03-16-2016, 03:50 PM
In his head, the cyborg had counted the steps he’d taken since leaving the salt merchant behind near the entrance of the verse. If the math was right, he’d gone a close to half a dozen miles, which meant he probably should have stumbled upon the landmark that Joe had mentioned.
Unless it’s hidden in some hill? Seventeen scowled and stopped. Everything around him looked exactly the same, and much like the place where he’d dealt with Ronald’s ex-partner, the landscape was growing increasingly rugged. At the first sign of a steep incline, Seventeen had tried to orb his way to the summit. He encountered another instance of failure, but at least he didn’t bruise or embarrass himself in the process.
At this rate, I couldn’t even jump a hurdle to save my damn life.
Would his powers naturally come back to him?
Was that how this place worked?
Could he expect to wake up some morning and be able to fly?
This place needs an instruction manual, I swear…
He’d conquered that first hill the old fashioned way: Sweat and curse words. As he stared up ahead, the jagged terrain turned sharply upward toward the sky, and unlike the last few mole hills he’d surpassed over the last few hours, this one was a mountain. To make matters worse—his left and right were both choked off by thick rivers of bubbling lava. Forward was the only viable option, unless he wanted to double-back a few miles to try and skirt around the mountain.
“Bull shit,” the young man muttered as he took a few steps toward the incline. He reached out with one of his bony hands and grabbed a fistful of rock. Turning his eyes up toward the hundred foot wall, he tried to find the next viable place to grab. He eventually found it in the form of a somewhat rounded outcropping that could probably support his weight.
A few seconds later, Seventeen was relieved when said chunk of rock didn’t collapse beneath his nonexistent girth. Many things were no longer going in his favor, but at least he didn’t have to worry about his gut. Once he was up off the ground, it became a little easier to start spotting the place he needed to grab. In a matter of seconds, he could already feel the gentle brushing of the wind against his back as he ascended above the little foothills and their streams of lava.
Five minutes later, the cyborg let out a sigh of relief as he pulled himself up over the edge of the cliff. While he wasn’t out of the shape, the climb had nevertheless proved a horrible, taxing affair. Fresh sweat stained his chest, neckline, and armpits. His unprotected hands were dotted with small cuts and abrasions. In the end, none of it mattered, because he’d made it.
With half of his body still draped over the cliff, Seventeen took some time to catch his breath. When the voice suddenly spoke just above him, the shock was nearly enough to send him careening back down the wall of rock.
“You lost?”
Looking up, the cyborg saw that one of the bipedal turtle creatures was standing just to his right. While he didn’t have the same vestments as Joe, the rest of the koopa’s features were identical to the wizard.
“I, uh,” Seventeen managed as he scrambled his way up onto solid ground. Once the immediate danger of falling subsided, he pulled himself into an upright position and looked at the three-foot reptile. “I’m looking for someone named Joe? He sent me in this direction?”
“The Magikoopa?”
The cyborg nodded his head. “Yea, he had a blue robe and some sweet sunglasses.”
“Yea, I know him,” the turtle replied as he stepped forward and offered a hand to the man. Seventeen wasn’t sure how an anthropomorphic turtle with stubby limbs was supposed to help him stand up easier, but he wasn’t one to turn down an offer of help. The pallid fighter reached out and snatched the claws, and with a shocking degree of ease, the koopa yanked him up from his haunches to a fully vertical position.
“Name’s Jed,” the reptile replied as he pointed to something. “Joe’s inside the tower.”
Seventeen followed the koopa’s extended claws and found himself looking at a nondescript stone tower. The ten-story tall structure was the same width from its base to its turreted apex. Near the top, a few slits had been etched into the stone, and at the bottom was a set of very simple metal doors.
“What’s the tower?” The raven-haired man inquired as he was led up to the front door by the turtle. “Some kind of watch tower?”
“You could say that,” Jed grunted as he knocked three times in quick succession on the door. After a short pause, the metal entrance swung inward, revealing an extremely plan corridor dominated by the start of a stone staircase that spiraled its way to the roof of the tower. “Bowser has these all over the place. Communication, recon, armed garrison… they got plenty of purposes.”
The cyborg furrowed his brow as he ducked to pass through the front entrance. Even close up, the place seemed devoid of value to anyone but some type of tower aficionado. “You sure? Seems pretty… bare bones.”
Jed frowned at the accusation. “This place is new,” he offered as he gestured to the emptiness around them. “It takes a while to develop a new tower into something worthwhile, y’know?”
“And you and Joe are the people who do that?”
The turtle nodded in response. “The two of us and four other people are the start-up crew. Once we have a place operational for a short while, they turn it over to a permanent team that starts expansion and fortification.”
“Makes sense,” Seventeen muttered as he glanced up from the epicenter of the tower. The stone stairwell wrapped around the inside of the building for nearly eighty feet before it was swallowed up by a wooden room. From the room up above, the cyborg heard the sound of metal hinges squealing as some light splashed down onto the stairwell. A beat later, Joe popped his head out and squinted down at his acquaintance.
“Oh, he’s good, Jed! You can send him up.”
