[Mr. Game & Watch]

The Black Market had always been a place cluttered with a plethora of felons, but none stand out as much as their superior crime boss as King K Rool. Everyone whom passes by him decides to look away as they do as they know what he and his Kremling Krew are capable of. In the immediate distance is a large overbearing tower that looks far more put together than the shanty shacks that lie beneath it. The tower can be identified by none other than the property of Dr. Robotic since it has his trade mark stamp slapped on the center of it. K Rool stares at it disgruntled as he waits for his chosen champions to arrive at the centre of the shady street.

Gang Wars Act I: The Beginning, READY? GO!!

[Deleted]

Daisy approached cautiously from down the street, her arms crossed defensively over her chest.; her expression was shifty, her eyes darting from left to right for any signs of danger in the surrounding area. All the palace dojo training in the world couldn't have prepared her for the neighbourhood through which she had just walked. She'd never come across such a cold, rough-looking shanty town before in her life, but she tried her best not to give that away in front of her new employer. She set her face into a stony expression, and her walk was determined. A sudden crash from a nearby alleyway dumpster gave way to a shriek that made her flinch and break her stride, but she was quickly relieved to notice that it was only a couple of stray cats fighting. Daisy tried her best to style it out in front of K. Rool by non-chalantly tossing her hair as she stopped in front of him with her hands on her hips.


"Sooo... I, uh, hear you've got yourself a generator problem that needs fixin', am-I-right?" She figured it sounded convincing enough, her assumed voice was lower and a little rougher than her natural one. In truth, Daisy felt extremely uncomfortable with taking this first mission on as it involved what seemed like illegal activity. The only way she managed to persuade herself to go along with it was that as long as K. Rool was able to attack Robotnik, then the two would keep busy fighting each other, which would protect the wider population so really she was doing a good deed... At least, that's what she kept telling herself... 

[Deleted]

With Tael by his side, Skull Kid arrived in the Black Market. The structures here, mostly small buildings, if they could even be called such, were not much to look at compared to the buildings in the rest of the Life Sphere. Faded paint covered the structures, and cracks were clearly visible in the majority of the sidewalk blocks. A massive tower loomed in the distance, high above any other buildings in the area, and also far more clean and streamlined than the shacks surrounding it, which made it a marvelous thing to behold. The windows of the massive complex reflected the sky, actually rivaling it's clarity. This was clearly the target of this mission: Dr. Robotnik's Tower.

The objective here was to steal something called a shield generator, so that the force field around the tower would fall, and K Rool could assault the man inside.

Why? It didn't matter. Skull Kid had no ties to either side of this war, and took the mission in order to reap the rewards and create a name for himself. Being well known would result in allies and friends, and friends are well worth the effort.

As he approached the meeting place, he started noticing things going on here on the ground. Gambling, exchanges of unknown goods for cash, and even a fight. He quickened his pace, and saw K Rool up ahead, as well as his teammate for the mission. She seemed much more dainty than other fighters he'd seen, but that said nothing about her abilities; Skull Kid knew a dainty woman or two who could hold their own better than a lot of the other heroes.

"So how high up on that tower is the generator thing we're getting?" Skull Kid inquired, as it would be quite a task to climb even half of said tower.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

---((MOD POST))---

The bloated Kremling turned as he heard the voices of the hired help he had recruited. His narrowed eyes lightened and he grew a slight grin on his snout. “Ah good you arrived” he said while gesturing his arms in a welcoming manner. He looked over to Daisy first since she was the first to show up of the two. “Yes, Doctor Eggman has an unfair advantage with his overwhelming knowledge of electronics. I wish to only even the playing fields in this vendetta. When I finally over power that Egg shaped man and that pesky turtle, I will have control of the underbelly of the life sphere. Don’t take that in a bad way either, I only wish to help the life sphere all that I can once I finally become dominant.”

