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7 yrs ago
dissertation done. can actually post again. yay.
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The Veterans

Words: 2128 (+3 exp/rapport)
Bowser: Level 14
EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (203/140) (+1 bonus pending)
Blazermate
Level 13 Blazermate (Holding 5 level up) - (14/130)


”Scaling a mountain? Easy! I could do that in my sleep!” Bowser, who was dressed up like Santa, sans the beard but with a red coat and hat and all the rest (for some reason) declared.

”Why are you dressed up like Santa again?” Blazermate said, having no place to perch herself on his shell thanks to his outfit and instead walking around the big koopa, noting much like him her flight was greatly reduced with the ‘rules’ of this game.

”Because Santa Bowser’s gonna steal all the coins!” the king declared, retorting to criticism of the garb he didn’t even chose, before adding that ”It’s kinda my thing in a lot of these minigame parties most of the time”

”.. But the Namahage are what steal things during xmas, not Santa…” Blazermate said, confused. But then she quickly recovered. ”Wait, you’ve done this before? And multiple times? Huh… Well I guess that means I’ve got a vet on my side! Hope I can pull my weight, hehe.” she said, putting that whole thing aside.

”Ah, but then I’ll be giving them to the good little boy and girl. Or, well, big girl, but she still counts” the king replied, which almost worked out if it weren't for the fact he was competing against said kids as well. As for her praising him as a vet, he agreed that ”and yeah, you’re gonna have to give your best to keep up with this super star!” boastfully

”Don’t worry, I got this. I’m one of the scarier medabots even though I’m a healer. Funny thing, I know you haven’t seen many, but I’m actually one of the faster models hehe.” Although Blazermate, doing her own boast, left out the fact that she was also one of the few medabot models who could both heal, and keep up with the shooting bots with medaforce spam. ”Well, let's get hooked together and ready to climb! No flying for me, but I can climb.”

Although once the two got harnessed, it was almost comical how the under 5ft tall bot was tied to the ginormous koopa king. Blazermate could almost hide behind his leg, and with her lightweight frame, it was almost like Bowser was just climbing by himself.

He did not see the problem with this, and indeed his first thought was to simply too pick up the tiny bot in one claw, check that she was ”Ready for liftoff?” and then to crouch, tense and then leap into the air! Unfortunately, while he did an impressive jump by anyone else's standards, the king’s ability to jump good had also been disabled, and so rather than launch to the top of the cliff face he’d stepped up too, he just face planted right into it. Seeing this, Blazermate hopped out of his claw before he faceplanted along the wall with an ”oof”

Being unable to fly, Blazermate glided down and around Bowser to grab onto him on his side, ”We can’t really use powers, remember? But that means the others can’t as well. And uh… don’t try to squish me against a wall. I saw that happen to a metabee, it didn’t end well.” Blazermate said, almost chastising Bowser a bit after he almost smashed her into a wall with himself. She then, a bit more gracefully, jumped to the next platform. ”C’mon!”

Bowser shook his head clear and then, feeling a tug on the rope attached to him as Blazermate reached the limit of its short length, grunted and said ”Alright alright!” before leaping up alongside her with some regular jumps.

This worked for all of about 2 stories of jump throwable ledges that they could take one at a time, only for them to find a small pit with a floating platform hovering in the center. The first jump should not have been an issue, were it not for the fact that the rope was not long enough to go from one side of the other, which had predictable consequences as Blazermate, who was ahead, went ahead and attempted it first.

She thought she could make the jump, but soon found that the short rope held her back, causing her to miss the platform and glide down slowly before the rope and Bowser held her suspended in the air, the Koopa king soon reeling her back in. ”OK uh…. I guess we need some teamwork on this one. Any fun ideas?” Blazermate asked.

”Hmmmmm. Jumping while holding you didn’t work sooooo” Bowser replied, tapping his chin thoughtfully, before snapping his fingers. A moment later, Blazermate had stepped onto a lower pair of palms and tossed into the air. Naturally, she stopped about half way across the gap, but also far higher above it than she could have jumped herself, and started to slowly glide down. At this point the king leapt across himself, causing him to tug her floating form along behind him like a kite that swooped down to land beside him.

”How you like that!” ”It works, but you're making me feel like more of a toy than I already am!” Blazermate said as she floated down, more teasingly angry than actual angry, still having fun.

When they tried to do this again however, there came an issue: the king simply did not have the legs to leap across the second, longer, gap, resulting in him plummeting down into the snow and dragging Blazermate down with him, her jets stalling in mid air as she struggled to glide with the king in hand. The bot landed on her feet beside him as he pulled his head out of the snow, resulting in both of them getting a good look at the animated signpost of a penguin swinging a second penguin on a rope below the platform.

”What?” Blazermate was confused as well, until she got an idea. ”Oh, maybe we gotta have someone under the platform, someone on top, then we swing them to the next platform and do some weird… uh…. Teamwork thingy instead of both jumping or something. yeah…” Blazermate said, this place confusing her a bit much like Bowser.

”Yeah. Gotta be it” Bowser agreed, before glancing back and seeing that there was a fairly easy way back up to the start of the jump. As such, a few moments later, they were up there and ready to try it. Blazermate glided over to the platform, getting a grip on it so Bowser could swing over. The rope was super, super strong so she was sure it wouldn’t snap… right? Well, this was the best way to find out! She didn’t want Bowser to lose his grip and fall on her, that’d be uncomfortable.

”Alright, here goes!” the several times her size king declared, before leaping back the way they had come, plummeting down into the pit till the rope went taught and then Blazermate was held flat onto the platform as the king swung below her, holding onto the platform instead of the rope so Bowser wouldn’t drag her under. At least unlike before her jets were not’ stalling, but she was still blushing with effort on holding the giant koopa as he swung under her and eventually swung to the proper platform. At least once he managed to get a good jump, his weight mostly carried Blazermate’s jump with the ladybot being much more graceful than the king.

