[center]
[h2]Troop-tube, featuring Pit from the Kid Icarus series[/h2]
Word count:  2,698 (+3) (+1 rapport with all)
[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]Level: 5 - Total EXP: 247/50[/color]
[b][color=FD0000]Bowser: Level 14 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=FD0000]//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color] (211/140)  (+1 bonus pending)
[b][color=DeepSkyBlue]Kamek: Level 13 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=DeepSkyBlue]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color]////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (87/130)  (+1 bonus pending)
[b][color=Aqua]Rika: Level 9 [/color][/b] EXP: [color=Aqua]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////[/color](106/90)  (+1 bonus pending)
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[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Oh thank baddness we have our movement related abilities for this one”[/color] was the first thing Kamek said, as he sat on his broom and floated up into the air inorder to reach head height with two out of three of the other members of the team.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, hello again Sire, Rika and Pit I believe it was?”[/color] the mage said to the others

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Yep, the one and only Pit!"[/color] the angel replied. He could give Kamek a pass for the name thing, since the koopa was old.

Rika first nodded, and then said [color=Aqua]”Nice to meet you”[/color] to Pit, offering him a very big hand to shake. Her mitts dwarfed his, but Pit happily took her hand and shook it up and down. Then she asked [color=Aqua]”So what are we doing? I hardly understood any of what he was talking about”[/color]

[color=FD0000]”Making a scary film, which should be easy, because I’m gonna be the scariest thing in whatever joint we end up in!”[/color] Bowser declared in answer.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I'm pretty sure we're supposed to record spooky stuff, like ghosts or zombies or Ornes or Reapers,"[/color] Pit pointed out, without arguing Bowser's comment. He'd always thought Mario's arch-rival [i]was[/i] a little scary. And he was quickly getting over the king's sabotage of the previous game, what with how fast they'd been tossed into another.

He looked around at the cozy, colorful environment. There was a tall white screen standing nearby with some words on it that he ignored in favor of the items on the house's porch: four flashlights and a camcorder. Pit picked up one of the lights, clicking it on and off a couple times. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I dunno why we need the helmets though."[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Perhaps it is a flooded landscape down there? Full of underwater horrors”[/color] Kamek said, then, releasing what he’d said, visibly shuddered along with the other two troop members.

The diving bell they were going to use certainly didn’t help with the flashbacks to the Maw they were getting, which prompted Kamek to float up, saying he was going to check where and who Jr was with which the other two thought was an entirely sound thing to do. 

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Geralt”[/color] he confirmed after briefly forgetting what the Witcher looked like now [color=DeepSkyBlue]”He, or rather she, got through the Maw just fine, so the young master’s got someone watching his back incase this goes thataway”[/color] 

[color=FD0000]”Good”[/color] Bowser replied with a nod, the tension leaving both him and RIka at the news. Turning back to the game at hand, the king before scratched his chin a few times while looking over their equipment before picking up the camera and tossing it to Kamek, saying [color=FD0000]”You can be our lakitu”[/color] before looking around and wondering if that was all there was to it.

As it turned out, no, it wasn’t as Rika found some kind of [url=https://i.imgur.com/r0NjBRE.png]shopping terminal[/url] that had been sitting just out of view of their spawn point after heading out to take a peek around.

While the crew did a little splitting up, Pit had flitted over to the mechanism that would bring their team below: the diving bell. It looked really old, but sturdy, and though it had a screen inside with something written on it the only other features it had were a single lever, and a single red button. So it was probably pretty simple to use, which was great news.

Completely ignorant to the Troop's experience in the Maw, Pit wondered why they were so worried. This was just a minigame, and it would be pretty weird if they jumped right from being basically invincible in the last one to being able to be hurt in this one. Maybe parents were just like that, even big bad ones. Though they really hadn't spent that much time loitering around the island, soon enough Pit came bounding down the bell's ramp to stir his team into action.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"You guys ready yet? C'mon! What if everyone else gets a head start and finds all the good monsters first?"[/color]

The response of the others was drowned out by the sound of a [url=https://contentwarning.wiki.gg/wiki/Sound_Player]metal pipe[/url] produced by Rika, or rather a little [url=https://i.imgur.com/h2AjSR5.png]device[/url] she was holding that she had purchased on complete impulse. This was followed up by several other sound effects from a car skidding, laughter, crickets and a twelve second long news broadcast intro tune as she joined Pit in the diving bell

[color=Aqua]”I got a thing”[/color] she helpfully informed Pit, before taking a look at the three options on the diving bell and saying [color=Aqua]”I think maybe we’ve had enough of tunnels after being in them all day yesterday?”[/color] an opinion that was shared by the koopas who joined them a moment later (with Bowser shrinking himself down to a less towering size so he could actually fit in the diving bell).

