[center][h3]The Little King[hr][/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] The Home of Tears - Gallo Tower
Bowser and Rika’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Jesse’s [@Zoey Boey], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Ms Fortune
+6 EXP[/center]

[color=Aqua]”I don’t get it. What’s meant to be unnerving about this?”[/color] Rika eventually asked as they were traveling through the corridors full of identical robots [color=Aqua]”The maw was scary, this is just, well, a thing? I mean I guess it's sad that they’re all waiting for someone?”[/color]

[color=FD0000]”I think P doesn’t have any friends”[/color] Bowser noted sadly rather than try and answer the first question.

[color=Aqua]”Huh? But what about all these robots and those slithering people? I mean, they’re not his friends any more coz we killed them but before that I mean”[/color] the ship girl replied, ever so confused about that.


[color=FD0000]”Minions … don’t really count”[/color] he replied, and then felt a bit guilty about how P’s state of affairs was, technically, one his son was in. Him too, if he was forced to think about it, though he had the comfort that his minions certainly liked him a million times more than P’s seemed to. He at least didn’t have to be worried about being stabbed in the back like P was being. 

At which point Rika suddenly stabbed him in the heart by asking [color=Aqua]”Wait. So. Does that mean we aren't friends?”[/color] the earnest sorrow of it piercing right through his thick outer shell with no resistance.

[color=FD0000]”Huh, what no. I mean yes. I mean, uhhhhh”[/color] the king scrambled to put words on feelings he had not actually analyzed up until that point and eventually, inevitably, wound up on [color=FD0000]”you’re like family”[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Oh?”[/color] the ship girl tilted her head to the side as she processed this, and then decided it was [color=Aqua]”Neat!”[/color] and spent the rest of the trip though the robot filled halls beaming while Bowser’s brain ran hot trying to actually process what had just happened/his own feelings about this situation.

Primrose patted the king's arm in a silent show of support, even though she couldn't exactly sympathize with his situation. Bowser had already voiced his opinion on how they should handle the Consul after the fact, and Rika unintentionally drawing parallels between herself and P on top of the sad state of things inside the tower couldn't be helping.

As for herself... she was still of the mind that there were some things that just had to be done, no matter how terrible they were. For Consul P, first would come punishment, and then questioning, and then ultimately his fate would be up to them. The Seekers could debate each other afterwards.

The dancer slowed her stride, letting some of the others overtake her as they walked. Toward the back of the group was her own friend Therion. Unsurprisingly he hadn't said much, just followed along with the rest of the group with his hands stuffed into his pockets and his tail swishing back and forth. He wasn't really itching to get into another deadly fight right after taking on the Agarthans, but going into it with so many allies made it feel a whole lot safer. He didn't find the robot kids sad either, really he found them to be creepy. If everything they'd heard about Consul P was true, then something like the scenes they passed by weren't going to stop the Seekers from putting a stop to him. Kids didn't turn out that way just from being lonely. Therion would know.

Normally the thief would have chosen to join the ambush team, lying in wait away from battle, but he didn't want to witness the execution of the kid even if it was necessary. He suspected that Primrose was much the same way, what with her soft spot for children. He looked over at her and found his thoughts to be true. The two travelers met each other's eyes and found a familiar mutual understanding between them as they and the group moved on through the tower.

Sectonia watched Bowser’s little quibble with Rika and decided to just observe instead of stating anything. She was a bit more distracted with all the robots made of the same likeness doing all sorts of various things that a child would like. [color=92278f]”This is just depressing to watch. And he is a terrible ruler on top of that? This Consul P. is pitiable. If he wasn’t causing so many issues nor being a part of these ‘Consuls’... Well, I suppose if my plan works either way it will be a mercy. Especially if he looks like these things.”[/color] Considering the long line of robots and nothing but robots that looked all the same, it was difficult to not feel a bit of pity. But that was superseded by a combination of duty and disgust. He could’ve at least programmed them to clean up after themselves. 

Speaking of her plan, should the B team need support, Kamek had been told that they could summon Sectonia if needed. Although if that Galio was to be believed, he would be having quite the surprise for Consul P. Although considering no one had seen what he could do, only having this odd tower with non standard gravity to showcase what he could do, it was up in the air if the B team could even pull off what they were going to do. 

