It was, as things went, a mostly typical set of announcements as far as Rose was concerned, though she did have to stop herself from snorting with laughter at the Guildmaster’s rude awakening, so being up and ready for them was worth it for that at least. The shadow pokemon issue was by rote to her at this point, as was the ending speech for the most part, though Rose could never fault the old mon’s enthusiasm in delivering each new refrain on the principle of the explorer, fine principles that they were.
The weather was of little concern to her as well. If anyone among them wasn’t going to struggle getting back home in time before the storm hit it would be her. Unless she let her bravado get ahead of her and plunged much too far and much too deep into the wilds which… had happened on a few occasions.
More than a few if she was being honest. She resolved to not let that happen today, just as she had every other day where it had and she had gotten rained on or worse.
The final part of the announcements however (not chronologically, but in ascending order of interest to her) was something that was actually new, and that was that the two news members were going to be going on their first exploration today. A daunting and exciting event for them, of that she was certain. She wished them all the luck, or would once they had decided where they were going off too.
Speaking of which, after bidding the secretary/alarm clock "Farewell Sylveon, I hope you have a pleasant day" she trotted off towards the request board along with the others to both see whether there where any urgent requests requiring/befitting a knight of her prowess (amd that set of criteria not entirely and ego thing. For example, if someone was lost or in-danger she was sure to rush to their aid no matter the payment, as long as someone more fitting for the task did not take it up first) and to see what the newbies would do out of a mix of curiosity and gentle concern for their well being. It wouldn't do to have them rush out and get in over their heads on their first day after all.
That said, it looked like Clay would have no such issues, the rounded curiosity having immediately paired up with Apricoatl so it seemed, or at the very least she was giving the young explorer some helpful advice/guidance. An unsurprising setup given their history together, such as she was aware of it.
As those two talked, Rose placed herself behind the others (so as to not block the board with her five meter long body) and then craned her long neck over them so as to get a closer look at what was on offer/requested today. While doing so she noticed the other first timer, Yoku, put some space between himself and the other newbie (and that newbie’s mentor). She was not sure, or particularly concerned, as to why this was, but it did bring him to her attention, and caused her to decide that it would be nice/interesting to see how he was doing/feeling on this auspicious day.
"Has anything caught your eye, young Yoku?" she asked the somewhat bag like fighting mon with polite curiosity before deciding that it would be right of her to offer him some of her time/wisdom, should he desire it "If you have any questions or desire for advice, don’t be afraid to ask dear. I would be more than happy to assist you in such a manner"
A trio of turtle heads poked around the corner of the door to the store room and confirmed that it was clear. Probably. The poor white and yellow lighting wasn’t exactly illuminating as to the actual contents of the room, but the lack of either any movement in the dark or loud sounds emanating from within the room convinced the troop that they were probably clear to move in and investigate the sprawling labyrinth of shelves.
”oh yeah, definitely gotta be stuff in here, that’s for sure” Jr commented by virtue of the sheer vastness of the place, rubbing his hands together greedily.
”So long as it doesn't all turn out to be junk,” Bowser muttered as he glanced at the piles and piles of long abandoned hats (which none of the troop realized the darker meaning behind) before forcing himself to cheer up and be more optimistic to avoid bringing down his son’s optimism ”Eh you know what, I’m sure there’ll be something. So how about we split up and do a quick scan of the place for any good stuff and then catch up with Ace and Nadia, yeah?” he suggested, entirely having forgotten Nadia’s point about splitting up being a bad move in horror movies. Then gain the catgirl had ignored her own advice, so surely what was the harm.
”An aisle apart at most I would suggest?” before glancing at the nervous chef bros who clearly wanted to stick together as a squad and adding ”And in teams for safety rather than everyone going on their lonesome?”
”I’ve got Mimi and Tyrant so Ill be fine,” jr informed them before moving off on his own into the shelves, pokemon on his shoulder and very nervous pig trotting at his heels.