”Phew, we just gotta do that… a bunch of times now I guess. ” Blazermate said, more relieved than tired.

”Then let’s get started!” the king declared, though as it turned out they had to do a bunch of tandem jumps up a set of rising cliffs first, before doing one more swing, before immediately getting stuck again when they got to an awkward overhang

As it turned out, the drop under the overhang was deceptive, as it opened up into a deep pit after they tried and failed to just jump it anyway, which forced them to redo a dozen or so jumps to get back up to said overhang.

”What kinda level design was that, yeesh” the king complained upon getting back up, before glancing at the signpost and trying to work out how they were supposed to be doing this. This one seemed to show a penguin grabbing the side of the wall for another to dangle down from and swing from.

”Someone who likes pain, I think.” Blazermate said, just as confused about the sign as Bowser. Still, they had been making good progress with Bower’s might and Blazermate able to at least help him along and not get in the way over a few others. ”Any ideas? I don’t know what this sign is asking of us either. I’m more for fighting and doing casual stuff. I fly so I don’t need to do parkour…” Blazermate said, looking confused and trying to think of what this meant for them to do.

It took a bit, but after a bit of scouting from Blazermate, she saw a bit of a platform on the other side of the wall, so what they were meant to do was jump down, one holds onto the wall while the other swings. Blazermate suggested Bowser hold the wall til she swung over, since she doubted he could hold all his awesomeness.

Of course, the problem was that after he did this, claws and mits groping the wall nicely, bot easily swung up and under to the other platform …. He now had to come after her while she held the platform and reeled him in, which was, safe to say, a fairly slow process, the little robot heaving with all her might to raise the king up an inch at a time while Bowser climbed the rope himself.

With a claw, he pulled himself up and suggested that they try ”Maybe the, uh, other way around?”

As it turned out they had to try it that way anyway, as they ended getting to some underhangs soon after, where they had to swing one another up and under to get across. Which took time.

Taking time was the best way to describe their progress, as without their supernatural/science abilities, both king and bot proved to not make the most mobile pairing. Said progress made the section involving moving platforms even more infuriating to the king, who fumed at being made to wait for the same platform for the 4th time after failing a subsequent jump and losing piles of progress because of it. Blazermate did what she could to sooth his rage, but to be honest, she was just as annoyed as he was at waiting. They were getting behind!

”Hey, everyone is passing us! We’ve gotta do something!” Blazermate said as they got back to the start of the mine after that fourth tumble.

”I know! I can see that! Stupid jumping people! Gotta be cheating somehow!” Bowser roared up at them, clearly getting very frustrated with this course not just because they were losing, but also because it offended all his own level designing sensibilities.


The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,120 (+2)
Bowser: Level 14 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (203/140) (+1 bonus pending)
Bowser Jr: Level 14 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (86/140) (+1 bonus pending)
Kamek: Level 13 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (83/130) (+1 bonus pending)
Rika: Level 9 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(102/90) (+1 bonus pending)
Location: The Sandswept Sky- Garudo Town -> Carnival town


”Yup” Bowser answered straightforwardly to Pit’s question about if Ganondorf was indeed, well Ganondorf, before clarifying, that, in a way, it wasn't: ”Well except he doesn’t remember last time we had a big get together. Or how he stabbed me in the back that time. Some kind of time nonsense, I dunno” dorf

”Doesn’t remember me from the two times we ‘met’ and stabbed each other either, so very much a load ‘time nonsense’ yes” Midna agreed in passing, having easily picked out the name of that man from the chatter that had started building.

Meanwhile the words ‘food’ and ‘games’ got Bowser and his son’s attention respectively, and both were quick to agree, especially upon hearing the name of the tent

”Ballyhoo’s Big Top? As in MC Ballyhoo?” Bowser asked rhetorically ”I know that guy, he runs the Star Carnival back home. I had a good time messing with people during that one”

”Oh hey, I missed that one!” Jr added clearly excited to replace that missed experience, before adding, even more excitedly ”Do you still think he’s got a prize that’s a year's worth of candy?”

”A year’s worth?” Rika echoed, interest piqued, mouth watering, to which Jr replied ”Yeah! Papa for sure should have stolen that instead of that crummy star rod or whatever it was, all that candy sounds like a way better prize than some silly magic wand”

Kamek was rather glad his king had not stolen that candy, and also that this turned out not to be the prize anymore, as instead, once they got there, it turned out that the rewards were tokens to be used for fashion or in a gacha machine of some kind. Both kids where a fair bit disappointed by that, but the prospect of mystery prizes and candy now rather than later quickly perked them back up again

Still, before they could get any snacks, captain falcon casually blasted past them, resulting in a whole host of questions about who he was, which Pit answered some of, while Bowser filled in a bit of the rest, saying ”They’ve got kart racing at least and our guy Captain Falcon was right on top of the leaderboards. Kinda a big shot around here looks like” before adding ”Probably because I wasn’t around to take that top stop!” boastingly.

The other question was, absurdly (to the troop sans Rika anyway) what a minigame even was.

”Yeesh, really? No one else? Fine fine fine” Bowser sighed, before trying to explain it ”It’s like, well, like a short competition kinda thing, where you race to do a little task or, uh, hmmm” before foundering a bit because really, they were so diverse, how did you narrow it down. It didn’t help that he was often on the other end of the arrangement, forcing people to play his unfair minigames rather than playing them himself.

Jr, who’d played in a few more parties than his papa, jumped in to explain that ”it’s like a party game, or a carnival game, but with way more effort put into making it big and epic. So you could be just skating candy out of a jar, or dodging fuzzies in a plane, or looking for a heart, or racing to be the first to the middle of a platform covered in banana peels, or riding trikes or nabbing pancakes or catching falling fruit, or herding penguins, or copying poses or, or, or,” before running out of breath

The panting prince was handed a cup with straw and lid by his sister, which he slurped upon noisily to parch his throat, finding a tasty non-brand cola drink within, and then before he could start up all over again wondered where she’d got it from. Glancing back, he found that the princess had taken an unsupervised moment to purchase five grab bags worth of snacks and drinks which were now hanging from a finger each on one of her oversized gauntlet hands. She had, it seemed, made little distinction between healthy and unhealthy options, as she had to finish crunching on half a carrot stick before commenting that all that ”Sounds neat!”