[color=92278f]”I do wonder exactly what these Consuls know about this world. Considering what some of us were told, there are secrets within secrets at play here. I would say to be careful, but I’m not sure if he even knows magic if he keeps these ‘things’ as his minions.”[/color] Sectonia said, curious as to if this Consul P even knew anything. The ability to know secrets of a world often leads to magic, yet he relies on automatons of questionable design? Something wasn’t adding up here…

[color=Red]”Hmph, well if these Consuls truly aren’t Gleaming as the rest of us have been, then I can only imagine they must know [i]something[/i]. All the more reason why that brat can’t be allowed to escape.”[/color] Ganondorf said, deciding to pipe up and add a thought of his own to the discussion at hand. True, he wanted payback, but he also wanted to understand his enemies as well. It would make dismantling their efforts all the more easy in the longer term.

Jesse walked near the front, her pace quick. [i]We’ve never killed a kid before…sure, lots of monsters. Some blood thirsty psychos since the World of Light. Though from his reputation, the kid is probably a blood thirsty psycho, too. Still. Maybe it’s naive, but I’ve stopped deciding to be afraid of getting burned. Isn’t that right?[/i]

Eventually they got to the end of the hall, where they came face to mask with the Consul P. Rika attempted to put on a ploy that actually she was one of his minions, what with her matching armor, but she found her now quieter voice overruled by Nadia. It was probably for the best as she really had no idea what she was going to say.

Violence just came so much easier to her than talking, let alone deception, and so the initiation of combat was the removal of a burden. Load lightened, the ship girl took flight, her [ulr=https://i.imgur.com/m9KKX9u.png]red wyvern[/url] mount Kamek had conjured spreading its wings and lifting her into the air to rain fire and death upon the robot hordes, a thing she’d only feel ever so slightly bad about.

Well, burning goop and death, as the ship girl swooped down to bomb the bots with her re-filled grizco blaster, leaving pools of scorching or shocking slime splattering the breadth of the hallway to try and stem the flow of bots. Those that did get through would face down Therion, whose attention was going to go towards support and keeping the robotic chaff off of the other Seekers while they engaged the Consul directly. Ahead of him, Primrose steeled her nerves after the boy's hopeful comment threatened to pull on her heartstrings. Fortunately his next one made it all the easier to commit to a battle with him.

As for the King Of Evil, his plan was to just make a run for the Consul and force him to fight personally. Before this, he quickly summoned a squad of 5 Moblins wielding bows and fire arrows. He ordered them to fire at the Mecha-Porkies and keep them off the Seekers’ backs as much as possible. Or, at least off of [i]Ganondorf’s[/i] back so he could focus on the Consul.

Sectonia summoned her own minions, summoning her full set of Antillions to mostly cover flanks in case this technology user had something up his sleeve. She did send a set of Red, green, and Blue at the consul though. 

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/yBnCu1DEYF4[/youtube][/center]

Now that any half-baked pretenses had been dropped, P began the festivities by happily giving vent to his frustrations–and to the gas tanks on his bedmech’s underside. A loud, high-pitched [i]PING[/i] rang out as a wave of smog exploded outward from the Consul’s position, rapidly filling the entire area with a very, very stinky gas.

“Eugh!” Nadia yelped, her brazen rushdown stopped cold as the stench slammed into her like a physical force, made all the worse by her heightened sense of smell. This wasn’t just awful; it was humiliating. “He’s ‘reeking’ havoc!,” she gasped nasally. She could scarcely see him through the smoke at this distance, although the red lights of the Mecha-Porkies their explosions courtesy of Rika’s swathes of flame she could see clearly. “Gonna have to trust my in-stinks!” Burying her poor nose into the crook of one arm, she scrabbled at her belt for her Bait Launcher. It took a second longer than it ought to thanks to all the new weapons crowding it, but after a moment she took aim and shot out a raw steak. It plopped down not far from P, and a fearsome tiger poofed into being, but as it raised its massive mitts to attack its eyes suddenly bugged out. With bulging cheeks it clamped both paws over its mouth, leaving it open for a ruthless buzzsaw flail from P’s bedmech. It promptly poofed away, leaving Nadia to wince. “Oh, come on! Big cat? More like big pu-!” The bedmech suddenly leaped in front of her, and only with an emergency backdash did Nadia get out of dodge before the machine’s spiky-fingered hand slam down on her former position. “Yikes!”