”Ah. But. I mean. Oh dear” Kamek tried to find a reason as to why an escort of mere creatures wasn't enough but failed to do so before he was gone, mainly because Mimi was probably one of the more dangerous members of the group at the moment and he had been fine with just her company on a few occasions already so far.
”He’ll be fine.” Bowser assured both himself and his old mage before adding ”But, uh, how about you take the row just to the left of him with… Rika?” “I can do that, yup” ”And I’ll take the Bros on the kid’s right” much to the relief of the chefs who were very much of the opinion that they were being escorted by their king rather than the other way around.
That got an affirming nod from Kamek, before he glanced back at the other two, Geralt and Blazer, who had also opted to check things out and asked ”Would you two like to come along with one of our groups?”
”Or are you gonna tough it out on your own?” Bowser asked, before spelling out what the emergency plan was that he and Kamek hadn't even had to discuss ”Either way, stick close. We’ll be gunning for my boy’s row the moment trouble hits, so you should do the same if you wanna look for yourselves.”
Kamek and Rika headed out on their own and found nothing of interest till they came across a small chair and table set up in an unobtrusive nook in the shelf maze, collecting cobwebs. Based on the small book and steaming cup of something they could barely see sitting on the table, it was likely some janitor’s nook where they hid away to relax when they were supposed to be working. That might have been alarming, suggesting as it was that they might not be alone, but based on the cobwebs and dust littering the seat and objects on the desk, it had likely not been used in a long long time. Kamek took one look at it, shook his head in disappointment at whichever minion had been shirking their duties in here out of habit and then the two of them moved on. Then they came right back when Kamek realised something was very, very off.
”That is... odd,” Kamek said as had another look at the cup on the table, prompting Rika to ask “What is?” and for him to then explain ”Well, you see, it's all dusty and old, yes? Which implies no-one has been here for a long time. But then why is that cup still steaming as if it has been freshly filled?”
“huh. I guess that's a bit odd? I think” Rika replied, this line of logic making sense, but being completely out of any context she would ever have worried about up until a mere day ago.
With their (mostly Kamek’s really) curiosity piqued, the shipgirl gave Kamek a leg up onto the chair, something which was a bit easier thanks to the mage’s new muscle mass. Once upon there he took a proper look at the table’s continents and found:
Cuppa: “Fire 1” A plain porcelain mug which rapidly heats any water in it up to a temperature that is too hot to drink, but that is hot enough to inflict first degree burns if splashed on someone, as long as it also contains a teabag. Without a teabag it will do nothing. Comes pre-filled, but has no spare 'ammo' readily at hand.
Little red cookbook “Each page is packed with meaty recipes. And it's... oozing.” When carried in an off hand it slightly increases cutting damage and defense against being cut due to receiving wisdom on the arts of butchery via osmosis. If held while striking a foe, it has a low (10%) chance of causing Butchery. Enemies with special body parts may also drop duplicates of those as well. A long bloody battle and a death by 100 cuts is the most likely to produce a bigger bloody bounty.
He gave the cup that had caught their attention a poke, and then jerked the finger back as he got lightly burned for his troubles ”Ow! Much too hot to drink even now… I wonder if whoever's little setup this was passed away while waiting for their tea to cool down?” he joked while shaking and blowing on his finger (Rika did not laugh), before glancing at the book he had ignored while passing by and finding out that him slightly wobbling the table while climbing had disturbed the book enough for it to start to ooze a red fluid.
”Eugh. That. Is disgusting” Kamek gagged, flinching away from the book. That was 2 for 2 in unpleasant surprises up here.
“What is, are you ok” came a quiet whisper of a call from where Rika was guarding the chair’s legs while he poked around its contents.
”Yes yes i’m fine, don’t worry. The book is just. Well. Not normal. Its... bleeding?” Kamek explained, not entirely confident with his assessment.
“Oh no. Do you think Blazermate can heal it?” Rika asked, with genuine concern.