”Yeah, that’s coz it is neat” Jr agreed, before reaching up a grabby hand and demanding ”Now gimmy” and receiving a bag dropped into his hands by a little flick of his sister’s finger.

”I got some for everyone, and two for papa” Rika said as she did the drop, before artfully flicking the other bags over to the two elder koopas, who replied ”This might be a little much?” and ”good thinking kid” in an entirely predictable manner to her casual clandestine food shopping.

Kamek sighed, accepted that what was done was done, and said ”Let me at least reimburse you for all the rest, so you aren't using your funds for us” as he reached for his pocket to get her some cash, only for Rika to shake her head and reply ”I wanted to buy this stuff for you, so it's something I wanted to buy for me, i guess?”

”Oh? So a gift then? How very kind of you Rika” the mage replied with a smile of encouragement, realizing that it was not really a concept she’d have been directly introduced to, and then feeling a little bad about that.

”Is that what it is?” Rika asked with a head tilt, before nodding and agreeing that ”Then yeah, its a gift” which put a smile back on Kamek’s face.

It dipped a little when Jr complained that ”Aw ew what’s this squishy fruit thing” complaining about an apricot, and then returned along with a little snort of a laugh when Rika to lean in and said ”oh, I wanted to try those, can I have them? I’ll trade you something I tried already” to Jr, the mage realized what was going on.

A quick glance at what was on offer and a rough guess at the size of the bags in comparison confirmed his suspicion that she’d bought one of everything, and was now engaging in what was a recurring trend of food trading so she could sample each and every thing on offer.

At that point, everyone was heading inside, and so Bowser swallowed the mass of treats he was chewing and declared ”Let’s not get left behind, Troop! First we trounce everyone at those minigames, then we Mc Ballyhoo dry of prizes, and after we’ll go out, have some more fun, and get Rika a gift of her own!” which got a cheer of excitement from Jr, and ”oh is that how gifts work?” from RIka, and a proud smile from Kamek, who hadn’t even had to suggest that last idea.


wordcount: 2,180 (+3) (+2 rapport per character)
Midna: level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (22/110) (+1 bonus pending)
with
Primrose @Yankee
Level: 10 - Total EXP: 215/100

Level 11 Sectonia (holding 5 level up) - (108/110)
Location:
Warp Charges: 1

Warp Charges: 1


Once the general introduction had finished up, and a plan of action set into course (minigames, whatever those were) Midna intentionally slipped her way between the various sized turtles in order to seek out two familiar faces among the other team: Primrose and Sectonia.

Her own was mostly the same, a little more average perhaps, but a lot else had changed. For one she looked almost human, and had gone from imp to giant of a woman, had actual clothes on that were a rather edgy mix of reds and blacks, and her helm and mask’s combined visage was now that of a snarling demon. It was certainly a look. As where the two extra glowing orange arms she was sporting, which she used to wave and get both of their attention before she said ”Hello you two, long time no see”

Primrose had been intending to seek the Twilight Princess out herself in order to catch up. Therion had already split up from the dancer in order to give the ladies some space to talk, so it was fortunate Midna had the same idea. She smiled lightly at Midna even as she raised one elegant eyebrow at the extra set of limbs.

"I wouldn't have recognized you if you hadn't introduced yourself," she said. How very different Midna looked now than when she and Primrose had started out across the desert. Or even since last they saw each other. Even her distinctive helmet, though by far still the most recognizable part of the former imp, had changed. She looked strange for sure, but any stranger than some of the other Seekers? Primrose didn't really think so.

But her appearance wasn't as important as the fact that she had appeared. With all of the casualties the purple team had gone through, and the fate of some on the other team that Midna mentioned in passing, it was just nice to see friends and familiar faces still around. And Primrose said as much. "Regardless, it's good to see you."

”I’m a bit of a mess, but better this than that cursed little form so I’ll take it” Midna replied. If she could, she’d have tinkered with the combination before now, but with Peach as she was, that wasn’t an option she was aware she had.

"Cursed...?" the dancer asked, thinking back on if the princess had suffered some kind of curse or if she'd become afflicted with it recently.

”Oh, of course, right” Midna replied, realizing that they didn’t have context, before briefly explaining that ”It's a long story, but I wasn’t always an imp, I just keep being cursed into the form of one. Well by keep I mean twice, but still, that is two times to many” and then elaborating that ”I am usually, well, around this tall and this human shape, though with the coloration of my imp form rather than all this” she gestured vaguely at her very human tan skin ”So, getting there, even if the journey has been a bit, well, messy”

So Midna had been cursed since the beginning? That was unfortunate. Primrose nodded her understanding, not sure how to reply. At least it didn’t seem like a big deal to the princess.

”You meanwhile are looking a lot more, well coherent, by comparison” more so that when they had left, she almost thought, before agreeing that ”it’s good to see you too”

At the coherency comment, Primrose gestured down to her dress and exaggerated her walk a little so that the fabric would swish and sparkle pleasantly. She was quite pleased with the garment after all, so had no qualms about showing it off more. "That would be courtesy of a professional tailor."

”Now there’s something we should get for the ship” Midan replied, briefly fantasizing about the benefits of having proper royal staff again, before asking ”So did the, what was it, Under, have those? It doesn’t exactly sound like the place that would”

"You'd be right. We stopped by Gerudo Town earlier this morning."

”Looks like I should have gone in when we visited the first time then” Midna sighed, though finding this latest penitence for Urbosa more amusing than galling, before asking ”So what was the Under like then?”

