@thedman @LemonZest1337 @Archmage MC @Stekkmen @DracoLunaris @Lugubrious

After an amazing display of teamwork from Ratchet and Blazermate, the battle soon ended, with Bowser bombastically boasting about the beaten baddies. Din stopped dancing, her heart racing, but feeling more confident. She had helped! Though she wished she could have done more, this was a start. She picked up Bowser's tophat with Kirby inside, keeping an eye on the healing resting pink puff as King Bowser had commanded. Meanwhile, Tora seeemd keen on getting some answers from the man at the giant mushroom, and Blazermate, Michael, and the Centurion soon followed. But what worried Din the most was the fact that the small cat person, Ratchet, opted to scout ahead. She didn't like the idea of such a small creature going out into the dangerous unknown alone. Din also worried about Geno, the wooden doll in the blue cloak, who had flew on ahead, and hadn't yet returned. As much as she wanted some answers, she decided instead to go after Ratchet.

Carrying Kirby with her, she ran after the Lombax, "Hey! Wait up!" she called out, "Let me come with you. I don't think I've introduced myself. I'm Din, I'm a dancer from Holodrum, but I guess where we're from is meaningless. I don't know if you saw, but one of our allies flew off towards the castle and hasn't returned yet. His name is Geno; he's a wooden doll wearing a blue cloak and cap. I'm worried about him, so I figure I'd come with you. I can't really fight, but somehow my dancing has beneficial effects."

Along with a few of the others, more or less engaged in conversation, Tora retraced his steps toward where he saw the cloaked stranger last. Bowser made the Nopon quite aware of what he would be doing for the time being, but a couple glances back confirmed that neither Din nor Ratchet seemed to be following him, either. Instead the pair looked to be proceeding toward the obstacle course-like section of the road beyond where the skirmish went down, maybe eager to jump and climb around. Either way, that left pretty much everyone who didn't head down the canyon accounted for. On that subject, he did hear what sounded like explosions going off in the direction of the rocky area, but while that worried him he reasoned that the tough-looking men who chose that path could handle it.

As Tora drew near the mushroom along with Michael, Agoston, and Blazermate, he spotted the Master of Masters coming around the side of the giant fungus, an ordinary-looking human girl in tow. Though he threw the man a worried look, he did not speak up, and instead listened in on him telling the girl, “Hmm...well, it's tough to explain, but in a way, yes. They must join you later on.” He helped her into the hammock, saying, “Close your eyes and rest a moment, missie. If you listen in the meantime, you'll see what I mean.” At the same time, he leaned a strange-looking weapon against the mushroom trunk.

After that he turned to see a small crowd assembled, then clapped his hands to his face in a gesture of surprise. “Goodness, you've all come 'round just for li'l ol' me? What an honor!” A single finger flew into the air to forestall anyone's comment. “Hold it! While I'd like a nice, long chat as much as the next guy, you've got more important stuff to do than gab with me, so I'll spill the beans first and answer specifics later if you've got them, 'kay?”

“I am the Master of Masters,” he reiterated for any whose previous absence deprived them of an introduction. Moving more deliberately, he leveled his index finger at the resplendent icon floating far away, serenely tucked away in its airborne bed of flashing colors. “And that...is Galeem. The oh-so-scary Lord of Light!” Never passing up a chance to emote, he threw an arm sideways in a dramatic sweeping motion. “It wiped the slate clean, so to speak, and made this world from the ideas it devoured. Now, I'm pretty darn sure that destroying Galeem will return everything to the way it was, but if ya wanna stick it to 'ol light-bright, you're gonna have to take out its shield first.” He held up ten fingers, then three. “Thirteen terrible enemies lurk in this world, each one powering one of Galeem's colors. Beat all thirteen and the way's open.”

A mysterious air enveloped the Master of Masters as he crossed his arms. “Want to know how I know all this? Here, take a looksie. I'm going to need you to find this.” He held produced a peace of paper. On it was a drawn picture of an eye, murky teal with a black slitted pupil. “This is my eye. Anything it ever sees, I can see, so it allows me to see the future. I know Galeem's name because in the future, one of you writes it down and shows it to the eye. Know what that means?” He clapped his hands together. “The fact that I see you all again means you survive well into the future, find my eye, and challenge Galeem! Woohoo, congratulations! But don't rest on your laurels just yet. Find the thirteen foes, beat 'em up, go after Galeem. Easy-peasy, right?”

The Master of Masters shook his head vigorously, pounding a fist onto his other hand's palm. “Wrong! You'll get thrashed! Maimed, mauled, annihilated. No fun for anyone. But good news, kids, this world if full of ways to get stronger. For instance, these things...” he reached down below his makeshift table and pulled out a corked bottle. Inside, a gleaming rainbow mote containing the face of a goomba could be seen. “These are spirits. Though this is basic knowledge where I come from, you all might not know, so let me just tell you that everyone has three parts: body, heart, and mind. Galeem's light destroyed everyone's body, sealed their hearts, and flooded their minds. It made new puppet bodies for the spirits to inhabit, but if you defeat one, the spirit -the heart and mind- is set free. You can bond with them to make yourself stronger. Here's how.”

He pointed at his temple with his free hand. “Take it into your mind to gain a spirit's skills or knowledge.” Holding the hand in front of him, the Master of Masters opened wide his fingers before making a crushing motion. “Smush it and it'll become some kind of equipment. Weapon, armor, who knows?” Finally, he placed his hand on his chest. “Take it into your heart, and you'll gain its powers.” Seemingly as an afterthought, he gave a shrug. “Or, if you don't want the consequences of just 'taking' a spirit, you can try to connect with it and have it fight alongside you. If the bond's strong enough, it should maintain its own consciousness and be able to manifest physically for a time. Whaddya think of the name 'Striker'? Hah, too bad, it's final.”

Setting the bottle down, he reached a finger into the darkness of his hood to scratch his chin. “'Course, your existence means there are ways to free the spirit without destroying the body. The keyblade's one way, but it'd take years to train any of you to use one right.” Another shrug. “Ah, no matter. If your hearts are strong enough, you'll find a way. For now, if you find any notable enemies near me, drag 'em back here and I'll set 'em loose.”

His gaze flew between the gathered heroes. “Capiche? Now you know your mission, and how to accomplish it. If you choose to accept it, of course. 'May your heart be your guiding key' ….I say it all the time. Ultimately, you have to do what your heart feels is right.”

The Master of Masters slumped down on the table, dramatically appearing to collapse from the effort of talking so much. “Ahhhh. So, there you have it. Please tell me I covered all my bases?”

Tora, having been at rapt attention, seemed to be processing all the new information still, but he managed to pipe up, “Whew! Talkipon must be Master of Masters of Exposition. World and spirits pretty complicated, meh.”

The cloaked man shot him a look, though with his face hidden, it proved completely ineffective.

---

Beyond the section of traversal undertaken by Ratchet and Din, the terrain mellowed out once again. A clearing of grass lay beyond, serving as the reunification point between the three paths. The area going forward changed once again, more uniform in composition. It appeared to be a handful of sections of land, separated by wooden bridges over cliffs and water. Giant plants and blocks could be seen scattered around as well. This area bore a few goombas, but not nearly as many as the previous one, and they did not seem to be as aggressive, either. That said, new enemies awaited them. The strange rabbit creatures goofed around, harassing one another or the wildlife, engaging in all sorts of irritating, zany behavior. More could be glimpsed farther off, though they seemed more driven, moving in groups across the terrain toward whatever area lay beyond the Ancient Gardens.

What the pair could see, however, did not form the complete story. Even from this distance they could hear the rattle of gunfire from across the way, though those sounds paled in comparison to the reverberation of explosions going off in the canyon path behind them and to the left. The duo could proceed into the Gardens proper and tangle with its long-eared, blaster-toting residents, or take a closer look at the canyon.