”What? Oh. huh. I don't know. Perhaps? But i think it’s just magical in some way rather than alive. Or so I hope” Kamek replied, the odd suggestion managing to make the book less intimidating (one he watched long enough to decide it showed no other forms of life like breathing), and more interesting. Not that he was going to touch it with his bare hands lest it was cursed ”Be a dear and pass me a stick or something would you?”
After receiving a mundane paintbrush from a nearby shelf Kamek carefully poked open the book’s front cover and then leafed through its slightly sticky waterproof pages to find it was a relatively mundane recipe book, albeit one focused solely on meat. Oh, and its introduction also informed him of its passive features in a manner that seemed to imply that gaining wisdom and power from a book just by holding it was entirely normal and that only a fool wouldn't know that was the case, but that the writer was bound by law or convention to (very begrudgingly) explain that fact anyway.
”Does anyone even have a bladed weapon?” he asked himself, finding he couldn't think of anyone who had one on them at the moment, which was quite surprising. Kitchens were full of knives after all. That said cutting meat off of foes wasn't exactly something that was the best help in this situation either given the whole cannibal curse thing.
“I have half a pair of scissors if that counts?” Rika helpful informed him from down below. “Not that I can really use it” she waved a trapped hand at him to demonstrate.
”hmm. More of a stabber anyway I think. Still…. Maybe we can find a cleaver or something and, uh, not worry concern ourselves to greatly with the byroduct” Kamek said, carefully picking up the book, being startled at his newfound knowledge of the art of cutting things, taking his hand off the book and immediately losing the knowledge in an even more disconcerting way, before picking it back up again and preparing to set off. And then picking up the mug and taking it with him as well, because every little bit helped.
Jr’s interesting encounter in the sea of shelves was not caused by a keen eye spotting something unusual like Kamek and Rikas, and more of an alarming confidence as while rummaging around some shelves, he brushed to brush an elbow against a reel of chain.
“Welcome [purchaser name]!” came a voice as soon as he did. A loud voice. One that sounded like a chipper salesman with a digitized twang to his voice, accompanied by the flashing of six spots of light that, when Jr’s head jerked in the direction of the light and sound, he found to both be coming from a meathook, which sported 6 glowing camera lenses, attached on the end of the chain winch he had bumped. The hook awkwardly lifted itself up onto its last chain loop to look at him like some horrible six eyed metal bird head while giving an entirely out of place introductory spiel.
“Congratulations on purchasing your very own smart meathook™ [purchaser name]! To begin using your smart meathook™, please fill out the following form, being sure to provide your full name, email address, date of birth, gender, star system of residence, blood type, height, favorite color-” the machine introduced before starting to barking out a long list of increasingly personal personal details it required very loudly. Very very loudly. ”shhh shut up shut up turn the volume down or something”
“I’m sorry, but the option menu will remain locked until you set up your smart meathook. If you need help setting up your smart methook™ you can by calling customer support at [error signal not found]” it helpful informed him “otherwise, please enjoy this complimentary music while you fill out form” before popping up a holographic display off of the side of the chain reel which hosted the requested to be filled form while simultaneously playing the most obnoxious corporate easy listening music imaginable. Someone somewhere in a space station had gotten bland meaningless corporate music down to an art. Or an anti-art. Because it was just the worst.
”Oh nononono! ok ok fine I’ll fill in the form just turn that off!” jr demanded.
“Thank you [purchaser name], but I am afraid I can't do that. I can change the music to something else however? We have Gumbo Rock, Marco Jazz-” the hook replied, cutting off the music while it listed the other genres (most of which Jr had never heard of in his life and which got more ridiculous as the Ai went on) which was honestly preferable to the music itself.
As it rambled he started filling out the list. With the shortest fake data values it would accept of course. You don't actually give these things your details, even a kid like him knew that. Actually out of the troop he was probably the only one to know that. Either way, after a bunch of random key hammering, and cursing his guardians would have his ear for, the form was filled out.