K Rool then twisted his body over to the Skull kid and had to lower his line of sight a bit in order to look at the creature right. “The generator is actually in the basement of the building. I had to pay a lot of coins to get this information so it better not be false.” He repositioned himself once he was finished speaking.

His head turned around to glare at the towering monument for a split second and then his focus regained on the two. He tossed Daisy a clipboard from behind his cape. “In order to get in, you two will have to turn in the slip on that board that says you are expecting a package from that building. The waiting room is just above the room with the generator in it. Once you get in there use this EMP grenade to wipe out all the machines in the area” he spoke as he tossed the grenade over to the Skullkid. “Careful with that thing, it cost a small fortune as well. Anyway, after that you’ll have to find your own way down by any means necessary. Is everything clear?”

[Deleted]

Daisy's throat dried at K. Rool's mentioning of "a pesky turtle"... was that Bowser? Had he survived the end of the world too somehow?? The former princess couldn't say much for exactly how much bad news K. Rool was, or this Robotnik guy for that matter, but she knew that the Koopa King was trouble and if he was involved in some of the illicit activities going on in this bad part of town, any efforts she could make to take him down a peg or two had to be for the greater good. She felt better about this mission already.

Hearing the voice of her partner-in-crime in this endeavour, Daisy turned her head to see a nasty-looking little thing. Much shorter than her in height, it looked like some kind of red-eyed mummified gremlin dressed up as a scarecrow. But it spoke with the voice of a young boy, and its question to K. Rool was a lot more savvy than Daisy's. The combination was unsettling... disturbing even, to the point that Daisy almost missed the clipboard flying at her head but her well-honed catcher's reflexes prevailed and she snatched it out of the air. She gave it a quick scan and it was mostly a bunch of techno mumbo-jumbo that she didn't understand.

"Clear as crystal for me," Daisy replied with a shrug and a nod, "All seems pretty straight forward... you got any questions for him?" She glanced over at the creepy scarecrow kid, but shifted her attention quickly back to the clipboard, pretending to read its details to avoid making eye contact with those creepy red eyes looking over at her.

[Deleted]

It's in the basement? That makes things much easier. But this tower was still the base of operations for a gang leader, and Skull Kid was sure there would be some kind of security protecting things like the shield generator.

Then K Rool tossed him something, calling it an e-m-p grenade. Emp meant nothing to him, but he knew grenade meant explosive from his time in the Life Sphere so far. It was a small, mostly oval shaped object, with an red button inside an indentation at one end. After a good look at it, Skull Kid walked over and handed it to Daisy.

"I'm not very good with the technology here, maybe you should hold this."

She was very uneasy, which Skull Kid had originally attributed to the place they were in, but when she became noticeably more disturbed as he approached her, he realized he was the one causing her discomfort. This wasn't uncommon here on Li. Skull Kid didn't resemble a human in any way other than his general shape, and most of his physical qualities fit onto the general category for "enemy" or "bad guy". This made making friends difficult, but most of the other heroes have seen much worse, and don't immediately judge him based on his looks.

Resuming his place, he then turned to K Rool. "What kind of defense do you think Dr. Robotnik will have against someone trying to steal his generator?"

[Mr. Game & Watch]

---((MOD POST))---

At the succession of K Rool’s tosses he displayed a large tooth filled grin on his countenance. His larger looking eye attempted to look back at the tower as he did, his confidence radiating as he did. His attention snapped back to the small scarecrow looking being as he questioned further about the generator’s defenses. The Princess seemed to have no questions. “More than half of Eggman’s force is out of the tower attempting a land grab and assaulting my base of operations. The generator is the least of his worries at the moment since sources tell me he’s up to something big that occupying all of his time. If the place is crawling with security then use the grenade, it will fry the systems of any mechanism in about a ten meter radius. Only thing though, don’t use it near the generator.”