If they chose the latter, they might be able to see Courier 6, Death, and Zer0 besieged by bomb blasts, but more importantly, they could see their assailant. Moving along the edge of the canyon was a cart full of bombs being pushed by a large goblin with a barrel on his back, which itself appeared to contain a second goblin. A third, with a helmet and what appeared to be a crude rocket launcher, rode in the cart. All three eagerly chucked mine after mine down into the canyon, oblivious to either Ratchet or Din on the path ahead.

---

Bullets sprayed the surface of the water, but they lost all momentum within moments of entering it, rendering them harmless so long as Geno stayed submerged. The world he entered, however, bore its own share of peril and uncertainty. Within the moat he could spot a variety of underwater creatures. One, large and almost comical-looking, appeared oddly amiable even with the woeful coloration he'd come to expect, but the others did not share that look. Squids propelled themselves around using water propulsion, ready to blast any threats with ink. Jellyfish monsters floated without any care in the world, filling the water around them with electricity. Dangerous-looking beasts, part man and part fish, scrounged the moat bottom for food, but they avoided the small schools of bombfish that swam around with impunity. Toads wearing diving suits patrolled the area closest to the castle's stone foundations, providing a more concerted danger. A closer look at said foundations, however, revealed a pipe covered by a sturdy metal grate near the bottom, perhaps the very mode of entry Geno sought.

---

As Linkle flew over the Hammer Brother's, already taking cover from the combined assault of her and Michael, she heard a satisfying crack from behind. As she headed toward the ground on the other side of them she tucked herself into a ball and rolled three or four times, ending up on her back but mostly unharmed, and could see from her position that the Hammer Bros were no longer occupying their high ground. Which meant...

Ratchet landed a little ways away, somehow even less gracefully than she had, but as he started to laugh she did too. She pulled herself up off the ground, wiping the grass and dirt stains from her thighs and cloak, as Bowser yelled for everybody to take five. That was as good a sign as any that the battle was over, as as she looked back across the field all that was left of the enemy were the strange little lights that danced melancholy fairies between all her new friends. Bower swept his hand through a dense cloud of them, scooping a bunch up and holding them out for all to see, and Linkle cocked her head at that. So you could catch them?

Ratchet came up, waving and derailing he train of thought. She waved back and graciously took back the crossbow she'd loaned him before asking whether she was up for scouting ahead. She shook her head. "Normally I'd be all over that, but right now I've got to go see a guy about some birds. I'll catch up in a minute." Ratchet accepted this in good spirits, and as he turned and started off down the road Linkle called out. "Hey, Ratchet?" She tossed the crossbow back over to him. "Keep it a while longer. There's no telling when you could run into trouble." Satisfied, she gave him one last wave, holstered her own crossbow, and started heading back up the path back toward The Master of Masters mushroom base.

It turns out she wasn't the only one with that idea. As she rushed off to catch up with the group that was now she saw something flitting by her eyes. One of those little rainbow things. She reached out and closed her hand around it, nestling the thing in her palm. It was really pretty up close, and inside she could see one of the monsters she's blown away earlier. The thing was actually pretty cute, round and brown and kind of like a nut, when it wasn't all red eyed and gold veined. She would give anything for a proper bottle to keep it in, just to watch it fly around. Maybe she'd ask The Master if he had one.

As she went Din ran past her, carrying Kirby no less, which only made her feel better about extending that crossbow loan she'd given to Ratchet. That guy was a crack shot. She'd given him the important bow on the basis that, if he was asking for it, there was no way he didn't have better aim than her but he was actually really good if he managed to hit them while flying through the air like that.

Speaking of shots and shooting, she managed to catch up to the group just in time for Michael's gun lecture and was almost instantly enthralled. From the way he described it actually handling the thing wasn't all that differed from her own crossbows, but the mechanism behind how it fired caused a whole lot of things to start making sense. No wonder they did more damaged to those turtles, the projectiles were coming out so fast they couldn't even be seen. Evey single shot this thing made had the force of a bomb behind it, and it put out a lot of shots. "Wait, if the thing is making an explosion every time it shoots how long can you use it before it breaks?" she asked curiously.

---

"Hey Master, I'm ba-" Linkle started as they reached the mushroom, but then chomped down on the words as she noticed what Michael and Tora tactfully already had. There was another person with the Master now, a pretty down looking girl not much younger than Linkle herself. She waited until after the Master had helped the girl into his hammock to open her mouth again, but then shut it as he raised a finger for silence and began to speak.

It was all so promising. Mystery, adventure, 13 great enemies, a terrifying monster, and there they were picked by destiny to beat them all and bring peace and property back to the land. She could almost cry, it was everything she ever wanted from her life. The only thing that kept her from letting out a joyous shout was that there was someone resting right nearby. But then she had a sad thought. "Awww, if Bowser had just stopped earlier he would have known you could turn all his friends back to normal." She opened up her hand and let the little mote of light she'd caught, the Goomba's spirit, float out of her palm. She looked at it sadly. "We just did that to them. OH!" She reached up quickly and caught the spirit again in her cupped hands, careful not to smush it, before it floated away. "But if we take these to Bowser he can bring them back! He's their boss, he could definitely connect with them."

That also meant that her Cukoo's were okay. Sure, they might be black and burnt and all red eyed, but all she'd have to do is beat them and then make them into strikers and they'd be fine. It would be easier than hauling each one she found back to this mushroom, after all. "How do you connect with a spirit? Talk to it?" She asked, both for Bowser and later reference.

---

As Geno descended into the depths of the moat, he'd eventually come witness to an entirely unexpected sight. The moat wasn't just devoid of life - it was teeming with a whole variety of different organisms and, unfortunately, opponents. It was as if he's in a large natural body of water, like a lake or even an ocean. Surely he didn't remember Peach's castle to actually have these fierce animals in her waters - that was Bowser's job to make things treacherous. But he knew one thing though, he has to be careful of what's around him, or he'll never bask in the warm rays above ever again.

As he continued to swim, he'd see several familiar faces swimming by. A large dorrie swam by him in a graceful tone, dipping and diving through while wearing a fancy top hat and goggles. Geno rarely saw them on his trips to the Mushroom Kingdom, but he always enjoyed their comical antics. Mario had even told him that these creatures helped him in his travels before, being often used as platforms to quickly get from one place to another. Other familiar creatures also swam by him, such as a small shoal of the squid-like bloopers. Most of these black-and-white squids were spurting all on their own, while some had young who would follow them wherever they went. They too were mostly harmless - although Mario would say differently - but whenever the doll got close to one, he would startle them as they spurt out a thick-black ink cloud and make their getaway.

But that would end all the familiar sights in this moat. The more Geno explored the more bizarre the inhabitants became. Large jellyfish creatures floated around without a care in the world, whilst releasing their electricity around them. Even though the doll could potentially survive their electrical attacks, he still didn't want to risk going through them. Near the floor of the moat, he also sees terrifying-looking half-fish, half-man, abominations prowl the seafloor for food. They didn't see him yet, as they were too busy digging up the murky ground below for grubs and whatnot, but when a group of circular-fish swam by them, the humanoid creatures made sure to steer clear of their presence. These fish seemed to have something in their mouths, some grey ball of some sort. Judging at how the creatures scattered, Geno considered them to be dangerous - with his mind going straight towards the fish harboring an explosive of some king in their mouths. He too needs to be wary of their presence.

As the star warrior got closer to the stone-formations however, he saw a patrol of toads wearing scuba gear and armed with guns of some-kind, guarding the perimeter profusely. This looks like a place where people could actually get into the castle - but the question is where the entrance actually is. He began to glance over the surrounding area, while lurking away from their sights for a possible way in. And what would he know, near the bottom behind a sturdy metal gate, the unmistakable image of a green pipe can be seen! If he can get to that pipe - by somehow breaking the metal gate and getting rid of the toad guards - he should be able to get himself into the castle. But how...?