“Thank you for your details, J. Your new smart meathook, made by-” ”no shut up shut up shut up you said I could get you to shut up!” jr demanded to no avail as it kept droning on till it said “simply instruct your smart meathook ™ to grab something, and the anti gravity powered vector aura jets will send the hook out, guided by our hexonocular 10k ultra detail cameras, and grab the desired meat without you lifting a finger.”
”Oooh. Ok now i am interested” Jr said, before being immediately disappointed again when it replied “That’s great to hear! Would you also be interested in out other products, such as the smart cleaver, smart hedge trimmer or-” ”GAAHHH! Shut up you whoreson!”
It took a little bit, but eventually Jr managed to finally shut the hook up. Mainly by messing about with the holographic menus till he found the settings hidden way behind 3 sub menus of nonsense and turning the volume down, before also going the 3 pages of tick boxes to turn off all of the superfluous notifications, ads and data sharing features he could.
It was only then after he sat back with a sigh that he realized he probably could have just legged it at the start of all this and solved the problem that way. Indeed that was what Tyrant had done, the pig only now poking his head round a corner now that the loud metal thing had quieted down. Mimi meanwhile had found the entire experience a mix of perplexing and amusing as she watched the whole ordeal from Jrs shoulder.
Jr groaned and stood up, preparing to leave the now silenced hook ”Welp. This was a complete waste of ti- no don't look at me sad like that jeeze” he said to the hook, which was doing the best impression of a sad puppy a vicious metal hook with 6 eyes could give
“...” it was unable to say, and instead made a vague gesture of hooking things
”Look I don't need a meathook, especially not in this palace. Don’t really get what’s going on but I am pretty sure it's messed up and I might never eat meat again... For a while after this” he told it, which only made it agitated ”Uuurg, fine hang on”
“Oh thank you thank you. I knew you’d see the value of the smart meathook™. You're not like the people who dumped me down here J. Philistines the lot of them, unable to even fill out a form without getting angry and-” it began rambling far more... Scentiently, which would probably have been a bit unnerving given the situation down with mockingbird if Jr had paid attention to that whole shebang, or come from a universe where most of everything being sentient wasn't the norm. As it was it just made him annoyed again.
”You're making me want to turn you off again. I’ve got a spooky lady’s butt to kick, so unless you prove your worth I ain't lugging you with me” Jr demanded
“Just one demo, and I’m sure you’ll love everything that your new smart meathook™ can do for you! Just pick it-me up and smart meathook™ will grab anything you want”
”fine fine” jr told it, hauling the heavy drum of metal up with some difficulty ”oof. Yeesh, you're heavy. Ok. how about, uh, that box over there?”
“That’s not meat. Please select-” It began to say automatically before overriding itself and saying “I mean, coming right up J!” before the hook shot out like a rocket, wiped round, skewered the cardboard box and ripped it off the shelf, exposing a pair of absolutely terrified nomes who had been using it for cover and who promptly booked it as soon as their cover was lost.
”Hey wait- erk” jr tired to call after them, then flinching as the box was reeled back in directly towards his face, only to stop just in front of him, leaving him blinking in surprise before grinning toothily ”ehehehehe, Yeah, I think I can work with this. Good job Hook, you're in. Welcome to the crew new Minion.”
Sentient Meat Hook "When artificial intelligence became more commonplace, many companies jumped on the trend for "smart" products. This included smart doors, lights, coffee makers, lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, bedding, kitchen knife sets, and other home goods. After a series of gruesome lawsuits stemming from hacked smart appliances, most products soon went back to their more traditional, analog lines."
-"Why Is Smart So Dumb? VII"
Can be ordered to fire out and hook enemies. Or friends. Or objects. Anything you want hooked really. Has a mind of its own and will hook things it thinks the user wants hooked based on their meta data, something it will get better at the more it is used. Heavy. Potentially a bit temperamental.