”It was difficult keeping any kind of grace in such a disgusting place. It was so bad, that even the Guardian hid itself in a separate realm to keep its beauty.” Sectonia said, looking over Midna. Primrose hummed an agreement. "Most of its inhabitants were bugs or monsters, and there was an infection rampant among them. Though... it almost sounds like you had it just as bad in the city. "

”We’ll need to fix you up.” Sectonia mentioned; Midna’s dark aspect acting strangely with Sectonia’s new spirit. Perhaps once Midna was presentable again, this would recede.

”Well when you put it like that” Midna replied, squinting as she met the queen’s sunlit gaze, reminded now of how to the point the other royal could be. Still, she wasn’t exactly disagreeing either, she could very much go for a look that involved a lot less red, and so replied that ”Maybe we can look into that after these ‘minigame’ things”

As it turned out, doing so would be very convenient, as the group arrived at the big top and were filled in about the prizes said games could offer, including, of all things, stylizing and outfitting services.

”Huh, well there we go then” Midna said, as the explanation came to an end, briefly pausing to blink at confusion at the appearance of the very chipper racer (who, according to a convenient bark of recognition from Bowser, was Captain Falcon), asked ”anything stand out as worth competing for? Or eating? I think I burned all the energy I got from lunch already so a little something wouldn’t hurt” referring to the snacks on sale.

”The Bowser clan needs some new fashion. They look very disheveled from their adventure in the Under. Considering how much Bowser himself gets into brawls, its going to have to be something… easier to manage. Ugh, making a simple fashion thing for him is going to be a challenge.” Sectonia said with her displeasure of the situation clear. ”Plus it would be best to see what accessories they have. Perhaps they have something worthwhile, I’ve come to learn that this place is a random grab bag of what you will and will not or even what is and isn’t in a specific spot. I ate a pepper and now I can breath fire, for example..” Sectonia said, blowing a small spiral of fire.

”That... Goddesses really?” Midna replied, blinking in surprise, having not run into any of those kinds of power-ups as of yet, before asking ”is that… has that kind of thing happened more than once?” before peering at the confectionery on offer with a bit more suspicion than was really warranted. It wasn’t like she knew what most of it was after all.

Sectonia nodded and summoned a golden Antler, which was bigger than herself and way bigger than Midna and Primrose. She then pointed at it casually as it began to flex. ”Not only did an item upgrade my ability to summon Antlers, but another one greatly increased their size and strength. The red ones are as big as I am now, which does lead to quite the intimidating army I must admit.” Sectonia said.

”I can only imagine” Midna replied, briefly mentally picturing the titanic force, before skeptical asking ”But what are the down sides to this?” simply assuming that other methods of acquiring power in this new world were just as temperamental as spirits.

”From what I can tell, they are only cosmetic or inflict a bit of suffering before giving you the power. Eating a pepper that lets you breathe fire is… unpleasant. ” Sectonia said. She then remembered something since Midna wasn’t part of the previous team. ”I also got this item, which has been very useful.” Sectonia said, pulling out the Trinket smelter. ”This powerful item allows us to absorb the power of items, turning all items into the previous things I mentioned, however only passive effects are transferred, not active ones.”

”Well, I’ll have to keep an eye out for those then” Midna said, not at all one to turn down options to acquire more power.

While the two of them talked at the counter, Primrose had briefly stepped away to actually place an order. The food selection in the circus tent was mostly snacks, and it featured healthier options like apple slices, to what basically amounted to sugar on a stick. A multi-colored variety of rock candy claimed to increase the luck of whomever consumed it, justifying its higher price tag. Ultimately though, the dancer went for something simple, cheap, and shareable: a bucket of popcorn.

"There were some other things we learned in the Under that you'll want to know," she said, effortlessly slipping back into the conversation. She was thinking of what Asgore had told them, and about the Confessor’s ability. But the information from the former was quite a lot to learn, and neither quite the topic for a colorful, upbeat place like this to say the least. "It's important, though not pressing. In the meantime, here."

She presented the popcorn to the other two for them to take. Each little kernel had a tasty, salty, buttery flavor.

”We’ve learned some things to. It-” Midna replied, pausing to sigh as the fate of their home base and the age of the world pressed themselves to the forefront of her thoughts, only to then lightly shake her head and decided to follow Primrose’s lead, saying ”-it can wait. Better to have fun when we can than dwell on things.” Then, in the spirit of that, move to pick up, briefly examine, and then pop a piece of popcorn in her mouth. There was a little crunch, a sound of mild enjoyment, and then the princess found her hand going for more without even thinking about it.

”Huh. Pretty good, very, um, more-ish?” she concluded before consuming another singular kernel.

Sectonia eyed the candy, being the sweet tooth bug she was, especially the magic candy. Although she lost interest the moment she saw the buff was temporary. Grabbing her own thing of popcorn, since her size would cause her to probably go through the other lady’s bucket far too fast, Sectonia joined the two in a bit of munching. ”Well, if what the ‘ringmaster’ said was true, I suppose we will need to form teams at times. I just wonder what these ‘minigames’ will entail. Hopefully nothing too disgusting or unbecoming.” Sectonia said.

Given the rather clean looking prize and salon areas and the general upbeat feel of the place, Primrose couldn't imagine they'd be put through anything heinous. Well, actually she could imagine it, but she didn't think it would happen. It did sound like both she, Midna, and Sectonia weren't didn't quite know what "minigames" were. Primrose was envisioning small, quick games like those played by children, but she also expected that some of the Seekers were more familiar and would loudly explain things before everyone went in, if the hosts didn't do so themselves.

”I’m going to go out on a limb and guess silly, but there’s really only one way to find out” Midna replied, Sectonia chiming in, ”Watch the koopa clan boast they’ve done tons of minigames, like they do about everything.” While Midna was gesturing towards the curtain with two out of 4 limbs and asking ”shall we?”

