I'm Sorry, But the King You're Looking For is....

[Miranda Frost]

"Kind of strange that a friendly guy like you and a hardass like her are traveling together, don't you think?" Pfft, who the hell does he think he is calling me "Hardass?" He's taking me out of context., She thought, gripping the fabric of her coat. Its incredible weight seemed to pin her body to the ground. There was weight to it of course, but by now she lived and breathed in it as normal as normal person. Not once since she'd put it on had she taken it off. Hygiene hadn't really been a big deal in the dry desert wasteland, especially for one destined to fight to the death as she. A few sniffs here and there told her that she would have to change that habit now that she was here.

She slowly began screwing her mask back on, wincing and grimacing as she did. Her skin always tried to regenerate over the plates that would allow her mask to be bolted in. She was used to the pain but it hurt like a bitch when she had to tighten the damn thing. With it secured she stood, glaring at the Mayor. The Mayor seemed to jump back a bit, as if taking a metaphorical bullet. If she had lips they would be smiling ear to friggin ear that moment.

"I prefer to be referred to as.. heavy metal, sir", she said, lingering for a moment over the word "sir", putting a sarcastic and cruel emphasis on it. She walked over to her bike and straddled it, gripping the throttle tightly.

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Miranda opened her eyes to the high noon sun burning through her eyelids. She passed out again during training, and this time it was sooner than the other day. At this rate she would not be ready for Coliseum. It was only months away. Her brother was getting stronger every day. His progress had stunned everyone in town. Today they were supposed to receive the town's blessing, a gift of weapons and armor flavored to the one receiving them. November had received his letter of invitation... but not her. She would be going without the town backing her.

She pulled her body into a ball, trying to go back to sleep. She was successful but in a span of what seemed like minutes, an immense weight crushing down on her and blocking out the sun beaming down on her. Her eyes snapped open, She tried to push it off, pushing as hard as she can, but like a normal fabric, that only displaced a little bit. She frowned and kicked at it, finally moving it to where she could roll out from underneath it to find.... that it was just a large black coat over her.. nothing more. The color seemed just as heavy as its actual weight, being a shade of black darker than most leathers used in town. Who could have created it?

She looked up at her brother, who donned a complete set of gear. "Armed to the Teeth" was an understatement. He wore a light leather jacket over his training get up along with studded gloves, steel shoulder pauldrons, a protective mask, a wide brimmed hat, and a multitude of slings and holsters around him. She cocked her head, a bit speechless of how much they eh... "Blessed" him. She scanned him again quickly to find he was carrying two wakizashis, Father's dueling revolvers, a lance that once belonged to the neighbors, a double edged sword. However the big prize was the massive blade on his back.

November unlatched it from some latch or magnet on his back and moved it in front of her, dropping it straight into the ground. The damned thing had to be at least 6 feet long and a foot wide. The thing must have weighed a ton

"You know.. its not as heavy as it looks. Modern metals and such. That coat I threw on you is much much heavier.", he said with a fake, hearty laugh.

She replied with a simple "hmph" and reached down to grab the jacket. How the hell could such a thing be this heavy. November simply laughed at her attempts and moved to help her, grabbing one shoulder of it. "I dug through Mother's things after the funeral.", he said lightly, almost to a whisper.

On Blessing day this would be the only thing should receive, a heavy coat. She would receive no weapons, no armor, and no medicine. Miranda hung her head low in despair. How the hell was she going to survive with this thing weighing her down?

"Come on.. let me put this one you..", November commanded rather sternly.

Miranda stood up and out-stretched her arms. Her brother slipped the heavy coat over her, zipped it up and held up the shoulders, literally holding up the weight. She knew this thing was going to crush her into the dirt but she steeled her self any way.

"Mother was a warrior to. She got stronger simply by wearing this on a daily basis. Day in day out, during conflict she never took it off. If you take it a step further and train in this, you will become stronger than I am. Get ready.", he said. She could tell by his arms shaking he wouldn't be able to hold it up much longer.

He let go and like Miranda predicted, the massive, crushing weight fell upon her, immediately taking her to one knee. She panted and looked up at her twin brother, who beamed down at her. Now defenseless, he dared to reach down and rustle her her hair. "It also acts as an armor, It will protect from most blows not designed to go through armor. Use it well"

She chuckled and stood up. She struggled, but she managed all the same. She had no idea how she was supposed to wear that hot thing. "I didn't know you were into Heavy Metal"
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She started her engines and revved it before looking over Zack, giving him a rather playful wink before she twisted the throttle hard. She rocketed off down the rode, literally leaving the Mayor and Zack in her ash. She wasn't all work and no play. She simply didn't quite like the Mayor. Something about his presence just didn't sit right with her. The way he presented himself, talked, and went about his way.

She was certain that something was terribly wrong with the Mayor, but she also knew that she had a bias towards those in power. Her experience with such people were not good. She even doubted the meeting with King Bowser. The people in the town seemed content. She saw the good nature of the Koopa guards as a direct reflection of the king. She believed there was a direct influence involved. That being said, she was a little nervous about the meeting.