Well, firstly, Geno needed to drive their attention elsewhere. He didn't want to gain more attention than he already has. Looking around, he suddenly remembered the bomb-fish that were swimming nearby. And one particular one was forging around a piece of cover. Quickly, he rushed over to the fallen debris as he sneaks up on the unsuspecting fish. He grasped it with his wooden hands as it began to thrash wildly. He had a least a few seconds before it could blow up in its face. Carefully Geno aimed it at a duo of toads at the opposite direction of the gate. He should hopefully be able to grab the attention of the other nearby toad guards - or at least the majority - and slowly make his way to the gate once it exploded.

Well, damn. It appeared, by all rights, that the Hunter had gotten quite lost.

He wasn't even quite sure how he got there, but that didn't matter now. What happened now was he would continue, probably killing plenty of things, and then ??? and then, profit. It had worked for him so far.
 
A purple rodent of some kind approached the Hunter. It did not immediately attack, which was its first and last mistake. The Hunter swung his saw cleaver with alarming speed, splitting the poor rat like a log. He continued walking, barely even breaking stride. Things like that simply didn't threaten him. The tall grass up ahead would probably cover up any approaching threats, though, not that it stopped him from continuing. He swung his saw cleaver, shearing the grass in front of him, and in the process, accidentally butchered some other poor rodent. Again the Hunter ignored it, merely continuing to keep an eye out for any notable threats.

Unfortunately, what he neglected to keep an eye on the sky. He was alerted to this unfortunate mistake when something slammed hard into the back of his head. His first instinct was to jump forward and then swing his cleaver behind him. His cleaver sliced fatally through the air with the killing power of the Hunt behind it, and then missed because his target was not at waist level but on the ground. It was a bird of some kind, squawking angrily. It took flight again, or at least tried to until the Hunter neatly carved its wing off.

Hmmm, he thought. Must be a pest infestation. He looked up in time to catch another bird dive bombing towards him and dropped into a roll. Behind the bird were two floating grey things of a sort that looked essentially harmless. Still, he knew better than to assume something was harmless just because it looked it. The Hunter jumped towards the bird, swinging his saw cleaver, but missed. The bird flew up and out of his reach, just as the two grey things simultaneously dive bombed, teeth flashing. The Hunter rolled backwards and came up with his pistol already firing, hitting the first grey thing face on. It dropped like a stone. The second one went into another dive, and the Hunter took a step backwards and immediately fell when it turned out that just beyond the tall grass he stepped past was a small stream.

At the very least his fall stopped him from getting hit. When he managed to stand back up in the shallows, though, the bird from before slammed into the back of his head. The grey thing had also approached and dived, accidentally slamming into the bird. As the two creatures fell, the Hunter swung his saw cleaver again, catching both of them in one fell swoop.

Hmm. This clearly was going to continue to be a problem. Unless, perhaps, the Hunter was more subtle about things. And indeed, a few minutes later, nothing had attacked him. The Hunter simply had to move as quietly as possible. Apparently most of the beasts could see through the grass just as well as he could.

Eventually, he came across a clearing. At first he was hesitant to enter it - it provided a more clear line of sight to him - but he shrugged, thinking to himself that he could easily take on any opponents and then leave if things got rowdy. He moved to take a rest until he noticed a figure not too far off.

Hmm. This couldn't go wrong, maybe, he thought, and then approached the figure.

---

With the last of the goblins dead and out of their way. He turned his attention back to Zer0 and the Courier, the latter of whom was still looking for the perpetrator who had thrown the bomb earlier. Just then, the same laughter heard from before when the first bomb hit happened again. Death scouted the top of the canyon with his eyes but found no one. What he did see, however, was more bombs being lobbed down towards them again. Soon, it became too much to deal with and they would most definitely be overwhelmed if they didn’t do something.

Using his agility, Death managed to navigate through the hail of bombs for the most part and seemed to be getting close to the other side of the canyon. All seemed like it was going well until he caught the sound of a beep to his side. He wasn’t able to move away from the blast zone in time and the invisible bomb went off, the blast sent Death crashing into the wall of the canyon, stunning him for a few seconds. He was able to get his bearings quickly enough to avoid another bomb going off in close proximity to him, dashing forward, attempting to get to the other side of the canyon again. Back on his way, he tripped another invisible mine, using his Death Grip, he latched onto the canyon wall and pulled himself in a way that propelled him forwards and away from the blast.

Up ahead, Death saw that a small group of these goblins had successfully made it to the other end without being blown to bits by the onslaught of bombs. Not wanting to waste any more time killing these things, he weaved passed them, only barely avoiding some of their attacks.Out of sight of those goblins, he thought to himself for a short while. Death had decided that he must leave the others and find his Horseman brothers. Although hesitant at first about leaving, he quickly pushed those thoughts aside and went on his own way, leaving the group he had been with only briefly behind.

@Lugubrious@Gentlemanvaultboy@thedman@Stekkmen



Blazermate listened to Michael's explanation of how a gun works. He was pretty spot on, and Blazermate only had to add in. "Don't forget the rifling. The barrel the bullets travel through is a spiral, which makes the bullets spin or drill through the air, making them far, far more accurate." She said, giving Michael a cute wink. Linkle had caught up with them aroudn the tail end of Michael's explanation, and from the way she talked, Blazermate figured her world didn't have guns either. Giving Micahel a bit of time to rest from his explanation "The explosions aren't all that strong truth be told. Guns can fire an insane amount of bullets before they need to be cleaned, and if its maintained properly, I don't think there is a limit on the amount of bullets a gun can shoot. There are guns that shoot over 200,000 rounds per minute all with the same or even more force than the bullets that Michael was using. I remember there was a medabot who used two of these kind of guns for arms. I was glad I didn't fight him." Blazermate said to everyone as the group made their way to that hooded figure under a mushroom.

This hooded figure was a strange one, calling himself the Master of Masters and giving away a lot of information in a bit of a bumbling, but endearing way. While the man was talking, Blazermate tried to get a look under his hood, but noticed she was unable to do so, as if the man didn't have a face or wasn't really there or something. But all the things he was saying, about spirits, about how to fix this world, about how to save her world and everyone else's, was fascinating. The man was also very... the best word Blazermate coudl think of was poetic, with how he said everything, mentioning a lot about the heart, body, and spirit. The mention of a keyblade was frankly silly, but considering how outlandish such a weapon sounded, it was probably something very important from his world.

His explanation of Spirits and how they worked made perfect sense to Blazermate, even if the Keyblade bit didn't. When the man was done talking, Blazermate said. "Oh, so the spirits are like Medals and Parts, sort of. Crush them for stuff you wear, put them in your head like they're parts to gain new abilities instead of swapping out limb models, and absorb them entirely into your Medal for more power. OK that last one isn't a 1:1, but makes sense to me." Thinking about what had just happened, with the multi colored balls that housed the spirits of Bowsers minions, she thought to the future where if this world was as varied and as vast as this figure said, there would be some insanely powerful spirits she could squire. Spirits that, if she could take them home with her, would easily make her the best Medabot in the world!

Thinking about this, she also thought about how her design worked with medals and parts, and caught on to a single word that the Master of Masters had said, but didn't really extrapolate on. "But wait... If these spirits are like Medals and Parts, doesn't that mean you also take on new personality quirks depending on the spirits you take in? Thats how it works with Medabots, and while I'm used that concept, I don't know if the others here would be so keen on that. Is that how this all works?" Blazermate said, asking the Master of Masters to clarify this point. Linkle asked the other question Blazermate had, as it sounded like if you linked with a spirit, instead of absorbing it, you got all the benefits, but none of the drawbacks.

Looking at Michael, Blazermate questioned to herself how effective spirits would be for him. There were humans in her world, and Blazermate was well aware of how fragile they could be in the wrong circumstance. And if his world was mostly humans with no Medabots, and he retuened there with what would be the equivalent of godly powers from any strong spirits he managed to find here, much like how blazermate was interested in bringing strong spirits with her back to Tokyo and dominating the Medabot world circuit, how would there worlds react to something like that?