Why not? Primrose thought. It was what they were all here for anyway, some fun after the ordeals they'd all gone through. Primrose hadn't played any real games, mini or otherwise, since she herself was a child. And with so many people playing, this would be amusing if nothing else.

"We shall. After you, ladies."

Aventon


“Well, I’m glad that’s resolved at least” Rayne said once the guard captain gave tacit agreement for them to come along with the caravan. With what had just happened, it seemed like very much a secondary compared to what had just happened regarding the appearance and disappearance of someone from Sanae (and co)’s world.

The witch knight had been patient, but she very much leaned in with great interest as the explanation to what had happened was given, only to tilt back in the air and give an exasperated groan once it had been delivered.

“So what’s needed for a connection back home is a link to a goddess. A thing I had up until about 5 seconds before being pulled here by another one who has just the worst timing” she said as she righted herself, explaining her frustration before it could be taken the wrong way, before sighing, and conceding that “Well, she wasn’t exactly the interventionist type anyway” unlike the one that had brought them here. Plus, thinking about it a bit more, if she didn’t have her Link to the people of her world any more, which was a thing she was optimistically assuming was a world hoping thing and not a ‘they were all dead due to there being no goddess of life and death any more’ thing, would she have still had one to Gaia?

“At least it means we have someone else working on this and, I suppose, that we now know this world hopping power isn’t something exclusive to the goddess who brought us here. So… options! Options are good, right?” she suggested, mostly trying to bring some optimism back to herself rather than dwelling on the unknown fate of everyone back home.
Hope has been updated to match the requested and suggested changes


when i say fleet i was mostly just thinking of it being not much larger than the 4 ships belonging to the AIs listed. Probably a better word for it. Flotilla maybe? Either way, most of the guardians are on the ground, so my own assumption was it would be more likely that ground mission failures followed by consul boarding actions would be what did them in

interesting question that on the specifics of who contributed what to the child Ai, hmmmm.

Karan S'jet, technically being a brain in a jar plugged into a ship more than an Ai, provided a base human mind upload to work as a baseline template, Adam much of it's encouraging demeanor, ROB it's ability to act in sync with other's commands, and EDI the em warfare and ability to control no ship things.
lost number app: possible pilot, mainly there because I like ship AIs



The Koopa Troop

wordcount: 1,557 (+3)
Bowser: Level 14 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (201/140) (+1 bonus pending)
Bowser Jr: Level 14 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (84/140) (+1 bonus pending)
Kamek: Level 13 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (81/130) (+1 bonus pending)
Rika: Level 9 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(100/90) (+1 bonus pending)
Location: The Sandswept Sky- Garudo Town -> Carnival town


”This place sure does seem neat Nadia” was Rika’s assessment as she bounced along the umbrellas after her, just sort of assuming this was how you did things as she mimicked the mix and match lady. Jr meanwhile followed them through the streets below, and would have gotten lost in the crowds rather easily had he not had his flutter mane Peeka floating above him, the mon having her decision to follow the prince along entirely justified as she took it all in.

Both of them caught up at the luchador, which Rika had casually wall jumped up, and Jr got flutter to give him a lift up top, landing on the statue’s head, before spinning around slowly to get a bird’s eye view of it all going ”look at all this stuff and people and wow!”

”It certainly is, and a fair bit closer to home too, which is pleasant” Kamek agreed as he drifted on up to join them, while Bowser was still shoving his way through the crowds.

”How’s that?” Rika enquired from the other arm of the luchador

”More… Colorful, vibrant and full of energy. Also not made up entirely of humans. No offense too them, but they are something of a rarity in our universe, where as Galeem seems to be rather enamored with them, sticking them all over as it has” Kamek replied apparently not counting the reanimated bones of them that made up a lot of the populace as in any way related.

”Neat” she replied as she casually kicked her dangling legs and watched the giant skeleton being carried by ground hands which might have been disconcerting in another context, but her just mixed with the wacky mood, before adding that ”I hope I get to see that one day”

”Only a matter of time till we kick Galeem’s butt, and then you can come home with us and see it all” Jr replied with absolute certainty that his new sister would be moving into the castle with them, while Kamek, aware that things were not that guaranteed or easy, still promised that ”We’ll make sure of it, somehow”, both of which put an even greater smile on Rika’s face, even if she wasn’t so sure herself that they’d manage it.

Best to make every moment count then, and there was plenty more to see and do, as they proceed to follow along on miss fortune’s grand tour of the town, which was a delightful romp till they ran into the flame clock in the erie plaza, reminding them that even this happy place had to have some kind of dark undercurrent to keep its life blood pumping.

”How in the world does that stay fed? Is there an Asgor for this town too perhaps?” Kamek wondered, only for their attention being drawn skyward to let them spot some strange falling objects coming down forma seemingly empty patch of sky.

”Ah, maybe that’s it” Kamek rationalized, assuming it was some kind of attack, before starting to ask ”Should we really?” only for the rest of the troop to have already gone running after Nadia.

Their little jog over wasn’t entirely smooth, as while many of the others could simply bypass the crowds, or slip through them with grace, guild or smallness, Bowser got very bogged down in the masses of people. When he did get free of them, it turned out that the street had cleared due to a very angry bull, one that did not appreciate the sight of the horned Bowser charging up the street on all fours.

The king, meanwhile had no time for any more delays, and so the bullheaded brutes ended up plowing down the street towards each other, smashing heads and locking horns till the King remembered he had tusks as well, and in a very unsportsbull like fashion promptly launched his opined up into the air and over his back so he could get past.

Unfortunately this did not solve the problem, as after recovering El Obio came running after them, resulting in a merry chase and further clashes with the king til Jr simply put the bull to sleep for 30 seconds so they could properly lose him this time.

As a result, they arrived rather late, Bowser leaping over the building to which the garden belonged and landing with a thump, joined a few moments later by a floating Kamek, double jumping Rika and Peeka provided leg up Jr.