Pit looked up from prodding at the noise maker over Rika's shoulder. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Tunnels...?"[/color]

He followed her gaze to the panel inside the bell. 'Tunnels' was one of the words on it? Wait, that actually made sense - if it was the control for the bell, it probably listed locations it had access to! [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Oh! Can we go to different places? What else does it say?"[/color]

[color=Aqua]”One is a ’Cruise ship’, which I guess is a cruiser like me, and the other is a factory”[/color] she replied, only to be lightly corrected by Kamek who informed her that [color=DeepSkyBlue]”A cruise ship is a very large leisure vessel for transporting tourists”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Let's pick the factory! Maybe there will be some frankenstein-type monsters,"[/color] Pit said without much thought, pulling the lever beside the door. As expected it closed the four of them inside, the vessel sealing shut with an automatic turn of the hand-wheel.

Bowser hmmmed, before shrugging and stomping over to hit the appropriate button while Rika asked [color=Aqua]”What’s a frankenstein?”[/color] 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"It's kind of like a cyborg zombie,"[/color] Pit began to explain as the crane outside moved and the diving bell creaked. There was the distinct feeling of the chamber they were in being picked up, so they could assume it had started its descent. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"It's a monster made up of a bunch of different parts slapped together, and then they - the evil scientists that make them - blast it with lightning or something to make it alive! Er, undead!"[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Huh”[/color] Rika replied shorty, before inquiring [color=Aqua]”But why would they do that?”[/color] 

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Do what?"[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Slap lots of bits together to make a monster I guess? Seems pretty…”[/color] before pausing, thinking, and saying [color=Aqua]”Oh. I guess that’s kinda what they did with all the other lesser ships in my fleet after they died and got brought back all jumbled up”[/color] looking a little sad about that fact for a moment before shaking her head once to clear the emotion away and saying [color=Aqua]”It’s efficient recycling of resources I suppose”[/color] just a bit too calmly.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Uh... yeah I guess,"[/color] Pit said, scratching his head. It was clear he hadn't put any thought whatsoever into this. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I think it's just what evil scientists do though.

"Right?"[/color] He looked at Kamek for confirmation, since the differences between an evil scientist and an evil wizard were semantics, clearly. He didn't give the koopa much time to answer before turning back to Rika. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Your fleet?"[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Oh, right, you weren't there when I was, well when I started existing”[/color] she replied, before briefly explaining how she’d once been a member of the abyssal fleet terrorizing the Blue, only for Kamek to free her from both Galeem and the fleet at the same time, before concluding the explanation with [color=Aqua]”I basically wasn’t a person before, everything about that time is kinda, well hazy, same with whatever I was before the world of light, so I basically wouldn't exist without it”[/color]

Pit listened with interest, bobbing his head in between brief stints of confused tilts of his head. Her tale was a lot of things, least of all kind of incredible. It also raised some philosophical questions that her one angel audience was not well equipped to deal with, or even really identify beyond wondering how personhood could seemingly be bestowed like that. As such, his response was a pretty simple one.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Wow. I didn't even know something like that was possible,"[/color] he said. He would be sure to ask Lady Palutena more about it, if he remembered by the time they found her. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"...I guess if you just started existing a couple days ago, then happy belated birthday?"[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Thanks?”[/color] the ship girl replied, clearly not knowing what those were.

The descent didn't actually take all that long, even though the island they came down from was sitting among clouds. There was a short jolt when the bell touched down in the 'old world.' With no windows or sensors showing what the situation was on the outside of it, the only thing the group could do was open the door. Pit obliged once again, pressing the lever back up to its original position. The door swung open, but no water entered the vessel. They had arrived in a dry place, one nearly completely devoid of color. The landscape, and everything in it from buildings to debris scattered around was in black, white, and gray with a 'scratchy' look to it. The diving bell was the only exception they could see, and its light poured an orange glow out in a small circle around it. Not far away from them was what must be the [url=https://i.imgur.com/B0boXGr.png]factory's entrance[/url].