Besides the whole spirits thing, there was another thing that bugged Blazermate. 13, why did it have to be 13 things everyone had to defeat in order to stop Galeem, the sinister sun? It just seemed odd, that everything that was bad was either a 4, an 8, or a 13. Zer0, being the poet he was, would probably get a kick out of something like this.

All this new info would be really interesting for the rest of the party when Blazermate and Linkle's questions were answered.

---

Ratchet was carrying Linkle's crossbow in one hand spinning it and whistling it as he walked. He much appreciated Linkle extending the loan, it would make whatever enemies lay ahead much easier to deal with. Hopefully. As he gazed around at the path ahead of him he heard someone running after him calling out. He stopped walking so they could catch up, examining them as the got closer. A unique hairstyle to be sure, it was rather outlandish, though with all these strange things around a massive head of hair wasn't something to get worked up over. Ratchet smiled as the girl introduced herself as Din, apparently her dancing had beneficial effects. "beneficial effects huh?" He said with a hint of curiosity. "Sound's useful. The name's Ratchet." Extending a hand Ratchet would give Din a sturdy handshake before heading onward down the path.

"Now this doll Geno can fly? He's probably headed really far ahead then, we'll have to pick up the pace if we want to have hopes of catching up, c'mon." Ratchet started running still keeping an eye out for traps.

---

Skidding to a halt Ratchet looked at garden ahead, filling a nearby goomba full of arrows as he made his way forward looking on the strange garden. He watched as funky looking rabbit things created chaos running around and just generally looking like a bunch of buffoons, but Ratchet was much more interested in the sounds of gunfire coming from further off in the distance and the echos of explosions coming from the big canyon. Personally he wanted to go the direction of the gunfire. You needed guns for there to be gunfire in most cases and getting his hands on a weapon or two wouldn't hurt at all. "So. We've got a choice Din. Rabbits and bullets or explosions, in my experience explosions are much more dangerous." He said as he gestured in the direction with the rabbit creatures. "Though we'd also have to deal with those things, but they seem pretty harmless." He said looking down seeing a Rabbid beating a poor bird with it's gun as it laughed. "Ok maybe not harmless, but not very dangerous."

Level 1 - (7/10) EXP
Location: 1-1, Master of Masters Mushroom Mercantile Market
Word Count: 348

Centurion looked intently at Micheal as he explained the mechanics of the gun. His face lit up underneath his helmet as he said a word that was familiar to him. Gunpowder! The Wu Lin to the far east had used it for fireworks, and he believed his good friend Charles used a similar conconction in his so called "bombs", but those seemed rather ineffectual.

"Fascinating. This device allows one to be powerful in combat with little physical skill. I imagine this has had disastrous consequences on the moral fiber of your lands, Micheal, but I am glad to have you here alongside us. This should prove useful. I will take cover if our enemies have the same devices. Perhaps you could explode at them, causing THEM to take cover, and then I take the moment to move closer. They may be able to hide from your bullets, but they cannot hide from my blade."

Blazermate appeared and extrapolated. Centurion startled. "Two hundred thousand rounds!? By the Pope! What a horrible world, where crooked, undisciplined men with evil in their hearts an bring about such destruction! Where I live, even the most barbarous Vikings have a code to live by." He reflected on his life for a moment, before looking back at his new friends.

"Well, thank you for the information. I shall keep this in mind as we continue onwards." Then, they approached the so called Master of Masters and listened to his speech. Agoston was learning many things, apparently. Spirits, Galeem, the journey ahead was long and treacherous, and they would need to grow in power. The magic in this realm would allow them to expand their skills much faster than the years of training and a life-time of combat, which was good.

Agoston had a terrible thought. "This light...you think it may have consumed everything? Everywhere? All the lands in all the realms, across all the stars in the sky? This Galeem? Not just myself?" He said. His voice was had a tinge of worry in it.

Laughter echoed through the canyon, a joyful, gleeful mocking laughter. Or maybe it only felt that way to the Courier himself due to circumstances preventing him from catching sight of his target. The infernal bomb lobber, or lobbers as it was looking to be, knew well enough to stay out of sight. Bombs required minimal aiming with their area effect, making the canyon outcroppings perfect for those little assholes.

Grumbling in (temporary) defeat, 6 took to paying more attention to the immediate surroundings rather than the higher ground. He felt no surprise that the rest of the creature army went into full retreat (so he knew they at least had no relation to the ghouls of his own world, who would attack ceaselessly with zero regard for their own well being), and even less surprise that Death had chased them deep into the inclining path. The scythe-wielding warrior soon vanished from the Courier’s viewpoint thanks to his own great speed and agility, but the Mojave mailman could still make out a few corpses left behind.

Suddenly a new explosion rocked the ground from nearby, not close enough to harm him directly, but close enough to pelt him with small rubble from the debris. ”Ow ow ow ow ow!” he shot off in rapid succession, recoiling somewhat before realizing something. ”Wait, that didn’t hurt at all. Huh.” Still high on jet, he failed to make the obvious connection, or what would have been obvious under normal circumstances: that his NEMEAN sub-dermal armor had come back online.

Shaking off the non-revelation, Courier 6 grit his teeth and charged forward, spurred on by the continued growing explosions nearby. Every couple seconds he would activate his V.A.T.S., not to take aim or queue up shots, but to scout for more of those bloody mines from above. Thankful that the jet gave him more stamina to work with, avoiding the things had become child’s play. He’d just activate his system for what would be about a third of a second in real world time, scan the path ahead, deactivate, and adjust his trajectory accordingly. Being the team player that he was (sometimes) he even called out the mines to Zer0, just in case the invisible assassin was behind him or otherwise not perceptive enough to spot the individual explosives.

”Mine there!” he shouted, pointing with his left index finger. ”And there, by the black rock!” he continued, zigging and zagging his run. Eventually he came upon the crowd of goblins and bokoblins running from the friendly fire of the explosive-users, and thankfully the fleeing monsters had no eyes in the backs of their heads.Yuck, could you imagine? 6 could imagine. Mutations were weird. At this point, it was only a matter of staying just far enough away that none of them noticed he was behind them while the set off all the traps. Any traps they didn’t set off he could still locate using his V.A.T.S. perception technique (should he trademark that one? Yeah, definitely). As much as he wanted to finish the lot of them off, they could still easily swarm him, break through his sub-dermal armor, and kill him with sheer numbers. Death hadn’t thinned out the crowd that muc-hey wait, where the fuck was Death?!

”Death you fucking asshole, where’d you run off to?! If you ran away I’ll shove a Nuka-Cola Quantum so far up your ass your vomit will glow in the dark!” Oh wait, maybe yelling just behind the thicket of monsters in tight quarters with bombs raining from above wasn’t the best idea. Realization dawned on the Courier only a second after he made the mistake. ”Aw shit.” Well in his defense he had just taken a heavy hit of jet. That excused him, right? … Right?

As a number of the goblinoid creatures took notice and turned to see the Courier mere feet away, he grit his teeth in determination. Two run for him with reckless abandon, forcing him to bring up his Ratslayer rifle. Bang! Bang! Two shots, two heads that exploded violently. Damn, it always felt like this thing was either weak, or caused way more damage than it had any right to do. Well seeing two of their kind get brained did nothing to dissuade more from coming in, though thankfully a great many still valued their lives over the possibility of violent explosion. The Courier saw his chance, and he took it.

