[heirtothemonado]

As soon as Alma and Shadow would arrive at the hospital lobby, the nurse at the front desk would direct them to Bowser Jr's room. Inside, there were a fair amount of people gathered around Jr's bed. One of the nurses, probably the one tasked with attending to Jr and the other patients in this vicinity of the building, was keeping an eye on Jr's vitals, while the head nurse waited for Shadow and Alma to show up. However, standing on the bed beside her was a...fairly strange individual. He was fairly short, around Shadow's height, and he looked like he had a pillow for a head.



"Ah, these must be the two you've recruited for this procedure. Excellent!" The pillow-headed person exclaimed as he noticed the two of them enter the room. "Greetings! I am Prince Dreambert, of the Pi'illo tribe. I'm here to help you cure the problem that has plagued the young Koopa prince. Please, follow me!"  

Prince Dreambert floated over to the side of Jr's bed, beckoning Shadow and Alma to follow him. Just as the head nurse had said, Jr was fast asleep, but he looked far from peaceful. Indeed, he wore a rather pained expression. Like whatever he was dreaming about was hurting him somehow.

"He's been like that for a few days now" the head nurse said. "Before, he'd wake up for a few hours before drifting off again, but as of late we can't wake him up, no matter what we tried."

"Indeed" Prince Dreambert added. "I'm afraid if we want to get to the bottom of what's ailing him, we'll have to get inside his head." Turning to Alma and Shadow, Dreambert smiled at them. "And that's where you two come in! You see, as a member of the Pi'illo tribe, I have the power to transport people into the Dream World. Specifically, the Dream World of the person who is resting on me. The plan is, have the young prince rest his head on me, and pull you two into his Dream World. Once there, you must find his dream self, and vanquish whatever is causing his night terrors, for I fear it's not simply his own doing. There must be someone else causing such unrest for him. Find them, and drive them out. That's the only way for the young prince to wake again."

[cynda1]

Upon being guided into Bowser Jr’s room, Shadow’s sights were instantly set on the sleeping koopa, who seemed to be quite restless. Shadow walked over to the side of Jr’s bed, and while there weren't any visible signs of worry, the hedgehog’s red eyes wouldn’t move away from Jr even as the strange creature spoke. Jr definitely looked worse for wear, and even aside from that, the idea that whatever Jr was going through could be contagious was… unsettling.

He needed to ensure that whatever was going on with Jr stopped there and then, otherwise it could’ve been a huge epidemic, and everyone in the Life Sphere knew that the less problems to deal with, the better.

Shadow glanced over at the person accompanying him on this mission. The rather small girl, named Alma apparently (who was actually only a little taller than Shadow), didn’t seem at all fit for this type of challenge. He’d worked with people who didn’t seem to be fit for challenges and surprised him before, but that hardly mattered. Shadow squinted his eyes at the girl a bit before bringing his attention back to Jr. Hopefully that would be enough to convey the message of “Stay out of my way, I’m carrying this mission”.

Shadow finally stepped away from Jr and then approached Dreambert. “Prince Dreambert,” he spoke in a serious tone. Although, if he let himself think about it for just a moment, he might've realized how stupid he thought that name was. “The nurse said something about this… problem Jr has possibly spreading to others. So, if we’re finished with this briefing, I think it’s about time we get started.” Shadow, being Shadow, couldn’t care less if the girl had a list of questions or wasn’t ready to go quite yet. If she wasn’t ready, she shouldn’t have signed on at all, in his opinion.

Hoo boy… Shadow wasn’t about to go easy on poor Alma. Not with a crisis like this. Let’s hope she can handle Shadow’s impatience.

[Deleted]

Alma entered the room after Shadow, a whole lot less confident than she started, rolling her medals in her hands like the Vivasaurs within could comfort her. All the nurses, the turtle-boy looking stuck in a painful nightmare, and the scary black and red hedgehog did nothing to ease her nerves. "N-nice to meet you..." Her initial greeting to Shadow started to drag as he turned away, leaving her to scramble to the other side of the bed, frowning as she watched the never-waking prince. Poor prince.