They, or at least Bowser, was immediately ambushed by a Blazer mate knee hug, causing him to wheel his arms around in surprise as he nearly fell over, steadying himself just in time to be used as a highchair by the bot.

”Good to see you too Blaze” he replied, raising a hand up to offer a fist bump, as the others gave her waves or nods in agreement with this sentiment, before adding ”wait, more time travel? Yeesh. Both of the consuls we met could do that and it was a pain” before a round of introductions started up. After being a bit slow on the draw on that, Bowser naturally had to give everyone the right impression, and so delivered the troop’s in suitably dramatic fashion.

”I’m Bowser, the Koopa King! Biggest baddest bad guy, and someone who’s done this whole team up to take down multi-universe threats before, so if there's anyone you can count on, it’s me!” he declared, jabbing a thumb at himself while flexing his other arm, before gesturing a palm to jr and saying ”Also my son, Bowser Junior” who gave them a ”Hi!” and then pointed up at his floating flutter mane and introduced her as ”and this is Peeka, one of my three pokemon”

Bowser then swept the hand to his other child, and introduced her as ”My daughter, Rika” who gave a big wave with a big hand as she said ”Also Hi! I got adopted.” clarifying the change in relations before adding that it was ”Neat to meet you all”

Then finally he gestured up to the floating mage and introduced him as ”and finally my royal advisor, Kamek” who tipped the wizard hat he was wearing and gave them all a simple ”Greetings” before Bowser concluded that ”and together we’re the koopa troop!” while getting them to pose in dramatic fashion for a moment.

After that, well, there was what the others had been up to which, well, apparently it was destroying a city which was, well, a lot.

”We destroyed a god moth thing in our dreams and cured a zombie virus thing in the process so, uh, yeah, I guess? Other than losing Omori” Jr replied to the question about if their adventure had gone better, before, rather than lingering on the other kid’s death, asking ”A whole city? Really?”

”More than we destroyed its power source, which was the guardian, and made it uninhabitable. Not that it was habitable anyway, absolute deathtrap of a place with constant monster and robot attacks, and a government that was somehow even worse” a figure they did not instantly recognize said as she hopped down from the roof behind them, who reintroduced herself as ”It’s Midna, I fused a lot as well, and it’s had consequences” before adding that ”Karin and Sakura stayed behind to help getting people out, and hopefully they can help with the Peach situation. We had a bit of a scare with Poppie, but that turned out alright, so hopefully they’ll find a way to fix her?”

”Wait, hold up, what happened to Peach and Poppie?” Bowser asked now that this had come up again, turning on her, his face more serious than it ever was.

”Poppie got a… disease of some kind? But Tora found a cure so she’s fine” Midna replied to the latter, not really having the context technical or event wise, to really fill in the picture, before getting to the bad news

”The regime had some kind of weapon that turned people into these brain-eating monsters that were attacking the city. No idea why they thought that was a good idea, or why they used it on Peach, but they did. It's wasn’t an isolated issue, and there was a resistance group who knew how to handle that kind of situation, so we left her in their hands” she explained, trying to keep him calm, not entirely sure of their prior relationship was but this certainly seemed to be important to him, before excusing their lack of follow up on her condition by saying that ”I would have checked in with them, but with the city in chaos, I’m not sure how we’d find them again till they’ve evacuated and set up shop somewhere else”

She then also added ”Bede also went missing without any kind of trace, I think the government arrested him for owning illegal pokemon but I never did find out for sure, and Raz found his people from home and stuck with them. But Tora’s up on the ship as well as Susi, and they're probably all fighting for workshop space as we speak” filling in their other missing people, trying to end it on a positive note.

”I, urgh, well I guess. But also yeesh” Bowser reapplied, scratching his head while trying to process this heavy news, which the other’s didn’t know how to take either. It was bad news, but the way they’d handled it also sounded reasonable. Ish. It was going to take time to take in and get over, that was for sure.

Aventon


Rayne wasn’t exactly someone of a martial persuasion like the other two separators, but you didn’t really need to know your flourishes and fancy footwork to see how outclassed the mercenaries were when compared to the outer worlders. Given that some of them had seen off a small army only a few days ago, this wasn't exactly surprising, but it was one thing to know that had happened while you were trying to avoid killing a single teen, and another to watch them demonstrate exactly how they’d done it.

Those that hadn’t been a part of that were hardly slouches either. It certainly seemed like their kidnapper had chosen the right group when it came to power, if maybe not when it came to attitude regarding that power.

“Yeah, that’s a bit much isn’t it? Just because they are that strong there’s no need to lord it over people, surely?” Rayne agreed with Anne’s bullying assessment. Some of the mercenaries might have been their own kind of arrogant before that pride got swept out from under them, but that was hardly a reason to repay that attitude in kind in her opinion.

Still, any worry that things might get out of hand with the duels proved unnecessary right up until the last, and even then it was seemingly not even the partaker of the duel’s fault, and instead that of a mysteriously appearing individual in a brown hat with eyes on top.

Rayne herself was somewhere in between the two other spectators when it came to reactions to the women’s appearance and unexpected attack: She was briefly stunned by the turn of events just long enough that when she did start blink dashing forwards to intervene, she only got 1 metaphorical step forwards before Anne had finished her own intervention.

She let out a little relieved breath and then called over “Nice save!” to the heroine, before approaching the ladies who knew what had just happened and asking to be filled in via a little flurry of questions consisting of “So what just happened there? Was that someone from your home? How’d she get here?”

wordcount: 2,674 (+3) (-3 rapport)
Midna: level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (19/110) (+1 bonus pending)
Location:
Warp Charges: 1

Warp Charges: 1


Initially the sight of the falling objects made Ganondorf heave a heavy sigh of exasperation. Could they not go anywhere without some kind of incident happening in their wake? His first assumption was that these were forces being sent by F to hunt them down after his escape back in the Under. As such, the Warlord had summoned his trident to his hand so that he could fight off whatever threat emerged from these mechanical objects. The man was hooded thanks to the shroud of the shade cloak he wore, and this initially hid his visage from view.