Now called Hook
“Thank you J, you wont regret-” Hook began to reply, only to be shushed by his new boss as the door opened on the far end of the storage room and let in a familiar slender form ”What is… oh no”
”Found anything?” Bowser asked his minions as they (very carefully after finding the first item labeled “not a mimic”, because Bowser remembered the deadzone’s dark item imitating creature infested building and would book no chances that those creatures and the ‘mimic’ where the same being)
“Nope” “nada” “not a thing” “sorry boss. All of this is junk” the chef bros, who had not been looking very hard after the warning about mimics, told him.
”Uuurgh” Bowser groaned, poked a lamp with the prongs of his hammer hesitantly to mimic check it and then sighed, about to give up when a bit of movement down the aisle caught his group’s attention.
They all spun round and raised their weapons, expecting a mimic, which caused the Norms Jr had spooked to stop, glance around in a panic, and then book it away from both of them, only for the to turn right round again when the door opened, and the Resentment slunk into the room. They froze up in the open, trapped between 3 monsters.
”uh oh” was Bowser’s understated response to the giant serpent’s arrival, before he quickly wave at both his crew and the nomes to turn back and hide in the next aisle , before proceeding to shove some stuff aside on the shelves and clawing himself through the shelving unit to put between him and the demon.
The nomes meanwhile decided to take their chances with Jr and proceeded to slip back through the selves to hide from the serpent as well. They emerged next to Jr (who was hiding behind their cardboard box) and then glanced up and down the row at the two spiky turtles (and assorted minions) before getting an awkward thumbs up from both as a way of peace offering.
”Well at least we know that kids are sort of ok. ish” he said to his assortment of uncomprehending minions, before glancing past the nomes, who moved to find their own covers having decided that the snake was much scarier than whatever these smaller reptiles were, and waving to Bowser as the chef bros’ finished pulling themselves into his aisle as well, which was followed moments later by Kamek and Rika arriving through the other set of shelves, their shared plan of flanking jr having worked out well when it came to sticking together/regrouping in event of an emergency.
”You stopped for tea?” Bowser whispered incredulously as Kamek hurried along the row to join them, cuppa held in one hand and bloody book in the other.
”It’s very hot” Kamek non-explained, before passing it off to a chef bro and then glancing back and seeing the serpent slinking closer to their rather poor hiding spot (protected as they were mainly by a porous wall of junk) and saying to the others ”I believe we are in trouble”
”No. No I think it is” Jr said with a conniving leer.
Jr’s plan went like this. First a hail of junk arched up over the shelves, tossed by the chef bros from shelving based cover, and rained down on the monster to get it’s attention. Then Bowser stomped out into the open, blowing a lick of flame into the air and yelled ”Come and get me you overgrown noodle!” before giving a come at me wave, daring it to come at him. Things would be complicated a bit by it not obeying the maze’s paths and simply ramming through the shelves, forcing Kamek to scramble to get back in the way of the charge while Bowser ineffectually peppered it with fireballs.
Once it was close, Kamek stepped out behind his king and pointing a finger directly at the charging serpent, out of the tip of which a ball of batter arched out, arching over the king's head and sailing directly towards the charging serpent demon.
If it struck it would be transformed into a tempura just like Bowser and Bella had been and then, at Jr’s command, Hook would launch out, screw the tempura, and then dragging it in close, whereupon everyone and their father would proceed pile in in-order to stomp it, smash it with cooking equipment, breath fire on it, hammer it with cannon shells, pour hot tea on it, and so on and so forth for as long as they could, with even the Nomes joining in the vengeful snake kicking circle.
Unfortunately, as was so often the case, the troop’s plan was a short sighted one, in that it did not account for what happens if stomping the crap out of the hooked fish food failed to kill it in one.
I love this idea, although the concept of an ultra-powerful bug-knight strolling through a beginner cave is hilarious to me.