She jerked up into a straighter posture as Dreambert introduced himself as a prince and spoke about the situation. "I-I...we-we'll do our best mister...er...P-Prince!" She stammered frantically, scooting closer to the bed and steeling her face, even though her hands were shaking. "Even a bad dream just needs a good whack, watch!" She boasted just to raise her own confidence, and prepared one of her Vivasaurs, who knew what was going to be in a nightmare?

She'd just have to deal with her partner, maybe he was nicer once you knew him?

(Taking Tophis, Coelanth, and Ceros!)

[heirtothemonado]

"Right you are, Shadow" Dreamburt replied to him. He had a good point. No telling what might happen if this was left for any longer. It might end up spreading to someone else! "We should dilly-dally anymore! Let's get you two into his Dream World." He nodded to the head nurse. "Now, Miss Joy, if you'd be so kind...."

In the blink of an eye, Prince Dreamburt disappeared, and in his place lay a pillow that was oddly similar Dreamburt's clothes. The head nurse picked up the pillow, and gently lifted Jr's head to slip it underneath him. While the pained look on Jr's face didn't change, something else started happening entirely. An oddly-colored portal started forming in the shape of a cloud above Jr's head. It was a swirling pattern of rainbow, but if the two of them looked closely, there seemed to be the occasional streak of black and grey rushing across as well. "A Dream Portal..." The head nurse said. Seems that Dreamburt had informed her about these things before Shadow and Alma had shown up. "That's your gate into the Dream World. Best hurry up and hop in before things get any worse!" There wasn't going to be any more briefing, now was the time for action! Time to enter the Dream World!

---

The first thing Shadow and Alma saw when entering the Dream World was....The Black Market. It didn't seem all that different then the real Black Market; same shady stalls, same denizens walking around....except for one thing. Every single person here was a Koopa. That wasn't normal. There weren't nearly that many Koopas in the Life Sphere. Well, the first order of business would be to find Jr in this place....

Shadow and Alma! Time to start looking for Dream!Jr. Roll a 12 or higher in INT in order to pick up a lead!

---

"Look at him. What a useless 'prince'"

"If he really cared what happened to us, he would have started actually doing something sooner!"

"Yeah. Instead he sits in the castle and stuffs his face. Look at that gut!"

All these statements and more echoed through the air and into Jr's ears as he quickly moved through the alleyways of the Black Market. "That's not true", he thought. "It's not true." He had to get away from this jeering, but it seemed to follow him everywhere! Maybe he should just go home. At least there, Papa wouldn't lob accusations at him twenty-four seven....

[cynda1]

The moment they were able to, Shadow leapt into the portal, disregarding anything the nurse may have said next, and again, not caring if Alma wasn’t ready. He would figure it out as it went on, surely he would.

Upon entering Jr’s Dream, Shadow found himself in the black market, oddly enough. The hedgehog glanced around trying to decipher what it was about this place that caused Jr such pain, and namely, trying to find Jr. The odd thing he instantly noticed was the amount of koopas that were around. Strange, there wasn’t normally this overwhelmingly amount of Koopas out and about.

Now that he really looked… it seemed like there were only koopas around. No humans, no Pokemon, no Isabelle, just koopas. While this was strange, it was hard for Shadow to really get a reading on the situation by this bit of info alone. Shadow didn’t wait for Alma to jump into the portal as he already started looking around for anything that might tell them where the “Dream Jr” might have been.

Shadow, being Shadow, completely ignored any koopa that may have walked around him, disinterested in asking them any questions. This was a nightmare, after all. So it wasn’t likely that they were gonna be nice anyway.

VavDNFV4p_1d20 (Shadow first roll attempt to find any clues... fail.)1d20

[Deleted]

The black and red hedgehog man was called Shadow? Well, maybe she should be called that, because Alma felt she was going to be chasing after him all day! "Bye everyone, see you in a sec!" She blurted out quickly, and pointlessly held her breath as she tossed herself into the sparkling rainbow of a portal.