[color=Aqua]”Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew make it stop!”[/color] Rika demanded from on high as she swooped up towards the ceiling in an attempt to escape the stench, ending her bot bombardment. Primrose followed her up thanks to the enchanted scarf she wore, sharing the same thought that she might be able to get above the gas and stench.

The dancer dared not waste her mana on spells when their opponent was obscured like this, and her fan was much too small to blow the smog away. She fired some of the Devout Beads into the smokescreen to try and get a feel of where the bedmech was, but the clanging of the shots connecting with metal could just as easily have been the little robots.

[color=Red]”Ugh, you little vermin!”[/color] bellowed Ganondorf, using his cape to cover his mouth. He continued his advancement toward the Consul anyway. No stinky gas was going to slow him down, he’d make sure of it.

[color=92278f]”Ugh… any pity I had before…”[/color] Sectonia said, using one of her hands to hold her nose as horrible smells really didn’t go over well with her, causing her to retch a bit. Especially since whatever this was smelt worse than anything in the Basement area. She was clearly enraged at Consul P, although it didn’t take much to set her off.

Jesse winced, near the back with her Service Weapon out, but she said nothing.

[color=FD0000]”Gah that is nasty, you air conditioned jerk!”[/color] Bowser yelled as he pinched his nose between two claws. He had been intending to give the boy a piece of his mind, and try and vindictively crack open the glass preventing P from tasting his own medicine, when Trento’s influence on his personality floated up an idea.

A horrible, horrible idea.

The king grimaced at the thought he had just had, and then steeled himself to go through with it anyway as he told the others[color=FD0000]”You lot are going to owe me big time for this”[/color] in a nasally voice. Then he raised his head up into the air, and breathed in virtuously, vacuum breath creating a spiraling vortex that drew the stink cloud in. Into his mouth that was, a thing that made the king start to turn greener and greener in the face as he tried to clear the air. That it worked, drawing in vast amounts of foul, noxious air, wasn’t a surprise; the problem was the consequences. The overpowering stench left Bowser’s senses overloaded and his mind reeling, temporarily delirious and close to passing out.

“Jesus..!” Jesse said sympathetically as Bowser took one for the team. 

Nearby, Therion tentatively lowered the scarf that had been covering his nose and mouth. His ears had been pressed flat to his head, eyes watering from the gas, but now that it was gone he breathed a sigh of relief. [i]Playing dirty right off the bat,[/i] he thought, not that he was one to talk. For the moment he stayed well clear of the actual fight though, summoning a Shelleton to his side to continue keeping the Mecha-Porkies from interfering.

Once the gas seemed to be gone, Ganondorf was free to unleash his wrath. He charged at Consul P’s bedmech and leaped at it to try a straightforward warlock punch in an attempt to shatter the glass protecting the kid inside.

As Bowser cleared the area with his vacuum breath, Sectonia gave a sigh before turning her fury onto Consul P, using her Rings of Light and tossing the large buzzsaw rings at the Consul. She also gave everyone a protective shield from her Pipe of Insight, just in case it would come in handy against a retaliation attack.

Once she landed, Primrose smoothly transitioned into her enhancing dances - clearly not tired out from her experience earlier at the Royal Canopy Club. The fierce and inspiring Lion Dance for Ganondorf and Ms. Fortune to improve their physical attack power, the showy and invigorating Peacock Strut to boost Sectonia's magic.

While P remained placid in his mechanized bed, the uncanny robot watched the first challenger approach as if it had a mind of its own. Spurred on by both natural fortitude and sheer spite, Ganondorf reached his target well ahead of the others, but in isolation his chosen technique made for a slow, telegraphed, and incredibly reactable attack without anyone covering him. With a thrash of its long, serpentine neck the bedmech detached its upper head and sent it flying at Ganondorf as he descended with his punch, only to regrow it a second later as the makeshift bomb went off on contact. Unfortunately, a Warlock Punch executed while airborne possessed no super armor, so Ganondorf had no further say in the matter.

He hit the ground as Sectonia’s light rings swept through the room, cleaving cleanly through the air toward P. Unperturbed, the bedmech leaped into the air. It hung there for a moment like a marionette, then dropped on the other side of the ring. After evading like this one more time it raised its arms. Between its wheel-shaped mitts it created a crackling red energy orb, which quickly unleashed a beam that swept horizontally through the mob of Antlions and anyone too slow to avoid it. Then it extended its arms and began to fire the spikes off its wheel-hands, each metal barb almost a foot in length and aimed mostly at Sectonia. Thankfully for the antillions, due to Sectonia having deployed the Pipe of Insight shield beforehand, the shield took the damage for them, leaving them alive to continue their work.