As King K Rool finished speaking two large Kremlings that anyone with a good knowledge of the Kremling species would know as Krusha came marching along until they were side by side with the King of the Kremlings. “One last thing then, the generator is a fairly large black rectangular box. It is no larger than a regular backpack and as I have heard it isn’t too heavy. Whichever one of you is the strongest I suggest should carry” he instructed and finally walked off with his Kremling Krew. “Good luck to the both of you” he shouted behind him as he continued to stroll away into the crowd that moved out of his way as he moved forward.

There was a stone brick road through the alley of two nearby buildings that led straight toward the tower, but it was covered in darkness and shadows. It was a much faster route to take than to wander around the row of buildings.

[Deleted]

"Ohmigosh!" Exclaimed Daisy as the scarecrow passed over the explosive device, treating it at first like a hot potato in her free hand. As K Rool gave the duo the rest of their briefing, the former princess cautiously turned the oval weapon around in her hand inspecting every angle of it. Ten meter radius, she thought to herself, "This... is... so cool, before tossing it in the air a few times to get a feel of its weight and finally pocketing it.

As K Rool walked off with what appeared to be his cronies, Daisy was left alone for the first time with her new accomplice. With one hand on her hip, she gave the little scarecrow one last head-to-toe inspection before thrusting out her hand for a shake in greeting.

"Daisy," she said, "So, if we need to figure out who's stronger, you wanna find somewhere to arm-wrestle?" She figured she could take this guy. He was like a miniature version of one of the Pionpi from back home and all those weirdos did was just... hop around mostly. Y'know, before the world ended an' all.

[Deleted]

"So this really might be a fairly easy task then." thought Skull Kid, after hearing what K Rool had to say about the generators defenses. After he walked away, the girl that was his teammate for this mission turned to him and introduced herself as "Daisy", and put her hand out for a handshake while offering to arm wrestle to see who was the strongest of the two of them.

Skull Kid looked at her hand for a moment, then stuck out his hand and grasped it the way he had seen other people do, making sure not to grip too strongly, but also not too loosely. "No, that's okay, I'm sure you're much stronger than me, so unless you want me too, I think you should carry the generator." He noticed her grip was a bit more firm than his, and strengthened his grip to match hers.

After letting go of her hand, he nodded his head towards the alleyway, insisting they move on while continuing their conversation.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

(OOC: Continue on until your characters reach the alley)

[Deleted]

Daisy followed the scarecrow's indication towards the nearby alleyway. She felt a little uneasy about taking the darker route in this kind of neighbourhood but she couldn't allow herself to start looking nervous in front of her smaller companion after he had just declared her the stronger of the two of them. With a hardened face, she nodded her agreement on moving on, and started the walk towards the entrance to the alleyway.

"So..." Started Daisy, "Remember when I gave you my name a second ago? I was kinda hoping you'd give me one too... You got a name?"

[Deleted]

"My name?" he repeated to himself, not because he didn't have one, but because no one so far had asked for it. Nobody really cared all that much. Why would this girl, who is so put off by his appearance, be the first to ask for it? Of course, he was her only teammate in this mission, and they would have to work together to get this done properly.

"Skull Kid" he proclaimed, with the slightest stutter at the beginning. "My name is Skull Kid." he said to make sure that she both heard him and understood his name had two separate parts.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

---((MOD POST))---

As the two heroes become closer to the short cut to Eggman’s tower they should begin to notice a lack of pedestrians wandering around in the area. The streets were nearly full, yet this alley was near void of any civilians. It was hidden in shade, but everything within it was still quite visible since it was still mid-day. The alley itself wasn’t empty, it seemed to be filled with a lot of scraps of what would seem to be Dr. Eggman’s robots, though only people that have been exposed to his handy work could identify. The path was still clear enough to walk through, the area just seemed to be a dumping zone for what Eggman didn’t need.