What she'd been expecting, she wasn't sure. Maybe a castle of some kind? He was a prince, this "Junior" after all! Instead, she found herself in the place she was told to never find herself: The Black Market. Oh no, she couldn't get into trouble here, could she? She darted after Shadow in a hurry, not quite noticing that the population was only Koopas, just thinking that there was alot of them.

Wait, Koopas? They'd know something about Junior, right?

Thus, unlike Shadow, as she trailed after him, Alma called out to the dream Koopas, twirling in place as she looked about. "Excuse me, is there a Junior here? Hello! Hi, I wanna find him so we can talk. Oh, hello sir, can I ask..." Her babbling continued innocently, and her eyes kept flickering around to try and see a clue around her.

VDzq5ZL4p_1d20 (Alma's search roll! She did it!)1d20

[heirtothemonado]

The Koopas initially ignored the two newcomers, even though the both of them stood out like sore thumbs against the crowd of Koopas. The turtles just minded there own business, milling about the market and doing what they had to do. Shadow wouldn't find anything that might lead them to Jr, and since everyone else here wasn't paying them any mind, it seemed like the would just need to comb the area to search for Jr on their own.

However, that all changed when Alma mentioned that they were looking for Jr.

A look of irritation passed over the face of the Koopa that Alma was talking to. The first sign that they even noticed that her and Shadow were actually there. "Why are you looking for that lazy brat?" he asked. "It's not like he's ever done anything for us." 

"Yeah!" Another Koopa chimed in, looking just as irritable. "He's probably up in his castle, feasting on whatever Lord Bowser would give him, while we're down here starving! I caught a glimpse of him the other day. He's starting to get pretty chubby! Why does he get to eat that much while we're left with nothing?"

Geez...Looks like the public opinion of Jr was pretty low here. But, at least you got a hint as to where he might be! Looks like you'll be headed straight for the castle. Maybe Jr could be of some help as to what's happening....

---

Meanwhile, Jr was, indeed arriving at the castle right at that moment. He had been careful to avoid the eyes of unhappy subjects, but even then, Koopas had been jeering and throwing things at him wherever he went. Well, at least he was at home now...

As he entered the front hall, a Magikoopa rushed up to him "Young Master Bowser! His Terribleness requests to see you. And you better hurry. He's...not in a very good mood" As the Magikoopa ran off again, Jr began to shiver a little, and it had nothing to do with cold. Papa wanted to see him? And he was angry? That didn't sound right. Papa never scolded him, at least not to the point where he wanted a formal audience with him. What was going on?

[cynda1]

Shadow didn’t stop moving forward, or so much as give these idiot koopas the light of day. If they wanted to believe their prince, a kid mind you, should be responsible for their problems, then they can all drown in their stupidity together for all he cared. That was his opinion even at the off chance that they were somehow right about Jr and that he really didn’t care about them, which considering how much the kid would talk and worry about his people during the drought, Shadow highly doubted.

It was only when they decided to say something useful that Shadow finally stopped walking. “Wait, hold on!” Shadow finally spoke. “Through all that incessant babbling, they actually said something useful. Jr must be at the Koopa Castle!” And off Shadow went again… with not so much as a thank you for poor Alma. After all, if Alma hadn’t asked around instead of stubbornly wandering around aimlessly like Shadow, then they would’ve never found that clue. But nope. Shadow was too busy trying to get the job done to think of something as frivolous as gratitude.

Shadow, whether Alma managed to catch up with him or not, would find the entrance to Bowser’s castle, and didn’t even bother taking a moment to look at the building that simply towered over him. No, there was too much work to do, and Jr needed to be found, fast. For this reason, Shadow started making his way to the entrance of the castle.

[Deleted]

A straight answer actually came faster than Alma expected, and though it might not be true right this moment, it was the best lead they got! "Thank you! But I'm sure he isn't that bad!" Where that defense of the Koopa prince came from, she wasn't sure. It just didn't feel right to let a kid be blamed for stuff like food shortage. Even if this was her first time meeting him, she had to be sure he was trying!