Its aim shifted as Nadia ran in, sufficiently recovered from the outrageously offensive odor to take a little revenge. Speeding along on all fours, she circled around him in a wide arc, unshaken by the spikes that nailed the ground and furniture right behind her. The diversion distracted it enough for one of Sectonia’s light rings to hit it. At that moment Nadia sprang, blasting off with her pent-up blood pressure. Too heavy to shoot for the moon, she zoomed forward instead in a low arc and flipped over into a slide to avoid the last few spikes. “Mind if I…” She fired off her arms and grabbed the bedmech’s own in order to slingshot herself forward in a dropkick. “...Drop in?” After a quick link into Claws for Alarm and Claws for Concern slashes she pressed forward with El Gato, but her attacks barely left a scratch on the bedframe. [i]What’s this thing made of!!?[/i]

On instinct she cut her rekka short and bent backward, dodging a vicious [url=https://i.imgur.com/3w0yWrp.png]heavy slash[/url] from the bedmech’s hand as it spun like a sawblade. “Saw that comin’!” It stretched its head forward like a viper three times in quick succession, hammering her guard, then went for a [url=https://i.imgur.com/IXkJCNN.png]low blow[/url] with its spider-like legs. By that time Nadia was already in the air, feeling pretty smug about her good read as she delivered a somersault [url=https://i.imgur.com/6Ci15oO.png]axe kick[/url]. “Heel-arious!” The mech recovered in time to block with both arms, but the feral was one step ahead. “You fell for it!” she crowed, planting her other leg on its other arm before explosively extending both to shove its guard wide open and pin its arms to the ground. She revved up her arms like drills, but as she went up for a double plunge six huge, mechanical spider legs deployed from the bedmech’s back. They instantly snapped shut on her like the teeth of a beartrap, then hurled her away in a spray of blood. “Came on, damn it!” she yowled as she sailed off. “That was gonna be so cool!” Her whole exchange had taken just a few seconds, but she’d already lost her legs from the thigh down.

Yet rather than fail to land on her now non-existent feet, the catgirl found herself caught in the bulky arms of Rika with a [color=Aqua]”Gottcha”[/color] when the ship girl pivoted from her bombing run to a diving swoop, before banking up and angling for a quiet-ish spot.

[color=Aqua]”I’ve got a heal-y spirit, now so I can patch you up. I think”[/color] the ship girl said, as she angled her draconian steed down to land next to where Bowser was using a wall to support his body after his act of martyrdom.

Though glad for the catch, Nadia had to refuse Rika’s offer of healing. She gestured to the stab wounds already starting to close. “Oh thanks, but I can heal this up myself. The bigger problem’s gettin’ my legs back. But I’m not one to admit de-feet.” So saying, the catgirl expelled blood from the stumps of her legs to form two Copycat replacements, solid enough to serve her well until she got a hold of the real thing. “Alright, ready to paw-ty,” she grinned, not for an instant imagining that her pun could be misunderstood. “Just be careful. This creep’s bedder than he looks.”

[color=Aqua]”Oh. Ok. good. But maybe you should have done that before the fight?”[/color] Rika who had indeed entirely misunderstood the pun.

“Huh?”

Sectonia, having her antlions and all those nearby her shielded from the electric attack that Consul P had launched, had to deal with the current attack of two large nails shot right at her. However due to the speed of the launched projectiles and her size, Sectonia could only dodge one of them, with the other managing to hit her. She was a tough bug though, and while it was clear she got hit, she didn’t show she was hurt as a big spike was sticking out of her shoulder… orb… thing. To retaliate, she cast Slow on Consul P’s little contraption to slow it and all of its attacks down to make it easier for the others to advance. 

Included with those others were the squad of 1 of each antlion, which followed behind Ganondorf. While not as fast as the king and especially Nadia, they could get into their range to do their freezing and fire attacks. Of course to use these attacks they had to stand still, so they weren’t the most mobile thing, and the shield their Queen had given them was gone, having been shattered after absorbing the electric beam attack.