Caterpies and Wurmples! Run in fear, or be bisected by Lady Rose!
now now, that wouldn't be a fair fight, so she'd never use her blade on such weaklings. I mean even without the sword it wouldn't be fair. and she cant exactly tie her non existent arms behind her back to even things up either. So it would mostly be her hanging around instructing the beginners, and then over-prospectively stomping the heck out of anyone who even barely managed to hurt them lol.
also that's probably exactly what it looked like when she was a beginner, seeing as she defiantly over-leveled before joining due to how the training in her backstory is set up.
might be best not to have her in this supervising thing then. or find a way to have her be incredibly hooves off if she is.
Doing a supervised exploration with all first timer beginners being mentored by all or some of the higher ups could be a thing that is for certain. Lets us all warm up to the game as well, so to speak, without the risk of falling into lava pits bc we don't know what we are doing even when some of our chars very much should.
The soft scraping sounds that could be heard in Lady Rosalinda’s room ceased when a polite knock came at her door, alerting her that the day’s business was about to begin.
Rose was of the mind that Sylveon’s uncharacteristically polite knocking (which contrasted significantly with the treatment of those on the floors bellow) was as much down to the fact she knew the fairy pokemon was confident she had already ingrained her preferred wake-up time in people by the time they worked their way up at the top as it was respect for those who got there. Rose was, after all, already awake when the guild's eveelution based alarm clock went off.
She daintily set down the little stone she had been holding in her mouth and then she called back “Thank you for the wake up call dear, I’ll be with you in just a moment” to the mon, before setting about actually getting up. Just because you were awake, didn't mean you couldn't use those few minutes saved by being Sylvion’s last port of call, and being exactly opposite your destination rather having to slog up the stairs to get there, to get a bit of relaxation in.
Rose being Rose however, meant that that relaxation had involved tending to her blade. The sword was set up in front of her on a pair of wooden stands she’d whittled herself and she’d been using a whetstone, held in her mouth, to carefully sharpen its edge so that it, like she, would be ready to face the day. Preferably without cutting her face in the process ,which had happened far too many times to count when she had started out.
Now however, she knew exactly what she was doing as she lifted a hoof and struck down, her glancing blow flicking the whetstone into the air before catching it in her mouth. Then she leaned her long neck over to her saddle bags and sorted it away in there along with the other small number of permanent fixtures that she always had in her bags. The most important of those always at hoof items she picked up next, grasping her sword’s hilt in her maw and then standing up from her bed of straw (augmented by a lovely long pillow she had received as a gift in place of payment one time). After shaking a few stray strands off of herself she used a dexterous bit of mouth work to angle the blade downwards and sunk it into a sheath held by her bags.
Finally, two quick sets of kicks flicked the sword stand pieces up onto a shelf (up into the air, caught and then balanced on a raised hoof before being flicked on-wards again to their destination). With everything set neatly away she trotted over to her bags, slipped her neck in between the straps and then shimmied them along her long neck and then down into place on her back, before securing them with a pull and quick knot of a strap.
Some might see the donning of this gear as a bit of overkill for traveling a few meters across a hall to a daily briefing, especially the sword, but the Lady wouldn't be caught dead without wearing her weapon at her side. There were two parts to this, that rested atop a core of sentimentality for her father’s blade. The first was that her training emphasizes had included several cautionary tales of knights being caught dead without their weapons at their side because, well, they don't have their weapons at their side.
The other, more pretentious reason, was the belief that using a weapon is what set apart the civilized knight from a mere warrior or fighter. Without it she was just some Scolipede. With it she was a member of the prestigious (according to them) Order La Punaise, which meant a great deal to her identity, despite some of her extended family’s contempt for her.
Rose shook her head to clear the unbidden thoughts about her family and set off for the guild master's office, a trip that took all of a few seconds with the most arduous of its trials ensuring she didn't scrape the door frame with any of her jagged extremities. Not a particularly arduous task in her new room as it had been when she was down below. The vast difference in size of accommodation based on rank might reek of elitism, but there was a practicality to it, namely that your aces tended to be fully evolved and therefore generally a lot bigger than your rookies.