A light rattling sound could be heard, sounding almost like there was a rat of some sort scurrying within the junk heaps. The crevasse of the two buildings wasn’t too long, but once they were out on the other side of it the two should probably suspect that they would be close enough to be witnessed by Dr. Eggman’s security system so they shouldn’t be acting too irrationally. Unless the two would want to be caught of course.

[Deleted]

"Y'know what?" Said Daisy, "I'm just gonna call ya Kid." She wondered if it was some kind of thief-pseudonym to cover up his identity. Or if some parents had actually been cruel enough to give him such a creepy name at birth. Either way, she was glad to have something to call him by - things always seemed less scary when you had a name for them. Maybe he was a street urchin left homeless from the end of the world - who knew? She hoped there there would be time to talk to him more about that after the mission, to make sure he was smart enough to know how to spend his reward money responsibly to give himself a better life. For now though, she had to keep her mind on the challenge ahead.

"Okay Kid, She said, "Game plan time". She stopped in the middle of the quiet alleyway to take advantage of the distance from eavesdroppers in the nearby busy streets. She stepped in close to Skull Kid, and got down on one knee so that they were eye-to-eye.

"I don't think either of us are equipped well enough to take on too many robots if things go bad, so we need to be sneaky about this. The way I see it is that I should probably do the talking up-front," She waved the clipboard to emphasise her point, "Whereas you're pretty small, so you'd do better at getting past security, locating that generator in the basement, and seeing what the defenses are like down there." Daisy became increasingly animated as she went on, sounding more and more like a football coach briefing her team right before a game.

"Then, you get back to me and give me a signal to say that you found it. After I hear that signal... BOOM! It's Grenade Time. And we get down there fast, grab what we're there for and get out as quick as we can before they assemble a counter-attack on us. Whaddaya say?" Before she could hear a response from her companion, a rattling noise from among the trash distracted her and she turned to address it. She couldn't see where the noise had come from, but as she looked over the trash she paused for thought.

"Hmmm," She said, "Hold that thought Kid... Maybe we could find something in one of these trash piles that can help us out. Shall we look around?"

[Deleted]

As they made their way into and through the alleyway, Daisy became a lot less timid, and declared she would just call Skull Kid "Kid", which, while a bit degrading, was a good sign that she had gotten over his appearance and had become somewhat comfortable with him. But she would have to work with him, so she might as well. She then started spouting a plan that Skull Kid mostly caught, but it was a lot to process, and her dynamic arm and hand movements were slightly distracting for him.

At the end, she basically asked for his approval of the plan he was still putting together with the parts he had caught. He was about to answer when she was sidetracked by some noise from the nearby piles of metal. She insisted they search the piles for anything helpful. This seemed like a pretty good idea. I all this stuff came from Dr. Robotnik himself, so it could definitely prove useful for getting in, around, or out of his tower. They might even find some weaponry.

"Sure, a quick look around couldn't hurt." decided Skull Kid, and began searching immediately, while continuing to talk to his teammate. "If we're gonna be working together here, we might as well know and understand each other's abilities." he announced as he scrambled on top of a pile of parts and dug into it. "Like, you should probably know that I can teleport anywhere within twenty feet, as long as the area isn't completely cut off from my where I am. This will really help for sneaking around in Dr. Robotnik's tower. If it comes to a fight, I can summon three puppets using my horn that are about your size with broad shoulders and an outfit like mine. They aren't the best for attacking, but they are a great defense and distraction. Lastly, I can blow darts from my horn, which are not poisoned or very sharp, but can do some slight damage from a safe distance, which is just where I like to be in a fight."

At the end of his self explanation, he kept his head down and wouldn't look up at his ally. He hoped she would answer back and not leave him hanging awkwardly. The explanation could have been taken as a badly disguised way to show off his abilities. Or she could just want to keep her abilities a secret, for reasons unknown. Skull Kid kept coming up with reasons why his idea to share their abilities with each other was stupid as he waited for an answer from his partner on another nearby pile of scraps.