07-16-2016, 10:25 AM
For the cyborg, the return drive from the astronomer’s encampment was twice as pleasant as the trip out into the unknown. The Barrel Train provided him with a beautiful little display of the best route to take, and he didn’t have to worry about any silly obstacles or barricades or secret volcanoes that might explode underneath him. All he had to do was know when to shift gears to adjust to changes in the gradient of the terrain beneath his wheels.
When he pulled up to the main fortress, Seventeen flashed his ‘credentials’ to the guards, who let him in after double-checking with someone through what seemed to be a paper cup attached to a string. Once he got the verbal authorization he wanted to hear, the koopa threw the lever and waved to the cyborg as he strode across the threshold of the fortress.
“The human returns!”
Seventeen glanced over and grinned as Von Koopa strode over to him and reached out for a handshake. “Hello, Von,” the cyborg replied after the shake. Leaning a shoulder, the lithe fighter slipped a bag off his shoulder and fished around inside until he found his capsulebook. “I got that information you wanted,” he explained as he pulled up a few pictures and documents where he’d typed out some notes.
“Save that stuff for Kamek and Bowser.”
“Aight,” Seventeen said as he slipped the tablet back into the bag. “Do I get to go meet the big guy now?” He questioned with a wide grin on his face. “Should I put on my Sunday best?”
The quip drew a furrowed brow from the koopa officer, who thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. “Just follow me and try not to embarrass us too much.”
“Jawohl!” The cyborg even snapped off a quick salute before following Von Koopa up the center of the main hallway. At the end of the grand foyer, they traversed a pair of massive steel doors painted a dull red. On the other side of that door, they had to make their way through a few more waiting areas and hallways before they came to the entrance to the Koopa King’s main quarters.
“You ready?” Von Koopa asked as he pulled open the iron door that led to most important room of the fortress palace.
“I guess?” Seventeen shrugged as he stepped into a room so over-the-top that it had its own pond of lava and a handful of crystal chandeliers glittering in the molten light of the sanctum. In the center of the room, a massive koopa sat atop a stone throne. When he saw the two visitors enter the room, Bowser stood up out of his chair and grinned down at them with a maw filled with sharp teeth.
“Welcome,” the large, muscular turtle remarked as he strode down from his elevator throne and traversed the room. Seventeen was certain he felt the ground shudder as the towering koopa moved, but he kept that remark to himself. “ You’re the fleshy Koopa Trooper that Von and the janitorial staff have told me all about?”
While his limbs seemed a little shorter than they should have been, there was no point in trying to undersell the monstrous koopa’s physique. He towered over Seventeen, which made him three or four times larger than any other Koopa Trooper the cyborg had met since arriving in the Ashen Steppes. He wore the type of studded bracelets you’d expect to find around the wrists of a goth girl in high school back in the late 90s, and his shell was adorned with stout spikes. More shockingly, he had red hair and eyebrows, which set him aside from his legion of (mostly) bald followers.
Leaning down to the mustachioed Von Koopa, Seventeen couldn’t help but whisper the obvious question. “Do you need a commission to grow facial hair?” The Prussian-looking solider took that moment to stomp his jackboot down onto Seventeen’s foot, causing him to swallow down the pain and turn his focus back to the reptilian behemoth. “I’m Seventeen, King Bowser, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Of course,” Bowser muttered lackadaisically as he continued to size up the thin-framed human. “What bargain bin did they pull you out of? You’re half the size of those Institute people. I mean, you make a Dry Bones look obese.” The koopa leaned over and took note of the Power Sword strapped to his guests’ back. “Their swords were bigger too.”
Not sure if the comment was literally or some type of macho metaphor, Seventeen glanced down at Von Koopa, hoping to find some sort of unspoken response in the officer’s eyes. “Seventeen has met with the astronomers investigating the star piece.”
“The what?” Bowser inquired.
At that, Von Koopa stood silent for a moment, his eyes betraying a small hint of exasperation. “The star that crashed out in the Steppes a few months back, King.”