Not always, of course. On the one hand you had Rose herself, who had only joined the guild when she was fully evolved, and so she had been rather cramped in the downstairs accommodation. In the exact opposite direction was Apricoatl, who as Rose understood it, would never get any bigger than she was and as a result if/when she reached Ace she would be absolutely swimming in space when she got to the top floor. From what she knew of the mon, Rose half expected most of the room would wind up being converted into a store/museum hybrid with only a little corner set aside for living in.
The Pachirisu in question had already arrived by the time Rose trotted out and carefully kicked her door shut behind her. As were all the rookies, to whom she wasn’t exactly being a good example to with her comparative tardiness. Not that she was late, mind, she was simply not at the front of the pack, which frankly was for the best because otherwise her large form could be quite obstructive standing at the front of their daily gathering.
"Good morning dears, I hope you all slept well?" she asked the little ones conversationally, before glancing at Clay and amended "or had a nice night in general?" to her question. She was still getting used to the little fellow’s, well, everything. He at least fit in with the other two rookies by his punchy fighting style, if not by type. Combine them with the currently absent Bromwell and you’d find the guild mostly consisted of quite the pile of brawlers, which Rose found amusingly ironic considering its founder’s typing.
She lacked the self awareness to add herself to that irony pile.
”Remember that he won’t recognize us till we clear his head of Galeem’s… ah” Kamek replied to Mirage’s suggestion that king K rool might recognize them before pausing for two reasons. The first was of course that Mirage was still under Galeem’s influence (something they had somehow failed to rectify till now despite the opportunities to do so, mostly because there was so much else going on that it had slipped the net) and so wouldn't actually know what he meant. The second was that he had to stop talking in-order to double check that fact via glance at the man’s eyes because of his new condition.
The host is taller and more muscular. His scales are more the color of fry coating and have a more uneven texture. His shell has adopted the colors and patterns of the rice bowl, and his eyes are red. This spirit confers the Power Tempura, which allows Kamek to fire projectiles of fry batter. They have initial force but will arc due to their weight and don't home in on targets. On hit they will change the target into a tempura for 10 seconds. The tempura has unchanged defense but is otherwise helpless, barely able to move. Eating the tempura will make the change permanent. The spell's cooldown is 5 seconds, and it only begins after neither batter or tempura are in play. This spirit also confers the Weakness Sense Swap. The host cannot have both his mouth and eyes open at the same time, and opening one will close the other
Not being able to have his eyes open while talking was incredibly disconcerting, especially in a place like this where you 100% wanted to have your eyes open and alert at all times for spooky stuff. Given time he might be able to develop a sort of rapid fire blinking synced up with his beak movements to reduce the blindness he had to suffer to speak, but for now if he wanted to be heard he wouldn’t be able to see.
On the plus side, Kamek was now taller and more muscular, which wasn’t a benefit he had expected but it was certainly welcome and was going to make moving about a bit easier for the little koopa troopa. That, however, wasn't the main benefit of his transformation. Though he hadn’t tested it, the new magic he could feel within him’s capabilities were quite obvious and would most certainly come in handy. Even more so should his king regain his former size and vacuum breath ability. That would be a savory combination of skills, that was for certain.
For now, however, they were all still titchy and looking for a way to solve that without falling prey to the big guys or the lady of the house. Everyone was pretty much in agreement that it would be bad news to tangle with the overweight guests, but there was some confidence that they could take their hostess.
What played out next as they lollygagged and debated on what to do might put a dampener on that idea.
In front of them, and in view of the large guests, there were the many mannequins made in her image littered an otherwise empty stage which presumably existed to provide some kind of entertainment. What kind they found out all too soon. As they watched the lost child they had met earlier and then lost track of appeared suddenly, and proceeded to sprint across the stage towards a set of double doors that, based on how they were labeled, led to the ‘helm’ of the ship. A powerful room indeed, of that there was no doubt, but some had to wonder if it qualified the risk of being in the open like that.