In a crazy, dangerous, and hopefully totally awesome stunt, he charged forward at the goblinoids, rifle up. The ones that came for him he sidestepped, ducked by, and rolled passed, butting them with his Ratslayer as he went by. One was beaned in the face and disoriented, another hit in the knee and toppled over. Then he made it into the thicket of creatures still running away and they took immediate notice. For such simple-minded monsters, their ability to multi-task running and clawing at the human was something to be admired. More he dodged, more he slammed the butt of his rifle against, more he charged forward, hoping to get ahead of the group entirely and escape the canyon incline. Yet the Courier was not as fast or as agile as Death was, and avoiding every attack was impossible.

A spear jabbed into his side. A claw raked against his back. A jagged-not-quite-sword tore into his arm. His duster was, thankfully, more durable and protective than it looked, and his newly reactivated armor implant most definitely helped in the situation, but could he survive to the end? Could he find the assholes lobbing bombs and put them down as promised? That was the only thought on his mind: killing those jerks for their cheating ways.

---

Zer0 looked around as a question mark popped from his visor as the mad laughing returned. Almost comically his head followed the mine as it was thrown before it suddenly disappeared and the one question mark became three. He almost missed all the enemy running away and Death sprinting on after them as the mines started falling. Who the hell did these people think they were? BewmBoom? Fucking explosive obsessed little psychos.

He took off after the merc, visible, since he seemed to have some way of detecting the hidden explosives. No point in risking his own skin, as they say, if he didn't have to!

But then the merc, for some fucking reason, decided to blow their surprise advantage when they finally caught up to the remnants of the horde. Might be as dumb as Brick was big if this was the norm for this guy.

The situation wasn't ideal by any means, especially thanks to the lost advantage, and that meant one thing for Zer0: stealth. Disappearing from view he tried to help the foolish merc by killing the enemies he stunned, breaking his stealth in the process and taking his own share of impacts, but it was quickly apparent that this was the wrong focus. Why focus on the grunts when you could take down a Badass? He'd gotten caught up in the blood when the challenge was right there.

He disengaged quickly, moving forward with his superior agility, slicing through the crowd on the way. He kept half his attention out for whatever was throwing those mines, whatever Badass that he needed to take down.

@LemonZest1337

Din returned the lombax's handshake, and soon ran after Ratchet as he picked up the pace. Din pondered Ratchet's question before answering, "The rabbits do seem safer. It's just the two of us, so we should try to avoid anything too dangerous. Hopefully if we leave them alone, they won't bother us." Din cringed as she looked at the rabbit creatures. there were strange-looking creatures in Hyrule, but not many could rival these Rabbids. As she followed closely behind Ratchet, she had her Rod of Seasons at the ready, waiting to strike anything that came too close for comfort.

---

Hearing his vague explanation wasn't lost on Minako, the teenager offering her genuine smile as thanks. It was softer, however highlighted her tiredness further, which became clear as day once she fell into the hammock. Though not asleep, one could easily mistake her for being so, seeing just how lifeless her body appeared. It was like offering that state of consciousness where you're half asleep and can't quite piece together what's going on, and beg your alarm for five more minutes.
Already half-lidded, the crimson eyes of the summoner scanned what little sky she could see beneath the mushroom, though nothing really stood out save for vibrant colours. It wasn't the dreary green of the Dark Hour, but was no more comforting as the rest of the scenery. From the hammock she let her eyes fall closed, though alert enough to listen out for what was being said around her.

And yet, for what had to be a cruel twist of fate, the Master of Master's described what was essentially what she had gone through for the entire year. Again, the Spirits were just Shadows, Galeem was a light version of Nyx, and the new information about the 13 Enemies? Yeah, she knew how to read a tarot deck when she saw one. 'The fool's journey...' Thought the summoner, thinking back over her own journey, and how the people she met reflected those that The Fool had met himself. And yet, she already went beyond death, the thirteenth tarot card. Her journey ended well beyond that, at The Universe Arcana. How could she be back here, doing the exact same thing as before, if there weren't an ending? What... was going on?

It made her sad that she couldn't simply find Igor and ask for his guidance. Or Elizabeth. Or Theodore. Even someone to rely on to help her make sense of this in her head. Anyone.
Would she need to make new Social Links? Were her old friends as forgettable as the light from the sun, easily replaced by... whoever these people were? Surely life wasn't that shallow, right? It... it couldn't be.

But the more she thought about it, the more painfully obvious it had become that life dealt her the middle finger. All your past efforts? Worth nothing. Friends? They're worth nothing. Saving the entire planet? Oh, I'm sorry, we don't care about that. How about you do it all again for us, pretty please?

It made Minako sick.

Maybe it wasn't all bad. Her friends were still out there, apparently. She still had that to look forward to. But honestly? Doing the same thing, undoubtedly harder, without any support whatsoever wasn't the redhead's thing. Maybe in a video game, but in real life? Yeah, no, she'd have to pass on that. Maybe everyone else who was speaking would be interested in doing the right thing, but her? She'd sooner take a nap than go through any of that again. Speaking of, there were a few members of the surrounding party who Minako could make out from her position. Some of them looked like Personas, though others appeared quite human, if a little oddly dressed. There was only one seemingly normal person around, and he still looked like the Devil Arcana, even with a literal dinosaur/dragon thing next to him. The blue robot would likely be the Aeon Arcana, the dragon would be the Tower, the knight would be the Justice, and the little dancer girl the Lovers. The green girl had to be the Hermit, and the little fuzzy ball was most likely the Sun. The Master could be the rumoured Jester Arcana, something Minako knew she had to be wary of.

And, like always, she would play the Fool. Someone needed to be the main character.

But someone had to ruin Justice's day. That hint of worry in his voice was a clear sign he harboured the same concerns she did when waking up. Maybe, despite being from vastly different times and worlds, there was something which could align the two? "The light consumed everything and anything. Everything that was part of your old world is probably here, assuming everything we know is correct." Though she directed her statement towards the Centurion, Minako didn't look his way. In fact she still had her eyes closed, unmoving on the hammock like some kind of coma student. But she did, at least, project her voice enough so that she was audible, even if she typically didn't do so when not fighting.

Leaning back against his mushroom, the Master of Masters crossed his arms and replied to Linkle's question with a shrug. “Maybe?” he ventured. “Don't think they're able to speak. I guess you could try. But since talking is a function of the body, and bonding is of the heart, it might be something more to do with empathy. Opening your mind or opening your heart should be enough for taking a spirit's power or skill, but if you want to keep one as a Striker, you'll need to earn its respect or affection, or otherwise come to some understanding so it'll stick around.” He held his palms up as if to say 'don't blame me'. “'Course, it's all conjecture on my part, but without tootin' my own horn I'm pretty much the authority on spirits and hearts. Wrote the book—literally! Shame it's not here to show ya.”

With Linkle's inquiry hopefully answered, he turned his attention to Blazermate next. The topic brooked no small amount of discussion from her, apparently sharing similarities to some kind of system from her own world. He nodded along absent-mindedly as she ran through the comparison, only getting serious when she considered what he meant by 'consequences'. “Well, I've done some experimenting, though not on myself of course, and yeah, there seem to be some changes that occur as a result of taking in a spirit. But there's a reason why I haven't used the term 'fusion', which is that it's not an even split. The ramifications are, as best I can tell, pretty small. Bonding is almost certainly not gonna change the core of who you are, physically or mentally.” Having been looking at his hands, he straightened up as another thought occurred to him. “Plus, I'm sure it can be undone if necessary, but you'll need to find some sort of exorcist or person with sealing magic.”

During this time, Tora maintained his silence, rummaging through his thoughts. In the lull that followed the Master of Masters' latest pronouncement, however, he spoke up in a small, tremulous voice. “Mehmehmeh...so...group of friends is really alone. Whole world out there, but only enemies. Even if find good friends Poppi and Nia, Rex-Rex, Pyra...Zeke-Zeke, Pandy, Morag and Brighid, Dromarch...they will not remember Tora. All adventures, all achievements...as if never existed. And if cannot defeat Galeem, is all that is, forever...”

