Kamak said. It was dower news. The mage knew that Bowser had actually liked Linkle and he suspected part of the king’s self assurance was a coping mechanism for dealing with what had happened.

World of Light

The Koopa Prince

featuring Rika
wordcount: 734 (+1)
Bowser Jr: Level 7 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (11/80)
Location: Limsa Lominscuttle Town - Pirate's Cove

”How does that work? What happened to them? Where they weak and got beaten up? Who’s in charge instead?” Jr asked when he was told about Sakura’s (mostly) post monarchy world. The idea was fairly alien to his own world of kings, queens and princesses, ”Are you all ruled by mayors who got their own Marios jumping around doing their butt kicking for them or something?” he asked, trying to understand that using what he knew. A world with dozens and dozens of simplistic, happy go lucky unstoppable plumbers, each one working for a different nation. What a terrifying thought. Truly, his own world was blessed that there was only one man in red.

”That’s basically my plan but you're nibbling on the edges of em rather than going for the head honcho. Friend the big girls first and then hopefully they can just tell their minions to stand down and accept being hearted? Coz it’ll be tricky to heart and like, explain the deal to, every minion while you’re in the middle of a fight.” Jr said when Sakura tried to clarify her plan, before correcting himself

”Well maybe not for you and your ‘get in and punch people and being super likable and stuff’ deal, but it means we can't rely on shooting em from a distance or blowing lots of them up at once unless we try and make... some kind of... Heart cannon launching thing. Huh.” Jr scratched his cheek thoughtfully and then added, mostly to himself ”Like a big friend heart slingshot or something”

Jr added to the ‘ideas to tinker with’ pile, which only kept getting bigger.

As for the exercise, well, first Bella was not doing so great, managing only six seconds of standing up and feeling like it had taken an age which did not bode well for her prospects of being useful on land any time soon. She seemed to be onboard with jr’s suggestion she just use a spirit and get it over with, but Sakura was adamant that taking shortcuts was no good and she did have a point when she suggested it might diminish her water walking ability. Tyrant had gotten notably slower trotting about on land after he’d become part monster boat after all.

Still, there was one big issue ”Sure, she might get there eventually, but when is that gonna be? Weeks? Months? Being stuck not being able to move around without help sounds like a pain in the ass” it was too late, the humans not watching their tongue had once again struck Jr’s impressionable young mind and he seemed very pleased with himself about that fact ”Besides. If it doesn't work we can just have Peach remove the spirit again. But what if we use something anphiber-. Anphabor-. Something that goes on land and water already then that’d increase the odds of it working and not messing up her water walking ability? Ranger can walk, and so can the other navy ships, so maybe if you fuse with one, like the lady Geralt found who had cards for some reason, then maybe you'll get that same land standing leg ability thing?”

It took him saying all that out loud and a few moments more to recognize that maybe that specific fusion wasn't going to go down well with a lot of people and so he instead suggested that ”oooor we could just help her cheat like Rika is doing,” before putting the jar back down.

“9... and 10!” At that moment the ship girl in question finished her toe touching, stood back up and immediately wobbled on her overworked legs “Oh. Oh cool. My legs hurt a lot, but that’s good right? Now what do I do?” she asked, steadying herself and eager and willing to do more despite not being in the best condition to keep going. The girl clearly did not understand the concept of limits, to an alarming degree.

”or maybe not” Jr said, a bit perturbed about Rika’s lack of regard for her own well-being ”but maybe a walking stick. Or crutches. Least let her move about on her own on land even if she cant fight or something?

World of Light

wordcount: 1,583(+3)
Midna: level 2 EXP: ////////////////////////////// (28/30)
Location: Sandswept Sky – Crown of Sand - Sphinx Temple

”This is a blissful change of pace from the desert I’ll give you that, but Sectonia’s right, it's nothing compared to propper royal treatment” Midna agreed with the Queen. Being able to bathe and drink and eat was highly relieving after the stress, heat and dust of desert, but a slightly overgrown pool and some, admittedly very nice, birds to look out wasn't exactly the pinnacle of high society. However, unlike the queen she’d had to go without before, and she’d had to earn the position of princess three times over. First by vote, then by duel and then, finally, through war. What was one more violent interlude when added atop those experiences. Also, she had to admit, the company, chatter, pleasantry (and some nice views) while bathing in the cool waters did have a charm of their own even without it being contrasted with the desert beyond.

She was in the middle of mentally reinventing the idea of the public bathhouse and trying to work out if she’d be able to commission the construction the construction of one when she got home when the queen started explaining the state of the world to the pair of freed mercenaries.

”Sounds more like a lot work to me,” Midna commented when Sectonia mentioned liking the idea of ruling over the mishmash of worlds ”Not that Galeem’s seems to be actually managing things down here. No armies or administrators controlling anything, its just their guardians camped out in their own corners of this huge mess right?” it did make her wonder what the point of it all was. Pure vanity and a god complex was the best bet she had at the moment.

”Thank you, your majesty,” the princess then replied when the results of her transformation where compliment, before adding some additional details ”I used to be even shorter and didn’t have this gerudo skin tone before. Or any clothes which was probably the weirdest change to receive. I used the spirit of the former, treacherous, owner of Va Nuboris to gain the knowledge to control it. Haven't had many side effects so far. Maybe a bit bolder? More direct? Hard to explain it but my mental headspace has shifted a bit in ways that are tricky to quantify from my own perspective” She added, not being particularly helpful with her explanation of the mental side effects of absorbing a spirit into the mind, but still giving a glance into what the results of what kind of non visible changes could occur. She hadn’t experienced the actual major consequences of that spirit had in store quite yet after all.