The monarch thought it over for a few moments before he started to nod his head. “Yes, that thing.” He chuckled as he started back to his throne. Climbing back up the flight of stairs, he dropped down into the large stone chair and rested his hands on the armrests. “You’ll have to accept my apologies. The whole ‘Death Mountain collapsed, Volvagia is gone, and the Gorons are shattered’ situation has been front and center these days.” The fact that Bowser used air quotes to summarize the verse’s recent developments forced Seventeen’s right eye to twitch a few times in consternation.
“Death Mountain?” The cyborg asked as he turned to Von Koopa. “That place is gone? The astronomers didn’t mention it.”
“Time isn’t fluid in the Omniverse. It’s possible that, for you, the events may have happened while you were on your way back to us.”
Seventeen scowled at the notion that a few hours for him had been a couple days or weeks for the rest of this place. Did that mean he was younger than everyone else? There were too many questions and zero answers that weren’t mired in some metaphysical nonsense. “All right then,” the cyborg finally replied, surrendering to the reality that it was better not to question his present pseudo-reality.
“I hate to interrupt your sidebar, but what did you find out?” Bowser replied, pulling the two other sets of eyes back to the king, who was leaning forward on his throne with his hands on his knees and his face somewhere between bored and annoyed.
“The astronomers tracked the star’s path to a site called Mount Escorial. They’re going to pack up and head out there in a few hours…” Unless, you know, six months have already passed for them and they’re already back home in their floating snow globe city or some bullshit. “They were planning to wait for me, so I could accompany them.”
Bowser leaned back and picked at his teeth for a few moments before nodding his head at no one in particular. After flicking off whatever he had found, he turned back to Seventeen and Von Koopa. “The deal is this… you’ll head out with a group of bodyguards. I want you to help the other humans find whatever fell into Mount Escorial, but I want you to bring it back here. It fell into my territory, so I want to be able to see the shiny bauble with my own two eyes.”
“What if they don’t agree to that?” Seventeen asked, eliciting a toothy sneer from the King of the Koopas.
“Convince them.” Bowser stated matter-of-factly. “You’re dismissed, Skin and Bones. Von Koopa, you can pick the crew to accompany our scrawny Koopa Trooper on his mission.”
The officer snapped a quick salute. “Yes, King!”
With that, Von Koopa motioned for Seventeen to follow him out of the king’s chambers.
When he pulled up to the main fortress, Seventeen flashed his ‘credentials’ to the guards, who let him in after double-checking with someone through what seemed to be a paper cup attached to a string. Once he got the verbal authorization he wanted to hear, the koopa threw the lever and waved to the cyborg as he strode across the threshold of the fortress.
“The human returns!”
Seventeen glanced over and grinned as Von Koopa strode over to him and reached out for a handshake. “Hello, Von,” the cyborg replied after the shake. Leaning a shoulder, the lithe fighter slipped a bag off his shoulder and fished around inside until he found his capsulebook. “I got that information you wanted,” he explained as he pulled up a few pictures and documents where he’d typed out some notes.
“Save that stuff for Kamek and Bowser.”
“Aight,” Seventeen said as he slipped the tablet back into the bag. “Do I get to go meet the big guy now?” He questioned with a wide grin on his face. “Should I put on my Sunday best?”
The quip drew a furrowed brow from the koopa officer, who thought it over for a moment before shaking his head. “Just follow me and try not to embarrass us too much.”
“Jawohl!” The cyborg even snapped off a quick salute before following Von Koopa up the center of the main hallway. At the end of the grand foyer, they traversed a pair of massive steel doors painted a dull red. On the other side of that door, they had to make their way through a few more waiting areas and hallways before they came to the entrance to the Koopa King’s main quarters.
“You ready?” Von Koopa asked as he pulled open the iron door that led to most important room of the fortress palace.
“I guess?” Seventeen shrugged as he stepped into a room so over-the-top that it had its own pond of lava and a handful of crystal chandeliers glittering in the molten light of the sanctum. In the center of the room, a massive koopa sat atop a stone throne. When he saw the two visitors enter the room, Bowser stood up out of his chair and grinned down at them with a maw filled with sharp teeth.
