Chapter 7: Assembling A Team
She had just escaped King Bowser's castle, and already Doctor Doctor was concerned someone from the castle would find her and bring her back. Then again, she would kick their asses if they did put their hands on her. After walking for several hours, she finally found a place to stay: an empty inn house with no furniture and only one room. Just as she was walking inside, she tripped over something, only to figure out moments later that that something was actually someone. Adjacent to that someone was another person.
"Who's here?" asked the fugitive.
"Only us." replied the person she tripped over. This person was actually a female anthro-cat with dark brown hair on her head and covered in tan fur. She had blue eyes with a bit of green on her left. She had ears which were so dark pink that they almost looked red and white tufts inside.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I must've scared you. I'm Krishna." began the anthro-cat. "What brings you here? Are you a runaway, also?"
"Y-Yes. Are you real or am I just imagining things?" asked Doctor Doctor, who no longer felt scared and instead seemed nonchalant in tone.
"Oh, I'm very real, my friend," Krishna replied.
"Krishna?" asked the being next to Krishna. She had very light brown hair with blue eyes just like Krishna's, only her eyes were both fully blue. She had Caucasian skin and very good complexion.
"Eris, this is our friend." Krishna replied to Eris almost immediately as she was getting up from the floor. Then she turned to face her guest. "Um, would you kindly introduce yourself? We want to remember you when you leave."
But the name never came when a female purple Yoshi with amethyst scales and a top scale that resembled a spike, only with a hole through the middle of it and a human/shiny Gardevoir hybrid child came through the door.
"Hey, guys. We're back- uh, Krishna? Who is this?" asked the child who was now dithering like a frantic squirrel for seemingly no reason.
"Crystal, we have a guest who's escaped from Bowser's castle," Krishna responded. "She was getting ready to give us her name when you came in."
"Well, we checked for any Koopa working for Bowser's army who may have been looking for us and we didn't find anyone." Crystal began. "So we are safe…for now."
"Ah, good." Krishna sighed a breath of relief, and then turned to Doctor Doctor again. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, we were anxious to know what your name was."
"I go by many names, Krishna," Doctor Doctor began. "But one I stick by is Doctor Doctor."
Everyone else looked confused. The purple Yoshi started laughing.
"Aw, good one, pal," the Yoshi said. "Come on, what's your name, really?"
"Lillith is my actual name. But I just go by Doctor Doctor."
"Oh, well, OK."
"Um, Johnnie? From the name everyone else calls her, do you think she's a real criminal genius or just downright insane?" asked Crystal.
"I pick the latter." Johnnie answered.
"Krishna? I just want to ask. Am I the only one who ran off from Bowser's Castle, almost married to him?" inquired their visitor.
"No, you are not, Lillith. We all have a history with Bowser," began Krishna. "We, too, were kidnapped by him. Every one of us would've been his wife, except we escaped, like you did. Crystal, if you would tell your story about what he did to you while you were imprisoned….."
"I don't want to…." retorted Crystal, who was starting to cry.
"Crystal, Lillith needs to know what he did with you or she'll just assume he also tried to force you into an arranged marriage without delays."
"Okay. When he first kidnapped me, he brought me to a really small dungeon with no bed, no toilet, nothing. When he asked me to 'do him a favor', I assumed he wanted to use me as a slave just once. But I was wrong. He molested me in his bedroom and I'm only eleven years old. I feel so dirty." It was taking Crystal forever to tell her story because she was sobbing in between.
"I….I…." Doctor Doctor tried to speak, but she was too shocked.
"We know," Krishna interrupted in a polite way. "It's too graphic for our imaginations to take. We almost can't stand it."
"Why don't we fight back?" Doctor Doctor suggested.
"Why? Why?" Crystal tried to come up with a snappy comeback. "He's a giant compared to us. If we laid a hand on him, he'll have us recaptured and forced into polygamy."
"Actually, Crystal, she does have a point." Krishna pondered. "If we just believe, we can overcome the Koopa who tried to make us wives against our wills and slay him so never again shall Princess Peach be kidnapped every day."
"Huh?" Crystal was shocked that Krishna had actually taken their new friend's side. "Okay. Let's do this."
"Johnnie, Eris, Lillith, and Crystal, let us be a team from this moment on. By the power of Queen Cosmos of the Plit Kingdom, we will be the Rogue Gladiatresses!"
"Alright, but I get to call the shots," Doctor Doctor cut in.