Besides, if he was a prince, shouldn't the king be taking care of stuff!?

This time, she expected Shadow to almost leave her behind, and had started ducking and weaving forward in a hurry. "Ok! I'm behind you!" Her size gave her both an advantage in crowds but a disadvantage in long distances, but thankfully, a castle appeared close enough.

"Wow, I guess princes do got grand castles!"

[heirtothemonado]

A scoff was the only thing the Koopas replied to Alma's defense of Jr, before the they went back on their way. Seems like there was no convincing them since they'd made up their minds. Since this was a dream, however, their behavior might strike the two as odd. Why would everyone hate Jr in his own dream? Regardless, Shadow and Alma soon went on their way, toward Bowser's castle

Which, fortunately, wasn't very far away. In fact it seemed to dominate the skyline of the Black Market. Strange, the real thing wasn't nearly that big. Even so, as Shadow and Alma approached it, they'd notice that the door had been left open, practically inviting them into the castle halls. As well, a vehicle that should be very familiar to Shadow was parked outside. The Clown Car had been left on the street, but it looked pretty worse for wear. It looked run down, there were a couple dents on the rim, and there were splotches of what looked like spray paint all over it. Like someone had vandalized it. Was Jr really that unpopular? Surely Bowser would have something to say about how his kingdom was treating his son, right?

Once Shadow and Alma had entered the castle, they'd find themselves in a stately front hall, one fit for Koopa royalty. Jr was nowhere to be found, but since the Clown Car was parked out front, he had to be at home, right? A Magikoopa was waiting in the front hall, as if he was waiting for visitors to show up. Perhaps he knew where the prince was? He couldn't have been that far away.

Shadow and Alma! That Magikoopa might know something about Jr's whereabouts! Roll a 10 or higher in CHA to convince him to co-operate!

[cynda1]

Once Shadow entered the castle, he glanced around only to find no sign of Jr anywhere. The hedgehog could hardly dwell on such issues as how the kingdom felt about him in his dream when the hedgehog couldn’t seem to find the prince. Instead, the hedgehog continued forward, trying to hear the sounds of voices talking. Nothing. Any footsteps that Shadow may have heard were echoed out by the hallways, so there wasn’t any definitive way of locating the prince in an effective manner.

Shadow scowled. This wasn’t going anywhere fast, was it?

That was until Shadow (and, ya know, probably Alma, too, but Shadow didn’t really care…) noticed a strange looking koopa in a dorky looking robe. Shadow didn’t even consider charming his way out of this. Quite the contrary actually. No, Shadow had a much different approach…

“...Hey, you,” Shadow pointed directly at the weird looking koopa, and seemed to be approaching rather casually. “Prince Bowser Jr. In this castle somewhere. Where?” See? Not the least bit of cohesion. Just a simple straightforward answer, ladies and gentlemen. How do you think he did?

yLm_eQ2Np_1d20-1 (Aaand wouldn't you know it folks! The hedgehog knocked it out of the park! Guess all he had to do was ask!)1d20-1

[Deleted]

Alma wasn't an expert on dreams and nightmares, but weren't dreams usually, you know, happy? Things like flying, or growing big, or eating all your favorite foods! Not being stuck in the Life Sphere still, surrounded by all these mean people. So why would he be having a nightmare like this now of all times? Maybe he met a person like all these Koopas, that'd make her sad too.

At least the castle was nice.

Alma herself didn't get a chance to talk and gasped at Shadow being...Shadow. "You have to say "please!" That's just rude!" Even if everyone here was a jerk, they didn't need it getting meaner! "Please could we know? It's important!"

gfGAMZoIp_1d20 (...Of course)1d20

[heirtothemonado]

The Magikoopa was, to put it bluntly, bored. The young prince had come through here earlier, but since then, not a soul had entered the castle. In fact, the Magikoopa was starting to fall asleep when Shadow and Alma approached him. Fortunately, Shadow's rather abrasive approach to getting his attention snapped him awake "G-gah! I'm awake, I'm awake!" He jolted to his senses, and glared at Shadow. He had half a mind to just ignore him for that, but then Alma spoke up. Feeling sorry for the girl who had to be stuck with Shadow, the Magikoopa decided it was probably best just to give them the information that they wanted.