One of the pods veered too and fro as its occupant tried to get a hang of the ridiculous contraption. Minda, slapping at the pedals, could see the value of this for speedily being dropped off somewhere by the sneaky ship, but she 100% disagreed with its use when it came to dropping down into a city. What if they hit someone!

Indeed this was part of the reason she was veering, the sunny seaside town not exactly playing well with her vision, and thus making it hard to tell what exactly she was going to be coming down on. As a result, as they closed in on the ground, she ended up sharply veering to the right to avoid what had turned out to be a green painted roof, oversteered to avoid doing so, and ended up slamming into a garden a few doors down from the one Sandalphon had crashed down in in the first place.

When the objects began crashing one after another they of course sent out shockwaves of air and dust that blew his hood back to reveal his face - Ganondorf having chosen to leave his helmet behind in Gerudo Town in favor using the hood from his recently acquired cloak in its place. Naturally, though, when other Seekers around him seemed to recognize some of the people that emerged, this told Ganondorf that these were not actually enemies at all. The fact that they all had no trace of Galeem’s influence was the other big hint about this fact. But Ganondorf had noticed at least one of the falling pods veer off away from the others, and decided to go investigate that one to ensure whoever was inside was unharmed. He got there in time to see the pod open and its occupant emerging.

The pod’s doors opened, and 4 hands gripped its side before an equally rattled and exhilarated Midna pulled herself up and out into the grassy green lawn. There she stretched, and had a look around, taking a moment to admire a little rock garden complete with soothing trickle of water flowing over stone, before glancing around and wondering, in no particular order, how to get out of here, where the others had landed, what on earth the owner of the garden would make of their new disposable drop pod feature, and also if they were about to be upset about her trespassing.

As it turned out, they weren't but someone who was a mysterious hooded figure who’d tracked her down.

”Why did thou descend differently than the others?” He asked the emerging woman, ”Were thou injured? Or ill?”

The final question was unintentionally poignant given what Midna had just been trying to cure herself of before heading to the drop (to moderate success) but it wasn’t what had been the issue, so she simply simplified her out of place in the light world nature with: ”Sun got in my eye is all” rather than go into all the details. After all, there was the question of ”and who might you be? A friend I hope?” on her lips, unable to see his face as she was, nor recognising the garb or voice, even if something about both caused an unexplained spike of unease within her.

”Aye.” Ganondorf confirmed. ”I cometh to this place with thy friends.” He said, presuming she already knew the likes of Bowser and Nadia before adding, ”We were just visiting my tribe in Gerudo Town before we came here. Ganondorf is my name.” He had every reason to think that his name meant absolutely nothing to this woman. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Her response upon hearing that name was entirely reflexive, one moment she was standing there only a mot weary, the next she’d gone wide eyed with fear for a split second, before her face twisted into one of pure hatred as she flicked her hand, crescent moon slashing a blade tipped spear into existence from some other place. It sliced through the top of the nearby hedge as part of the swing, slowing it just enough for him to react before the strike hit him.

Seeing as he still had the trident on his hand, it didn't take much for Ganondorf to sweep it upward in order to catch the incoming slice and deflect it away from him. His expression didn’t change much, other than his eyes narrowing a small bit. In addition he made no moves to strike back despite having been attacked first. ”What is the meaning of this?” He demanded. ”Art thou an ally, or not?” He asked of Midna before adding. ”Or let me guess: I hath committed a crime against thee in some world or timeline that I hath no knowledge of.”

Had she not had the revelation about how she had wrongly slain Urbosa because of her hatred of this man she would have tried to run him through regardless of these words and deeds, but as it was, she hesitated. Then, still holding the spear between her and him, she practically growled at him ”It doesn't matter where in time you come from, I’ve seen it all. You never change. Time and time again you bring ruin to everything you touch. To me and my Kingdom. To Hyrule over and over. To time itself” she told him before demanding ”so give me one good reason not to run you through before you do the same thing here”

Ganondorf listened with a look of bemusement on his face. It was obvious they were brought here from the same world. She would not have known the Kingdom of Hyrule otherwise. Of course, the things she spoke of were things he had no knowledge of. Her Kingdom she mentioned? He had no recollection of such a place nor of conquering it. And the notion that he apparently invaded Hyrule not just once, but multiple times? By now Ganondorf recalled the existence of the prophesied Hero, and even stood alongside one of his incarnations against Galeem. He also knew that this woman’s vitriol against him would be a liability unless it was dealt with here and now.

”I shall give thee three reasons.” He said, even holding up three fingers for emphasis. ”One, Princess Zelda and her precious Champion were both willing to stand with me against Galeem when he first appeared, so what is thine excuse?” Ganondorf counted down one finger and continued. ”Two, my sights are on Galeem and his Consuls, as should thine.” He counted down another finger and finally said. ”And three, thou art from the same world as I and as such, whatever grudge that thou have against me can be settled once we hath been returned to our world from whence we came.”

Midna’s eye showed indignation at the first, begrudging acceptance of the second and then a searching look for the third before she caught herself doing so and forced one of contemplation in its place. He could well be deceiving her with that last, but she was pretty confident his team, or at least he, didn’t know there was an intermediate step between his last two points, and that was one very worth keeping him in the dark about.

She shifted back to the first, saying ”Link’s a heroic idiot and Zelda a self sacrificing fool” unable to keep the affection from her tone as she insulted the pair before pointing out ”plus, we have a million worlds worth of heroes to recruit now, only a fool who knew nothing about you would free you over one of them”

”Zelda was wise enough to know that we stood more of a chance with all three bearers of the Triforce.” Ganondorf countered. ”As was her Hero. But perhaps thou art correct in calling them fools.” After this he held up one finger, ”So here is reason number four: I have already been instrumental in the defeat of two Consuls, including one’s death. As well as the destruction of one of their pet Guardians. And after that I alone was able to secure an alliance with the Gerudo Tribe of Gerudo Town, and we hath discovered the source of the Consuls’ power. And I have already begun to formulate a plan for how we shall destroy them. Can you say the same?”