Ganondorf had been momentarily winded by the arm that knocked him back. He did at least recover in time to get himself out of the way of the beam attack. He started to walk forward, his hate-filled eyes still deadlocked onto the snotty brat in his overgrown toy. A pair of Mecha-Porkies tried to advance on him, but he was able to safely ignore them thanks to a pair of fire arrows shot from two of his Moblin Archers. They looked like they lost one of their number, but the remaining four were still following orders and unleashing volley after volley of fire arrows onto the Mecha-Porkies.

Once the two mechanical minions were shot down, Ganondorf drew the white sword from its scabbard and broke into another run at the bedmech. But this time he didn’t go for a direct approach. Rather, he launched himself into a warlock kick that allowed him to slide between the bedmech’s legs. The machine’s arms descended like guillotines, but it did not anticipate the sorcerer king going low, and the spiked disks slammed down behind him. He sliced at the legs with the blade along the way, but similar to Nadia they didn’t do a whole terrible lot. Instead Ganondorf sprang to his feet and attempted to stab the white sword into the back of the bedmech with all his might. And considering he was wielding the power of both the Triforce and the Leo sigil in addition to the heavy infusion on the weapon itself… that was quite a considerable amount of strength that he had at his disposal to put into this blow. Indeed, through sheer might he managed to drive the ivory swordblade into the absolute mess of bizarre machinery packed tight on the bedmech’s underside-turned-back. Blunt force might have served him better in terms of widespread damage, and he still didn’t manage to pierce through to P himself, but he did manage to penetrate some sort of hub controlling two of the bedmech’s eight spider legs, which drooped limply to the ground.

Jesse summoned forth her alchemist. “Acid!” She shouted, strafing to the side, and he giddily obliged, dossing a vial of ominous green liquid into the air. Jesse reached out and plucked it from the air with Launch. At a flanking angle with less risk to her allies she went to Launch it at the consul and his mech to create a pool of corrosive liquid. Jesse figured it might start weakening that strong armor of his. 

While the splash of acid had no effect on P’s protective glass, the same couldn’t be said for the rest of its bed. If it could feel pain the machine might have writhed in agony as the corrosive gnawed away its armor in streaks and splotches. With Sectonia’s Antlion brigade on the march they quickly made the most of the high-density bedframe’s softened-up defense to further assault its integrity with the temperature shock of fire and ice. All while Ganondorf strove to punch his blade in deeper. This wouldn’t do.

The bedmech slung its neck around to bash its head against Ganondorf’s cranium as its other four offensive spider legs reoriented themselves to strike him. Like broad, hooked spears they jabbed and jabbed. One consequence of burying his blade so deeply was that it had been thoroughly lodged in the bedmech’s chassis, forcing Ganondorf to abandon the weapon. Its next move, made with mechanical precision, was to [url=https://i.imgur.com/WLRLx7z.png]thrust its arm[/url] into the ground, cutting straight through to Gallo Tower’s exterior. Almost instantly the arm burst up from the ground beneath Jesse, more to suppress her than anything but more than capable of grinding into her shield if she didn’t move. Jesse stumbled backward as the arm slashed up into her, her psychic Health vibrating with the impact. The Director took to the air, Levitating well above the ground. After trying to fend off its more dangerous assailants and pulling its limbs back, the bedmech launched itself forward in a [url=https://i.imgur.com/O4mpGxQ.png]whirlwind spin[/url]. With the sage’s sword still stuck in it, it tore through the mob of Antlions like a pinball, running them down and grinding them up.

After her spill Nadia wanted nothing more than to get back into the action and make up for lost time, but when the bedmech went on a rampage she slowed her roll a little. Rather than throw herself into the meat grinder, she equipped her box cutters as she circled around the periphery of the chaos, waiting for the machine to run out of steam.

Now floating above the ground, Jesse was more than happy to take advantage of this wild rampage with her fellow ranged allies. She switched to Spin and fired a stream of bullets to chew into the bed-mech thing from above. Even with its rapid, unpredictable ricochets through the ill-fated insect crowd, a skilled markswoman like her could trace its path and land a heaping portion of rapid-fire shots. Still, even a moderately tough Hiss could eat Spin shots for breakfast, so it’d take a while to chew through a target like this.

With the Seekers regrouping while the bedmech tornadoed itself in a deadly spin attack, Primrose took a few deep breaths. She'd been on the sidelines until now lending support where needed, but now she switched gears from dance to offense.