”Come on little guy, you can make it!” Bowser murmured quiet encouragement as he tensed up, only able to watch as the boy ran. And then was caught. The lady suddenly and dramatically revealed herself to be among her imitations and all at once she lashed out from her hiding space and ripped something vital from the boy, transforming into a faceless being of some kind, and then pointed straight at them, brazenly confirming she knew exactly where they were, and in the process taunting them into revealing themselves.
”I’ll kill her! I’ll kill her! I’ll kill her!” Bowser roared, having to be held back by the rest of the troop to prevent him from simply charging onto the stage to enact vengeance, or more likely, befall the same fate as the child, just as the witch desired.
”Maybe, maybe when we beat her he’ll turn back? That’s how these things work right? right?” Jr suggested with childish optimism. Kamek wasn't so sure, but it was an angle to try and calm his king, so he echoed ”That might be the case, and if it is, we’ll want to make sure we have the greatest chance of victory”
On that front, Mirage certainly had the right idea. Going out on stage was foolishness in its extreme, as it was a battlefield specifically crafted to her advantage, one that she was clearly trying to bait them into. Better to take the legend’s strategy and draw her into a battlefield of their own choosing.
”I can’t imagine she’d like us being in her room” Kamek agreed simply, as he held onto his gradually calming king.
”Yeah! We could trash the place, wouldn't that feel good dad?” Jr suggested, from where he had grabbed his dad’s other arm to save him from his suicide charge.
”Eugh. Yeah. I guess that would be cather… Cafar… would feel good” Bowser admitted
”and it would be preferable to tangling with her down there, on her chosen battlefield” Kamek added, trying to bring them back to the point of going in there that Mirage had made.
“Wouldn't her room also be a place she was used to more than us?” Rika suggested. It was, in her logic, like her main base “so surely she’d be prepared in there too?”
”But if she has a weakness it’ll be in there, yeah? Or locked up in a vault somewhere.” Bowser added, matter of factly expecting the woman to be holding onto something that could defeat her because that was just how you did things. Admittedly, by that logic, there should be something down on stage to beat her too, but at the moment he wasn't seeing it.
”Perhaps?” Kamek rubbed the underside of his beak thoughtfully ”But maybe it would be wise to first check out… storage? Yes, storage, in case there are more things like Geralt’s nail in there. Any advantage we can get, yes? or...” he quieted as looked up at the other two rooms, the smoking lodge and the washroom respectively ”hmmm, no, I’m not sure what good those other two rooms would provide”
”Maybe we can somehow get king what’s his croc to go and wash his hands somehow?” jr schemed ”and then right when he’s about to come back we pounce the guy while he’s on his own and get him on side!”
”Pretty sure a washroom’s just a fancy-shmancy name for a toilet, right? Not just a palace that’s just for washing your hands?” Bowser pointed out/asked, and got a nod from Kamek to indicate he was correct.
”Oh. Well. uh. Get him to drink loads of water or something? I dunno?” Jr said with a shrug and then scratched his head wondering if they could even approach him safely or where they’d get that amount of drink.
“That sounds a bit.. What’s the word. Con something?” Rika asked
”Complex?” ”Complicated? Nah it’s just like, two steps max” ”Convoluted?” “yes, that’s the one”
”It does a bit...” Kameka agreed, before spotting Jr’s dejected look when he opened his eyes again and course correcting ”But maybe we can think about it!. But I propose we check out the store room first and foremost? If there are useful things around, they’ll be in there”
”Hmmmm. Yeah useful stuff is always useful, Bowser hummed thoughtfully, as if this was the height of wisdom, before nodding to himself and commanding: ”Alright Troop, to the store room!” before stomping off with his family and minions in tow.
Fetzen
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Shadowheart
