[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/6W7bqko.png[/img]
[h2][color=FD0000]The Koopa Troop[/color][/h2]
[b][color=FD0000]wordcount:[/color][/b] 1,528 (+3) 
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (254/100)
[b][color=SpringGreen]Bowser Jr: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=SpringGreen]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (221/90)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 10 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](149/100)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 5 [/color][/b] [color=Aqua]///////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////// (15/50)
[b][color=FD0000]Location:[/color][/b] Smash City Alcamoth
[/center]

Jr took it back, whoever had made this spider leg elevator clearly had some excellent taste, or at the very least excellent taste when it came to music. They also had some pretty fancy engineering props based on how utterly smooth the ride was. He had some experience in that kind of thing after all, and knew that making a thing with legs not jostle the ever-living heck out of its rider was no mean feat, let alone making it feel like they were being lifted by wheels rather than legs.

[color=SpringGreen]”I wonder if we could get it to go and walk about instead, or if it's super specialized to wall climbing”[/color] he wondered as he took a closer look at the not at all safe to be around robot legs. You only had to be standing a bit too close to the side to be in the perfect position to get domed by a mechanical knee.

The boy prince, of course, did not let this distract him one bit.

While he inspected, Rika was content to just jam out to the music, eyes closed and with her head bobbing and torso shimmying to the beat. Her little jam session came to an end when she heard about the training idea, and she reopened her eyes just in time to see Nadia’s arm rocketing across the room, which she thought was pretty cool and said as much before taking up the offer for some more combat running vs a Nadia water clone.

[color=Aqua]”I guess I could do with more uh, one on one practice”[/color] Rika said, squaring up her guns and then, fortunately, thinking the better of it [color=Aqua]”but maybe not with shooting in here… hmmmmm well, I do kinda need to learn how to use these better”[/color] she added as she extended her hull blades and did a few chopping motions [color=Aqua]”yeah that’ll work. Punchy chop chop training here I go!”[/color]

Before she could step up to the plate however, Jr hovered over, deploying a massive wrecking ball from his clown car and announcing [color=SpringGreen]”I’ve been wanting to try this out since I added it, so come here kitty clone, it's time to make a splash!”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”Uh, jr maybe practice something other than that so you don’t, well, hit one of the big legs?”[/color] Rika suggested, eyes going to and frew the massive unyielding underslung weapon and the exposed spider limbs that were all that was keeping them from plummeting to their doom.

[color=SpringGreen]”What? Nah it’ll be fine! I’ve got complete control”[/color] Jr insisted in a way that convinced no one.

[color=Aqua]”Of something you just added and have never used?”[/color] Rika said, putting words to that lack of confidence

[color=SpringGreen]”I… Well…”[/color] 

[color=Aqua]”...”[/color]

[color=SpringGreen]”Ok fine, jeeze!”[/color] Jr relented after a brief little stare down and undeployed the wrecking ball. Now lacking for that to do, he thought for a bit and offered to be the one who acted as target practice for Miss Fortune, saying [color=SpringGreen]”Hey, Nadia, how about you try and hit my car on the nose while I have it hovering about then instead?”[/color] and then tinkering with some controls to set the thing to a simplistic autopilot that made the car start to hover around ‘evasively’ in a manner very reminiscent of a shooting gallery target.

This let him chill and spend most of his time watching the others, both to get an impression of this new kid and seeing how Rika was doing. Said ship girl was running into the increasingly familiar problem of being out maneuvered, throwing big wild heavy swings at first that the nimble Nadia clone could slip around most of the time, and then punish the over committing abyssal.

Still, if Rika had the troops troop’s flaw of being slow but strong, she also shared their resilience, not just physically but spiritually, as she picked herself up again and again and threw herself back into training, something that started to pay dividends as she switched from just trying to win to trying out new things. The aforementioned hull blades, while they hadn’t much reach compared to her gauntlet punches, were quick, and using them Rika could react fast enough to block or punish the swift kitty when it came in to hit her after one of her own failed swings. 