[color=D34C25]"Let's test this out,"[/color] she said, curling the fingers of her new gauntlet-wearing hand into a fist. She'd gotten the run down on this item after accepting Kamek's offer earlier, and she hoped it was as simple to use as it sounded. Her aim was to rend the ground below the mech and spend it sprawling. Without delay she cast the shockwave, ready to follow it up with her natural magic.

With the ground in this case being the rear wall of Gallo Tower, it turned out to be a lot less firm than one might think. The stone bricks shuddered and cracked as the dancer’s earth magic coursed through it, flexing like an ocean wave, but with the shockwave no stronger than the average basic attack, the masonry didn’t buckle just yet. Still, with the bedmech spinning like a top on a single leg, that surge of instability was enough to send its rampage spiraling out of control. It toppled over, and sparks flew as its spikes ground against the stone, bringing its momentum to a halt. This was the Seekers’ cue to pile on, starting off with the explosive fire of Primrose's Black Flame Orb. She'd whipped up the spell as soon as the mech went down, watching it slam into the bed and ignite. Adding to the flash of inferno was Therion's Wildfire, making sure not to pass up the chance to get a strike in while he could. The few remaining Antlions, Nadia(, and any other melee Seekers) charged in to deal some damage. Ganondorf used the opening to hit the bedmech with the strongest warlock punch he could muster.

As the bedmech righted itself, however, it challenged its mob of assailants with a wake-up super, literally. Its upper head cracked open lengthwise like a mouth, complete with fangs, to unveil a rapidly ticking alarm clock. Nadia, on alert for more tricks, watched it completely ignore a couple of the Antlions’ attacks and instantly switched to panic mode, abandoning her meaty attempt in favor of a crouching block. The next second the bedmech unleashed [url=https://i.imgur.com/lLLXCRD.png]Sinusoidal Helios[/url], slaughtering every Antlion and hammering Ganondorf with a brain-busting blast of sound. Nadia shielded herself against the alarming soundwave, but it still left her in blockstun with ears ringing. Even Consul P yelped in surprise and terror–was he actually controlling this thing at all, or just laying there while it fought for him? Nevermind, here came the bedmech with an [url=https://i.imgur.com/NExYzfV.png]overhead[/url] using the lower face on the bottom of its bedframe. “Thought you’d catch me sleepin’?” she snapped, standing up to block it. “Give it a rest!” So saying, she launched into her new Vantage counterattack with Athame, stabbing into the bedmech’s pig-nosed lower face with the stolen dagger. Even if it didn’t do much damage, it magically cut into the machine’s already-weakened defense and resistance on hit, making it even more vulnerable. Unamused, it swung its arms as her, and the feral tagged out with a backward leap to give someone else a chance to capitalize.

Said capitalisation came from on high and in the form of the absent Bowser and Rika descending at high speed, the recovered king held in the talon grip of the ship girl’s drake mount. Maneuvering thrusters and water jetting cannon turrets fired as they boosted downwards, til, a heartbeat from the moment of impact, Rika arrested her own fall and kicked Bowser downwards to do so, adding a bit more force to the koopa king’s [url=https://ssb.wiki.gallery/images/d/dd/Bowser_SSBU_Skill_Preview_Down_Special.png]Bowser bomb[/url] that crashed down upon the bed. Seeing what the koopa king was doing, Sectonia also gave her own little bit of amplification in the form of hasting Bowser’, making his descent even more severe.

[color=FD0000]”Get squashed!”[/color] the king yelled as he made impact, before water blasting with his lower set of cannons to aid in his leap off of the bedmech to avoid retaliation and open up their target for a third follow up. With all the forces in play, however, the machine had been knocked flat and spread-eagled by the tremendous shell slam, the nigh-impregnable glass that encased Consul P riddled with cracks. Bowser’s sudden departure set it free, but with its occupant’s safety its number-one priority and the Koopa King more than capable of another meteoric skyfall, the bedmech didn’t choose to fight back. Instead it popped its head off and flung it away, then after a brief moment, teleported to the head’s position.

[color=FD0000]”Hey look, it’s smart, knowing I’m the most dangerous thing here!”[/color] Bowser boasted as he landed and turned to find the bot had run away from him.