"The young prince has been summoned by Lord Bowser for an audience. The throne room is just over there" he pointed down a hallway to the left. "If you wish to watch, the door is open" With that, the Magikoopa gets up from his post, and wanders off to find somewhere a little more peaceful

If Shadow and Alma would approach the throne room of Bowser, they would start to hear a conversation coming from beyond the door....

".....-told you this over and over again, Jr, and it doesn't seem to be sticking. You have to start pitching in around here, or the kingdom is going to keep hating you."

"But I've been doing as much as I can, Papa! I've been running around all week trying to keep up with everything!"

"That's not what I've been hearing. I've been hearing that you've been lazing around all day, and judging by the pudge that's been showing up around your middle, I don't think I'm too far off" 

"....."

*Shadow and Alma! Jr seems to be in the middle of an argument that isn't going his way. You can choose to enter the throne room, but Bowser might not be too impressed if he gets interrupted! Roll a 15 or higher in DEX to sneak into the room! If Bowser sees you there, there's no telling what he might do!*

[cynda1]

Shadow could hardly care less about the feelings of the Magikoopa or the concerns of his partner. To put it bluntly, even if the turtle thing didn’t tell him where Jr was because he was too thin skinned, Shadow would find another way to locate Jr anyway. The fact that the Magikoopa eventually caved simply saved them a lot of time. Perhaps to spite though, though more likely because he didn’t care, Shadow didn’t even say thank you or acknowledge the koopa with a nod, and instead simply went ahead of them.

He wasn’t about to waste any more time finding Jr. The sooner he got Jr out, the better.

The black hedgehog went down the hallway, once again letting Alma fend for herself. This place had yet to prove dangerous to anyone aside from maybe Jr, so if Alma couldn’t handle herself, she really shouldn’t have signed up for this mission. That’s what Shadow thought, anyway.

However, that was small potatoes compared to what Shadow was met with when he peeked into the chamber. There, in the center of the room, was Bowser, king of the Koopas, and father of Bowser Jr. He seemed rather disappointed with his son, if not angry. Shadow cared just as much, if not less, about their familial affair as he did about the feelings of the Magikoopa. This was a dream, after all, and any sort of conversation they were having was no doubt what Jr had feared.

Still… what Shadow heard coming from Bowser’s mouth about Jr… did the Koopa prince really believe in such balone? There needed to be some way to get in there and get Jr to see that none of this was real. Perhaps taking the logical approach and entering in stealthily, and maybe trying to hear what else Jr’s father had to say?

W8Iyofw_p_1d20+3 (...Well... that's embarrassing! And disappointing... And also probably a sign.)

Nah! He just ran in there like a maniac, and shouted. “Jr, don’t listen to him!” Shadow shouted, clearly disregarding his and Alma’s safety in the process. “This isn’t real! This is just a dream! You’re trapped a nightmare!” ...This can’t be good. Shadow, you’re in deep trouble… and unfortunately for Alma, she was probably dragged along with him. Guess the Magikoopa was right to feel sorry for her.1d20+3

[Deleted]

Starting to get used to Shadow's general attitude, Alma was already moving as he walked on, waving behind herself in case the Magikoopa looked back.

At the throne room, she shrunk back slightly, almost tearing up as the angry voice of Bowser flowed out of the throne room. She held one of her medals to her chest, almost like a shield against that fury which seemed to overwhelm everything Junior had to say. Not to mention it wasn't true! Nobody did nothing, that was the Life Sphere, everyone st least tried to help!

jLvoGwvFp_1d20+1 (Whether or not it matters, she at least succeeded!)

As Shadow...did his thing, Alma darted in. Whether or not it mattered now that Shadow drew all sorts of attention, she tried to get as close to Junior as possible without being the equivalent of neon lights that Shadow was. Maybe if this king was super mad, he'd be so mad that she could get Junior out of here! At least, she could wish.1d20+1