That she visibly improved even from just this impromptu training session indicated both a capacity for quick learning, and a complete lack of actual prior training, the ship girl having acted mostly on a mix of programmed instincts and trial by live fire learning up until this point. 

The more of this she got, the better equipped she would be for when they headed out again into the world.

[hr]

The adrenaline of fighting and/or the interesting in elevator entertainment available for watching made the rest of the trip up top go by quickly enough, and in what felt like no time at all the soundtrack came to an end and they had reached their destination.

Quite a chilly one too. Lacking any clothes to zip up Jr mainly hunkered down a bit in his clown car and turned up the radiator to fight off the cold. High altitude wasn't exactly a new or exciting thing for the prince who often flew about that high either on airships or in this very car, but he still had to admit, it was quite the nice view they were getting up top. He totally got why it wasn't exactly the hottest spot in the city however.

Rika, for her part, ended up doing a whole lot of running as she moved from vantage point to vantage point with childlike awe and glee at the sight of, well, just so many new places, which more than made up for the lack of insulation her sundress provided. 

A barrage of questions about what everything was accompanied her energetic sightseeing, one that only ended when the rain started to sweep in to put a damper on their adventure.

[color=SpringGreen]”Urg, lame. Well, kinda done everything we can up here anyway and we haven’t even seen a single ghost, so let’s head back down yeah?”[/color] Jr suggested, not wanting to be out in the rain for any longer than he had too.

[hr]

[color=FD0000]”Oh cool, a show to go along with my snack”[/color] Was Bowser’s reaction upon meandering over to see what all the commotion was about in the entrence hallway and finding a pair of strangers had beat the snot out of the door guards. Rather than go help he instead stuck another prawn in his maw and leaning on the stairway banister to spectate like a few other people where doing. The main difference between those worried people and him was of course that they were absolutely noncombatants, especially when compared to the decked out king, something anyone with a conscious or a brain might take issue with.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”uhhhh, sire? We, ah, really should be helping not watching”[/color] Kamek pointed out to her king as the pair of them looked down on the incident from just beyond the entryway to the Ark mall, within which they had been strolling till they heard sounds of the battle.

[color=FD0000]”Huh? Come on they ain't killing anyone what’s the big deal… Urgh alright fine”[/color] Bowser relented after being stared down by his advisor for a few moments and pointed a finger down at the intruders and roared [color=FD0000]''Listen up you shmucks! You're gonna regret interrupting my snack time!”[/color] before dumping the rest of the shrimp into his maw all at once, crushing up the box and tossing it at a nearby bin.

Which he missed.

The king gave his failed throw a flat look, shrugged, looked away and stepped one foot up onto the banister in preparation to jump into the fight, only to glance back at the bin, sigh, step back down from it in order to stomp over to put his trash away properly.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Let’s clear some space shall we”[/color] Kamek said while this was going on, pulling out her wand and summoning first a team of toadies, and then a set of clones of herself which she started to turn into white mages.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”These will be tending to the wounded, please don't interfere with their mission of, bleh, mercy”[/color] she called out to the fighters, as the toadies moved to pull the downed fighters well out of harm's way while his white mage clones set about stabilizing the worst of them. It wouldn't be getting them back into the fight, but it would prevent any deaths, be it from blood loss or being collateral damage. 

As the magical constructs fanned out to perform their rescue mission, the Koopa King returned and attempted to pick up from where he had left 

[color=FD0000]”Alright [i]now[/i] your gonna regret messing with-”[/color] the turtle began to announce himself once again after doing his civil duty, stepping one foot onto the banister dramatically again as he did so, only for him to see Dante had arrived in order to steal the spotlight while he was busy picking up trash.

[color=FD0000]”Wha- hey- ah come on”[/color] he threw his hands up in exasperation upon being told to back off and then turned and stomped off muttering something about getting more shrimp instead. Kamek just shook her head at this and set about supervising her magical medical team while the action heated up down below.