“Welcome,” the large, muscular turtle remarked as he strode down from his elevator throne and traversed the room. Seventeen was certain he felt the ground shudder as the towering koopa moved, but he kept that remark to himself. “ You’re the fleshy Koopa Trooper that Von and the janitorial staff have told me all about?”
While his limbs seemed a little shorter than they should have been, there was no point in trying to undersell the monstrous koopa’s physique. He towered over Seventeen, which made him three or four times larger than any other Koopa Trooper the cyborg had met since arriving in the Ashen Steppes. He wore the type of studded bracelets you’d expect to find around the wrists of a goth girl in high school back in the late 90s, and his shell was adorned with stout spikes. More shockingly, he had red hair and eyebrows, which set him aside from his legion of (mostly) bald followers.
Leaning down to the mustachioed Von Koopa, Seventeen couldn’t help but whisper the obvious question. “Do you need a commission to grow facial hair?” The Prussian-looking solider took that moment to stomp his jackboot down onto Seventeen’s foot, causing him to swallow down the pain and turn his focus back to the reptilian behemoth. “I’m Seventeen, King Bowser, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Of course,” Bowser muttered lackadaisically as he continued to size up the thin-framed human. “What bargain bin did they pull you out of? You’re half the size of those Institute people. I mean, you make a Dry Bones look obese.” The koopa leaned over and took note of the Power Sword strapped to his guests’ back. “Their swords were bigger too.”
Not sure if the comment was literally or some type of macho metaphor, Seventeen glanced down at Von Koopa, hoping to find some sort of unspoken response in the officer’s eyes. “Seventeen has met with the astronomers investigating the star piece.”
“The what?” Bowser inquired.
At that, Von Koopa stood silent for a moment, his eyes betraying a small hint of exasperation. “The star that crashed out in the Steppes a few months back, King.”
The monarch thought it over for a few moments before he started to nod his head. “Yes, that thing.” He chuckled as he started back to his throne. Climbing back up the flight of stairs, he dropped down into the large stone chair and rested his hands on the armrests. “You’ll have to accept my apologies. The whole ‘Death Mountain collapsed, Volvagia is gone, and the Gorons are shattered’ situation has been front and center these days.” The fact that Bowser used air quotes to summarize the verse’s recent developments forced Seventeen’s right eye to twitch a few times in consternation.
“Death Mountain?” The cyborg asked as he turned to Von Koopa. “That place is gone? The astronomers didn’t mention it.”
“Time isn’t fluid in the Omniverse. It’s possible that, for you, the events may have happened while you were on your way back to us.”
Seventeen scowled at the notion that a few hours for him had been a couple days or weeks for the rest of this place. Did that mean he was younger than everyone else? There were too many questions and zero answers that weren’t mired in some metaphysical nonsense. “All right then,” the cyborg finally replied, surrendering to the reality that it was better not to question his present pseudo-reality.
“I hate to interrupt your sidebar, but what did you find out?” Bowser replied, pulling the two other sets of eyes back to the king, who was leaning forward on his throne with his hands on his knees and his face somewhere between bored and annoyed.
“The astronomers tracked the star’s path to a site called Mount Escorial. They’re going to pack up and head out there in a few hours…” Unless, you know, six months have already passed for them and they’re already back home in their floating snow globe city or some bullshit. “They were planning to wait for me, so I could accompany them.”
Bowser leaned back and picked at his teeth for a few moments before nodding his head at no one in particular. After flicking off whatever he had found, he turned back to Seventeen and Von Koopa. “The deal is this… you’ll head out with a group of bodyguards. I want you to help the other humans find whatever fell into Mount Escorial, but I want you to bring it back here. It fell into my territory, so I want to be able to see the shiny bauble with my own two eyes.”
“What if they don’t agree to that?” Seventeen asked, eliciting a toothy sneer from the King of the Koopas.
“Convince them.” Bowser stated matter-of-factly. “You’re dismissed, Skin and Bones. Von Koopa, you can pick the crew to accompany our scrawny Koopa Trooper on his mission.”
The officer snapped a quick salute. “Yes, King!”
With that, Von Koopa motioned for Seventeen to follow him out of the king’s chambers.
![[Image: 17.jpg]](http://omniverse-rpg.com/images/17.jpg)