After a fair bit more relaxing in the pool the smell of cooked meat filled the room. Hippo, apparently, which whatever it was had to be better than the bugmeat they would have gotten foraging at the bottom of the cliff. Still, the princess was all too happy for Braum to test out the teen’s (and you could definitely tell they Joker and co where teens mow that they weren't dressed up like stylish masked bandits) cooking. After the chiseled titan of a man had declared it more than satisfactory the princess padded over and, after re-donning her helm, got herself a healthy serving of the meat. Due to the lack of plates and cutlery she held it with the fused shadow’s hand and occasionally brought it down to bite a chunk out of. Technically she could have gone and tried crushing spirits until she got a knife to let her eat more dignifiedly but the princess was now much too hungry to waste time on such things. So while her eating couldn't be described as feral, no matter how much she wanted to go wild and devour the flesh as fast as possible, it wasn't exactly dainty and princess-like either.

As they ate, the topic of what to call those influenced by Galeem, a slightly awkward topic considering there were still three people in the room who were in that state. Fortunately it didn't seem to cause any issues though she did have to wonder what it was like for them. How much of this was actually going in and how much was going over their heads without them even noticing

”Daybroken’s pretty good, though we don't have a sun from where I come from so the whole ‘it’s good actually’ doesn't really have any context for me. Sundown doesn't really work as an adjective for describing someone. If we wanted, then shortening ‘under the influence of Galeem’ to just ‘Influenced’ would be a rather simplistic and straightforward one. However I suggest saying someone is ‘Gleaming’ or calling them ‘the Gleaming’ referencing the light of Galeem, the light in their eyes and, obviously, Galeem’s name, even if it is muddled a little for the wording to work.” was Minda’s take on the topic.

What remained to be dealt with after relaxation, talk and substance was the loot of their various battles. When it came to the items, Tora later turned out to know what the two broken boot devices were for, though she didn't know what a jet was either so his exclamation upon finding them didn't clear this up very much. The rest of what they had were some sticks that contained magic, although what kind she did know, and an (also) magical pipe, which lacked anything to smoke in it. Not that she knew what lighters smoked anyway. Also there were the cubes and money.

”So is this paper stuff actually worth anything? Doesn't look it. Certainly nothing compared to the rupees we use, though I guess it is more practical to carry than a whole load of crystals.” She asked, briefly considering the notes. How on earth would they even work, they had no intrinsic value. Were they basically just IOUs? Madness.

Midna shook her head and then decided to leave looking into that stuff more later.

”I’d suggest people pick out stuff for fusion or strikers fist, and then we crush what’s left and divide that up as well? Sound good?” Midna suggested. She had some ideas as she looked over the pile of dead, but wasn't the first to implement them. Instead the good doctor took one of the dragons and absorbed it within his heart, which was a new type of transformation to her. She was going to suggest a demonstration with her Wolfos as the exhibit, but the man revealed himself to be just as bold as she had been when it came to spirits. Midna approved. The actual result was debatable in terms of aesthetic, particularly compared to her absorption of Urbosa, but the benefits were likely worth it. Though she imagined he wished he had had the ability to levitate before the obstacle course they’d had to bypass to get here rather than after.

”If you need floating lessons just let me know doctor” she told him as she drifted around, inspecting him, only to be briefly blinded by a second flash of light. When her vision was only fuzzily back she saw the vague shape of a sword and shield welding knight with a red glowing eye who had suddenly appeared among the group. The princess flinched away from the transformed Poppi and then, when her mind and vision caught up with her instincts, was perplexed as to why she’d been so alarmed.

”oh, ahaha. Uh, that red eye, kinda looks like she’s still under the influence huh?” she said awkwardly, trying to brush off the whole affair, but it kept nagging her even while she set it aside and got to work. First things first, Midna wanted to see if she could improve her Wolfos. She called over the one she’d ridden in, who'd been allowed to relax with them and chow down on some meat despite the incident with the pool and then set to work, plucking a vibrava spirit from the very large pile of deceased ground pokemon and pressing it into the beast’s heart. There was another burst of light (Midna had gotten used to that by this point and blinked in advance) and then Midna had a chance to see the results of the transformation.

”Huh, that’s not much of a change is it?” Minda said scratching her head when the faded spirit didn’t do much to the Wolfos’s appearance as the other spirits had to her or her allies. In fact it had barely done anything. Confused, she pushed another in. Again, very little changed. She tried a third time and then noted that: ”Ok. So. only small changes. Well if we want you to get stronger we’ll just have to go all out won't we?” Do that she did, as she scooped up a fused-shadow sized handful of the spirits and shoved another eight into the beast. That most certainly had an effect, reaching some kind of threshold and almost entirely changing the wolf into a vibrava.

”Well that worked. Maybe a bit too well? Ah well. Now then” It was Minda’s turn. Like the doctor she sought out the remaining Flygon, coveting the power of dragons. There hadn’t been an easy fight yet, so more power, more strength, where required. There was a certain amount of sunk cost there of course, (she’d hunted it so she should use it) but the beast had lived up to its draconic heritage. It had fought with strength, cunning and conviction, part of her thought it was fitting it be used so she could do the same. Plus, maybe she’d get eye protection like the medic had. That would be nice, she thought as she pressed the beast to her chest and let the transformation take hold.

Diluting yourself in the pursuit of power got a lot easier after the first time.