”Yes actually” the princess replied with a spiky toothed grin ”one Consul and one guardian dead, plus two beaten back, and an invisible flying ships worth of people free from the light allied with” while pointedly not adding the bit of info she'd considered to be on par or greater than the Consul’s power source. That and how ⅖ of the victories she was claiming had been Dante’s, and how C hadn’t been going all out.

By that point the dust had settled from the impact of Midna’s hellpod, leaving two dangerous-looking, heavily-armed, darkness-aspected warriors squabbling in someone’s backyard. While the inhabitants of the nearby house stayed inside, quailing in fear, the commotion was attracting attention. Even if Ganondorf of all people advocated for a ceasefire to begin with, the tension still hung heavy in the air, and with the two now competing against one another it was only a matter of time before the sparks flying from this clash of egos would ignite another brawl.

Sandalphon pursed her lips, her gaze -and her aim- steady despite the nagging winds at this altitude. With her Eye of Sol equipped so that she could peer through its scope, the archangel currently hunkered down atop Carnival Town’s biggest, most impressive structure, the Gold Saucer. Claiming a vantage point up here had been the other reason for her redeployment, since after discovering the hellpod’s manual controls too late during her first drop, she’d used the second to steer herself toward this towering structure so that she could literally scope out the city herself. From here it hadn’t taken long for her to notice a handful of people making a beeline for her allies’ landing site, their directionality juxtaposed against the more random movements of the general populace. Not recognizing any of them, she assumed them to be some sort of local defense force, which would make sense given that arrival via hellpod wasn’t exactly subtle. Although mildly alarmed, she held her fire and watched, waiting to see what would happen when the two sides collided. While first impressions were positive, Sandalphon’s vigilance meant that she noticed the conflict brewing between Ganondorf and Midna. Even from here, she could tell that negotiations weren’t going well.

Her golden sigil appeared next to Midna’s head. “Princess, please stand down,” she suggested, her voice audible to Ganondorf as well. “This is neither the time or the place to address such grievances. We have enough enemies without making them of prospective allies. It would reflect poorly on you if your impulsiveness undermines our odds of success.”

”He’s the one that’s going to undermine our success” the princess replied, refusing to be shamed into submission, before asking ”Where are you anyway?” backing up and glancing towards the skyline to see where she was being seen from

“From here, it appears that hasty assumptions are leading you to imprudent conclusions,” Sandalphon responded sharply. She did not deign to answer Midna’s question. While the Golden Saucer stood out as a logical vantage point, it was unlikely that anyone could see her from this distance. “Even if your conjecture holds water, let me remind you that ruination -of the World of Light- is in fact our current goal. If any ally betrays us to Moebius, we can mete out punishment, but not before. All prior grievances are irrelevant to our situation in the Endless Now.”

It was what came after that was her real concern, and given that Sandalphon wanted to trust anyone and everyone it seemed, she might as well play the card herself ”The organization claimed that when we do end Galeem, things won’t just snap back to the way they were. A hand needs to wields that power to remake reality”

She let that little revelation hang in the air for a moment, and all the implications it involved, and then asked Ganondorf rather plainly ”Can you swear to me you won’t make a grab for it?”

”If this be some kind of jest,” Ganondorf said with no trace of amusement. ”then it is not a funny one.” The warlord was rapidly running out of patience for this impudent princess and it began to reflect in his tone of voice. ”And if thou truly believe that I am the one and only “evil” individual among this company of yours, then thou would be wise to reconsider the allies and friends that thou hast placed in thy company already.” Though despite his waning patience, he actually made his weapon vanish from his hand - a sign, not of anger, but of boredom and dismissal.

”What were thy words again?” Ganondorf asked, ”’A million worlds’ worth of heroes’, was it? If such a force is truly incapable of stopping me should I try something, then they are far too pathetic for me to even consider fighting alongside to begin with. Or do thou simply have that little faith in those whom you claim are your friends?”

Midna glared at him, preparing to bite back about how she could even begin to work with him if he couldn’t even pretend to swear for that, before having a thought, grinning with vicious malice even as she conceded ”You know what. You have a point”

Saying that she spun her spear up, planted the butt to the ground, letting him be free of its warding tip once more as she told him that ”You do always lose in the end after all”

And this time, Ganondorf finally let himself smile. ”That’s more like it.” He replied with a satisfactory tone. ”And so this, I shall give thee for free. The Consuls get their power from devices known as Flame Clocks. The life of everyone in this world is connected to one of those clocks, and by sacrificing them the clocks can be fueled and used by the Consuls to extend their own lives beyond their limits. So I intend to find a way to destroy them and cut the Consuls off from their source of power and alleged immortality. They shall be ripe for the vanquishing after that, I think.”

”Now.” Ganondorf then sharply said as he turned around away from the Twilight Princess. ”If we’re done here, there are other things I wish to occupy my time with besides debating with thee.”

”What are you even doing in a place called Carnival Town anyway?” Midna asked from the roof of the building whose garden they were in, having shadow stepped up to it. She wasn’t looking at him while asking this but instead waving to Roxas, who’d landed a few doors down.

”T’was the cat lady’s idea.” Ganondorf said in response. ”Not mine.”

He glanced over at the boy she was waving to. Yet another would-be hero of light. He may have dressed somewhat darkly but Ganondorf could practically smell the stench of Light within him from here. Wonderful. Oh well, it couldn’t be any worse than Zelda and her Champion, could it?

Only time would tell, for the princess, who had already gone to link up with the others and find out who else was with Miss Fortune most certainly wouldn't be.
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