Following that statement, less of a question than a coming to terms with reality, the Nopon looked mightily crestfallen. His wings, usually rested about his neck, drooped down by the tiny arms that hung at his side. Tora's eyes lay on the Master of Master's black boots, prompting the cloaked man to shift uncomfortably. The dark cloud that hung over him extended to a few of the others as well, filling them with despair, anguish, and dread. It persisted for a while, the seconds seeming like minutes. In that time, a loud noise and a slight vibration in the ground passed through, prompting a few curious peeks in the direction of the canyon.

Eventually, Tora took in a deep breath, then another. He cracked his imperceptible neck, picked up his wings, and slapped himself in the face. “Hmph!” he cried, opening his eyes to look the Master of Masters in the face. “Is not problem, meh. Even if friends not here right now, thought of friends being out there is enough to keep going. Tora will find them and make them remember. Friends will be united again!” He climbed up onto the man's table and spun around, looking at each of the others in turn. “That go for all, meh! Even if members of new team sad because old friends gone, still have each other. This team has right stuff to go on adventure, free all friends, and make things right again!” So saying, Tora leaped down from the table and took off running in the direction of Bowser. This time, the Nopon was determined that he would not falter.

Once again the Master of Masters watched him go. After a moment he remarked, “Well, little guy's got heart. No wonder I could spawn a decent keyblade from it.” He placed his hands on the table again and leaned forward. “Ya know, it makes me think. I might be able to find my apprentices somewhere, too.” Without much in the way of ceremony he reached back, grabbed the handle of a strange-looking weapon leaning against the mushroom, then tensed his muscles and vaulted over the table. “Maybe I oughta come with you bunch for the time being,” he declared. “'Fraid I'm not much of a fighter, but with you all it should be safe to take a look around. Get a lay of the land, y'know? Plus, if y'need any more help, I'll be on hand to dish it out.”

He glanced back at Minako, laying in his hammock. “Stay as long as you like, missie. If I see any of those friends of yours...” Subtly, he nodded toward the blade clutched in his hand. “...I'll send 'em your way, eh?”

With that he faced back around to join the others as he started walking. “Aaaalrighty!” he said. “My goodness, I'm practically sopping with excitement! Been sending my apprentices into the field for so long that I've just about forgotten what it's like to hit the road myself!” Not too far off, Tora danced around Bowser, explaining to him as best he could about spirits, the world, and Galeem.

---

The trek of Din and Ratchet through Ancient Gardens ran into surprisingly little resistance. Those rabbids absent from the ongoing war effort in the next area proved singularly unmotivated to attack intruders; that said, their flippant obliviousness to their surroundings and clear lack of human-level intelligence likely contributed to their ambivalence as well. However, certain elements in the surroundings suggested some other factor. Scorch marks could be found on the ground in certain places, some close to plants or blocks burned through as though by a beam, and wherever one lay a rabbid spirit invariably drifted about nearby. Steadily the pair made progress across the zone, drawing nearer to the rattle of gunfire and war-cries of rabbids.

As the two approached the end of the second battlefield, Kirby began to turn over in Bowser's hat. He seemed to be coming to, and after a moment or so of restless wiggling, opened his eyes. Though they continued to bear weariness and muted pain, the little puff looked to be in a better shape than before, and even managed to give his new friends a smile. At that moment, a noise prompted him to glance over in the direction of a patch of high grass, and from the thicket bounced a round object that looked like a cactus, but sported an unmistakable hissing flare that could only be a fuse.

With a bang the grenade exploded, the force throwing the hat in the air. Stunned and confused, the pink puff did not react as a hook sailed his way and snagged his abode in its curve. Like a fisherman reeling in his catch, the hook retracted on its chain, yanking Kirby along with it. Its return cut a swath through the grass, and amid the whirling blades Ratchet and Din could see the culprits. On the other side of the grass lay a cliff overlooking a river, standing on the ground across the river were a huge, masked man and a rabbid with a distinctive pack. As they watched the giant man grabbed the hat, stuffed Kirby inside, and placed it on his head. Beside him, the rabbid gave a gleeful laugh and readied another grenade.

---

Any goons who might have imagined themselves safe, having reached the canyon ascent, found swift disillusionment as 6 assaulted them from behind. Those still able to fight turned to face him, their strength and speed heightened by desperation, but with augmented defense and an invisible ninja as backup the Courier powered through their meager ranks. Zer0 left the slaughter to his ally after a little while, proceeding onward up the exit path in hopes of catching a glimpse of the mine-lobber. As he cleared the mob of mooks, however, he entered the visibility range of a new type of mine. This type harbored a visible mechanism on its exterior, but did not react in any way to Zer0's presence. As he kept moving he passed by a lot of them, at least a dozen, just sitting there menacingly. They disappeared from view again as he exited their range, having betrayed no sign of exploding.

A little more elevation and Zer0 could turn around with confidence that he could make out his much-anticipated Badass atop the edge of the canyon he now left behind. In fact, the ninja did spy the bomber: a trio of goblins surrounding an explosive-laden cart. The largest of the three pushed it from behind, the medium sat in front with a crude rocket launcher, and the smallest was tucked away in a barrel on the pusher's back. At the same time as Zer0 discovered the Techies, though, the goblins laid eyes on him. With a devilish smirk the big one held up a dinky-looking device and jammed his thumb into its big red button.

For a split second nothing happened, but the next instant the world itself seemed to shudder. A tremendous, deafening KRAKOOM rolled across the land as every green barrel bomb exploded at once, the blasts joining together into one large enough to annihilate the remaining goons and knock both Zer0 and Courier to the ground with its shockwave even if they avoided the fire and shrapnel. As the noise died down and the ringing faded, the Techies' uproarious laughter took center stage. Without waiting for Zer0 to regain his feet, or indeed bothering to confirm that he still lived, the foremost goblin launched a rocket his way.

---

The dopey-looking toads, very busy with doing nothing, suspected nothing until the moment a blast went off a short distance away from a pair of them. While the bombfish's initial explosion lacked strength, the pressure wave unleashed by the burst knocked the nearest toads clean out, leaving them to float to the surface with spirals in their eyes. Without delay the remainder of the guards went into panic, and not just because they realized they were under attack from some unknown assailant. Instead, one of the fearsome-looking lakelurks, disturbed by the explosion, went into a frenzy. It lunged at the nearest toad, sunk its teeth in, and slammed it against the lakebed, sending up a murky cloud of silt, and the rest of the amphibians rushed to deal with it lest they be made into lunch as well. Geno, meanwhile, now had a clear method of entry into the Castle foundations, so long as the pipe's grate did not hinder him.

Inside, a bit of pitch-black, claustrophobia-inducing swimming awaited him. A short ways in, however, some light filtered in from above, and surfacing would reveal him to in a sort of sewer-dungeon. Its moldy passages, lined with stone brick and lit fitfully by sputtering torches and iridescent fungus, appeared to be a few times larger than necessary to accommodate human traffic. They branched off regularly, the halls creating a grid of musty corridors. A number of heavy wooden doors lay throughout the place, some open, some destroyed, and some locked shut. The whole time a number of eerie, unidentifiable noises reverberated throughout the dungeon, with closer inspection suggesting a few of the locked cells to be their origin. More seeking would eventually turn up a barred gate that protected upward-leading stairs and, across from it, a more open area that preceded a door practically blanketed with chains and fancy padlocks. A keyring hung on the wall near the entry gate; it held one ordinary key, most likely for the normal cells, and a larger one with the snarling face of Bowser emblazoned upon it.

---

Geno's plan would work as the bombfish completely decapacitated the pair of guards closest to it. It came as somewhat of a surprise to him, considering how the explosion wasn't very large. He wouldn't know much about the scientifics about how the pressure waves would've completely compress the air-pockets within their frail body and rapture their organs, not once, but multiple as they bounce back, inflicting even more damage. Even if they weren't dead, they would be seriously injured almost beyond repair. He'd glance back to see the other guards beginning to panic, but not due to the explosion.

