Dawnrider — Roleplayer Guild

Level: 1
Day/Time: Day Two; Morning -> Noon
Location: Tetris Castle - Gardens; Reception
Tags: Slayer @Lugubrious
Mentions: Samus @Lmpkio, Naija @DracoLunaris

Banjo could bear-ly barely fit the dress suit he had been provided with, but as far as he was concerned, decorum took precedence over his own comfort. This wasn’t the time or place to be shirtless (but the avoided complication of shoes was a different story). Him and Kazooie had come to honor the memory of a fellow icon with whom they stood side-by-side in the same spotlight during the bygone “Golden Age”, so the very least they could do was be manageably dignified in manner, as hard as that tended to be for the humble ursine’s partner. Even if she wanted to (and she usually did), Kazooie couldn’t make a snarky remark like she did with Bottles about how “he wasn’t the favorite character, anyways,” because… well, quite simply, that just wasn’t the case. Everyone loved him… even if they didn’t. Donkey Kong; whose grandfather (Cranky) he had a brief adversarial history with, Wario; his arch-rival, even Bowser; his arch-nemesis - they would all show up as friends and favors at sporting events, races, and parties carried out in his name for the sake of bringing joy to others in the Mushroom Kingdom and the world over. Now… he was gone, and in his place would be left an unfillable void in the hearts and minds of all.

After the rounds of eulogies and prayer had concluded, Banjo left his seat on queue to take his place in line behind everyone else to pay their respects. Kazooie emerged from Banjo’s backpack to hand him a trophy of his likeness to place at the base of Mario’s own; an ‘Extra Life’ they used to call it. Though, they haven’t functioned as such - or as anything for that matter - since the duo’s first game. Needless to say it wouldn’t be doing Mario any favors, regardless, but the idea wouldn’t be lost on anyone. Having said their last goodbyes, the two retired to the reception along with the rest of the crowd.

Banjo took it upon himself to play the classic File Select theme in the background while the main band was setting up. Among them just happened to be included Diddy Kong, an old friend of Banjo’s from before his adventures with Kazooie, as their lead guitarist. He called out to Banjo to get his attention, and the two met each other halfway with a brotherly hug in greeting. They had roughly twenty years worth of catching up to do between that simply wasn’t feasible with what little time they would have to spare, but they would spare however much of it they could to cover some lost ground, which didn’t go without a sarcastic quip from Kazooie to interject - as good an introduction as any for her. It didn’t show, but those with a little bit of context and keener intuition would be able to tell that Diddy lamented the fate that had befallen the friends that he had to leave behind. While reminiscing on his history with Rare, the feeling set in that they deserved much better than they got considering the lasting contributions they had made to The System, and it didn’t help knowing that they were largely responsible for who him and the Kong family are today. It all felt so wrong to him.

Diddy didn’t wish to rudely sour the friendly conversation by dwelling on such regrets he couldn’t change, lest they begin to show, so he enthusiastically propositioned Banjo (and Kazooie) to join him in song, for old time’s sake, to enliven a scene much in need of something to feel good about. Given they were all capable musicians in their own rights, it made sense that they put these long unused skills to use again. Of course, Banjo was slightly hesitant at first having been out of honest practice for so long, but a little encouraging prodding from Kazooie persuaded him to follow through. Without further delay, they took to the stage; Diddy with his red, star-shaped guitar, and Banjo and Kazooie donning the very instruments after which they were named. The congregation went silent as Diddy briefly spoke in Mario’s honor before dedicating the performance to him (as obvious as that might have been). With that, Banjo started them off with a slower introduction to ease into the session. As the last note faded, there came a four second pause before the tempo began to pick up.

Staff Roll (+File Select Demo)

With a drum roll to signal, the monkey and bear syncopated the intro with their seemingly incompatible instruments that would have otherwise had no business trying to play the same tune, had it not somehow worked as well as it did for them. From there, Banjo primarily played a more subdued part as a backing lead, closely matching the rhythm guitarist via tremelo to balance it out while Diddy took front. All three, plus the keyboardist, took turns with some of the chorus segments and interludes, with Kazooie chiming in every now and then to break up the instrumental roles. Diddy, of course, laid down a solo, followed shortly with an acoustic acoustic transition by Banjo into the final chorus and outro, which they all took part in. After the last notes rang out, Banjo excitedly let out his trademark “Duh-huh!” and flashed a delighted thumb up to the audience. A second of quietude passed before a familiar voice sample was played back to sound off.

“See you next time.”

A few tears fell at the last part, but an overwhelming applause was granted to the impromptu performers who had lifted the spirits of most all in attendance. High fives were exchanged between the three, Banjo took a bow to both sides, and they all returned thanking waves to the spectators.

“See, Banjo? I told you they would love us.”

“Feels like it was yesterday, eh, Kazooie?”

Unfortunately, the halcyon revelry wouldn’t last, as the otherwise peaceful celebration of a hero’s life abruptly took a turn for the unexpected mere moments later. From the direction of Mario’s memorial site, faintly registered orders from council members were shouted to… someone, but it wasn’t immediately apparent as to what was happening or who was involved. All that was certain is that, whatever it was, it must have been important if so many heroes at a time were leaving to deal with it - the legendary bounty hunter Samus being recognizable among them.

“Uh… maybe we should go see what’s going on,” Kazooie suggested.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Banjo concurred. ”It couldn’t hurt to see if anyone needs our help.”

Being the closest by witness to the disturbance, they made their way over to the tall, dark, stylish gentleman suspended in a cloth chair just as the winged fishwoman next to him took off.

“Excuse me, sir,” he directed, without meaning to be too forward. “What’s all the commotion about?”

Level: 4
Day/Time: Day Two; Noon
Location: Tetris Castle - Gardens: Funerary Grounds
Tags: Rosalina @Holy Soldier, Anyone with Comms
Mentions: Luigi @Bright_Ops, Varrock @Zarkun

Fox’s eyes went wide as he gasped and recoiled in surprise at the sudden disappearance of the two most important adornments to the memorial. Before the order to give chase had been given, Luigi was already furiously tailing the indiscernible culprit. For whatever reason, it thought this would be the best time to make off with the last remaining vestiges of Mario’s presence on the mortal plane, and Luigi was having none of it. For its own sake, it would do well to hope everyone else got to it before he did. With the help of Ambassador Rosalina’s Lumas as guidance, they would hopefully be able to catch who- or what-ever was responsible. Rosalina issued her command…

“I’m on it,” Fox affirmed as he soared through the air with a quick burst of energy and onto the wall opposite the one James was occupying. He landed atop the structure in a dead run, wasting no time trying to put as little distance between this thing and the rest of them as possible. The pilot pulled a conspicuous device from his jacket - similar in shape to his reflector, but more triangular. He placed the contraption onto the back of his head, and out of it extended the top and sides of his headset that slid forth like a telescope before self-adjusting to fit. The microphone popped out from the right once everything had finished fastening itself together. He then called out to anyone with remote communications that could pick him up.

“This is Fox. Does anyone read me?”
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