[color=Red]”Don’t be foolish. It was already reeling from all of our attacks long before you finally got off your lazy shell!”[/color] Ganondorf retorted, taking note of the fact that only one of his moblins remained. [color=Red]”And as for [i]you[/i]...”[/color] he drew out his other sword and pointed it threateningly at the bedmech and broke into a run toward it, [color=Red]”You think you’re a big, bad king? Then you’ll be DETHRONED like one!”[/color] The Gerudo swung and hacked away with his weapon. This time he was taking no chances and was being extra watchful for any more annoying tricks. Between his immense strength and the amount of damage the bedmech’s had sustained by this point, his weapon would be a bit more effective at damaging it then at the beginning of the battle.

The bedmech met his onslaught head-on, going toe-to-toe and blow-for blow with the red-haired swordsman. Ganondorf possessed remarkable strength and tenacity, but so was P’s defender, and with three times as many arms as its attacker it wouldn’t be bullied to easily. Using two limbs at a time it worked to block its opponent’s sword swing and strike back with the rest, stabbing, bludgeoning, and cutting. It calculatingly struck low, punished overcommitments, and moved in and out of range with bursts of speed and its tricky eight-way airdash. Even its head joined in, bashing at Ganondorf’s or detaching for a point-blank explosion. 

“Hoggin’ all the fun?” Not about to give Ganondorf the chance to lose this ferocious battle of attrition, Nadia charged in to lend him a hand. She strafed around its unguarded side and struck with El Gato, delivering two slashes and a spiky-eared headbutt. “Ear today, gone tomorrow!” When the bedmech pivoted to swing at her, Ganondorf got the chance to get in a quick Gerudo Dragon uppercut, and then he grabbed the hilt of the white sword and ripped it out of the bedmech's back. The machine unleashed a flurry of stabs with its spider legs at both assailants, but tore into nothing but air as Nadia backdashed, leaped up, and came in with a string of aerial attacks that ended with another axe kick. “Foot, meet mouth!” With Ganondorf on the other side, they could bounce the bedmech back and forth between them, twin boxcutters on one side and sage sword on the other. At the first chance it got the machine unleashed its spike-edged spin attack to try and topple both foes at once, but both saw how Primrose dealt with this moments ago. They went for a low sweep at the same time, knocking the bedmech’s leg out from under it, then struck as one–Nadia with a low cross-slash dash, Ganondorf with a sweep of both his swords. The Bedmech flew into the air, spinning out of control, and three large, heavy stone bricks were telekinetically Launched into its frame, sending it flying. 

Sectonia had been using the fact that the others had been distracting the bed mech to charge up her own attack, charging up her Spacial Shatter. While she couldn’t fully charge it, even a moderately charged shatter would do quite a bit of damage, hitting the machine with the sound of ‘glass’ shattering, although that glass was more reality than the glass on the mech itself.

The machine sailed through the air and crashed down into the steps before the throne, where it rested for a moment, its gangly limbs splayed out. Nadia straightened up with a smile and began to approach, a little bit of swagger in her walk. This thing might have a lot of tricks, but with this many heroes around, the odds just weren’t in its favor. 

[color=Aqua]”Well that wasn’t too bad. The way Kamek described F with his vines and time powers I thought this’d be trickier”[/color] Rika commented as she landed next to Bowser who gloated [color=FD0000]”Yeah, nice try kid, but you’re up against the best of the best of the worst.”[/color]

Inside the bed pod, P pounded the mattress with his little fists. “Why aren’t these BOZOS dead yet? Stupid bed!” He lolled his head, his melodramatic eyeroll easily imaginable. “Ugh. Well, gotta do what I gotta do, right? Heheheh…”

P did something.

Out of nowhere, an agonizing stomach pain struck Nadia, as if her guts had been filled with needles. It wasn’t just her–almost everyone suddenly found themselves stricken with intense intestinal pain, especially those with less hardy constitutions. Nearly doubling over, the feral clutched her stomach and stared up at the Consul. “What…what was that?” This wasn’t nausea. It was pure, acidic agony. “What…did you…do?”

“Ha ha ha ha!” P laughed, his mirth especially obnoxious. Nadia noticed his left eye glowing red, a lemniscate within. “Isn’t it great? I went back…” He held up his hand, and a [url=https://i.imgur.com/HYF0p6H.png]little device[/url] appeared before blinking away again. “And put rat poison in your breakfast buffet this morning! How’s that for ‘dangerous’? Ha ha ha ha!” Putting his hands up by his head, he wiggled his fingers and blew a raspberry inside his helmet. “That’s right! I’ve got lots of toys, but time and space are my favorite of all! Come and get me, losers! Spankety spankety spankety!”