The wooden doll would look up to see one of the ferocious humanoid monsters swim above him, completely ignoring him as it made its way towards the nearest toad. As it sank its vicious teeth into it, it would shake it in its ravenous maw, smashing it between the castle walls and the lakebed, with silt flying everywhere. Geno could barely see what was going on, but he soon saw the other nearby toads beginning to open fire on the creature, as they harpoons attempted to latch onto it. But as they concentrated on the lakelurker, they would leave the gate unguarded - making it the perfect opportunity for the star warrior to make his way into the castle.

Quietly, Geno laid low as he carefully made his way to the barred gate. While the bars were too squeezed together for the doll to get through, he knew a way to easily break in, without alerting the other toads. He activated two of his light disks in his hands and sliced two of the bars off at just the right size for him to enter. He would look back to see if the toads were alerted to his presence one last time - still seeing them deal with the massive monster - as he then wasted little time in entering the green pipe and made his way into the castle.

---

Geno would proceed to swim through the tight corridors within the pipe, wondering how Mario and Luigi was able to put up with these rather claustrophobic-esque pipes. Of course, vaguely remembering of there plumber-origins, he wouldn't be very surprised at this notion. But just half-a-minute in, the star warrior would find the light at the end of the tunnel. Once he emerged from the pipe, he would be greeted to a rather gloomy environment. He instantly recognized this place to be some kind of sewer system - with his adventures with Mario in the Kero Sewers confirming this. However, his mind would instantly think back to that one run in with the creepy dog monster, Belome, someone he really didn't want to relive that experience with right now.

But this sewer area was different compared to the one he explored with his friends. While it still sported the casual moldy stone brick passage ways, along the faint torchlight lighting the paths, and the eerie fungus that grew in the shadows, this didn't feel much like a proper sewer system. As Geno continued walking down the cold dank corridor, he can spot a number of large heavy wooden doors down the path. A good number were still in relatively good shape. Some were closed shut, but some were wide open. And a few in particular were completely demolished, as if something broke out of them. Perhaps some of these doors were supposed to represent some kind of cells for prisoners to rot in. But for these to be in Peach's Castle? Surely she wouldn't be the tye of person to do such a thing right? But he always had to remember that this isn't 100% her castle - rather it was her castle and perhaps an amalgamation of other worlds and places throughout the near infinite amount of worlds. But just the thought that they might've originally been placed by Princess Peach herself - or her ancestors - was still rather disturbing to the doll.

Geno could also hear several unidentifiable noises echoing throughout the chambers, adding to the spooky eeriness to this entire dungeon. He really shouldn't be down here, but even then he had no choice. If only he can find the staircase back up to the main castle would he feel at least a little more easy - even if more dangerous opponents await him there. And yet ironically the more he searched, the more curious he was to explore. Something about this place - despite how creepy and foreboding it looked - intrigued his interest the deeper he descended. He had no idea what vile, repulsive, creatures wait in the shadows - other than the occasional rats and minor goombas - but if worse come to worse, he'll either have to fight them head-on or flee for his life and hide within the dark corridors.

He'll just have to be careful and not get lost in the process.

Eventually, he wooden doll would come across a barred gate that protected a staircase leading upwards. This must be the gate that leads up to the main castle floors. His way out of here is nearly assured! But then Geno noticed another door that was across from it - an ominous door that had the nearly unmistakable aura of King Bowser himself. The keyring next to the entry gate confirmed this as it held not just a regular key for the normal cells, but there was a larger key that had Bowser's face embellished on it. Geno would snatch both keys from the ring, but paused before he can put them away in his inventory.

He looked up at the ominous Bowser gate with intrigue, wondering what horrible secrets lied behind its green-and-gold exterior. From what Mario had told him, it could range from a complicated obstacle course that lead to a bridge, or perhaps another world made entirely in the Koopa King's image to stop the plumber. Geno would be lying if he wasn't even remotely curious about what was inside. He would slowly raise its respected key towards the keyhole, almost being tempted to open pandora's box. Yet quickly he would jerk it back, pausing for another second, until quickly putting it under his cap.

No. He won't open it just yet. If anything, he's going to wait for Bowser to inspect it once he and the others arrive. After all, if there's anyone who would know, it would be him.

Using the regular key, Geno would proceed to unlock the gate that blocked his entrance upstairs and proceeded to head up there instead.

The Courier’s grin of determination widened into a grin of mad glee. All these creatures had become pathetic in their mad dash to safety! Or maybe it was his sub-dermal armor and they were simply too weak to pierce his protected skin? Either way, he was able to shove beyond them with the effort he forced into the crowd and remained largely uninjured. Then he came across a veritable minefield of bombs, powder kegs by the looks of them (and he did NOT appreciate being reminded of what assholes the Powder Gangers were!) in such great number that he instantly regretted setting foot near the area.

Then they all exploded. Shit.

Courier 6 fell back, hitting his head on the soft belly of a goblin behind him, knocking it out in the process but receiving some nasty whiplash. Ears ringling ding ding dingling with that sweet familiar sensation of tinnitus (or was that his music?), he clumsily dashed back up to his feet, stumbling more than once. He spared a glance back at the small horde he had outpaced, in particular the one that had broken his fall. ”Thanks. Now stay. Put. Agh, gonna be feeling this one in the mornin’.” He rubbed his neck, turning back to observe the devastated landscape.

Large piles of rubble were only matched by the equally numerous holes littering his path forward. Up ahead he could just barely spot the backside of Zer0. The assassin got ahead of him at some point? Was he not paying that much attention, or did Zer0 use that stealth boy suit he seemed so fond of? Eh, didn’t matter. Point was, they were nearly out of the canyon together and more importantly likely to be able to engage the bomb-lobbing assholes. Quickly the Courier worked to put the pace in and catch up.

No sooner had he approached Zer0 did he see what exactly they were up against. The trio of green men appeared to be no different than their dull cohorts with spears, yet undoubtedly each possessed a measure of intelligence that outpaced the larger collective, at least in terms of chemistry. Making these explosives was both complicated and dangerous. Added to that, these varmints were callous enough to saturate their own kin with bombs just to get at two trespassers. Was that the influence of this Galeem? Possibly, but 6 felt the situation wouldn’t have been much different without the winged ball of ass’s involvement.

OHSHITAROCKET! The target was Zer0, leaving 6 plenty of room to dive aside, but he was not happy with the situation. There was only one course of action to take, he thought as he got up and glared through the dust.

”So YOU’RE the bomb chucking dickweeds, huh?!” he called out just as the radio changed to another familiar song. Hearing the first few notes clicked something in the Courier’s brain, giving him an idea. ”Where I come from, we’re overstocked on explosions! If you can’t be more like The Ink Spots, then I’d rather return to sender!”

And thus, without further warning, the Courier took aim with his Ratslayer and activated VATS, this time with the full intent of plugging as many rounds as he could before exhausting his short term stamina. The target was easy to pick out: the large powder keg strapped to the back of one of these varmints. The goblin’s body was stout, covering most of it. Factoring in distance, erratic movement from laughter, range and accuracy of the weapon, plus overall skill… The report came in at 19% chance to hit. What about the shriveled sphincter-potato they call a head? 46%, more than twice the chance. More reliable than hoping to pierce a wooden keg with burning hot metal in hopes of igniting black powder? Sure. More awesome? Hell no! Four shots queued up, four shots fired, and hope for the best.

---

To Michael's surprise, the Centurion seemed to grasp the concept of guns rather quickly. He had noticed him perk up a bit at the mention of gunpowder, so it seemed like gunpowder existed in his world, but guns hadn't been invented yet, or they had been invented but weren't in widespread use. He had expected the armored man to be confused, even angry at the idea, but he seemed to take it rather well. Looks like he's smarter than I thought. At least he isn't calling me a witch or something. He surprised Michael again by describing what was essentially the concept of covering fire. Nodding, he began to speak. "Right, that's what we call 'covering fire' back home. One guy shoots at the enemy to suppress them, while the other guy moves up. You'll still have to watch out for other enemies, but it should let you get close enough to hit them."