Torches clicked on, producing only a little glow. Indeed a lot of their light came not from those but from the tentacruel orbs on Bowser’s back, which created a little oasis of light and color in the dark gloom. The rest came from the glowing cotton tail like bulb on the abc of Rika’s rigging belt, which didn’t provide her much light, but did let everyone else know where she was, be they friend or foe.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I see, so we are in the ‘depths’ just not literally”[/color] Kamek mused, before suggesting [color=DeepSkyBlue]”I think taking a short recording of us entering would be good for framing purposes? Otherwise it would simply be a disconnected series of monster recordings which might be a bit disorientating?”[/color]

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I guess that makes sense!"[/color] Pit had been shining the beam of his light all around the outside, though it failed to penetrate very far into the darkness. Now that they were here, this game was starting to feel exciting. This place definitely had a creepy feeling. What made it even better was that since this was a minigame, assuming they wouldn't actually be in danger, it would be a fun way to experience something scary without actually being scared for your life!

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Do you think we should say something? Introduce ourselves?"[/color] Pit asked. Then slightly less loudly he admitted, [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"I've seen movies and TV and stuff before, but not really anything like this, so..."[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”I was thinking it would maybe be like a nature documentary, only about the supernatural? Not that we know that much about these ghosts and ghouls, I’m no E. Gadd, but it's the only frame of reference I have that comes close”[/color] Kamek suggested

[color=FD0000]”Yeah, they gotta know who the start of the show is after all! Steve Inamazu ain’t gonna have nothing on me when I wrestle these freakshows into the ground”[/color] Bowser declared, and before Kamek could object said [color=FD0000]”Now let’s get this show on the road! Roll the tape! Clocks ticking!”[/color] 

Indeed it was. Five minutes was at once quite a bit of time and none at all, and the koopa king urged them to make the most of it stomping into the doorframe of the factory and, once Kamek had hit the record button started up an introduction.

[color=FD0000]”Alright! Listen up people of spooktub or whatever it was! I’m Bowser, the Koopa King, the biggest and baddest bad guy there is and today you get the privilege of watching me and my troop dive into this freaky factory to find the weirdos in it so I can punch them in the face!”[/color] he roared loudly, needing no boom mic to be heard thanks to his excellent vocal projection that probably alerted each and every thing in the place that they had visitors.

In the background of the recording, in what little was left of the frame that wasn't taken up by Bowser's, Pit had been hopping up and down with his wings spread wide. [color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"Pit here, on the job too! We're gonna make the scariest video ever!"[/color] he said, then gestured with one arm and one wing to Rika for her introductory words.

[color=Aqua]”Hi camera, I’m Rika”[/color] the ship girl said, leaning into frame and waving with a very large hand, before adding [color=Aqua]”and I don’t really know what we are doing but hopefully it will be fun. Or spooky? Both?”[/color] and giving a thumbs up with one hand, and hitting the sound player button at the same time to play a dramatic hit to accompany her motion, which seemed to amuse her.

Finally, the last member of the team introduce himself with [color=DeepSkyBlue]”and I, Kamek, will be your camera Koopa for the day”[/color] while continuing to record them rather than turning it to show himself, before saying [color=DeepSkyBlue]”now then, let’s see what we can find”[/color] dramatically swooping up, over the group and through the doors, before flicking off the recording.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”And cut!”[/color] the mage said as he did so, before turning back to the others and saying [color=DeepSkyBlue]”I think that will make for a good introduction”[/color]

[color=Aqua]”Cut what?”[/color] Rika asked, her serrated edged spear flicking from her back to her hand in an instant as she looked around for what needed slicing.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”ah it's an expression. It means ‘cut the tape’ which is what turning off the camera does. So by saying it I let you know I am no longer recording”[/color] the mage replied, a little incorrect on how this particular camera worked, but still filling her in and getting an [color=Aqua]”Ohhhh”[/color] of understanding from the ship girl as the spear blinked back to its over the shoulder storage position.

[color=lightgoldenrodyellow]"That sounded pretty professional! This is gonna be fun."[/color]

[color=FD0000]”Troop’s nothing if not professional, so good job keeping up with us Pit”[/color] Bowser replied, before thrusting a finger forwards into the dark of the factory and commanding [color=FD0000]”Now let’s get in there and find some freaks to film!”[/color] which got a little round of cheers and affirmations before they set out to do just that