Jed gestured toward the bottom of the staircase and smiled. “You heard the koopa.”
Unless it’s hidden in some hill? Seventeen scowled and stopped. Everything around him looked exactly the same, and much like the place where he’d dealt with Ronald’s ex-partner, the landscape was growing increasingly rugged. At the first sign of a steep incline, Seventeen had tried to orb his way to the summit. He encountered another instance of failure, but at least he didn’t bruise or embarrass himself in the process.
At this rate, I couldn’t even jump a hurdle to save my damn life.
Would his powers naturally come back to him?
Was that how this place worked?
Could he expect to wake up some morning and be able to fly?
This place needs an instruction manual, I swear…
He’d conquered that first hill the old fashioned way: Sweat and curse words. As he stared up ahead, the jagged terrain turned sharply upward toward the sky, and unlike the last few mole hills he’d surpassed over the last few hours, this one was a mountain. To make matters worse—his left and right were both choked off by thick rivers of bubbling lava. Forward was the only viable option, unless he wanted to double-back a few miles to try and skirt around the mountain.
“Bull shit,” the young man muttered as he took a few steps toward the incline. He reached out with one of his bony hands and grabbed a fistful of rock. Turning his eyes up toward the hundred foot wall, he tried to find the next viable place to grab. He eventually found it in the form of a somewhat rounded outcropping that could probably support his weight.
A few seconds later, Seventeen was relieved when said chunk of rock didn’t collapse beneath his nonexistent girth. Many things were no longer going in his favor, but at least he didn’t have to worry about his gut. Once he was up off the ground, it became a little easier to start spotting the place he needed to grab. In a matter of seconds, he could already feel the gentle brushing of the wind against his back as he ascended above the little foothills and their streams of lava.
Five minutes later, the cyborg let out a sigh of relief as he pulled himself up over the edge of the cliff. While he wasn’t out of the shape, the climb had nevertheless proved a horrible, taxing affair. Fresh sweat stained his chest, neckline, and armpits. His unprotected hands were dotted with small cuts and abrasions. In the end, none of it mattered, because he’d made it.
With half of his body still draped over the cliff, Seventeen took some time to catch his breath. When the voice suddenly spoke just above him, the shock was nearly enough to send him careening back down the wall of rock.
“You lost?”
Looking up, the cyborg saw that one of the bipedal turtle creatures was standing just to his right. While he didn’t have the same vestments as Joe, the rest of the koopa’s features were identical to the wizard.
“I, uh,” Seventeen managed as he scrambled his way up onto solid ground. Once the immediate danger of falling subsided, he pulled himself into an upright position and looked at the three-foot reptile. “I’m looking for someone named Joe? He sent me in this direction?”
“The Magikoopa?”
The cyborg nodded his head. “Yea, he had a blue robe and some sweet sunglasses.”
“Yea, I know him,” the turtle replied as he stepped forward and offered a hand to the man. Seventeen wasn’t sure how an anthropomorphic turtle with stubby limbs was supposed to help him stand up easier, but he wasn’t one to turn down an offer of help. The pallid fighter reached out and snatched the claws, and with a shocking degree of ease, the koopa yanked him up from his haunches to a fully vertical position.
“Name’s Jed,” the reptile replied as he pointed to something. “Joe’s inside the tower.”
Seventeen followed the koopa’s extended claws and found himself looking at a nondescript stone tower. The ten-story tall structure was the same width from its base to its turreted apex. Near the top, a few slits had been etched into the stone, and at the bottom was a set of very simple metal doors.
“What’s the tower?” The raven-haired man inquired as he was led up to the front door by the turtle. “Some kind of watch tower?”
“You could say that,” Jed grunted as he knocked three times in quick succession on the door. After a short pause, the metal entrance swung inward, revealing an extremely plan corridor dominated by the start of a stone staircase that spiraled its way to the roof of the tower. “Bowser has these all over the place. Communication, recon, armed garrison… they got plenty of purposes.”
The cyborg furrowed his brow as he ducked to pass through the front entrance. Even close up, the place seemed devoid of value to anyone but some type of tower aficionado. “You sure? Seems pretty… bare bones.”
Jed frowned at the accusation. “This place is new,” he offered as he gestured to the emptiness around them. “It takes a while to develop a new tower into something worthwhile, y’know?”
“And you and Joe are the people who do that?”
The turtle nodded in response. “The two of us and four other people are the start-up crew. Once we have a place operational for a short while, they turn it over to a permanent team that starts expansion and fortification.”
“Makes sense,” Seventeen muttered as he glanced up from the epicenter of the tower. The stone stairwell wrapped around the inside of the building for nearly eighty feet before it was swallowed up by a wooden room. From the room up above, the cyborg heard the sound of metal hinges squealing as some light splashed down onto the stairwell. A beat later, Joe popped his head out and squinted down at his acquaintance.
“Oh, he’s good, Jed! You can send him up.”
Jed gestured toward the bottom of the staircase and smiled. “You heard the koopa.”
![[Image: 17.jpg]](http://omniverse-rpg.com/images/17.jpg)