Blazermate joined in soon after that, adding some more information about rifling and how many rounds guns can fire. When the Centurion spoke, he couldn't help but rub the back of his neck nervously. Well, he's not wrong...this is probably is a bad time to mention the fact that I'm a career criminal. Thinking about it, he realized that he hadn't bothered to tell anyone about his past. While he doubted that it would make the rest of the group hate him, he wasn't exactly looking forward to that conversation.

Shoving those thoughts aside, he stood and listened as the hooded man (The 'Master of Masters', huh? Someone's got an ego...) began his explanation. What he said lined up with what he already knew. The weird angel thingy was called Galeem, and it was responsible for fucking everything up. Apparently, there were thirteen powerful beings that powered Galeem, and they would fight these beings, and he knew that because he could see into the future, somehow. While he looked somewhat unassuming, Michael figured that, if he had survived the event that turned everyone else into brainwashed slaves, he had to have some sort of powers.

The explanation of spirits caused him to raise an eyebrow. Well, I'll be fucked. Spirits exist. Religious revelations aside, what the Master of Masters described was a very intriguing concept. While the idea of taking a spirit into your mind, or turning it into a weapon seemed a bit cruel, he figured that if they were all going to return to their bodies when Galeem was defeated, it would be worth it. All I know, if I find Trevor out here, he is not going within five hundred feet of my mind. I don't know what the fuck goes on up there, and I don't want to know. Pushing several disturbing images out of his head, Michael was excited to learn that there were ways to free people without turning them into spirits. Besides Kirby, who was still incapacitated, it seemed that this 'Master of Masters' was the only one capable of doing so. While his 'keyblade' looked rather impractical, if it worked, Michael couldn't complain.

The Centurion seemed rather worried, and he couldn't blame him. To his surprise, the girl in the hammock answered his question. So, she's not dead. Guess the Master guy used his key-thingy on her. Looking around at the rest of the group, he cleared his throat. "Well... I guess we're gonna go and save the fuckin' multiverse now." He let out a heavy sigh. "Great. Just when I ready to retire...well, there's nothing I can do about it now 'cept complain, or getting out there and fighting. So, uh...let's get out there, I guess."

---

As soon as the little remote appeared, Zer0 knew what was coming. He immediately dived forward, scooting forward with the shockwave as it passed him, and looked up to see a rocket get fired his way.

Why did they always want to use rockets? As if the Hyperion Hawks weren't bad enough about using elemental rocket launchers. But these weren't Hyperion, they weren't even Torgue, let alone a Maliwan. Almost idly he decided to go for a proper challenge.

What better challenge than to return a projectile to sender? It'd be just like the Antagonist shield... But more badass! Only a Vault Hunter could be a real badass!

But this wasn't like a normal rocket. He couldn't just flip it back at them, he suspected, and he didn't feel like being blown up again.

Fucking Jack. Stupid bastards with stupid explosives.

Zer0 ran at the rocket, deftly jumping over it and using the ensuing blast to push him up into the air. He would've smiled of he could've as he pulled out his sniper and began to fire at the cart from above as the merc started firing below him.

He couldn't be certain but his forward momentum in the air might be able to close the distance enough for him if this damn cart didn't just explode like it was supposed to.

"Falling through the air
My bullet a meteor
To bring extinction."

@thedman@Lugubrious@Delta44

Blazermate had to think about what this 'master of masters' said. Spirits were a bit less, destructive, than what she was used to, but could grant even greater power? Considering the whole story he said about this Galeem, who had the power to wipe out basically the multiverse and recreate it, such power would be necessary. As strong as a medabot Blazermate was, she was well aware there isn't much she could do by herself or even with any of her current cohorts against a multiversal threat like that.

Toba and the Centurian seemed to realize the near hopelessness of this situation as well, and looking at Toba's posture, he was taking it much harder than the armored man. He was mumbling something to himself, and his doubt was visible to everyone around. Although after a moment he regained his composure and waddled off with determination after having a fun confrontational stare with this faceless man. Blazermate couldn't tell if this fired up the Master of Masters or not, as he went on being about being bad with combat, saying he hadn't done it in forever, but offering to join the group in an... excited manner? It was hard to tell, this guy was borderline crazy with how he gestured and acted and everything, but he at least seemed to know his stuff.

Michael seemed to take this information with a bit of annoyance. He was a more middle aged human, so Blazermate figured it was his age talking more than anything. Trying to cheer him up, she said, with accompanying exaggerated gestures. "Hey, think of it this way. Saving the multiverse is a HUGE feather to put in your metaphorical cap. I don't think anything could crown that." Her eyes then followed where Michael was looking, and she noticed that the girl laying in the hammock was moving. "Oh, another person that probably needs healing. Ok up and atem little lady, you gotta meet King Bowser, hes an adorable little teddy bear!~" Blazermate said, focusing her healing beam on Minako and using a Revive protocol to get her out of whatever daze she was in.

Everyone here had spent enough time here, and if this Master of Masters guy was going to join the party, might as well bring the person he was tending to along as well, and it'd be best to get them going on their own feet. Blazermate was sure herself or the Centurian could carry this lady, Toba having already darted off, but why do that when you can heal? After healing this lady, Blazermate made her way back to Bowser and the group alongside the rest of the people who had joined up.

---

Linkle was exited that the Master was going to tag along for a bit, that would let her ask him a few things at length. For example, if his name was the Master of Masters then it followed that he had to know something about the Master Sword and how to find it. It had to be here, after all, and she was destined to get it just like everything was destined to all work out. But if she could get her hands on it sooner, all the better!

The thought that she didn't even know how to use a sword never entered her head.

She was about to head out after Tora and the others, but she thing back because of the hammock girl. The Master could see the future, so if he said it was all right for her to stay here a while she should be fine but it was still concerning leaving a girl only a little younger than her by herself. Luckily Blazermate was already on it, sidling up to use her healing on the girl. That alleviated a ton of Linkle's fears, but she decided to introduce herself anyway.

She jumped over The Masters table, running right over to the hammock to stair down at the girl. "Hey, I'm Linkle. Nice to meet you! That metal lady is Blazermate, she's using her healing magic to patch you up. She's a real miracle worker, I've seen it firsthand. I'd hang around until you were back on your feet, but I've got our friend Bowser buddy here," she opened up her hands to show the girl the little flittering goomba spirit before quickly grabbing it again, "So I've got to hurry and get that back to him. He's the turtle guy, you'll know him when you see him. Anyway, you're in good hands, this place should be safe for a while, and I'll see you later when you're able to walk."

She nodded assuredly, the turned and jumped back over the table without giving the girl a chance to speak. She waves at Blazermate and started off, but not before stopping, darting back, and scooping the glass bottle with the spirit in it off The Masters table.

It wasn't stealing. The thing inside Was Bowsers friend and she could just give the bottle back since The Master was coming with them.

---

When she got back to the central path, now with two goomba spirits flitting around in the bottle cradled in her hands, she was happy to see Tora already explaining the basics to Bowser. Right away she ran up to him and shoved the bottle in his face. "These are yours. You have to put them in your heart, then they come back. So all your people are actually okay!"

She put the bottle in his hands and looked around. "Ratchet and Dim aren't back yet." She said worriedly. Just some scouting couldn't take that long, could it? She'd expected them to just peek forward and come back before they got done talking to the master. She handed the bottle to Tora before starting down the path. "I'm gonna go see if I can find them while Blazermate gets our new friend up and about. Give that to The Master once Bowser's done with it, could you Tora?"

It wouldn't be that hard to find them. She was really fast and they were probably right up the road.